How You Get The Girl (Talia)

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

It had been a long journey, figuratively and literally, to get to where Jaxon stood then, Xavier in the back of his mind fuming and treating him like a child. To be fair, the younger soul had acted like a child, and was informed of this by the woman who owned the apartment he stood outside. 

If you don't get her to understand whatever you said was /you/ and not me, every article of clothing you own will be bleached and ruined.

'Actually, that's quite counter intuitive, don't you think? We make a single salary, and so that still hurts you.'

Since when have I been known to be sensible. Just. Do. It.

'Fair enough.' 

Pride really was being shattered in that moment in the realization that he had to apologize for something he felt didn't warrant an apology. After all, she had come to him and called him out for no damn reason. How was it his fault that he had reacted in such a way. Plus, after the last thing she had said, Jaxon didn't think she even deserved an apology. 

Knock. If Xavier would have been in control, he would have said it between clenched teeth, to which Jaxon took as the last straw before Xavier would have knocked for him. 

And so the younger soul took his fist, knocking three times against the door frame and waited for the woman to come out, if she was even home.

[Talia Spencer]

It had been days now, and Talia was still upset.

It was stupid really. She shouldn't even care. After all, she barely knew him really. It had only been one date after all. Why should it matter that he'd turned out to be a dick? She should have expected it really.

Still. It wasn't like they just hadn't clicked or he had been too skeevy or anything normal. He had literally denied her existence. Acted like they had never even met before. That hurt more than anything.

The way he had treated her like a child still burned her up if she thought about it, though not half as much as the realization that she had been made a fool of did. She had truly believed that maybe something could happen between them. That he had liked her as much as she liked him, which was - had been - quite a lot. She wanted to believe that she didn't care anymore. She didn't want to care. Not after what he had said.

He had even had the nerve to text her. "Hey hun" it had said. As if nothing had happened. She couldn't even begin to figure out what his deal was. He was going hot and cold so fast she didn't even know what to make of it. She just knew that she was done trying to figure it out. She had no interest in playing those sort of games. She just didn't need that sort of drama in her life.

Still. She thought about the situation - about him - more than she cared to admit to anyone... even herself.

The knock at the door took her by surprise and scattered her thoughts. As she opened the door though, nothing could have prepared her for what - or rather who - was on the other side.

Xavier.

She stared at him in surprise for a handful of seconds before promptly slamming the door shut without so much as a word. Nope. Not happening.

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

A brief opening of the door, but Jaxon couldn't even so much as get a word in before the door was promptly slammed back in his face. To the younger soul, it told him all he needed to know: the girl could not be trusted to stay. However, to Xavier, it was only a large slap to the face. She couldn't even look at Jaxon for more than a second before getting a door.

'Well, I tried. Can we go home now?'

Fix. This. Xavier practically growled, leaving Jaxon a bit stunned. He was incredibly serious about it /all/, which was something the younger soul had not seen in such a long time.

Instead of responding, Jaxon attempted another set of knocks for the sake of pleasing the fuming ball of fire sharing his mind, fearful that any failure would result in the immediate loss of his brother once again.

"Talia, please open up." He said then, an exasperated sigh following suit. He didn't like using her name, nor did he like admitting he knew it. She was a -

Shut it. Don't you even dare finish that sentence. And so he didn't.

[Talia Spencer]

How dare he. How dare he. To just show up like this, at her home, ambushing her after he had already made it all to clear that she had no place in his life or thoughts at all. Especially after how he had reacted to her suddenly showing up at his office to try to talk to him in the first place. All the grief he'd given her for that sudden appearance and now he was taking the same concept to an entirely different extreme.

He knocked again and thought Talia still stood just behind the door, shaking her head and fuming at his brazenness, she had no intention of opening that door. He had already done enough damage.

Then he called her by name, and her self control vanished.

The door swung open and he was met with a hard stare. "Oh, so now you remember me. How very convenient for you." She wasn't about to let him off the hook for what happened last time. It didn't matter how sweet or charming he was, she wasn't going to budge on this. There was no excuse for saying what he had. She had always been one to believe in second chances, but this had crossed a line beyond even that.

"Well?" she snapped. She wasn't about to let this go. "Come to insult me some more?"

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

There was no reason for her to honestly open that door again - Xavier knew for a fact that whatever Jaxon had said and or done to her had been out of line and from what he could see, beyond redemption. That in itself scared the living hell out of him because the moment that he finally found someone that he might have actually liked, it was ruined by someone who held the exact same face as Xavier, it was ruined by the one person he trusted his life with because it was their life too.

Xavier didn't speak then, but Jaxon could feel the shock and hurt that the words Talia uttered permeate through his own mental state. It hurt immensely knowing that he was the one to cause this, and despite the fact that he may have not cared for the girl - at all - Xavier did. And he had to fix this for him.

