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After hours at the school always meant drinking; sometimes in groups, sometimes in singles, but the usual suspects always sat together in the kitchen after everyone else went to bed.
Raven and Logan sat alone- which is one of the most horrifying thoughts to those who know the two- a drink in one hand, never making eye contact, but never sitting in silence…which almost always ended in a fight.
“Yer drinkin a lot lately.” Logan commented, taking a sip of his drink and glancing over in the direction of the blue beauty sitting next to him. Her hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders, and her make-up was always done, though her glassy eyes told a tale of insomnia. He knew of it well from their constant on again off again time together.
“What, afraid you can’t keep up?” Raven replied with a smirk, taking a drink from her bottle as well, though her mind was elsewhere.
“No, Im worried that your body won’t be able to-“
“Logan lets stop with the formalities. If you gave a fuck about my body you wouldn’t have left me with that gun in the desert all those years ago. Stop acting cute, stop being kind, Im not interested in what you’re selling-“
“Why is it that when Im tryin to be nice you gotta go and be a bit-“
/Be nice you two./
They both froze, looked at each other, and rolled their eyes.
“Now you got mom involved.” Raven said, as they both heard Charles scolding them mentally.
“I wasn’t the one bein a bitch.”
“You’re always a bitch, Logan.”
They both smiled in amusement and Logan shook his head before the awkward silence took over once again. You could physically feel the tension, the want to yell or scream just because that’s what they were both used too, that’s how they showed their emotions. They fought. In that, they were very similar- perhaps that’s why they would run back to each other in times of loneliness, because they knew that in the morning it was over. In the morning they were both so damned afraid of attachment that it was never seen as something serious.
“Yer boys prayin again.”
Raven froze, unable to stop the small smile that crossed her lips at the mention of her son, but also unable to stop the ungodly guilt and sadness that overwhelmed her.
She downed her drink and stood to go grab another.
“He does that nightly, some people call it religion.”
“Wha’dyou call it?”
“Hmm?”
“Wha’d you call prayin to ‘the father’ every night?”
“Hmph, I’d call it fallin on dea-“ Raven said, stopping mid-sentence and looking at Logan from behind the fridge door. “Wh…what did you just say?”
“You heard me”
“No…No repeat it just as you said it.”
Logan tilted his head, then suddenly realized what she was talking about, what she was referring to as her eyes filled with both fear and anger. “You’re obsessed.”
“OH, so just because I’m wanting to keep my son safe-“
“He doesn’t give a shit about you or your son-“
“Watch what you say, I will NOT hesitate-“
“Look at ya! Yer still actin like he love you!”
“HE NEVER LOVED ME.” Mystique yelled before stopping and taking a breath and looking away. Surprised Charles didn’t intervene on that one…then again he had learned that you talk shit you get hit…hard. “He never loved me and I know this. But I know him-“
“Ya don’t know a damn thing about him. You know he’s red, he’s a decent fighter, he’s an asshole, and smart enough to make you his bitch and that both impresses you and pisses you off.” Logan replied, leaning forward on his elbows and quirking a brow as he watched her attempt to sort through these emotions on her own. That and he had his feet on the rungs of the stool in preparation for if she lunged at him.
“You keep insulting him and this bottles going through your fuckin skull.”
“What, don’t want me insultin your wet dreams? Cause that’s all he is now.”
“Something tells me that this would be a different conversation if I called Mariko a cunt.”
“You BITCH”
“Ohhhhh well, if the tides haven’t turned you fuckin midget. So you can talk shit Him but I can’t say anything about your girl? She’s been fuckin dead for years! I’d even go as far as to say you were /obsessed/.”
Logan growled at this and leaped over the island counter at Raven, taking her to the ground in one quick motion with his claws to her throat. But just as quick as he landed, her feet were pressed to his chest and she flipped backward, kicking and propelling him to the wall across the room.
She was quickly back on her feet, smirking at him, ready for him to strike again once he stumbled up…he always seemed shocked at her reflexes and he really shouldn’t be by this point.
/CHILDREN/
Oop…Mother was involved again. Charles seemed to keep tabs on Raven mentally more often than not now. Maybe that meant she had finally went nuts in his eyes, at least she was classified as something now. Psychotic had a nice ring to it.
