Bliss Was Missed

Posted on Wed Nov 15th, 2023 @ 12:51pm by Connor Bruin & Bliss Hawkins

4,938 words; about a 25 minute read

Mission: Episode 3: X-Tra Ecclesiam
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: August 13th, 1990 - Evening

After the reunion at the Mansion, when the Professor retired to his master suite and everyone else went about their business, Bliss would eventually head to her old room. There she would find an unusual sight outside her bedroom door. A small candle, long since cold and burned to a stub, sat on the floor in the hall with wax drippings hardened along the edge of a paper with printed lettering.

"In the garden of Xavier, there dwelled a name,
A name as precious as the morning's gentle flame,
Bliss Hawkins, a gem, a diamond pure and true,
Whose radiance in the world, like morning's light, it grew.

Her heart, a fortress strong, though tender to the core,
A lustrous jewel rare, our earthly hearts adore,
No less beautiful for her hardness, firm and bright,
Like a diamond's steadfast gleam in the darkest night.

Oh, Bliss, the world aches for your presence here,
Yet understands the path that you must walk is clear,
For the trials you've faced, the scars that mark your soul,
In the crucible of time, your spirit shall be whole.

The gentle zephyrs whisper tales of your grace,
The stars, they weep in longing for your smiling face,
And though you're far away, in need of tender care,
Our hearts, they hold you close, in every whispered prayer.

The rose may bear its thorns, a diamond may be hard,
Yet in their beauty, in their strength, they hold a world apart,
So, Bliss, take this respite, let healing find its way,
For when you return to us, you'll shine brighter every day.

In the garden of Xavier, you're a gem so rare,
A diamond in our hearts, with a radiance beyond compare,
And as you find your peace, we'll wait with hearts aglow,
For the return of Bliss, whose beauty continues to grow."

The signature line beneath the poem was traced in bubbly block text with runny ink. Amidst the barely legible lettering the following message could be discerned:

"With boundless admiration for the indomitable spirit of Bliss Hawkins, a diamond among us all, composed by my own hand,
I remain Connor Bruin"

Bliss knelt down wit a curious frown, her fingers tracing over the items in front of her door. First the nub of the candle, cold and spent. She turned the fragment of wax and blackened wick in her fingers. It confused her. Some kind of ritual, or—a vigil.

Then she read the words. Her fingertips traced the print. She felt a confusing mix of emotions. She took a sense of pride in being emotionally invulnerable. She's been through the wringer in her life time and time again. She could handle the cruelties of life and come out the other side with a quip and snarky smile. But this, this was different. Connor, in his unique way, was saying the most kind things about her. She was confused, and she needed answers. And there is only one place Bliss can find answers.

"Connor, where are you?"

Connor was swinging from the chandelier in the main hall above the staircase when he heard his name. Typically he stayed away from the girls dormitory since he was not a girl, but someone has called him. He had distinctly heard his name.

Flipping off the chandelier into a roll, Connor made a controlled tumble down the hallway toward Bliss. He jumped to his feet, half out of breath, and smiled for a moment.

"SOMEONE CALLED FOR ME," Connor typed out on his device. "I DISTINCTLY HEARD MY NAME. WAS IT YOU? DO YOU NEED HELP?"

Bliss held the parchment with the printed words in her hand. Her expression was one of confusion and concern. "Yes, I was the one looking for you. I just found this in front of my door. Did you put it there? It has your name on it."

A bashful grin came over Connor's face and he quickly hid his face as he began typing. "YOU LEFT BECAUSE YOU LOST YOUR MIND AND I FELT BAD. I COMPOSE POETRY WHEN I FEEL BAD. I AM GLAD YOU RETURNED IN MIND AND BODY."

Bliss smiled softly, and a rare blush came to her cheeks. "Thank you for caring enough to do this. I'm sorry you were sad because of me. I'm back and better than ever." She touched his shoulder. "You're sweet."

