Disclaimer (which was absurdly neglected in the first chapter) - Don't own X-Men, and especially don't own Evolution. Sadly, I never will. Raul is mine, though. So hands off.
I submitted this without my wife, Wesa's, encouragement. Amazing, hey? Thanks for the like, four reviews on the first chapter, as well, they were lots of help. I'm glad you guys like Raul, and I apologize for making him such a complete fag, but I found it's the one thing X-Men lacked. I'm also just an appearance-freak lover. You guys ever played Soul Calibur III? Of course you have! Well, it's amazing. I actually went back and started over on SCII. So that's what's been stopping me from writing this as fast as I can possibly manage. Oops. (Love for Siegfried!)
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Kurt turned and touched his arm questioningly, and Raul nodded without hesitation. Again he was swamped by the nothingness for a split second before he stumbled into the kitchen. The smell of dinner assaulted him viciously, mixed with the sulfuric smell that accompanied Kurt's teleportation. The last two hours had been spent walking around the X-mansion with Kurt, listening to him explain the basic ins and outs, much like Jean had on the ride to the institute. He had gotten to see the Danger room, the X-Jet, and they had even walked around the grounds for nearly half an hour. Being shown around had definitely improved his confidence, as they had run into a lot of the people he had been introduced to. He was positive that he would need to be guided around for a while still, though, so he wouldn't get lost.
Kurt took a seat at the table next to Logan and Raul snagged the seat across from him. The long table slowly began to fill up, mutants coming from all over the mansion to gather for the meal. The volume in the room increased drastically as more people came, and he rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes, listening to the chatter.
Someone sat down beside him and he opened his right eye to glance at the visitor. Rogue sat with her hands folded beneath her chin, her eyes looking rather distant. Examining her for a moment, he decided that she must really like green. She wore enough of it.
A small group entered the room at the far left end and he turned his attention over to their loud talk and laughter. Evan was the center of this group, he noticed, with Kitty on one side of him and Kurt 'porting from his seat to the other side as soon as Evan entered the room. Laughing about something that the subject of which he had missed, the two high-fived dramatically and burst into laughter, while Kitty crossed her arms and sighed, looking rather annoyed. She turned slightly and noticed Raul watching, and then rolled her eyes at him almost venomously.
"Can't you children be quieter?" Logan barked roughly, sending the small group a death glare. They instantly quieted and flooded around the table to their seats, though hushed murmurs still passed between them.
When the food arrived it was welcomed by everyone. He watched as Jean brought the platter that held the chicken over, using her powers to make it float in front of her, while several other people rose from their seats to assist with bringing over the meal. Raul noticed the mutants, including Kurt, watching Logan intently. The instant Logan forked a thick slice of chicken and placed it on his plate the table relaxed into casual conversation, helping themselves to the meal. Raul slowly picked his food and fetched it for his plate, deciding to try a bit of everything.
Several main conversations were taking place at the table, and Raul focused his attention on each of them in turn as he ate. Scott was talking with Ororo about something to do with fight simulations. He decided to ignore that one, since it didn't seem very interesting. Logan was talking quietly to the Professor, who sat at the head of the table. At one point Ororo merged the conversation between them. Across from him Kurt was talking loudly with Evan, who was apparently attempting to gross Kitty out with something. He smiled inwardly as he watched the girl shy away from him, her voice rising in slight distress. Jean, who was seated beside kitty, defended her lightly, giving the boy's trouble for bothering her at the table. Another conversation was being held at the end of the table, between the students of the X-Mansion. For a moment Raul wondered why he wasn't down there with them, and was instead seated up with the X-Men, who were the fight power of the institute. He came to the conclusion that it was because he had been introduced to the X-men first, and shared a room with one, so he therefore felt more comfortable around them.
Putting his fork down, Raul rested his cheek against his knuckles. He examined his nails carefully, taking note of several chips that had managed to appear on their glossy surface. He made plans to re-paint those few nails when he got back to his room, though he fully know that if he started he would end up re-doing all of them anyways.
"…Right Raul?" A rather southern-girl voice said beside him, and he jerked his head up, remembering that Rogue was the one in that particular seat.
"What?" He asked, looking from her to Evan then to Kurt as he realized that they had been trying to include him in their conversation. "… Sorry."
Rogue sighed and flicked her hand as she repeated herself, taking the time to make sure he heard her as well as making him look like a complete and utter idiot. "Evan doesn't think that Kurt can say your name. I was agreeing, because he refuses to even try, which means that he obviously can't."
