Dahlia turned over in bed, her ears turned awkwardly to listen to the sleeping Jinx's breathing. She pulled her pillow to her chest tightly, wishing it were Mortimer. It had been almost a month now since he'd left and though she liked to believe that she were well over it, she wasn't. She took a deep breath; trying to exhale the pain she felt building in her chest.
She'd had so much fun with him before; she couldn't understand what she'd done wrong. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed the pillow over her face. The mechanical hum from the tunnels seemed to be even louder than usual; she wished she could just block it all out.
She rolled over onto her back and yanked her pillow down to her stomach with frustration. Turning her gaze up to the ceiling her eyes trailed a moth fluttering through the cold air. She felt a vein in her eyes jump and a mild ache spread through them. Her sight amplified the moth and it seemed to jump out at her, much closer and full of detail. She flinched back in fear, rubbing her eyes quickly and blinked a few times. Her stomach sank in dread; what was happening to her?
She restlessly turned onto her stomach and buried her face into the familiar scent of her pillow; she pulled back with a grimace. Did her pillow always smell so strongly? She sat up in bed with another sigh, her ears pricked and attention snapped to Jinx as she stirred in her sleep. She clenched her blankets, staring at the girl.
If Mortimer had still been in the tunnels she would have just gone see him. It wasn't long past 10 pm. He was always still up at this time, still sometimes even working on things. Tweaking wires, turning gears, tightening screws, pulling pieces out and rearranging them in ways she didn't understand. She always watched him with curiosity wondering how he had managed to teach himself those things.
She thought of the time he'd crawled up onto the ceiling to fix one of the lights. She had spent half an hour searching for him and had passed through the room multiple times; she probably would have never found him if he didn't decide to speak.
"Lookin' f'someone, kitten?" He had asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice, her gaze turned up to him suddenly with wide eyes full of startlement. He'd smirked down at her wearing the goggles that super-sized his eyes, one hand held a pair of pliers and the other limbs clung to the ceiling.
A smile spread across her lips from the memory; how many times did he watch her pass under him? Probably several times, he liked to do things like that. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly. She missed him, she really did. She tried to think of other things though, like her night at the institute tonight…
Flash Back
John laughed at the sight of spilled hot chocolate in Rogue's lap. The living room's furniture had been pushed back against the walls to make more room for the occasion. Various students reclined on the floor or squeezed together on one of the sofas watching the Christmas movie on TV. Christmas jingles played lowly in the background from the stereo beside the Christmas tree.
Storm resided in the kitchen with Jean trying to cook a decent holiday dinner for the remaining students after Kurt had distractedly forgotten to pull the Turkey out of the oven leaving it overly…erm, crispy.
A smile crawled on Dahlia's lips as the smell of the sweet potatoes and cinnamon hit her nose, her tail flicked to the side delighted. She stood at the island counter watching them check on the casserole. She was in charge of the cookies and had decided on making them from scratch.
Bamf. Dahlia jumped at the sound of Kurt appearing beside her, her tail fluffed out.
"Don't doooo thattttt," She whined and pursed her lips at him with a glower, smoothing her tail down. He peered into the mixing bowl curiously.
"Oooh, vhat is this?" He asked. He started to reach his finger into the bowl but Jean cast him a scolding look.
"Kurt…" She warned.
"Okay, okay, I vill go." He teleported back to the living room in time to see Rogue storm out furiously. Bamf. He vanished; reappearing perched on the back of one of the chairs. "Vhat happened?" He asked, looking to Kitty who rolled her eyes.
"Good job, John." She glowered at him and looked to Kurt, "He knocked Rogue's drink into her lap." She followed after Rogue before Kurt could say anything else.
"Not my fault she put her drink on the arm rest, man."
"Vell…shouldn't you apologize?" Kurt said hesitantly and John just scoffed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He waved his hand over his shoulder as he walked out the room. Logan snorted in the corner taking a long drag of his cigar as the Professor rolled in.
"Logan," He eyed the man disapprovingly with a raised eyebrow. "Do I need to get Jean to braid your hair?"
"I thought that threat only stood in Cerebro," Logan raised an eyebrow back at him and put the cigar out in the palm of his hand. He winced at the pain of scalding skin.
