om_main | Jeanne-Marie and Cecil, Backdated to 4/19

Jeanne-Marie comes across Cecil and agrees to give him a ride into town. She may have gotten more than she bargained for.

Jeanne-Marie had the windows down and the Avett Brothers blaring when she pulled the school car out of the garage. It was a beautiful afternoon and she had nowhere to be, really, but she just felt restless. She wanted to fly somewhere, but she might draw attention, and she just wasn't in the mood for that, today.

So a short drive, maybe to a coffee shop a few towns over where she could sit and play games on her Stark phone. She wished Lucrezia was around to come with her, but--

A dark-headed figure caught her attention, and she pulled up next to him. One of the new boys, and--ooh! His eyes! "Hello," she said when she rolled to a stop. "Are you on your way into town?"

"I was," Cecil agreed, regarding the stranger that had just appeared by the side of the road with nothing but a curious look. "I felt perhaps that I should see more of the area."

"If you'd like a ride, I'm going that way," she said with a little smile. "I'm Jeanne-Marie, by the way."

"Hello Jeanne-Marie, I'm Cecil," he said automatically, before actually considering the offer for a moment. It was quite a walk, from what he'd heard. And a second later, he was sliding into the car with a quick, "thank you."

"Very welcome," she said cheerfully, waiting til he closed the door to start for the gate. "I'd be happy to show you around town. You're the one with the--ah, who sees things, yes?"

"I do," he agreed, "though I would need to know where to look. That's why I was going to go look at things."

One of Jeanne-Marie's eyebrows cocked, but she kept her remarks inside; only a hint of an amused smirk tugged at one corner of her lips. "So, you can only see a place if you've been. That's like Kurt's teleporting, but mostly because otherwise he might end up in--well, a wall, or something, I think." She winced a little.

"Well no," Cecil said thoughtfully, and if he noticed her amusement he gave no sign of it, "with enough description I could probably look somewhere I haven't seen. It does make it easier, though."

This did nothing to stop the tiny smirk, though at least it didn't grow. Jeanne-Marie asked, "If you don't mind telling me--how did you discover you could do it? Did you just want very badly to see something, or was it at random?"

There was a long moment of silence while Cecil considered it. "I don't know," he said finally. "I just could."

"Do you remember what the first thing you saw was?"

"Something in town, I would imagine," Cecil said with a slight shrug. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just naturally curious," she admitted. "And frankly, you make me even more curious. The way you speak, your eyes--your power. You must know how interesting you are?" She grinned and took her gaze off the road for just a moment to shoot him a sideways look.

"Well no, not really." If anything, Cecil managed to look slightly sheepish, though it was a bit hard to tell. "Everyone here is interesting in their own way, aren't they? That's the point."

"Some moreso than others--at least, on the surface," Jeanne-Marie said with a little smile. "I suppose you're right that everyone is interesting once you get past the outermost layer?"

"Are inner layers any more interesting than outer ones?" From the tone of his voice, it was more a rhetorical question than not. "Peel back enough layers and everyone looks the same in their viscera. Most everyone," Cecil corrected immediately.

Jeanne-Marie's eyebrows went up. At first, she was picturing it literally, which was, well, gross. Then she thought about it figuratively. "I think the layers are at their most interesting when compared to each other." A slight pause. Then, just to check. "You mean, ah, figurative viscera, yes?"

"Oh." He thought for a moment. "Well that too, of course."

A laugh bubbled up before she could stop it as they pulled through the gates and onto the winding road to town. "I think most people would rather think of figuratively peeling layers off people," she pointed out. "But as you say, we are all interesting for our own reasons..."

Cecil frowned, just a little, but didn't argue the point. Another one of those things he'd have to get used to now. He did seem to keep tripping over them. "Oh yes," he said instead, voice friendly enough. "Especially here."

She noticed the frown, but kept her own smile. Possibly he was a little, ah, off, or possibly he was just very awkward, but that was all the more reason to befriend him. "And are you finding us interesting enough to keep you from missing your friends and family?"

"Of course," Cecil said, more than happy to be distracted. "I could see them any time I want." If he remembered them, at least, but he had learned that people tended to get uncomfortable when he mentioned that.

Jeanne-Marie almost commented that could be awkward--what if he wanted to see them and they happened to be in the bathroom!--but then decided she'd rather not discuss that with a boy she hardly knew. Instead, she asked, "But you cannot--ah, interact with what you see, yes? You just watch?"

"Just watch," he agreed. "Invaluable for keeping up with people."

"I think it would make me miss them more," she admitted. "To see but not be able to touch or talk." Then she flushed a little, realizing how that might not have been the best thing to say--after it was too late, of course.

"Why?" Cecil asked with some curiosity. "You watch them going about their daily lives. You know that they are well, or as well as they can be in an uncertain world. What more is there to miss?"

"The connection," Jeanne-Marie replied immediately. "The way they respond to you--like no one else of your acquaintance could, because it's particular to them. The warmth of them beside you. The comfort of their presence."

Cecil considered that for a moment. "I suppose," he said, a little doubtfully. Then, like he was aware he might have offended her, "that can be nice as well."

She laughed. He was odd, yes--but also oddly adorable. "It's all right, Cecil, I don't mind if you don't enjoy the same friend activities I do. Maybe seeing is enough, for some. I have been told I am a very affectionate person."