"Look, I'm sorry. But it wasn't Xavier who said that. I did." It was a hard thing to explain, but standing outside in the cold weather wasn't doing anything to help his state of mind and clarity in trying explain. "He never explained our power did he? Look, it's freezing. Is there any way I can come in and try and explain?"

That was most definitely a long shot, but he had to try despite the fact that he wanted to walk around right then.

[Talia Spencer]

She had a feeling she was going to end up regretting her choice to open the door. How could she not? He had already proven that he was an immature, selfish, arrogant jackass. Even if he tried to play it nice again, tried to be the fun, sweet guy she had gone out with... she'd still end up getting hurt in the end. How could she trust him after this bullshit? How could that ever really be okay?

Still, she didn't close the door this time.

But his words stunned her. How did he always manage to do that? It was hardly fair.

She had expected him to try to defend it somehow. What possible defense he could have had, she didn't know, but this whole 'it wasn't Xavier' thing was beyond ridiculous.

"Are you even listening to yourself? He, you... it's all the same. It's not like you're secret twins or something!" ...Could that be it? No, that was like something straight out of a soap opera. What he was saying was impossible, it had to be. It had to have been Xavier both times... didn't it?

Yet when she thought back to the guy she had gone out with and then the ass who she had talked to at Hammel... She had thought they seemed like two completely different guys. Could that somehow be true?

Talia wanted to believe in the possibility that it wasn't Xavier who had hurt her. That, and that only, was what made her move to the side, opening up the doorway for him to enter. She waited until he had and promptly shut the door behind him. Crossing her arms across her chest, she turned around to face him.

"Alright then. Explain."

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

So Xavier hadn't explained the whole Hybridity thing according to the way she reacted to the whole 'it wasn't Xavier' ordeal. For those who didn't understand the power, it was incredibly hard to believe, even despite most of the people they told were meta themselves. It was easier to understand the idea of Gestalt pairs, however, and even then it took a while for them to come to grips with how two beings could combine a single mind with more than one body. The opposite was even MORE complicated consider people assume they had DID.

'Why haven't you said anything?'

What? That I have another person in my head? I wanted her to /talk/ to me, not think I was nuts.

Relief washed over Xavier the moment she allowed them both in, and the only relief Jaxon felt was from the warmth that the studio had provided. Immediately, the younger soul took note of the large curtain to his left, and the glaring woman to his right. It was hard not to roll his eyes, but instead he moved without saying another word until he took a seat on the sofa loveseat. "I suggest you get comfortable because this might take a bit."

"The only way I can really describe this is by explain what a gestalt pair is and then elaborating. Im sure, considering you apparently work in Hammel, that you know what a gestalt pair is? Two bodies, a single mind right?"

Get on with it, Jaxon. It doesn't look like we /have/ that much time Xavier pleaded then, the slight growl still evident in the mental tone he offered.

'I am, I am. Jesus christ.'

"Well, we're the opposite. Xavier and I share this body, but we are two different people. Call us two different souls, minds, beings - whatever. But the only thing that Xavier and I share is a body. My name is Jaxon, Jaxon Wright. And I'm Xavier's brother."

[Talia Spencer]

Talia really didn't know what to expect at this point and quite frankly she had given up trying to anticipate anything with Xavier. It was all too confusing anymore and entirely shocking. Yet she wanted the explanation. It still mattered to her.

Still, she pursed her lips, his 'suggestion' to sit activating an urge to do the exact opposite just to spite him. In the end though, she did take a seat on the adjacent armchair, arms still crossed, and still waiting with an expression that read equal parts impatience and curiosity.

Did she really dare hope that there might be a chance for her and Xavier?

She nodded at his question about gestalt pairs. It took all her self control to not respond with a sarcastic reminder that yes, she did work at Hammel and she did know what a gestalt pair was thank you very much. It might be satisfying, but it wasn't productive and she wanted answers finally damn it. She'd been waiting long enough already.

What he explained then made her eyes widen in shock. So... Xavier shared his body... with another person entirely? A person who evidently hated her no less. How did that even work? Just trying to think of the mechanics of it made her head hurt. With this sort of power - and a brother who clearly loathed her - how was there supposed to be any hope for them?

Why was she still thinking of them as a them anyway?

"Okay, so if you're the asshole brother I met at the office... that would mean it really wasn't Xavier," she mumbled, more to herself than anything. "But then..." A hand went to her head, as though that could somehow prevent the headache that seemed sure to follow. "So why are you telling me this? I mean, you clearly hate me for no apparent reason but I mean you... he... still had been ignoring me anyway. So why bother explaining all this now?"

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

It was, once again, quite obvious that she was confused with the power that was at hand. Jaxon had to compare it with him telling a brand new student about what they could do. Telepaths found it easier to understand considering they could hear the two different people, but for someone who could only physically see a single being and not understand the quirks and mechanics of the power they shared, it could be very difficult to comprehend.

