The XXX-Gene (Marvel)(Mutant OC)

Chapter 74: Coffee Date

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Madelyne makes her move. Thaddeus decides to play along.

-x-X-x-

Thaddeus had to admit, he didn't quite know where to go from here. Cessily and Laura had come back the previous day with a pretty intriguing tale about Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force. It sounded a little fantastical on the face of it even with how crazy his life was. And yet, Thaddeus was nothing if not open-minded at this point.

Still, if Madelyne Pryor WAS Jean Grey with all the power that entailed, why the fuck was she slumming it as a University Professor? With that kind of power, she could do anything she wanted.

Thaddeus had immediately passed on what the girls had learned to Emma, of course. The blonde had been just as confused as he was, in the end, though she had mentioned that it sounded exactly like the sort of tragedy that was always dogging the X-Men's heels, whatever that meant.

Of course, it didn't help that Storm still hadn't gotten back to him either… if she was even going to bother.

Now it was the next day and Thaddeus found himself leaving football practice barely even breathing heavily. Sandbagging at practice had gotten both easier and harder in recent times. Easier in that Thaddeus' powers allowed him to mimic exhaustion and sweat and all the things that people expected to see from him despite him not feeling any of them in truth.

At the same time though, it was frustrating to have to hold back as much as he did. Or, in one of the rare cases where he needed to be tackled, to basically throw himself to the ground so that the normal human being tackling him didn't break numerous bones trying to slam headfirst at full speed into the equivalent of a concrete wall.

On the one hand, Thaddeus was technically only at ESU because of his football scholarship. On the other hand, his life was growing so far past football it wasn't even funny. Between things like getting chummy with an Avenger, ascending the ranks of the Hellfire Club at breakneck speeds, and dealing with multiple interested parties infiltrating his life at the same time, football had never felt more… pedestrian.

Which was funny, because before Thaddeus had awoken his mutation, football had been his entire life. Back when he'd been the jockiest of jocks, back before he'd gotten not only smarter and wiser, but also physically stronger and faster than anyone else playing the game could ever hope to be.

He wasn't really worried about being found out as a mutant or anything like that, but he was beginning to question what the point of continuing his football career really was. Was he ever going to go professional? It didn't seem likely, at least not at this point…

Having showered and changed to cover for the fact that he had barely even tired himself out, Thaddeus is heading back to his dorm room with a lot on his mind when he turns a corner and very nearly runs into someone. Only his reaction speed allows him to stop and reach out, catching them by the shoulders before they can smack right into his chest.

"Whoa there!"

"O-Oh!"

Blinking, Thaddeus looks down… into the bright green eyes of one Madelyne Pryor, Professor of Biology. She looks back up at him and bites her lower lip for a moment.

"Sorry… I guess I wasn't watching where I was going."

Without really thinking about it, Thaddeus smiles and shakes his head, gently letting go of her and taking a step back.

"No worries Professor Pryor, I could have been a bit more focused on my surroundings as well."

Inwardly, he's wondering if this is really as 'accidental' as it seems though. Thaddeus isn't sure if he believes in coincidences anymore at this point. Especially not coincidences involving the maybe-resurrected woman standing in front of him.

Madelyne perks up at his words though, looking for all the world like a college coed instead of a college professor. She's trying to play it cool, but Thaddeus can tell she's excited about something.

"Oh! You're… Thaddeus right? From Biology in the mornings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday?"

He can tell she's being deceptive about taking a second to 'recognize' him, making it less and less likely that this encounter was unplanned. However, there's something about the way she's acting that he can't quite put his finger on.

Still, he wouldn't be who he was if he didn't flirt at least a little bit. Even with everything Cessily and Laura had told him combined with Storm ordering him not to have sex with the red head in front of him… Thaddeus was what he was.

"That's right, Professor. I've really been enjoying your lectures so far. Much more… engaging than Professor Gray's."

In hindsight, there was something rather weird about his previous Biology Professor being named 'Gray' while Madelyne bore a startlingly similar likeness to a woman called 'Jean Grey'. His old Biology Professor was a man though…

Looking delighted by his words, Madelyne beams up at him.

"I'm so very happy to hear that! I know that not everyone is as interested in Biology as I am, but I really do find it fascinating. If I can get even one of my students truly invested in the subject, then I'll consider that a success!"

Chuckling, Thaddeus nods.

"Well, consider yourself successful than, Professor. If there's something truly interesting about Modern Biology, it's definitely the X-Gene. But then, anything that would give people the power to fly or punch holes in concrete or read minds should be of great import to pretty much everyone… not just those interested in Biology."

Madelyne bobs her head up and down in excited agreement.

"Yes! It's amazing, isn't it? And we've barely even scratched the surface at this point. Researchers are making new discoveries regarding the X-Gene and mutant powers practically every single day it feels like! Heck, by the end of this semester, everything we thought we knew could wind up being completely different! It's- oh… but I'm rambling aren't I? I'm so sorry, I just get excited about this sort of thing…"

The Biology Professor trails off with an embarrassed flush, averting her gaze to the side subconsciously. Thaddeus can see the bait a mile away, but he shakes his head and chuckles all the same.

"It's fine. Like I said, I'm very interested in the X-Gene, Professor. Ramble away."

Eyes lighting up again, Madelyne looks back to him with a sudden poorly concealed intensity.

"Oh… well in that case, w-would you like to maybe get a cup of coffee? Just to… continue discussing the subject?"

Her hopeful tone makes it clear this was her ultimate goal all along. To ask him out on a not-a-date coffee date. It's so strange. While he would bet money that she'd preplanned this little 'run-in' as well as that bit just now where she acted overly embarrassed, everything else so far feels so… genuine.

