2014.02.02 - Red(head) Alert!

Jean has been through quite a lot in the last few years, but to the original X-Woman things have never been so good. Touching the Phoenix was been a terrifying experience, of course, but there was something profoundly liberating in feeling the power of Life in the palm of your hand. As such, Jean has been acting more lively, less strict, being more honest with herself and not being so much like the woman people expect her to be.
Right now she has invited her daughter-from-another time to a day just ofr herselves, movies and food, shopping and talking. As they walk by the streets of Metropolis the older redhead smiles widely and looks about interested, peering at her daughter with a grin.
"How have you been, Rachel? How has our time been to you?", she asks with a tilt of her head brushing shoulders with the other girl, jovial.
 
Rachel, for her part, is more than happy to get out of the mansion for a time, and jumped at the chance when it was offered to her. The last mission she took part in didn't go quite as well as she might have hoped, so a day away from being an X-Man doesn't go amiss. Particularly when the invitation comes from Jean. Having seen her not-quite-mother wield the powers of a God not too long ago, she'd wondered if the person she'd come to know could ever be the same.
As it turns out, she needn't have worried.
Any hesitance or wariness that Rachel might have been showing to begin with quickly ebbed away, and by the time they reached the city, even her mental shields have faded noticeably. Jean should be able to feel, as well as see, how relaxed Rachel is, how much she's enjoying herself. How much she needed this.
"Lately?" She replies, a bit of a smirk curving her lips. "Maybe you shouldn't ask!" She shakes her head, knowing that's not particularly fair. "Kwabena introduced me to roller coasters, live music and... whiskey." Rachel's expression turns rueful. "Two out of three's not bad, I guess." Her eyes stray to the mannequins in a shop window. "But Kitty..." Rachel drawls, "She introduced me to shopping." Rachel tilts her head toward the store. Still slightly asking permission, despite the narrow age gap between the redheads.
Jean looks light, and recently she seems more alive than ever, never wasting time on small matters or just idlying about. As such, when she goes out with Rachel that energy is almost palpable, and hugging the other redhead around her shoulders, pulling her close to kiss her temple not in a matronly way, but in an excited way. She really likes having the other woman around, even if they look like sisters more than they do mother and other-dimension-daughter, which draws a few gazes.
"Whiskey, roller coasters and live music... Yes, those pare some nice things to know about our time. I was reading about something the other day, and I was wondering... what do you think about surfing?", Jean asks as if they were talking about boys, the most trivial things still new to the woman in a process of rebirth.
And then her eyes follow Rachel's to the store, quirking a brow at the other girl and shaking her head "I just know you didn't ask me for permission to go inside. Rachel, please.", and she goes in, taking the other girl's hand and walking them inside, interested.
 
Rachel can't hide the flare of surprise she feels when Jean draws her close, and kisses her temple. But equally, she can't hide that she's pleased, either, and she has to give up on trying to keep the grin she's wearing off her face. It's not her Jean. It's not the same relationship. But it's still /right/. Now she just has to get used to it.
She tilts her head curiously at Jean's question, her steps slowing a bit. "Surfing?" She knows what it is, of course. She'd just never thought... and that's another mindset she needs to lose, she decides wryly, and replies instead. "I think... I could give it a try." Why not? This time has endless possibilities, after all. Her whole life doesn't have to be aimed at stopping her future coming to pass.
Rachel actually bites her bottom lip as Jean shakes her head, then looks scandalised when she realises she's done it, and shakes her head with a laugh. "I'm getting better!" She protests, allowing Jean to tow her inside. And since she's throwing caution to the wind...
"OK. OK. I'm all yours. Find me something."
Jean does notice Rachel's small reactions, and it's strange how she mimics them without noticing, her green eyes focusing on the time traveller's bitting on her lower lip and doing the same before winking at her quasi-daughter and walking in, excited.
Once inside the older redhead smiles and looks around, arching her brow at the manequins and the clothes they wear. At first she thinks none of it, still reeling from the positive vibes Rachel is giving her. As an attendant comes to meet them, a young, bubbly blonde, Jean hugs her daughter from behind, embracing her tightly, and proping her chin on the woman's shoulder.
"Heya, welcome to Tiffany's! I'm Giselle, going to be serving you guys! Ohmigod, you are so cute together! Are you sisters?!"
Jean squeezes Rachel softly and starts off with a grin "Ooooh... yeah. We are. I look more like mom, though! So, Giselle... what's hot nowdays?". Jean even does the quotation mark signs when she says 'hot', so in the known that she is. As Giselle holds a finger up and goes to fetch them clothes, Jean disengages from Rachel to look about, hugging herself, smiling widely.
 
