Post by Aurora on Nov 17, 2006 18:42:33 GMT -5
It was dark by the time Mystique and Aurora arrived at the hotel. They checked in and went to their room, not meeting anyone on their way through the silent halls. When they were inside, Aurora set her key card on top of the TV and looked around the room with her hands on her hips.
"Are we switching covers for tomorrow? Or do we really need one?" she asked curiously as she ambled to the bed and crawled onto it, laying on her stomach. She rested her head sideways on her hands and looked up at Mystique.
Shifting to her blue form, she sat on the bed, rubbing her eyes and stretching a bit after the long drive.
“I will be in a different form but I doubt we need to worry about you. Two women is more unusual than an older man and his daughter.”
Pulling up the covers and getting in, she turned off the light. In the darkness, she sighed.
“I am exhausted.”
Aurora stripped out of her clothes in the dark, down to her tanktop and underwear. She folded her clothes and laid them on the dresser, then made her way as quietly as possible across the room to her bed. As she sat at the edge of her bed, the thought of speaking up and asking Mystique what she'd been hoping to ask her for several days appeared and grew until she found herself speaking.
"Mystique?" she called softly through the dark, unable to tell whether or not Mystique's eyes were open.
Mystique had been half asleep, but lifted her hand over her head on the pillow and stretched a little.
“Yes… I’m awake,” she said sleepily.
“Uh,” Aurora said, looking down at the floor between their beds before lifting her head again. “Do you think, after we get back, you could help me find some information?”
“My family,” she explained. “I must have had one at some point, even if it was only for a couple of years. I…I think I might have had a brother,” she added, remembering the little boy who’d been in her restless dreams.
Mystique woke a bit more, opening her eyes in the dark and shifting to her side to look at Aurora.
“Absolutely. Of course… you’re going to need to be very careful, Aurora. We don’t exactly get to share the full truth with people. But of course I’ll help you. It shouldn’t be all that difficult.”
Aurora was touched by Mystique’s hands-down willingness to help her. It wasn’t an ‘of course’ situation to Aurora – in fact, she was still learning a lot about how people acted. She had the memories from Jeanne-Marie’s mind, so it wasn’t as if she was a foreigner in a strange world, but when it came to things that Jeanne-Marie had had no experience in, Aurora was on her own. So far the Brotherhood had proved to be the exact kind of close-knit group where she knew she had people who cared about her without it being some kind of free love group or religious cult.
“Thank you,” she said, and in her tone it was clear that she truly appreciated Mystique’s agreement to help.
She sat there for a moment, before she turned and pulled back her covers, sliding her legs under them and hitting her pillow a few times to flatten it down a bit. “Good night,” she said softly as she rested her weight on her elbow.
She yawned again, curling her blankets in her arms. It was the first night she’d spent away from John since her return, and in spite of herself, she missed him.
“Goodnight darling…”
But Aurora couldn’t sleep. She stared at the ceiling as the seconds ticked by slowly, and her brain seemed to be in over-drive, thinking about everything and anything that had been occupying her mind in the last few days.
She settled on what seemed to be the most trivial of all, but in a way was not. Because in a way, it represented her entire being in a very simple way. She’d never kissed anyone. Never held another’s hand. Never been in love. And she’d didn’t limit this to being with men; she was open-minded, and there was no use in denying that she’d found women attractive before, even if it wasn’t in a romantic way.
Aurora turned back her covers and stood. She took the two steps to Mystique’s bedside and knelt down. Placing a hand on Mystique’s arm, she didn’t say anything at first.
Mystique never slept deeply. In fact, she could count on one hand the times she’d had a restful sleep in the last year. It was a habit born to those whose profession was deception. So when Aurora touched her, her eyes opened. She said nothing in the darkness, but quietly lifted her hand to the jewel around her neck.
Saying nothing, she waited, prepared to do whatever she had to. Hoping it was only that the girl wished to talk.
Aurora touched Mystique's hair. "Mystique?" she said quietly through the dark. She didn't notice that the other woman had placed her hand on the jewel at her neck, because she didn't have a reason to think that anything would be out of place. She felt bad for waking Mystique up again, but there was something that she needed to get out. She needed more help from Mystique than she'd asked for.
"I...I need something else," she said softly in her smooth, rich tone.
