"Jasper Whitlock, don't you dare!"

Jasper cringed as he heard his new wife use his original name. This meant he was in trouble. Unfortunately, he didn't know what for.

Alice stormed into their bedroom, eyes blazing, and poked him in the chest. "Don't you dare play with my emotions when I don't want you to!"

Well, that clarified things a little, but Jasper still didn't know exactly what Alice was referring to. The waves of anger coming from her were distressing him, and he began to push back with calming thoughts. As Alice's shoulders and face became less tense, her glare less heated, he suddenly realized that he was doing exactly what she had just told him not to do.

He stepped back and dismissed the calming thoughts. Alice's anger returned with even greater force as she realized what he had done. Before she could start yelling again, Jasper decided a different approach was called for.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Truly I am. It's second nature to me, to balance out negative emotions. But I will try to remember to ask your permission first."

Alice calmed down, and he was sure it was because of his words this time, not his gift. "I'm sorry I yelled," she said after a minute. "I know it upsets you. But I saw a vision of you using your powers to stop me from being angry at you, and I didn't think that was fair. If I get angry, it will be for a reason. I'd like you to respect that and work out the problem with me, not just stop me from feeling angry. Okay?"

"Fair enough." Now that Alice had calmed down, he felt comfortable approaching her for a hug. After a minute, he asked, "What were you going to be angry at me for? Perhaps I can avoid it."

"I don't know," said Alice. "I just saw myself yelling at you for playing with my emotions."

"Like you did just now?" asked Jasper, a smile gracing his lips.

Alice stepped back, her mouth hanging open. "Yes…so maybe if I hadn't had the vision…."

"You wouldn't have come in here yelling at me."

"And you wouldn't have felt the need to calm me down."

They burst out laughing at this twist. "I guess I'd better be more careful in the future," Alice said. "I don't want my visions to become self-fulfilling prophecies."

Jasper hugged her again. "Do you think you ever would want me to play with your emotions?" he asked.

"You could do it right now."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Make me happy."

And Jasper proceeded to do just that.