Raul blinked slowly and shrugged, making a split second decision to go for brownie points with Evan, since he was sharing a room with Kurt and was already close to friends with him. "It's not his fault. I mean, with that mixture of heavy accent and fangs, I'm surprised he can say anything in English at all."
Evan choked on the potato he was chewing and burst out laughing, patting Kurt on the shoulder as the blue boy's cheeks flushed a barely noticeable angry purple and he sunk into himself more. Raul regretted his words instantly, but kept his face straight and honest as he finished the food on his plate. He'd just have to be sure to apologize for it before he went to sleep tonight.
He felt Rogue nudge him lightly and he raised his head to turn to her. "That was pretty mean, you know." She said to him quietly, shifted so that she was facing him slightly. He nodded and averted his eyes guiltily, and ended up looking at Kurt, who was silently shoveling down his food, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to get away from the table. Raul instantly looked back at Rogue and shrugged helplessly.
"I needed the points with Evan." He said honestly, and Rogue shook her head slightly, though a small smile played across her dark lips.
"Well, you got them. I'm pretty sure Evan's somewhere near secretly in love with you, now." She replied, sliding her chair back and waving to him as she went to put her plate in the sink and then left the room without looking back.
Raul watched her go and sighed to himself as he copied her actions, though instead of leaving he went to go back to Kurt. He was met halfway there by the blue boy, who refused to look at him.
"Want a ride to my room?" Kurt asked him quietly.
"Err, Y-yeah, thanks." He replied awkwardly, mentally slapping himself for actually stuttering.
Kurt closed his hand around his wrist and Raul somehow managed to fall when he re-entered from the nothingness into the middle of Kurt's room. Kurt watched him with a raised brow as he rolled over to something closer to a sitting position. Raul's face flushed angrily as he noticed Kurt's expression. Great, so apparently he had made a fool of himself.
"Yeah, thanks." He said as he picked himself up off the floor, brushing invisible dirt off his pants and straightening his shirt. He folded his arms and walked over to the large mirror out of habit, running his fingers through his hair and examining his roots again, scowling at the chestnut brown that was starting to show through the black dye.
Raul was slightly surprised when he turned back and Kurt was still there, lounging on his bed with a book open in front of him. He had thought that the blue mutant would have wanted to get away from him, or at least 'ported away to do something else after he had dropped Raul off. He made his way back to his bag and unzipped it, rummaging through his things for a few moments before he found his nail polish and polish remover.
Sighing lightly, Raul flopped down on his bed and rolled onto his stomach, examining his nails carefully.
"Has anyone ever told you that you sigh an awful lot?" Kurt asked from his bed halfway across the room, turning the page and not looking up.
"No one's actually ever said anything about it, I don't think." Raul replied as he began removing the polish from his nails. "But I notice all the time."
It was silent between the two for a few moments while Raul finished stripping the rest of his long nails of their color.
"Makes you sound depressed." Kurt said after the long pause, suddenly 'porting without warning to hang from the light fixture on the ceiling as he continued reading. Raul skillfully ignored his movement and refused to mess up his nails, demanding perfection.
"Ooh, does it really? Maybe I am." Raul replied with a smile, noticing Kurt look up- or rather down- from his reading for a half-second. He finished the last nail on his right hand and sighed, returning the brush to its bottle while he waited for his hand to dry. "Which girl in this place do you think is the best at painting nails?" He asked casually, trying not to smile.
He heard Kurt laugh and he relaxed before he realized he had been tense, swinging his legs in the air gently. "Well hey; I absolutely suck at painting my left hand!" He added honestly, rolling his eyes.
A soft knock came at the door and Kurt called for them to come in, not shifting his position. Raul watched with interest as Kitty walked part way into the room then stopped, staring with wide eyes at Raul.
"Are you painting you nails?" She asked in disbelief, glancing up at Kurt, who had folded his page and closed the book. Raul blinked at her for a moment and then lifted up his hand, showing his fine work to her.
"Mmhmm. Are you good at painting other people's nails? I need someone to do my left hand because I fail at it miserably." He said cheerfully, offering the bottle of nail polish to her. She looked at him as though he had sprouted several heads and turned on her heels, muttering an 'Oh my god!' as she left and closed the door behind her.
"Guess she's not that good, then." Raul continued with mock sadness, putting down the polish bottle. Kurt burst out laughing and flipped down from the light fixture, throwing his book onto his bed.
"That was so awesome!" He said as he walked over to Raul's bed.
"Now my Mum isn't around to paint my nails for me. Shit, this sucks to the max." Raul frowned at his nail polish bottle as though blaming it for all his problems.
