Slow Recovery

Kylie could smell the scent from outside the room and knew Andrew was using his mutation. She slowly opened the door a little more and stepped inside. Her long, blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing an old, ripped pair of jeans, her favorite boots, and a long sleeved tee. She had pushed up the sleeves on the tee shirt a little, revealing the "19" tattoo on her inner right wrist.

"I heard you might be bored so I brought you some of my favorite books. I thought reading might help pass the time a little. It's done so for me on many occasions."

Andrew relaxed his arm letting the charge dissipate as he turned to face Kylie. Hank ahd taken down the bandages off of his face and replaced them with fresh ones seeing as the bruising was starting. Half of his face was still covered in places but the purple coloring could be seen on the edges. He looked to the books and took note of the tattoo. He tsked when she brought up the books to pass the time. He wanted to leave the mansion and be out in the world, last place he wanted to do was read. He wouldn't admit but he had problems reading due to his lack of education, despite Mason's attempts his reading abilities weren't all that great.

"Yeah..thanks.." He said at least attempting to sound appreciative but his heart wasn't in it. He walked back over ot his chair assuming Kylie would make some sort of comment about him standing. He sat himself back down as the jukebox switched records to something slower. "so...what are they?" he asked making an attempt

Kylie had started reading at an early age. When her mother had been around she had spent time reading with her after her father had passed out, or just wasn't around. Her mother had been forced to hide the books from him because he would have wanted to know where she had gotten the money to buy them. Any money she made waitressing was supposed to go straight to him. When she got a little older she used to sit in her room and read by herself when she heard her parents arguing or her father abusing her mother. When she was living on the streets books had been a friend. When she was locked up in the research facility books had been an escape.

Looking at Andrew she could tell he wasn't really into the thought of reading them, but she decided to tell him what they were anyways.

"I brought you 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn', 'Lord of the Flies', 'The Princess Bride', 'Sherlock Holmes', and 'The Great Gatsby'. I wanted you to have a selection in case you started one and just didn't like it."

Andrew just stared at Kylie when she listed off the names. He had never heard of any of those books before. "Alright..um..what kind of books are they? Can't say i'm much of a reader..as in i dont remember hte last time i read something." He said. He wasn't about to admit his lack of ability but wanted to point out reading wasn't a thing he devoted time to. He had high hopes at least for the Huckleberry Finn one simply because of the title.

Now that he had put down the whole book thing he took notice of the tattoo again. "been meaning to ask why did you tattoo the number 19 on your arm? i've seen lots of tattoos but never a number."

Kylie found a place to set down the stacks of books. "They're mostly classics. Some have adventure, others romance, some have both. If you don't want to read them you don't have to. I just wanted to offer them at least."

When Andrew then went on to ask her about the tattoo on her right wrist she looked down at it and lightly ran the thumb of her left hand over it. "Oh, well I was taken and locked up in a research facility for a few years. They didn't call you by your name, but assigned you a number. I was number 19 and so they tattooed it on me."

"Rather do something else but i dont have much of a choice." He said.

Andrew just stared at Kylie when she brought up her time in a lab. "Do you have any good moments in your life??" he asked bluntly. it seemed like her lif was a bit harder than his own. He felt bad bringing up her tattoo and thinking she was bored one day and decided to get inked up. Hell it was getting to a point where he was scared to ask her anything.

Kylie was getting tired of Andrew's bad attitude. She wasn't exactly the chipper, cheerleader type herself, but she certainly knew she had a good thing here at the mansion and didn't take it for granted. However, when Andrew asked her bluntly if she had any good moments in her life her mood went from irritated to upset and angry.

"Yeah, I do...in this place. This place that you want to leave so badly. This place that provides you shelter, food, warmth, and care for free. My life was shit before I came here. First, I lived with a father who abused my mother and then when she left he abused me, physically, verbally, and sexually, until I got away. I then lived on the streets fighting for my life until Logan found me and took me into his care. But a slip-up of my powers in public caused Dr. Lucius to find me and he had his men kidnap me. I spent two horrific years in that research facility where I was tortured and experimented on, but I always held out hope that Logan would find me because at this place they care about their fellow mutants and protect them. I've tired everything I can think of to help you Andrew, but I'm done. You don't want help anymore then so be it. You have this 'I'm better than everyone and everything' attitude that is going to get you in serious trouble someday. You keep pushing people away and you are going to end up alone for good."