"I AM NOT SAD NOW. I AM HAPPY BECAUSE YOU ARE SAFE." Then, without missing a beat, he asked. "IS IT TRUE YOU MADE A CRIME BOSS EXPLODE? APOLOGIES IF IT IS AN OFFENSIVE QUESTION BUT YOU'RE SANE AGAIN AND I AM VERY CURIOUS BY NATURE."

Bliss recognized an attempt to change the topic of discussion, and offered a mild smirk. "Explode is such a graphic term, but in this case? Yeah, she exploded. I'm not proud of what happened. But she deserved it. I am not into killing for the sake of killing, I'm not a bloodthirsty monster. But if the bad guys try to kill me, I'm going to do whatever it takes to win."

"THAT IS AMAZING." Connor's speech generating device lacked the emotive expression that his face projected. His mouth made a wide OH in shock and awe, but he quickly resumed typing. "THE APPLIED STRENGTH TO GENERATE SUCH A RESULTANT FORCE MUST BE PHENOMENAL." He let his device dangle from his neck like a medallion while he stared at the hallway window, lost in calculations for a few seconds, before he took up the device again. "IT WOULD ROUGHLY BE THE EQUIVALENT OF 10 TYPICAL LIGHTNING STRIKES COMBINED AND YOU GENERATED THAT WITH YOUR BRAIN." Connor stared at her with amazement. "DO YOU WANT TO ARM WRESTLE?"

Bliss quickly shook her head with a worried frown at his offer to arm wrestle. "I'm still learning about controlling my ability. I wouldn't want to hurt you in any way. You just told me how much force I can generate, and I don't understand how to narrow that level of energy down into something manageable. Besides I tend to have bad luck with people I like in my life. I would like not to lose you, especially in some way that I created." She reached out to gently touch his shoulder. "I care about you, Connor."

When she touched his shoulder, Connor's eyes traced every inch of her arm from her fingertips resting atop his clavicle collar bone up the crook of her elbow joint to where the limb connected to the glenoid shoulder socket between her exquisite clavicle and her scapula which he could not see. And then his eyes roved back down to her hand that still rested on his shoulder. The connection filled him with nervous energy, but not the negative kind that overloaded him. This was excitement. He could still feel overwhelmed by excitement but it took more of it and he usually found positive ways to channel it.

After he processed the tactile contact and tried not to read into it overmuch, her words registered in his ears. She cared about him. She liked him in her life. Suddenly he remembered the sight of her skipping down to the lake in her swimsuit with a heavy cooler over her shoulder. Then he remembered it was impolite to stare, which he realized he was doing now. But he couldn't help it. Turning his head aside, he gave Bliss a sidelong stare with his fingers pressed against his eyes. Was she like Iris? He liked Iris but she did not make him excited. Not like he felt in this moment or at the lake beach or when he saw Bliss come off the seaplane.

Connor realized that he cared about Bliss, too, and in a way perhaps he had not cared about anyone else before. Was this what the poets meant? This feeling of instability, like wobbly sea-legs on dry land, like a burning flame inside that felt good and painful at the same time? Should he be expressing any of these thoughts to Bliss?

"I AM TOUGH," Connor typed at length. He didn't want to brush her hand away, so he typed slowly with one hand. "I AM GLAD YOU CARE. I REALIZE I CARE ABOUT YOU IN A SPECIAL WAY. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS FEELING."

Bliss gave Connor a warm smile and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I don't understand either. But all of this, despite what some say, is what makes us human. You and me? Yes we're more than human, but we still have hearts, minds, emotions, maybe even souls. But we're all just thinking about what everything means. I'm a lot more simple than you. You see things that I can't. I just know my world is better with you in it."

"And I know you're tough. I just... Need to be careful."

"WHY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SIMPLE?" Connor looked genuinely perplexed. "MOST PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE SMARTER THAN ME BECAUSE I AM NONVERBAL."

Bliss let go of his shoulder with a wistful smile. "Oh, I think I'm pretty smart, I'm just not book smart. But when it comes down to complexity, I suspect you're way beyond me. You absorb and think about things that are my way over my head. Being nonverbal? That's just you. Look at us we're communicating, right?" She reached up to smooth her hand through his red hair. "I think there's a lot to you that goes beyond what people think of as normal. I just think that makes you cool, not weird or abnormal."

