Sara Grey and Neil Spellman
September 25th, 2020
It had been roughly a week since the team had gone off to fight Mesmero. Neil had adjusted surprisingly quickly to life with hearing aids, with Beast explaining to him that the damage had been permanent. They were fairly discrete, a shade of blue reminiscent of Cerebro - which Neil had become increasingly convinced was Beast's favorite color. He had his sketch pad with him as he knocked on Sara's door, hoping that she was there and not off somewhere else, but he could have understood her going to stay with her aunt and uncle for a while.
Sara had been, more or less, alone for the time after dealing with Mesmero. She hadn't talked much to anyone. Partly because she felt guilty still, but because she had not acted like herself during the mission. She saw red and that was unlike her. So when there was a knock on her door, she was not surprised. She expected it to be Mary or her aunt. She opened it and saw Neil there, the last person she'd expect.
"Oh, Neil. Can I help you?" "...I made this for you..." he said softly, before pulling out a drawing he had done just for her. It was a sketch of Sara with the flames of the Phoenix Force behind her. He had taken a lot of time on it, working on it practically since they had gotten back from dealing with Mesmero. For him, showing his artwork to another human being was a huge negative - but here he was, not only showing it to Sara but gifting it to her.
"...Do you like it?" he asked nervously, a slight blush to his cheeks.
Sara was taken aback as she stared at the drawing in Neil's hand. She remembered their talk before and how he was not comfortable showing his art to anyone. So the fact he was doing this was big.
"Oh wow. Neil, it's beautiful. I love it." She took it from him to inspect it closer. She had never been the subject of a drawing and this was well done.
"I don't know what to say. Thank you." Neil nodded a bit at her, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her complimenting his art... but she had been both the intended recipient and the subject of it. It would have been a bit awkward if she had just taken the drawing and walked off without saying a word with it.
"You're welcome," he said softly, tempted to run away in terror since he had given her the drawing, but he made himself take a breath. There was another reason he was here.
"... H-how are you?" he then asked, fidgeting a bit with the hearing aids nervously.
"I-I mean since... y'know... trying to plan D&D..." he lied hastily.
Sara could tell the boy was struggling, so she would make it easier on him.
"Well, eager to get back into D&D since our last session got interrupted with this Mesmero nonsense. So you let me know when you're ready and I'll be there." She could tell he wanted to say more, but she didn't want him to pressure himself to put it out there.
He eagerly nodded - perhaps a bit
too eagerly.
"Yeah! I uh found some cool new adventures online, been thinking about working them back into the campaign... And Mira I think is out of medical, but..." his voice trailed off slightly and he accidentally turned off the hearing aids out of nervousness, having to reactive them. Thankfully Sara hadn't said anything during those moments of deafness.
"Actually if you wanted to, you could tell me about your character and I could draw her for you?" he offered, his ears bright red.
"Oh yeah, that would be cool. So she's an assassin. Was thinking of her having a dark red hood as opposed to black. And leather armor. She has icy blue eyes and long, red hair. She uses dual daggers too. Been pretty excited to play her. Haven't had a chance to play anything like this until I started coming here." Truthfully, she only ever had her music. It was nice to branch off on other creative endeavors.
He took out his sketch pad, jotting down in shorthand notes on everything that Sara was telling him. It would take him a few days to get a sketch he didn't completely hate done, but he was already starting to get a vision of the character... and then he realized his vision's face was Sara's. Neil had had a few crushes before, but they weren't anything compared to this. They usually ended as quickly as they began.
"She sounds badass," he agreed, giving her a slight smile.
Sara let off a small laugh.
"Yeah, she is. She's kind of what I want to be. More sure of herself, doesn't care what people think of her. She has her own moral code she follows and doesn't waver from it. She has few friends and many enemies. I dunno, that's all there is. Hoping to flesh her out more as the campaign goes on." It was always interesting to hear what people thought about themselves - hearing that Sara wanted to be someone who was self confident and didn't care about the opinions of others... It surprised Neil, since he already saw her as that kind of person. It was a part of the reason why he drew her with the Phoenix Force. She was a force of nature, someone with confidence and a good head on her shoulders.
"... I think that already sounds like you - I mean, except for the part with the few friends and many enemies. I don't really know how many enemies you have or friends..." Sara shrugged.
"Think of it like Robin Williams. He was beloved by all, always seen as happy, but truly he was dealing with hard times. That's not to say I'm suicidal though! God I did not mean that. Just that the image we broadcast to others isn't always what we feel. Really the only thing I am confidant in is my music. Other than that, I am just trying to get by, same as anyone else. What about you Neil? You rarely talk about yourself." His eyes widened for a second before he calmed down, realizing that Sara wasn't confessing to him clinical depression and suicidal behavior. For a second there, he had been worried that the attack with Mesmero had shaken her so much that she would need to be hospitalized just in case she tried to hurt herself or something. As she then turned the conversation on him, Neil was at a loss for words for a moment. He didn't really like talking about himself.
"... I really like drawing," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders slightly.
"I was raised by my aunties and they're... well, for lack of a better word they're witches. Drawing was the form of magic I could do." Sara knew he liked drawing, she was hoping for a bit more. Though hearing that he had aunts who were....witches? Well that was new. Sounded like a TV show to her.
"Like..actual witches? I mean it's not so hard to believe. We have someone names the Scarlet Witch after all. Are they mutants too?" That was the best way she would be able to justify it, otherwise there she would have to wrap her head around real magic and she couldn't do that now.
Neil nodded.
