11/3 Issue: Grey Family Curse

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Esynthia
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11/3 Issue: Grey Family Curse

Post by Esynthia »

Timeline: Concurrent with Issue: Imaginary Fiance

Elaine: Elaine set the phone down on the counter and turned to look at the kitchen. She had to cook something for dinner now. And of course Jean and Jamie had to stay! "Jean! Your sister's coming for supper!" She set to work flipping through an old cookbook and frowning as she paused on various recipes. Maybe they should order out?

Jeannie: Jean was checking her phone for any messages from work, or from Beth babysitting the fur children when she felt Jamie's nervousness ratchet up in the living room. It made her look up and into the doorway until her mom's words sank in. "She's what?!"

Elaine: "She's coming for dinner! I told her you were in town and she wanted to see you!" Sarah was not going to believe the actor being Jean's boyfriend for real. Elaine couldn't wait to talk with her about it! But first.... "Get in here and help me, Jean Anne. Now, please."

Jeannie: "She's coming for - why!?" Jean was immediately suspicious, but she did get up, looking between the kitchen and the front room. Her man was freaking out. OMG, what was dad doing to him?! "Help you what?"

Elaine: "I'm not exactly sure yet. But something! I never get both of my girls in the same place anymore." Elaine grumbled and pulled out another cookbook. "Besides, now is a wonderful time to talk about what I walked in on last night."

Jeannie: "...you told her Jamie was here, didn't you?" Jean went into the kitchen to see her mom with a dusty pile of cookbooks. Wait. "What about last night?" She crossed her arms and stared at the back of her mom's head.

Elaine: "Well, of course I did! She needs to meet him, too, don't you think?" She used a kitchen towel to turn the pages of one of the books. Disgusting. "What do you think?" Elaine glanced over her shoulder at her daughter with a raised eyebrow. "You're a smart girl. Let's see if you can figure it out without my help."

Jeannie: "She's the one who started the total bullshit that he was a figment of my imagination!" She flailed a hand toward the general outside, where she could feel him talking to her dad and trying to not freak out.

Jeannie: Jean moved to lean against the counter to glare more effectively. "So? We're not kids."

Elaine: "He was on the television! What were we supposed to think?!" Elaine pressed both of her hands flat on the counter and took a breath, focusing inward so that she could deal with the current problem. Once she was more calm, she turned the same glare back on Jean. "Jean Anne Grey, this is my house. And in my house you do as I say and you show me respect."

Jeannie: "You could have believed me! He's real! He's always been real! Long before he sent that dupe off and he decided to get all ambitious and show his face on screen, which btw, he was totes not supposed to do!" She rolled her eyes.

Elaine: "Then why didn't you ever bring him home before?! Are you that ashamed of us that you don't want him here? Or is it that you're ashamed of yourself because you knew that you wouldn't be able to control yourself under my roof?"

Elaine: Elaine slammed the book shut and started muttering under her breath. "I knew this was a bad idea. We should have just let you come for one meal and sent you on your way. Spending the night? With a boy?! What were we thinking?"

Jeannie: "He's not some random boy, he's my fiance!" Oh, oops. Oh well! "I am not ashamed of myself and what he and I have. He wants you to like him, but he's nervous, and he's out of his depth and he's doing this for me because I did want you to meet him!"

Elaine: Elaine froze and turned to stare at her daughter. "Your... fiance. Well! That changes things, doesn't it?! Why, yes! Yes it does! Because now I have to feel disrespected by him for two things! Defiling my daughter in my home and not asking our permission first!"

Jeannie: "Permission?! I'm not your belonging! And I'm not fucking defiled! Holy shit, can you even hear yourself? Going into full puritanical mode? So much for feminism, huh? Fuck that shit when it comes to your black sheep daughter, huh?"

Elaine: "Maybe I just want something good for you for once?! Is that so wrong of a mother to want for her child?!" Elaine huffed and brought the trashcan over, scooping the books into it in one sweep of her arm. "Yes, permission! That is the polite thing to do or was being polite one of the lessons I taught you that you killed with your drugs?"

Jeannie: Jean sniffled, taking a step back at the Marie Kondo maneuver. "Jamie is good for me." She reached out to feel him in the link. "You're never going to get it, or even give it a chance..."

Elaine: "Get it? Oh, of course. How could I get it? I've only been married for thirty-five years, Jean. No, of course I don't get it. Pleaaaase, enlighten me!"

