10/25 Issue: Linked at the Hip - Again

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Slarti
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10/25 Issue: Linked at the Hip - Again

Post by Slarti »

Timelined Sunday, April 16

Jamie: Jamie winced as his brain woke up, but he refused to move his body. He had fallen asleep on his stomach to try and not agitate his tailbone, but apparently he had rolled onto his back while sleeping. His breathing was shallow because he knew it was going to hurt more than it did right now to roll back over. But he had to.

Jamie: Before that, though... He slowly moved his arm to try and feel where Jean was so he wouldn't roll on top of her. It was only fun when it was on purpose. Like last night was on purpose. He mentally groaned as some of the aches he was feeling he knew were because he'd forgotten about his injuries.

Jamie: His fingers found hers and he guesstimated the distance before starting the slow, log-like roll, hissing at the pain before he could stop himself. Wrong way! Bruised ribs there!

Jean: Jean was slow in waking up, but had to wonder if either she was hung over or if she had the fucking cramps. A slight movement beside her, and fingers brushing her own and Jean was awake. Oh, ow. "Jamie?"

Jean: Despite her better judgment, her hot boyfriend was good at being persuasive and she'd been thoroughly spent last night. Now, however, she felt like she'd been hit by a bus. Fuck.

Jamie: Jamie grunted in answer, finally having finished rolling over, he was now carefully shifting his weight to and fro to get settled in the mattress again. His eyes were still closed because he refused to open them and admit that the pain was actually reality. He sighed heavily once he finished settling and his head sank further into his pillow, glad of the fact that he could stop moving.

Jean: Jean tried not to shake the bed too much as she slid closer to him, still lying on her side. She watched his face for a moment, smooshed into the pillow, and ran her fingers through his hair. "Told you it'd wear off." She paused to clear her throat and sighed.

Jamie: Jamie sighed again, a bit more contentedly this time, at the feel of her fingers playing with his hair. He grunted again about the block wearing off. "Maybe I should just take some normal painkillers. Then I won't forget I'm hurt and try to break the bed with you." Jamie's voice was slightly mumbly and muffled but he couldn't bring himself to move his head any further to the side. "Was fun though."

Jean: She couldn't help but giggle in agreement, running her nails over his scalp and looking him over. In the morning light, she could see the bruising on his side. "If you want, or I can just, like, half block it, so you can function, but no more sexcapades."

Jamie: Jamie whined, "But I like sexcapades. I'm training for the gold medal!" He finally cracked the one eye that wasn't smooshed in the pillow. "Hiya, Sunshine."

Jean: Jean gave him a bright grin. "Hiya, hot stuff. You're lucky you have a professional training partner then." She smoothed back his hair and ran her hand over his bare back. "But athletes like us still have to have some down time."

Jamie: "I guess that's true," he grinned back. "You're the best training partner ever, babe. No doubt about it." Jamie sent a mental kiss to her so he wouldn't have to move. "So, you can block it partway? Maybe just try a little at a time to see what level I'm able to function with?"

Jean: "You too," she giggled. "You're like... the Michael Phelps of fucking." The kiss made her melt, returning the gesture with a mental caress. So sweet. Jean pushed herself up on her elbow and her own side twinged, "I can do that."

Jamie: "Ha!" Oh, that pulled. Ow. Jamie wrinkled his nose and closed his eyes again. "Awesome. Let's try that then." He took a deep breath, but made sure to do it slowly. But then of course, he needed to yawn. Ow again.

Jean: Jean winced when he did, but sat up slowly anyway, folding her bare legs into a lotus position and resting her hands on her knees.

Jamie: Jamie opened his free eye when she moved again. "You need to meditate to do it only partway?"

Jean: "It takes a little bit more control than just throwing a switch. Don't wanna mess anything up. I like you the way you are after all." She sounded a little distracted while she blocked out the echo of his pain to focus on her early morning naked meditation.

Jamie: Jamie's open eye got huge as she said that and he gulped. "What does that even mean? Could you like, slip and fall in my brain and cause damage?!"

Jean: Wait, what? Jean's eyes popped open and she looked at him. He looked like one of those spooked horses on his family's farm. "No! ...I was just... thinking out loud." Also, still sleepy. She sighed and shuffled closer, her knees against his arm.

Jean: Jean brushed her fingers over his back again to try to calm him and took a deep breath. "I, um, feel it too, so I was just trying to focus through the pain."

Jamie: "Thinking out loud that you don't want to mess me up because you like me the way I am... but you can't mess anything up? I'm confused, babe." Wait, what? She could feel this? "Have you had the link thinger open then? Why would you do that? Don't hurt yourself, Jeannie."