Connor opened his mouth and laughed as she ran her hand through his hair. He raised his hand to meet hers, then rested it on her wrist to lightly pin her hand against his temple. He closed his eyes and smiled wide. With a deep breath, he savored the feeling and blocked out all other senses for just a moment. There was so much to take in through tactile contact that Connor often wondered why there hadn't been a language derived from it—micro-expressions, muscle twinges, even pulse rate and perspiration levels were all signals for those who watched for them.

Bliss noticed how Connor closed his eyes and smiled when he had control of her hand and wrist. Her voice was soft, barely more than a whisper. She was enthralled by his abilities, his ease at seeing the tiniest of details and knowing where they led. "What are you seeing right now?"

Opening his eyes, Connor released her hand in order to begin typing his response. "YOUR PALMS ARE SOFT BUT YOUR KNUCKLES ARE CALLOUSED WHICH REVEALS YOU HAVE PERFORMED MORE FIGHTING THAN MANUAL LABOR. HOWEVER THE BONE STRUCTURE OF YOUR WRIST LACKS THE CALCIFIED MICROFRACTURES WHICH RESULT FROM FREQUENT BLUNT FORCE CONTACT AS FOUND IN WRISTS SUCH AS MY OWN. I SEE YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEND YOURSELF BUT SMART ENOUGH TO AVOID BOTH UNNECESSARY COMBAT AND UNNECESSARY WORK. THIS COMBINATION LEADS ME TO CONCLUDE THAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF GRASPING MANY ADVANCED CONCEPTS IF AFFORDED SUFFICIENT TIME TO PROCESS THEM."

Bliss looked at her palm, then the rest of her hand as if examining it for the first time.
"Well... I have counted on my abilities to get me through challenges. But not every issue can be fixed through strength. Like the saying goes, if you only have a hammer, every problem is a nail. I try not to think about life that way."

"SEE?" Connor beamed wide and giggled again as his speech-generating device spoke his words. "NOT OVER YOUR HEAD."

Bliss tilted her head with a moment of confusion, then grinned as the moment of clarity struck her. She was enjoying Connor's company more by the moment.
"I'm a little hungry, join me in a kitchen raid?"

Connor did a tight backflip in place and let out a hoot. "ABSOLUTELY," his device said with a quick press of a button. He tapped his chest twice and typed, "I CAN ALWAYS EAT."

Bliss chuckled at Connor's excitement, then waved him to follow her towards the kitchen. It was on a lower level in the commons area but getting there was always half the fun. With a seemingly casual vault from the open stairwell, Bliss drifted through the air towards the chandelier. She reached out to run her fingers over the crystals in passing, making a quiet tinkling sound. She turned in mid air to give Connor a playful wave as she touched down on the marble floor with a slow pirouette.

Such a performance deserved a standing ovation and Connor freely gave it. Now it was his turn. He hopped on top of the bannister quick as a high step, but rather than slide down, he planted his thick hand and ran sideways along the wall, pushing off from the bannister and reaching for the chandelier. For a few seconds and few steps, he managed an unassisted horizontal wall run. Before he fell, he swung himself around the chandelier's mounting, hooted at the satisfying ruckus made by the jostled crystals, and swung a loop. The momentum carried him downward at a diagonal trajectory toward the wall. He struck it about halfway to the floor in a crouched position. From there, he did a springhand backflip off the wall and tucked his knees into his chest in order to land on his feet rather than his face. Once he stuck the landing, he grinned at Bliss, thumped his chest twice, and raced for the kitchen, cackling all the way.

Bliss offered Connor a round of applause for his efforts, and then sped forward to catch up to the wily young man. He made it first to the kitchen but only because she didn't want to crash through him to win. "All right, what sounds good for a snack that isn't reheated Scottish leftovers? We could do something as easy as a big bowl of cereal, or I can make something easy like hamburgers or maybe a grilled cheese sandwich or maybe a bacon on toast sandwich. I got enough skills to do something like that."

