𝕛𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕚𝕖𝕣 (bardcore) wrote in colligo_threads, @ 2012-12-25 22:41:00 |
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Entry tags: | charles xavier, cordelia chase |
Who: Charles Xavier and Cordelia Chase.
What: Help with the vision thing.
Where: Cordelia's flat.
When: Backdated to after this.
Rating: PG.
Status: Complete.
Charles would freely admit that he had little experience with precognitive abilities. He'd never really encountered anyone with such powers in the city beyond Bo and she really was a special case, and most of his interactions with mental powers had been with other telepaths. Still, he was always willing to help a fellow empowered human, however they came about their abilities. And, in his experience, people knew their own abilities better than anyone else could. Cordelia's surprise and confusion at not being able to remember her vision told him this wasn't something that was meant to happen, and that made him want to help more than anything else.
Which was what brought him to the young woman's flat. Her flatmate was still at work, which would give them some measure of privacy, and he figured she would be more comfortable in her own space than in his home. And it would make the whole process easier if Cordelia was at ease. In his experience, someone who was not on edge was less likely to resist his mental presence, particularly if they were aware of what he was doing. He was a little uneasy himself, considering past experiences in the city. He didn't especially want to end up bleeding on the floor again. But that wouldn't stop him from helping Cordelia if he could.
Reaching her flat, he paused a moment, then knocked on the door. The sooner they could get this started, the sooner he could hopefully help her with her vision.
Ever since realizing she'd had a vision that she couldn't remember, Cordelia had been pacing the floor of her apartment while trying to figure out what was going on. She didn't like surprises, when it came to the PTBs warnings of the future, and she sure as hell didn't like her link to them being messed with either. Granted, there wasn't much she could do about it, except try to remember the vision through any means possible, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about what was happening either.
When the knock sounded at the door, she practically ran to the foyer to answer it. She was a touch nervous, not because she was having Charles freaking Xavier read her mind to try and help her with her problem, but because she was having anyone inside of her head. She wasn't a big fan of telepaths, and especially not ones as powerful as the leader of the X-Men. However, desperate times called for desperate measures, and she figured if there was anyone she could trust to go poking around inside of her brain, he would be it.
Pulling the door open, the smile she offered him was barely there and a very poor attempt at one besides. The worry still shone in her eyes, in her body language as well, as she stepped aside and motioned for him to enter. "Thanks for coming," she said, the words much more sincere than the slight grin that had already faded. "This is..."
Cordelia trailed off, offering a small snort of a laugh as she shut the door behind him. "Actually, I don't know what this is. That's the problem, I guess." Absently tucking some hair behind her ear as she turned to face him, she asked, "Do you want a drink or something? Or should we just get started?" It wasn't like she had a lot of experience with things like this. She hadn't been kidding when she said she really didn't like letting people get a glimpse inside of her mind.
The door opened, and Charles didn't have to force the smile he gave Cordelia. He did, however, have to fight against the urge to use one of his genetics-based lines. Though he was perfectly happy in his relationship with Erik, and wouldn't give it up for anything, he could still appreciate a beautiful young woman. And Cordelia was certainly beautiful. Right. He needed to focus on the problem at hand and not flirt with the girl he was supposed to be helping.
He was concerned for her and he really wanted to help, but he honestly wasn't sure that he could. He was going into this whole situation blind, and that could be dangerous where mental abilities were concerned. Still, he had promised to try, and he would do that. He figured he wouldn't be able to access her vision or he would give himself a splitting headache trying. There was always a chance that it would be worse than that, but if it helped Cordelia it was worth the risk. Charles would always be the sort of person to put the well-being of others before his own.
The one thing he noticed, right from the very start, was that Cordelia was singular in that her thoughts were a perfect mirror of what she said, creating almost an echo effect. It wasn't that he was trying to read her mind, but at his level it was hard not to at least pick up on surface thoughts, especially when emotions were running high. He'd never met someone who was so up-front about how they felt. It was refreshing, to be honest.
