driftfleet | may mingle (blameless!)

[ Raven can't help her laugh then. ]

Are we talking about the same Charles? Not meddling?

[ It's easier to laugh and joke, because they both know that Charles has changed since she had spent most of her time with him. That part is painful, but she's working on it - really, she is. She's trying. ]

I'll tell him once I've done it.

Edited 2016-05-16 23:12 (UTC)

[he can't help but grin a little]

I think he meant with - us, specifically, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a general statement. He's an idiot.

[just like that, and that says a lot about the relationship Charles and Hank have nowadays, that he can insult the man and sound fond about it at the same time] But- good.

He is an idiot. He's been an idiot since the day I met him.

[ Or, rather, the day she broke into his house and ate his food while pretending to be his mother.

Tilting her head, Raven kisses Hank's jaw. ]

However it goes, I'll have to tell someone. I don't know how it's going to end just yet.

[in the most solemn tone he can manage:] He's gotten worse. He's insufferable.

[he presses a kiss to the top of her head] Just don't keep it to yourself. That's all I ask.

At least you don't have to put up with him alone anymore.

[ She does say it fondly, genuinely, but there is a touch of apprehension there too. She is nervous, and she is a little afraid, and she has to wonder - but she'll get over it.

She doesn't have a choice anymore.

Shaking her head, Raven lets herself press into Hank's neck again, as if it's going to keep her safe from even her own emotions. ]

I'll try.

Only when we're complaining to each other. [which - so far, has resulted in them going to the bar together. But no one needs to know that.

And - that's good enough for him. That's what all of this is, after all; all of them trying. He wouldn't ask for more] Alright.

You sound like an old married couple. Are you sure he's not dating you? [ She is joking, but it's half-hearted at best because she knows what she's missed out on.

She knows, and it stings.

Shifting a little, Raven leans back and glances at the door before her eyes drag back to Hank. ]

I can stay here, can't I?

Only one of us is old. [is his counter, and he says it with a straight face, too] But - no. He isn't my type.

[one day he'll point out how Erik and Charles actually are an old married couple, but not now. Not when they're still relearning to coexist with one another.

He glances to the door as well, but he doesn't make a move to sit up] Of course you can. [gently] We already talked about that.

You're not wrong. Charles has been an old fart since he was eighteen. [ She remembers, fondly, teasing him about it back at school and she lets the nostalgia settle around her before she glances back at Hank. ] I suppose the beard might be a little off-putting - don't worry, I'm making him shave.

[ Definitely the only reason Charles isn't Hank's type, of course.

Shifting a little, she relaxes before she nods at his desk, wondering for a moment. ]

Do you have work you need to do?

—wait, you are? [she didn't say what they talked about, and he figured - no, he isn't sure what he figured. But that is one of the last things he would have thought they talked about] Did you tell him he looks like a hippie or were you nicer about it?

[says this guy, who's never made a comment about it to Charles' face.

He considers his desk and - makes a face. He does have things he was working on, but does he really want to now?]

Nothing that needs to be done.

I just told him that we should bond by getting him a haircut, and then I transformed into him so he could test styles. [ Is that so strange? She doesn't really see how it's odd, getting Charles to neaten up a little, but she imagines that Hank might have seen things she hasn't. It wouldn't shock her if Charles had been particularly antagonistic about his hair - he had been, in the past.

She just smiles, innocently. ] I didn't tell him he looked like a hippie, I was nice.

[ Shifting, Raven pushes herself up and off his lap, dropping down onto the bed - and resting her cheek on Hank's thigh for a moment. ]

You should go and do your work. Don't let me stop you. Ice cream and stuff, right?

[that actually isn't strange to him - and he's glad that they're bonding. Even if it's over Charles Xavier's ridiculous appearance. He grins at the innocent smile and faintly shakes his head]

Well - good. I mean, that you two are bonding. If he comes out of it looking less like one of the students, the better. [again, says this guy, who dresses like an old man most of the time.