Jeannie: "Okay, well, have you had your brain wiped because you're a mutant? How about getting kidnapped by a cult and murdered over and over because your power is duplication and they want you as meat? Or what about Rachel who tried to burn down New York?"

Elaine: Elaine's eyebrows slowly rose. This had nothing to do with what she had been talking about. "Jean," her voice was steady now, but still authoritative. "You know that is not what I was talking about." Her niece's stunt was never what she was talking about.

Jeannie: "Then what are you talking about? When I tell you that you don't understand it's because it's true and mutants live in a different world than the rest of humanity." She was sniffling back tears now.

Elaine: "I'm talking about being taken care of! Love!" She sighed, exasperated, and leaned against the opposite counter, shaking her head at Jean. "Someone who shows you and your family respect and takes care of you in ways that you don't even know you need. Mutant or not, that is something all living creatures need."

Jeannie: She sniffed, brushing at her eyes. "He does take care of me. I love him, I always have, and he loves me. We wanted to do things right, to try to follow tradition.. he gave me this." Jean held out her left hand, wearing her ring.

Elaine: Elaine gave her daughter a smile and took her hand to look at the ring. "It's lovely. If a little dark." If this was the way things were then she could at least try to get into a happier mood. "How did he do it?"

Jeannie: Jean didn't trust her mother's sudden change of tone, but she let herself smile a little, looking from the ring to her mom and back. "He used this to ask me to marry him years ago, before... before." She used her free hand to brush under her eyes. "I told him no."

Elaine: She turned Jean's hand this way and that so that the stone caught the light. "Are you sure it's real?" She glanced up at her daughter with just her eyes, then looked back down at the ring. "It does say a little something about his strength of character that he didn't let that deter him, I suppose."

Jeannie: Jean's mouth dropped open. "It's real!" Wasn't it? They had been young and Jamie was... well, Jamie. Anyway! Offended now! "Jamie's stronger than anybody ever thinks he is, including me. At least, back then."

Jeannie: "He gave it to me when we got back together, because he said it'd always been mine, even when I didn't want it." Jean felt another jolt of nerves from him outside and looked toward the window. "But he used it to propose again when, um, that crazy guy with the white suit on the news got us..."

Elaine: "He proposed under duress?! Dear, I'm afraid that doesn't quite count." She held Jean's hand between both of hers and gave her a tight smile. "But I suppose if you believe it does, then that's all that matters. Seeing as how you never listen to me anyway."

Jeannie: "It counts. He wants to redo it, to make it a better memory for us." Jean jerked her hand back. "I can't imagine why I'd listen, since you think everything I do is wrong."

Elaine: "At least that's something then." Elaine crossed her arms and leaned against the counter again. "Not everything, but certainly some things. I have done my best to try to raise you right and I'm not sure why Sarah turned out the way she did and you turned out the way you did. The two of you are so entirely different, yet we raised you the same!"

Jeannie: Jean looked down at her ring and straightened it, holding her hand against her chest. "Maybe because we're different people? Maybe because she's the favorite since she turned out right and I didn't?" She gave a bitter laugh. "Or maybe just 'cause I have the Grey family curse."

Elaine: "I don't play favorites, Jean Anne Grey! You're just more difficult to deal with." She frowned and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "Why do you think we were so upset when we found out that you were a mutant, Jean? Do you really think it's because we have a problem with them?"

Jeannie: "Don't you?" Jean further wrapped herself up in her own arms, wishing Jamie was here. "You couldn't wait to ship me off to get me cured."

Elaine: "Of course not!" Elaine's frown deepened. "We love you very much! We just didn't want you to have some of the problems that we know come along with it." She sighed heavily and let her arms fall to her sides. "Your father and I want the best life possible for you and we knew being a mutant would make it harder than it had to be."

Jeannie: Jean's eyes were on the edge of the counter instead of her mom now. She knew she was telling the truth, but it was still hard to accept it. "It does make it harder... but it's part of me, and it's not all bad."

Elaine: "Tell me how it isn't bad, Jean? Besides meeting Jamie, I mean. Because all I see is you getting harmed over and over again."

Jeannie: "That... that part definitely sucks." Jean sighed and scuffed her foot against the floor. "But maybe I can help it not suck for other people? And my powers themselves are... mostly awesome." She looked up at her mom with a small smile. "I can fly, and we have a - me and Jamie - we have a telepathic link. So it's like we're together even when we're not."

