harborshore | mirror in the sky (prompts post)

ryan and z, pretending to be married, vaguely fantasy au. HI :D

♥

Z adjusted the flower in her buttonhole and tried an experimental bow. The mirror snickered at her.

"Shut your face," she muttered, and yelped when the mirror shivered and spat at her. The whole living furniture thing was just so tiresome, and her mirror was more temperamental than most. (Her mother said it was because Z herself couldn't keep her emotions in check; of course, her mother also thought Z should marry someone twice her age. Z didn't pay much attention to what her mother said.)

"Z?" Ryan said and Z turned around to look at him. He was attempting to squirm into a black dress and failing miserably.

"Ryan, hang on," she said, coming to his aid and yanking the dress down. Studying him critically, she adjusted it, poking him in the hip when she was done. "Pretty," she said.

"I thought we were going for scandalous," he said, looking at himself in the mirror. "Red lipstick?"

"Hmm, no, too much." He was right, they were going for scandalous, trying to come off as gauche enough to have gotten secretly married and simultaneously unsuitable enough for anyone else to be tempted even should their parents choose to investigate. But they did need a certain subtlety. "Not red lipstick," she continued, but definitely red shoes. And wear my new necklace."

"The one that winds around your neck and down one arm?" Ryan smirked. "You just like me all tied up."

Z's hands were steady on her own tie. "So what if I do?" she said, shrugging on a blazer.

Ryan's eyes were dark as he put the necklace on. "I don't think I'd mind," he said.

"Let's talk about it after we horrify society?" Z didn't want to, she wanted to kiss him, but the mirror smacked rudely at her, and obnoxious as it was, it did have a point. Z needed to get out of a marriage; Ryan needed to get out of the marriage market. They had to stick to the plan, at least for now.

Later, though.

She offered Ryan her arm, grinning.

irl ambushed me and dragged me away, but damn, this ficlet made me smile SO MUCH when i got it. it's such a tantalizing glimpse of a contained universe, and i love every last piece of it, from scandalous plans to lipstick to crossdressing to friendship to plans to something growing it. i'd read about them forever

♥

HUDDLING FOR WARMTH. Faaaaaaaaaaaavorite. Not just for warmth but for SURVIVAL. In a REMOTE LOCATION. WITH SNOW. Um. XM:FC, plz. Pairing and/or non-pairing pair of characters of your choice! That is, I don't mind if it's platonic cuddling for warmth between BFFs or sworn enemies or whatever, if that's what strike you. It's really the threat of hypothermia and cuddling for survival bit that I like best. It's all good! <-- *gives the most useless prompts*

At this point, Alex is pretty sure he's going to die. Which would be more of a thing, normally, he has pretty good survival instincts, but he's so cold he can't move or talk and even trying to think is like quicksand.

Probably. Alex hasn't actually ever been in quicksand, so he can't say for sure.

Anyway, yes, dying. Losing track of your team while on a mission in the Rockies in the middle of winter will do that to you. Stupid mountains. With a stupid name. Rocky Mountains, honestly. Might as well call a forest Woody. Or whatever.

Fuck, but he's cold. He can't feel his fingers. Or his arms. You'd think having a mutant power that blows shit up would be helpful right now, but explosions need energy, as Professor X likes to tell him when he's reminding Alex to eat, and Alex has no energy to spare right now.

That's when Raven trips on him.

"Alex, fuck," she says, bending down. "Oh, fuck."

"C-cold," he manages, and Raven, Raven who hasn't been entirely comfortable with him ever (or him with her, they just don't mesh well), shifts into something large and furry without even blinking and hugs Alex to her chest.

"Sorry we didn't find you sooner," she says into his ear. "Charles got locked into something with the Ice Queen, and I hope her reaction headache is at least as bad as his is. Luckily Hank has a locator on your suit. The others should be just behind me." Alex thinks they're probably more behind than Raven has noticed; him and the rest are generally not as fast as she is.

"Hank's great," Alex says, slurring a bit. "You're great."

"You too," Raven says, starting to sound amused. "Now warm up, don't die on me."

"Warming up," Alex says. Then, because he figures he should, "Thanks for coming to get me."

"We'll always come get you," Raven says. "That's the point of all this, right? Not being alone."

