Sandy

[notrosecolored]

Scott said he'd be there with information in five minutes. He was at the door, fully dressed and with his glasses replaced by a visor, in four. It took him that long to grab a cup of coffee and walk to the lounge where Sandy was waiting.

He got his debriefing on the move, and directly into his brain.

He felt better for having been looped in, however perfunctorily.

He walked in, and stayed standing up. Looked the guy over, and wondered why the hell this kid was the recon specialist and then moved on.

"New mutant manifested in Chicago. She's sitting in a jail cell, supposedly for her protection. We're going to get her. How long do you need to pack?"

Comments

[notrosecolored]

If Jean had still been alive, she would have been acutely aware of the wave of soul deep relief and gratitude Scott felt at Sandy's answer.

That by far, far, eclipsed his moment of being impressed by the way Sandy changed his body and the control and precision of those changes.

Trust wasn't completely there, but just having an alternative if something happened was an enormous weight off. It was the removal of something he always had to consider on some level but, for this mission, didn't.

"I can get around better than you'd think blind, but it's not ideal." He paused, and then just said, "Thanks." People would be surprised. People were idiots about Scott. "You need to look at the visor, or is the only part of it that matters here the quartz?" Hell, he didn't know.

[granularity]

For Sandy, showing how far from human he really was now meant... a lot. It was easy to hide under the hat, behind the mask. It was easy to just be the Sandman, to live in Wesley's shadow, with his sleep gas and his wirepoon gun. It was easy to pretend he hadn't been changed irrevocably and turned into something that confused even him sometimes.

If anyone ever thought he was showing off and was stupid enough to say so out loud, it was very likely they'd get a sock to the jaw.

"If I can just put a finger to it?" Feel his way around what was in there with his abilities. Touch was always best. "I wouldn't ask you to remove it."

[notrosecolored]

Scott didn't think Sandy was showing off. Scott was just... matter of fact about such things. One of his oldest friends turned into a block of solid ice, after all - and that wasn't even the half of it. So he was impressed, but he was a long way from awed.

He shook his head in silent negation, still chewing, and went to his bag to get his actual visor - instead of the glasses he'd been wearing and would be wearing until they went out tonight. They drew less attention, especially during the day. Looking normal, blending in, he'd do as much of it as was useful. Sometimes, he'd resent it. Others, he'd feel guilty for it, but none of that changed him doing it.

He took the visor out, walked over and handed it to Sandy, wholesale. His return of trust, and it wasn't small.

"Knock yourself out. It isn't mechanically complicated."

[granularity]

"More complicated than you'd think," Sandy murmured, mostly to himself, taking the visor into his hands and closing his eyes to focus on his other senses.

It took him about five minutes of silence before he said anything at all.

"I can fix the crystal portions instantly if they crack or cloud for some reason," Sand reported before carefully placing the visor on the table.

"I can also make new pieces if necessary, though I find some of the design to be fiddly, probably necessitated by a shortage of ruby quartz in a certain size. That's not a problem."

He looked Scott in the face then.

"Making you a replacement, I could do in twenty minutes. Making you a functional visor that accomplishes the same with purely manual controls would take about a minute and a half. Something like your glasses there, I can do almost instantly."

He took a look at the visor again before glancing to Scott's face once more.

"Developing a prototype for a visor that shouldn't give you nearly as bad of a headache... maybe a month? If you wanted me to."

[notrosecolored]

"You might be surprised," Scott murmured, in response to it being more complicated than he thought. Charles had done most of the design, but Scott had participated here and there for increased efficiency in use - as they'd figured out what worked for him and what didn't.

Purely functional and mechanical controls were all he'd been thinking. Completely functioning at the level he was used to with this itineration? Was well beyond what he'd expected of Sandy.

He finished his food, and took a drink of coffee, mulling over the rest of what had been said. The rest of that input. He was... touched, but at the same time he found the idea slightly uncomfortable. That visor, even his glasses, were so fucking personal. In some ways they were almost a body part. They were a prosthetic in every way that counted.