For all the progress she's made adjusting to this time, Rachel's still a stranger to it in some ways, conscious of her unfamiliarity and uneasy when she puts a foot wrong. But with Jean, it doesn't matter, and when the other redhead bites her lips, too... the tension that was lingering in Rachel dissipates, and she relaxes fully.
Rachel, too, gets lost for a moment as she looks around at the outfits on display. It's safe to say that Kitty has ruined her for living the lifestyle of a guerrilla fighter forever, because Rachel's already making a mental list, before she's distracted by the arrival of the shop assistant - and then almost yelps when Jean's arms arrive around her, and her chin arrives on her shoulder. She turns it into a surprised, and laughing, "Hey!" But doesn't try to squirm out of Jean's grip, and then two sets of green eyes are fixed on Giselle - and Rachel's sneakily enjoying the blonde's surprise through a light telepathic touch. She wanted to see what the two of them looked like through the other woman's eyes, after all!
Rachel just, /just/ manages not to laugh out loud when Jean claims to be her sister, but inside Jean's mind? Rachel's telepathic laughter comes through clearly. "Someone had to look like Dad!" She adds, right on cue, and as Giselle heads off Rachel spins around to meet Jean's eyes. "You're dangerous when you're happy." Rachel accuses her, laughter right on the edge of her words.
"Me? Dangerous?", the Phoenix muses, looking up for a moment, before she turns and gives Rachel a sultry look "I like it~", her voice husky as she tries her best to sound like a villainess straight out of a James Bond movie. Smiling some right after it, feeling silly for a brief moment, Jean reaches for her quasi-daughter, placing a warm palm over her shoulder, her thumb caressing Rachel.
"I'm really glad you are here, Rachel. I feel completely at ease with you. And it is NOT because I could ground you at any time.", she grins in the end, joking with the girl, taking off her hand as she feels something weird for a moment.
One of the things that can be said about the older redhead is that although she is getting livelier, she still has some difficulties with living on the wild side of things, and as she looks at some of the clothes around her eyes bulge comically, imaging those incredibly short shorts on herself, and the least be said about the what passes for underwear the better. At times she blushes furiously even if she is interested, and when Giselle gets back it's a lifesaver.
Clearing her throat Jean places herself closer to Rachel as the young blonde has many articles of clothing in her hands. Apparently she took them both for clubbers, something a light telepathic probe will identify as a result of both their stunning looks and bodies, Jean's behavior and Rachel's stylish hair. In her clothes are pieces that the ex-Marvel Girl would have never considered dressing before, and it shows, for Jean just stares at them, shocked.
 