Alex considers pointing out that some of it seems to be about preventing nuclear warfare. But those would be many words, and anyway he likes what Raven said better. Not being alone.

Edited 2011-07-07 23:05 (UTC)

:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Raven turns into something large and furry FOR THE PURPOSES OF CUDDLING. OF COURSE SHE DOES. I love Alex's off-kilter hypothermia!voice. Oh, Alex, someday you will learn that the point of all of this is CUDDLES. <3333

Yay, thank you!

Of course the purpose of all of this is cuddles. *grins* Always. It's what I'm usually after with fic, but these characters seem to make it even worse. And IL Raven so much, I want to write all about her figuring shit out and knowing when to cuddle and how she starts to use her powers in ways that surprise her and everyone around her. And Alex is just, oh man. He NEEDS cuddles.

It's true! They require cuddles, all of them. Especially the ones who think they are Too Tough For Cuddles.

And IL Raven so much, I want to write all about her figuring shit out and knowing when to cuddle and how she starts to use her powers in ways that surprise her and everyone around her.

ONE MILLION WORDS. That's how much I would read about Raven being awesome and herself (and, er, figuring out that the approval and/or acceptance of men is irrelevant).

I feel as though I will do a bit of writing about Raven. It's just a hunch, but yes.(Er, it's not like I can base said hunch on my ongoing fascination with characters accepting themselves/awesome women figuring their shit out/etc., not at all.) The longer story I'm working on is so far split between her and Erik's POV, because as Erik figures out that he wants to stay, Raven also figures out what she can do and what role she'll play in the school.

\o/ I can't wait to read it.

oh my god, I never realized that I needed Raven and Alex being reluctant bros in my life, but I SO DO. this is wonderful! :D

♥ RELUCTANT BROS. Yes, that's what I was going for. I love them so much.

Alex considers pointing out that some of it seems to be about preventing nuclear warfare.

That made me laugh out loud. :DDD

Alex is a FANTASTIC pov to write from, for whatever reason. The most fun!

Ohhh, what if Erik and Charles suddenly and accidentally swapped bodies? :D?

There's a sharp, tearing sound that cuts right through the storm and Charles turns to look at Erik who followed him outside (they always follow each other, it's very odd) and then he passes out.

When he wakes up, his head is quiet. Not just shielded quiet or no-one-is-around quiet, it's completely void of any external thought. His telepathy is--his telepathy is gone.

And then he sees himself, sprawled in the grass, and finally looks down. He's in Erik's body. He nearly passes out again, but manages to crawl over to himself--is Erik in there, then? This is not like anything Charles has previously experienced, and he's very certain that he doesn't like it.

He touches his own shoulder. "Erik?"

Before he even has time to blink, he's flat on his back on the ground and staring into his own eyes, wild and blue and very, very confused.

"You," he says. "You're Charles." He says it like he's sure, and Charles can probably make an educated guess as to why someone waking up in his body would know the actual identity of someone wearing the wrong face.

Charles nods. "You're Erik, I take it."

"Fuck," Erik says, and the way he says it makes Charles quite sure that yes, this is Erik. (The reflexes are also a good indication.)

"Yes," he says in reply, because they certainly are fucked. "How's your head, dear friend?"

"It's--" Erik swallows. "How do you. How--I can hear everything, Charles."

"I know," he says, and winces. His telepathy was strong when it first awoke, but he can't imagine waking to the kind of abilities he has now.

"It's not fun, I can tell you that," Erik says, and then blinks when Charles projects you're answering my thoughts. "Goddammit, I'm sorry."

"Not to worry," Charles says. "You can't not, at the moment. It took me two years before I could be sure to keep out of the deeper layers of people's heads."

Erik swallows. "But you can, now?"

"Not always," Charles admits. "It's--it's quite strong, at this point, and maintaining shields takes effort."

Erik shakes his head. "How do you live like this?" he says, and it's an earnest question. He's still not moving from where he's lying on top of Charles.

"I, er. Carefully," Charles says. "I will always know too much, there's no way around that." It matters what he does with it, he always tells himself, but the ethics of it aren't easy.

"I know you try," Erik says, and Charles nods, because he's probably going to be having conversations half in and half out of their minds, until they fix this. They have to fix this.

