Disclaimer: looks around cyber space Think the lawyers would notice if I didn't do a disclaimer? Oh well, old habits die-hard. I still don't own the X-men, nor do I own the rights to "Bouncing Round the Room" by Phish, and if you haven't heard it, find it. I promise it will make you bounce around!
Author's Note: Beware, major fluff is in this chapter!! Okay, the following is a little explanation of exactly how I think Brooke's shifting ability works. If you have any questions/comments, just put 'em in a review and I'll answer in the next chapter.
Imagine you have a human made of putty, and stretched it out until you could form a dragon. That's basically it. The bones and flesh stretches and reforms to accommodate the increased length and addition of wings. The heat they feel before the transformation is their cells expending a hug amount of energy in order to handle the transition. Like a bird, dragon bones are thin and filled with lots of air, which enables them to fly. . When morphed into any animal form, the animalistic side of the human brain has more control than the rational "human" side. (Consider Wolverine even though he doesn't truly morph, but his animal side is stronger than most humans.) This explains why they both tend to get enraged really easy and have to constantly battle against "baser" urges. Using Wolverine as an example again, only he's had A LOT more experience at handling his emotions than Brooke has. (Oh! Do I sense a little foreshadowing in that last comment?)
V.V.V.V.V.V.V
Later that afternoon, Etienne was returning to his room when he stopped outside of Brooke's door. There was a lot of loud music and banging going on inside. He knew from their link that she was in an extremely good mood, so he decided to take a chance and poked his head into her room. What he saw literally had him speechless. She was dancing around her room singing a song whose lyrics oddly enough, seemed to include the words "bouncing round the room" many times. He started laughing uncontrollably, causing her to stop momentarily and stare at him in surprise.
"How long have you been watching?"
He grinned bemusedly at her. "Long enough t' wish I had a camera."
She merely stuck her tongue out at him. "What can I say, I'm happy!" At that point she stood on her hands and started walking across her room upside down.
"Chere, y' okay?" He was getting exasperated because she wouldn't stay still long enough to carry on a conversation.
"I'm fine, why?"
He stepped into the room and shut the door. "Y' acting weird. What's going on?"
She stopped and sighed, looking at him conflictedly. "If I tell, you have to promise not to tell anyone else, and I mean anyone."
He sat on her bed, getting a bad feeling. "As long as y' ain't on drugs o' somet'in like dat."
She rolled her eyes. "That's the problem. I'm not on my drugs."
"WHAT?"
"Oh please, I meant prescription drugs, not the illegal kind." She went to her desk and grabbed a piece of paper. "I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder three years ago. Do you know what that is?"
He shook his head. "I heard o' it, but don't know 'xactly what it is."
She nodded and drew a straight line lengthwise on the paper. She labeled above the line positive, and below the line negative. "Okay, then I'll explain." She drew a small wavy line that used the straight line as its center. "This wavy line represents normal people's emotions. You have small periods of positive and negative emotions that usually last minutes or at most a couple hours." She then drew a second wavy line whose peaks and dips were much bigger than the previous line. "This second line is people with bipolar disorder. Due to chemical imbalances in our brains, we have much longer periods of positive and negative emotions that last hours or at most several weeks."
He studied her drawing. "So y' in a positive period right now?"
She nodded. "It's called a maniac episode. That's why I'm acting so weird in your opinion. There are also other symptoms besides the excessive good mood such as distractibility, restlessness, impulsitivity, and insomnia."
He looked at her. "What happens in de negative periods?"
She glanced down at the ground before returning his gaze. "Appetite loss, fatigue, agitation, trouble concentrating, and severe depression."
"Why aren't y' taking de meds anymore?"
She shrugged and looked guilty. "I ran out and decided to try not taking them. I don't like taking them if I can help it."
"Does de Professor know 'bout dis?"
She cocked her head. "I would think so since he has copies of my medical files and psych evaluations." She studied him. "You don't mind, do you?"