"Yes, well, I've extended the bounds." He smiled humorously.
Storm came walking into the living room followed by Jean.
"Dinner is almost ready," She said and cast a sideways look at Kurt. "With no thanks to Kurt, of course."
Kurt smiled sheepishly from his spot on the back of the sofa. "I am very sorry."
Storm crossed her arms and smiled warmly at him. "It's okay," She said.
In the kitchen John walked in to see Dahlia placing cookies on a cookie sheet.
"Oh nooo," He said, peering into the bowl. "You're cooking." He opened a cabinet that held the Advil and cough syrup. "Remind me where they keep the Pepto again?"
"Ha-ha." Dahlia laughed sarcastically. "So funny I forgot to laugh." She fake-glared at him.
"Ah but, you did laugh." He raised a finger and pointed at her slightly. She rolled her eyes as she slipped the cookies into the stove on the rack under the casserole.
Bamf. Kurt reappeared in the kitchen and stuck his finger into the cookie bowl while Dahlia wasn't looking. He made a disgusted face and a silent choke, teleporting away before Dahlia could see him. Dahlia turned to see John peering unto the bowl with an uneasy frown.
"What did you say you put in these again?"
"Oh you know, the normal." She smiled happily, pulling the pantry open.
"which iiss…?" He asked slowly.
"Some dried cranberries and oranges, oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chips, salt…uhm...vinegar …syrup…butter…garlic, sugar…" She paused to think about it, eyes scanning the kitchen. She gave a small, cheery laugh. "I forget what else." She chimed happily before walking out to join her friends in the living room.
John watched her walk out with raised eyebrows, reminding himself not to try the cookies. He'd definitely try to get everyone else to though.
Dahlia took a seat beside Kurt who perched on the back of the sofa. She smiled brightly up at him and he waved awkwardly back, not having the heart to tell her that her cookies would taste terrible.
Dahlia watched the Santa Claus movie replay on the screen. It felt good to be able to watch TV again, but most of all it felt good to be surrounded by close friends again. She reached over to the coffee table as Rogue, John, and Kitty came back into the room to watch the movie with them. She grabbed a handful of the colorful holiday candies Storm had set out for the students as they sat down.
Rogue sniffed the air along with Logan, they cringed, a disgusted look on their faces: Dahlia's cookies.
"What on earth is that god awful—Hey!" Rogue snapped at Kurt who whacked her with his tail. He put a finger up to his lips and looked to Dahlia. Logan picked up on it and shook his head with a laugh.
"Great." He muttered to himself.
Dahlia turned her eyes to the window and took in the falling snow. Her eyes lit up and a grin spread across her face.
"Guys! Let's have a snow ball fight,"
Rogue wrinkled her nose. "No way, it's too cold out there."
"You know what I think?" John asked, flipping open his lighter.
Rogue looked at him with a sour expression. "No, I don't, and I don't really care either."
"You're afraid to lose to me," He smirked.
"I am not!"
"Prove it,"
She glowered at him for a moment and he smirked back, a slight smile crawled up on her lips and she jumped up to run for the door followed by Pyro, Dahlia and Kitty. Kurt teleported to meet them in the foyer.
"Get your jackets!" Storm called after them and shook her head when they didn't seem to hear her.
"That's quite alright Storm, I'm certain they'll come back for their coats once they're outside." Professor said with a small chuckle. He cast a glance to Logan. "Logan, may I have a word with you in my office, please?"
Logan cocked at eyebrow but followed after Charles without question.
Outside, Rogue hurled a snowball at John. Just before it hit him he flicked open his lighter and melted it. He hurled a snow ball back at her and she dived away into the snow, throwing one at him again.
"Hey! No powers!" Kitty protested. She turned suddenly and went wide eyed at the snow ball coming at her face. It phased through her and hit Dahlia instead. Kitty covered her mouth as Dahlia wiped the snow from her face. "Oh my gosh! Sorry!"
Dahlia got a determined look on her face. "This means war!" She scooped a snow ball up to toss it at Kitty.
"What happened to no powers?" John smirked at Kitty just as Dahlia' snow ball hit her in the stomach.