Jean: "It's not the link. Entirely." She stopped and rolled her eyes. "Okay, it's kind of the link, but one of my powers? I don't just get thoughts, I get emotions and sensations and stuff... especially from people I'm close to."

Jamie: Jamie frowned, "Like empathy?" Shit. "Jean, can you shut it off? You shouldn't have to feel this. This sucks."

Jean: "Yeah... it's empathy." Hadn't she ever told him? Surely! Maybe? Well, fuck. "I can't shut it off, but I shield... from most people." Agreed that it sucked.

Jamie: "So then shield from me. Jeannie, please." Jamie crawled his hand along the sheets until he found hers. "I don't want you to have to feel this pain, too."

Jean: "I don't shield from you." Jean took his hand and closed her eyes. Just relax, then we'll talk. Okay?

Jamie: Jamie grumbled under his breath, but did as she asked. He closed his eyes and tried to relax as if he were going back to sleep, but the pain was preventing him from fully relaxing.

Jean: Now, she was actually awake, and she easily found the pain receptors she'd blocked last night and started to build a few light layers of shielding around them. Tell me how it's going. She could tell it was having an effect, but it was his butt, after all.

Jamie: Jamie sucked his lower lip under and tried to think about the pain. It hurts, babe. He wasn't quite sure what else to tell her... It didn't really feel too different. A little, he guessed, but not enough to sit. At all.

Jean: She slowly created more and more layers. I'm sorry, baby. Enough to dull the pain, but not completely eliminate it, since he'd just forget he was hurt and it'd never heal. Better yet?

Jamie: Jamie suddenly felt a bit lighter and squeezed her hand, "Stop." He wanted to test it at that level before she did anything else. He rolled onto his back slowly, carefully, and in the opposite way of the bruised ribs, then pushed to sit up. Jamie winced. It still hurt, but it was doable. Jamie grinned and leaned forward slowly to give her a lingering kiss since he couldn't earlier. "Thanks, Jeannie."

Jean: Jean watched him slowly sit up, head tipping to the side to enjoy the view even if it was bruised. She got to her knees and moved closer to return the kiss, her hand on his cheek. "You're welcome." Making it bearable for him made it easier on her, too.

Jamie: "Okay, now that I can sit like a real person, will you tell me why you don't shield from me? Maybe sometimes you need to?"

Jean: She settled on her heels and took his hand back, pulling it to her lap with both of hers. "Because I don't want to," she started, toying with his fingers. "A-and because to an extent... I can't."

Jamie: "But you sh- what? Can't?" He frowned in confusion. "The only thing I've ever known you to not be able to do is control the bird. Why can't you shield from me?"

Jean: "I've never been able to shield from you. Not completely. Not since..." Her lips twitched in a half smile. "The metal hat."

Jamie: "Well yeah, but you said that you were able to just make it like a lojack kind of thing... right?" Jamie's confused frown deepened, "Is the whole thing still there?"

Jean: "I figured out how to block it, on your end." Jean licked her lips, still looking at his hand. "I couldn't break it... maybe because I really didn't want to, or maybe I just can't. So, yeah... lojack is a good way to put it." But she sure hadn't done it on purpose.

Jean: "Since we've been back together, it's, like, I don't know.... changed? Telepathy is weird, and these things, like, evolve on their own."

Jean: Jean chanced a look at his face. "Am I making any sense at all?"

Jamie: Jamie watched her for a long moment, mulling over everything she had just said. Finally, he brought their hands up to his mouth and gave hers a kiss. "Nope. But I'm not a telepath, so I don't expect it to make sense." He licked his lips, "But I do have an idea. If it's changing and evolving, without you doing it, why don't you just open it back up? Change it and evolve it yourself. My guess is that it's doing it because it's trying to fix itself. So fix it for it."

Jean: Jean stopped breathing for a moment. He wasn't really a telepath, not in the same way she was, so he had no idea what he was saying. Surely not. "You... want me to open it again? Make it like it was? Because... you, um, didn't..." She drew in a shaky breath. "Not that I blame you, since weird..."

Jamie: "Well, yeah... I think it would help. Don't you? But, I didn't what?" He tilted his head, trying to read her face. "What's weird? Jean, you've gotta help me out here."

Jean: "You wanted to wait to see how things went, remember?" Which, smart, but it hurt, knowing he didn't trust her anymore and maybe never would. Jean licked her lips and stared at their hands.

Jamie: Jamie smirked, "Well, yeah... I didn't want to rush things and I wanted us to be able to choose when the link would be opened again. We didn't really have any say in the matter last time because, well, metal hat..." He gave her hand another kiss. "I also wanted to, um," how to put this delicately, "call off some arrangements first?"

