driftfleet | Let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya

[ She is entirely focused on Hank and revels in it up until the moment that the memory slips into her mind and she's forced to consider it. Honestly, she's not surprised that it's happened - with how close they are and how they've been talking about connections and memories, her own thoughts straying to that place... It was probably closer to inescapable. The truth is that she doesn't mind, really, and she's glad to have it without asking too much because she's afraid of the answers.

Raven tilts back and focuses on the memory, on what Hank has accidentally given her. At first she doesn't really have a high opinion of it and her nose wrinkles, but... Then it goes on and she knows she's the subject. Blade, that's Erik, and Miles had to be Charles... And it's sweet. The awkwardness and the nature of it is so completely Hank that she smiles without realising it, her expression soft as she leans back to look, opening her eyes.

He's right there, and Raven gazes, drinking him in. A part of her had been worried that someone else might have dragged his attention away from her, selfishly, but knowing that he remembered her, even a little, with some kind of fondness... That's good. She can't hide the way she softens, and she leans in to kiss him gently, soft and chaste and gentle, resting her forehead against his as she relaxes.

Strangely, she's happy. ]

You don't have to apologise. It's okay.

[if anything, that memory is a good sign that no one could take his attention away. That had been early on, when real names were still awkward and he barely knew about himself, let alone anything else from their world. It's a good memory, at least, if not one that leaves him feeling awkward and a little embarrassed, now that she's smiling and kissing him over it.

He huffs out a weak noise and lets her draw him a little closer, closing his eyes as well. He's glad it's okay, at least. That it was that memory over a dozen others]

Okay. [he squeezes her hand a little and takes a deep breath] That - was the only memory I had of you at the time.

[ She wonders what it must have been like, then, for Hank, to not know his name or his history and be given a random memory of a girl too forward and a little overwhelming, not recognising her for who she was but trying to understand what she meant to him. It must have been a mess, and her heart aches a little at the idea of it, new understanding dawning on her and wrapping around her shoulders before she breathes out. It's difficult, but this is part of the process. She wants to learn and that means accepting everything she can.

Careful, she pushes herself up, drawing Hank against her body and wrapping an arm around him, fingers stroking through his hair gently, trying to press upon him her love and affection and her thankfulness that she got to see something of his life before, see something that had helped shaped him into the person he was now. ]

So you just remembered a really intense girl talking to you? You poor man.

[he laughs a little and goes easily, and her affection does exactly what it always does; wash over him in a wave, pushing away all of the not quite as pleasant feelings he may have. He turns his head to kiss her cheek]

I didn't think she was intense. [he hums a little, and thinking on the memory proper brings up good feelings as well, even if some of them are just a little bittersweet. They always are, thinking about things back before Cuba] Just - forward.

[and his voice takes on a teasing quality] I think I might've really liked her - too bad some jerk came along and interrupted us.

[ Raven thinks that it's easy to make light of it, to push it all away and pretend as though there aren't scars to prod at and memories to bring to life - it's easier to pretend that there's nothing hidden between the two of them. She's bared most of her secrets to Hank, true, but not all of them, and some things would never really be put to voice until they were ready to do it, until they were ready to put everything on the table.

Memories flicker, of small blue hands, of Azazel, and she stomps them down. Hopefully, if he picks up on them, Hank will just think they're tangled up memories of her own childhood, with Azazel there just because of memories of past lovers. She can shrug it away for now, focussing on him, on her own delight and the huff of laughter that follows. ]

Forward - I remember that word. [ Hank apologising for being forward because he asked to take her blood. It was a date, but it wasn't, not really, and her heart aches at the reminder. ] I hope you kick that jerk's ass one day. He knew what he was doing and it wasn't nice.

[at least they're mostly scars now, rather than open wounds. Newer scars, still sensitive in places, but they didn't hurt to think about anymore. Sometimes it really feels as though it was a lifetime away, with how much he's changed since, now that "normal" was no longer a concern. He'd let go of a lot of things from those days. He's glad he never did let go of Raven.

He picks up on them, and - he'd have to be an idiot not to recognize what they are. Not when he recognizes the red skin, not when he knows already, and - he isn't sure how to feel about them. It's like there's a hiccup in the steady feelings of warmth he's been sharing with her, a moment of being unsure and even guilty, because he shouldn't be seeing those. He knows he shouldn't, and it's something they don't talk about. Not when she isn't ready.

So he focuses back on the memory at hand instead, but files that away for another time. When they're both ready to face it] I think I strangled him once or twice. He definitely deserved it the second time.

[ It's difficult, when there's so many things between them that could remain unsaid and not whispered, and Raven feels the need to push it down and away. She can't let herself fall into the trap of being too much and baring her soul too easily, not anymore, no matter how much she trusts Hank; she's grown up so much and become so jaded by the world that she doesn't want to run the risk of him seeing it and her losing herself somehow, as if she might end up tripping and stumbling into the person Charles had stopped her from becoming.

Her eyes squeeze shut and this is the problem - they can feel everything. She knows Hank has seen and that he understands, but she shrugs it off mentally and focusses on her own love and affection for him instead, basking in what it means to curl in his arms. He's warm and solid and she doesn't have to worry about him disappearing; he's right here, right beside her, and no one is going to take him from her. She would fight until the end for him, for Charles, for Erik, and her heart feels like it might explode from just how intense she is about it.