Elaine: Elaine frowned, confused by all of this. "Doesn't that make the two of you co-dependent on each other? I want you to be an independent woman, Jean. Not someone who needs a man."

Jeannie: "Kinda, before, but I don't know that it was in a bad way." Jean echoed the frown. "I don't need a man, I need Jamie." Wait.

Elaine: "Mmhmm." Elaine's arms crossed again and she arched her eyebrow with a knowing smirk plastered on her face. "As glad as I am that he has a penis, dear, that does indeed make him a man by definition of the gender."

Jeannie: "I knew you'd like that much," she snapped. "What I mean, is that I don't just need some random person. I'm not his belonging any more than I'm yours, because I belong to myself, tyvm, but I want to be with him."

Jeannie: She shrugged. "I don't know what else I can say. What you want me to say... I love him, and I'm... better when I'm with him. Like, he makes me want to be a better person..."

Elaine: That was unexpected and Elaine surveyed her daughter critically for a moment, letting that
last bit sink in. "And do you feel like you're becoming that person? Do you do the same for him?"

Jeannie: "I think so - I hope so." She looked up at her, sensing the surprise.

Elaine: "Then I guess that's all I can ask for. For now. I do expect grandbabies, though. Just FYI." Elaine gave her a small smile and spread her arms for Jean to come give her a hug if she wanted.

Jeannie: Jean's own surprised smile fell quickly. Jess said it might help, after all... "Mom," her hand moved toward her stomach and she stopped herself. There was no easy way to say this. "Um... I was... pregnant." She swallowed. "I lost it."

Elaine: "Oh! Oh, baby..." Elaine closed the distance herself and wrapped Jean up in her arms, gently pushing her head to lie on her shoulder. "Yet another thing I wish I could protect you from."

Jeannie: Shock made her stiffen up for a second, but then she returned the hug and the tears she'd been fighting during this entire awkward conversation came. "It was the psycho who kidnapped us," she sobbed, babbling it all out now. "He took our powers, did all kinds of messed up shit to us... Jamie saved my life, but we couldn't save our baby."

Elaine: "Shh. It's okay, Jean. It's all going to be alright. You'll honor your baby by living for her. I know you will." Elaine rubbed her back and leaned her head against Jean's. "The 'psycho' will pay for what he did to you, peanut. He will get his in the end, I promise you." She held her tight and fought her own tears. "Remind me to thank him for saving my little girl later, hmm?"

Jeannie: "Jamie killed him to save me," she sniffed, clinging to her mom and hiding her face - and snot. "So he's messed up from killing someone and I'm messed up from losing the baby, but we're trying. We're trying to live for her, and for us, a-and to make sure o-our future kids have safe, happy lives."

Jeannie: It made her choke a little on a half laugh. "Please, try to get to know him... we just want to live, and have a family, and be as normal as we can."

Elaine: Elaine took a deep breath. "Okay, baby. Okay." She held Jean and whispered comforting nothings for a bit as she mulled over their entire conversation. "Future kids?" She smiled a little and jostled Jean some to try and get a laugh from her. "Glad a little murder of a psycho hasn't turned you off of giving me grandbabies."

Jeannie: She knew what she was doing, but she smiled a little, still clinging. "No, lucky you. We're definitely still planning to have kids..." Unless his powers or Arcade's fuckery had ruined that for them, too. She sighed, feeling Jamie's mood outside change for the better. "At least they'll be pretty babies."

Elaine: "The prettiest babies. So long as they all have your hair. What is that mop that sits on his head anyway?" Elaine didn't plan on letting Jean go any time soon, either, so she was just fine with the clinging. "Have you tried to sit on him and fix it for him?"

Jeannie: She giggled, sniffling at the same time. "I have, actually. I fix it all the time! It's untamable." Jean grinned. "He agrees, my hair. I think they need his pretty eyes though."

Elaine: "Your eyes are just as beautiful. I wish I could say they came from my side of the family, but since Rachel had the same ones, they very obviously came from your father's side." Elaine turned her head to kiss Jean's hair. "Whatever they look like, I will love them all the same. Even if they wind up with the quote, Grey curse."

Jeannie: "They probably will, since we're both mutants..." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Thank you..."

Elaine: "My sweet, darling angel, you do not need to thank me for loving you. We may butt heads some." Elaine paused and thought about that for a moment. "A lot," she corrected. "But you will always be my baby and I will always want what is best for you."

