Jean's open, and honest, and easy to read. To Ivy, she's like an open book – fiery temper when she's angry, sudden quiet when she's sad, that uncertain smile when she's confused. And she tells the truth when she's asked, and can't keep secrets even when she isn't asked – she'd tell Ivy anything and everything.
She tells Scott everything, too.
So after the first time, when she sees the realization in Jean's eyes, Ivy leans in and kisses her and uses her powers. Sleep, the chemicals sing their siren song, and Jean slips into unconsciousness with only a flicker of surprise and confusion. When she wakes, she's dressed again, head resting on Ivy's lab bench as though she's fallen asleep mid-experiment, and the supervillain glances up and smiles and says “Have a nice nap, petal?”
And when Jean's brow furrows, and Ivy feels the soft sweep across her mind, she concentrates on the past as she wants it to be remembered – the experiments on the lake water; the long hours of tipping in this chemical and that, heating and cooling; Jean's eyes starting to close, and her head tipping forward until the bench was her pillow and Ivy had begun to think she might fall out of her chair.
A lie – a complete lie, fabricated from nothing but desperation and hope – but Jean makes a face, rubs her eyes, and said “Sorry, Ivy.”
“Don't be silly. There's nothing to be sorry for.”
Later – because she can't keep secrets, can't help but tell – Jean say, “I had such a strange dream,” and when Ivy looks up at her with one eyebrow raised in question, the hero blushes and shakes her head and looks down.
After the second time Ivy's ready, and as Jean gasps and arches up against her, she summons her courage and sends the psychic to sleep again. Another strange dream. Another night of experiments, imagined and boring. And Jean shakes her head, confused, when Ivy asks whether she's been getting enough sleep at night.
And then it's too late to stop, because Jean can't be allowed to remember what happens when she comes to the greenhouse, when Ivy smiles and steps a little too close and Jean reaches for her. So the experiments continue, and they don't make any progress on the lake water, and Ivy pretends frustration and never, never thinks of the way Jean's fingers stroke her stomach and down her thighs, never remembers the sharp intake of breath that means Jean's so very, very close...
Not while Jean's nearby, at least. Not while Jean could read her mind and match the knowledge with those mysterious dreams.
She waits until Jean's gone back to Scott. Jean will always go back, and they both know it.
So once the psychic's stepped out of the forest, once she's started to forget the strange realistic dream, Ivy goes back to her bed, wraps herself in the sheets that still hold Jean's scent, and waits to see if someone like her is still allowed to have her own sweet dreams.
no subject
Jean's open, and honest, and easy to read. To Ivy, she's like an open book – fiery temper when she's angry, sudden quiet when she's sad, that uncertain smile when she's confused. And she tells the truth when she's asked, and can't keep secrets even when she isn't asked – she'd tell Ivy anything and everything.
She tells Scott everything, too.
So after the first time, when she sees the realization in Jean's eyes, Ivy leans in and kisses her and uses her powers. Sleep, the chemicals sing their siren song, and Jean slips into unconsciousness with only a flicker of surprise and confusion. When she wakes, she's dressed again, head resting on Ivy's lab bench as though she's fallen asleep mid-experiment, and the supervillain glances up and smiles and says “Have a nice nap, petal?”
And when Jean's brow furrows, and Ivy feels the soft sweep across her mind, she concentrates on the past as she wants it to be remembered – the experiments on the lake water; the long hours of tipping in this chemical and that, heating and cooling; Jean's eyes starting to close, and her head tipping forward until the bench was her pillow and Ivy had begun to think she might fall out of her chair.
A lie – a complete lie, fabricated from nothing but desperation and hope – but Jean makes a face, rubs her eyes, and said “Sorry, Ivy.”
“Don't be silly. There's nothing to be sorry for.”
Later – because she can't keep secrets, can't help but tell – Jean say, “I had such a strange dream,” and when Ivy looks up at her with one eyebrow raised in question, the hero blushes and shakes her head and looks down.
After the second time Ivy's ready, and as Jean gasps and arches up against her, she summons her courage and sends the psychic to sleep again. Another strange dream. Another night of experiments, imagined and boring. And Jean shakes her head, confused, when Ivy asks whether she's been getting enough sleep at night.
And then it's too late to stop, because Jean can't be allowed to remember what happens when she comes to the greenhouse, when Ivy smiles and steps a little too close and Jean reaches for her. So the experiments continue, and they don't make any progress on the lake water, and Ivy pretends frustration and never, never thinks of the way Jean's fingers stroke her stomach and down her thighs, never remembers the sharp intake of breath that means Jean's so very, very close...
Not while Jean's nearby, at least. Not while Jean could read her mind and match the knowledge with those mysterious dreams.
She waits until Jean's gone back to Scott. Jean will always go back, and they both know it.
So once the psychic's stepped out of the forest, once she's started to forget the strange realistic dream, Ivy goes back to her bed, wraps herself in the sheets that still hold Jean's scent, and waits to see if someone like her is still allowed to have her own sweet dreams.