[They’ll lose something. What if she loses Pierre, or any of her friends? What if she loses her joy or passion for something? What if she loses something she can’t even pinpoint, because it’s gone, and no one can say it to her?]
I certainly want him. [You’ve seen him, Sophie. You have eyes.] What matters to the Expedition is that I already have, so it makes me biased.
(The way Sciel puts it makes her laugh, okay. He's hot, she can definitely give Sciel that, he's not exactly her type, though. Objectively super hot, good for her!)
You don't strike me as the type to let great dick cloud your judgment, though? Assuming it is. I don't think you'd be like this over an unsatisfying dick.
[Sciel’s face scrunches up at the mere idea, amused. Verso is so private; it’s funny to want to spare him any indignities or glowing reviews, but it’s what she feels, so, playfully:]
I really, really like doing bedroom gymnastics with him.
(High-five is offered, she loves Sciel so much, and also, she knows she's right! Sciel definitely has high standards here. She feels it in her soul.)
See? Then it's a need. Look, sometimes, you just find an idiot who matches you in bed, who you shouldn't be fucking, probably, and then it is what it is. It happens.
(Not speaking from experience, definitely, right, absolutely not.)
[Sciel reaches out to return the high-five, which she then follows with a swig of whiskey. The first time she’d propositioned him, he’d admitted it had been a while, and she’d felt a surge of sympathy as quickly and as intensely as she’d felt heat pool between her legs. She’s not sure she’d given goodness a thought. It hadn’t been the point.
She smiles, gaze drifting across the ceiling.]
Sure. I don’t regret it at all, honestly. Just… that it’s impacted things it was never meant to.
Like the fact he's omitting a billion things from you guys, and then it gets weird that you wanna fuck him? I think if you can balance those two things, it's fine. Mind you, I don't know what he's omitting. It does seem to be something big and important, considering how tense he got when I told him I'm a telepath. I'm not gonna do a brain dive, by the way. Definitely could, super want to, but I'm not.
(If Sciel can admit Verso sucks at times, and doesn't let two things blend and blur, fucking him seems fine to Sophie.)
Just to play the Devil's advocate — no one thinks they're the bad guys when doing shit. Just keep that in mind.
(She just wants Sciel to be mindful, is all. Have her educated cake and eat it, too.)
It was normal. You guys are so trusting, it's not even funny. None of you were weirded out by it, which is super weird, because people immediately hate our existence. I mean, mutants in general, but telepaths even more so.
You were the first person here to figure out how to communicate with me best, though, which is using it to your advantage. It — ugh, gross, kinda meant a lot to me, because you didn't know me at all.
(She's gonna have to take another gulp, this is emotionally packed, even if she is saying things like facts, rather than confessions of affection.)
(😳, but jut for a second, before she hides a little behind the mug as she sips.
God, the exposure. Okay, fight back the instict to hide further, leave the booze on the center table.)
You do, and I hear it, and I obviously like you too. Gustave told me that, too, kinda. I struggled a lot with accepting people liking or caring for me here. Thought it felt like I was duping you guys, not to mention there has never been really a 'me' to care about? He helped me out with seeing some stuff. It was... Pretty nice.
[Of course Gustave did. He’s good like that, kind and compassionate even when he’s in a rough spot. Sciel adores him.]
Nonsense, you’re not duping anyone. You’re one of the most outspoken people I’ve ever met, and more than just one in five. I’m glad you’ve gotten close to him, too.
[But it does make her smile a little rueful; sometimes Verso acts like they don’t care about him, too, but he’s missed his window with Gustave. Disappointing.
Sciel lets her hand fall and squeezes Sophie’s knee instead.]
I’m looking forward to getting to know you even more, too.
Eh, more or less. It's not like I go around 'hello, I'm Sophie Cuckoo, clone of one of the most controversial X-Men ever, and before I got here, I helped to mind-control human politicians, administrated some terrorism to scare the shit out of humans, backstabbed my first ever friends, manipulated the media, so forth, so forth, nice to meet you, I'm repenting for that and other unrelated bullshit'. That's why I left the hivemind. I cut them off my brain completely before the plan went too far, but also, cripes, I definitely was involved in all of that. No complaints from me for the longest time. Ugh.