… Perhaps that's what he was missing earlier. Her attempts at subterfuge and deception have been amateurish at best so far. He's expecting some great mastermind behind all of this, but what if Madelyne just isn't that? What if she's someone else's pawn in this whole scheme… and doesn't even know it?

Thaddeus has to know more, so he does something he's been avoiding so far and reaches out to Madelyne's mind telepathically. What he finds… is all the more suspicious. Madelyne Pryor's mind is closed off to him. But even that is strange because her mental defenses aren't active in a manner that would point to her being a telepath herself.

Instead, they feel like they were constructed by someone else to block access to her thoughts. Thaddeus could probably have broken through if he really tried, but doing so might hurt Madelyne herself and it didn't really feel like it was worth the risk.

Still, one thing was for sure… even if he couldn't read her mind, the red head was practically wearing her thoughts on her face and her heart on her sleeve. He didn't even need access to her mind to see that she was very earnest about wanting to get to know him better… even if she seemingly had ulterior motives of some sort.

But he didn't get the impression that she was trying to lead him into a trap or anything, at least not consciously. She wasn't fidgety or nervous or guilty in that way. If he didn't know anything else about her, Thaddeus would assume that she was actually just interested in hooking up and nothing else.

… That couldn't be it though, could it? There had to be more to all of this.

Still, his Biology Professor was growing on him, no pun intended. And between his curiosity and wanting to rescue her if she did turn out to be someone evil's pawn in all of this, Thaddeus can't just leave her hanging. Besides, not like he has anything else going on today anyways.

"Sure, let me just shoot off a quick message and then we can go get coffee."

That's the final test, just to make sure this really isn't Madelyne trying to lead him into some sort of trap. If she did have ulterior motives, she probably wouldn't want him sending that message.

In the end though, the red head just looks happy that he agreed and nods her head eagerly, allowing Thaddeus to pull out his phone and tell Emma exactly what he's about to do before they go. The blonde even gets back to him in moments with a 'be careful & report back'.

It feels good to have Emma's support like that. She doesn't try to tell him that he can't interact with Madelyne like Storm had, nor does she coddle him like She-Hulk probably would. In the end, the blonde just accepts that he knows what he's doing and expresses her confidence that he'll be able to report back by the time this is over.

That's a true partner right there, and that's why Thaddeus has never regretted choosing the Hellfire Club over the X-Men or the Brotherhood.

Tucking his phone away with a satisfied smile on his lips, Thaddeus looks to Madelyne and gives her a nod.

"Lead the way, Professor."

Blushing slightly, the red head bites her lower lip and twirls a lock of hair around a finger.

"You can call me Madelyne… if you like."

Chuckling, Thaddeus nods.

"Only if you call me Thaddeus or Thad."

Overcoming her shyness immediately, Madelyne beams up at him.

"I already am!"

Thaddeus just snorts at the impish glee in her voice, even as they head out. How could his Biology Professor possibly be this cute?

-x-X-x-

Things were going well! Thaddeus had proven quite receptive to her advances so far. At this point, the only thing holding Madelyne back was her own nerves truth be told.

They'd made their way to a small coffee shop just down the block from campus. Madelyne had scouted out the place ahead of time of course, not wanting to be made a fool of by something as dumb as getting the hours wrong or something. It was getting pretty late in the day after all, and not all coffee shops stayed open into the night.

This one did though, and even better still, it wasn't one of those big chains. Instead, it was a cozy little hole in the wall, a place where they could sit down in a dimly lit corner with their drinks and just… talk about anything.

Of course, mostly they talk about Biology and more specifically they talk a lot about the X-Gene. Thaddeus wasn't just humoring her on that front, Madelyne is happy to know. He seems truly invested in hearing everything she has to say about the subject… and admittedly, there's a LOT for her to say.

Even disregarding her encounter with a real live mutant in the form of Professor Munroe, Madelyne has been fascinated by mutations for a long time. And Thaddeus… well, he seems to have some truly wondrous insights into the subject too. She can tell he isn't just riffing off of what she's saying but has done research on his own time as well.

After all, it's only been four days since she'd mentioned the X-Gene to Thaddeus and the others on Monday morning. His intuitive knowledge on the subject and the way he's able to keep up with her as she rambles about this or that aspect of mutants and mutations makes it very clear that his own interest goes beyond the norm.

It really is amazing to just be able to talk about these things with someone like Thaddeus. Madelyne had already had a crush on him because of his looks, but the more they talk, the more she finds herself developing a much deeper appreciation for him as a person.

The only question is, what is she going to do about that? Part of her wants to excuse herself from the table for a moment just so she can call Dr. Essex and ask HIM for advice. He's the closest thing to a confidante Madelyne has since she woke up from her coma, after all.

Only, she already knows what Dr. Essex would say. She already knows he would tell her to go for it. He's been pushing her to put herself out there more for ages now. Is Madelyne ready for something like this though? Maybe if she treats it as something fun and casual?

Going balls to the wall and seeking a full-fledged romantic relationship with Thaddeus feels like a recipe for disaster, but there was nothing that should stop them from being able to… enjoy each other's company in a more intimate fashion, right? At least, Madelyne didn't feel there was.

Thaddeus might have a different opinion though. And that was where Madelyne was currently stuck. While it felt like he'd been flirting with her a few times over the course of their time together, she didn't know for sure. What if she messed things up by trying to take the next step only to find he didn't feel the same way?

She didn't know what to do. But at the same time she felt like she had to do something…

-x-X-x-

The Vote:

[ ] She shouldn't move too fast, just go for a kiss and maybe makeout for now if he's receptive - 36%
[ ] Try out something she saw online by getting under the table to fellate him right there in the coffee shop - 25%
[X] She can't wait, she tries to drag him into the bathroom with her for full blown sex - 39%