Rachel gives a firm, sharp, nod of the head when Jean questions the word 'dangerous', then giggles helplessly as Jean's sudden switch in demeanor takes her completely off guard. "Definitely." She says around her laughter. "Dangerous." Her eyes gleam as an impish smile curves her lips. "I'm taking notes."
This time, Rachel's not surprised when Jean reaches out for her, and her hand comes up automatically to rest on top of Jean's, even as a more serious look comes into her eyes, catching the look in Jean's own. "You don't know how... HEY!" Rachel begins seriously, before her brain processes the joke. Probably a joke. "Try it sometime!" She challenges, grinning again.
As Jean's gaze moves toward the clothes surrounding them, does Rachel feel the slightest flicker of unease from the older redhead? Almost without thinking about it, Rachel follows Jean's eyes, and she doesn't need to be a telepath to follow her thoughts. "They're definitely you." She says, her tone so utterly casual that she's clearly enjoying herself immensely. "And there's no way you can leave here without them." She means those shorts, all right.
As Giselle returns and Jean moves closer to her, this time it's Rachel's arm that sneaks around Jean's waist to give her a quick squeeze. It's automatic, instinctive, for Rachel's eyes are on what's being brought to them, and unlike Jean... she's feeling NO trepidation. So where's it coming from? Rachel looks toward Jean, a faintly quizzical look in her eyes.
Ah. There.
Rachel grins broadly. "Great choices!" She cheerfully compliments Giselle, stepping forward to browse, before picking out several items in lightning quick succession and pushing them toward Jean. "You first. I'll be right here. Waiting." Rachel promises, enjoying herself far, far too much.
Definetely... her? Jean catches the short in her hand, and measures it with her palm, realizing it probably won't even cover the lower swell of her ass. Wide-eyed and shocked she turns to Rachel, holding the short in hands with both hands to show it to the other redhead, who probably didn't see it fully to say those match Jean. Mouthing 'Oh my God, look at how small it is! It's slutty!', Phoenix sticks her tongue out and gently bites it, to look goofy.
An expression she readily changes when Giselle is there. Enjoying the other telepath's hug, Jean smiles, looking at Rachel even as the other girl talks to their clerk, admiring the daughter she could have had. Jean's admiration should probably reach Rachel's mind in waves before the original X-Woman speaks to her mind softly.
< I don't, but I have an idea. You are perfect, Rachel. >, some weird and maybe misplaced sense of pride coming from those words as Jean feels like in some way she helped this incredible woman be who she is today. Taking the clothes, she walks into the booth, and it doesn't take a minute for her voice to be heard in Rachel's head again.
< You are grounded, missy. Did you see the things you got me here?! They belong in Bobby's pinups! >, she grumbles, but she is amused, and somewhat interested in how she would look. For Rachel's eternal misery, an image flashes in her head of Jean posing like one of said pinup girls, a very specific redheaded cowgirl one. The nightmares.
Eventually Phoenix leaves the changing booth, small steps, looking around, feeling way too exposed. She's bare footed, her long legs exposed until a very short, dark vinyl skirt hugs her hips tightly. A laminated, silver chemise covers her torso, but leaves most of her back exposed, and some of her sides, the flimsy material making Jean somewhat nervous. Blushing furiously, she looks at her quasi-daughter the same way, her body language stiff. "You are going to pay for this, Rachel.", she mutters, somewhat amused, but showing little of it.
Rachel hadn't really gotten a good look at the shorts. Does that sound likely? From the look on her face... no. Not at all. "Special occasions." She says, looking at the shorts again and giving a judicious nod, before snorting back another fit of giggles as Jean pulls a face at her. If Jean doesn't buy those shorts, well... it's a safe bet they'll find their way into her closet /somehow/.
Rachel does feel the intensity of Jean's regard, but it's not until those words arrive in her mind that she's aware of it consciously. Before them, it'd been just as if Jean was still hugging her. Rachel looks back over her shoulder. < But you know... > About the Hound marks. About the Phoenix brand. About... Rachel's expression, which had become conflicted, suddenly clears. < Thanks. > She says, simply, realising that to Jean, those things just don't matter. And Rachel's admiration and affection for Jean ratchet up another notch.
< Hey! I thought I was perfect! > Rachel shoots back telepathically, sniggering to herself and determinedly not looking at Giselle. < You can't ground perfection! > Jean's mental image makes her BLINK. < Hey! Unfair! And I want the full effect, get out here! >
And, of course, Jean does. And Rachel loves every minute of it, walking, no, /stalking/ forward and doing a complete circle around the other redhead, her grin getting bigger and more evil by the moment. Coming around to face Jean again, Rachel replies airily, "You say that now, but you're the one with the credit card." She snaps her fingers as if something's just come to her. "Heels!" She announces, and looks over at Giselle. "I'm sure you've got something, right...?"
	 
Jean stands as she watches the short-haired woman stalk her, her eyes narrowed as she looks at Rachel as if the woman had this planned from the get go. The clothes, of course, look very good on Jean, as most of them do, but these are certainly not what most people will ever see the Phoenix dress like in their lifetime: her toned back exposed fully, the side of her full breasts showing in some angles, her flaring hips stretching the material of that skirt so much that it seems like the redhead will tear the fabric. A heavy belt goes along with the outift, just to enhance the look of Jean's shapely figure.
< I have walked the surface of the Sun. I can ground you. I could ground two of you. >, says Jean, looking at herself in the mirror and...tilting her head for a moment. She looks good, ravishing, stunning. She looks unlike Jean, and yet... the redhead enjoys it. It's a guilt-laden feel of pride and vanity that Jean still fights against, but that Rachel will pick up in her head. The tiny voice that says 'I look good. Hell yeah. Deal with it.'. 
"Wow.", is all she can muster as some men around the store subtly check the telepath out, and while some thoughts are flattering, others are downright dirty. All the better that Phoenix isn't probing, or else it would be hard to predict how she could react.
She turns to Rachel just as Giselle brings a few heels, from calf-length boots to actual heels. Jean approaches Rachel, slowly more relaxed in her new clothes, arching a brow and looking at her not-daughter from her side "Since when are you so into fashion? Is that Kitty's fault aswell?"
 