Jeannie: She'd snorted at the some. "A lot," she agreed with a laugh, raising her head to look at her mom. "He's it, mom. Jamie's... my person." She smiled a little at stealing his phrase.

Elaine: "Then, I guess I have nothing left to do but bite my tongue and let you choose to be with him." Elaine used the corner of her shirt to dry Jean's tears, then reached for a paper towel for her nose, all without letting go of her daughter. "My little bird really doesn't need me anymore..."

Jeannie: "I'm more of a giant fire bird..." Jean smiled at the fussing and took the paper towel. "Of course I need you." She sniffed. "I love you, and dad..." She bit her lip. "I just... wasn't always sure you loved me. Was angry, and... bitchy, and... salty."

Elaine: "My darling child, where did you think you got that attitude from?" Elaine grinned and brushed Jean's hair from her face. "We both love you. Very, very much. And if you love Jamie, then okay."

Jeannie: Jean laughed a little and wiped her nose. "Not from dad..." Oh yeah. She looked at the window again. "You didn't tell dad to scare him off or anything did you?" She was mostly joking since she wasn't getting any alarm bells from him.

Elaine: Elaine laughed, "Of course not! What your father does out there with him is none of my doing. Is he dead yet?"

Jeannie: She narrowed her eyes for a moment, checking Jamie despite herself. "He's fiiiiine," she said, finally laughing. "You know Jamie asked me if he should expect a shotgun and I tried so hard to sell you guys as cool liberal parents."

Elaine: "You think we're cool? Where's your father? Why is he still outside? He needs to hear that!"

Jeannie: "I think you're not from the middle of Kansas," she shrugged. "He's outside to scare my fiance. Duh." Which totally wasn't working anymore since Jamie seemed... happy? Wow. Yay!

Elaine: "If we were from the middle of Kansas, I would probably want you to do your," she waved her hand at Jean's head, "thing... That you do."

Jeannie: Jean's brows went up and she mimicked the wavy thing. "Which thing?"

Elaine: "With the forceful forgetting. I would hate to be from Kansas." Elaine shuddered at the thought.

Jeannie: "Forceful forgetting?" Jean snorted, then laughed. "You should thank Jamie for talking me out of doing that to both of you last night."

Elaine: "You wouldn't dare!" Elaine feigned being shocked. "In all honesty, I'm surprised you didn't." The smell of sex in her daughter's room was still easily recalled and Elaine wrinkled her nose at the unbidden memory.

Jeannie: "Soooo tempted." Jean wasn't great at reading members of her own family, something Jess suspected was more of a mental ick blocker than anything else. Unfortunately, she picked that one up. "Yeaaaah, I probably should have..." Her own nose wrinkled. Awkward.

Elaine: "I'm glad you didn't. In a sense. I don't think I would be a fan of having my brain messed with." Elaine still wasn't a fan of the memory, but it was her memory, and hypnosis or forceful forgetting be damned!

Jeannie: "Plus now you can hold it over us for the rest of our lives," she said with a nod. Mothers were great at that.

Elaine: "I would sooner just pretend I never smelled anything and that you didn't have sex under my roof, tyvm." She grinned at Jean, "Did I use that right? Tyvm?"

Jeannie: She choked a bit on a giggle. "You did! You get a star! And please, like you believe I never had sex under this roof before. At least now it's with my fiance."

Elaine: Elaine's eyes went wide and her face blanched a bit. "Jean Anne Grey, you had better tell me that you just lied to try and get a reaction from me."

Jeannie: Jean gave her mom the slowest of slow blinks. Her eyebrow cocked.

Elaine: Oh dear. She wasn't lying. Elaine closed her eyes and took a shallow breath. "There are some things a mother doesn't want to know, peanut."

Jeannie: "I just always assumed we were playing that game where you knew and I knew that you knew and we pretended like we didn't know. You know? At least they were boys?" She shrugged and laughed. "I swear to God I didn't mindwipe you."

Elaine: "I know you didn't mindwipe me. But do you really have to say it out loud?" She had hoped that she had been wrong in her motherly intuitions. Alas.

Jeannie: Jean put on an enormous shit eating grin. "Maybe you just imagined I said it out loud then?"

Elaine: Elaine narrowed her eyes at Jean for a moment and then pulled her into another hug. "Said what out loud?"

Jeannie: "What?" Wait, had she mindwiped her? No? No. Jean relaxed and returned the hug.
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Remy: he feels lust for everyone
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