--

They end up sending everyone away without telling them, though Charles pulls Raven aside and fills her in quickly, because he's trying to be better about keeping secrets from her and she'd figure out something was wrong even if he didn't say anything.

"Holy shit," is her reaction, and she hugs him. "You must hate this," she says.

"Is it that obvious?" He shifts. He's unaccustomed to being this much taller than her, it's very disconcerting.

"Only moderately so," she says, her mouth quirking in that way she does when she's poking fun at him a little. "Do you need me to stay to help you figure out what happened?"

"No," Charles says, though they do have to work on that at some point. "I think my first priority must be to help Erik with some shields."

"Oh, damn," she says, because of course she'd see the problem. She's been present for some of his worse moments, after all.

"Quite," he says.

"Okay, we'll get out of your hair. I'll come back later and check on you, okay?" she says, and Charles nods, before turning back to Erik.

Whose eyes are closed, most likely from the strain. "She really doesn't like herself," Erik says to the ceiling.

"I know," Charles says. "But that is fairly clear without reading her mind."

Erik blinks, looking straight at Charles. "You--you always do, though."

"No," Charles says. "I never read her mind, in point of fact. I do catch stray thoughts, it's virtually impossible not to, but she, I promised her. And so I don't." He thinks about the time he slipped when he was ill, and how Raven hadn't been quite able to look him in the face for weeks. He knows Erik will see all of that, too.

"Sorry," Erik says, closing his eyes again. "It does seem rather rude to chastise you for this when I can't help going too far myself."

"It's not your fault," Charles says, and he's glad he's good at sorting through his thoughts, because he, right, better steer clear of that. He blinks, imagining a sheet of opaque glass sliding down around himself, and even if he's in another body, it's still his mind, and he can see the strain around Erik's eyes easing.

"What did you--"

"Shields," Charles says, frowning in concentration. "It appears I can still do that."

Of course, that's when he brings every single wall decoration that involves metal in some way (one old sword, three daggers, the hatstand and five shelves) down. Ooops.

Edited 2011-07-08 14:13 (UTC)

Erik looks rather smug. Bastard.

"You don't have to look so pleased," Charles says, piling the daggers in a corner.

"It's nice to not be the only one who can't control himself," Erik says, and he sounds like he's making a joke, but of course being out of control would be particularly unpleasant for Erik. Of course.

"This must be hard for you," Charles says, because he does try to say what he's thinking when it's reasonably safe to do so, in order to be more fair to people. Also because Raven yells at him when he doesn't. Little sisters are so inconvenient sometimes.

Erik laughs, short and sharp. "You could say that."

They clean up in quiet.

Later, when Charles has made them both tea and knocked over the tea tin (metal, he forgot) and accidentally floated the kettle into the wall, Erik clears his throat.

"You always know too much," he says, returning to their earlier conversation. "So you--you use that. When you need to."

Charles considers the question. "Yes," he says after a while. In our meetings with the CIA, I did. When you and I met for the first time, I did."

"The satellite," Erik says, and Charles nods.

"But you knew about that," he says, which perhaps doesn't seem like a distinction that matters, but it's a crucial one for him.

"I did," Erik says. "I worry about things you do without me noticing," he admits then, and Charles' fingers clench around his teacup.

"I wouldn't," he says, and then stops. "It would be easy, I won't deny that, but I--don't think I would remain myself, if I did, and you wouldn't be you."

"And is that such an important distinction to make?" Erik is pale. "I haven't always liked being myself, you know."

Charles knows Erik doesn't mean it the way it sounds, knows exactly what the tenor of Erik fretting about Charles' powers sounds like, but he can't keep his reaction out of his face (or his thoughts). "It's the most important thing," he says. "You are--I wish you hadn't lived through all the things that have hurt you so badly, dear friend, but I wouldn't change who you are."

Erik makes a helpless noise and reaches out for Charles and Charles can feel his mind reaching out as well. He scrambles out of his seat and backs away.

"I can't," he says. "Dear, dear friend, I can't."

"Why the hell not?" Erik says. "It's not more wrong than our mutations."