Jean: That last bit made her look up at him and try to read his face. No right to be jealous, Jean. "Yeah I did that, too." She cleared her throat. "But I just had... the one." Moving on!

Jean: Jean scooted closer and raised her other hand to his face. "Sooo, you want me to actually, like, reopen it? For realsies?"

Jamie: Jamie made a face at how she took the news, but was glad that she didn't cry or get mad. He leaned into her hand and pressed a kiss to the palm. "For realsies. Unless you're planning on calling this all off? Because then, for fakesies."

Jean: "Um, fuck no!" She shifted and carefully wound her arms around his neck. "You're stuck with me. Hope that's okay with you?"

Jamie: Jamie pulled her to sit in his lap, wincing just a bit as he got her settled. "Jeannie," he gave her a fond smile, "I've always wanted to be 'stuck with you.'"

Jean: "Don't hurt yourself," she giggled, arranging herself to avoid his injuries. "Your wish is my command then." Jean returned his smile, taking a moment to look at him, then kissed him.

Jamie: He snerked at that, "Okay, Jeannie. Now what?" Jamie gave her another kiss and pressed his forehead to hers, "How do we smoosh our brains again?"

Jean: She giggled. "Well, I guess I should put my hair in a ponytail and I need one of those genie outfits."

Jamie: "I have a new fantasy now," Jamie spoke to the air as he stared at nothing. He blinked and looked down at her. "Yep. Definitely need to see this."

Jean: "Well..." Jean pressed their foreheads back together and brushed her nose against his to speak against his lips. "I can make that happen, too, sometime... master."

Jamie: Jamie grinned and caught her lips in a hard kiss. Smoosh first. Master second. But, like, really, second.

Jean: Jean was still giggling when they broke the kiss and she pulled back enough to see him, playing with the back of his hair. "Okay, so, I told you I never broke it." Jean licked her lips. Time to fess up. "I really don't think I can even if I wanted to, just so you know that part..."

Jamie: "Well, that doesn't matter, right? Because neither of us wants you to break it." He shrugged one shoulder, "So since it's not broken, what do we do to re-smoosh? Just... like... break the dam?"

Jean: "Right, I just wanted you to know." Jean mirrored the shrug, inwardly doing a little bit of a dance. "Basically, yeah. I mean, I think. It's always weird, because... brains are weird, y'know? I just... unblock your end and we see what happens. The link should just... be there again."

Jamie: "Then what are we waiting for? Unblock it, Jeannie." Jamie brushed her nose with his and grinned, "I welcome you back into the madhouse that is my brain. Happily."

Jean: Jean returned the grin and closed her eyes. I love your brain. ...which now that I say it sounds creepy. Sorry. She delved into her own mind, easily finding the spot where she'd built Fort Knox around the place that felt like Jamie.

Jean: Every so often during their separation she'd taken little peeks, cracked open a window and then retreated to slam it shut. More recently, she'd unlocked one of those doors to visit. This time, she knocked down the entire wall and felt the barriers fade away.

Jamie: Jamie tried to look inside his brain by rolling his eyes up, wondering what it looked like to her. He felt something similar to the mental gooses she did coming from somewhere other than his shields and he frowned when he tried to figure out what it was. And then she was there. Oh. A slow smile spread on his face and then he started to laugh. "I forgot how weird this felt. But... good weird." I love it and you.

Jean: Jean opened her eyes at his reaction, then gave him a broad grin. "Good weird is good. I love it, too." She leaned in to give him another quick kiss. "You might have your own company in your head all the time, but I just had the bird."

Jamie: That made Jamie go pale, "I'm not... It won't..." He cleared his throat to try again. "No bird in my head right?"

Jean: "No," she said, ruffling his hair at his expression. "No bird in your head, just me." She thought about this, her eyes on the cracked ceiling of his bedroom. "I mean, she's part of me, so in that respect... but not literally in your head..."

Jean: Jean was running through everything she'd learned about the phoenix over the last few years. "Your telepathy isn't strong enough for it."

Jamie: "M-my telepathy... My telepathy?" Jamie choked a laugh and gave her an incredulous look. "Jeannie, is being linked to me again affecting your brain?"

Jean: Her chin dropped and she tilted her head to study him. "Babe, how do you talk to your dupes?"

Jamie: "With my voice, like any other person who can create multiples of themselves. How else?"

Jean: How else? "But not always, right? Sometimes you want them to do something and they just do it." She smirked. "Unless they wanna argue with you about it, of course."

Jamie: "Well yeah, but they're me, so they know what we should do because ... because... They're me?" Why did that feel like a super weak argument?

Jean: Jean just watched him, waiting for him to figure it out. His thinking face was cute, after all.

