The Morning After the Night Before

Posted on Wed Nov 8th, 2023 @ 11:36am by Charles Xavier & Aurora Summers

1,816 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: Xavier’s Office
Timeline: August 16th, 1990 - Morning

~Aurora... come to my office immediately~

Aurora stifled a yawn as she walked along the corridor towards Charles Xavier’s Office. The previous night with Scott had been a dream come true, and a very long night of love making for them both that she wouldn’t ever forget. She had no idea that in her throes of passion she’d broadcast those emotions for Xavier to pick up on, though she was about to find out that very fact.

Pausing at Professor Xavier’s Office door she knocked politely and waited for admittance before walking inside with a cheery smile. “You wanted to see me, Professor?”

"Yes..." Xavier was in his chair, facing the window without really seeing what was beyond it. His thoughts were elsewhere, tightly clamped down, projecting an emotional void around himself that lacked the usual warmth of his normal countenance. Not angry. Not offended. Just very solemn and circumspect. When Aurora entered, he didn't immediately turn around. "Close the door," he said before adding a terse, "please."

Aurora closed the door as requested, she was more or less convinced that she was in big trouble. She kept her thoughts and emotions tightly locked down, burying the memories of her night of passion with Scott deep inside her mind. She wasn’t sure if she had the strength of ability to keep Xavier out of her mind but she would try if she had to.

"You have a place here," Xavier began without turning around. "I want that to be made clear before we get any further in what needs to be said." He cleared his throat in attempts to control his tone of voice. "This school is a sanctuary for peace, for personal growth, for securing a better world. I will never turn anyone away for lack of control over their gifts, not when my goal is to teach them that very thing. What I need to know, here and now, is everything which led up to last night's intrusion into Scott's dreams."

Finally turning around, it was clear from the Professor's puffy eyes that he had been struggling emotionally over what he knew and was doing his best to keep from putting the burden of his internal regulation onto Aurora. "Be honest. I will not invade your mind but I will know the truth when I hear it." And, it was implied, he would know when he did not hear it.

Aurora took a deep breath, knowing she couldn’t lie to the man who’d given her a home. She took a deep breath and looked Xavier in the eye as she spoke. “Scott has confused me, ever since I got here. I’ve felt a connection with him and events with Jean didn’t help matters. I wanted to...” she paused. “I wanted to know why he was so confused, what I could do to help him. I fell asleep thinking of him; it drew me into his mind and I didn’t want to leave.”

At first, as the Professor listened, her stared at her with an unblinking intensity, listening carefully to her story. The longer she spoke, though, his face softened until he began nodding with understanding. "Thank you for your candor, Aurora. I know that must have been difficult to admit. All mutants bear the responsibility of controlling their gifts in order to keep them from becoming curses, and telepaths such as you and I have the most onerous burden of all. There is little defense against a determined telepath, especially not in dreams. Allowing your mind to wander, even out of innocent motives such as curiosity or noble ones such as helping a friend, can lead to disaster. If Scott were to know that you entered his dreams as such, it would create an intrinsic layer of mistrust that would color every interaction with you. I say intrinsic because it wouldn't be by choice. The mind resents intrusion even more than the body. That is part of why I take special care in what I do. Trust that is earned is more precious than trust that is gleaned."

Aurora nodded. It appeared Xavier didn’t know she’d spent the night with Scott. Honesty would be a good thing, to come clean and own up, but what of the consequences for Scott? She couldn’t risk Scott being punished for a night of passion that she instigated. “I know Scott is struggling with the loss of Jean, but she wouldn’t want him to be this way, Professor. He deserves to know happiness, and I feel for him.”

There was more that Aurora wasn't sharing. The Professor knew that already, and then it was confirmed by her repeating concerns she'd shared before. "Putting relationships aside, I must underscore the fact that the typical mind is a chrysalis of sorts, wrapping itself in one layer upon another as protection from trauma. The hardest thing in the world will be watching someone fight against the prison walls they've erected around themselves because removing those walls prematurely could cripple them. A caterpillar depends on the struggle of escaping its chrysalis in order to develop the strength needed to achieve flight. Helping the caterpillar escape its chrysalis means it will never learn to fly." The Professor lowered his chin to stare directly at Aurora. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Aurora looked Xavier in the eye again meeting his gaze. “You’re saying I can’t rush Scott into letting go of his heartache and grief. He has to move past it on his own, find his own way.” Her gaze dropped as she thought about what that would truly mean for her relationship with Scott.