She started looking through the cabinets before focusing on the industrial refrigerator. "I got Pop-Tarts, but I'm not feeling them. I want something a little more heavy than that."

"BACON." The look on Connor's face was intense as he typed. "I WANT TO EAT BACON. DO YOU WANT TEA?"

He began rummaging through the cabinets and accidentally took one of the doors off one of its hinges. Despite his attempt to replace it, he only made it worse by managing to rip it off the other hinge. The effort dislodged most of the contents of the cabinet onto the counter. All but a contraband bottle of malted scotch that had sat shoved in the back of the cabinet for an unknown amount of time.

Connor froze and slowly looked at Bliss as if he had uncovered a landmine. "DO YOU SEE THAT? WHAT SHOULD WE DO?"

Bliss stuck her head out of the fridge with a confused expression. "What did you find, sweetie!?" The platinum blonde frowned when she looked at the bottle from across the room. She quickly crossed the room and picked up the bottle. Her eyes got big as she read the label. "Jesus Christ..." she whispered.

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what to do or where to go with it. A good girl would have turned it in or just put it back where she found it. But nobody has ever accused Bliss of being a good girl.

"The roof! We need to get to the roof."

It took Connor half a second to connect the dots. Scotch. Roof. Girl. But when they connected, he gave Bliss a mischievous grin and nodded vigorously. "Ruuu! Ruuu!" he said without waiting to type out his agreement. And then he shot straight for the open window which his bulky frame somehow slipped through like a needle dart to the outside. He began scampering up the wall like a spider.

Bliss was rooted in place as she watched Connor disappear through the window with no problem at all. She grinned ruefully as she launched herself after him. The boy was fast , she thought. She better remember that.

She wanted to shout tally ho, but silence was the directive of the moment. She sprang through the window like a cat chasing a laser pointer. She made a 90° turn away from the source of gravity towards the roof. She passed Connor on the way who was still scrambling with hands and feet over the ivy covered wall.

"Fast as fast can be, you'll never catch me!"

Connor let out a grunt as he redoubled his efforts, but it was no contest. No one could climb faster than direct flight. When he got to the top, Bliss was already cocky and confident in her victory.

"YOU WIN," Connor typed. "NOW WHAT?" He looked at the bottle she'd kept in hand. "WE HAVE NO GLASSES."

Bliss moved closer to Connor so they could be quiet. After all there was no knowing how soundproofed the house was, and somebody could be just on the other side of that old roofing. Not to mention all the weird sensors that the professor might have poking around for security measures. She was trying to ignore the idea that there was a telepath lurking who could hear their thoughts.

"No glasses? No problem."

She broke the seal on the bottle with the nearest fraction of her ability. And the cap came off easily enough. She started to take a sip directly from the bottle and paused to look at him. Her expression became quite impish, and it was obvious just how close the two of them were sitting perched on the Apex of the roof together. "I don't have any mutant cooties. Do you have any mutant cooties, Connor?"

The look on Connor's face expressed how offended he was in every possible way by the question. And he was. Cooties. Absurd little fictions. Not only were they not real, he didn't have them! And if they were real, he wouldn't have them because... well, he hadn't worked that out yet, but since he had encountered less a hundredth of a percent of real and existing bacteria, the law of averages made him quite confident he would never have real cooties either.

While he was thinking, the bottle found its way into his hand and up to his mouth. Smoky sweet and tangy amber liquid swashed over his lips and into his mouth. The way it burned his throat made him cough. He took another swig just to prove the cootie controversy once and for all and then handed the bottle back to Bliss with chin raised with pride and... maybe a little provocation? Yes, the smarmy smirk was plain to see. This sassy girl had another thing coming if she thought he was afraid of imaginary things.

Bliss tried to warn Connor when he took two deep pulls from the bottle. She winced as she watched the strong liquor wreck havoc on poor Connor's hypersensitive system. She took the bottle from him with a mild frown.
"I'm gonna give you some homework. Look into the subject of flirting. In the meantime, this kind of fine liquor is meant to be sipped, not guzzled like a bottle of cheap strawberry ripple or Mad Dog 20/20."