Just then Kurt appeared in the air and fired a snow ball at Dahlia. She ducked and it hit Rogue between the shoulders. Just as fast as he scooped up a handful of snow he reappeared behind Dahlia and dumping it on her head. Some of the ice fell into her shirt and she shrieked at the cold.
"Ha!" John pointed at Dahlia and Kitty hit him with a snowball while was off guard.
Rogue wiped around to face Kurt and threw a snow ball at his chest. He slipped and fell back into the snow.
"Serves you right, blue boy!"
Jean and Scott watched from the window. Jean chuckled softly and turned to place her hands on Scott's chest. He placed his hands over hers and leaned forward to kiss her softly.
"Don't want to join them?" Scott asked, a sweet smile on his lips.
"You can't tell me you'd rather be out there," She cooed softly, "It's so much warmer in here." She slid her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. He held her tightly, putting his chin on her head.
"You do have a point…" He swayed them side to side slightly to Michael Buble's White Christmas.
After dinner they all sat along the table past full. Storm breathed a sigh of relief; thankful dinner had been a success despite the lack of turkey. Dahlia was in the kitchen retrieving her cookies from the oven. Rogue and Kitty exchanged an uncertain look hearing something fall and clatter onto the floor.
Logan stared down at his empty plate; he looked up and around the group slowly. "Maybe we can all leave and say there was a mission,"
Jean sent him a scolding look, "We can't do that, I'm sure it won't be so bad. Right, professor?"
Charles tried to give them a reassuring smile, he opened his mouth to say something but waited a moment too long as Dahlia pranced into the dining room with her cookies on a plate, a wide smile on her face as she set the plate in the middle of the table.
"Here we are!" She chimed, swinging side to side cheerfully. "Enjoy!"
The phone ringed and John and Rogue jumped up for the phone but he was a second quicker.
"Got it," He made a quit exit and Rogue glared after him.
Kurt looked from the cookies up to Dahlia slowly. She grinned at him and nodded her head. Cautiously, he reached forward to take a cookie. The others watched him intently as if to make sure he wouldn't die. He took a small bite and chewed it slowly; he looked up to Dahlia with a forced smile and gave her a weak thumbs-up.
Dahlia's grin widened and she clapped her hands. "I'll get the milk!" She rushed back to the kitchen.
Kurt coughed, almost choking on the cookie but managed to force it down.
"Gott uns helfen…" He said quietly.
She was becoming better friends with the X-men now, everyone was always so friendly. She laid back down and snuggled up under the covers of her bed, compared to the bed and sheets at the mansion she felt like she were sleeping on old, dirty cardboard. She'd forgotten what it felt like to sleep in an actual bed.
She had been spending more and more time at the mansion and knew she wouldn't be able to hide it forever. Betsy had been asking more questions lately, becoming more suspicious. She'd even attracted the attention of Calisto and that scared her. Calisto wasn't someone she wanted to become suspicious of her, she thought that maybe it would just be better that she moved into the mansion. She would miss Betsy though, she wasn't certain that they would accept her back if she left and that frightened her. She hoped things would become less complicated soon.
Try as she might to focus on her time with the X-men, as her eyes closed for sleep her dreams were swayed back to memories of Mortimer. Though, her dreams perhaps twisted the truth and made the memories happier than they were for the sake of her well-being, she would wake up feeling sadder than before she slept.
New Year's Eve
Toad crouched on a short cement wall just outside of the bridge where other mutants had gathered for New Year's Eve. Here on the lesser side of town mutants walked around more freely than others and this had come to be one of the places they could hang out without being bothered. For the most part people avoided them out of fear, though looking around, Toad wasn't sure if they were all mutants or not. He liked to believe they were though, it made him feel less uneasy.
People gathered around fires that burned in metal trash cans. Some smoked, others sat around with their drugs of choice or drinking. Mainly everyone was just here for a good time where they didn't have anywhere else to go. He figured it beat spending the New Year watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond alone with another pack of beer.
He rubbed his cold hands together and breathed into them, a cloud of fog emanating from his breath. He thought of going join the others beside the fire but his anxiety kept him at bay. Instead his eyes scanned the groups of people gathered there.