Mystique almost relaxed as Aurora touched her hair, her face impassive, giving nothing away. She’d heard that tone before… but rarely from a woman. Knowing what she was going to ask before the question left her lips, Mystique whispered.
“Anything.”
Aurora hoped that Mystique truly meant 'everything', but she knew that what she was asking for could very well fall completely outside of what Mystique would be expecting. But she pressed on, standing and resting one leg underneath her at the edge of the bed, against the curve of Mystique's legs.
She moved her hand from Mystique's hair and rested it at the woman's hip through the blanket. "I just want to learn..." she said, leaving it to imagination (or, more likely, understanding) what exactly she meant. "And I can't think of anyone better to show me."
Mystique had been here so many times she had lost count. Not that she’s devirginized that many, but it seemed anyone she worked with eventually came to her in the dark wanting something. It always made her feel the same. A little empty inside, a little sad, but ultimately willing to do whatever it was they wanted of her. It wouldn’t have been any different to Mystique if Aurora had asked for a ride to the corner store.
Sitting up, she regarded the young girl with a quiet expression. Reaching up to brush the hair out of Aurora’s face, she sighed softly. Leaning forward, Mystique kissed Aurora’s lips lightly, giving her a chance to change her mind.
Aurora hadn't needed to have seen the couples on TV or read about it in the books she'd picked up during the empty hours on Genosha to know what the initiation of a kiss would be. She realized it without a thought.
There was no way to compare it to her expectations; it was too separate from guesses and imagining. She didn't have the first-time jitters that many experienced with their first kiss, nor did she feel the ecstatic butterflies others felt. She found Mystique attractive, of course; the most beautiful woman she'd probably ever seen - but she knew how complicating such a spur-of-the-moment encounter could be in the long run. She had no way of knowing that it was odd for a friend to ask another friend for such advice; in her mind, it wasn't intimate unless those doing it wanted it to be that way. Mystique was a strong, stable woman whom Aurora looked up to in many ways, and had much more experience than Aurora did in many different categories. And most importantly—
"I ask because I know it won't change anything between us. Our friendship," Aurora said, opening her eyes when their lips had parted. She found Mystique's yellow eyes and held them with her own. It did not come easily to her to trust people, and Mystique was only the second person she'd ever had that she considered a friend.
Mystique smiled faintly.
“If you wish to learn, I understand why. Not many women get the opportunity."
* * * * *
"Are we switching covers for tomorrow? Or do we really need one?" she asked curiously as she ambled to the bed and crawled onto it, laying on her stomach. She rested her head sideways on her hands and looked up at Mystique.
Shifting to her blue form, she sat on the bed, rubbing her eyes and stretching a bit after the long drive.
“I will be in a different form but I doubt we need to worry about you. Two women is more unusual than an older man and his daughter.”
Pulling up the covers and getting in, she turned off the light. In the darkness, she sighed.
“I am exhausted.”
Aurora stripped out of her clothes in the dark, down to her tanktop and underwear. She folded her clothes and laid them on the dresser, then made her way as quietly as possible across the room to her bed. As she sat at the edge of her bed, the thought of speaking up and asking Mystique what she'd been hoping to ask her for several days appeared and grew until she found herself speaking.
"Mystique?" she called softly through the dark, unable to tell whether or not Mystique's eyes were open.
Mystique had been half asleep, but lifted her hand over her head on the pillow and stretched a little.
“Yes… I’m awake,” she said sleepily.
“Uh,” Aurora said, looking down at the floor between their beds before lifting her head again. “Do you think, after we get back, you could help me find some information?”
“My family,” she explained. “I must have had one at some point, even if it was only for a couple of years. I…I think I might have had a brother,” she added, remembering the little boy who’d been in her restless dreams.
Mystique woke a bit more, opening her eyes in the dark and shifting to her side to look at Aurora.
“Absolutely. Of course… you’re going to need to be very careful, Aurora. We don’t exactly get to share the full truth with people. But of course I’ll help you. It shouldn’t be all that difficult.”
Aurora was touched by Mystique’s hands-down willingness to help her. It wasn’t an ‘of course’ situation to Aurora – in fact, she was still learning a lot about how people acted. She had the memories from Jeanne-Marie’s mind, so it wasn’t as if she was a foreigner in a strange world, but when it came to things that Jeanne-Marie had had no experience in, Aurora was on her own. So far the Brotherhood had proved to be the exact kind of close-knit group where she knew she had people who cared about her without it being some kind of free love group or religious cult.