There's no way for her not to huff a laugh, at least, and she tilts herself back, glancing up to shake her head fondly. ] He probably had it coming. [ And then she leans forward, offering him a gentle kiss. ] He won't interrupt us now.

[Raven isn't the only one jaded by the world; he watched what two worlds did to the people closest to them, saw echoes of a third, and while his own experiences weren't nearly the same, they still had an effect. It's why that while he had hope, he didn't - couldn't - exactly believe that hope was the only thing they needed. One only had to look at his upbringing to see why he feels that way, even now not able to trust a world that still wasn't sure what to think of them. Still Hank, but with a slightly different outlook upon the world.

He isn't going anywhere, and he focuses on his feelings for her as well, even if there's a faint sense of something in the background, now. Nothing bad, but it's hard to put a word to, now that he's seen it. He doesn't want to put a word to it, because it means it'll come up and . . . they're enjoying this. He isn't going to ruin it because his mind goes to places against his will.

He kisses her back with a smile and huffs, as if the idea of Erik walking in on them is actually possible.

. . . knowing their luck, it might be]

He better not.

[ It's not as if the world had been particularly kind to them; it had been cruel, and venomous, and had ripped all the good things in their lives out of their hands and thrown it away. All she knows is that they have to try and make the best of what they've been given and move forward with it, trusting in each other and basking in what they could do and share as a couple, and... Fight for it. They had promised to fight, and she wasn't going to give that up, not for a second. She had learned to fight for herself and for her people, and now she would learn to fight for them, too.

Their feelings might be tangled, and it might be a little obvious that there's something in the backs of their minds that neither of them want to talk about, but she doesn't care. She ignores it and focusses on the good, not wanting to spoil the moment, embracing the fact that she isn't afraid to be open, that she isn't afraid to share herself with this man. It's a step towards being completely okay with being open, and that's something she truly wants to work towards.

She doesn't want to lose Charles, either.

Turning her head, Raven leaves a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth before she makes a small noise of irritation. ]

If he comes in here I'll kick his ass.

[just like their memories, their world has left its scars, too. If given the opportunity and the right amount of ire, Hank could go on and on about it, how their world wasn't fair, how it had ruined their lives so many times, taken other mutants from them for terrible reasons - but he wouldn't. He never does. A part of it is still adjusting to not ignoring the world anymore, because he's no longer hiding in the mansion - it took time, to get used to paying attention to everything outside of what little he did see on the news.

He has to wonder if this is what it's always like, though, when they're together. All the important feelings up front with the little things lingering in back, waiting for their moment to take over. And it isn't necessarily bad; they're getting so much better at addressing the less-than-pleasant things, getting better at talking about it instead of running from it. This is just more of that, almost a test - if they can make it through a planet where everything they feel is put on display . . . they could make it through anything.

He hums quietly and turns his head to nose at her temple, keeping his eyes shut. The longer they're like this the slow burn of emotions gets a little more intense, and it makes it just a little bit more difficult to focus on things that isn't touching and kissing.

He still doesn't care]

Not before I do.

[ There's no escape from the terrors that their world had inflicted on them; Raven might never share Erik's anger or fury over where Hank and Charles had been during the last ten years (she understood that it wasn't in Charles to fight, no matter how much she might push at him) but she is angry at the world. That anger isn't going to go away, and she knows it. It's the type of thing that's haunting and dangerous, and she's learned to live with it rather than trying to do without it somehow.

Breathing out, she moves to hold him closer, her fingers gentle in his hair. She doesn't want to let go and so she doesn't - she can make her own choices and right now her choice is to stay here, with Hank, for as long as she can manage. If that means that she can curl around him and not let go and not worry then that's fine - she doesn't care. Hank is the most important person to her right now and that gives her the chance to ignore everything else. With her mind focussed on him and nothing else... It helps.

Leaning down, she kisses him again, gentle and soft, sweet, really, her fingers drawing him closer before she stops and leans back. She is a little overwhelmed, his love mirroring her own, his heart as heavy as her own is, and she knows that eventually they're going to have to part just so they can relax. Until then, however... ]

He won't know what's hit him.

[it's hard not to be angry at the world, but his isn't a fierce anger like Raven's; it's exasperated and tired, because no matter how angry he gets there isn't anything he can do about that they haven't already been trying to do. Opening the school, getting their lives back in order - it would take a while before they were back into what they considered a routine, if they even remembered what that was. That was their way of handling the world. Without it, he doesn't know how he'd manage it.

But there's no anger now. Not when he's wrapped up in Raven, her feelings and her arms, and she's kissing him and he loses himself in it for a moment. He's never been one for affections like this, and even before when they were tentatively attempting the first steps in their relationship, he'd still shied away from it. And yet even now, weeks and almost months into their relationship here and he doesn't think he'll ever get over that he can just touch her, hold her hand or lean over to kiss her whenever he wants. And that she does the same.

It's amazing and he knows she feels the same, and as she leans back he follows, kissing her a second time, no less gentle than the first]

I'll make sure he knows so he doesn't do it again.

Let's all hold hands and sing Kumbaya

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