Tropes fic meme: Below are some fandom cliches - pick one and give me a pairing (and some details if you want) and we'll see what I can come up with
( Read more... )
The apocalypse is messy and Charles needs a new pair of shoes. He’s got bile and spit and blood all over the ones he has now and there’s a hole in the sole. Raven’s making noises at him about being a hipster and wearing Chucks with his suit but he doesn’t care. They’re raiding a store by sundown and he’s got three new pairs and a couple for Raven, if she ever decides she’s going to wear shoes.
His sister is odd in so many ways, and the fact that she’s blue isn’t nearly the oddest of them. She hasn’t bothered to maintain the facade since the dead started walking; It seemed less important, one less thing to worry about and honestly, Charles doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with her. She’s amazingly strong and fast and fights like a demon and she’s kept him alive more than once over the last few months.
In fact, she’s the reason he’s wading through kneedeep water with her on his back because she’s actually kind of terrified of drowning. He doesn’t know what happened in her life to make her this afraid but he accommodates her, when he can. Doesn’t fish around in her head to find out why she’s scared. He promised her he wouldn’t and Charles Xavier keeps his promises.
There’s a house just over the other side of the flooding that has a light on. That’s both good and bad, he thinks. There’s a chance there’s help there, there’s a chance someone’d get shot. His sister is blue
“Stop right there.”
Crap. Raven’s arms tighten around his neck and he chokes, just for a second. Reaching out with his mind is harder when his baby sister is trying to choke him to death so he calls out instead, voice hoarse and hands up. A torch rakes over them both and Raven can’t shift in time so she doesn’t bother.
“Uh, we come in peace?”
“Either of you bit?” He’s not British and not American. Sounds a little German, to be quite honest. There’s another voice that joins his and -that- is an American accent.
“Just shoot them! Can’t risk it.”
“Shut up, Alex.”
“Look, this water is cold, can we just come up there?”
“Fuck them.” Raven whispers in his ear, arms tight around his neck. He wants to reassure her and he knows they can’t go on their own, not tonight. They haven’t eaten in a day and a half and there’s electricity here still.
A long, drawn out groan behind them and they stiffen.
Alex doesn’t like them. Alex doesn’t like anyone, from what she can see, and he’s kind of occupied watching her every move, like she’s about to go feral and bite his head off. She’s been making abrupt movements for the last half hour just to mess with him and Charles is torn between passing out with exhaustion and keeping an eye on her. He’s microsleeping, his head dropping a little until he snaps himself awake and this guy, Erik he’s just-
Watching it. Charles is so tired he doesn’t notice and now the adrenaline is gone the last three days are catching up with him and there’s still water in his shoes.
“Look, can we just sleep here for the night? We’ll be on our way in the morning, we just need somewhere to stay for a few hours.” Raven’s not used to pleading. She’s not used to not wearing someone else’s skin, either.
“For a few hours?” Alex raises an eyebrow, the tip of his shotgun waving at Charles for a moment. He’s sitting up straight but he can’t concentrate and she feels guilty for making him carry her across the flooding. She needs to learn to get over it or something but there’s an entire beach with her name on it and the smell of salt water makes her stiff and scared.
“Raven needs to sleep, and so do I.” Charles is painfully reasonable and this Erik guy’s just been sitting there, watching them the entire time. Alex opens his mouth but the big, scary man beats him to it, addressing Charles straight off.
“There’s a big bed in the back. Get your wet clothes off and hang them over the fence.”
“Right. Thank you.”
Alex scowls at them and Raven sticks out her tongue. Nobody ever said she was mature.
Charles wakes warm. It’s the first time in a while he hasn’t slept with one eye open and he doesn’t know why he feels so safe in a bed that’s not his own. He’s never been one to forget where he is when he wakes so he’s completely aware and present the second he opens his eyes and sees his sister curled on her side, huddled in his spare jacket from his pack. She looks so small and he can remember her at six, standing in his kitchen; she’d been so tiny and so alone it hurt to look at her. He has to wonder what her life would have become if he hadn’t invited her into the house. What his life would’ve been without her there.
He leaves her asleep and gets his pants off the railing instead. They’re still damp and the air is chilly now he’s out of the bed but he doesn’t much care. He walks out of the room and into the hallway, floorboards creaking under his bare feet. He’d left his shoes in the bag, not anticipating having to run away.
He makes it a rule not to rummage in people’s heads unless he asks them first. He doesn’t fish around in Raven’s, and he’d only skimmed surface things from Erik and Alex; enough for names and to know that they wouldn’t shoot him unless he forced them to. Alex talked a good game but the only things he’d ever killed had been the undead which were technically dead anyway, and Erik-
He was a planner. He hadn’t measured them up yet, and Charles thought (hoped) that the man wasn’t going to try to kill his sister. It would be a real shame to turn the man into a drooling vegetable.
Speak of the devil. The smell of toast fills the air and Charles is a little embarrassed at the fact that his stomach rumbles.
“Good morning.” Erik’s moving bread (oh god fresh bread) to the plates and offers him one as he walks in. There’s an entire loaf sitting on the bench and he had to have made it himself and the fact that he’s sharing it is-
“Good morning.” He sits down at the table, belatedly realising his shirt is untucked and he looks like he rolled off the bad end of a hangover. Normally, he wouldn’t worry but he’s a guest in what passes for this man’s home and he’s looking at him like he’s grown a second head.
He must’ve been lost in his own mind again. Touching the minds of the undead was pure hell but he’d done it, once or twice. To save Raven. It made it harder to reach out every time, trapped him in his own head and it felt broken, like he’d done something wrong to himself.
Maybe all he needed was time.