“I’m going to check on Kurt.” Raven said, half tossing/half throwing the new bottle of beer at Logan and hitting him in the shoulder as he was still orienting himself from the hit.
“What, you gonna go pray with him?”
“I was religious…I even went to church once…I was one hell of a homecoming.” She said with a smirk, before climbing the stairs and making her way nervously to her sons room.
She stood outside his door for a while, wringing her hands and seeing if she could listen to what he was praying for and if she could even hear anyone in the room with him. After a few moments, she concluded no one was with him, but the room had an odd energy to it…
Her chest felt tight, her eyes burned, her throat stung…not now.
She knocked on the door, took a deep breath and waited for the door to open.
“Mother! Oh this is a wonderful surprise. Please, come in!” Kurt said happily, motioning for her to come in and shutting the door behind her. He always looked at his mother like she was a wonder to behold, because to him she was. She was a survivor to him, a warrior with the beauty of a goddess…and the tongue of a sailor.
She kept her gaze away from him, but to this he took no offence. He merely waited calmly for her to speak. Sometimes it would take her 30 minutes to be able to make eye contact, sometimes she couldn’t do it at all. Sometimes she came for conversation, sometimes she came for company; curling up in bed with him when her dreams plagued her at night. He’d hold her gently, enjoying their time together though she was miserable…muttered his fathers name more than once in her sleep…Kurt would just wrap his tail around her gently and wait for her tears to stop, wait for her to drift back into a deep sleep. He’d always pray for her safety, her peace of mind, pray for her tears to stop and her pain to be stopped.
“You still pray in german…” Raven said softly, looking around his room at the little things he kept. Knick knacks from trips, pictures of him and Ashley, a two pairs of shoes half slung across the room messily, his swords in the corner…a dual wielder just like him.
“Yes…The words come easier that way.” Kurt explained, watching her with a soft swish of his tail as he approached her and put a hand on her shoulder gently.
As he did this she turned and looked up at him with a soft smile, looking over each feature, everything that made him who he was. He got her eyes, his facial structure, his abilities, his everything…god damn it, he may has well had just cloned himself.
“You’ve been drinking…”
She froze and looked away, moving to look out his window with her back to him, fidgeting slightly, not liking this change of topic.
“What…you gonna tell me it’s a sin?”
“No.” Kurt began, sitting on the foot of his bed and watching her with concerned eyes. “I’m going to tell you I’m worried about you. You don’t hardly eat, you don’t sleep, you’re drinking more than usual and every time you fight you come back wounded-“
“Accidents happen.”
“Not to you. You’re a warrior, mother, you’re the best fighter I’ve ever seen and you’re coming back more and more injured each mission you go on.” Kurt said, getting upset that his mother wouldn’t see the point, wouldn’t admit that she didn’t care anymore. “I pray for your safety but-“
“Do you?” Raven snapped, turning and locking eyes with him finally. “And who do you pray to? Does your god respond?”
There was a small silence before Kurt nodded in confusion.
“Y-yes. He responds.”
If there was ever a moment to represent what 0-60 in 0.3 seconds looked like on a person, this would be it.
Ravens eyes widened and she visibly started shaking.
“That son of a bitch…”
Quickly, she turned and closed the curtains, her nails digging into the fabric, threatening to rip it if she moved even an inch. Her shoulders were tensed, her breathing was uneven, her blood pressure was probably through the roof.
“M-Mother?”
“Call him..”
“I-I’m sorry?”
“CALL YOUR GOD HERE.” She yelled, turning quickly and advancing on her son, her hair flying over her shoulder as her form change quickly to that of a brunette with bright ice blue eyes. Though it only took a few moments for her to realize she did this and she quickly reverted to her natural blue form. “Call. Him. Here.”
“I…god is very busy-“
“Don’t call him that, he’s arrogant enough as it is.” She bitched, freezing as a soft pop was heard behind her and the smell of brimstone wafted through the room. She dared not look behind her, the terrified look on Kurts face announced who had joined their conversation, who had decided to grace them with his presence.
“I like to call it self-confidence.” Azazel said with a smirk, watching Raven carefully, knowing that while he was here this was an active war zone. Though, he didn’t seem too worried about his situation; his tail swung back and forth leisurely and his eyes were locked on Raven, yes, but the look was of amusement, not worry.