"Yeah, so... Well they aren't mutants. Scarlet Witch I think does know some real magic but she uses her mutation to power it..." He paused for a second, feeling a bit awkward standing in the doorway. He also never really talked to the people at X-Mansion about his upbringing.
"My parents work for the Sorcerer Supreme...I don't know if you've ever heard of Dr. Strange...? Well, they're technically wizards or warlocks or whatever you want to call them, the terms are interchangeable. My cousin, she's basically my sister since I grew up with her, she's a witch too. I'm the only mutant in my family." Sara was prepared to believe anything really. The universe was big, after all. She realized she, more or less, had Neil just stand there.
"Oh how rude of me. Please, come in Neil." She led him inside her room. She had a desk chair, but that was it.
"Take a seat anywhere." She sat down on her bed before she continued.
"I've heard of Dr. Strange. Cool that you're related to him. Never knew that about Witch though. So magic is real? Are they good witches or like....Wicked Witch of the West types?" Neil followed her into the room, sitting down on the desk chair.
"Oh, I'm not related to him - he's kinda my parents' boss, if that makes sense?" he explained. He gave her a nod as she asked him if magic was real.
"Yeah... It's like how in D&D, people can fall into different alignments. Some witches follow what's called the Path of Night - that's what my aunties do... It's not really pure evil, more of a range I guess? Like... the Path of Night is chaotic on the neutral, lawful, and chaotic spectrum. Then there are some who draw power from what's called the Dark Dimension... Or even that worship gods of chaos, like Chthon..." Sara nodded like she understood, but she didn't. Not really.
"Fascinating. Sounds like an interesting way to grow up. So are you chaotic? Or a different alignment? Never really took you as the sort to be chaotic, but then again I never really knew magic was real and I am having my mind blown at the moment." He gave her a slight smile.
"I think I'm neutral good," he told her honestly.
"Since I got my mutation, my aunties kinda... didn't really know what to do with me? So while my cousin got her Dark Baptism and everything, I came here to learn about my own abilities... I never came into my magic anyways, so I didn't really mind it. But it's definitely a bit weird being around here... Like you guys celebrate Thanksgiving, right? I've never celebrated that in my life. I've always gone to visit my parents around that time for Feast of Feasts." "You know, I think that is the most I've heard you talk without pausing or anything. I like it. You're cute when you smile." Sara added that last bit because partly she knew it would make him blush, another cute feature, and also because he was, in her opinion, pretty adorable. And it was nice seeing him talk about his family.
"Thanksgiving, yeah. Fairly common. It's usuaally my mom, dad, and me. My aunt never really comes since ties between my parents and hers are strained." His face turned practically pure crimson as Sara succeeded in getting him to blush.
"... Do you mind if I ask why things with your aunt are strained?" Neil asked her, a bit curious but he also felt bad just talking about himself and not giving Sara a chance to share her story too.
"Well, you know my aunt is Jean Grey right? Well, she went a bit...evil I guess is the best word. She got consumed by the Phoenix Force and it controlled her. She hurt a lot of people. The world looked at her like she was an enemy, even though it wasn't really her. Humans don't necessarily need a reason to hate us, but that kind of gave them credence. And my parents, while they love her, didn't want her around me. But eventually I started showing mutant abilities and they got worried. Jean wanted to come visit and talk to me about it, but they were skeptical. But eventually gave in. That's partly why I am here. I want to learn to control it and be closer to my aunt and show people that we are good." He had heard about the Phoenix Force before, not here at the Mansion but back home with his aunties. They made sure that he and his cousin were well aware of the ~who's who~ of cosmic entities and the dangers in working with them. Neil had always been a lot more cautious when it came to those stories than his cousin, Rebecca, had been. There were moments when he wouldn't have been surprised if she was asking their aunties questions in order to figure out exactly how to summon something like Dormammu.
"That's tough..." he said softly.
"Do you see your aunt more now, though?" "She comes around here often enough. Plus we talk on the phone. I want to focus on learning here mainly. Learn how to use my powers and control them. She's been a big factor in that." Sara didn't let it show that she had been harassed before. Especially at school, taunted that her family was a bunch of freaks. I think she remembered the word terrorist being thrown around too. It's why she wanted to be better.
"Guess we're not so different. Interesting family lives." He nodded again - she was here for just about the same reason he was, to learn how to control their abilities.
"If you wanted to... I can teach you how to do this," he offered softly, pulling a paperclip out of his pocket. There was a bit of strain in his fingers and it blew up.
"It's a neat little trick, not one I do very often... Since my powers are kinda just... destructive..." Sara eyed the clip and its destruction.
"Oh cool! Yeah, that would be awesome. Been meaning to learn about everyone's powers here in case I ever needed to copy them." And she really wanted to blow something up. Good way to let off steam.
Neil smiled at her again.
"If you want, I can raid the recycling bins for cans and we can go outside... Blow stuff up and talk more?" he offered, a bit nervous. This was the closest he had ever gotten to asking someone out on a date.
Sara grinned.
"Did you just ask me on a date?" Again, she knew the blush was coming.
"You're opening up more. I like it. And, I accept." She stood up, walked over, and pecked him on the cheek.
"Thanks for checking up on me. And for the drawing." He blinked rapidly, wondering for a split second if he was hallucinating what had just happened, before he gave Sara a bit of a big grin - and yes, his face was about the complexion of a cherry tomato.
"You're welcome, Sara Grey..." Sara let the poor boy leave without much effort. He did something no one else had ever done before and she knew it took a lot for him to even show up to her door. She found herself growing excited to learn more about him. And maybe tease him some more. He really was rather cute when his face turned red.
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