X-Men 1st Redemptions

88: X-ceptions-1

The day before the visit, Xavier retreated to his study to escape the frantic housecleaning Jean was putting all of the team through.

Jean apparently had the instinct of many women that the house becomes a pigsty once you are expecting company, and even though Shine, Wally, and their new team of helpers had been working on it all week as part of training, she was still determined it would be spotless.

Xavier tried to read and ignore the yelling of:

 "Make sure you do that!"

"Don't play with that!"

"Careful!"

And of course:

 "I was! I was!"

[Sound familiar to anyone else?]

That was when he got a phone call of a most surprising nature.

***

"Shine, Jean says I cleaned the windows wrong," Wally complained. "I did it just fine all the other weeks. I hate doing windows anyway, they're a pain."

"They looked fine to me," Shine said.

"I know, right?!" Wally said. "How much longer do we have to do these chores anyway...I mean, I don't mind helping, but we're doing a bunch of other stuff."

"That's why we're delegating," Shine reminded him.

"Okay, but she's scaring the Morlocks." Wally said. "They're hiding in one of the rooms now."

Shine put down her duster.

"I'll go talk to them," she said. "You finish this, I'm sure you'll do it faster than I would anyway."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I want to," Wally said.

"Think of it as high intensity training," Shine said. "Think how little we're going to mind cleaning our own house when we're back in it, because it's so tiny. Who ever said big houses were better?"

"Not this guy," Wally put his hand up. "But fine. Since you asked me so nicely."

"Please and thank you," Shine kissed his cheek before going in search of the now intimidated Morlocks.

She was still trying to coax them out from under the table they were hiding under when Xavier interrupted.

"Pardon me, Mrs. West, but, I need a word."

Shine got the feeling all people do when they hear that.

She followed Xavier into his study.

She saw Mystique in the corner trying to put a book back, and then freezing when she heard them coming.

Xavier never noticed her, so he must have really been distracted.

Mystique turned into a panther and slunk around the furniture and out the door.

Shine asked herself at what point in her life she'd started accepting seeing things like that as a normal, everyday occurrence.

"Did I do something wrong, Professor?" She asked.

"No, no, quite the opposite," Xavier leaned on his hands. "I just have had a call from Moira, you remember Moira right?"

"It would be hard to forget that, Sir," Shine said.

"Yes...it was concerning Kevin," Xavier said.

Shine sat down. "Is he having trouble again?"

"Not...exactly," Xavier said. "But...Moira says ever since you visited and spoke to him, you and your husband, he has been talking about how what you said to him made sense, and it worked. And now, he has finally asked if he can go and get your help with controlling his powers...he wants to be able to roam around the world freely, and Moira and Banshee's treatment is...well, it's working, but he thinks it is not enough."