Logs:Tea Time Talks

Tea Time Talks
Why don't they trust us?
Dramatis Personae Jean Grey, Charles Xavier	Sept 14th Jean questions Xavier about the children with missing memories.
Location <XAV> Headmaster's Office - Xs Basement
Quietly elegant, the headmaster's office is as old-fashioned as the headmaster himself. The large wooden desk is the centerpiece of the room, the guest's chair a high-backed dark wood one. The walls are painted in rich dark colours, a sole impressionist painting hanging on the wall. The hardwood floors are polished, the floor kept carefully neat and tidy, the room perpetually immaculately organized. Classes have just let out for the day, and the mansion is raucous with the sights and sounds of adolescent joy as the students are released to their various extracurricular activities, official or otherwise. Charles Xavier is enjoying his freedom in a slightly more sedate way, brewing himself a pot of tea. Perhaps he is expecting company, since there is a second tea glass set out on his desk, the match glass teapot kept warm on its sleek space age hot plate. The man himself is as impeccably dressed as ever in the wheelchair behind his desk, in a lightweight gray suit with a matching vest over a very pale blue dress shirt that lends its subtle color to keen gray eyes. He looks up at the door just a fraction of a second before his guest arrives, but he has the grace to wait for the knock before saying, "Come in, please." Jean finds herself staring at the door to the professor's office, hesitating for a moment before she knocks. His response is quick and she swallows a bit, keeping her emotions steady and focusing on the task at hand. Her thoughts were, for the moment, near vacant as the his words seems to sink in. <<Go in, you can do this, it's just Charles.>> Her gaze was still intense on the wood door, lost in that one thought. A couple of students running past down the end of the hall stirred her out of her zoned out state. Her hand suddenly moves and she opens the door, a soft and practiced smile appears on her lips as she walks in. "Hello, Charles, I was hoping you'd have a moment to discuss something-" She pauses for only a moment, to ensure the door is closed behind her and she can sense no one immediately in their presence, before continuing, "of a rather severely concerning nature." "Yes, of course, Jean." Xavier waves his visitor toward the comfortable armchair across from him. "Sit, please. Would you like some tea?" He is pouring himself a cup, regardless, for a moment just an old man, overdressed for tea time. His thoughts and emotions are utterly inscrutable to Jean, though. "I doubt this is anything to do with you being here, but I understand you got a nasty jostling on mission yesterday. I do hope you're taking it easy." He looks up, gray eyes warm but keenly searching. "What has been concerning you?" Jean crossed the room at the invitation and takes a seat in the arm chair. She smooths out the grey, knee length, pencil skirt she is wearing, removing creases as she sits. "Please." She replies to his offer of tea, feeling a desire for the comfort of the hot liquid in that moment. Her neatly kept brows rose at his inquiry at her health. "Oh, yes, I am fine. A few bruises, but I have been through worse." She said, instinctively shifting a fraction in her seat to rub at her arm, covered by an emerald green blouse in loose, long chiffon that hugged just the right places. Her hand then drops as he brings the pleasantries to the point of the visit. "It's the student's." She replies, not entirely able to meet his gaze, instead watching him pour the tea. "More specifically, the ones who went missing this summer..." Uncertain how to bring up exactly what she is feeling she let's the thought linger, knowing his power would grant him some insight into her thoughts and feelings. Xavier listens calmly as he decants tea into the other glass and sets it down in front of Jean. His gaze is steady. "Ah," he says. "That is unfortunately not as simple a matter as I might like." He picks up his own tea and inhales the steam from it, though he holds off drinking just yet. "But I should say first that they were lead to flee the school because one of the alumni who hosted them has the power of persuasion, and gave them to believe I was a danger to them." One of his hands peels away from the glass, palm up in a helpless gesture. "The thing of it is, I did alter those three's memories when they were students here. I did it with their knowledge and consent. Please believe me that I would not have thought that adequate, given they are children, but that I saw no other choice. They had experienced horrific trauma and could not continue so scarred. I did what I thought I must to return their lives to them." Jean listens to his words without interrupting, taking them in. She takes a moment, and a long, slow sip of tea before she replies. "Only the three?" Her brows furrow together, "Then, the gaps I have heard of, they came from somewhere else?" The concern written on her face confirmed the uneasy feeling she was now sitting with. Xavier takes a slow, careful sip of his tea. "Kurt, as well," he admits, "and for very similar reasons. But none of the other students who mentioned gaps in their memories. I was inclined to think that it was Tasha's persuasion which caused them to confabulate those gaps, but I'd like to be more sure, alas..." He sets his tea down, hands spread before him. "I think they are still wary of me and it would cause them undue stress if I were to examine their minds." His brows gather, furrowing deeply. "Do you think you might be up to taking a look -- with their permissions, of course. I know it would be a strain..." At his suggestion she looks up to meet his gaze. "If any of them trust me enough." She takes another sip of her tea as the encounter with Kurt passes through her mind. "It concerns me more that none of them felt safe enough to come to us directly. I know you can't reach everyone, but not even one of them?" She shakes her head, realizing she was off track. "If we can get to the bottom of this situation, if we- if I can help them, I will." She lowers the tea cup to her lap so as not to spill while she speaks. Xavier's frown eases, but does not disappear wholly. "I think Tasha's influence is also partially responsible for that. She was convinced it was unsafe for them to come to us, and so she convinced the students, as well. Even so..." He steeples his hands. "It is a worthwhile point you bring up, that we should look into repairing the students' ability to trust us -- and find whether there were reasons already that they might hesitate to approach us for assistance." His smile is slow and gentle. "I know that you will do your best by them." Jean's own frown increases at hearing it was influenced by Tasha. "I try." She replies, one of her hands letting go of the warm cup to fall into her lap, eyes moving to look at it. "I don't know where to begin repairing that relationship, to be honest. But I am getting the impression that's a sentiment you share." She let's out a soft sigh and brings the cup back up to take another sip. "I do," Xavier admits, "and you are right to ask these questions. It may be I was too quick to assign the blame to outside persuasion. However persuasive she was, there may have still be pre-existing concerns, ones now laid bare by this incident." He picks up his tea again. "You may well understand why I am not in the best position to make those overtures, at least not at the moment, but I want to work closely with you on this -- as much to support you as to keep myself abreast of the concerns the students may have." He nods. "Are you amenable?" Jean nods a few times slowly. "I understand." She says in reply to his question. "I agree. Likewise, if you keep me informed of any changes with the situation." She takes another long sip of her tea. << I don't like how far disconnected I seem to be with the school. I have to change that. >> << You've had a lot on your plate, >> Xavier's telepathic reply comes as naturally to him as speaking. << This is still your home, you needn't fret. >> Then, aloud again, "Thank you for coming to me about this, Jean. Would you care to stay for a game of chess? I'll understand if you've matters to attend to." Jean's nods at his telepathic words. Her frown turns into a soft smile at his request. "I would like that. I have some time before I must get back to my work." She says and the smallest inch of a smirk creeps up in half her lips. "Maybe today I'll win."