Yet he'd handed it over voluntarily, and found the idea of an extra safety net incredibly relieving.

"I was thinking mostly of pure function in an emergency situation," Scott admitted, but. "If you want to get together with Charles and mess with the design, or even see what you come up with on your own I'll give it a shot. It isn't necessary, though. I'm pretty used to the headache." Between the fall out of a plane and actual damage to that part of his brain, the period leading up to manifestation - where he was wasn't half bad.

If it could be better.... Worth a test run. Might be interesting to see what Sandy did, anyway.

This was, he realized with a bit of bemusement, working. He liked this guy.

[granularity]

"I'll see if I can make some time when we get back to talk to your Professor," he said, respectful. He knew how personally someone could take their equipment, especially when it was such a part of how they functioned. He hadn't been able to shake the reminder of Pieter and, to some degree, Charles when he'd found out about the man's ability and his required equipment. It was where he'd gotten the idea, honestly.

"To be fair, the ideas I have for improvements involve a level of controlled crystal production most people don't think of as possible and technology that's been locked down by one of my associates since the 40s."

Translation: I don't think your equipment is terrible; I just know things and have resources you probably weren't even aware were possible.

"And I'll keep the exact schematics I can feel in my own head."

He wouldn't be sharing anything about his current partner unless said partner was all right with him sharing it.

[notrosecolored]

Of all the things to make Scott crack a smile....

He grinned, lopsided and wry. "There's nothing classified about the visor's design. I get pretty protective of it and I'm lost without one, but some form of it or another has been in public use since I was 16. I get about one good surprise per upgrade, and then I might as well publish the schematics on facebook. Add in the ones that've been torn or broken off my face with the pieces left lying around in the aftermath."

He threaded his fingers together and stretched them above his head, cracking his knuckles and back all at once. "Lucky for me, yanking my glasses off my face or disabling the visor tends to be a pretty bad idea for them, too, since it sticks them right in the line of fire." Barring TK, or Magneto, or - it could be used against him, sure, but it wasn't something Tom, Dick, and Harry were going to risk. An uncontrolled mutant was not what the government wanted.

"The stuff that could really put me down's still locked down."

[granularity]

He spread his hands for a moment before reaching over to grab his coffee.

"Can't put a cat back in a bag. I figured I'd be delicate first."

He took a long sip before closing his eyes and breathing in. It wasn't that hard to find quartz, after all. Assembling it into the shape he wanted, growing the crystal... and introducing the proper impurities to make it ruby quartz was just as easy. Pulling it through the the stone and the rock and the foundation of the building, into the wall...

He plucked a thick crescent of red crystal out of the wall, pushing his fingers through it like it was water. A turn of his hand and it was clear that it was a single piece that could be fitted on his face like the glasses.

He held it out for Scott.

[notrosecolored]

"I appreciate the consideration," Scott said, honestly if very bluntly. "About half the new people who turn up, including the kids, have a pretty steep learning curve and need some training about what's appropriate and what's just not gonna fly."

Sandy was respecting that line, beautifully.

He reached out slowly when the red quartz appeared, took it in his hand and tilted it in a couple of directions just so it caught the golden, late afternoon sunlight. It was, without a doubt, the single biggest piece of red quartz he'd ever seen. It was heavy as hell as a result, probably fairly brittle but it would work. Scott knew that beyond a doubt.

He closed his eyes, instinctively turned his head away from Sandy and toward the floor and replaced his glasses with the piece of quartz. He kept his head turned and down while he opened his eyes again, then turned back. "This is going to sound strange," he warned. "But that's really red."

He always saw in red, of course, but without the frames - metal and plastic - blocking some of the light and his peripheral vision it was a much, much, brighter red. Never mind the nature of quartz itself, and the fact that the entire piece was, effectively, glass.

