Dante had returned at dinner, just as Charles had said. He was limping as he climbed onto the window, instead of jumping. Erik frowned at that; what had he gotten himself into? Was he attacked? Who would attack him? Multiple questions filled his mind, but were brought to a halt at a familiar sensation of having someone else in his mind. I'm afraid you're projecting your questions quite loudly, my dear. I'll answer some of them, after dinner.
Erik sighed, biting into another piece of dinner. You had better explain, Charles. he warned, glancing over at the Professor. The man only offered him a smile, then continued eating. He rolled his eyes and glanced around everyone else. Sean picked at what was left on his plate absentmindedly, while Hank seemed to be thinking about something.
The table was quiet, for the most part. A few jokes, a bit of casual talking, but that was the extent. It felt far too tense, compared to their other dinners. Their last night, and everyone was quiet. No one was talking about what was going to happen tomorrow.
Erik looked over at the window as he heard a soft mewl. Dante was standing casually now, no sign of any limp. He flicked his tail as the others looked over at him. He leaped down from the table and strolled right over to Charles, jumping into the telepath's lap. "Dante...?" Charles furrowed his eyebrows, watching the grey cat curiously. No one said anything for a moment, just watched Dante.
If cat could, Erik was sure he'd be grinning. He took a huge leap and landed directly beside the pie Moira and Raven had made earlier that day. Charles' eyes widened as he stared at him. "Dante-" He barely got a word in before the damned cat slammed one small paw on the edge of the pie tin, sending the entire thing flying. They all held their breath as it landed with an audible splat. On Erik's lap.
Everything went dead silent for all but three seconds, "Pffft-" He looked down at the pie in his lap, then at the blue eyed man beside him. He was trying to hold back laughter. Sean was the first to fully laugh, letting out a loud snort. Raven and Hank soon followed, throwing their heads back in laughter. Alex let out his own small laugh, shaking his head at the small cat.
He looked back at the cat, and he couldn't help but smiling just a bit. He knew exactly what the cat was trying to do; take their minds off tomorrow. He huffed out a breathy laugh and pushed his chair away from the table. "Well, now I have to change my clothes." He sighed and stood, hurrying out of the room. He could still hear laughter after he had left. It seemed Dante's little joke had payed off, even if it was at the expense of his pants.
Raven left early from the table, mumbling something about going to her room. She seemed tired, at least to Erik. Sean and Alex decided to grab Dante and watch some TV, while Hank simply followed after them. That left Erik and Charles with clean up as they brought the dishes over to the sink. Charles hummed lightly as he turned the sink on, waiting for the water to heat up.
Erik watched him curiously for a moment before scraping leftovers into the trash. "Dante was limping." He said casually.
Charles nodded, "His healing mutation is very remarkable; he wans't limping for very long, if you noticed. It's a secondary mutation, from what I've gathered. Practically immortality." He shrugged it off easily, continuing to wash the dishes. "His sister has it, too. Quite the formidable duo, when she asks for his help. I believe she was against a crime syndicate this time... I don't really pay attention to mercenary work." His voice had just a small hint of amusement as he stared down at the dishes.
Erik paused, staring at his friend in surprise. "Mercenary work." He repeated.
Charles simply nodded, "Dante doesn't talk about it, but Raven and I found out when we met his sister. I don't really approve of it, but..." He shrugged, "I can't really tell them what to do."
He fought down the urge to snort at that. He was a very strong telepath; surely he could tell anyone what to do, even if they didn't want to. But, he said nothing. knowing Charles, he'd promised to stay out of their minds. Like he had done with Raven and himself. They finished the rest of the dishes in a comfortable silence, Charles washing them while Erik dried and put them away.
"Erik?" He looked back over at Charles, "How about we finish that game of chess?" He asked softly.
Erik blinked, staring at him for a moment before smiling lightly. He looked back down at the last dish in his hand. "... That sounds like a good idea." He mused.
There was a light knock on the door, followed by it slowly opening just a peek to reveal two grey hands. "Raven?" His voice was just barely above a whisper.
the woman looked up from her book, giving the older man a soft smile. "This is rare. Do you need something?" She asked, sitting up on her bed.
He let out a small whimpering noise, slipping into the room swiftly. "..." He crept towards the bed, climbing onto it quietly. "... Y' leave 'morrow." He mumbled, his voice child-like.
Raven sighed, setting her book down on the drawer. "Dante..." She reached out her hands, gesturing for the shape shifter to come closer. He moved over until Raven's arms were firmly around his chest, his head pressed against her shoulder. "We'll come back when it's over. I promise."
She felt the man's head shake against her. She blinked, "What?" Her voice stayed quiet as she brushed a hair away to look at his face. His eyes were closed.
He said nothing as he clung quietly to Raven. She sighed and moved one of her hands to gently run it through his dark hair. She hummed a soft tune, feeling Dante slowly relax against her. She had a feeling he'd get worried about them leaving to stop an entire war. She took a deep breath and leaned back against the bed frame, tilting her head back to look up at the ceiling.
She hadn't realized Dante was asleep at first; his hands had loosened around her shirt as he drifted off against her. She slowly shifted out of his grip, moving to sit beside him now. She stared at him for a moment before shifting to grab her book once again, letting one of her hands continue to run through the shape shifter's hair.
A while had passed when there was another knock on the door. She called quietly for them to come in, and to her surprise, Hank slowly walked in with something in his hands. He had a small smile on his face.
Dante didn't say goodbye in the morning. He was nowhere to be seen when they inevitably had to leave. Alex had almost seemed upset about it, but he had quickly covered it up.
Erik hadn't really thought anything of it until Charles pointed it out. But, even then it was merely a passing thought.
His mind was elsewhere. Today, he'd get his revenge.
Today he'd kill his creator.
A/N: Okay so this is like a thousand words shorter than what I usually do. I try to at least write 2,000 words per chapter, but I didn't know what else to fit into this part. I'm gonna kinda skip over Cuba a bit, since I'm trying to focus on things that have Dante in them, since he is kinda the main character. So, the next chapter will pick up after Cuba.
Which won't come out on Wednesday. D: Fallen and I will both be gone that week, so it'll be uploaded on Saturday instead. Sorry. I may try to post a tiny little filler on Monday, before I leave.
Also; Dante's sister, Anna. She's has the same healing ability as her twin brother, but she can't shape shift. And she doesn't have as grey of skin. BUT! SHE DOES HAVE PROBABLY ONE OF MY 2 FAVOURITE ABILITIES. She can manipulate bones.
Also also; Thus far, there have been 3 primary songs that have been in my mind whilst I write chapters.
The first one is To Build a Home by the Cinematic Orchestra.
The second one is Colors by Halsey.
And then Aishiteru Banzai from Love Live. Specifically Lizz Robinett's cover.
I dunno, I just have them in my head while writing with Dante. He's such a lovely character to work with; so neutral and loving and yet so child like.
P.S. Fallen wants me to ship Alex and Dante together, so blame her for anything that even remotely looks like a ship.