Realm of the InterNutter

Continued from yesterday:

  “Huh,” said Logan as the machine rose perfectly and with more than a hint of grace. “How ‘bout that…" 

  Todd grinned like a bastard. He could *do* something. He was *worth* something. 

  Wow. 

  He shouldn’t have said it, but he was feeling cocky. "Y'got anythin’ else, yo?" 

  "Garage,” said Logan, leading the way. 

  It was a long walk without many hints of daylight. “Hey, yo&

Continued from yesterday:

  Scott was slightly unnerved by the presence of Todd in the back seat, but he gritted his teeth and put up with it, much the same as Jean put up with the slight over-crowding of the car. It was over soon enough, with various passengers leaping, bamfing and phasing out as quickly as they could. 

  “Treefrog,” said Logan, by way of greeting. 

  “Where’s Sara? Is she okay? Does she need anyth–" 

  "

Continued from yesterday:

  Jean fell into her seat and buried her head in her arms. “Do me a favour,” she whimpered. “Kill me quickly and mercifully before that little Wiltshire bitch turns up again…" 

  "Bad day at the office?” said Kurt. 

  “What happened?” said Scott, radiating concern. 

  “Sara happened,” Jean wailed. “I have a hole in my sleep cycle that’s miles wide, a huge frigging project to complete,

Continued from yesterday:

  Rogue, after a pint of Ben and Jerry’s best concoctions, retreated to snatch a few more hours’ sleep while Sara finished putting the kitchen in order. She’d asked a few almost-rude questions, which Sara had answered with her usual skewed logic, leaving the Goth more confused than when she’d started. 

  And now it was only a few minutes until dawn. 

  Sara crept back to the room she shared with Jean, divesting herself

We are now at the halfway point. Yay.

Continued from yesterday:

  _Just give her a chance,_ Jean told herself. _She’s nice to everybody else, and it’s not my fault that her mother uses my name as a weapon. Just be nice and polite and try to get along._ 

  Sara was using her dresser as a study desk, having liberated one of those posture stool/chair thingies from somewhere and scratching some notes into a book. A book which

Continued from yesterday:

  There was a clearly delineated border between Sara’s space and Jean’s, even before the piles of Sara’s things had completely been moved in. That line was both clearly visible and sacrosanct to Sara. Even in the depths of yet *another* mood swing, she stayed on her side of the invisible line. 

  Todd held her close and brushed her hair, adding the occasional kiss to reassure her that at least *one* person valued her

Continued from yesterday:

  Some things were easy. Underwear drawer, take out and tip wholesale into box. T-shirt drawers, remove and follow a similar plan. Four or five times. Squish, seal, stack. Onto the next box. Socks, nighties, dressing gown, towelling robe… and from her wardrobe, three long garment covers, where her work clothes - the only three dresses she used - usually rested. Lather, rinse, repeat. Her hidden workbooks - essential for her sanity and sorted by date - went under

Continued from yesterday:

  “Ah. Jean." 

  Jean Grey froze when she heard the Professor’s voice. She could sense that he wanted something from her - a useless intuition, given the tone of his voice - but his shields wouldn’t permit further prying. At times like this, she really missed the Norms. They rarely had any kind of shielding. She turned and put on her best smile. "Yes, Professor?" 

  "We need to have a talk

Continued from yesterday:

  Sara squeezed back, and chuckled softly. “It’s okay. If I disappoint, at least there won’t be unpleasant consequences.” It wouldn’t matter to strangers how remedial she was, so long as she had powers for them to focus on. But it *would* matter to her. 

  Todd seemed to pick up on this well enough. “Yo intelligent no matta *what* some piece o’ paper says. Dunno why people made those tests