She didn't realize it, but a few tears had come to her eyes as she had talked about everything that had happened in her life. They shimmered in her eyes, but never fell. She turned and left the room. She didn't take her books with her. She had given those to him and decided she wasn't going to take them back. She went back upstairs and she walked past Professor Xavier's study just as Logan and Hank were starting to walk out. She was clearly upset, and she headed straight up to her room and shut the door.

Logan immediately saw Kylie and took a few steps towards her. Took him a second to deduce what had happened and before he could turn around to head to the subbasement Hank stopped him. "Go look after her i'll go have a word." Hank said. Having sensed Kylie's frustration Xavier also wheeled himself out of the office and joined Hank to head down into the subbasement.

Logan growled and headed to Kylie's door where he gave a knock. "Hey it's me." he called hoping she'd let him open the door

Kylie had gone to her room and had pulled out her stereo headphones to listen to music and drown out the memories that had bubbled up to the surface. She sighed when she heard Logan's knock, but she had been expecting him to show up.

"It's open," she finally said.

After he walked in she looked over at him. "You guys should just let him go. He doesn't want to be here and he's not going to let anyone help him."

Logan opened the door expecting Kylie to still be upset. He walked in and heard her out, "You're not gettin any arguments from me." He said. He was not exactly warm to the idea of the guy staying around. Something about him bothered him a great deal. "but Chuck wants him to stay, says theres something about him. Probably think he'd become a threat if he gets older and out on his own." Logan said.

He looked to Kylie, "there is another group of mutants out there that aren't friendly to humans. Chuck thinks he'd throw in with them if he was approached." He said. not to mention the Brotherhood didnt destroy his home like Logan had inadvertently done. Hel ooked to kYlie, "How are you holding up?"

Kylie sighed and looked at Logan. "But if he is kept here against his will then he will come to resent us all and that may be worse." She knew though that Professor Xavier and Hank were going to work hard to keep him in the mansion. In that case she would have to just avoid him.

She gave a little shrug when he asked how she was holding up. "I thought maybe because he and I had both lived on the streets that there might be some understanding between us, but I guess not."

Logan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall when Kylie pointed out that they something in common. "dont worry about him. Seeing as he's more mobile now i dont think you have to be hanging around him as much. If at all, you can just focus improving yourself." He said. He wanted her to catch up with her learning so she would have a secure future.

"Like you said, once that leg of his heals he'll probably just walk on out of here and back onto the streets." Logan said.

Kylie sighed and looked away from Logan. She was still upset, but she felt she had tried everything she could. However, she wasn't used to having friends so maybe she had done something wrong.

"I told him everything about me and my past. It brought up some bad memories and things I wish I could completely forget. I don't know why I told him all that stuff. I guess it was because I was so angry and upset."

Logan was surprised when Kylie admitted her past to Andrew. It had taken some doing to get her to open up to him and he'd known her far longer. "maybe you were just tyring to connect with him. I dont know much about him but from how he was living he's had a rough go at it too." He said. He walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You wanna talk about it? Or hit something, or i could get out of yer hair?" he asked those fatherly impulses kicking in.

Kylie sighed and shook her head. She appreciated Logan trying, but right now she just wanted to be alone. "I'd rather just be alone for a while and listen to some music. I'll be fine. I promise. And if I need to hit something you'll be the first to know," she added with a little hint of a smile.

Logan gave a nod and patted Kylie's shoulder doing as she wished. He decided to pay Sabella a quick visit to her get input. He walked to her room and gave a knock.

Xavier and Andrew were embroiled in a lengthy discussion about his future. After half an hour Xavier discovered why Andrew kept trying to force Kylie away. Delving into his mind he happened upon his happier memories. His time spent with Mason who seemed to be his only father figure. Despit their situatino Xavier found Andrew to be a fairly happy individual. Then one day Mason grew sick and grew worse over time. Until the young teen found his father figure wouldn't wake one morning.

"You push others away so you wont be abandoned. It wasn't your fault Mason passed away.." Xavier tried to reason. Andrew paled at this confused as to how Xavier knew who Mason was.

"H-how did you know?" Andrew asked put off guard. Xavier put on a smile.

"I know various things about you Andrew. I also know that your home was destroyed. You have no home to go to and i know your harbor anger at us for it. All i ask is that you stay until your body is mended. Once your are well we wont keep you any longer." Xavier said. Andrew went quiet and looked to the side trying to gather his thoughts. "I know you mean no ill will towards Kylie either, like you she has some difficulty in trusting others. Perhaps you could confide in one another?

OOC: figure they'd run into each other in a day or two maybe

OOC-That sounds good to me.