“You’ve still got your bite, I see. I wouldn’t have it any other wa-“
“You’ve got a lot of nerve!” Kurt said, standing and moving between his mother and father, something that perhaps he didn’t fully think through.
“Leave us.” Mystique said, her back still to both of them as she shook angrily.
“W-Wha? But mother-“
“Leave us or I will attack you. Your choice.”
Kurt froze and looked at her, his back to his father for once, trying to decide what to do. Though his time was soon up as Raven turned and threw a knife at Kurt, causing him to yelp and BAMF away as she knife flew by Azazels head and stuck into the wall. He didn’t flinch.
“If I didn’t know better I would think that was intended for me…Thankfully he’s got my reflex-“ But his sentence wasn’t even finished before Raven landed a hit square in his jaw, sending him stumbling a step or two back, gripping his jaw in pain and growling at her as his tail thrashed angrily.
“You talked to him!?”
“He’s my son!”
“And what am I?!”
“Ungreatful is a word that comes to mind.” Azazel hissed, walking to her and gripping her jaw so she looked up at him, though he did so gently, he merely wanted her attention on him. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“Maybe I’d rather be dead.” Mystique said, smacking his hand away and turning away, running her fingers through her hair and pacing out of sheer frustration. Though her comment shocked him, her froze entirely, even his tail stopped moving as he took a few moments to think about what she said.
“You don’t mean that.”
“You don’t know what I mean. All you know about me is the fact that I was strong enough to live through giving birth to your child and that’s all you cared about.”
“LIES.” He growled, Grabbing her arm and yanking her around to face him, this time roughly, though he didn’t really care at this point. “You think I stay away because I want to? You think I want to leave you?”
“I think you’re a charmer. I think you’re a god. I think you’re satan. I think you’re incapable of love and yet I think that if you didn’t care that you wouldn’t have saved Kurt back when he was a child.” Raven rambled, unable to make eye contact with him as she tried not to cry. “I think you know that you haunt my dreams, I think you know that you’re like a precious poison to me and I think that you like it! And I also think you should stop touching me!” She snapped finally, pushing him away violently, causing him to teleport behind her and put his hands gently on her shoulders, simply because she told him not to.
“Now that’s something I know you don’t want.” He hissed in her ear with a smile, causing her to jump and whip around, grabbing his upper arm to pull herself up and attempt a kick to his throat; which he dodged, he’d played this game before, but so had she. Waiting for him to dip low, she switch legs and kneed him in the jaw.
Growling, he teleported again and grabbed her arm and teleported with her, landing on the bed with his tail around her ankles, and his right hand holding her wrists above her head.
“Let go of me!”
“Nyet, you’ll try to kill me and I can’t-“ He then froze, as he finally looked at her, finally got a good look at the woman that was now underneath him.
She was crying, her collar bones were more pronounced…she had lost weight, there were several freshly healing marks on her body that he didn’t leave even if he had been a little rough with her just now.
“Raven…”
She looked away and tried to stop crying but she couldn’t, his scent was familiar and comforting and yet she knew she couldn’t have him. He would have to leave and she’d once again be left with nothing but a memory, nothing but the ghost feeling of him in her arms.
Slowly he released her wrists and she brought her hands to her face, trying to cover her sobs but it was useless. Moving softly, he laid beside her and held her to him, unable to fully comprehend someone as strong as her crying, unable to fully comprehend that he had done this. He’d take making her angry over breaking her heart.
She cried on him for a while, clinging to him, digging her nails into his shirt knowing that if she did this then he’d have to take her with him if he left. And he lay holding her, resting his head on hers and talking to her when she’d speak to him, but otherwise he kept his mouth shut. All the training in the world couldn’t have prepared him for having to hold the one he cared for as she cried in heartbreak, a heartbreak that he caused.
Hours later, a soft pop was heard again and Azazel sneered quietly as he hadn’t yet let himself fall asleep, though Raven had cried herself to sleep some time ago.
“Can’t knock, boy?”
“Its my room.” Kurt sassed, watching him carefully and looking over their position to see if his mother was hurt. “She’s asleep?”
“You seem surprised.”
“She hasn’t slept in a while…that and I figured you’d be gone.”