"No, no," Charles has read enough minds to know that desire and love cannot be seen as wrong (even though they are anathema to society at large--oh, how frustrating fear is), but he has a very specific concern right now. "Not when I don't know you're not just getting it from me." Filtering is hard, especially at first, which made for a quite confusing puberty.

Erik blinks. "You must not have read my mind very closely, then, back when you could," he says, and his voice is so, so kind. Charles blinks again and Erik is right in front of him, curving a hand around his cheek. "Tell me what I'm thinking," he says, and kisses him.

Edited 2011-07-08 14:38 (UTC)

EEEEE, yay! I love Erik trying to work out how to deal with Charles' powers and getting a better understanding of Charles in the process. Also, kissing! (Now they won't have to get beach-divorced, right? Right?) ♥

(NO BEACH DIVORCE HERE, no.) I almost went for hilarity, because it could really be incredibly funny, but then, well. It's them! Of course they'd end up having long and involved conversations, and it was such a good vehicle for Erik getting a handle on what Charles actually will and won't do--and that bit about the CIA and how Charles uses it demonstrated that he's a bit more ruthless than Erik thought. Which he can also tell, because he's half in Charles' head through this whole thing. :DDDD

Ahhhh, the only thing better than bodyswap is bodyswap with SUPERPOWERS THEY CAN'T CONTROL. Faaaaaaaavorite. And, hee, of course they have a sensible talk about it. ♥YOU♥

Bodyswap is no fun unless it comes with horrible confusion and unsteadiness and emotional revelations and and--oh yeah, superpowers they can't control. That. And hee, of course they do! Erik just needed to develop telepathy so that it would be a FAIR sensible talk.

"It's the most important thing," he says. "You are--I wish you hadn't lived through all the things that have hurt you so badly, dear friend, but I wouldn't change who you are."

FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELINGS.

FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELINGS. They have all of them. ALL OF THEM. ♥

Oh, this is lovely!

Thank you! ♥ Gosh, they're a compelling pair, aren't they?

YOU KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY, RIGHT??

Tim & Kon (or Tim/Kon) and Crossdressing (for justice! it's a total Batfamily subgenre, I shit you not).

Edited 2011-07-07 20:56 (UTC)

"Ow," Kon says, squirming.

"It's not my fault you have enormous eyebrows," Tim says, squinting at the tweezer.

"I just don't understand why you can't be the girl," Kon says, and he knows he's sulking, but seriously. Tweezing. Cruel and unusual punishment, that's what this is. "This is cruel and unusual punishment, you know."

Tim sighs. "My cover is already established, I told you that."

Yes, fine, he did, but Kon could still be a guy.

Tim shifts (and that's the other part that is seriously cruel: Kon is wearing tights, the skirt being hung up to dry in the bathroom, and Tim is sitting on his lap, for fuck's sake) and tilts Kon's head again. "I need back-up, the invitation calls for a plus one so they're expecting a date, and I can hardly take a guy as my date into the Gotham Klan chapter."

Tim shifts again, and Kon is really glad Tim only reads minds when it comes to mission stuff. "Whatever," he says, clearing his throat, because he can see when he's been beaten. "I just wish the tights were more comfortable."

"Be grateful I'm not making you shave," Tim says, smirking, and for the fiftieth time, Kon wonders about the Bats and their scarily thorough approach to undercover shit.

"Yeah, thanks for that," he says, instead of asking questions he's asked before without getting good answers to (not even a picture, which, again, cruel).

"Hmm, I think that's done," Tim says, squinting at Kon's face. "I'll go get your bra."

Kon is pretty sure he isn't going to survive the night.

Steph/Cass, apocalypse fic. :D

Steph picks her way through the rubble, listening for cries or shifts or anything to indicate she should be digging for people. Her ribs hurt from where she fell last night when the storm finally dropped her, but she's mostly okay. Mostly. She doesn't know where Babs is, she doesn't know where Tim is, she doesn't have a way to get in touch with anyone, but she's going to get through tonight. And the day after that.

At least she found her mom, and stashed her safely at the hospital that Leslie's running out of an old factory. Just a broken leg. Lucky, really. The storms have been doing much worse things to most people. Diana claims it must be god-driven, and Steph is beginning to think she must be right. If anyone would recognize that, it'd be the princess.

