New X-Men prompts 1, 5 and 11
Title: Tainted by Association
Fandom: New X-Men
Claim: Kevin/Cessily
Prompt: Work, by Jimmy Eat World
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 531
Summary: Cessily's sick of defending him to everyone.
She doesn't stop for him in the hallway like normal, pushes past and only turns around when he makes a thing of it, tries to slow her down, asking what her problem is. Cessily's glare is wild. He's almost reluctant to touch her for once, because she just looks that mad.
“That was a really shitty thing you did,” she says shortly, before he has the chance to explain himself at least a little bit. “I don't want to talk to you until you've apologized to Laurie. And Josh. Both of them.”
It's too crowded to be having this conversation right here, at the end of class, and she knows it. So fucking public. It's not very Cessily to stage it in front of everyone but maybe she got on the receiving end of some shit for liking him, and she wants people to know she's unimpressed. He can sense their eyes dragging on him and Julian's actually hanging around to watch, laughing as if he's so bad at handling things, even with Cessily, and she's meant to be his friend. Though she's mostly on Julian's side about everything. Kevin feels his cheeks start to get warm. If this is about humiliating him, she's doing a really good job of it. He knew she'd be pissed, but still. That was way over the top.
“You are talking to me,” he hisses. If he has to be super obtuse about this to get her to listen, then whatever. “Right now, you're talking to me. I don't need to beg anyone's forgiveness. Foley lead her on for Wolfsbane, and people found out, that's all.”
“Miss Sinclair is gone because of you.”
“Gone because of Josh.”
Cessily shakes her head, coming off so disgusted with him. She makes him feel really crappy, right then. He's certain she must know, as the knife twists uncomfortably in his gut. She must have some idea of how her opinion sort of matters to him more than anyone else's around here. Except possibly Laurie's, and look where caring about that has gotten him.
“You need to get your act together before we're out of here and everybody remembers you as the morbid loser that couldn't get over his own jealousy. Just swallow it, whatever it takes, tell Josh you're sorry for ruining his life and for god's sake do something to make it up to Laurie, 'cause she is really, really upset.”
“I did it for her in the first place. You're not on any type of highground, you don't even like her that much.”
“I like it when you're not a completely horrible person. I know you did it mostly for yourself. I mean, it was all pretty low, but that was the worst, Kevin. I honestly thought you were better.”
He makes no attempt to deflect that, lets her leave like she's won something off him. The effect is only slightly ruined by the fact she almost walks into Dryad in her frustration. Julian comes over, highly amused, and slaps him on the back to congratulate.
“You sure owned that one, man.”
Kevin flips him off like what, this has nothing to do with you. It's nothing to do with Cessily, either. She just doesn't get it. The thing between him and Josh, and Laurie. She'll never understand. He stays there staring after her much longer than he should, thinking, not gonna happen, Cess. Even for you.
Title: Hellfire
Fandom: New X-Men
Claim: Kevin/Cessily
Prompt: Casey's Song, by City And Colour
Rating: R
Word Count: 430
Summary: She can tell he's been using his gift.
It takes time to recover from the funk she has been in, and she still suffers, particularly from a lingering reluctance to transform, and bad dreams on top of that. Other things are better than they were before, having X-23 (Laura) in addition to her remaining team mates. Kevin's been gone for long enough it's easier to not think about him, and he hasn't called since Laurie. She does wonder where he is though, sometimes, whether he'd care if he heard about what she went through, and tries to tell herself of course he would, but the truth is she just doesn't know any more. Maybe because those thoughts are painful they merge with her memories of being tortured in the laboratory, and come back to haunt her in a way she can't possibly go and talk to Miss Frost about.
She closes her eyes that night and he is there, a black shadow hunched low on a wooden chair that looks almost like a throne. Cessily shivers on the floor beneath, cold even though it's carpeted and there are warm lights further off, the sound of people laughing. It's altogether possible they're laughing at her.
