NOVEL NEXT Chapter 046 – Home
[2009 – June]
It tore at my heart to see her this hurt and I would have liked to breach the subject of Charles' manipulations more gradually, but those options went out of the window when the Professor asked me to stop protecting Jean's mind.
Placing my hand on her tear-stained cheek, I gently wiped away the wetness with my thumb, holding her tightly as she sat sideways on my lap, her head resting on my shoulder.
“What now?”, Jean whispered quietly and with a lost tone to her voice.
Moving my hand from her cheek, I gently placed it on her folded hands as I asked her softly: "The mansion, do you think of it as your home, Jean?"
“I did.”, she voiced out almost inaudible, as I saw new tears leaving her viridian-shaded eyes.
Leaning down, I kissed away her tears before settling for a tender kiss on her lips, trying to convey my care and affection for her.
“Jean.”, I began, “A place isn't a home, just because you have nowhere else to go. A home is a place you want to return to, even if you can go anywhere else … The mansion, I don't think it ever was your home.”
Looking into her beautiful but sad eyes, I waited a moment for my words to sink in, before I ended with: "But there are other places that could become your home."
"What places?", she asked quietly, still downcast but a bit of light returning to her eyes.
Turning towards the bustling streets of New York at night, I pointed down and replied: "If you want, for example, you can try and find your place amongst them. Or with other mutant organizations, like the Brotherhood."
Turning back towards her, I saw the frown on her face, insecurity and unwillingness in her eyes. Gently lifting her chin and turning her face towards me, I placed a light kiss on her lips before whispering: "Or you can stay with me, and let me be your home."
Eyes widening in surprise while tears started to gather again, I gave her a gentle smile as I lifted my hand to her cheek, softly brushing my thumb over her smooth skin.
"No more tears, my love. I know I am asking for a lot. But if you trust me, I promise to make you happy.", I voiced out with quiet affection, my heart clenching in hurt at seeing her cry.
…
She believed him.
Not because his words sounded sincere, which they did. Or because she knew he was telling the truth, which she did. But because of the look in his eyes.
The conviction and quiet love shining in them almost caused her to lose herself in them as her own heart throbbed painfully with tender affection.
"I do, Elijah. I trust you.", she whispered softly, pressing her lips on his. Longing for an act of intimacy, she decided to give him her everything.
…
It was a few long minutes later that we broke our kiss. We didn't return to the mansion yet, even though I greatly desired to connect with Jean even more intimately.
We sat there on the roof, quietly watching the world move. Jean sat between my legs as her back rested against my chest. My arms wrapped around her waist, as her own fingers were interwoven with mine.
After quietly indulging in each other's presence for a while, I told her what I had planned and where I wanted us to go, as we obviously couldn't stay in the mansion without some serious conflict with the Professor.
And when a few hours later Jean slowly started to fall asleep in my arms, I brought us back to the mansion.
Gently stripping her off her clothes while leaving soft kisses all over her form, I helped her slip into one of my sweaters again, before quickly stripping down myself and moving under the covers with her, wearing only my boxers and a shirt.
With Jean curling up besides me, I wrapped my arms around her as she slowly drifted off into an exhausted sleep.
I, on the other hand, wasn't yet tired at all, my peak human stamina, regeneration, and mind meaning that I needed must less rest than the average human being. I could probably stay up for a whole week at the very least, without any significant performance issues.
Slowly moving upwards, I rested against the headboard and used a forcefield to deliver a book to my hands, before realising that turning on the light might wake up Jean.
Thinking for a moment, I sensed my reserves and found that they had already filled up to a considerable level again, equal to half a Beta-level ability, which equaled about five or six low-level Epsilon abilities.
Hesitating only for a moment, I activated Self-Creation and gave myself Peak Human Vision.
A second later, my eyes seemed to be on fire, pain freezing my whole body for a good few minutes, though I managed to prevent any grunts and cries from escaping my lips while staying almost perfectly still so as to not wake up Jean.
I quietly took a few deep breaths, when the pain subsided a few moments later. Fortunately, I didn't bleed from my eyes or was soaked in sweat this time.
Looking at the book, I realised that it was a school book about the french language, not something I would be interested in normally.
Still, I knew that my mental capabilities were at the absolute peak of humanity and my memory was outstanding, so it would be a waste not to learn as much as I could. Especially languages, as one really couldn't know enough of those.
My newly enhanced vision granted me perfect sight in the dark, so I had no problem reading the book.
I couldn't see it, but I knew my pupils had suddenly enlargened greatly while a soft glow had appeared in my bright-green irises. A glow I could suppress if it was necessary to stay undetected.
Turning page after page, I forgot about time as I multitasked.
One hand was turning the pages and a barrier held the book in the air, while my other hand softly held onto Jean's hand, as she had placed an arm around my waist in her sleep.
Not even two hours later I had finished the book, astonishing myself with my reading speed while having retained every single word of it.
Placing the book back, I summoned another one to my hands, this one a fictional story, and began reading it.
It was only another three books later that I felt ready to sleep. I knew I didn't need to, but I had finally exhausted my mind enough to be able to rest.
And so I slid down and wrapped my arms around Jean, before placing a soft kiss on her forehead and closing my eyes to get some sleep too.