[ Look at his genes how, Ned wonders; considering the level of technology in this place, he doubts Charles will have the equipment necessary to determine whether or not he has a mutation based on his DNA. ]
If mutation always runs in families, like brown hair or brown eyes, then I'm not one. [ He thinks that perhaps he isn't a mutant, after all. His parents were perfectly normal. But then it occurs to him, with a strange sort of surprise, that they might not have been. It isn't as if he knows all that much about them. Ned takes the mug of tea and cradles it between his hands, pushing away the troubling thought that, in addition to knowing very little about the origins of his power, he doesn't know all that much about his origins, period. ] ...Probably.
[Then again, if the rest of what Charles said is true, does it really matter? Charles has hit upon it neatly. Of course, Ned would like proof of what he is and why he is it. But what he needs more urgently is a name to call himself. An idea, a category, so that he is one amongst many, rather than a solitary aberration. Still, Ned hasn't given up on the idea just yet. He thinks of another complication, asks a leading question ]
So you've been telepathic since birth? [ The nine year gap has always been a troubling wrench in the works, for Ned. He knows that his powers didn't start before then. He's certain. He touched plenty of dead things as a child. Ate pot roast, pressed his cheek into his dad's leather jacket, jumped in mountains of autumn leaves with Chuck. ]
no subject
If mutation always runs in families, like brown hair or brown eyes, then I'm not one. [ He thinks that perhaps he isn't a mutant, after all. His parents were perfectly normal. But then it occurs to him, with a strange sort of surprise, that they might not have been. It isn't as if he knows all that much about them. Ned takes the mug of tea and cradles it between his hands, pushing away the troubling thought that, in addition to knowing very little about the origins of his power, he doesn't know all that much about his origins, period. ] ...Probably.
[Then again, if the rest of what Charles said is true, does it really matter? Charles has hit upon it neatly. Of course, Ned would like proof of what he is and why he is it. But what he needs more urgently is a name to call himself. An idea, a category, so that he is one amongst many, rather than a solitary aberration. Still, Ned hasn't given up on the idea just yet. He thinks of another complication, asks a leading question ]
So you've been telepathic since birth? [ The nine year gap has always been a troubling wrench in the works, for Ned. He knows that his powers didn't start before then. He's certain. He touched plenty of dead things as a child. Ate pot roast, pressed his cheek into his dad's leather jacket, jumped in mountains of autumn leaves with Chuck. ]