The images are all splintered but his eyes are the focus of them, so dark, malevolent, sated, and she can tell he's been using his gift. Another woman's nails scrape his face as she mutters to him so they roll over to her slow, almost like he's drugged, or something, and then back onto Cess, considering her.
The woman turns his jaw towards her, breaking his concentration, murmuring, “You can have this one all to yourself, I promise I won't get jealous.”
No. He wouldn't. He wouldn't. He doesn't do that, use it on anyone intentionally. But everything about him here says otherwise, the lassitude of his movement, the fact he can hardly focus, pupils blown wide open. He's hard in his pants, she can see it. Oh my god Kevin, you evil shitbag.
Cessily cringes when he reaches for her bare-fingered, despite knowing she's invulnerable to his touch. Anything could happen here for some reason, in the dream. She tries desperately to remember all those times she's been with him, curled around him, and nothing bad has come of it because he physically cannot hurt her. She disintegrates anyway as he strokes her metal flesh, melts like she did under stress at the facility, the phantom pain tearing through her body no less upsetting. It's such a relief when she wakes up alone in the dark that for once, she doesn't keep on screaming.
Title: Lorn
Fandom: New X-Men
Claim: Kevin/Cessily
Prompt: Cult, by Skinny Puppy
Rating: R
Word Count: 586
Summary: Kevin never scared her, until now.
It either doesn't make any sense, or all the sense in the world. She had heard some second-hand story about how Kevin Ford turned out, and not wanted to believe it until she sees it in him standing in front of her on Utopia, his shadow cast taller and starker than all the rest. It's been a while and they're both older but he looks basically the same, still too thin, still essentially undesirable, like he doesn't care about himself at all.
He's not wearing any metal where he used to though, in his eyebrow or his nose or his ears. He must have gotten rid of it like he got rid of her, it was a weakness more than whatever else, some bullshit superficial thing from his past he doesn't need anymore. There is this new and terrifying attribute in its place that she can't quite identify, a shade in his face, a frightening quality about him now that didn't fit before.
He smiles at her almost without recognition, though he obviously knows who she is, is pleased that she's here. Darkly amused, anyhow. All she can think is Kevin how could you do this how could you do it to us, what the fuck has she done to you, I don't remember you like this. You must have been forced or brainwashed or something, please tell me. I'm your friend, I'm Cessily.
The way he rejects her then feels so raw and personal, opening both a new wound and an old grievance (this had better not be all about Laurie). She'd like to imagine he at least stopped to consider what she'd say, before betraying everything they were taught, everything they talked about doing after. Now she sees how badly wrong she was, how naive she's always been when it comes to him.
The others are all ineffective against him, except maybe Sooraya could try in her dust form, or Emma, when she finally decides he needs to be stopped, and so Cessily has to do something because she doesn't want to watch that confrontation happen. It'll be one-sided and short and he'll be torn open by the end of it, gorged on his own power, begging for death.
She wraps herself around him in a perverse cradle, feels him pumping flesh and blood against her, pulse accelerated, jolted out of complacency, struggling. Making it difficult not to tighten her liquid limbs even though she's not intending to, she only wants to contain him, keep him safe from people he seems to think might spit on his skin, just to see it sizzle. Kevin always did have this mile-wide enemy complex that never did him any favours, although it looks like it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy now, the Black Queen having twisted him so much that he even fears her. I stuck with you, she wants to scream, I went with you through everything, fucking ungrateful jerk. Don't make me hurt you.
Instead she pleads with him one last time, asking him to calm down and reconsider, knowing it's not going to work. She's not really sure why she's trying. It's already way too late; all his chances have run out without him even noticing them go. Maybe he just doesn't think he has any other choice left to him. He says her name, gives her one moment of hope before she's blasted away in a haze of rose-coloured light; Cessily. You're pathetic. Josh comes back from Necrosha with black hands. She never sees Kevin again.