“Thank you, I know this is an imposition,” He starts, but Erik cuts him off with a wave of a hand. There’s a rattle and Raven sticks her head in, beaming at both the bread and at him, obviously a little more relaxed now that she’d rested.
“Have something to eat and then we can talk about what you’re doing here.”
Ah. That. The one thing Charles has always been able to do is sniff out others of their own kind. It seemed to be the one thing he was useful for, even if he had the scars to prove it. Getting shot that first month wasn’t high on his list of things to do again.
“Uh, we were walking and we found you?” Raven’s young. She’s grown up fast over the last few months but she doesn’t quite get it sometimes. Doesn’t quite understand.
Erik makes a noise that’s halfway between a laugh and a snort. “Yes, of course.”
His sister is odd in so many ways, and the fact that she’s blue isn’t nearly the oddest of them. She hasn’t bothered to maintain the facade since the dead started walking; It seemed less important, one less thing to worry about and honestly, Charles doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with her. She’s amazingly strong and fast and fights like a demon and she’s kept him alive more than once over the last few months.
In fact, she’s the reason he’s wading through kneedeep water with her on his back because she’s actually kind of terrified of drowning. He doesn’t know what happened in her life to make her this afraid but he accommodates her, when he can. Doesn’t fish around in her head to find out why she’s scared. He promised her he wouldn’t and Charles Xavier keeps his promises.
There’s a house just over the other side of the flooding that has a light on. That’s both good and bad, he thinks. There’s a chance there’s help there, there’s a chance someone’d get shot. His sister is blue
“Stop right there.”
Crap. Raven’s arms tighten around his neck and he chokes, just for a second. Reaching out with his mind is harder when his baby sister is trying to choke him to death so he calls out instead, voice hoarse and hands up. A torch rakes over them both and Raven can’t shift in time so she doesn’t bother.
“Uh, we come in peace?”
“Either of you bit?” He’s not British and not American. Sounds a little German, to be quite honest. There’s another voice that joins his and -that- is an American accent.
“Just shoot them! Can’t risk it.”
“Shut up, Alex.”
“Look, this water is cold, can we just come up there?”
“Fuck them.” Raven whispers in his ear, arms tight around his neck. He wants to reassure her and he knows they can’t go on their own, not tonight. They haven’t eaten in a day and a half and there’s electricity here still.
A long, drawn out groan behind them and they stiffen.
The light wavers.
“Come up.”
Reply
Watching it. Charles is so tired he doesn’t notice and now the adrenaline is gone the last three days are catching up with him and there’s still water in his shoes.
“Look, can we just sleep here for the night? We’ll be on our way in the morning, we just need somewhere to stay for a few hours.” Raven’s not used to pleading. She’s not used to not wearing someone else’s skin, either.
“For a few hours?” Alex raises an eyebrow, the tip of his shotgun waving at Charles for a moment. He’s sitting up straight but he can’t concentrate and she feels guilty for making him carry her across the flooding. She needs to learn to get over it or something but there’s an entire beach with her name on it and the smell of salt water makes her stiff and scared.
“Raven needs to sleep, and so do I.” Charles is painfully reasonable and this Erik guy’s just been sitting there, watching them the entire time. Alex opens his mouth but the big, scary man beats him to it, addressing Charles straight off.
“There’s a big bed in the back. Get your wet clothes off and hang them over the fence.”
“Right. Thank you.”
Alex scowls at them and Raven sticks out her tongue. Nobody ever said she was mature.
Reply
He leaves her asleep and gets his pants off the railing instead. They’re still damp and the air is chilly now he’s out of the bed but he doesn’t much care. He walks out of the room and into the hallway, floorboards creaking under his bare feet. He’d left his shoes in the bag, not anticipating having to run away.
He makes it a rule not to rummage in people’s heads unless he asks them first. He doesn’t fish around in Raven’s, and he’d only skimmed surface things from Erik and Alex; enough for names and to know that they wouldn’t shoot him unless he forced them to. Alex talked a good game but the only things he’d ever killed had been the undead which were technically dead anyway, and Erik-
He was a planner. He hadn’t measured them up yet, and Charles thought (hoped) that the man wasn’t going to try to kill his sister. It would be a real shame to turn the man into a drooling vegetable.
Speak of the devil. The smell of toast fills the air and Charles is a little embarrassed at the fact that his stomach rumbles.
“Good morning.” Erik’s moving bread (oh god fresh bread) to the plates and offers him one as he walks in. There’s an entire loaf sitting on the bench and he had to have made it himself and the fact that he’s sharing it is-
“Good morning.” He sits down at the table, belatedly realising his shirt is untucked and he looks like he rolled off the bad end of a hangover. Normally, he wouldn’t worry but he’s a guest in what passes for this man’s home and he’s looking at him like he’s grown a second head.
He must’ve been lost in his own mind again. Touching the minds of the undead was pure hell but he’d done it, once or twice. To save Raven. It made it harder to reach out every time, trapped him in his own head and it felt broken, like he’d done something wrong to himself.
Maybe all he needed was time.
“Thank you, I know this is an imposition,” He starts, but Erik cuts him off with a wave of a hand. There’s a rattle and Raven sticks her head in, beaming at both the bread and at him, obviously a little more relaxed now that she’d rested.
“Have something to eat and then we can talk about what you’re doing here.”
Ah. That. The one thing Charles has always been able to do is sniff out others of their own kind. It seemed to be the one thing he was useful for, even if he had the scars to prove it. Getting shot that first month wasn’t high on his list of things to do again.
“Uh, we were walking and we found you?” Raven’s young. She’s grown up fast over the last few months but she doesn’t quite get it sometimes. Doesn’t quite understand.
Erik makes a noise that’s halfway between a laugh and a snort. “Yes, of course.”
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Reply
Leave a comment