"It is unsettling to have an ability you know and have come to rely on behave in a manner to which you are unaccustomed," he said with a smile. "I understand completely, and that is why I want to help you if I can." He could not imagine what he would do if he found himself suddenly blocked off from his powers in any way. The closest he could come was that helmet and that had been an external force. To have his own ability turn against him didn't bear thinking about.
"If you don't mind," he said, "I would love a cup of tea." It would settle his own nerves and allow him to focus on doing all that he could to help Cordelia. "If it's too much trouble though, please don't bother yourself." He didn't want to put her out when she was already so uneasy. "So, you've never had something like this happen before?" he asked after a moment. "Have your precognitive powers ever...misfired in other ways?" The more he knew, the better equipped he was to help her recover the vision she had lost.
If it was going to be too much trouble, I wouldn't have offered. The thought flickered through Cordelia's mind a split second before she was offering him another smile. "If it was going to be too much trouble, I wouldn't have offered," she said simply before turning on her heel and heading toward the kitchen with a motion for him to follow her. Gathering what she needed to make tea - grateful she had the stuff about, considering she and Owen were much more coffee drinkers - she thought about his question for a moment, or rather, about how to answer it.
"I've never had a vision I couldn't remember, no," she said first and foremost. There was an obvious lilt of displeasure in her tone at experiencing such a thing now. Filling the kettle with some water, she placed it on the stove before adding, "As for the rest? Talk about your loaded question."
Once she'd turned the burner on, she made her way to the long bar that ran through the length of the kitchen, leaning lightly against it as she began to explain. "My visions started out slowly killing me. Once, someone figured out how to intercept them and turn the whammy back onto me. I'm talking open wounds, gashes, gouges, the whole nine yards. I pretty much became the Elephant Woman, overnight. And then there was the time that someone managed to open the floodgates in my head so that all of the visions started coming through at once, without any sort of filter. That was fun, let me tell you." She shuddered a bit at the memory before refocusing back on the here and now.
"So yeah. I've had issues with my visions before, but it wasn't them going nuts." Which meant this probably wasn't the visions having issues getting through, either. No, Cordelia was willing to bet everything she owned that someone, or something, was keeping her from remembering what she was seeing. The question was whether it was someone who could be circumvented or not. Which was where Charles came in. Once he'd had his tea, that is. Speaking of which.
"Do you want milk or sugar?"
"Thank you," Charles said with a small smile, and he wasn't just talking about the tea. Every time Cordelia spoke, the words exactly what she had thought, he found himself both suprised and delighted. It really was wonderful to find someone who didn't filter their thoughts or put on any sort of front. Cordelia's mind and what she showed the world were perfectly in sync. It was rather wonderful, really, and he couldn't help but wish that more people were like her. Still, he supposed the novelty would wear off if there were.
"Well, that points to the problem being a product of the city," he said after considering the situation for a moment. "Which is more problematic than helpful, since it means I might not be able to do anything to help. If Asaph is somehow blocking your vision, I sincerely doubt he wants me to see it any more than he does you. Still...it can't hurt to try."
"A loaded question?" he asked curiously at her next comment, not pushing any further. She would tell him if she wanted to, and if she didn't it wasn't his business. When she did begin speaking, his expression became troubled. It sounded as though she had been through a great deal, and he couldn't help but be concerned that someone so young had already been through so much. But then he supposed that many people had suffered as a result of their gifts. Cordelia wasn't alone in that. And she didn't seem the type of person to appreciate pity. And he didn't pity her. She was clearly strong and capable and didn't shy away from an ability that could cause her a great deal of pain. He admired that, if he was being honest.
"I would certainly say so," he said quietly when she finished explaining the issues she had faced with her visions. "I certainly don't envy you those experiences. But it does say a lot about you that you've gone through them. Most people wouldn't be able to handle all of that. You're really...quite extraordinary. Still...this situation is troublesome. From what you've said, there's no reason for your visions to be behaving this way, which means we need to find a way to fix it." Once he'd had some tea.
"One sugar and a splash of milk."