She tries to be upset that Diana hadn't picked her for that let's-go-kick-someone's-ass patrol, but she's probably doing more good here, and it's not like she has much to contribute if they're fighting gods. And someone has to clean up the cities that are falling down. LA, New York, Chicago, Gotham--Metropolis is probably next, but Lex Luthor's apparently holding the fort there and evacuating people as fast as he can. Even villains are good for something, it seems.

South America's covered, thank fuck, and while no one can get into China, Donna went to Delhi with Kara to see if they could help over there. The magical storm started here, but there's no telling it won't go elsewhere next. Steph isn't used to thinking globally, but with both Tim and Barbara gone and Bruce out of commission, her and Dick are it. And Damian, but he's a little young yet for this kind of decision-making.

She's tired, is the point, and going through the remains of houses and trying not to think is about all she can do. And then there's a touch at her elbow and she turns, half-ready to strike except not, because she knows that hand, she knows that touch, and there was one person she wasn't even letting herself think about because what if, what if, and--

"Cass," she says, and buries her face in her hair.

Cass doesn't say anything, but the way her hand curves around Steph's neck, the way she steps in close and holds on, oh. Steph can't breathe.

"You're here," she says stupidly, pulling away a little.

"Of course," Cass says. "I--of course. The world might end." The where else would I go? is unspoken, but Steph can hear it.

"I'm glad," she says. "So glad. You don't even know."

"I do know," Cass says, smiling a little and running a hand over Steph's face. "Your body is saying it."

"Right," Steph says, grinning. "I forgot you could do that." And then, because she can't actually help herself sometimes, she steps in closer and tilts Cass' chin up. "What is it saying now?"

"Kiss me," Cass says, and Steph does.

*HIGH PITCHED SQUEAKS OF JOY* THIS IS SO GREAT. Diana would OBVIOUSLY be the best person to be in charge of the apocalypse, god related or no. Lex, working to evacuate people! And Steph and Cass, fighting together to the very end! ♥ ♥ ♥

I want Diana in charge of me, if you know what I mean. And everything else as well. ("What turns you on, princess?" "Justice." might be the best two lines of dialogue ever.) I'm so glad you liked it! Steph and Cass will ALWAYS find each other. (Oh, plot of my abandoned-but-not-forgotten ladiesbigbang.)

Brendon and Z, telepathy :D

Brendon notices as soon as he steps into his new classroom. At the far end, there's a girl scribbling in her notebook, head down, and he, he, oh shit. Her head snaps up and she's staring right at him, and--

Who the hell are you? she thinks, right at him, clear and strong and obviously trained. And then, loudly, Get the fuck out of my head! She shoves (metaphorically--well, mentally, anyway), Brendon yelps, and then falls over.

It doesn't get him out of her head, though, because what's going on isn't really standard random-telepath-encounter-confusion. Sorry, he thinks at her blearily from where he's lying on the ground. Sorry.

What's going on? she says, less angry but no less wary, and her question overlaps with Mrs Calhoun's, resulting in Brendon trying to have two conversations at once and almost having the wrong one out loud. Which, by the way, hasn't happened in years. He's just a little thrown by the wide open connection to--Z, that's her name, Z, and she gives him that freely so he can use it--and he can't quite keep anything straight.

Including his feet. It takes him another minute to actually get up.

The rest of class proceeds more or less smoothly, apart from when Brendon keeps accidentally writing down the answers to the problems Z is working on in the middle of his own notebook. After, though.

Z grabs him and drags him off in the opposite direction of the Spanish class room he's supposed to be moving toward, and into what she mentally terms "Arts and crafts and whatever-the-fuck-I-want."

She throws him a quick smile when he catches that. "Abrahamson likes me," she explains, before sitting him down in a chair and fixing him with a glare. "Explain," she says, throwing quite a bit of mental weight behind it.

"I'm not sure," he says, his voice wavering a little. "I'm not sure, but I can't shut you out, and I think maybe, um. Did anyone ever talk to you about meeting your Other Half?"

Z blanches.

--

And there are a couple of weeks after that when things are really shitty, like, almost as shitty as when his parents found out he had a Gift and decided they wanted none of that in their home and Brendon had to find an apartment and a job and get his telepathy certification all at once (since Gifted can't live on their own without being certified). Z doesn't talk to him, doesn't acknowledge him, and it's like a physical wound in Brendon's mind.