She lifted the bottle of scotch to her lips. She took a tiny taste and closed her eyes to savor the taste and effects. Then she took another, larger, pull. "Oh, that's smooth...."

Flirting. Homework. Connor wanted him to study flirting because... Connor returned her earlier impish grin. Normally hormonal flares sent Connor into a tizzy. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the night air. But Connor did more than admire Bliss in appearance. He wanted to engage with her.

"More." The word came out of Connor's mouth like he had been speaking his whole life. His eyes shot wide in shock and excitement. "More!" he repeated, reaching for the bottle. "More, more, more!"

"Slow down! Ssshhh!" Bliss flinched at how loud they were being up here. She held the bottle away from Connor while putting a hand at the end of a stiff arm against Connor's chest. "Baby, you gotta slow down, we have to treat this like gold. This is the good stuff, not a bottle of strawberry ripple or Mad Dog. We can't get another one until.... How old are you, buckaroo?"

"19." Connor shocked himself again. How was he saying these things? It mist be the alcohol. There wasn't anything else it could be. He looked down at the hand on his chest and tried to push his weight against it. A smirk played at his lips. She wanted flirting? He'd show her flirting. "Gimme!" He grasped for the bottle with his thick, oaken arms.

If Bliss didn't instinctively use her telekinesis to bolster her physical abilities, Connor would easily overpower her and take the bottle. Still, his strength and grabby hands forced her back on the roof. Giggling, Bliss was teasing him with the bottle just out of reach. "Connor Algonquin Bruin!" The tangled pair were too busy playing keep away to notice they were meters off the roof and hovering over the school's pool.

Bliss finally relented and Connor seized the bottle. She looked down to see where they were. "Ummm, Connor... You got the bottle, but what's in your other hand?" Connor's free appendage had a rather generous handful of Bliss's breast in its grasp.

Connor gasped. "Base!" He released her chest and held up two fingers. "Base!" Second base. He rubbed his hand in a circle on his chest, the handsign for sorry. "So-so!"

Bliss smiled and did the ASL symbol for thank you. "It's ok, usually a guy has to buy me dinner before they get anywhere close to the goods." She took the bottle back from Connor upset and confused hand and took a deep pull. "But you only live once, and in this world you'd better take every chance you get for anything good." She replaced the bottle into his grip with a happy sigh. He could feel himself within the influence of her power. At the moment it felt as warm and welcoming as she did.

When Bliss returned his hand to her breast, Connor took another swig of the scotch against her advice and let the liquid courage make true what only had ever been a dream until now. He kissed her. As he did so, the world stopped. Orbits ceased from stars in the sky to subatomic electron paths. Time simply ceased to exist while their lips were locked together in an eternal moment.

When the smallest bit of space came between their lips, Connor said, "Whoa." He could feel a tremble of thrilled excitement and youthful arousal ripple through Bliss.

"Yeah...." she agreed with a husky whisper.

Between the lip lock and the handful of womanhood, Connor was finding it hard to think. Physiological processes were shutting down his rational mind and it was both terrifying and exhilarating. "Good?" he asked.

Bliss nodded shakily. She looked up into his eyes, a rare moment of vulnerability clear in those perfect emeralds. "Really, really good." She reached up to run fingers tenderly through his messy red hair.

The twirl of her fingers in his hair did as much for Connor as the actual kiss did. Stimulation rocked his body from head to toe and everything in between. "Good."

He grabbed her head with both hands and kissed her again, long and hard enough for his mouth to open. She tasted like smoke and sugar and he couldn't get enough. Connor slid his tongue forward for enhanced sensations and got more than he ever bargained for. The feel of his tongue against hers brought his eyes closed and made him focus all else out. A lifetime of nonverbal struggle against speech made the membrane far from weak. If anything, it was as strong as his limbs and it wrestled against Bliss with reckless abandon.