Fandom: New X-Men
Claim: Kevin/Cessily
Prompt: Work, by Jimmy Eat World
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 531
Summary: Cessily's sick of defending him to everyone.
She doesn't stop for him in the hallway like normal, pushes past and only turns around when he makes a thing of it, tries to slow her down, asking what her problem is. Cessily's glare is wild. He's almost reluctant to touch her for once, because she just looks that mad.
“That was a really shitty thing you did,” she says shortly, before he has the chance to explain himself at least a little bit. “I don't want to talk to you until you've apologized to Laurie. And Josh. Both of them.”
It's too crowded to be having this conversation right here, at the end of class, and she knows it. So fucking public. It's not very Cessily to stage it in front of everyone but maybe she got on the receiving end of some shit for liking him, and she wants people to know she's unimpressed. He can sense their eyes dragging on him and Julian's actually hanging around to watch, laughing as if he's so bad at handling things, even with Cessily, and she's meant to be his friend. Though she's mostly on Julian's side about everything. Kevin feels his cheeks start to get warm. If this is about humiliating him, she's doing a really good job of it. He knew she'd be pissed, but still. That was way over the top.
“You are talking to me,” he hisses. If he has to be super obtuse about this to get her to listen, then whatever. “Right now, you're talking to me. I don't need to beg anyone's forgiveness. Foley lead her on for Wolfsbane, and people found out, that's all.”
“Miss Sinclair is gone because of you.”
“Gone because of Josh.”
Cessily shakes her head, coming off so disgusted with him. She makes him feel really crappy, right then. He's certain she must know, as the knife twists uncomfortably in his gut. She must have some idea of how her opinion sort of matters to him more than anyone else's around here. Except possibly Laurie's, and look where caring about that has gotten him.
“You need to get your act together before we're out of here and everybody remembers you as the morbid loser that couldn't get over his own jealousy. Just swallow it, whatever it takes, tell Josh you're sorry for ruining his life and for god's sake do something to make it up to Laurie, 'cause she is really, really upset.”
“I did it for her in the first place. You're not on any type of highground, you don't even like her that much.”
“I like it when you're not a completely horrible person. I know you did it mostly for yourself. I mean, it was all pretty low, but that was the worst, Kevin. I honestly thought you were better.”
He makes no attempt to deflect that, lets her leave like she's won something off him. The effect is only slightly ruined by the fact she almost walks into Dryad in her frustration. Julian comes over, highly amused, and slaps him on the back to congratulate.
“You sure owned that one, man.”
Kevin flips him off like what, this has nothing to do with you. It's nothing to do with Cessily, either. She just doesn't get it. The thing between him and Josh, and Laurie. She'll never understand. He stays there staring after her much longer than he should, thinking, not gonna happen, Cess. Even for you.
Title: Hellfire
Fandom: New X-Men
Claim: Kevin/Cessily
Prompt: Casey's Song, by City And Colour
Rating: R
Word Count: 430
Summary: She can tell he's been using his gift.
It takes time to recover from the funk she has been in, and she still suffers, particularly from a lingering reluctance to transform, and bad dreams on top of that. Other things are better than they were before, having X-23 (Laura) in addition to her remaining team mates. Kevin's been gone for long enough it's easier to not think about him, and he hasn't called since Laurie. She does wonder where he is though, sometimes, whether he'd care if he heard about what she went through, and tries to tell herself of course he would, but the truth is she just doesn't know any more. Maybe because those thoughts are painful they merge with her memories of being tortured in the laboratory, and come back to haunt her in a way she can't possibly go and talk to Miss Frost about.
She closes her eyes that night and he is there, a black shadow hunched low on a wooden chair that looks almost like a throne. Cessily shivers on the floor beneath, cold even though it's carpeted and there are warm lights further off, the sound of people laughing. It's altogether possible they're laughing at her.