But then he's woken up in the middle of the night on a Saturday by someone ringing the doorbell and he knows it's her before he even opens. She's all there, too, open to him, and he can't keep the hope from rising even as he tries to squish it down so she won't get scared.

He opens the door. Her face is streaked with tears and she reaches out for him both mentally and physically and he's never ever going to let her go.

"Hey," he murmurs into her hair.

Hey, she says back, and he can't breathe with how right it feels.

"Like a puzzle," she says, and then she kisses him.

Oh, oh, I'm never letting you go, he thinks again, and she's laughing in his head and out loud and agreeing when they tumble onto his bed.

Edited 2011-07-08 20:59 (UTC)

(deleted comment)

This is an AWESOME prompt.

Also this is set in the same college!AU as my other Bob/Veronica ficlets. After the one where they meet for the first one (when someone is stalking Brendon) but before their first date.

"I, um." Bob is not a fan of truth or dare. It's too giggly. "I've never kissed a guy," he says finally, going with the safe option (though if someone goes with "I've never given a blowjob," his answer will be a little different. He doesn't tend to be ashamed of what he does.).

All the girls drink and a couple of the guys as well (Brendon, for one, but Bob knew about that, and Brian).

Then it's Veronica's turn. Someone next to Bob makes a not-so-quiet comment about "oh, like there's anything she hasn't done." Veronica gives no sign that she's heard, though her nostrils flare a little, and Bob not-so-accidentally elbows the asshole in the side. He can take a little beer on his pants for a good cause.

"I've never," Veronica says, tilting her head, "I've never made out with a professor for a better grade," and oh, he should have known she'd be able to defend herself. Bob's only known Veronica for a week, but the way she handled Brendon's stalker was intimidating. And hot.

Very hot. If he's being honest, Bob has a crush.

Brett, that's the asshole's name, right, turns bright red, and everyone cracks up. He leaves shortly after that, and about six other people go with him. Thankfully.

"Brendon, your turn," Bob says, before anyone asks Veronica how she knew that. She looks at him for a second, smiling a little. Bob would do a lot for that smile, he thinks.

"Mmm, I don't know," Brendon says. "I've never given a blowjob?" He sounds a little nervous when he says it, and probably people would normally give him a hard time about it, but they're all kind of distracted when Bob drinks. Brian keeps kind of looking at Brendon though, so Bob's betting Brendon has a willing practice partner.

"You said you'd never kissed a guy," Spencer says.

"I haven't," Bob says agreeably.

"But you've--and you've gone down on a girl in a movie theater?"

"Don't be narrow-minded, Smith," Bob says, grinning a little. He's done the whole conflicted sexuality thing, and he's feeling much better about it these days.

"One doesn't necessarily exclude the other," Veronica agrees, and she's still smiling at Bob. Fuck, is he ever in trouble.

(deleted comment)

DUDE I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I DID NOT KNOW YOU WOULD LIKE THIS. Mystery.

It's a verse! A ficletty verse :D I may even write the long version one day.

Good luck studying bb, this can be a treat once you're taking another break! Five short ficlets, Bob/Veronica.

the first one I wrote: http://harborshore.livejournal.com/82838.html#cutid2

Their first date: http://harborshore.livejournal.com/66881.html?thread=1233217#t1233217

The one where they go canoeing: http://harborshore.livejournal.com/157530.html?thread=2729818#t2729818

The one where he's a little worried about logan: http://harborshore.livejournal.com/94094.html?thread=1964174#t1964174

The one set much later: http://harborshore.livejournal.com/112904.html?thread=2108424#t2108424

Edited 2011-07-09 08:00 (UTC)

(deleted comment)

Sex. It's supposed to be something he wants, is it not?

And it is, sort of, but he's also keenly aware that when he gets that close to someone, both literally and metaphorically, as it were, he will find out too much about them. Which is both unfair and just, well. He's been close, a couple of times, but the point where their mind just opens, it's not--he doesn't like it. He'd have to be able to return the favor, and it's not like telepathy is something that is all that agreeable to a girl you've pulled at the local pub.

