Genesis of a Legend

Disclaimer:  I don't own these characters.  Marvel does.

Chapter 7      

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It was so weird the way it happened.  One second we were kissing each other with vigor, the next he had pulled away and was hugging his knees.  Now, I understand what freaked him out, and I really tried to reassure him, with a gentle kiss but once he gets his mind made up about something, its hard to change.  For nearly a week now, he's been avoiding me.  I respect his concerns, but he can't live in fear forever.  When we did run into each other, we'd attempt a few minutes of awkward conversation, and that's it.  It's driving me nuts.  I liked him so much, and I'd finally gotten the courage to show him, and now this.  Had I misread the signs?  I don't think so.  As far as I could tell he was interested too.  At least I'd had my summer classes to distract me.  Scott was taking classes too, all sorts of advanced maths.  Ugh.  But that's what he loved. 

I was determined to find a way to get around his fear, so I went down to the med lab to talk to Hank.

"What can I do for you, Jeannie?"  He was holding an odd piece of black plastic.

"What's that?"

"Prototype of a visor for Scott.  When its done, it will, in theory, allow for controlled bursts of his optic blasts."

"How does it work?"

"Well, it doesn't yet,"  Hank grinned.  "Ultimately, there will be a fine sheet of ruby quartz in the aperture, that will open and close, controlled by a button on the side here.  I've been drafting the actual mechanism for some time now.  It's time to start building it.  This is just  a shell."

I nodded.  "Have you been working on sleep goggles for his?"

Hank shook his head. "Professor Xavier wants this done first.  It'll tie into work he plans to do to get the two of you to refine your abilities."

"Ah."

"What are you thinking, Jeannie?"

To tell him or not to tell him?

"Well, Scott's been pretty uncomfortable lately not having something that secures."

"To sleep in?"

"And for some, uh, other things."

"Other things that involve you?"

I nodded. "About a week ago.  I kissed him, and he seemed into it, undtil my hand bumped into the side of his glasses and he freaked out."

"And now he's avoiding you?"

"Yeah, And I can't take it anymore. I care about him too much."

"I know.  Don't worry though Jeannie.  He likes you just as much."

"Which makes it even more frustrating!"

"Calm down, Jeannie.  How about this:  I can't work on those goggles, because Charles wants this done first, however that doesn't mean you couldn't work on it.  You're a very smart young woman, I'm sure you could come up with something that works well."

I was thrilled.  I told him that of course I'd work on the goggles and he gave me a quick crash course on working with ruby quartz.  It could be cut with a special saw, then to remove the abrasion you treat it with an acid.  There were a number of epoxies that could hold it in place easily.  The quartz needed to remain at least 2mm thick to be effective.  Hank showed me the model of Scott's head that he'd made for taking measurements without having to call Scott each time.  It was rather funny looking.  Within a day I'd drawn out the idea, and Hank approved it.  Now to build it.  Building things was not my forte, but I had the skills for the fine work that was required thanks to excessive amounts of dissection.  A 2mm sheet of ruby quartz is still fairly flexible, in fact I cut it to 2.5mm because I figured the acid would take off more.  The lens was coated in a flexible rubber, then attached to the neoprene side pieces and middle piece, and the strap.  I sandwiched a thin piece of ruby quartz between two think sheets of neoprene to make the sidepieces.  The strap was an elastic coated in neoprene for comfort that went across the back of his head, through a loop of plastic, back across, snapped down, then finally Velcro'd down.  There was no knocking this off easily.  While I was working, I also created a version of the strap that could attach to his normal glasses.

"Excellent work, Jeannie," Hank attached it to his model of Scott's head.  "Fits beautifully."

"Now its time to test it on the real thing."

Hank nodded.  "I've called him down.  He's on his way."

"Do you like the other strap?"

"Yes.  A strap for his normal glasses is something I'd always intended to make.   Time doesn't always work out."

Scott trudged into the room, carrying a pillow.

"Ah, good.  Now Jeannie's going to take you into the Danger Room to test two new items."

"Aren't you coming?"

"No, Jeannie's going to do this one."

"Oh."    He looked at me apprehensively. 

"Come on."  I grabbed his hand and led him down the hall.  It felt good to touch him again.

"How are your classes?"

"Good."

Silence.  He was frustrating me.  I keyed in our entry to the Danger Room.

"What are we testing?"

"A few things.  First, a strap for those, then sleep goggles."

"Hence the pillow."

"Right."

He turned to face me.  "What do you want me to do?"

"Um…sit here.  I'm going to kneel directly behind you and attach this strap."

He didn't move.

"I'll be directly behind you.  My hands won't be coming any closer to your face than your ears this time."

He nodded and slowly sat down.  I knelt closely behind him and carefully attached the strap.

"Okay, how's the fit?  Good?  Too tight? Too loose?"

"Seems good."

"Bump it a bit."

He jostled the new strap. "Fine."

"Good.  Okay, now close you eyes and take off your glasses.  I'll press these goggles to your face, and you hold them there while I do the strap."

He hesitated. 

"Scott…"

He carefully removed his glasses, revealing his clenched eyes.  I'd never seen him barefaced before.  It was odd.  He was so beautiful.

"Any day now."

"Sorry." I placed the goggles.  It was good his sense of humor was back.  I secured the strap.  "Okay, open."

"Are you behind me?"

"Yes."

"Prove it."

I shook my head, but wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Okay.  These work nicely."

"Now, lay on the pillow.  We need to see if there's any gaping."

Scott lay on the pillow and rolled to the right.  Nothing.  He rolled to the left.  Nothing. 

"Excellent."  I sat down next to him.  "So you like your new goggles?"

"Yeah.  Hopefully I'll be able to sleep."

"You haven't been sleeping?"

He shook his head.  "Can't."

I rubbed his shoulder.

"Mmmm."

"Are we in a better mood now that we have secure goggles?"

"Yeah.  I needed this.  I didn't think that Hank was going to be able do these til he finished the visor."

"About that.  I was talking to him and all he could work on was the visor, so he let me make these."

"You made these?"

I nodded.  He looked at me with the most amazing smile I'd ever seen from him.

"Thank you."

I was melting.  He pulled me down beside him, and leaned in to kiss me firmly on the lips.  It was really nice.  Well worth the effort of making the glasses.  He broke the kiss and nuzzled his head into the nook of my neck. 

"So you went through all this work just of kiss me again?"

My face was beet red.  He smiled again.  God, I loved that smile.  He needed to do it more.

"I…couldn't deal with you ignoring me."

"I'm sorry," he looked at the ceiling.  "I didn't know what to do.  I really wanted to kiss you, Jean, I just was scared."

"I know."

He was adorable, but would kill me if I told him so.  I pulled him back in to kiss again, which he was more than willing to oblige.  We just lay there kissing for a while.  It was odd.  We were in the middle of the cavernous Danger Room.  Thankfully Hank didn't come in.  Or if he did we didn't notice…

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