[center][h3][b][color=#DAF7A6]Sunshine[/color] and [color=mediumspringgreen]James[/color][/b][/h3][hr] Location: Aboveground Skills: N/A[/center][hr][hr] If Ben wasn't already dead, James would have killed him on the spot. He had a shiny new arsenal of awful ways of hurting people and he could have taken Ben's pain tolerance out for a spin. Instead, he shot Ben a pissed off look and bit back a comment as Sunshine bolted. Sunshine clearly had some major emotional baggage that needed addressing, Casper was sick with hopefully boring more than a cold but who knew besides [i]the one person he just pissed off[/i], and he felt the need to casually set the whole situation on fire. James regretted asking for Casper to try this. Not because he disliked Ben but the whole situation clearly stabbed Sunshine somewhere vulnerable and he felt responsible for that now. [color=mediumspringgreen]"Okay, let's not do that again, Ben. Sweetheart, why don't you go relax? I'm going to see if I can get her to calm down enough to reverse it."[/color] James suggested as he started after Sunshine, pausing to give him a kiss on the cheek. He looked at Jack apologetically. [color=mediumspringgreen]"Give me some time with her alone. I don't know what's going on but since it's clearly aimed at you, you're probably the last one she'll open up to."[/color] James rushed out of the training room after Sunshine. He really hoped he could figure it out. She shouldn't have to deal with whatever it was alone. It took him almost no time at all and his heart broke at the sight. He made his way over, making sure she would be aware he was there. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Hey, can I sit? I don't have food but I have hugs and distractions."[/color] [color=#DAF7A6]"I dunno, can you?"[/color] Sunshine mumbled. She rubbed her eyes on the back of her arm, trying to keep the tears from pooling up. She viewed James like a brother, but she still didn't want him to see her cry. It was hopeless to keep that a secret, but still, she had to try for the sake of her pride. [color=#DAF7A6]"You can,"[/color] she then added, a bit too quickly - as if she had been worried that her initial knee jerk reaction was going to scare him off. [color=#DAF7A6]"Not that I need you to or anything..."[/color] James sat with a quite huff of laughter, settling down next to Sunshine. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Thankfully, I still have functioning legs."[/color] He was quiet for a moment before continuing. He didn't want her thinking he expected her to open up to him so he'd have to chose his words carefully.[color=mediumspringgreen] "I know you don't need me. You're strong enough to stand on your own two feet; you did it before here and if you absolutely had to, you could do it again. But that doesn't mean you have to. I'm here if you want help making this suck any less."[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]"I definitely couldn't do it. Fuck, half of us just came back from Magneto wiping the floor with us in an alternate reality and all I could do when I came back was find somewhere to cry."[/color] James sighed. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Everything's a mess right now and pretending it isn't, like half of us are doing, is just going to hurt more."[/color] James shook his head, lifting an arm so she could get a hug if she wanted. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Anything you want to get off your chest? I'll take it to my grave if you want."[/color] She looked at him suspiciously. She was taking his promise of keeping the secret to the grave seriously. An idea then occurred to her. She was hellenistic. There was one promise that could never be broken, one that even the gods had to abide by. [color=#DAF7A6]"Swear on the river Styx not to tell,"[/color] she requested. If he made that promise, then.... then she supposed she could tell him. It wasn't like telling him would hurt or change anything. She knew for sure now that what had happened to her had been real. She hadn't been imagining her sudden transformation into a six year old kid. She hadn't just dreamt that her father's real identity was Jacques Theriot. [color=#DAF7A6]"It's, like, the biggest thing you can swear on. You can't break it or... I dunno, I think you die or something."[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen] "That serious, huh?"[/color] James asked. The name ringed some bells but to be honest, he really had no idea what he was swearing on or why it was so important. Normally, he'd dismiss the idea, agree, and move on but considering he was dragged into an alternate dimension to fight for his life against a witch recently, he wasn't so skeptical now. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Then of course, I swear on the river Styx not to tell anyone without your permission.[/color] A thought occurred to James as he made the promise and he frowned. [color=mediumspringgreen]"Will I still die if I'm mind controlled or something? I'm not 100% certain I can promise that."[/color] [color=#DAF7A6]"I have no idea,"[/color] Sunshine admitted. [color=#DAF7A6]"It might be a best effort thing."[/color] A lot of her beliefs were rather simple. She hadn't been raised in a community that worshipped the Greek gods. Everything she knew about them had been from old VHS tapes at public libraries, usually stuffy documentaries that didn't go into much depth or detail. She had watched them, searching for clues about her father or maybe just some way to feel connected to him, since all her mother told her was that he was Greek. It then occurred to her, her heart sinking, that that had been a lie. She wasn't Greek. Her father hadn't been. If Jack were really her father... Her pain fluctuated between sorrow and anger. [color=#DAF7A6]"I met my dad. In the... whatever that was."[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen] "The other world was meant to make every mutant happy."[/color] James said, the last part of that catching in his throat for a second. He didn't want to acknowledge that piece of information so he ignored how it made him feel. Sunshine needed him here and now. There'd be time for aggressive compartmentalization later. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Is it who it was that made you upset or just the fact you had a life with him there?"[/color] Sunshine hadn't known the purpose behind the other world - that it hadn't been random, everything that occurred there. The Scarlet Witch apparently decided that Sunshine would be happy if she were reunited with her father and turned into a six year old girl. She didn't consider the logical follow up to that - that Jack must have been happy to be with his daughter, otherwise that wouldn't have happened. No, it just made her hurt all the more, knowing that something designed to make her happy instead brought her more suffering. [color=#DAF7A6]"My dad was Jack,"[/color] she said quietly, not answering James' questions further. That clarified everything. With Sunshine's abandonment and trust issues, the outburst was far more reasonable. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Wow. Jack's a great dude; I bet he was a great dad too."[/color] James said, matching her volume. Memories of his dad still alive in the other world came back to him; the auto shop still going strong, finding someone else to settle down with, supporting him when he opened his own shop on the otherwise of the country. His eyes burned with tears before he blinked them away. [color=mediumspringgreen] "Which means you were also a great daughter, huh? The woman with power over all of reality chose you because she thought you would make Jack the happiest parent in all of existence. Maybe you should consider getting closer with him."[/color] Sunshine looked away from James, directing her gaze towards the sky instead. It was easier to talk without looking at him - it was like no one could hear what she said that way, as if her words just melted away into the air. [color=#DAF7A6]"If... If the Scarlet Witch wanted to make me happy, I would've wanted my real dad. If Jack isn't my real dad, then I [i]still[/i] don't know who my dad is and why he abandoned me... And if Jack [i]is[/i] my real dad, he's such a nice person that the only reason he'd abandon a freaking baby would be... if the baby was a monster."[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]"I'm very certain Jack isn't your father. He would have been what ten when you were born? I'm going to err on the side of nope on that end."[/color] James denied the second part. He frowned as he thought about what to say to the first or if he should even offer anything. [Color=mediumspringgreen] "You aren't a monster. We have no way of knowing why your dad did something stupid but I'm sorry it happened. If we ever find him, I'll hold him down for you."[/color] James said. She nodded again. [color=#DAF7A6]"Whatever, it's not like I know how old Jack is anyways... We don't even know if that's his real face. He could actually be the Zodiac Killer or something,"[/color] Sunshine mumbled. She seemed to have calmed down though, the anger, sorrow, and just tension leaving her. Instead, she looked almost hollow - like when a grieving widow finally accepts that their loved one was gone and nothing could change that. James chuckled at that, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. [color=mediumspringgreen]"Thank you for telling me, Sunshine."[/color] James said quietly.