Raven moves and - is she teasing him? He doesn't know how he's managed to do work with her here the past few days, and he isn't sure how he's going to manage it now, after all they've talked about. He huffs out and sits up, but drops his hand to stroke her cheek]

All kinds of stuff. [he smiles down at her] Mostly boring stuff.

[ The strange thing was that the only thing that had changed in her heart when it came to Charles was her anger. She had ten years to let it fester and grow, and it had shared space with the loss of her friends and her kin, mutants that had been taken by humans and destroyed. The love she felt towards him, the connection they shared... It might have been overtaken by her rage and her pain but it never disappeared. That kind of passionate, deep love can't just go away.

Regret is bundled up with a thousand other emotions, though, and she and Charles are going to have to work through them together. It's not going to be easier, but it'll be easier than dealing with Erik. ] Did your students all look like hippies? That's a little extreme, even for New York.

[ Her eyes close when his hand touches her cheek. It soothes her, and she doesn't move, just laying her head against Hank and relaxing. She could fall asleep right here, she thinks, and actually rest. It doesn't matter what happens around the fleet; what matters is that she's here with him, for now. ]

It's not boring to you. [ It might bore her, but she had always tried to take an interest in what he had been doing. ] Don't let me stop you from working anymore, if you need to.

[he huffs a noise, amused and fond and a little tired. As much as he's teasing Charles behind his back, he knows the real reason for Charles' appearance - he let himself go, stopped caring, and drank all his issues away.

Raven helping him is a good thing. It's another sign that he's improving, past what he's already improved upon] Not all of them, no. only a handful, and I think it was just the style they liked. You know I don't get that stuff.

[he can't help but smile wider, and. He still makes no move to get off the bed. He knows that when he does he has to take the serum again, and he knows that isn't what she wants, but - he knows she understands, too]

I suppose I can try to work. Do you want to sleep? [he tilts his head, smiling at her] I can close the door and put up a sign. Most of what I'm doing doesn't require any of the machinery.

[ Raven knew that the Charles she had seen in Paris wasn't the man she had left behind, and she can accept that. It's strange to think that her brother was so different from the man he had been, but she had changed too - maybe neither of them had changed for the better, but it's not as if they had much choice in the matter. Regrets are chains that they can't fight anymore, and she wants to believe. She wants to imagine that the change is good and she can see the better in Charles - just as he can see the better in her.

She manages to huff a laugh, though, shaking her head and opening one eye to look at him. ] That's why you always wore a lab coat when we were at the CIA, isn't it? So you wouldn't have to worry about me seeing your awful fashion sense.

[ She's only teasing, and she kisses his palm to make sure that he's aware.

The lure of being able to sleep is a temptation she can't quite ignore, and she gives it a few seconds of thought before she opens her mouth to reply. The truth is that sleeping on the Caprine has been hard, and she's been rather tormented by her own thoughts and the whispering demons that have come out of hiding to see her. ] I don't know if I'll fall asleep, but you should work. I don't mind.

[he huffs right back at her, but he's smiling at her laugh] I dressed like anyone would in a professional setting. I just - looked like a kid playing dress-up, too. [and - he can't help it, he sticks out his tongue, completely childish] And I like lab coats.

[he strokes his fingers over her cheek again before he leans down to kiss her forehead] Try to, at least. And if not - then you can help me out, maybe. I could always use a second pair of eyes. [because for all that he's enhanced things, his eyes still weren't the best]

'Professional setting.' You were adorable. [ She teases him gently, shaking her head as she tugs at his arm. It was true, though; the sweet awkwardness and the way he held himself was one of the first things that charmed her about him - and she can't deny that. ] But very smart, as well, and I don't just mean your brain.

[ Eyes closing, Raven basks in the casual intimacy before she shifts and wiggles down on the bunk, giving Hank space and the freedom to get up and head over to the desk, shifting a little before she lies back. ] If I don't get to sleep I'll do whatever you need me to do, promise.