Most of them looked just like they belonged under the bridge. Worn clothes, dirty faces and hair, prostitutes, cigarettes and booze all gathered in cliques. He reached his hand up and fiddled with his earring, a habit he'd formed since he'd first gotten it. His eyes trailed to the opposite side of the bridge, a girl in the shadows pushed a man against the wall and kissed him roughly. Overhead a motorcycle rushed by, drowning out the loud argument brewing a few yards from him.
A wave of nausea hit him and the street seemed to fall away. He closed his eyes hard and ran a hand over his face, trying to wipe away the sickness. He didn't notice the blue skinned girl who strolled up to him confidently and placed her arms across his shoulders. He met her eyes with a mixture of daze and confusion. A wave of lust hit him he couldn't explain and he grabbed her hips hungrily forgetting about the other people.
The girl laughed smugly pulling back slightly. At that the world around him seemed to snap back into focus and he shook his head to clear it. He shoved the girl away from him angrily, connecting the dots to the prostitute in front of him.
"Piss off," He spat the words at Jinx harshly, taking in the short skirt and plunging neckline she wore. The scent of cigarettes and cheap perfume overwhelmed his senses and he started coughing. She took a lazy puff of her cigarette and blew the smoke into his face out of spite. The smoke stung his eyes so sharply they started to water; His tongue snatched the cigarette from her hands and spit it to the ground before it could enter his mouth.
"Ooh, what's wrong? Don't want to sleep with me before you leave?" She cooed softly, a wicked smile on her lips. "I guess you only do that withtrash." She laughed slightly, a hateful gleam in her eyes as she turned away to find her next victim.
The words slapped Toad with the reality he'd been avoiding, and he felt the nausea that had left him with Jinx's retreating powers bubble up to the surface again. Intense fury from her referring to Dahlia as trash mingled with the intense guilt that he'd been treating her as such. He placed his elbows on his knees and cupped his hands over his mouth and nose as he Jinx approach another man. She placed a hand on his chest suggestively and led him away from the bridge.
He wondered how she could have known they slept together; he doubted that Dahlia had told her anything. Jinx wasn't somebody you just went and spilled personal things to and he doubted at all that she would have mentioned something to Betsy unless she'd been worried about pregnancy. They hadn't exactly considered protection that night. Shame washed over him and he ran a hand through his hair at the thought of leaving her pregnant. What if?
He jumped down from the small wall and followed after Jinx, set on getting answers, anything. He wanted to know Dahlia was okay at the very least and this may be his only chance to find out without hunting her down himself.
Jinx had led the man into an alley way not too far from the bridge when Toad found her. The man was slumped against the building looking like she'd slipped him a roofie while she filed through his wallet. The man's head lolled back to look at him as Toad approached but Jinx looked up a second too late. Toad had her shoved back against the wall, a hand firmly around her neck.
She sputtered in shock, clutching at his hand. He let her go and watched with satisfaction as she fell to her knees coughing. He took a few steps back; he knew it wouldn't be hard for her to render him stupid if she wanted.
" 'ow'd y'know 'bout me an Dahlia?" He asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the opposite wall. Jinx choked for a second; wiping her mouth she pushed herself up slowly and glared at him furiously.
"It's not hard to figure out," She snapped at him, white eyes glowered at him with hatred. "She fucking cried for a week after you left, asshole." She threw the man's empty wallet at his feet, and began to walk away, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
The overwhelming guilt she left him with made him powerless to stop her from leaving, to ask if Dahlia was alright, but he supposed he had that answer now. 'Cried for a week,' he thought with remorse, studying the stupefied man slumped against the opposite wall. His mind bombarded him with thoughts.
Did she really care that much? Did it really bother her so bad? Did she honestly care? He felt stupid for leaving. He would never be able to make things right. She would hate him. She would never forgive him. She might forgive him. He should leave her alone. He should find her. He should apologize. He should shut up. He should forget about her, but he couldn't.
His stomach churned with the battle of emotions inside him. He almost wished he'd never gone out in the first place. Spending the night alone was starting to feel a lot more appealing than what he felt now.
Sorry this took so long to get out XD it's finals week~
Enjoy ^_^