183/The Slow Progress of Recovery

The Slow Progress of Recovery
Date of Scene:	29 February 2020
Location:	Lorna's Room
Synopsis:	Jean helps Lorna cut her hair and offers to help get Lorna some therapy.
Cast of Characters:	Jean Grey, Lorna Dane

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Jean Grey has posed:
The flight back from Genosha was long, though at least the team was able to recover Lorna. After giving her a cursory examination on returning, Lorna was taken to her old room. And well, Jean was being pure mother hen, fussing over her and making sure she was as comfortable as can be.

Though, well, caring for others does take a toll too, so currently Jean is passed out on the loveseat in the room, head tilted back as she's... snoring. Very lightly, admittedly, but she's definitely snoring. Which would probably wreck her public perception, if she cared about that...

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna had been given time to eat, wash up, a medical check.. everything that was meant to make sure she was alive and on the surface at least.. taken care of. The basic needs were met. She was severely dehydrated, and malnourished. In all honesty she should have died from her few weeks trapped in the ruins, but she hadn't. Her mind was still hazy, foggy with grief and rage. Which meant her mind was shying away from the truth of things. What she'd done. What she hadn't done. The things she had seen. Everything.

She was numb now.

Even as Jean had made sure she got rest.. and everything else, the kindness and care hadn't been enough to shake her from it entirely. Lorna was still exhausted. Even though she had managed to sleep on the Blackbird and had passed out in her room after she'd cleaned up, she was still exhausted. Part of her figured she'd continue to be exhausted.

Still, she woke up before Jean, and to the sounds of Jean snoring away softly. Her green eyed gaze swung about the familiar comforts of her room, her toes curling beneath the covers as she slipped off the bed and crept from the comforting warmth of her nap. A kind of nervous energy twitched at her muscles. And she found herself starting at herself in the mirror of her vanity. Unable to reconcile the hollowed out look in her eyes and the shadows that hung under them.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean wasn't exactly the deepest sleeper, so when Lorna wakes up, Jean does too, wincing a little as she has a wicked kink in her neck from the impromptu sleep on the loveseat. She glances over at Lorna, not saying anything just yet since... well, she doesn't want to impose on Lorna.

Sometimes you need time to process, so she lets Lorna set the pace here. Her head tilts a little bit though, as she does look curiously towards Lorna.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna was vaguely aware that Jean woke up, after all the soft snoring had stopped. Along with Lorna's magnetic senses, which were so fried from being 'on' for the past two weeks that she still was seeing the world with double vision. One part with her eye-sight, the other through the magnetic spectrum. And Jean's body was firing up enough to say 'I'm awake'!

The green haired woman's thoughts were loud and raw, unblocked or unchecked. So much so that Jean likely would pick up the stray thoughts that trailed from Lorna.

"I want to cut my hair." She offered softly, reaching up to twist the long green locks between her fingers.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "Well, you'd look good with a shorter hair cut. How much were you thinking?" She stands and makes her way over, moving to stand just behind Lorna as she hmms, "Honestly, I think a bob would look really good for you?" She does a little bit of a mental overlay, so Lorna can see herself with a cut that's decidedly like Janet Van Dyne. Except that gorgeous shade of green instead of brown.

Not that there's anything wrong with brown, but green is far superior.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna was upright, and talking. A vast improvement from the sobbing mess she had been for the first few hours in the Blackbird. Though, for how long and what she was refusing to think about were two very different points. She pursed her lips in thought as Jean laid the image over her own with a bob that was neat and tidy. She hmm'ed and then shook her head.

"No. It's too neat." She breathed, and reached out with a hand. Her closet door popped open, and the sound of a drawer opening from within followed. A pair of scissors came flying out in the next beat and to her waiting grip.

"I was thinking more.. choppy." It was likely a bad thing to be thinking of cutting her hair when her whole world had fallen apart. But there was something to be said about bad haircuts and low points in life.

It was familiar. Safe. Normal. And she desperately wanted that right then. To //not// think.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "Okay, you should do what you want there. I know Ra... Rachel, has a similar style of do there." For probably similar reasons, no doubt, as Jean looks at Lorna with concern. "Nothing else, you change your mind, we can always change it." Because, hey, despite the Prof's continued baldness, there has to be something we can do for hair growth around here...

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna reached up with her other free hand and gripped a thick segment of green curls in her hand. "I want it to be different." She said softly, "I'm different.." She swallowed thickly the dryness at the back her throat and finally reached up to start snipping through the thick tangle of green hair that had hung down her back for years.

The first chunk of hair snipped free, leaving Lorna with a lopsided tangle of hair, and fistful of green in her grip.

"I think.. I think I need help." She whispered finally.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "Yes, and I'm here for what you need." She smiles a little, "Even if it's just trimming a bit so you don't have the split ends, Lorna. I mean, I'm not a certified psychiatrist //yet//, but I know some people that can help too. If you need to talk to someone outside our normal circles, anyway." Heck, she could probably get Doc Samson a call.

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna stared at her reflection in the mirror, slowly reaching out to set the clipped chunk of her hair down on the vanity. She passed the scissors to Jean, blinking back a collection of moisture that threatened to turn into tears. "What if I can't get better that way?" She mumbled, her gaze searching to find Jean's in their shared reflection.

"What if I can't do that?" She licked her cracked lips and looked away, down at her bare feet on the thick carpet of the floor. She felt her stomach twist sickeningly. Her father had been changed by his traumas. He had never been able to let them go. His memories haunted him as surely as she was struggling to not think about them.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean gently hugs Lorna from behind, telekinetically setting the scissor to the side, "I can't even imagine, Lorna..." She sighs, looking at Lorna, "Look, I'm not going to pretend that I'll have all the answers, but whatever you need, I'll be there for you." She smiles, "Promise. Whatever you need."

Lorna Dane has posed:
Lorna's hands reflexively reached up to press against her friend's grip with a gentle touch. Her eyes closed as she struggled to blink back tears and swallow the lump that formed at the back her throat. "I know." She managed to get out. A million other words had flitted through her mind. 'I'm fine.', 'It's fine.', 'Don't worry.' All came to mind and were discarded.

What was the point in lying to a telepath when she was barely able to lie to herself to keep some level of function happening?

"Thank you."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean smiles faintly, "You know, one of my instructors told me what 'fine' stands for. F'd up, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional." She gives Lorna a caring look as she explains the joke, then nods, still holding her in that hug, "Like I said, whatever you need, we'll be here for you, okay?"

She then smiles a little, "So... want me to finish cutting your hair? I'm not exactly a pro, but I think I can do it the way you want." Taking a hint from what Lorna said earlier, she projects an image of Lorna with the 'rougher' cut, which... well, still looks pretty damn good, with how Jean's thinking of it.