Suddenly the door crashed open again and Rogue burst in, Kitty close behind her, looking flustered. "Are you seriously?!" She said as she went straight for Raul's bed. He blinked innocently up at her as she stared dumbfounded at him.
"Oh come on, Rogue you didn't have to go stomping in on them! I was ju-" Kitty was cut off as Rogue outright ignored her and continued talking.
"You actually lie on your bed and paint your nails?!" She asked, throwing her hands into the air dramatically. Raul grinned up at her and nodded, thrusting his hand up to show her.
"Yeah-huh. See?" He said with a grin, sitting up and crossing his legs. "But, I have a problem with painting my other hand, 'cause I'm left handed."
Rogue looked down at him, a sympathetic look forced onto her face. "Want me to try?" She asked, trying to keep her face straight.
"That would be great! I was just trying to bully Kurt into telling me which girl in this place is the best at it, but he refused to give up such valuable information."
Rogue nodded sincerely. "That's understandable." She said, crossing one arm beneath her breasts and resting her other elbow on it. "That's not something you can freely spread around, you know."
Kurt, who had been standing off to the side in rather shocked silence, now cleared his throat. "The torture he put me through was fierce, but I held my tongue, for I knew the consequences for such actions would be worse than anything he could do to me."
Rogue turned to him and nodded her satisfaction, touching her face as though in thought. "Well done." She told him after a moment.
Kitty watched them with an utterly confused look on her face. "What are you guys talking about?" She asked them, a slight hint of annoyance coating her words. She gave up before she got an answer, though, and ended up leaving with a sigh and a few mumbled words to herself. The instant the door clicked closed behind her the room burst into laughter, Rogue sitting on the bed beside Raul and taking his unpainted hand.
Carefully Rogue attempted to paint his nails, though she admitted that she had never painted someone else's before. Raul reassured her that if it sucked he'd just take it off anyways, so it was fine. It was the thought that counted, right?
At one point Kurt, who had joined them on the bed, had commented on how 'cute' they looked. Rogue had been very close to punching him in the face. Raul had only shaken his head.
"Hey, hey, I was just saying!" Kurt had cried as he leapt off the bed. Not long after that Rogue had announced that she had homework she still had to finish and she left, leaving the two boys alone.
Hopping off his bed, Raul strode over to the mirror for another appearance check. He heard Kurt scoff at him and he turned to stick his tongue out at the teen childishly. He was pleased at the job Rogue had done on his nails, the even shine on them made them look perfect enough to pass off as professional. He needed to get them fixed, though, so he made a mental note to e-mail his mum to get her to put some money in his bank account so he could get another manicure.
"I am such a faggot." He announced to the mirror, brushing his hair from his face only to have it shift back. Turning, he lifted a hand to Kurt and informed the blue mutant that he was going for a shower.
Making his way down the hall to the bathroom, Raul hoped with all his might that it was empty. Poking his head in, he found to his pleasure that it was. Putting down the vanilla shampoo he had brought from home, he closed and locked the door then began turning the taps and adjusting the water.
The shower was generally pleasant, and it didn't take long for Raul to finish up, dry off, and hop into his pajamas, which he had brought to the bathroom with him. He almost smacked straight into Kitty on his way back to Kurt's room, but luckily she saw him and walked through him with a straight face. Tossing his shampoo up and catching it as he reached for the doorknob, he heard something and stopped. Inside the room, he could very clearly hear Kurt quietly repeating the new mutant's name to himself. Raul smiled as he stood there for a moment, listening to Kurt get the pronunciation wrong several times in a row.
"You can call me Ray if you want." He said off-handedly as he opened the door and strode in, ignoring the deep flush that spread across Kurt's face. He watched Kurt nod as he threw back the covers and flopped down onto his bed, fluffing the pillow slightly before burying his face in it. Turning to Kurt, who had flicked up his tail to turn off the light, Raul sat in the dark for several minutes before speaking.
"Hey, Kurt?" He said slowly, waiting for a small grunt in reply before continuing. "I'm sorry about the comment at supper today, I didn't really mean it."
He heard Kurt shift slightly in his bed. "Yeah, I know. It's fine." The blue teen said warmly as he rolled over to face the wall. Raul watched as Kurt's tail wiggled its way out from under the covers and slid off the side of his bed, the very tip barely brushing against the carpet. Smiling, Raul closed his eyes and nuzzled down into the bed deeper, deciding again that he would fit in just fine here, even if it was still only the first day.