IC-Sabella was in her room going over a few lesson plans for Kylie. Professor Xavier decided that due to Kylie's situation that she needed to be tutored privately. From the few conversations she had had with Kylie she knew her to be pretty sharp and she knew that she liked to read a lot. Kylie had admitted that she didn't always understand everything she read, but one of the books she kept in her room was a dictionary so she could look up things. Kylie had taken a few general assessment tests and Sabella was basing her lesson plans on those tests. Kylie had a bit of catching up to do, but Sabella could tell she was a hard worker and wanted to learn. She didn't like the fact that kids younger than her knew more than she did.

Her door was partially open and she looked up when Logan knocked. She gave him a smile and told him to come in. Her smile faded when she saw the frown on his face. It had taken her a while, but she had learned to distinguish his different frowns and scowls. He was not happy about something.

"Is everything alright?"

Logan walked in and closed the door. Taking a seat he did his best not to shout out his opinion. "That boy downstairs has upset Kylie and i can't beat him yet." He said being rather frank. "They had a fight and thank punk is still living here. Xavier went down to talk with him but he's not going to kick him out or anything." He said.

"And Hank even wants to start him on a few lessons."

Sabella sat there patiently as she listened to Logan rant about Andrew. It was amazing for her to know how close Logan was to Kylie. He cared deeply for her and was extremely protective of her. Sabella began to wonder if that wasn't the ultimate problem.

"Logan," she said after a moment of silence. "I am going to say something that I'm not sure you are going to like, but I'm going to say it anyway. I think you have become too protective of Kylie. I think your relationship with her is amazing, and you didn't give up on finding her, but she's safe now and she's not a child. I think that maybe what is truly bothering you about Andrew is that you think he and Kylie will become close and that she won't need you anymore. That will never be the case Logan. You are the closest thing to a father Kylie has and she enjoys spending time with you. That will never change."

Well Sabella was right, Logan didnt like what she said that much. There weren't too many around Kylie's age at the mansion at the moment and Andrew did present a 'threat' to the dynamic between Logan and Kylie. So Sabella's theory had a great deal of merit. "i'm not jealous of the kid if that's what you're saying." Logan said defying that.

"Besides he pissed Kylie off, she spilled her guts to him apparently. So now she's a little upset and again i can't hit the guy." Logan grumbled.

Sabella just gave a little nod, but didn't say anything when Logan claimed he wasn't jealous of Andrew and the attention he had been getting from Kylie lately. "Logan, Kylie has never really had any friends and a girl her age needs friends. Now I know that you don't like Andrew, but he deserves a chance...just like everyone else here. He is scared and alone...just like Kylie was when you found her in Oregon. Now, as for the fight between Kylie and Andrew they will either work things out...or they won't, but that's up to them. Kylie is not a child and she'll recover from this. Just give her the space she needs."

Logan gave a shrug, "I'm not smothering her i'm respecting her space." he said despite not wanting to do that. She can have friends just not that one he thought. He breathed out knowing Sabella was probably right and he didnt want to get in trouble with her either. Things were moving nicely for the pair and he knew he could be a stubborn fool. "So we just let things play out then?" He asked.

At the door came another knocking, on the other side was Xavier having finished his discussion with Andrew. He was hoping to speak with Sabella to inquire if she was interested in taking on another pupil in a private matter.

Sabella gave Logan a little nod and a smile. She then cupped her hands around the sides of his face and brought it down for a kiss. The kiss started out innocent enough, but it rather quickly began to deepen...that is until she heard the knock at her door. She pulled back from the kiss a little reluctantly and looked at the door.

"Come in."

Logan leaned into the kiss rather likng where that was leading. Until that knock came and he calmed himself. "Apologies for the interruption..oh Logan. Doubly sorry for the interruptions." Xavier said as he opened the door. DIdnt need to be a mind reader to see something happening between those two.

"I was hoping to discuss a new student joining one of your classes." Xavier said. Logan straightened up knowing it was a professional call.

"It's ok Chuck. Got a few things i gotta take care of." Logan said. He looked to Sabella and gave her a subtle smile knowing they'd have to pick up wehre they left off later on.

Sabella was actually not surprised to see Professor Xavier, but she had been hoping for more private time with Logan. She gave Logan a little smile back as he left, hoping he would come find her later on. Once Logan was gone she focused her attention back on Professor Xavier.

"I'm assuming the student you are speaking of is Andrew. Does this mean he's going to stay at the mansion?"