"Well all do our caring differently," Cecil agreed, voice a bit solemn. "In ways as individual as our heartbeats."

"You are very philosophical, Cecil," Jeanne-Marie said, looking pleased with that fact. "You must read a lot?"

"Some," he said a little warily. It was unlikely to get back to the Sheriff's Secret Police from anyone at the school, but it never hurt to be cautious. I just enjoy thinking about things."

"Tell me your favorites," she suggested. She couldn't help it--he was so odd and interesting, but she couldn't figure out exactly how, just yet.

"My favorite what?"

"Subject of contemplation," she clarified. "What do you like to sit and think about--if you don't read? I always need books to inspire me. Or music--even better."

"Oh. Just life, I suppose." Cecil settled further back into his seat with a thoughtful expression. "The vagaries of existence. The actuality of reality. Basic things, you know."

"I think we have a different understanding of the word 'basic'," Jeanne-Marie said with a grin. "But nevermind that--I like it. It would be far less interesting if everyone had the same ideas I did."

And here they were, rolling into town.

Cecil made a sound of distracted agreement, too busy staring intently out the window at their new surroundings. "Oh. Is this the town?"

"Mmm-hmm; Welcome to Salem Center. Here's the boutique--oh and there's the big book shop. There's a smaller one down the street, where Paige works--Husk, you'll meet her." But he'd said he didn't read much, so she moved on quickly. "The shoe shop is there--oh and Empire Records around this corner."

Cecil nodding dutifully along to everything she listed, obviously making careful mental notes for later. It was only when she stopped that he finally turned back to look at her with a slightly sheepish expression. "You must have come this way for a reason, right? I'm sorry if I've distracted you from it."

"It has been very interesting," Jeanne-Marie said with a small laugh, "so please don't apologize. I was actually heading beyond town--I can't spend so much time in Salem Center, since I'm a well-known mutant. I don't want to bring attention to the school."

She wondered about his eyes, actually, but then Remy got away with it in town and people just thought they were contacts. So probably, it would be the same with Cecil. Even if he didn't quite have the charm to pull it off, he was adorable in his own way!

"Bring attention?" Cecil echoed, finally twisting all the way back around to face her. He frowned a little, more thoughtful and confused than upset. "What does it matter?"

"I mean to say: bring attention to the school as a place that houses mutants. I am well known as one, but most of the students would rather not be," she explained, forehead creasing with worry.

Cecil blinked, before giving her an utterly baffled look. "Why not?"

"Ah, mon dieu," she muttered to herself, shooting him a sideways glance. "Cecil, would you like to come get coffee with me in the next town over. There are a few things I should maybe explain to you."

"Alright," Cecil said in the kind of voice that meant he'd probably have agreed to just about anything.

* * *

"So you see," Jeanne-Marie finished her little explanation of the secret mutant situation, taking another sip of her cappuccino, "it's appreciated if we stay quiet about it, for the moment. At least, as regards staying at Xavier's."

"So people don't just...know?" Cecil gave her a slightly confused blink. It was something she may have covered back at the beginning of her speech, but it was a point he was more than a little stuck on.

"Well," she said quietly, wondering at the boy in front of her. His point of view was just so... different. But now it was a challenge, and she had to be sure he at least understood the safety issues. "They know there are mutants, but they aren't sure how to feel about it. So the school is a safe, secret place for us."

The concept of secrecy earned another blink, but Cecil did at least take a moment to work it through. "So it's a bit like being...undercover?"

"Yes," Jeanne-Marie said, eyes lighting up as things clicked. "It's like, when we're out of the house, in one way or another, we're out of cover. If people know what we are, we have to pretend we don't live at the house. If they don't, we have to pretend we're not mutants."

"Odd," Cecil pronounced, but his tone was thoughtful. "What if you can't pretend?"

"You mean, people like Victor and Kurt?" She asked, cocking her head slightly.

"I suppose," Cecil agreed. Considering he had no idea who either of them were, he could take Jeanne-Marie's word for it.

Jeanne-Marie winced. She leaned nearer to be a little quieter. She tucked her hair behind her pointed ear and tugged at it to draw attention. "I mean, people with physical mutations more obvious than our own. Like fur. And scales."

"Oh." He supposed those would be slightly out of the ordinary. At least when they hadn't been given as prizes by the city council. Cecil nodded, rather than trying to explain that one.

"They can have image inducers--holograms to change their appearance to something less noticeable," she said with a frown. "Though I hate for them to have to.

"If they are comfortable being out in public, they can simply go the 'pretend not to live at Xavier's' route."

"Ah, so it's a rule." Rules, Cecil could understand. They seldom made sense and weren't to be questioned.

"Well, yes, it is," she said, a little bewildered.

"Alright then," Cecil said as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "Rules are important."

Jeanne-Marie was torn between wanting to facepalm and wanting to ask the Professor if someone had thought to send CPS to Cecil's family home. But she knew when she was beaten--at least, this time--so she decided to run up the white flag. She smiled brightly. "All right, then--I'm glad you understand.

"More coffee?"

"Okay!" Cecil gave her a bright smile. "I can head back to Salem Center soon enough."

At that, Jeanne-Marie almost did facepalm. But managed to just smile and get the coffee instead.