“Your mother is a leech. I can’t.”
He sounded annoyed, but Kurt couldn’t help but smile in amusement. That was one way to keep him there…but if she was asleep then he could easily move her, he was just as much to blame as she was. But that wasn’t Kurts place to say, he valued life.
“Is she sick?”
The question shocked Kurt, he wasn’t even aware his father cared that much about his mother to even ask such a thing.
Moving slowly to the other side of the bed, sitting gently beside his mother so that if anything happened she would wake up and be between them, he nodded softly and brushed her hair from her face- earning a soft growl of warning from Azazel.
“Yes…but its not something we can fix.”
“Why not?”
“Can’t cure a broken heart, father.”
“You’re both a broken record.” The red one growled in annoyance as he stared up at the ceiling, clearly contemplating his life choices right now. Though he didn’t seem angry, he seemed more defeated than anything. “Your mother knows I can’t stay.”
“You want some advice?”
“No.”
“Good, because this isn’t a suggestion, this is a statement.”
Azazel looked over at his son in surprise, not sure how to feel about this sudden change of behavior. Proud that he was finally getting a backbone, or angry that he was being sassed but someone who would last 4 seconds in his world.
“Leave.” Kurt began, earning a shocked and mildly angry look from the other. “Leave and don’t come back. If you’re so convinced that you can’t be here with her, if you’re so convinced that your war would get her killed then don’t ever show your face around her again. Abandon her and get it over with, but don’t keep setting her up just to yank the rug out from under hear. Don’t keep feeding her poison and promising the antidote. She comes to me after she has nightmares of Erik, after she has nightmares of Victor, after she has nightmares of Irene- nightmares of abuse and abandonment and she cries for you in her sleep, the one who started the domino effect from hell-“
“I never wanted to leav-“
“And you never told her you were leaving either! You never told her your position, you never told her anything because she started as a pawn to create more chess pieces and then you fucked up and fell in love but you’re too ‘tough’ to admit it.”
Azazel froze with wide eyes, in this world killing your son was frowned upon, but in his realm it was an every day occurrence…but Kurt was right, Which made things even worse. He greatly disliked being bested or told he was wrong, but instead of getting angry this time he simply sighed and stared up at the ceiling.
“You got that from your mother.”
“…huh?”
“Being right. I hate it.” He hissed lowly, running his free hand through his hair.
“…If you don’t figure this out…if you don’t find some way to either let her go or be able to come back to her, then her death will be on your hands.” Kurt said softly, moving gently to pet his mothers hair once again.
“My death will be on my own hands.”
“HYEEH” Kurt jumped and bamfed across the room hearing his mother speak randomly, not knowing she had woken up at some point during their conversation.
Though his father wasn’t very amused by this display, he now had his hand over his face in disappointment at his sons flightiness.
Sighing, Raven rolled over a bit and her eyes snapped open seeing Azazel. She stared at him for 3 good seconds, and in those seconds the earth stood still. Neither Kurt nor Azazel moved.
3.
2.
1.
“dON’T”
Too late, Mystiques feet had already landed firmly on his ribs and side, kicking/launching Azazel off the side of the bed in sheer anger.
“WHY ARE YOU STILL HE-“
Before she could finish he had bamfed on top of her in the bed, his knees by her hips straddling her, his hands on her shoulders, and his tail swinging mischievously as she froze being so close to him at random. “Hmph~”
“Oh heaven.” Kurt said, his voice cracking as he looked away, covering his eyes and whining loudly. “Please not in my room. Please not in my room. Father if I pray for one thing its to not have any siblings.”
At this Azazel smirked and chuckled, but Mystique looked at Kurt in alarm an then to Azazel in anger.
“I make no promises~” Said Azazel, while Raven clearly had different input:
“DON’T YOU DA-“
pop
The argument was clearly continued a few rooms over as Kurt could hear it all the way to his room, he was just happy that most of the students were away on break and most that were left here were staff.
The next morning his father was gone and Raven was sitting alone in the library with her cup of coffee, her chosen human form for today was black hair with icey eyes, one she usually wore around Erik. Kurt couldn’t help but wonder if his father would be coming back soon, or even coming back ever, but one thing was certain, if he didn’t care in the first place then he never would have showed up at all.