This is what happens when you let Rachel know that it's OK to relax and not ask permission.
< OK, maybe you /could/ ground me. > Rachel admits, that impish smile back again, < But would you have half as much fun if you did? > This is heady stuff, for Rachel. She's not out of control, but she's definitely flying high on the experience. High enough that she reaches out for Jean's mind before she can think better of it, and feels the mix of emotions coursing through the other woman. < You look /great/. This is who you can be whenever you want to be. > Wait, wasn't /Rachel/ the one who needed that kind of reassurance, a moment ago? Maybe they're more alike than the younger redhead realised.
Rachel finds Jean's eyes and holds her gaze for a moment, just to make sure the other woman knows she means what she says, as if one telepath could doubt another. But then she feels the approach of Giselle's mind a few seconds before the woman herself appears, and Rachel's eyes flicker aside to roam across the choices of footwear that are provided. There are some very nice boots, but... Rachel looks back towards Jean, and selects some dangerously high and strappy heels, holding them up for the older redhead's perusal, tilting her head to one side to invite her comments, before a devilish smirk answers Jean's question. "Yes, and doesn't she know it. I turned up looking like a sack of old clothes, so she took me shopping. Bad mistake. Huge." Rachel reaches out to Jean's mind again, replaying a memory for her - Rachel using her telekinesis to deck a rather sensibly dressed Kitty out in a denim miniskirt, tight top and boots. And Kitty's scandalised reaction.
Jean feels like she is looking at someone else in the mirror, the woman in the mirror is completely free, she is raw and interesting. She doesn't care if Bobby is going to be making inappropriate comments, she wants to be admired. That Jean would be confident to say no, to say she had enough. And just as Rachel's words ring her ears, so to speak, Jean's eyes go wide and she smirks, mimicking that other woman's gesture. She is that Jean. She can be that woman.
Peering over her shoulder at Rachel, Phoenix grins, and the short-haired telepath can see a glint of fire burning within Jean's irises. There's a definite change in attitude as Jean allows herself to be a bit more at ease, taking the heels as she drinks in the images of Rachel dressed like that.
"You should let it out more, Rachel. It feels great.", says the redhead right as she passes by the futuristic woman, "This is your home now, after all.". Jean knows she might sound omnious, but that is the truth. She wants it to be. She wants Rachel around her.
As Jean manages to rock the heels the other X-Woman has given her, she looks beautiful, even if a mix between trashy and elegant, something perfect to club. Better yet, Jean seems more at ease with it all, smirking at her friend. 
"So...? How does it look, Rachel?"
Rachel sees the fire ignite in Jean's eyes, and she's proud to have helped spark it, even in a small way. She's pretty sure that someday soon the X-Mansion isn't going to know what hit it, when Jean decides the time is right to be the woman in the mirror, and Rachel? She can't wait.
And then Jean turns the tables on her, challenging her to indulge her own wilder side. It's closer to the surface in Rachel already, but there's still a step to be taken if she's going to let it out. Rachel replies to the second thing that Jean says first, deliberately. "I know." She says honestly. "There's nothing left for me, back 'home'." Her memories of that time are still a mess, but instinctively she knows that much is true. The rest, well, she still needs to think about that.
When Jean asks for her verdict on the completed outfit, Rachel makes a great play of looking her up and down. And then laughs. "I'll show you." She says, and feeds Jean the view from her eyes, and more than that - how she sees Jean, right now. 'Trashy' is not a word that applies. 'Trashy' is not the clothes, it's how they're worn, the attitude of the person wearing them. And now that Jean's recovered her confidence, Rachel sees beauty, elegance, and poise. And of course...
"Dangerous."
Rachel pauses, but it's only fair to let Jean get her own back. "But you're having all the fun." It's an utter lie, but what the hell. "Pick me something." Rachel smiles crookedly.
Jean looks at herself through Rachel's eyes, and there is none of that judgemental layer that Phoenix herself cast upon her. To Rachel's eyes Jean is just elegant and beautiful, and soon as she is bak in her own body the older redhead takes a few steps closer to hug the other woman close, whispering by her ear. 
"I am truly blessed that you are here, Rachel. You really give me wings.", she whispers lowly, letting her body speak when her mind won't. Jean lets her breathe run along the other girl's neck, her lips brush along her ear, and planting a kiss on the girl's cheek, a lingering and tender kiss, Jean steps back, winking at Rachel.
"You are mine, girl. And you are not going anywhere, to, so you better get used to me.", and at that, she picks Rachel some clothes. Jean is far less experienced with 'clubbing' fashion, but her daughter can sense that the woman is very careful not to pick anything too bold. It is obvious Jean has a very powerful and dashing image of Rachel, but as images of Rachel's hips and legs flash in her mind, the redhead picks a skirt, slit on the side but knee-high. Another flash, and Rachel's exposed midrift goes directly to the second Phoenix's mind, and Jean picks a tank-top, with sunburst patterns, black and red.
Jean doesn't even dare picking any underwear, although the idea crosses her mind to embarass Rachel. Thing is, it ends up getting Jean herself red as her hair as she laughs.
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