So he doesn't actually sleep with anyone at Oxford, and after a while, Raven starts to help. She perfects the bratty sister act, and Charles is actually quite grateful to have her around when he's playing at chatting someone up because that is what's expected of him. She gets it. (They had a desperately awkward conversation once about it, and she nodded and then said, "Let's never speak of this again. But I get it.")

And then he meets Erik Lehnsherr. Meets, saves from drowning, it's all the same.

It's not that he falls in love. Or lust, even. Not at first.

It's that they start at that point, with Erik knowing what he can do and being uneasy about it, but not hating it. It's that Erik will think at him sometimes, instead of having conversations out loud, because he thinks Charles should be using his abilities.

It's also that Erik's whole mind was open to Charles in the sea that night and Charles wants him. Charles wants him so much and he's terrified of actually broaching the subject with Erik, because he knows better than anyone how horrifyingly easy it is for him to slide over into suggestion.

So Erik kisses him first. Is what happens.

Charles blinks, and then pulls away. "Is that--" Something you want? Something I made you want? Something you think you owe me for saving your life?

"Something I want," Erik says, and Charles wants to throw up.

"Yes," he says, but doesn't move closer.

Erik looks sort of confused. Charles can hear him being confused, in point of fact. "I sort of thought it was something you wanted as well," he says, but doesn't move to touch Charles again.

"It is," Charles says, because he can't actually lie right now.

"So can I kiss you again?" Erik says. Charles makes a decision.

"I need to--" Charles says, leaning in to kiss Erik and reaching out with mental fingers at the same time, Hi, hello, terribly sorry, just let me-- and Erik draws a breath but doesn't move, doesn't tell him no. So Charles checks.

And then he pushes Erik up against the wall and kisses him again, deeper. He wants to laugh, wants to push and push and take and maybe he can, now. Erik's mind unfolds and it's not wrong, not a violation, not unaware.

Your bedroom, Charles, Erik projects, a little overwhelmed and sort of amused.

What about it? Charles says, scraping his teeth over Erik's neck, the way he's wanted to for days. Weeks.

"It has a bed," Erik says out loud, and the images running through his head at that thought are enough to make Charles groan and pull him into another kiss.

We should make use of it, he thinks, and they do.

\o/

brilligspoons has already asked for what I want out of this (*ENDLESS CHINHANDS*), but I'd love anything about Charles having to deal with someone he cares about having amnesia. because *__________* and ;___________;

They tell her that she is Raven. Raven Darkholme, though Charles Xavier is apparently her brother. So they have different last names, but why? She can't remember, and she also can't figure out what she actually looks like. She keeps shifting, is the thing. Which is weird in and of itself, but Charles explained the idea of mutations to her, and so she's trying to figure out hers. The face in the photographs is pretty, but it takes a lot of effort to maintain.

(She's starting to think maybe the one she flickers through when she's changing is actually her true one. But how's she supposed to--why is she blue?)

They let her do what she wants, though Erik (tall, dark, handsome and sad--she keeps getting his eyes wrong, when she tries out his shape) asks her to get someone to explain before trying something new.

"We all care about you," he says gravely, and she can see Charles flinch at that, which is strange. Everything is strange.

The feeling in her head, too, when Charles is around, is very strange. He looks so unhappy, one finger to his temple and staring at her, and she feels like her brain is full of shuffling cards, spreading into waterfalls. She considers asking him to stop, but she wants her memories back. They're hers, just like this body she doesn't understand and this life she doesn't recognize.

"Her thoughts don't feel the same," she overhears him saying to Erik. "Her thoughts don't feel the same, and I just--"

She turns away then, walking down the hallway to Alex's room. She wants to watch some things explode.

--

Charles and Erik show up in her room with a dark-haired woman whose arms are cuffed behind her back. Charles has a finger to his temple, so he must be doing something, but he takes the time to introduce the woman as Blindspot.

"Fix her," Erik says.

Blindspot smirks. "I need my hands."

"I thought you had her, Charles," Erik remarks, and Raven would like an explanation now, please.

"People with mind-related powers are a little more complex than most," Charles bites out. "But she does know what'll happen if she doesn't undo what she did."