[ She doesn't mean it as flirtatiously as it sounds, but - whatever. ]

[it's easier to huff at the tease then to try to counter it] I only looked like that because of the lab coat. [he remembers, how he wanted to look as professional as he could and take things incredibly seriously, and how he'd been teased about that too] I don't dress like that so much anymore. [there was no reason to.

He wants to protest, but he does push himself to his feet with a noise, and after a beat leans over to pick up his glasses where they had fallen before] We'll see. [and he braces a hand on the bed to lean in to kiss her one last time] But try to rest.

[ Raven thinks part of his dressing the way he did was to both be professional and inconspicuous, to not draw attention to himself - and then Charles came along, all charm and ridiculousness, and blew that out of the water, changing Hank's life forever. They'd both had their lives changed by Charles, in startlingly different ways, and all she can do is shake her head. ] I still remember the first time I saw you. I think it's one of my favourite memories.

[ So many of them are tinged with bad thoughts and negatives, so the few gleeful ones they can share... Those are the ones she cherishes when she can.

One arm lifts, wrapping around him so she can lean into the kiss for a moment, no matter how brief it might be, but soon she's settling back and nodding her head. ] I'll try. [ A pause, and then - ] Thank you.

[ And she doesn't just mean for the bed. ]

[it gives him pause, because it's something he would say. Singling out memories was something he still did, had ranked the ones he had throughout his stay in Kyriakos. He still did it sometimes, because it was just - normal to him, a habit he has yet to break himself of.

But it brings out a smile, too. Because - he wasn't going to lie, overall that was one of his favorites, too. He'd remembered all three of them and Raven had stuck out the most, saying he was amazing and it had been the moment he'd fallen for her. No one had ever complimented him like that. It still meant so much] It's one of mine, too.

[he pauses, halfway to standing back up straight and the smile isn't as wide as the others, but it's something else and no less genuine then the rest] Anytime. ["you're welcome" didn't seem right and he wanted to her know that anytime she wanted to - they could talk about things. Anything, it didn't matter.

He finally breaks away though and drops his glasses on the counter before going to find where he put the serum. She won't say anything, he has to remind himself]

[ Hank's reaction to the lot of them had been something Raven would never forget - after Charles outed him, at least. Most of the time when she and Charles went anywhere together he was the centre of attention because he was the charming, captivating one - because he was charming and he was good at using his words and his mind to nudge at people and his smile would bring even the most petulant of people around. When they'd met Hank he'd looked at her and, for once, Raven had felt like she was the one being noticed first.

It had been a lovely feeling.

Hank gets up to move and, for a moment, Raven thinks that ought to be it - he can go back to work and she'll settle down and try and doze off, catch up on the sleep she hasn't managed to get much of on the Caprine. When she realises that he's going for the serum she sits up, hesitating for a moment before she turns her head to look at him. Her next words are careful, and she opens and closes her mouth once or twice before she goes.

He had given her serum, once, but it had been cruel then. She understands it better now, and - she can't help herself. ]

Hank? Will you show me - the serum?

[ What she really wants is to do it with him, for him, but she won't take that autonomy away from him. Just seeing it is enough for her. ]

[the serum - completed and ready, on hand in case he needs it at a moment's notice - sits in a drawer underneath the main area he works. Habit to keep it close, not just for himself but at one time, Charles as well. They'd grown close in their misery and pain, and become each other's enablers in a way - allowing each other to dive into their worst habits unbothered.

When she sits up and speaks, his hand freezes over the needles.

It isn't hard to figure out where his mind goes, with the way his shoulders hunch and tense. To a night back in the mansion where he'd broken her heart, had said the wrong thing the wrong way and the echoes of guilt he still felt ring out loud in his head. He knew there were other reasons why she left, not just what happened between them, but he still shoulders the weight as if it was just him who pushed Raven away.

