779/Two if by three: A Paraphrase

Two if by three: A Paraphrase
Date of Scene:	26 March 2020
Location:	Jean's Honda Civic
Synopsis:	Things take an odd turn at Shadowcrest, but Jean gives Gwen a ride home and the two have some heart to heart. Nobody dies.
Cast of Characters:	Gwen Stacy, Jean Grey

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Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen isn't sticking around the mansion, but it's not until she gets outside that she remembers she's got no car to get anywhere... She doesn't even have her webshooters to swing home.. or a costume to hide herself if she did have webshooters... Stuck here in a universe that's already starting to crap on her, she stands out front of the mansion staring up at the dark Gotham sky until it, too, opens up to rain on her pity party...

"Perfect." Splash splash splash.

She'd heard her own thoughts and did suddenly know she knows Jeans' cellphone number... but she's right there inside, so she just waits for her to come out... hair already soaking wet, clothes too, "Hey.. can you... give me a ride? Is that too weird?"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean did drive out, since teleportation isn't really something she can manage. She does, however, stop when Gwen comes up to her, and smiles warmly at the blonde, "Yeah, I can give you a ride, and well... no weirder than my life has been to this point." She chuckles. "Honestly, it's less weird by a factor of ten, I assure you." With that, she goes over towards her car. It's a rather modest Honda CRV, suitable teacher car.

Oh, and Jean extends her TK shield from the rain to cover Gwen as well, for the walk to her vehicle, "Sorry about what happened... I had no idea." A bit of a sigh at that, as a hint of anger winds around her for a moment.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen was not dressed for rain and cold, but she's weathering it pretty well. Rubbing at her upper arms beneath Jean's TK shield as they make their way over towards the modest teacher mobile. "It's not your fault." She says to Jean, blowing into her palms and rubbing them together vehemently where she's shivering in the passanger seat. "Never apologize for something that's not your fault.. I've spent my entire life doing that, but I'm not going to anymore."

She's still fighting to keep it together, but she's younger than both the other women.. Barely out of her teens. She doesn't have lifes experience to shield her from this ... and honestly, does it ever get easier? Really? "If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I kept flirting even though I knew she was dating, but I really thought it was playful... but..." Turning to look at Jean, "I'd never have acted on it if she hadn't... you know.. said you.. weren't.. together anymore.. which.." Hands up, shrugging.

"I'm not like that. I don't need to take someone elses girlfriend." She's cute and she knows she is.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "It's okay, Gwen. I don't think you are. And... well, I wasn't lying. I //am// okay with open relationships, as long as people are honest. And well, Zatanna wasn't." She shrugs a bit, and gets in the driver's seat, absently turning on the heated seats without thinking.

Yes, heated seats. She might be a teacher, but girl has to have //standards//

Then she smiles, "And I wasn't apologizing for what I did. I'm sorry you have to go through everything you did. Because it wasn't your fault, and I have a... unique perspective about the matter." A pause.

"Did... Zatanna ever tell you why I was on that dating site in the first place?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen relaxes a little, but fights the urge to pull her knees up in the seat with her... she's already gotten these comfortable heated seats, already a standard which Gwen can appreciate, don't want to get them all muddy too.. "Thanks..." She says distantly, looking at her new pants that are already ruined.. It's /that/ detail... ruined pants... that's the straw... and while she doesn't break down in a sob, the dam does break.

Tears rolling down her face mixing with the rain, only her erratic thoughts, which aren't even /hard/ to read, could clue someone in.. "No.. She told me a little about you, but not.. like.. details." Her thumb runs along the bottom of her nose, then the palm of her hand across her eyes. A little more violently than she probably expressly intended. Like she's mad that she's crying.

"You don't have to tell me. You don't owe me anything.."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean offers a box of Kleenex out of a driver's compartment in the car, and sighs, "Well, I think I need to tell someone, and hey, who better to tell than someone that doesn't know me, right?" She chuckles, a bit dryly, and then looks at the road, talking as she drives...

