1/30 Instance: It's All in the Mind

[Slarti]

Timelined a few hours after In from the Cold

<Hope> It had been rather satisfying to work with Sebastian on a project. Maybe she was an engineer after all. She had abandoned him when it was decided they should both get cleaned up. Showered and dressed, Hope had her makeup on and was dancing a bit to her music as she put curl in her hair. "All about that bass, bout that bass..."

<Shinobi> With breakfast over and Jess with Miriam, Shinobi was left alone to exchange an awkward good morning with his father and was relieved when the man left him alone. Upstairs, he could hear movement, and music. He made two cups of coffee, taking his time.

<Hope> She continued to sing along, spinning slowly as she moved her body. She inspected a curl, and once satisfied, picked up the iron to curl another piece. It was strange. She had that giddy feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite place.

<Shinobi> Shinobi stopped to look out the window at the swirling snow, then went up the stairs to her room. He considered balancing the mugs to knock, and then decided he'd try something. Hope?

<Hope> The curling iron fell to the ground as she let go of it, shouting and jumping out of the way so it wouldn't land on her foot. What had just happened? She checked herself and no, no she wasn't using Sebastian's power but she had just heard Obi in her head. Obi?

<Shinobi> "Are you okay?" The crash made him move closer to the door to listen. Yeah? Are you okay?

<Hope> Oh he was at the door. She picked up the curling iron and set it down on the counter before moving to open the door with a smile. "Obi! With coffee! Wow you get me." She grinned, making room for him to come inside.

<Shinobi> "Well, you do like coffee," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and realized she looked great, and he looked like he'd just gotten out of bed, which he had. Coming inside, he offered her a cup with a grin.

<Hope> She grinned back at him, taking her cup and leaning in to kiss him softly. "I think you look great too."

<Shinobi> "I have really bad shields, don't I?" He laughed and returned the kiss, the gesture making his chest ache.

<Hope> "Actually... I'm not sure." She chewed her lip, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "Something is just... off. I didn't think I had anything active when you contacted me." She took a slow sip of her coffee, savoring the flavor.

<Shinobi> "Really? But... I thought your power was to use other people's powers, and that was it." He joined her on the bed and took a sip of black coffee. This was his second cup, and his headache was finally gone. "Not that it isn't very impressive," he amended.

<Hope> "I thought so too..." She took another sip. "Of course it's impressive," she smirked. She was targeted for her power after all. "Maybe I'm just comfortable and don't notice? Here hit my arm. See if I absorb it."

<Shinobi> He looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "What? I don't want to hit you."

<Hope> "It's not like you're beating me, it's just to test the power."

<Shinobi> "Hope..." His laugh was short and nervous. "No... I don't... I can't hit you." Looking away from her and into his cup, he rubbed his hand over his mouth nervously. "I don't hit women, unless they're trying to kill me or something." Or, unless he'd been ordered, he reminded himself.

<Hope> She sighed and handed him her coffee cup. "Fine. Hold this then."

<Shinobi> "What are you doing?" He was suspicious, but he took the cup and set it on her nightstand. After a beat, he put his own down too in case she did something... rash.

<Hope> She kissed his cheek with a thanks and got up, looking for something to punch. "Going to punch something..."

<Shinobi> "What?" His nose wrinkled in confusion and he just stared for a moment, then he swatted her ass – hard.

<Hope> "Hey!" She called out, looking at him funny before laughing at him and plopping back down, head resting on his shoulder. "Thanks, but we have a problem now. I didn't absorb that. But I am still picking up things I shouldn't. What the hell?"

<Shinobi> "I half expected you to punch me," he laughed, pulling her closer with an arm around her waist. "So... what does that mean?"

<Hope> "It means... I don't know." She admitted. "My powers grew... Maybe I latched onto one too tightly? Absorbed it?"

<Shinobi> "So just telepathy?" He knew secondary mutations were possible, of course. He probably knew far more about mutation than she wanted to know, considering the source.

<Hope> "Okay, so how does that work?" She asked, looking over at him. Maybe she should call Maximoff. He knew a lot about that stuff.

<Shinobi> "Telepathy? Wouldn't you know?" Confused, he bent to look at her.

<Hope> She wrinkled her nose at him. "Secondary mutations. I know how telepathy works. But usually I can just hit the mental off switch."

<Shinobi> He smirked and let his gaze linger on her face. "I'm going to have to be careful what I'm thinking now, aren't I?" That nose was cute. "They're... unpredictable. They can be related to a primary power, or something completely new. And the term secondary is kind of inaccurate, since there is no real limit on how many powers can pop up."

<Hope> "Maybe just a little careful... Until I get used to this full time nonsense." She leaned up and kissed his nose. "I can't say it doesn't make sense. I can read powers... Why not minds?"

<Shinobi> "Yeah... maybe you always have, just at a more instinctive level, since you need to be able to read the instructions in order to use the powers you borrow..."

<Hope> "I'm not sure if I'm excited about this or worried." She admitted softly, resting her head against his cheek.

<Shinobi> "You'll figure it out." He closed his eyes, thumb tracing small circles on her side. "You can experiment on me, if you want, and I'm sure Sebastian can help you."

<Hope> Sebastian's warning echoed in her mind. She weighed the consequences and smiled, nodding a little. Thank you, Obi.

<Shinobi> You're welcome, Ariel. He leaned against her a bit more. Our coffee is getting cold...

<Hope> Smiling, she kissed his cheek. Cant have that. Will you pass me mine?

<Shinobi> He picked up her cup and passed it over, then took his own. Have you looked outside? Realizing something, he pictured the image of the street he'd seen on his way up to see her.

<Hope> "Real legitimate lots of snow?!" She half squealed, abandoning him to go look out the window. "Oh this is beautiful!" She sipped her coffee, grinning. i guess we won't be going anywhere anytime soon. This looks intense.

<Shinobi> Shinobi got up to join her, working his arm back around her waist. "We were watching the news... it is intense. We might get three feet of snow."

<Hope> Her head dropped gently onto him, grin still in place. "It feels like Christmas. I got you and snow all in twenty-four hours." She took another sip, sighing contently.

<Shinobi> The sentiment made his breath hitch just a bit and he hoped she hadn't noticed. "I know just what you mean."

<Hope> She glanced up at him, smiling more. "Yeah?"

<Shinobi> "Yeah, definitely." He managed to look down at her, his own grin spreading.

[Svartfreja]

Jess and Hope can be inconveniant-secondary-mutation buddies!