“Thank you,” she said, and in her tone it was clear that she truly appreciated Mystique’s agreement to help.
She sat there for a moment, before she turned and pulled back her covers, sliding her legs under them and hitting her pillow a few times to flatten it down a bit. “Good night,” she said softly as she rested her weight on her elbow.
She yawned again, curling her blankets in her arms. It was the first night she’d spent away from John since her return, and in spite of herself, she missed him.
“Goodnight darling…”
But Aurora couldn’t sleep. She stared at the ceiling as the seconds ticked by slowly, and her brain seemed to be in over-drive, thinking about everything and anything that had been occupying her mind in the last few days.
She settled on what seemed to be the most trivial of all, but in a way was not. Because in a way, it represented her entire being in a very simple way. She’d never kissed anyone. Never held another’s hand. Never been in love. And she’d didn’t limit this to being with men; she was open-minded, and there was no use in denying that she’d found women attractive before, even if it wasn’t in a romantic way.
Aurora turned back her covers and stood. She took the two steps to Mystique’s bedside and knelt down. Placing a hand on Mystique’s arm, she didn’t say anything at first.
Mystique never slept deeply. In fact, she could count on one hand the times she’d had a restful sleep in the last year. It was a habit born to those whose profession was deception. So when Aurora touched her, her eyes opened. She said nothing in the darkness, but quietly lifted her hand to the jewel around her neck.
Saying nothing, she waited, prepared to do whatever she had to. Hoping it was only that the girl wished to talk.
Aurora touched Mystique's hair. "Mystique?" she said quietly through the dark. She didn't notice that the other woman had placed her hand on the jewel at her neck, because she didn't have a reason to think that anything would be out of place. She felt bad for waking Mystique up again, but there was something that she needed to get out. She needed more help from Mystique than she'd asked for.
"I...I need something else," she said softly in her smooth, rich tone.
Mystique almost relaxed as Aurora touched her hair, her face impassive, giving nothing away. She’d heard that tone before… but rarely from a woman. Knowing what she was going to ask before the question left her lips, Mystique whispered.
“Anything.”
Aurora hoped that Mystique truly meant 'everything', but she knew that what she was asking for could very well fall completely outside of what Mystique would be expecting. But she pressed on, standing and resting one leg underneath her at the edge of the bed, against the curve of Mystique's legs.
She moved her hand from Mystique's hair and rested it at the woman's hip through the blanket. "I just want to learn..." she said, leaving it to imagination (or, more likely, understanding) what exactly she meant. "And I can't think of anyone better to show me."
Mystique had been here so many times she had lost count. Not that she’s devirginized that many, but it seemed anyone she worked with eventually came to her in the dark wanting something. It always made her feel the same. A little empty inside, a little sad, but ultimately willing to do whatever it was they wanted of her. It wouldn’t have been any different to Mystique if Aurora had asked for a ride to the corner store.
Sitting up, she regarded the young girl with a quiet expression. Reaching up to brush the hair out of Aurora’s face, she sighed softly. Leaning forward, Mystique kissed Aurora’s lips lightly, giving her a chance to change her mind.
Aurora hadn't needed to have seen the couples on TV or read about it in the books she'd picked up during the empty hours on Genosha to know what the initiation of a kiss would be. She realized it without a thought.
There was no way to compare it to her expectations; it was too separate from guesses and imagining. She didn't have the first-time jitters that many experienced with their first kiss, nor did she feel the ecstatic butterflies others felt. She found Mystique attractive, of course; the most beautiful woman she'd probably ever seen - but she knew how complicating such a spur-of-the-moment encounter could be in the long run. She had no way of knowing that it was odd for a friend to ask another friend for such advice; in her mind, it wasn't intimate unless those doing it wanted it to be that way. Mystique was a strong, stable woman whom Aurora looked up to in many ways, and had much more experience than Aurora did in many different categories. And most importantly—
"I ask because I know it won't change anything between us. Our friendship," Aurora said, opening her eyes when their lips had parted. She found Mystique's yellow eyes and held them with her own. It did not come easily to her to trust people, and Mystique was only the second person she'd ever had that she considered a friend.
Mystique smiled faintly.
“If you wish to learn, I understand why. Not many women get the opportunity."
* * * * *