The images are all splintered but his eyes are the focus of them, so dark, malevolent, sated, and she can tell he's been using his gift. Another woman's nails scrape his face as she mutters to him so they roll over to her slow, almost like he's drugged, or something, and then back onto Cess, considering her.
The woman turns his jaw towards her, breaking his concentration, murmuring, “You can have this one all to yourself, I promise I won't get jealous.”
No. He wouldn't. He wouldn't. He doesn't do that, use it on anyone intentionally. But everything about him here says otherwise, the lassitude of his movement, the fact he can hardly focus, pupils blown wide open. He's hard in his pants, she can see it. Oh my god Kevin, you evil shitbag.
Cessily cringes when he reaches for her bare-fingered, despite knowing she's invulnerable to his touch. Anything could happen here for some reason, in the dream. She tries desperately to remember all those times she's been with him, curled around him, and nothing bad has come of it because he physically cannot hurt her. She disintegrates anyway as he strokes her metal flesh, melts like she did under stress at the facility, the phantom pain tearing through her body no less upsetting. It's such a relief when she wakes up alone in the dark that for once, she doesn't keep on screaming.
Title: Lorn
Fandom: New X-Men
Claim: Kevin/Cessily
Prompt: Cult, by Skinny Puppy
Rating: R
Word Count: 586
Summary: Kevin never scared her, until now.
It either doesn't make any sense, or all the sense in the world. She had heard some second-hand story about how Kevin Ford turned out, and not wanted to believe it until she sees it in him standing in front of her on Utopia, his shadow cast taller and starker than all the rest. It's been a while and they're both older but he looks basically the same, still too thin, still essentially undesirable, like he doesn't care about himself at all.
He's not wearing any metal where he used to though, in his eyebrow or his nose or his ears. He must have gotten rid of it like he got rid of her, it was a weakness more than whatever else, some bullshit superficial thing from his past he doesn't need anymore. There is this new and terrifying attribute in its place that she can't quite identify, a shade in his face, a frightening quality about him now that didn't fit before.
He smiles at her almost without recognition, though he obviously knows who she is, is pleased that she's here. Darkly amused, anyhow. All she can think is Kevin how could you do this how could you do it to us, what the fuck has she done to you, I don't remember you like this. You must have been forced or brainwashed or something, please tell me. I'm your friend, I'm Cessily.
The way he rejects her then feels so raw and personal, opening both a new wound and an old grievance (this had better not be all about Laurie). She'd like to imagine he at least stopped to consider what she'd say, before betraying everything they were taught, everything they talked about doing after. Now she sees how badly wrong she was, how naive she's always been when it comes to him.
The others are all ineffective against him, except maybe Sooraya could try in her dust form, or Emma, when she finally decides he needs to be stopped, and so Cessily has to do something because she doesn't want to watch that confrontation happen. It'll be one-sided and short and he'll be torn open by the end of it, gorged on his own power, begging for death.
She wraps herself around him in a perverse cradle, feels him pumping flesh and blood against her, pulse accelerated, jolted out of complacency, struggling. Making it difficult not to tighten her liquid limbs even though she's not intending to, she only wants to contain him, keep him safe from people he seems to think might spit on his skin, just to see it sizzle. Kevin always did have this mile-wide enemy complex that never did him any favours, although it looks like it's become a self-fulfilling prophecy now, the Black Queen having twisted him so much that he even fears her. I stuck with you, she wants to scream, I went with you through everything, fucking ungrateful jerk. Don't make me hurt you.
Instead she pleads with him one last time, asking him to calm down and reconsider, knowing it's not going to work. She's not really sure why she's trying. It's already way too late; all his chances have run out without him even noticing them go. Maybe he just doesn't think he has any other choice left to him. He says her name, gives her one moment of hope before she's blasted away in a haze of rose-coloured light; Cessily. You're pathetic. Josh comes back from Necrosha with black hands. She never sees Kevin again.