Bliss was caught by surprise at Connor's full court press. Sadly, this wasn't the first man to force himself on her. The good news was Bliss liked him and didn't turn him immediately into a human pretzel or chunky salsa. She struggled against him, trying not to hurt him in the process. The truth was, she liked him but she'd liked boys before with dismal results. When he paused to breathe, she whispered firmly. "Connor, you're hurting me."

When those words were said, they were a bucket of ice water. Connor's eyes shot open in horror, his mouth agape, and his chin even quivered slightly. He more than let go. He thrust backward, putting Bliss out of reach of the manhandler that he was. Realizing that meant a free fall, Connor just closed his eyes, spread his arms wide, and accepted his fate.

Rather than a stinging slap or a ricochet tumble over the campus, Connor found a gentle hand soothing against his cheek. "I'm still here. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. It's ok." She looked up at him with compassion before wrapping her arms around him in an affectionate hug. "I know you got excited, I did too. We just need to take things slow. Will you trust me?"

The free fall sensation remained but the acceleration never happened. Connor opened his eyes and found Bliss holding him. Why would she do that? He had hurt her like a monster. "Trust you," he said. "Not me." He returned her compassionate look with one of shame.

Bliss reached up and gently tapped Connor's cheek with just enough force to get his attention. "Stop that. That was your first try. Enthusiasm is not always needed, but technique is. Here, pay close attention."

Bliss pulled up closer to him, her eyes kind. She leaned in and held his head gently in her hands. This kiss was sweet and slow, but still full of desire. After a few preliminary moments, her tongue teased at his lips before slipping inside. Where his attempt was urgent and forceful, hers was slow and enticing. She slipped her arms around his neck and held him close. She demonstrated with a soft, agile tongue and tender lips just how an amazing, life changing kiss is done. When her tongue withdrew, her lips remained parted against his, a welcoming invitation.

At first the light slap was shocking, but even more shocking was the realization to Connor that he didn't hate it. It communicated affection and forgiveness and all the things he had thought he alienated from himself. It made him smile. And then the lesson began. Connor's eyes bulged out at first, so he closed them and focused on the sensation. Not just for enjoyment but also duplication. When her tongue withdrew, he chased it with his. First he traced her lips like she did with him and it felt just as good to give as to receive. That compelled him to press inward, chasing the tip of her tongue with his own, using the level of restraint she had demonstrated.

Somehow less was more. His initial eagerness had made him come on too strong. He realized that now. Holding back made for a better experience. A soft moan escaped him, almost a whimper save for the lack of a snivel. This was profound pleasure combined with sheer surprise and suspense of disbelief. When he finally pulled away to catch his breath, he grinned and chuckled. "B-b-better."

An equally breathless Bliss shook her head with a thrilled grin. "Definitely better. "She ran her sleeve across her lips and gave his biceps a squeeze. Damn, he was a piece of man. She felt a bit self conscious for a change, she was sure with his abilities she was an open book to him. She was turned on and she was certain he would know.

In the aftermath of the kiss, Bliss had lowered them onto the ground safely. But they were both still in one another's arms.

"Like it." Connor looked at her squeeze his bicep and grinned wider than before. Was he observing she liked it? Was it a statement that he liked it? "Again." Well, either way he wasn't objecting. He rubbed his other hand up and down her back, stopping at her tail bone and going back up her shoulders. "Feels good."

He felt tension grow in across her hips along with micro pulses from her pelvis. They were dwarfed by his own, but Connor's fingers picked them up like a seismograph tracking an earthquake. This was arousal. Mutual arousal. Connor knew the mechanics of the situation but he was in uncharted territory. Should he wish her a good night? Could he kiss her again? Uncharted territory left him no guidance.

Bliss looked back over her shoulder towards the looming school. Everything told her to get away from school if they were going to keep the options between them. She was still wearing the dress that she had been given by Moira. She didn't want to damage it.

"Do you want to take a walk down by the lake?" She reached out and grabbed some supplies from the pool house with her ability.

"Yeah." Connor grinned even bigger. This was proving to be a magical time and he didn't want to screw it up again, so he was following her lead. Besides, he had good memories of Bliss at the lake.

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