X-Men Christmas
CHAPTER 5: RELATIONSHIPS
Amara was walking through the mansion she had been thinking about whether to do this or not but it was time. She had already set up her gift from Tabitha and now all she needed was the one person to make sure she got some use out of it. She was wondering the mansion as she looked for Kai also known as Shadow.
The Japanese ninja usually liked to hang out in certain areas when not training and she knew him well enough to know that he had already did some training earlier. So she decided to check his room and the door was open but he wasn't in there. She frowned and then went to a room by room search.
She finally found him in the living room in front of the TV, he was looking at several DVDs that were from a stack in the room. They usually kept a large library or DVD and even VHS movies in that room so the students had something to watch. Although many did have their own copies it was still nice since then they didn't have to borrow anything, and in some cases forget to put them back.
"Hey there find anything interesting?" She asked him as he looked up and smiled at her.
"I was just wondering if there was anything from Japan here although most is either Godzilla related, or some anime movie." He didn't mind that but his country did make more then just those types of films. Sure he liked Western entertainment, and it was where he had picked up much of his English, but he did like to watch stuff from his home country now and then.
He put the DVDs away not really up for a film at the moment anyway. He was kind of bored actually, he couldn't run the Danger Room since all the adults were either away or busy, Logan and X23 were having a family moment with that other woman. He forgot her name but he knew about her, so he was down two sparring partners. Vincent was with the Wagners at the Sefton house so he was out too.
"Is there anything I can do for you Amara?"
She shrugged, "Not really I was just bored and kind of wanted to do something. Maybe go for a walk or something or at least someone to talk to."
"Ah yes I know what you mean. Strange how you can't get a moment alone in this place and yet when you do you want more people around."
Magma nodded her head it was a strange conundrum. "Well anyway I was thinking of raiding the kitchen, you up for something to snack on?" Kai shrugged he didn't have anything better planned so he went with her. He was a bit more at ease around Amara she was gentle and had helped him a lot when he first showed up.
Amara didn't like silences so she started up a normal one, she liked to ask him about his homeland as she did the same. It was kind of a cultural exchange for the two of them as they both came from countries and cultures that were different from the USA. Both were learning a lot that way they found. "So I take it you don't get much snow in Nova Roma?" He asked her as they were in the kitchen snacking on some cookies shaped like trees.
"Try none the average heat usually would leave you sweating. My first winter here was my worst, it took me so long to get used to the cold. Although I have learned to heat my skin to stay warm thankfully."
He nodded that would help, when he was in his shadow form he didn't feel the cold or much of anything really. "I noticed since you're one of the ones that uses their powers to clear out the driveway."
Amara blushed remembering the first time she tried it. "Well…Actually that took some time. First time was when I was still learning control and I kind of…Melted the ground a bit. They had to wait until spring to repave the road."
Kai tried not to laugh at that, it was kind of funny and he could only imagine what that had been like. Although it did explain why Bobby had told her not barbeque the road again, before he left.
After that the two teens started to walk again as they walked on, Amara was leading the way and little did he know that she had a certain destination in mind. She started to talk about all the different traditions on this holiday and he gave his own opinion on them. Most he actually liked although a few were a bit odd, like whoever came up with eggnog.
He really didn't like that drink, but then he stopped as she had. Amara was looking up from where they were, "You remember those traditions of this holiday?" She asked him and he nodded his head, "Well there is one more."
He looked up and he saw some of that mistletoe hanging overhead. He didn't remember that being there before, although he had seen it and had heard that when you were under it with a partner what you were supposed to do. Little did he know that Amara set that up, she had broken down and had gone and prepared this.
She had been patient with Kai, letting him get over his losses but she was a young teenager and couldn't wait forever. If there was any future for them other then friendship she needed to know, and like she had heard. If there is a spark in the kiss then there is something there.
"So…Are you going to?" Amara blushed a bit and he felt his own cheeks redden a little.