He forces himself to relax, breathes out, and closes his fingers around one of the syringes. He doesn't trust his voice, though, and instead of answering her he just wordlessly turns to hold it out to her.

And that says a lot]

[ He doesn't say anything and, for a moment, Raven thinks she's said the wrong thing, that the gentle peace that had developed between them was going to be shattered before it even got started. She wants to lean back and apologise without really saying sorry, but then Hank is turning towards her and holding it out - and, really, it looks just the same as it had in the mansion. It looks like the same, innocent little syringe, as if there was nothing that would change someone's very appearance sitting inside it.

Taking it, Raven touches the glass, feeling the edges of it and she wonders, for a moment, what it would do to her. Would it make her blonde forever, hiding the blue? She has to focus all the time when she's Raven and not Mystique, using half of her mind to keep the disguise up, and she can't ignore the way her mind prickles and makes her think how easy it would be to indulge. She can empathise with Hank and with Charles; she can see why they used it, why they let themselves hide their mutations.

It was almost sickening, how tempting it was.

Eventually, she turns it over in her fingers, hesitating before she shifts forward and holds her hand out to Hank. There's no hesitation then, nothing she can do but tilt her head up and look at the man she loves, her eyes set and sure. ]

Show me? You don't have to, I just -

[ How to do it. Where it goes, what Hank does. She doesn't want him to be ashamed of it, but she won't force him.

She doesn't want him to be alone. ]

[there's something incredibly intimate about this. Hank can't quite figure out how to word it in his head and he isn't sure if he wants to try, but letting her do something like this - knowing what it means to him, knowing how she feels about it -

instead of giving her his arm he sits down first, because he doesn't think he can do it standing. Sure, the physical change the serum grants him can be a little overwhelming too, but that isn't the real reason.

Then he holds out his hand to her, his free one rolling up the sleeve of his shirt. He's never had to explain this to someone. Charles already knew how, given his own background. He swallows and eventually finds his voice, gesturing with his (faintly shaking) free hand]

Just - in the vein, here. [god, where are his words? He's done this hundreds of times. One day he might even have to train someone else to do it] These are - different from the ones in our world, but it's the same as - when I took your blood. Remember?

[ This is what Raven needs to do, she thinks. Hank, Charles and Erik are so different and she has to make little sacrifices here and there to get close to them again, to let herself have their company. There's not much point going off and being a lone wolf on a fleet of ships when there's nowhere for her to go, and the only mutants she can fight for are the ones already close to her heart. Giving up little things, like her incredibly strong sense of belief in how Hank should present himself... She can do that.

Absently, of course, she knows how to inject someone with something - you stick it in their arm and press down in the top until it's all gone. It's different in practice, though, and she moves forward on the bed so she can reach out and stroke gentle fingers over Hank's forearm, glancing up as she listens to him. They've been in this position before and he brings it up, he says it, and it's so vastly different that it's almost hilarious. ]

I remember. [ She can't forget; she had been so close to drawing him into a kiss and then Erik had appeared and made her all - shy and embarrassed again, the prick. Her fingers smooth over his palm gently, more to soothe him than anything else, and she nods her head as her thumb traces the vein. This is something so different from anything they've shared before - she gave him her blood, sure, but she had grown up with Charles and genetics and science. This is intimate on a whole other level, Hank trusting her to give him something he needs.

Breathing out, she glances up with a slightly nervous expression before she hardens herself. She's shot a gun; she can handle a needle. ]

I've got it. [ She presses the needle into the vein carefully, not looking up at Hank because she knows that her focus needs to be on what she's doing. It's only when she's sure she's got it done right that she presses down, injecting the serum as her thumb continues to stroke gently over the bone of his wrist. ]

may mingle (blameless!)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw needles just to be safe

continuing the cw needles

continuing the cw needles

continuing the cw needles

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)