"So, just after I get the courage to ask this guy out that I've been mooning over for a while, a girl shows up. Looks fairly like me, enough to be related. And she's from the future. Or a future." She gives Gwen a wry side-eye, "Turns out she's the daughter of me and that guy in question. Which... well, that's weird. But it gets weirder."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen offers a quiet, "Thank you.." when she accepts the kleenex brand tissues. The thicker, quilted towel. Pick up a pack of quilted kleenex tissues and be prepared for the coming of Winter or finding out your girlfriend was dating two girls at once.

Despite her internal monologue and product placement, Gwen actually is listening. Gently blowing her nose, crumpling the paper into her palm to dab at her eyes, running makeup, which she'd just applied... "Huh.. you weren't kidding. You really are in a position to appreciate my situation.." Which isn't the point.

"Still.. that's kind of... heavy. I mean, having your whole relationship spelled out to you like that? You don't even get to enjoy the courtship because you already know kids are involved... that sucks.."

BUT WAIT, there's more.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean chuckles, "So, about a week later, while I'm figuring this out... another girl pops through. Similar deal, doesn't look quite so similar... but she's my adopted granddaughter, raised by my son." She hrms, "My son? Oh, he shows up a few weeks after //that//, and he's actually twice my age right now, about."

TIME TRAVEL!

"So, needless to say... I think I love him... hell, I know I do, I'm closer to him than anyone, even Zee, but... well, it scared the living hell out of me. So I put my profile up, and, well, yeah, Zatanna agreed to meet me." A wry look at that, "Great way to avoid drama, as it turns out..." Well, not really, but who says telepaths can't be sarcastic?

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen actually follows the logic here pretty easily now that she's not all hopped up on crazy hormones, she is a scientist afterall. "So the son who's older than you who raised your granddaughter is here, a week after your granddaughter showed up, which was a week after your daughter showed up.. Are they all from the same timeline? Because imagine this craziness~" Hands up, she's a hand talker.

"Your son who raised your granddaughter isn't the same son who shows up, so she's thinking about him as a father figure, while he's looking at her as... a... kid.. I don't know... meanwhile your daughter with one guy is ..." Even she's losing the thread here... wrapping hand over, pointing, reverse.. it's a lot to take in. Multigenerational insanity.

Her hands slap down on damp thighs. "I was on a date with my girlfriend when I got blown up in a dimensional rift generator... well, I was //suppose// to be on a date with her.. Instead I was fighting my best friend who turned into a Lizard, then died in a fall moments before I showed up... and oh yeah?" She glances over. "He's alive here... but I'm the one who fell to my death.. now //that's// different too..."

Squinting, eyes down on her legs. "Our lives are way too screwed up for people to not be honest, huh?"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean chuckles, "Way too screwed up. Though I guess we never got formally introduced." She offers a hand, as... well, telekinesis allows for hands free driving. "Jean Grey. But yeah, different timelines, as far as I can tell. It's so unfair to Scott that I've been avoiding him, but... I don't like the idea of my fate being locked in somehow." She sighs a bit, "Well, my 'son' and granddaughter are from the same timeline, but not the same one as my 'daughter' and... yeah, it's a bit of a mess." She smiles wryly, "Zatanna lying to me doesn't even really compute on that scale, I guess, but... I just, I don't know if I can trust her."

She sighs, "I mean, what if she meets someone else, then decides 'oh I'm not going to tell people that I'm already dating these two' and we go through this whole mess all over again." She looks over at Gwen, "Ironically, I started the date with Zatanna to avoid drama."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen takes Jean's hand and gives a single shake, "Gwen Stacy." Reintroducing with a smile, even if her eyes are still bloodshot from quite obviously still crying a bit... it's mostly under control now, "All of our various life woes aside, this is kind of a heart slam... I mean, you got with Zee to avoid a locked in fate with someone that involves //kids// and I'm only here because ...." She shakes her head and actually laughs.