Oh. Right. Also: "Thanks."

[granularity]

"The color is actually adjustable," Sand observed as he leaned on his knees.

"But I figured you were more comfortable with the red to start. I wanted to make sure I had the composition right."

Faint, slightly smirky smile.

"And you're welcome."

[notrosecolored]

"Unless we're in an emergency situation and turning them red will slow you down, don't mess with the color." Could he make an argument for it being some kind of tactical decision? Yes. Would it be the truth? No.

The truth was, he was used to it and he was comfortable with it. The truth was, his associations to seeing without that red filter were either very, very negative or very, very deeply positive but also painful, and he didn't want to revisit either.

Sinister and Jean.

He hoped that the blunt statement would be enough for Sandy to leave it alone, even as he reversed the entire process to put his glasses back on. He wasn't interested in being a dick right now. Not when he was, surprisingly, enjoying the company.

[granularity]

Sandy didn't question it. He just nodded. If he'd learned nothing else from working with both the first and the third Dr. Mid-Nite, it was that you didn't argue with a man about his vision during a fight. You did what he needed from you.

"In this case, I just introduced the appropriate impurities to make ruby quartz. I didn't control much of anything else, other than choosing a more stable crystalline structure to make it a little less brittle than the stone usually would be."

[notrosecolored]

"Whatever you did, it worked." Clearly, because he hadn't blown down a wall, or anything. "I guess that's one way to build good will between teams. At least, if I can find a way to return the favor."

It wasn't really a favor, he knew that, but he also knew that he was pretty damned comfortable with this guy and that was rare. More rare lately. "We've got a couple of hours before we should head in. Any plans for that time?"

[granularity]

"I wasn't kidding about the need for coffee," he pointed out with a sedate enough sort of smile. He looked up, seemed to see something that definitely wasn't there, and blinked for a moment before turning back to look at Scott.

...he had mentioned he didn't sleep much.

"I've got chess and cards on this phone," because he wasn't sure what kind of things the man might do in his downtime and those games, in their more manual versions, had been past times from before his time in the cage. But--

"And Netflix."

[notrosecolored]

Scott got up and went back to his bag, unzipped one of the small compartments under the bigger flap and took out a deck of actual, physical, playing cards. "I've got a friend who uses them as ammo. We can use them for their intended purpose while we wait."

Boy Scout. People flung that at him as a jibe, but he'd take it on two levels: The one where he knew he wasn't what they were implying and the one that was always as prepared as he could be.

"I'll make a deal with you. I'll keep you supplied with coffee, and you let me keep my headaches." It wasn't so different, really. Well, maybe, but there was a fundamental truth, there. Enabling each other to hurt, but a sort of hurt that was better than the alternative, for their own reasons.

"Five card?" Poker, Sandman?

[granularity]

"Five card," he agreed as he slipped the phone away. The cards themselves got a smile.

"They've been trying to make cards I can travel with but they never shuffle right. Terrible spread too."

"And far be it from me to get between a man and his headaches."

Because if that's what he wanted, Sandy was the last person in the world to tell him different.

[notrosecolored]

"Work on the prototype, anyway. If it's something that interests you." If it didn't, that was fine, too, but Scott was realizing there were things he wasn't ready to make easier on himself. Not yet. "Who knows. Maybe I'll change my mind." He unboxed the cards, tapped them on the edge of the desk and shuffled.

Shuffled well, at that.

"How'd you travel with the phone, or did you pick it up when you got here?" Just curious. And: "You might look into what we've managed to do with and for Bobby. Some of it might translate, and even if it doesn't the concepts could."

[granularity]

He tipped his head over to the coat, then down at himself.

"Everything I wear, all of my equipment... it's all made from materials manufactured by one of my co-workers that allows me to travel the way I can and come out still dressed and able to communicate. It's a bit restrictive and some things are better than others, but it's functional enough."

