notsogroovy | (no subject)

The dreams had started after Darwin. The night after, in fact, and she was glad that her room was away from most of the guest quarters and that Charles usually didn't go to sleep until late. He wouldn't hear her dreams and neither would anyone else. It started with Darwin, of course. She got to watch him die all over again. It didn't stop there, though. Next was Sean and Alex. Hank and Erik. It was usually around the time they got to Charles that she started screaming. The screams woke her almost immediately and she waited desperately until she knew that no one had heard or, at least, no one was admitting to having heard her screams.

Tonight was similar. This time, she'd woken up to the image of Hank's body contorted on the ground after having been dropped to the ground from a hundred feet up. She sat up in bed, stared at the door, and panted. She waited, hoping that no one had heard her. Of course not. Why should it be any different tonight than it had any other night?

Except then she heard a distinctive creak on the floorboards and froze.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Raven smiled weakly. "It's just been me and Charles for almost as long as I can remember. I'm not used to having anyone else. And Charles..." She shook her head. "He gets lost in his own problems sometimes." Right now, his problems were all of them and what was going to happen in the future. Who was she to add a few nightmares on top of that?

"I don't want to be a burden. To Charles. To you." She let out her breath in a soft sight. "But it means a lot that you offered."

"I understand," Hank said. "For a long time I didn't really have anyone so it's different for me, too. Suddenly having you guys here, I mean. Admitting it is the first step, though, right? We should make an effort to change how we think. Nobody should have to feel like they're alone."

(And especially with the completion of his serum they wouldn't ever have to cause they'd look normal!!!11!1)

"You're not. You have us. Me." Raven flashed him a smile and leaned forward, a hand on his chest, and kissed the corner of his mouth. She hesitated for a minute and then slid an inch to the left so that she was kissing him full on the lips. She wanted an actual kiss from him and now she was pretty sure he'd bolt, but at least she could say that she'd had the one.

Hank did come very close to bolting, made obvious by the way his entire body suddenly tensed as though he were ready to leap from the bed, stammer an excuse, and leave. Perhaps it would've been better that he had, too, but for some reason he stayed.

Once the first kiss was broken he leaned in and kissed her again. It was a tad clumsy – his inexperience was clear – but he didn't let it stop him.

The first kiss was nice. She'd expected it to be nice and sweet and all the things she thought a first kiss should be. What she didn't expect was that he'd lean back in and kiss her a second time. She made a soft noise and leaned in closer, fingers curling a little in his shirt. She hadn't expected that their first kiss would be with her sprawled half across him in her bed.