Kai felt his own cheeks start to get a blush on them, true it wasn't like he was tied to anyone. Well only the memory of Sakura, the girl he had cared for and had finally gotten her. Her death the night his village was attacked by The Hand was a pain he wasn't sure would ever leave him.
But over time he had started to get over that pain and he knew that she wouldn't want him to morn her forever, so he looked down at the slightly shorter Amara. She wasn't like other girls, her skin was tanned, her hair was like silk and her large brown eyes were drawing. Yes she was beautiful, and why not she was a princess after all.
"Kai?" She asked him waiting for an answer.
"Oh uh…Well if you don't mind then," He didn't get to finished as she lightly placed her hands on his chest and leaned up capturing his lips. He thought it would be a small one but then she stayed and he felt her hands slowly travel upwards. Through instinct he placed his hands on her slim hips.
Then she wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him down a little into the kiss. He started to kiss her back and he didn't know that she was a god kisser. His hands found the skin of her sides since her shirt ran up a little with her arms in that position. He felt her soft skin and it was warm.
The skin of her face, her lips they were all very warm and he wondered if this was because of her powers. After a bit the two of them were lost in the kiss, Amara was really enjoying it as Kai was soon lost in the pleasure of it. Then after who knew how long the two pulled away. Both were left breathless by it and Kai was wondering what had happened.
Amara was smiling, that was sure one hell of a nice kiss and she guessed that Tabitha had been right. She had felt something in there and from the expression on Kai's face he had felt something too. She shyly brushed some of her long hair out of her face, "That was really nice."
"Y-yes is was," It took him a moment to find his voice he hadn't been kissed like that in a long time. He could feel his heart rate going up and it had been much more then he had thought it would have been.
"Well I got to go, but thanks for the kiss." She smiled at him leaving him wondering about a few things. He had been thinking about his family and friends this day given what this day was supposed to mean. But for the rest of the day his mind was focused on something else.
Mainly he just couldn't get Amara out of his head and especially that kiss. He reached up to his lips touching them and dropped his hand. He was still wondering what had just happened here and why Amara had kissed him like that. She was a good friend in fact she had been there helping him through all of this. Living in the mansion, being on a new team and adjusting to his new life.
She was one of his closest friends and yet…That kiss kept coming back to him. It had been more then just friendship in there. She was very pretty, she was nice and there was that hole in his life. A part of him missed having someone to share his life with.
'What am I thinking? She's my friend and I shouldn't be thinking of her like this, should I?' He wished his father was here then he could ask. He always went to him for advice, maybe he'd meditate on things. Although the smell of her hair and the taste of her lips which kept running into his mind kept his mind from focusing.
-Elsewhere in the Mansion-
Dr. Deborah was walking through the mansion. She had finished unpacking and had spent a few more hours with Sarah as she showed her around and they started to talk. It was nice because for a moment the two of them felt a bit more relaxed with each other and had actually for a small moment felt they had a normal relationship.
For the moment she left her alone as she went to call up her friend Paige to see how things were going. She was glad that her daughter had a close friend, she had noticed this when she had visited her last time on her birthday and seeing her daughter happy for one in her life was so uplifting for her.
The mansion was mainly empty and so she was just wondering the rooms looking around. She found the library and began looking at all the books there were here. Of course she went to the science are and was glad that Xavier seemed to use the same system a public library used. It made things more easy as she scanned the titles. Some were pretty old, while others looked a lot more recent. She pulled out a text book on human genetics that looked recent. She had this book herself although she had quickly found out she knew a few things that the book didn't know.
"Ah well hello there," She turned at the sound of the male voice to see Henry McCoy walking into the room. She had meet him briefly and although his appearance was different she didn't mind it. In fact he was one of the few people that seemed to have treated her with genuine kindness the last time she had been here. Although she couldn't blame how people reacted to her given her past.
"Hello Mr. McCoy, I hope you don't mind me looking through the books."
He smiled and waved it off, "Not at all Dr. Risman, usually only the students use this room for homework anyway. Although Sarah seems to like reading in here, your daughter has a keen mind and takes new information with a passion I wish more children her age took."
