It all started with a dare. "Mon ami japonaise, I bet ya'll can't get a rise out of Mademoiselle Indigo...or le chat damnés," Remy had taunted Talon, "And that *I* can..." And unable to resist the challenge, confident that he could do what the Cajun 'charmer' had been unable to do in the past year, since the mysterious "Miss Indigo" had come to the Xavier Institute. And so, they'd each gone about their individual strategies, each endeavouring to discover what made Miss Indigo tick. The Cajun tried to sweet talk her, or those few friends she had, into divulging something...anything...about her. But he was left with more questions than answers...and alas, gained nothing aside from her usual distant courtesy upon the occasions she had to deal with Remy. Talon, however, watched her, patiently studying Indigo, her habits and interactions. He learned she shied away from socializing outside of her very few friends such as Dr. McCoy, Miss Frost, Miss Tessa, Sir Bennet du Paris and young prodigy, Adam Rykos. He noted that three out of five were known telepaths and all were intellectual prodigies with several shared aspects of expertise...technology in particular. He also noted unusual qualities to her voice when she spoke, a peculiar flatness he'd been able to cross reference and verify with online video of various hearing impaired people who could speak. She tended to prefer small groups, ostensibly where she could keep track of the conversation and lipreading more easily--or keep company with fellow telepaths and intellectuals where the ideas and conversation could flow freely from mind to mind. Small wonder that scruffy Cajun had little luck making an impression on Miss Indigo. She certainly seemed value her privacy and be something of an outsider among outsiders, but perhaps, she wasn't as aloof as other's believed her to be? From his research, Talon had learned that the deaf could be even further isolated from the hearing world. So, he'd figured out the basic problem. He still had to find a way to elicit a reaction from the mysterious Miss Indigo. For that, he'd spoken to a number of the non-telepathic denizens of the Institute...and learned of the 'usual' training they'd received from Dr. Xavier and Miss Grey. Things like how to keep a hostile psi out of one's head or make oneself heard to a telepathic teammate. Such exercises and skills weren't too different from the things he'd learned from the mystics and psychics in the Hand... And so, Talon approached Indigo one morning... It all started with... [Hullo...] -------------------- Indigo, Niels the Speedball Kitty, Talon in the foreground. Jubilee and Adam Rykos (seated on stairs). Remy LeBeau/Gambit, Kwannon Harada/Psylocke, Emma Frost in the background. Notes: Marvel's characters are (C) Marvel. Indigo is (C) Kat Nisaá. Adam Rykos is (C) Michael Redman.