passion of the mind;

"passion is our greatest sin."Charles Xavier.

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On a regular basis? No, not really. Except Miss Frost, she thought, although she was more of a surrogate mother than anything. Someone she listened to and looked to for guidance, who was teaching her how to survive, just like the cat that took her in when she was an infant. She didn’t always agree—she wanted to focus on fun things, so Missy had to keep her focused—but she knew Missy was looking out for her, and she really didn’t have a whole lot of choice in who she bonded with.

[forethought-and-consequence]

“Are your cards the only way you have to communicate with others?” Charles continued with his questions, becoming more and more interested in Sharon and her situation.

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How much is much? I have to go to the boring classes with Miss Frost, and I couldn’t talk there even if anyone understood me. Then after that, she teaches me and sometimes other people. Then I have to go to sleep, even though sleeping at night is stupid. And even when she’s busy, I get in trouble if I play. Provided, her version of playing resembled hunting more than anything else, but she didn’t understand why that was a problem.

[forethought-and-consequence]

“That doesn’t seem like much at all. Do you have friends? People you get to interact with and play with on a regular basis? Or are you just with Miss Frost most of the time?” His concerns were growing as he now found a way to actually talk to the young girl.

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Sharon nodded enthusiastically. Yes, we talk like this a lot; it’s much easier. I didn’t understand what you said before?

[forethought-and-consequence]

Charles smiled as it seemed to break the barrier, making his job much easier. “Ahh i should have guessed so, it’s much better. I was wondering about your life with Miss Frost, about whether or not she lets you socialize much.”

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Sharon squinted at him, getting a little lost. “Huh?” She placed her cards on the table—the ones Missy called PECS—hoping that they could figure out a way to understand each other. The best thing about Missy, probably, was that when she got too frustrated or something needed to be communicated quickly, all she had to do was think. The cards helped with other people, sometimes, but it wasn’t very efficient or detailed.

[forethought-and-consequence]

Charles looked at the cards for a moment before focusing. Sure the cards were a great idea but maybe it would be easier communicating through thought rather than words for a limited selection of cards. Letting his mind enter her’s once more he began to think rather than talk. “Is this perhaps a bit easier? I know Miss Frost is a telepath too so perhaps she talks to you like this?”

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“Yep!” Most of the time, anyway. It wasn’t like she had a lot of freedom when she was living under Manhattan, but now that she knew the outside was on the other side of the door, staying inside was frustrating. Plus sometimes Missy was way too serious, and she had to use her stupid human form way too much, and although some of the learning was interesting, most was boring, and she missed playing. Well, she liked it better than the sewers, at least, and better than the observation-place Missy said she’d end up if she didn’t learn to control her instincts.

[forethought-and-consequence]

“That’s good.” He let his attention linger on the young girl’s face, his mind dipping into hers a little as he watched her expression. While he believed the fact she was intelligent, her mind was still strongly impressionable. Which only fuelled his worries as to the effect Emma could have on it. While Charles didn’t trust Emma, he did hold a respect for her as a powerful telepath and for the fact she obviously had a strong passion and cared for Sharon. It was her influence he was more concerned with. “Does she let you go out much? talk with other students?”

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“Mmm-hmm!” Until Missy started helping her, she just slept in the halls, or sometimes in Notperson’s room, plus a couple nights in Observation before someone realized she wasn’t on the list and let her out. Since she slept in her cat form, she was plenty comfortable sleeping on Missy’s floor.

[forethought-and-consequence]

“Do you enjoy staying with her?” The professor continued, his attention flitting away from the young girl for a moment before settling back on her and offering her a small smile in an attempt to make her feel a little more comfortable. He didn’t want her to think he was interrogating her when he merely just wanted to soothe his concerns. Sharon was impressionable - and not in the way Emma was.

[goblingreens]

“Well, don’t look at me - I’ve got an alibi.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

“I have a few ideas who it was, you’re one of the least likely. Given your alibi and all.”

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She shrugged. Honestly, she was bored, restless, and still upset that her territory smelled like someone else’s pee. “Well, thank you.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

Charles could pick up bits and pieces as his mind wandered the young girl’s before him but never letting himself delve too deep. “That’s good. You’re staying with Miss Frost, aren’t you?”

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It took her a moment to piece together the sentence based on the words she understood, but she nodded, pretty sure she got the gist of it. “Hello.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

It was good to see she seemingly understood his words, he’d heard about her level of communication and was aware that she had an active mind but when it came to speaking and comprehension things were a little difficult. “How are you today?” He’d try to establish a friendly neutral balance first before the real questions began.

[refusetheflames-archive-blog]

“Precisely, especially if he’s sharing it amongst his friends, which I suspect he is. His power set makes it particularly dangerous, not only for himself, but for those around him.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

“Have you spoken to him about it? I doubt he would comply even if you had but that would be the first step.”

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Sharon nodded. “Yes. Hello.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

Charles offered a gentle smile at the girl, nodding his head a little. “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Professor Xavier.”

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[forethought-and-consequence]

“Pardon the intrusion, you must be Sharon...”

[refusetheflames-archive-blog]

Emma sighed. Where to even begin? “I’m sure you can guess; Julian doesn’t make it a very big secret. He considers himself a ‘high-functioning alcoholic’, which doesn’t leave much room for optimism about his future if he keeps it up.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

A similar sigh left the professor - that boy was quite a handful. “That is quite a concern.” Shaking his head a little with a frown settling on his face, Charles spoke again. “We’ll be needing to put a stop to that as soon as possible, not only is it generally all around bad for him and his health but it’s hardly legal.”

[refusetheflames-archive-blog]

“I haven’t stooped to that level yet. Speaking of alcohol though, I assume Scott spoke to you about my concerns with one of the students?”

[forethought-and-consequence]

“He hasn’t yet, although I can hazard a guess about just which student. Care to enlighten me Miss Frost?”

[refusetheflames-archive-blog]

“Wasn’t me.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

“Luckily enough I believe you, when I do find out however they owe me a very old bottle of scotch.”

[forethought-and-consequence]

“Someone has been drinking my scotch...”

[forethought-and-consequence]

how long has it been since you've had a damn good shag?

I fail to see how that is any of your business.

Too long.