Jamie: Jamie stared at Jean for a long time, then stared straight ahead, not looking at anything as his mind reeled. Finally, he dumped her off his lap and stood, punching the wall to create a dupe. They stared at each other for a while as Jamie Prime tried to hear what the dupe was thinking. "I can't hear him, Jean."

Jean: The eep of being dropped onto the bed was exchanged for an ooh at the sudden show. The only thing better than naked Jamie? Two of them! Jean kept her eyes on Prime, after a thorough comparison - for science, ofc.

Jean: Ask him something the way you ask me. Just like this. Jean stole his pillow and made herself comfy. Oh, the dupe was checking her out now...

Jamie: Jamie Prime frowned and punched the dupe in the shoulder for looking at Jean. The dupe narrowed his eyes at him and Prime saw his hands ball up into fists. What are you going to do? Create more of us to punch you?

Jamie: The dupe blinked at him and slowly relaxed his fists, but Jamie shook his head. He still couldn't hear him. "Jean, it's not working..."

Jamie: "Yes it is, idiot. I heard you, you just didn't hear me." "...You heard me?!" The dupe looked at Jean and shook his head, "I'm so sorry you're with that version of me and not actually me. You deserve someone smarter."

Jean: "He's plenty smart," she replied, shaking her head at the dupe. "You're just being a jackass about it. He can't hear you because you're just a part of him wandering around outside. He's the boss. Duh."

Jamie: The dupe recoiled at her calling him a jackass, not quite sure what to say about that. Jamie Prime grinned and gave Jean a wink. "So, since I'm the boss, that means you have to do what I tell you."

Jamie: The dupe barked a laugh and started to walk away, "In your dreams." Jamie Prime frowned and told him telepathically to stay but he kept walking. Before the dupe got to the door, Jamie dove over the bed and got close enough to reabsorb him. "Don't want to get arrested for streaking. Also... ow."

Jean: It was always weird to see him do that, but Jean didn't have any room to judge. Giant flaming bird and alien tomatoes, after all. Jean winced when he aggravated his injuries and made a grab for him.

Jamie: "Sorry... about me. And... me?" He moved to lie back down and pulled her with him. "So, he could hear me, which is cool. But I couldn't hear him, so that sucks. And I couldn't make him stop, which also sucks."

Jean: "Nothing to be sorry for," she laughed, happy to lie back down with him for cuddle time against his chest. "Yeah... I dunno. That could just be the limit of your telepathic contact with them, or maybe you can learn to control it better."

Jamie: Jamie grunted his agreement and closed his eyes. "It makes sense now why I was able to get them to all agree on attacking the guards when I was kidnapped. I didn't say anything, but they knew. And none of them wanted to die, so they did it."

Jean: Jean just watched his face as he spoke, her fingers already finding his hair again. "Yeah, you've always had it. It's the only thing that makes sense. Just like... how you could feel what happened to them." She swallowed, moving on from that. "Might be why we connected, too. Like calls to like."

Jamie: "Nah, I felt it because they're me... It'd be like if I cut off one of your fingers. You'd feel it." He caught on to her change of subject and laughed, "I think we're super different in how it works and the strength of it, babe..."

Jean: "Different, yeah, but similar enough. I needed to connect, but I didn't have enough strength to do it until I borrowed it." She decided not to argue with him about his dupes, especially the dead ones.

Jamie: "But you borrowed it from the hat, not from me." He frowned as he studied her face, "Right? I'm not even an amoeba in comparison to your pterodactyl."

Jean: "Now that's a new one for the bird," she giggled, taking in his worried expression. "Okay, yes, and no? I didn't borrow the power from the hat. Cerebro boosted my range, for sure, but it also kinda... well, like I just blew the walls on the block on the link? It, uh, did that. So I borrowed it from... myself?"

Jamie: "Huh. Weird." Jamie shrugged the shoulder that was up and just accepted it. "You're a powerhouse, babe. Hat or no hat." He gave her a lusty grin, "My powerhouse."

Jean: "All yours," Jean agreed, thrilled they were back where they belonged. She closed her eyes to feel him. No barriers, and the only skeleton in her closet - that pink-haired asswipe - was long out. It was a relief. She felt like she was back home again, finally, after a long, painful trip - like to New Jersey.

Jamie: Jamie smiled as he looked at her and brought his hand up to lightly trace her delicate features with his fingertips. He could feel her in his mind. Her joy and her relief. It was like taking a breath for the first time in four years. "I've missed you, Jeannie."

Jean: It brought tears of the best possible kind to her eyes. "That's why I don't shield you out. I didn't want to miss anything else."

Jamie: He gently wiped a tear that threatened to fall from the corner of her eye. "You won't. Never again. Promise."
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