Like really, humorously laughs.

"God.. So, we're in love with the same girl, who wants to date us both.. how is //that// the center of our world right now? Seriously.. knowing what we know about our life-" Quote fingers, "-we really should bail..." Which doesn't at all sound like she //wants// to bail. Leaning her forehead sideways against the window to watch the road rush past.

"Hey.." Rolling her head slightly to look over at the woman driving beside her, "I actually pitty the person she brings into this if we actually //do// stay with her.. a telepath and a spider powered super hero who can bench press a car? We are //not// the girlfriends to fuck with."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean laughs, "Yeah, I know right? Though wait, bench press a car? Okay, that's impressive." She grins, "... yeah, I don't know what I want to do either. On the one hand, I still love her, but on the other, I really want to just not deal with this for a while."

She shakes her head, "Gwen, I've been to the stars, seen alien races, and saved the universe a couple times. Zatanna lying to me hurts, but it isn't more than a blip. To be honest, I worry more about you, because you definitely don't deserve what happened here."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"I have definitely not done any of that stuff." Saved the universe, been to the stars, met her grandkids and children with a man... which would honestly be even more strange than everything she's experienced so far because a man... She shrugs, shoulders dropping down with her hands in her lap.

"I'll get over it. I'm a big girl." First love though, right? Sure feels like it's the most important thing in the world to her. Her hands come back up to cover her mouth, using the excuse that she's warming them with her breath to cover fresh tears.

Not as many this time though...

"Yeah, bench press a car.. I can also jump sixteen feet vertically from a standing position and run like... thirty five miles an hour." Side eyes Jean, smiling through her sadness. "Do you have a pen?"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean hmms, "Sure, hold on a sec..." She keeps her hands on the wheel this time, though the glove compartment pops open, a pen floating out and hanging right in front of Gwen's fingers, "Here, sorry, just wanted to make sure I didn't lose too much focus." A bit of a chuckle, "It's the little things, sometimes."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"And show off a little." Gwen says with a smirk, more of her sadness disappearing behind the expression. "Thankfully, that's why I wanted the pen anyways..." She snaps it out of the air and reverses it across the back of her hand by tapping the clicker end with her pinky and catching the other with her thumb when it lays against her knuckles. The pen flips a few times with the little jerk of her wrist, then flips again when she flicks it with her middle finger while it's still falling. Ultimately catching it on the tip of her thumb, which she holds up for Jean to see it.

"I don't flirt very well." pause.. "Is it working?"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean blinks at the display, then smiles and says, "... yes, yes it is." She laughs very softly, "I admit, you're a bit younger than I expected, but... well, you're definitely interesting." She smiles a little, "Glad you think I'm worth flirting with, too. We definitely have a share of weird experiences between us, don't we?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen rocks her hand to let the pen fall into her palm and returns it to the glove compartment, "Yeah.. Zee was worried about that too, but she kept making it out like she thought it was me worried... Why do I care if she's twenty five? Eventually I'll get there... but the reverse is not true." She turns to look back out the window at the street passing beyond. "We do.." Grinning, blue eyes looking up by way of reflection. "Anyways.."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean shakes her head, "Well, yeah, that's true." She glances over towards Gwen and gives her a wry smile, "Anyway..." One eyebrow arches, as she doesn't quite take the lead. She's still a little bit gunshy since the last time went oh //so// well.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen opens her mouth and then closes it, rubbing her neck in a classically shy manuever, "Wouldyoumaybeliketo..." chickened out at the last breathless second. She presses her lips together and looks out the window again, then quickly back over to Jean. "Go out? Sometimes... maybe... I feel like that's really a strange thing to ask, but if we'd just met that's how I'd ask right? I'd just ask.. so.. why is it weird now? Why do I feel like I'm rushing? Anyways..." Redness all over her cheeks.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean grins a little, "Yes, yes I would, actually. Any particular thing you'd like to do? I'm pretty flexible." She then blushes, "Well, as far as what to do, anyway, I mean, no preferences really." She coughs a bit, and well, //eyes on the road Jean//.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Hey, I'm pretty flexible too." Gwen falls right into the same trap and immediately realizes it, "Bendy... No.. shit.. I'm, okay.. whatever you'd.. like to do.. is cool. Maybe just .. a walk? I know this really great spot in Queens, that's where I grew up. There's an old playground with picnic tables where my dad use to take me for lunch.." Grinning through her earlier embarassment, ringing her hands together after tugging at the fishnet sleeve of her undershirt. "I could maybe pack lunch or dinner... or we could pick something up.. there's a cute little pond too. I was /going/ to take Zee there... and I probably might still will... but right now I'd like to take you."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean smiles over at Gwen, "I'd like that. And I'm sure we can find something there. Though actually..." She mmms, "If you don't mind a jaunt to Chinatown, there's a place there with the best dumplings. A friend showed me the place, but I never really got a chance to enjoy it. Figure now we can make the best of it?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Dude, yes." Gwen persk up at the mention of dumpling, "I haven't had chinese food in months! I was living with Peter all of January and his aunt cooked and Zee's a vegan, so there was //no// chinese food... that I would ever eat..." She grins over at Jean and bobs her head into an definitive affirmative, "Now /this/ is turning lemons into lemon pepper chicken!"