His mind was racing with the information, but he shook his head. "Non. Surprised, but not upset."
She grinned, glad he was taking it so well. "I think I feel some impulsitivity coming on."
"Oh really?" He watched her amusedly, wondering what she was planning.
"Yeah." She grabbed his shirt and pushed him on the bed where he landed on his back. "Definitely." She put a leg on either side of his chest and used her weight to hold him down on the bed. When he tried to grab her she pushed his hands down onto the bed as well. "This could be fun."
"Now dat y' got me, what are y' going t' do wit me?" He was intrigued by her confidence.
She leaned down and grinned. "Wait and see." She slowly leaned closer and kissed him, only stopping to come up for air. "Well, that was pretty good."
"Pretty good? Is dat all y' ..." He tried to act offended but she kissed him before he could finish. "Hmm?" She was sucking on his ear, making it really hard for him to think rationally. He realized she was unbuttoning his shirt and placed his now free hands on her waist, pulling her shirt over her head. She grinned at him and unbuckled his belt to trail kisses down his chest and waist. Both of them were so absorbed that they hadn't noticed the pupils of their eyes had altered. He groaned and rubbed a thumb across her nipple, making it harden to a peak. When he tried to flip them over, she resisted, shaking her head. Leaning down she nipped at his neck. In retaliation he grabbed her and pulled her down on top of him.
"Hey Brooke, would you like to... Oh God, I'm sorry!" Jubilee stood in the open doorway staring with an open mouth at the two, half clothed, on the bed.
Brooke sat up and turned to Jubilee. "Would I like to what?"
Jubilee was now as red as Brooke's hair. "Um, would you like to go swimming with everyone, but your obliviously busy." She started to shut the door.
"Sure, I'll go." She turned to look down at Etienne who was furious for the interruption. "You want to go?"
"I can t'ink o' somet'in better t' do." He frowned at Jubilee, who was studying the floor at her feet.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun. Besides, I'm not the one who forgot to lock the door."
He grumbled. "Not like I had any warning 'bout what y' were planning t' do."
She looked at him with puppy-dog like pleading eyes. "Please?" Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
He sighed, unable to withstand her pleading. "Oui, but y' going t' owe me for dis."
She smiled and kissed him. "I knew there was a reason I love you." She could hear Jubilee gasp in the background. "Jubilee, unless you want to get a peek, I suggest you shut the door." As soon as she heard the sound of it closing she jumped off the bed. "Meet you downstairs?" He nodded and let himself out.
V.V.V.V.V.V.V
Etienne was sitting poolside watching everyone else play in the water. Jubilee had talked Bobby into making a giant water slide formed of ice that all the girls were fighting to go sliding down. It would have been hilarious if he hadn't been absorbed in his thoughts. He kept replaying the events from earlier in his mind. Brooke had kissed him and used the big 'L' word. Did it mean she really cared about him? He couldn't help but think the empathic link they shared was influencing her, or possibly it was the lack of medications talking. He shook his head. That was a whole other bunch of problems that he didn't feel up to dealing with today. The positive periods he didn't think would be a problem. The look on her face when she had described the symptoms of the negative times led him to believe that they were pretty bad. Were they up to handling it? Someone sitting in the chair next to his caught his eye and he turned to see Remy sitting down.
"Bonjour. I heard y' knee is benefiting from a new form o' physical therapy."
"Dat fille squeal louder dan any pig I ever met." Etienne glared at an oblivious Jubilee whose back was turned.
"Oui, but maybe next time y' lock de door, no?" Remy was having a hard time not laughing at the look on Etienne's face.
"I'm not talking 'bout it wit' you."
"Fine, but a word t' de wise, avoid Logan till he calms down. He's a little overprotective o' de femmes."
Etienne groaned. "Dat all I need, 'specially since I can't walk away."
V.V.V.V.V.V
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Special Thanks to my beta reader, who has almost finally caught up with my output! Now if he can only catch up with what I've already written but haven't posted yet!