Sandy leaned back in his chair before searching for Scott's eyes to make it clear to the other man that he was serious when he said--

"Oh, I'm going to work on it, but if the headache issue isn't a feature you're interested in, I'd much rather know what you would like improved instead."

[notrosecolored]

"Right now, I'm mostly interested in what you mean by able to communicate." Scott snap dealt the cards, leaving Sandy's hand across the desk and in easy reach of the other man. That one was new, and it was interesting, and it also sounded like something he should know about, if they were going to ever, ever, work together again.

Maybe even if they were going to work together this time. He still didn't anticipate much trouble, but things happened.

If they circled back around to his visor, fine. He could talk about it. He did have ideas. He always had ideas.

[granularity]

He patted his phone in his pocket with one hand as the other swept up the cards. That was a natural movement if Scott ever saw one; cards had been a frequent pastime. Especially during his time with the All Star Squadron.

"Just this. Of my... considerable talents, telepathy is not one of them."

[notrosecolored]

Scott had played cards. It hadn't been a serious past time in years, but he knew the game and he knew how to play and he was god damned good at math and probability, so he was leaving it at that and just playing to pass the time.

He stopped rearranging his cards to look at Sandy, crease in his forehead. "You've lost me."

Not entirely, Sandy hadn't. Scott suspected he knew but the man was either going to tell him on his own or not.

[granularity]

He pulled out the phone and was good enough not to wiggle it. He just tapped the side with his finger.

"This thing is made of those materials I talked about. That's why it doesn't just stay behind when I phase through a wall or into the earth. Then I can call."

Nothing too complicated.

"The dreams aren't... it's not a psychic ability. It's different. That's a legacy left to me by my mentor."

A legacy and a responsibility. And a weight.

[notrosecolored]

"Communicate with them. Through the phone."

That was simple enough that it had flown right over Scott's head. He'd really, really turned that into something else, based on more base and broad levels of communication.

Like, oh, turning into a pile of dust and not being able to speak to anyone, or having the telepathic ability to get through, either.

This was better.

Probably.

"I've spent a lot of time around telepaths. I'm not sure what to say about the legacy left to you by your mentor, but given your lack of sleep I'm inclined to offer condolences. I know it's not a psychic ability, but it might be worthwhile to talk to Charles about. ...or to be careful to keep him away from."

God, how was he only 20 something years old? He felt like he'd lived at least four lifetimes himself, and he had nothing on Sandy.

[granularity]

"No."

That was the first time Sandy seemed firm, solid. Unwilling to bend. No. He wasn't letting any psychic anywhere near his head. There were secrets in there, secrets he was unwilling to let anyone know.

Horrors he was unwilling to inflict on anyone else.

He seemed to realize after a moment that he might have come off as somewhat gruff and he took a breath to take another sip of coffee and hold up a hand in what he hoped was a request for apology.

"It's... best. If I stay away from psychics. For everyone's sake."

[notrosecolored]

Scott wasn't fussed by how gruff Sandy had been, or the answer. He had offered 'or stay away from him' for a reason. It was one of those things that could be enormously helpful, or terrifically bad. Sometimes, it was both depending on which end of it you were on. Sometimes it was just bad for everyone.

He shook his head after a long moment.

"It's your mind and your business." He was a control freak, but only about himself. His team. His cause. Protective of his people. Aware of consequences and used to making decisions. That didn't extend to the personal. There was a limited scope, for all that some might not seen it unless they stopped to realize how little he meddled. He didn't even mingle.

But.

"You need to be aware, though, that I am extremely vulnerable to telepaths and psychics - mind control. I always have been, and I'm more so now. There are work arounds and I use them, but every last one of them comes down to Charles. I realize that isn't the sort of thing you're concerned about, but it's something you need to know and account for. He's going to have at least passing contact with my mind, even if it's only to lock down or bury information."

Worth a heads up. He liked this guy.