Title: Hot Chocolate Conversations
Author: Gaeriel Mallory
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Note: For TTH's Fic-for-all #228 – Joyce/Professor Xavier
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Joyce turned when she heard someone calling her name. Unfortunately, she forgot that she was standing near the top of a ladder stringing holiday lights up around the gallery. She starting falling and scrunched her eyes shut, waiting for the painful impact at the bottom. Arms reached out and grabbed her. She blinked, staring into a familiar smiling face half covered by red-tinted sunglasses.
"Scott Summers!" She flung her own arms around him as he set her on the ground. "What on earth are you doing here? Why didn't you call first?"
He shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, Aunt Joyce. We were in a bit of a hurry."
"We?" she asked, pursing her lips. "Am I finally going to meet Jean?"
"Not quite." Still keeping one arm around her waist, he gestured to the man behind him. He was an older gentleman, bald, in a wheelchair. "This is Professor Charles Xavier."
Joyce smiled in welcome and shook the man's hand. "This is a pleasure. Scott raves about you."
Xavier nodded, his lips curving upwards. "As he does with you," he answered with a faint British accent.
"Do you two want to come to my office? We can talk there and I can make us some hot chocolate."
Scott grinned. "With marshmallows?"
She chuckled. "Of course."
She always kept chocolate milk in the fridge in the staffroom, being a big advocate of hot chocolate as a comfort beverage. It was welcoming and she offered it to everyone who visited her at home, even that vampire, Spike, who really was much nicer than Buffy gave him credit for. She showed Scott and the Professor to her office and then excused herself to make the drinks.
When she returned, they accepted the mugs gratefully. Settling back in her chair, she shook her head at Scott in amusement. "Buffy is going to be ecstatic when she finds out you're here. How long are you staying?"
Xavier spoke up. "Not that long, I'm afraid. Though your daughter is the reason we're here."
Joyce frowned. "Why would you be here for Buffy?"
"I'd like to look into offering her a place at my school." He looked at her. "I'm going to speak honestly with you, Miss Summers, since Scott trusts you. My school is one for mutants, which I suspect your daughter might be. I understand that Buffy recently started college but we can work it out so that she can get college credit for courses she takes with us. Or, she could commute from the school; there are several good universities in the area."
She shook her head. "I think you're mistaken. I can assure you that Buffy is not a mutant." She frowned, thinking. "Just where did you get that impression anyway?"
"A couple months ago, I had gotten a letter from one of the teachers at Sunnydale High School. She knew about my school and its special purpose and felt that Buffy would fit in there. She then listed odd occurrences that she had witnessed involving your daughter. Though..." he trailed off. "I have a method that enables me to find any mutant on the planet. For some reason, I was not able to pick up Buffy with it. Yet, given the letter, I wanted to investigate."
Joyce set down her mug of hot chocolate and resisted the urge to laugh. "Mr. Xavier, the reason you did not find my daughter is because she is not a mutant."
Scott jumped in. "Are you sure, Aunt Joyce? I mean, she might just have hid any powers she developed from you."
She allowed herself a small chuckle. "I will admit that Buffy is not normal. I suppose from an outside viewpoint, she might be considered a mutant. She certainly has the qualities of one." Ticking them off on her fingers, "Super strength, speed, reflexes, agility—I think she even mentioned something about a 'spider sense' at one point."
"So she is a mutant!"
She shook her head. "Nope. She's something else entirely. Buffy can explain it to you tonight at dinner. I'll give her a call so that she can come home for dinner rather than eating at the school cafeteria."
Smirking at the perplexed looks on the two men's faces, Joyce picked up the phone and dialed the number to Buffy's dorm room.
--fin--