(And that's why it's so weird to be trusted. Gustave told her that she gave him reasons to trust her, so he does. It took her very long to understand that 'faking she's a better person' is not a thing when she is, in fact, a better person.)
You can... Ask, I think. I don't think I mind sharing with you.
(If the fact she has glasses on doesn't tell her as much.)
You see? Very unspoken. [Difficult to accuse anyone so self-depreciating and honest about her faults of being sneaky.] I’m honoured, though.
[And she has a question, actually; Sophie had been very candid about her right to sleep with whoever she wants, and Sciel feels she’s revealed just enough that she can ask in turn.]
Does being telepathic make it extra complicated to have romances?
(It bothers Sophie, clearly. Not only that, but the culmination of things that she's done thus far that she's not even touching right now. Her mug is empty now, and she reaches to fill both their recipients.
Wonderful question.)
Mhm... Well, I've never been with anyone who wasn't one. I will say that all telepaths are tired assholes with a God complex, so, on account of that, yeah. We collectively suck as people. Not to mention having to understand what's yours and what's another's, since we feel everything someone else does, understanding nature of thought, filtering, boundaries, yeah, it's complicated on the interpersonal aspect of things.
[It’s not a flattering list, certainly, but it’s too vague to think of as particularly… real. Sophie can be dramatic, prone to spinning off, and any number of those things could be an exaggeration, or heavily laden with guilt. It’s all missing context. If Sophie was unrepentant and nasty, she’d take it all gravely seriously, but as is––]
Do you think it would be helpful to you if I judged you?
[She holds out her mug.]
Mm. You’re inside each others’ heads as much as their bodies. All their vulnerabilities on display, and yours too. Must be intense.
(She didn't say she was mean once because she woke up late and took it out on a third party. She said terrorism, backstabbing, so forth.)
Correct, but also, your brain is where you process everything, right. We can tamper with it. Alter perception, body reactions, anything if we are creative and good at what controlling our powers. Vulnerable... Yeah, depends on how much you're engaged on that part of it all.
Well, we can revisit if I ever decide to be normal, or you decide to be cruel, or take advantage of us, and so on.
[It's also not lost on Sciel that Gustave is fine with this, but feels differently about Verso. Sciel takes a big sip of the whiskey, pushing past the intensity of it.]
It does sound like fun. Must be a pretty small dating pool, though.
(Gustave doesn't know the specifics, just the general gist. Unfortunately. Or fortunately.)
I'm not restricted to it, but with a strong preference for? Yeah, not a big one for our age group. My sisters dated outside of it while I was dead, but we all dated Cable when I was back. You could have met his old man version from another reality a little before that Earth mission.
Kid Cable is much, much more fun and silly than Old Man Cable. You wouldn't be able to get the gist if you had met him, anyway. Man's hardened by the horrors.
(Maelle says that a lot of what Sophie says is weird, and she filters a lot of it. If Sciel does too, she wouldn't blame her. Sounds like her reality is a lot.)
God, no. He was in the boy toy category for four out of five, and I was not the one who was actually into him. I never had anything serious.
I mean... Well. I could, if I wanted to, sure. I just think... Well. Okay. How do I explain this to you?
(Processing, processing...)
There is a lot I don't know. About myself, about people, and there is someone I'm really into that I've been fucking for, shit, a long time now, so about him, too. If it's not serious, I have space to figure it out. I'm just Sophie. I'm not someone's girlfriend or whatever. There'd be pressure and expectations that I myself might not even consciously know, and I'd put so much effort into not fucking it up that I would, inevitably, fuck it up? After experiencing togetherness for my entire existence, in such a shitty way, I'm not ready to just give myself to someone else, only for me to be scrambling, trying to understand my identity and being a normal person instead of enjoying it.