At her words, Xavier and Jaxon's stomach clenched, a reaction more than likely from Xavier's momentarily shift into control. Had she paid attention, she would have seen either sign of the shift, but Jaxon quickly pulled his brother out, if only because it was him who needed to speak. Not Xavier. It wouldn't make sense if Xavier had randomly started trying to justify something he didn't need to.

You expect me to sit here and let her say that?

'No, but I expect you to let me do the job you asked me to do. Stay back, man.'

"I don't like you. That's pretty simple. But Xavier does, and he was the one who wanted me to let you know it wasn't him who did it." He started, his expression placid at that point, "Another thing about this power, though, is that we have the option to... give each other privacy. We can... fade away for a time, and we can't really dictate how long we go under. It's like we can sleep while the other is still awake, so whatever happens during the time we are under, only the other has control."

Already, it was proving to be incredibly difficult to try and form these words without making other snappish comments just to spite her. Jaxon had self-control, though, and he wouldn't do that. Not yet, at least. "Xavier was asleep for a week, which had me on edge. And then you barged into my office and -"

Don't you fucking - Xav reprimanded, knowing where the speech was going and put it to an immediate stop.

"-made those accusations. I was irritated enough, so I apologize. He had nothing to do with what I said."

[Talia Spencer]

She thought she saw something shift in his eyes for a moment, but then it was gone and she chalked it up to the fact that she was still trying to process what was admittedly a pretty large chunk of information. Rather understandably, she was struggling a bit to really come to terms with it.

He... Jaxon... spoke so calmly, as though he hadn't been a colassal ass to her. I don't like you, he said, as though that wasn't the massive understatement it clearly was. After all, not liking someone meant grimacing a bit when they were around, a few sarcastic comments here and there perhaps. The way he had treated her went way beyond that.

Still, he said that Xavier did like her, which went a long way towards making her feel better. After the moment that had almost happened between them, she had thought that he did, but after everything that had happened, she had felt certain that she had been played somehow. Now though, that familiar little giddy feeling returned, though it was weighted by the still dubious side of herself who was not so eager to just forgive and forget.

After all, they were a 2 for 1 package and while she certainly did like Xavier... this Jaxon seemed like he might be more trouble than he was worth.

As he explained to her that they could choose to give each other privacy, she felt a little relieved. So then she could spend time with Xavier without this brother of his lurking around. That was a good development. At least it meant there was potential for a relationship to be at least somewhat normal... Wait, was she already thinking of that? Wasn't that a bit premature? Then again, everything about this was strange at this point. What had begun so simply had become quite complicated.

Yet she was still trying to justify that it could work.

Her eyes widened at the revelation that Xavier hadn't been ignoring her after all... he'd been... asleep. Which meant that Jaxon had been the one to ignore her. So it all came back to him being an ass basically. Lovely.

Still, that meant that Xavier really did like her. That was obviously the case if Jaxon was trying to explain this to her to get him off the hook. Why else would he bother if he disliked her so much? He had already said that Xavier had asked him to come after all.

"Accusations which were apparently more accurate than I realized," she muttered. "After all you were ignoring me," she said, emphasizing the 'you' to signify that she meant Jaxon and not Xavier.

Part of her wondered if this wasn't all a bit much for her really. But then another part was starting to put together that Jaxon clearly didn't want her involved with his brother and she so very much wanted to spite him. Most of all though, she just really liked Xavier.

"Fine, I accept your apology. You're still an ass, but I'm not going to hold it against Xavier. You can't choose your siblings after all." What he had said had hit a nerve, so she couldn't forget it so easily. But that didn't mean she had to give up on Xavier.

[Xavier & Jaxon Wright]

You can't choose your siblings, she had said. Jaxon's jaw clenched then, wanting so badly to respond with something far worse, but Xavier had rendered him speechless in the entire ordeal. If she wanted to be the bitch that she was, fine, but at least Xavier was forgiven. That most definitely meant there would be more of her around, he was certain, but as long as his brother wasn't pissed with him any more.

Jaxon may have been a jerk at times, but he still loved his brother with everything he had.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that. You'll probably get a text later or something, If I know Xavier. Which I do." The least he could sneer was that much, but Xavier was in the background so relieved that it clouded his mind enough that he didn't catch that single emphasis.

He stood up in that moment, turning on his heel with no word as to why. Instead, he took himself to the door, giving her only a brief word of advice before opening the door and step out on his way, "You really should clean up a bit." And with that, Jaxon closed the door behind him with more force than was probably necessary.

Jax, what did you fucking say to her? Xavier's voice was clear and strengthened, back to the normal Xav. Almost.

'Don't worry about it.'

You're lucky she doesn't hate me.

'I don't think lucky is the right term.'