Rogue nodded and once again set her fingers against his hand, studying the way it felt when his energy began flowing into her at that slow, steady rate. A few seconds was all the tried before breaking the contact, rubbing her fingers together to chase away that lingering sensation.

It really did feel... malleable, almost. Like a floodgate that was partway lowered, if she turned the valve just the right way she could block off the tide entirely.

"I'm going to try manipulating it," she told him hesitantly. "Slowing it down even more, trying to stop it completely."

If she was going to put a damper on her power, it couldn't just be at the point of contact, or that would be all that could be controlled. No, she wanted full control of her ability, and that meant she had to focus on her own mind, on that tug she felt within her center whenever her power kicked in.

So as she once again allowed her skin to touch his, she concentrated fully on that pull of power, the thread between them and where it connected to her. She imagined turning that valve, putting her weight behind it to close the gate and stop the exchange. The seconds that passed seemed like an eternity before she finally felt... something. A flicker of change, the strength of the connection wavering, weakening until it was only a tiny trickle.

It was such a surprise that it actually worked that her focus broke and her power flared, that floodgate crashing open and pulling his energy into her with painful force. "Shit!" Rogue jerked her hand away with a grimace and clutched it to her chest. "Are you okay?"