"Yes..." For the first time, the Professor smiled as he nodded, wan though it was. "Yes, that's precisely it. We must be there for Scott, each in our own way, but we cannot fight his battles for him because it is himself he is fighting. All we can do is be there to brace him as support and keep him from spiraling. Too much help will be no help at all." Studying her lowered gaze, the Professor ventured an educated guess. "You're worried that you've done too much already. I won't retract the warning about entering his dreams, Aurora, for it was actually understated. Venturing outside the walls of our own body into the dreams of others will cross channels and pathways of realms inhabited by entities that do not live by our rules. I have no doubt you recall the two of them from our visit to the Astral Plane." A darkness briefly passed over the Professor's eyes. "I have beaten the Shadow King before, though not without great cost. He will not face me directly. My students, on the other hand... yes, I expect he would relish that opportunity if it were presented to him. If I urge you too often to be careful, it is for that reason."

Aurora nodded. “I haven’t felt any other presences, at least not last night. I promise I won’t venture into Scott’s dreams anymore.” ~I won’t need to~ she thought to herself, she would be there for Scott in her own way and if that meant being there in his bed at night to offer love and comfort then that was what she would do. “If I see, hear, or sense anything unusual you’ll be the first one to know.”

"I believe you," the Professor said with a nod. "But also feel free to confide in me should you feel any lapse in control. There's little to nothing you will experience in your telepathic development that I haven't already faced, Aurora. I am here for you, so consider the old days of fending for yourself a thing of the past."

Aurora nodded. She wanted to be honest, to come clean about what had occurred the night before, the memory of her night of passion momentarily flashing through her mind. “I want to learn more about myself, and my abilities, Professor. If you can help me with that, it’d be amazing!”

"That's still the plan," said the Professor with a nod. "This was just one learning opportunity in the long road ahead."

Aurora nodded. “Professor, I...” She paused. Dare she come clean? What trouble would it cause for Scott? Dare she risk it and confide in Xavier? She didn’t know what was best to do.

"Yes, Aurora?" The Professor closed his mind down like a steel trap in order to give the young lady the dignity of speaking her own mind.

Aurora couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk Scott being dragged into an argument and possibly sent away. “I just wanted to say thank you. You could just have easily read my mind and ordered me to stay away from Scott, but you’ve given me the chance to understand him instead. I must seem pretty naive right now.”

"No, Aurora," the Professor said. "It is never naive to hope. That is one lesson I never want you to unlearn."

Aurora nodded. “Professor, thinking more on a personal level, I want to learn more about myself and what I’m truly capable of. I want to know more about where I came from as well.” She paused smiling a wry smile. “I guess I’m being pretty demanding, aren’t I?”

"No, dear Aurora," the Professor said with a kindly shake of his head. "All of those are wonderful goals to pursue. I'll do everything in my power to assist you." Aromas from the dining room wafted their way down the hall. "Did you get any breakfast yet? I'd hate for you to miss it."

“Actually, no, I didn’t, and I’m absolutely starving!” Aurora grinned. “Would you like to come and join us, Professor? You always eat alone in your office, you should join your students and enjoy their company.”

The Professor smiled. "I would love nothing more, Aurora, but today is no less demanding than usual. Allow me a raincheck until tomorrow?"

Aurora nodded and smiled. “Of course...” She paused as she felt something from within, something happening inside her own body. The sudden realisation that her body was in the process of creation. “Erm...sorry” she smiled. “My train of thought was interrupted there for a moment. A rain check?” She nodded. “Tomorrow it is, Professor.”

"Well, go and eat then. Say hello to the others for me if you would," the Professor said by way of dismissal.

“Of course.” Aurora smiled happily and headed on her way. Exiting the office, her smile turned into a more worried melancholy expression. If what she thought she’d felt was true, her secret with Scott wasn’t going to remain a secret for long. What were they going to do?

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