It really wasn't at all what he'd expected. He didn't know what he had expected, exactly, but that wasn't it. Steve's face stayed blank for just a moment, as he processed what she was saying. A mutant. He knew the word, of course, but only in an academic context. He knew eye color, hair color, even skin tone were mutations from the original source ancestor, but he'd never heard of other humans being mutants.
Then she told him she was from another Earth, sounding terrified that he wouldn't believe her, gripping his hand so tightly that if he were anyone else he'd be worried about her breaking it, and his natural protective instincts kicked in. He reached forward with his free hand and pulled her toward him, hugging her against him, letting his hand reach up and soothe over her braid and down her neck and shoulders, repeating the motion over and over.
"Shh, it's okay. I believe you." He tried to think of some way he could make her understand that he didn't think she was crazy, or just making it up. "You're talking to a guy born in 1918 who went from 98 lbs to 200 in less than ten minutes. Who got frozen in ice for seventy years and survived. I think that's crazy, right there. I believe you, Marie. Rogue."
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Then she told him she was from another Earth, sounding terrified that he wouldn't believe her, gripping his hand so tightly that if he were anyone else he'd be worried about her breaking it, and his natural protective instincts kicked in. He reached forward with his free hand and pulled her toward him, hugging her against him, letting his hand reach up and soothe over her braid and down her neck and shoulders, repeating the motion over and over.
"Shh, it's okay. I believe you." He tried to think of some way he could make her understand that he didn't think she was crazy, or just making it up. "You're talking to a guy born in 1918 who went from 98 lbs to 200 in less than ten minutes. Who got frozen in ice for seventy years and survived. I think that's crazy, right there. I believe you, Marie. Rogue."