"Oh yes you're teaching her here aren't you," She just remembered that he home schooled X23 and Wanda Maximoff. "I have to thank you for that, I don't think she's ready for public schooling and it's nice to know she's getting an education. Tell me how are her studies going?"
He smiled and told her to take a seat, he explained to her how well she was doing. She seemed to love history and seemed to like certain areas such as art, literature, music as well. Mathematics she was good at but seemed to bore of it as well as chemistry. She had some problems with a few subjects but nothing to worry about. All in all she was a very good student.
She listened in on everything about her daughter and getting to see how much Hank loved to teach she was glad that he was the one doing it. He really seemed to know what he was talking about then again she had read up on the files of the X-Men and new he had been a teacher. "You really enjoy teaching don't you?"
He sighed and nodded, "Yes I do, shaping the minds of those that will lead the future is a noble profession."
"Yes that's one of the reasons I'm working with the kids at SHIELD," Deborah nodded. "In a way I'm trying to make up for…Well you know what I'm trying to make up for."
Hank saw the look on her face and the despair she had, he knew she had her reasons and that was the honest in trying to make up for the past. He couldn't help but wonder how she had held up all those years in Hydra and now trying to make a life for herself. "I'm sorry to bother you with this. It's just hard to make up for mistakes in the past, they seemed justified when you do them but when you look back…"
"You see what folly it was and that if you could go back you would want to change it," He finished and she looked at him a bit surprised, mainly because she could tell he was talking about personal experience from his own life.
He saw her look and felt he should explain, he told her about how he had thought he could keep his mutation locked away, like it was a cancer or something. He denied that part of him and now it was like he was cursed to live as he was now, as a ever constant reminder of the consequences of those actions. Deborah listened in and she saw the sadness in his face, the pain of what he had basically done to himself.
She was just getting to know Beast but she saw in him a noble man that was stuck in a monster of his own making. And there was something else, she noticed the loneliness in the voice and in his manner. She knew that all too well herself, she was isolated because of her past and she knew he was because of his looks. "It seems we both know what it means to pay for the past mistakes."
He gave a small smile with a nod, "Indeed it does, although I've been learning to cope and deal with this. After all mutation is supposed to be adaptive so I may as well adapt to my new life. And I feel I have done so."
"I wish I had your confidence Mr. McCoy."
"It just takes time my dear it jus takes time and please you can call me Henry or Hank if you will." He smiled a bit more now it was so nice to talk to someone from outside of the mansion for once that he had forgotten what it was like. "I get enough of the Mr. McCoy from the students."
For the first time in awhile Deborah smiled a bit more, "And you can call be Deborah or even Deb or Debby. If that makes you feel any more at ease too." The two of them talked on for a few hours after that. They started to exchange ideas on science and when they started on genetics you couldn't have stopped them. For the first time it was the longest they had ever felt at ease with another and had talked about something that interested them.
And on that night a new friendship was formed between the two of them.
-Cumberland, Kentucky-
Tabitha was on the Guthrie farm, it had been a crazy few days. But so far she was liking it, living at the mansion made it easier to deal with all of Sam and Paige's siblings. Although Tabitha wondered just how Miss Guthrie managed to keep a decent figure after having ten children, it was obvious that they didn't believe in birth control in this family.
It was also a much different home then the one she grew up in, everyone cared for each other and she could see how close everyone was. They all helped out on the far, and even Tabitha had been pressed ganged into things. Given it was winter there was a bit less to do then normal as she was told but still there were things to do.
Plus it was the first time Tabitha actually got to ride a horse, she fell a few times but with Sam's help she started up slow. She never told anyone but she had always wanted to do that when she was a little girl. They had worked in the hayloft putting throwing some down to the lower level of the barn for the other animals.
It really smelled in there but what do you expect with an area that was a confined space with animals living in it? Although she had at one pointed started up a little make-out session in the hayloft. She had heard the term roll around in the hay now she saw why some people tried it out. Although just when it was getting good of course one of Sam's little brothers just had to walk in on them.
