Dejá Vu

Rogue is in a similar position to mine a few days ago, only more drastic. I moved a day's commute away, she's moving like ten states. I had hours to decide and pack, she had about a minute and none of her stuff. Even our powers; I had to avoid eye contact, she has to avoid skin contact. My power reduces conscious thought, hers removes it. It's actually kinda weird how many similarities there are between our powers, now that I think about it. I can alter someone's personality, but she absorbs it. Longer contact creates stronger effects. Interesting.

After giving Rogue a brief tour, we went to the professor for a mission report. Following that, Rogue and I stayed for consultation on her powers. I thought there was a good chance she could learn to control them like I did, and if not, it was likely something I could either solve or understand.

"I trust your judgement Connor, but do remain cautious in your endeavors. If anything should go wrong, please inform me immediately." He explained

"Yes, of course. Oh by the way, I was wondering about getting my own suit?"

"Ah yes, Jean said as much. If you have a certain look in mind, I could view your mental image, if that's alright with you."

"Uh, yeah. I mean, that's fine, yes."

"Interesting color scheme." He said wordlessly

Yeah, it was actually Jean's idea.

"Could I get a costume too, then? I don't exactly have a lot to wear."

"Yes, that shouldn't be a problem. Do you wish to join the X-Men as well, Rogue?" Xavier replied

"I don't see why not. If I'm gonna be a target either way, might as well do something about it."

"Very well then. Training is at 6:00 pm on weekdays, to the exclusion of Wednesday."

"Thank you, have a nice day sir." I said as we left

Rogue and I went to that meeting room in the girl's dorm, which was actually quite close to her new room. My clothes were still in the sub-basement, so I had to pull up my sleeves to even expose skin.

"Alright I'll explain how I was told to do this, and then the process I used. First try to visualize your powers, how they work, the process, the feeling, everything. Then try to control that visualization while using them, imagine taking control and stopping it. What I did was try to grasp the feeling in my eyes; based on the two opposite sensations, I was able to theorize about how my powers actually worked, and use that theory to properly control the process. Let me know if something works."

"I s'pose I'll give it a shot..." She said closing her eyes. After maybe thirty seconds, she shook her head. "I don't feel nothing. I don't know what I should be feeling."

"That's fine, maybe you need to actually come into contact for anything to happen. Let me see your hand."

"You sure about this?" Rogue said, taking off her glove.

"Yes, I'll touch your finger while you try to focus on the feeling. I'll probably pass out, but not for long. Don't worry, I'll be fine, I promise."

She closed her eyes, laying out her bare hand for me. With the back of my finger, I reached forward and touched hers. It felt like something was leaving me...but I didn't resist, the wooziness lasting only a second, whereas our fingers remained in contact for a bit longer.

"I think I felt it that time, and I still feel like myself. Now I gotta wait five more minutes." She mumbled to herself, eyes still closed.

"Maybe not" I smiled

Her eyes shot open in surprise. I noticed the effect of my powers immediately, so I looked away.

"How're you still awake?"

"I'm still working on that one, actually. I think it's because I was prepared, and didn't fight it; although there could be any number of other explanations."

I can still feel my powers, though maybe a bit weaker? What happens if we both use them at the same time?

I activated the spiral, returning my gaze. It was interesting, at least. I felt the unrefined signals she was putting out being swallowed up in my void. Knowing this, I realized I probably would've been fine to look in her eyes before, but wasn't taking chances.

"Connor? Wh-what's going on? Feels.. weird."

"You're using my powers, and so am I. I was curious what would happen."

I started pulsing the spiral. Rogue blinked, looking dizzy for a few seconds before her expression went empty.

"Relax, Rogue. I'm fine, you're fine, relax."

"Relax.."

"Like sinking into a comfortable chair after a day of work, all your tension is leaving. You are feeling very relaxed."

"Very..Relaxed.."

The spiral she's putting out is slowly dying. Might be from the hypnosis, probably just the absorption wearing off.

"Your powers don't control you, you control your powers, isn't that right?"

"Yes..?"

"Repeat after me: My powers don't control me, I control my powers."

"My..powers..don't..control..me...I..control..my...powers..."

"Your powers should only activate when you want them to, isn't that right?"

"Yes.."

"And you don't want to use them on me without my permission, do you?"

"No.."

"Then you won't use your powers on me, unless I say you can, isn't that right?"

"Yes.."

"When you're around me, you don't have to worry so much about your powers, right?"

"Right.."

"You can even touch me without worrying, right?"

"Right.."

"So you'll like to be around me, yes?"

"Yes.."

"When I snap my fingers, you'll wake up and forget this trance, okay?"

"Okay.."

*Snap*

"So they basically just cancel each other out. About what I was expecting." I continued as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Anyway, I think we've learned a lot about your powers, and we should probably call it a day." I blinked away the spiral, averting my gaze once again.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I guess I shoulda known it wouldn't be this easy."

"Few good things are. I'm gonna go grab my clothes and get something to eat; if you need anything, let me know. Or Jean, really anyone on the team would be glad to help, I've only been here for a few days myself actually." I said, laughing a bit towards the end

"And Jean is... Phoenix, right?"

"Oh yeah, let me give you all our codenames real quick. I'm Psych AKA Connor Somnus; Cyclops is Scott, um, Summers; Phoenix would be Jean Grey; Shadowcat's real name is Kathy Pryde or something, but she just goes by Kitty; Nightcrawler, the blue guy, is Kurt Wagner; the gruff short guy is Logan, or Wolverine; and there's two more of us; Doctor Hank McCoy, a big, hairy, blue fella called Beast; and Storm, real name Ororo Munroe, a tall African woman with white hair." I inhaled sharply

"Oh and professor Charles Xavier, Professor X. That should cover it. Come to think of it, I never got your name. I heard it was something like Annie?"

"It's.. it's Anna Marie, but please just call me Rogue." She pled

"Sure, see you around Rogue!"

I retrieved my clothes and decided a peaceful evening was best after the unexpected twist on my first mission.

Maybe I could read with Jean again, that was nice... Jean, are you listening?

...

"You need something? Oh! Yeah, reading is fine, come on over whenever you want."

Well she did say she was only slightly tuned-in. Maybe a little stress relief tonight wouldn't hurt.

Jean seemed to have picked that up at least, since she was naked when I arrived, lying on her bed in an inviting 'draw me like one of your French girls' pose. Within seconds I was stiff as a board, but maintained control.