... Not that he wants to be serious either, but I'm just giving you my stance.
[Sciel turns on her hip, propping her elbow against the back of the couch, half-empty mug of whiskey cradled against her chest. Her expression is curious, calm.]
Oh, you don’t have to defend it, it makes perfect sense! You’re not ready. But so much of serious relationships is making a mess of things while you figure out what you want, and that’s part of you –– what you want, how you want to be loved. I feel like I didn’t really understand myself fully until I was with my husband.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2025-11-23 06:26 pm (UTC)[They’ll lose something. What if she loses Pierre, or any of her friends? What if she loses her joy or passion for something? What if she loses something she can’t even pinpoint, because it’s gone, and no one can say it to her?]
I certainly want him. [You’ve seen him, Sophie. You have eyes.] What matters to the Expedition is that I already have, so it makes me biased.
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Date: 2025-11-23 06:33 pm (UTC)You don't strike me as the type to let great dick cloud your judgment, though? Assuming it is. I don't think you'd be like this over an unsatisfying dick.
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Date: 2025-11-23 06:47 pm (UTC)I really, really like doing bedroom gymnastics with him.
[Faire des galipettes, you know.]
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Date: 2025-11-23 06:52 pm (UTC)See? Then it's a need. Look, sometimes, you just find an idiot who matches you in bed, who you shouldn't be fucking, probably, and then it is what it is. It happens.
(Not speaking from experience, definitely, right, absolutely not.)
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Date: 2025-11-23 07:10 pm (UTC)She smiles, gaze drifting across the ceiling.]
Sure. I don’t regret it at all, honestly. Just… that it’s impacted things it was never meant to.
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Date: 2025-11-23 07:19 pm (UTC)(If Sciel can admit Verso sucks at times, and doesn't let two things blend and blur, fucking him seems fine to Sophie.)
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Date: 2025-11-23 07:44 pm (UTC)[She chooses not to think on what happens if the 33’s dynamic worsens before that happens.]
I appreciate your restraint, though. I can’t imagine his discomfort was all that pleasant for you.
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Date: 2025-11-23 07:47 pm (UTC)(She just wants Sciel to be mindful, is all. Have her educated cake and eat it, too.)
It was normal. You guys are so trusting, it's not even funny. None of you were weirded out by it, which is super weird, because people immediately hate our existence. I mean, mutants in general, but telepaths even more so.
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Date: 2025-11-23 07:57 pm (UTC)[She shakes her head; what devil needs an advocate?]
I won’t claim telepathy thrills me, but it’d be cruel to judge you for a power you had no say in being born with.
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Date: 2025-11-23 08:28 pm (UTC)(The devil who has done some shit, Sciel!!)
You were the first person here to figure out how to communicate with me best, though, which is using it to your advantage. It — ugh, gross, kinda meant a lot to me, because you didn't know me at all.
(She's gonna have to take another gulp, this is emotionally packed, even if she is saying things like facts, rather than confessions of affection.)
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Date: 2025-11-23 08:31 pm (UTC)Well, I’m glad. I’d like to think I know you a bit now, and I like you even more.
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Date: 2025-11-23 08:41 pm (UTC)God, the exposure. Okay, fight back the instict to hide further, leave the booze on the center table.)
You do, and I hear it, and I obviously like you too. Gustave told me that, too, kinda. I struggled a lot with accepting people liking or caring for me here. Thought it felt like I was duping you guys, not to mention there has never been really a 'me' to care about? He helped me out with seeing some stuff. It was... Pretty nice.
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Date: 2025-11-23 11:21 pm (UTC)Nonsense, you’re not duping anyone. You’re one of the most outspoken people I’ve ever met, and more than just one in five. I’m glad you’ve gotten close to him, too.
[But it does make her smile a little rueful; sometimes Verso acts like they don’t care about him, too, but he’s missed his window with Gustave. Disappointing.
Sciel lets her hand fall and squeezes Sophie’s knee instead.]
