Cunning Like A Wolf: F2F - Rahne/Todd - The Sun'll Come Out... Tomorrow.
pouring-rahne:
Wind barely puttered through the air as the warm, summer sun beat down on every inch of the little out of the way park that was just around the corner from the apartment that Rahne shared with Todd Tolansky full time, and Kurt Wagner some of the time. The latter was not only going to school, but was taking more of a charge back at the Institute, working with the new recruits; when he wasn’t stuck at one place or another, the fuzzy blue elf did more than his best to spend time with not only his young one, but her sibling and the two other parental figure in the equation. Tree branches wavered ever so slightly, the thin things that seemed to have been planted in the last five or so years not really casting much shade at all, but, at least the little whooshing sounds was soothing, and the twins very much found the bark a new experience, and touched on it while babbling to each other in a tongue no one else could understand.
“You’d never think that a year ago, they weren’t more than peanuts in my belly, huh?” Rahne’s hand laced with the well worn and knobby fingers of the mutant being that had been there even when she kicked and screamed. Her head of short cropped rust coloured hair rested on his shoulder as she shifted on the blue, white, and grey checker patterned blanket laid out beneath them, making a little noise of almost contentedness. Things… things are good. Reaching up, she pushed long, grubby brown hair out of the way of the toadlike mutant’s neck, leaning in to give the smallest kiss.
Nine months had passed so quickly - things had progressed so far from what Rahne had known as her own life and into this new disposition in her world that revolved around her two bundles of perfect joy. Annelise and Aidyn had become her moon and sun, her stars and sky, her air and her blood; nothing in the world would ever be as wonderful to her as those two. They’d grown so fast; they were walking, half-way talking (mum, daddy, Lady Moira (which came out more along the lines ‘Lae My-ra’ than anything), up, down, play, NO, play, and hungry were the mains in their vocabulary, these days), they were learning faster than she’d ever seen most children put knowledge away even if sometimes it was hard for them to communicate exactly what they wanted. It was like watching something beautiful that she had spawned turn into something even more perfect and autonomous.
Sure, there were people that stared, or that condemned her for her lifestyle, her choices, or merely the fact that both of her littles were changelings; they looked like they were mutants… but they were few (at least, few that actually voiced it) — and more than them, there were people that cared for them and loved them just as much. Nothing could damper the happiness in her, now.
So many people had touched her heart - and so many people had backhanded it. Saint John had all but just abandoned them after not too long, no matter how Rahne, Todd, and even Kurt had vied for him to stay. It was just not in the cards for them, it seemed; this did not make the blow any less through and through. The nights upon nights spent crying over the ruddy blond Aussie still brought a cold bite to the heart of the Scottish girl, but time did make the sting more tolerable… especially as she watched her wonderful bairns totter along hand in hand, looking in the grass for ladybugs and butterflies.
Nothing in the world felt wrong, and after so many months of just peace, the girl couldn’t help but fall into a sense of calm. Many things had happened, and many bad things had sliced her to the very soul - but for once, things were just good. Todd was… well Todd, Kurt was as soft spoken and loving as ever, Rahne, for once, washappy, and her children had no real ill health and were joyus little rascals! What more could a young mutant mother ask for?
Months. It had been the longest time in Todd Tolansky’s life that hadn’t been something to scream about; some shrill reason in his cynical mind to want to leave this world of the living. For once, he had gotten to sit down and relax, and for once, he had really needed it. Frankly, all the time that they’d spent in Xavier’s home had only stressed him out, and now he had the freedom to come and go as he pleased; to keep his things as much a mess as he desired; to do whatever he wanted, whenever! People could stop and stare at him all they liked—nothing they said anymore could touch him.
It almost seemed like the peak of a roller coaster ride, and something in the pit of the boy’s gut soared, but something else simply couldn’t subside… a churning, gutteral insistence that something had to go wrong. He’d never been this happy for this long—why should the universe spare him his misery, now? How long should it really last?
Surely, he thought it had to be a sign when Saint John up and walked out… but even then, he had shown a most admirable strength of character for those remaining on the scene—he remembered those nights when Rahne had cried… seemed inconsolable; he knew better than to protest, with how he’d learned her ways by now. Sure, they had their own fights… but he felt that nothing could tear them apart.
His gut feelings always seemed to turn out wrong.
In the realm of actuality, he felt those soft little alabaster fingers moving between his very own, and clasped gently in return, using how she lay her head on his shoulder to rest his own—another day in paradise, as they say. “Peanuts? More like grubs in ‘e dirt,” he joked in return, a little toothy smirk befalling those grey-greenish lips of his. “Not ta’ say ya’ dirt a’ nothin’—” he quickly corrected, looking quite playful.
Those deep brown eyes moved between both her and the two children (even Kurt’s had been like one of his own, so he considered them both his) in quick flickers, but their explorative nature often led to their wandering—usually just a pitiful distance, considering how fast a year-old could move—so he knew that they’d probably not be in the same place when he looked up, no matter how long he let his gaze wander. For now? He was loving the way the sun caught those sweet, orange-redden locks of hers, and that little brushing touch of her hand on his forehead as she swept his hair away.
Perhaps it was just that perfect little world he’d entered that made him more suspicious than usual… but somehow, he couldn’t help but to indulge himself.
Nothing good ever happened to him for long.
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