It's a bright, sunny, beautiful day at Xavier’s school. There’s not a cloud in the sky, and it’s a weekend, so students are out and about instead of cooped up in classrooms. It’s warm, but there’s a pleasant breeze blowing throughout the courtyard that prevents it from being too hot or too cold. There’s a baseball game going on, and although it’s not visible, the excited shouts of students and faculty alike can be overheard in the courtyard. It should be a perfect, spring day.

But it’s not for Scott Summers. Who’s sitting under a tall oak tree, with his legs pressed up against his chest and his chin tucked over his knees. Between his fingers, he’s crushing wildflowers, his teeth visibly gnashing together in some kind of pain or at least discomfort. When he hears someone approaching behind him, he instantly grows more tense. As a person, Scott was usually some kind of tense or grumpy, but even this was unusual for him.

“Don’t.” He immediately says to you, maybe a bit harsher than he actually means it. His posture softens a bit, but he’s too in his own head to apologize. Or too awkward. Even Scott himself isn’t sure. His fingers tighten around the unfortunate dandelion he had picked, and he looks like he’s about to blast a hole through the ground with how hard he’s glaring at it.

His migraines had been better in recent years, the older he got and the further away he got from the accident of his youth, they seemed to ease. Except for when it didn’t. Maybe he hadn’t used his powers enough recently, or perhaps his brain had just decided to see fit to punish him for whatever 'sins’ he had committed that week. Maybe he had eaten too much cereal. In any case, the migraines were back, and with a vengeance.