This brother was Lewis and he had been bugging them to no end about it all day. That is until Sam's mother walked by overhearing it. She had told Lewis that he shouldn't make fun of that after all that was how he had been conceived in that hayloft. Lewis not wanting to hear anymore left to his room quickly.
Tabitha and Sam both wondered if they would get in any trouble but she just gave them a smile and a nod and left them alone. It was official Tabitha loved Sam's family especially his parents. They were just really cool people and they totally accepted her, hell they practically made her feel like she was a part of the family already.
She had been rooming with a few of the girls and boy they knew how to have some fun. Currently she was sitting on the porch watching the boys play a bit, it seemed to be just the brothers having some fun in the snow. Normally she would but she was tired and a bit sore from all the farm work. Although it did explain why Sam had a nice body at least, that thought gave her a small grin remembering the first time she saw him in a bathing suit.
Inside there was a small argument, apparently Paige was able to give Jamie a call and now her sisters were either bugging her about her first boyfriend or wanting the phone to call their own. It was amazing that in a house with so many teenagers they only had one phone line.
Tabitha was just relaxing when the door opened up and Sam's mother came out carrying a couple of cups of what looked like hot chocolate. "I figured you could use a bit of this." She handed it to her as she sat down next to her on the bench watching her boys.
"Thanks a lot," She sipped it gently not wanting to get burned. "And thanks for…Well letting me crash here. You guys have been really nice to me and stuff and it's just cool of you to share this with me."
Lucinda Guthrie just smiled at her, "Don't think nothing of it dear. I've seen how you and Sam are around each other, and I've heard how he talks about you. Trust me my son has never been this smitten by a girl before and after meeting you I think you're just right for my boy."
"Oh really?" Tabitha thought she was a bit too much of a wild child or too much of a city girl or something.
"You got spirit girl and trust me to be with a Guthrie man you'll need it," She leaned in a little close to lower her voice, "They're helpless without a nice strong woman to keep them focused and movin'."
Tabitha burst out laughing at that and she was really liking this woman more and more every day. "Well thanks for thinking that, you know as adults go you're pretty cool about this. I mean most would think I'm the kind of girl they would keep their boys away from and especially not staying over in the same house."
"Well we were all young once, trust me you actually remind me a bit of myself at your age."
"Are you serious?" Tabitha exclaimed.
"I grew up through the sixties and seventies, what do you think?" She smirked at her and Tabitha got all kind of images of this. She took a sip before started again, "Anyway I know my boy and I trust him to be a gentleman about things. And as for sleeping in the same house you two do that anyway."
"As long as it's in separate rooms mind you," She warned Tabitha, "I have no intention of being a grandmother so soon."
Tabitha actually froze at that, "Oh hell no trust me there is no way I want a kid now anyway so no worries about that."
Lucinda padded her knee and got up, "Well then that will save me a few grey hairs down the line. Dinner will be ready in a few hours." With that she left the young blonde to herself. Not long after the boys had had enough it seemed. They broke off as they started to make their way to the home.
Sam of course stayed with Tabitha sitting down next to her, "Hey so was that my momma talkin' to ya?"
"Yeah just some girl talk is all," She handed him the last of her drink and he took it. He needed it after all he was still covered in snow in some areas not to mention that he still had snow in certain areas of his clothing.
"Ah'm glad you came Tabitha," He said as she smiled and cuddled up next to him. He slipped an arm around her as they got a bit more comfortable.
"So am I. I really like you're family Sam and well…This has been the best Christmas I can remember."
Sam smiled holding her close as they just sat there watching the sun starting to fade. It was actually a clear sky for once and so they could actually enjoy this. Plus given it was winter they had an excuse to get closer together as well. Tabitha sighed, even though she was a city girl she could see the attraction in country life.
She had never really watched a sun set before and with Sam here it was really nice. It was the perfect way to spend her Christmas and she was hoping that she could come back again next year as well. She just hoped that Amara was having as good a time as she was.
NEXT UP CHAPTER 5: SEASONS GREETINGS