I’m looking forward to getting to know you even more, too.
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Date: 2025-11-23 11:45 pm (UTC)(And that's why it's so weird to be trusted. Gustave told her that she gave him reasons to trust her, so he does. It took her very long to understand that 'faking she's a better person' is not a thing when she is, in fact, a better person.)
You can... Ask, I think. I don't think I mind sharing with you.
(If the fact she has glasses on doesn't tell her as much.)
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Date: 2025-11-23 11:51 pm (UTC)[And she has a question, actually; Sophie had been very candid about her right to sleep with whoever she wants, and Sciel feels she’s revealed just enough that she can ask in turn.]
Does being telepathic make it extra complicated to have romances?
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Date: 2025-11-24 12:03 am (UTC)(It bothers Sophie, clearly. Not only that, but the culmination of things that she's done thus far that she's not even touching right now. Her mug is empty now, and she reaches to fill both their recipients.
Wonderful question.)
Mhm... Well, I've never been with anyone who wasn't one. I will say that all telepaths are tired assholes with a God complex, so, on account of that, yeah. We collectively suck as people. Not to mention having to understand what's yours and what's another's, since we feel everything someone else does, understanding nature of thought, filtering, boundaries, yeah, it's complicated on the interpersonal aspect of things.
Best sex ever, though.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-24 12:15 am (UTC)Do you think it would be helpful to you if I judged you?
[She holds out her mug.]
Mm. You’re inside each others’ heads as much as their bodies. All their vulnerabilities on display, and yours too. Must be intense.
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Date: 2025-11-24 12:35 am (UTC)(She didn't say she was mean once because she woke up late and took it out on a third party. She said terrorism, backstabbing, so forth.)
Correct, but also, your brain is where you process everything, right. We can tamper with it. Alter perception, body reactions, anything if we are creative and good at what controlling our powers. Vulnerable... Yeah, depends on how much you're engaged on that part of it all.
It's fun.
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Date: 2025-11-24 12:41 am (UTC)[It's also not lost on Sciel that Gustave is fine with this, but feels differently about Verso. Sciel takes a big sip of the whiskey, pushing past the intensity of it.]
It does sound like fun. Must be a pretty small dating pool, though.
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Date: 2025-11-24 12:50 am (UTC)(Gustave doesn't know the specifics, just the general gist. Unfortunately. Or fortunately.)
I'm not restricted to it, but with a strong preference for? Yeah, not a big one for our age group. My sisters dated outside of it while I was dead, but we all dated Cable when I was back. You could have met his old man version from another reality a little before that Earth mission.
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Date: 2025-11-24 01:18 am (UTC)I must have missed him. Was it serious?
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Date: 2025-11-24 07:58 am (UTC)(Maelle says that a lot of what Sophie says is weird, and she filters a lot of it. If Sciel does too, she wouldn't blame her. Sounds like her reality is a lot.)
God, no. He was in the boy toy category for four out of five, and I was not the one who was actually into him. I never had anything serious.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-25 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-25 10:37 am (UTC)(Processing, processing...)
There is a lot I don't know. About myself, about people, and there is someone I'm really into that I've been fucking for, shit, a long time now, so about him, too. If it's not serious, I have space to figure it out. I'm just Sophie. I'm not someone's girlfriend or whatever. There'd be pressure and expectations that I myself might not even consciously know, and I'd put so much effort into not fucking it up that I would, inevitably, fuck it up? After experiencing togetherness for my entire existence, in such a shitty way, I'm not ready to just give myself to someone else, only for me to be scrambling, trying to understand my identity and being a normal person instead of enjoying it.
... Not that he wants to be serious either, but I'm just giving you my stance.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-26 02:22 am (UTC)Oh, you don’t have to defend it, it makes perfect sense! You’re not ready. But so much of serious relationships is making a mess of things while you figure out what you want, and that’s part of you –– what you want, how you want to be loved. I feel like I didn’t really understand myself fully until I was with my husband.
[And, with a little smile:]
Is he here?
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