Getting the milk and sugar out, Cordelia nodded a bit grimly. "That's what I'm thinking," she agreed with a somewhat frustrated sigh. "Which is totally ridiculous. I mean, who goes to the trouble of collecting a freaking Seer, only to make her visions malfunction? What kind of crap plan is that?" Scrubbing a hand down her face, she turned her attention to the kettle as it began to whistle. For the next few moments, she busied herself with making Charles' tea, talking idly while doing so.
"The thing is, I've had visions here before. Sure, they've mostly been small things - save a local from a mugging here, stop a vamp from munching on somebody there - that kind of stuff. So odds are, whatever I saw this time, if Asaph's making a deliberate effort to intercept it, it has to be huge. I'm talking end of the world, completely apocalyptic, let's all kiss our asses goodbye kind of big." Turning to Charles, she held his tea out for him and offered him a small, humorless sort of smile.
"So trying really isn't going to cut it. If this doesn't work, I have to figure out a plan B." She shrugged. "Even if I have to take on Asaph himself to do it."
Charles took the tea from Cordelia with a nod and a quiet thank you, sipping it as he considered the possibilities. The fact that she'd had other visions in the city made it strange that Asaph might deliberately block this one. And, as she had said, there was no reason for him to bring in a precognitive individual only to block their ability to use their Sight. Which made him wonder if this was Asaph, or something else at work. It wouldn't be the first time that something other than Asaph had caused trouble.
"The only thing I can think," he said, "apart from Asaph keeping this particular vision from you for a reason...which is, as you said, somewhat disconcerting...is that perhaps this isn't Asaph at all. Perhaps there is something or someone new to the city who is affecting your visions in ways that weren't possible in your home reality. It's certainly possible that there are elements of other realities that could affect you in ways that never occurred where you're from. It's just a thought, but it's certainly something to consider."
He frowned, taking a moment to finish his tea before speaking. "But whatever it is," he said, "Asaph or something else entirely, we need to sort it out before it becomes an even bigger problem." He gave her an apologetic smile. "And that means looking about in your mind and hoping it helps." He set down his teacup down and looked back over at Cordelia. "Right then. Shall we get started?"
This was it. Cordelia hadn't been lying when she'd said she wasn't all that keen on someone poking around inside of her head, but the thought of changing her mind on this wasn't something she was even willing to consider. This was bigger than her, and her desire for privacy given the fact that she had a direct line to the PTB in her brain. This was about everyone in the city, potentially, and at the very least about the safety and life of someone. An innocent someone, at that.
"Let's do it," she said firmly as she pulled a stool closer with her foot then sat down. No way was she standing for this. She didn't even like standing when she had a vision, and she'd given up part of her humanity to make it so they didn't drop her like a sack of potatoes anymore.
"Do I need to do anything?" she asked after a second, realizing she had no idea how this was even going to work. That might help, just a bit. Pausing, she tacked on pointedly, "And if you could give me any idea how this works, that might help a bit."
It was entirely obvious that Cordelia wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of him being in her head, and he truly admired that she was willing to ignore her discomfort in order to try to help other people. He really couldn't imagine how difficult it must be for her, having those visions and all the responsibility that came with them. His own ability was trying enough. He would hardly wish for something that put him in a position to be responsible for the welfare of everyone in a crisis.
"All right," he said with a small smile. "Now. Just keep calm and relax. I know that might be difficult but do your best. This will go much smoother if you are at ease. If you can, try to think of your visions and how you feel about them. That will help me to better isolate the part of your mind that they are connected to."
He had no idea how this would work, or if it would work, but he figured that as long as he projected calm and confidence, he would be fine. Closing his eyes, he reached out to her mind, searching until he found the vision. It was unsettling how calm it was at first, and then those...what had he been thinking about? He recognised some of the creatures, and though they were little more than cheesy science fiction in his mind, the reality of them was unnerving. Especially the...had he been thinking about something?
After a long moment, he opened his eyes and looked at Cordelia. "Right then," he said. "Shall we get started?"