"You did this to me," Raven says, then, because she's starting to understand. "You have a mutation, and you did this to me."

"Yes," Blindspot says. She looks a little sorry, suddenly, and Charles' forehead smooths out. Raven is fairly sure that means he made her see what it was like for Raven, because something tells her this woman doesn't ordinarily do empathy.

"Fix it," she says. "You need to touch me, right?" And she reaches out, touching two fingers to Blindspot's cheek.

And then there's a fire in her brain, everything filling up too fast, too fast, and Raven yells and she's falling, no, someone has her. Charles has her. He buries his face in her hair and holds on.

I was so scared he says in her head. I was so terrified.

She holds on right back, ignoring his "oof. " I'm strong, deal with it she thinks back at him.

You are, he says. It's marvelous. Everything about you is marvelous.

And that--she remembers that not being quite like that, before. She pulls away and looks at him, and he touches her cheek. Her--she's blue. Her true shape.

"I was wrong," Charles says out loud, carefully. "I was really wrong. You shouldn't have to hide. You may have to, because the world is an awfully intolerant and stupid place at times, but that doesn't mean it's right. You're beautiful." He touches his forehead to hers. Let me show you what I see he says, and she nods, and there's a flicker of images and feelings that--sister/beautiful/right/she's GONE/their first meeting and the joy he felt/sister of my heart/truefamily/beautiful/love.

--

"I missed you so much," he says later. They're on her couch instead of on the floor, but neither of them want to go anywhere else. Erik apparently removed Blindspot while Raven was passed out, because as Charles told her, "It's not like he must touch her to get her going while she wears cuffs, so it was perfectly safe."

"I was right here though," she says.

"No," he says, and his face is pained. "You really really weren't."

"Bet you didn't miss me fighting with you," she says, a little later, teasing.

"Even that," he says, grinning right back. "What am I without you around to tell me when I'm getting it wrong?"

"I guess I'll have to stick around then," she says idly.

"Please do," he says. "Please do." Always, he thinks, and she ruffles his hair.

"I love you too," she says. "Even though you're the most annoying person in the world sometimes."

"I don't think little sisters can give away that particular epithet," Charles says. "I feel as though they are the natural holders of that title."

"No," she says, squirming around until she has her head on his shoulder. No, big brothers are the worst.

Edited 2011-07-10 10:09 (UTC)

oh my god RAVEN. this is lovely - painful and sweet and so very THEM.

she keeps getting his eyes wrong, when she tries out his shape

;_____________;

If you are getting tired of X-men prompts by now, you can disregard this, but I would love drunk!fic involving any combination of Charles, Erik and Raven.

Bob and Veronica, amnesia?

Doh! All of the comments didn't load on my phone the first time, so I didn't see someone already grabbed that. Um. Bob and Veronica, forced to share a bed -- possibly due to being tied up together on one by bad guys? Or...some other kind of forced bed shareage?

Brendon/Spencer, accidental baby acquisition. :D

mirror in the sky (prompts post)

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PART 1.

PART 2 (HOW DOES THIS END? IDK OH GOD) (ALSO THIS IS SOME SORT OF MID-MOVIE THING)

PART 3. (HA I FOUND A FINISHING POINT. BECAUSE THIS COULD HAVE GOTTEN INCREDIBLY LONG...)

Re: PART 3. (HA I FOUND A FINISHING POINT. BECAUSE THIS COULD HAVE GOTTEN INCREDIBLY LONG...)

Re: PART 3. (HA I FOUND A FINISHING POINT. BECAUSE THIS COULD HAVE GOTTEN INCREDIBLY LONG...)

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Re: PART 3. (HA I FOUND A FINISHING POINT. BECAUSE THIS COULD HAVE GOTTEN INCREDIBLY LONG...)

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Re: PART 3. (HA I FOUND A FINISHING POINT. BECAUSE THIS COULD HAVE GOTTEN INCREDIBLY LONG...)

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HOW ABOUT TELEPATHY WITH SOULBONDS, HUH?

How was I unaware of your feelings about Bob? Why haven't we talked about him?

Re: How was I unaware of your feelings about Bob? Why haven&#39;t we talked about him?

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PART 2

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Re: How was I unaware of your feelings about Bob? Why haven't we talked about him?