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean laughs, "I am most assuredly //not// a vegan. I think Logan would think I was a Skrull if I was. The hangout by the school has the best burgers, I tell you." She grins at Gwen, "So that sounds like a date to me. And I do love a nice lemon pepper chicken, though I'm more interested in garlic chicken... or as they say, 'I like my garlic seasoned with food.'"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
Gwen laughs at the last, "I don't know who Logan is or what a Skrull is, but I cannot in good conscious date //two// vegans... that definitely makes me vegan... and I like meat." Pause... brief... for clarification, "Of the food variety." Smirking sidelong, she curls her leg up in a way that shouldnt' be possible if a person has a spine, so her knees are near her chest without her feet actually being in the seat. "Hah! Right? Garlic and yum yum sauce... You can put that fishy tasting tan colored syrup on //anything// and I'm going to eat it.. I'd cut an eye if it were on ice cream, but I'd try it when you turned your back and aren't watching.."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean grins, "Well, the trick with ice cream is after you've had a meal full of garlic? It tastes just like vanilla I swear." She laughs, "Garlic //overload// is a delicious delicious thing. And like no other." She gives Gwen a warm smile, "So, tomorrow night? I should be done with classes for the weekend, and I... don't think I have anything else going on." Because, well, superhero things do happen, obviously.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Tomorrow night, it's a date." Gwen agrees with a snappy nod and a big grin cutting across her running makeup face. Girl looks like the trashy Olsen twin. You get to figure out which one that is. "This is not how I saw today going, Jean, I'm going to be perfectly honest, but..." Her shoulders bounce in a small shrug, "I dare say it's turning out pretty capital."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean smiles warmly at Gwen, "Likewise. I'm glad I finally got a chance to meet you." She tilts her head, looking over at Gwen with a nod, "And oh, don't worry, I really //don't// pry with my talents. As I mentioned before, it's rude, and I would never do that without permission." She grins, "Tomorrow night, then. Say, sixish?"

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"I'm usually a pretty open book anyways, so you shouldn't //need// to read my mind." Gwen offers in exchange, grinning sheepishly at her fingers wiggling in her lap. "Sixish.. I'll give you a call and we can meet up? I don't have a car right now... I don't think.." Which is an odd thing to say, but she /did/ just become a permanent resident in someone elses life... who was dead and now isn't... "Right up here." She says with a point towards a brownstone. "This is my dads house.. so now you know where I'm staying.." Said as she opens the door and climbs easily out of the car to lean in for a second with a hand on the roof and door, "I'll see you tomorrow!"