Iridescent ↳ Peter Maximoff

5 | raven and the blue boy

"Normality is a paved road; it's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow."

-Vincent Van Gogh

***

CHAPTER FIVE
RAVEN AND THE BLUE BOY

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"THE LENSES ARE MADE of some ruby quartz I had lying around. They should be able to refract your optic beams and keep them contained within their own vector fields."

This time, when Hank and Scott go outside to explore his powers, the professor does not go with them, as he has left on short notice with Alex. Brianna stands at Scott's side, though he still has the blindfold around his eyes and can't even see her there.

Scott holds Hank's new invention in his hands, getting to know the feel of the sunglasses between his fingers.

"Try them on," the girl says. Scott inhales sharply before reaching back and untying the white bandage and removing it from his head, revealing his closed eyes. Brianna notices Hank lick his lips impatiently. She just smiles at the boy.

He puts the glasses on. Brianna takes in the detail of them as they rest on the bridge of his nose: the blue frames, the slight slant, and the red ruby Quartz lenses, which cover his eyes in a way that should keep his mutation from getting out of control and causing destruction.

"Okay," Hank says. "Go ahead." Then he remembers what happened the first time, when the laser beams split a tree in half. Many yards in front of them, mutant children play, unknowingly. "Wait, sorry, no..." Hank mumbles, taking Scott by the shoulders and turning him, so that if they didn't work, he would not hurt anyone.

"Now?" Scott asks, unsure.

"Yeah, you're good," Hank confirms.

They all seem to hold their breaths as they wait for Scott to open his eyes. Then, he exhales in relief, and they know it worked. He tilts his head and looks around him, evidently fascinated by the beautiful surroundings.

"Whoa," he says, "I... I can see." Hank chuckles and Brianna cracks a small smile, proud of her teacher for coming up with such a thing, and giving Scott the ability to see again. "Thank you," he says, half-smiling, glancing at Hank. "Professor, thank you. You're a genius."

"No," Hank replies shyly, glancing at his feet. "I'm not a professor," he corrects. "I wish..." He trails off when he notices the look on Scott's face, how he seems to be gazing off in the distance.

"Who's that?" He asks. Brianna tries to ignore the gut wrenching feeling in her stomach when she sees the person he is referring to: the one and only Jean Grey.

"I believe you two met," Hank answers. "That's Jean Grey. You bumped into her when you arrived."

"Wait, that's her?" Scott asks, sounding astonished. The jealousy takes over and forces Brianna to slip away, as quietly as possible. If they are only going to gawk at the mysterious specimen that is Jean Grey, then Brianna wants no part of it, no matter how selfish or rude she comes off as.

She retreats back inside the school, an assortment of books piled in her arms. When she will have time to read them, she doesn't know.

At the end of the semi-empty hallway, in the large room that is also usually emptied out at this time of day, there are two figures standing where the floor rises two steps.

Her eyebrows pinch together curiously, but she immediately recognizes the blonde haired girl standing inside, hands thrust into the back pockets of her pants as she looks around.