fateandfortune | Just two vampires, traveling the galaxy... [For Todd the Wraith]

He returned the light grip before letting go to finish undressing and heading back to the bathroom to make sure the tub didn't overflow. He sat down on the edge, feet in the water as he undid the decorative knots and braids in his hair as he always did before washing up, and he always put the same ones back in after his mane dried.

When she came in he elaborated on the unasked question, but one that would come up sooner or later.

"Its tradition that one keep the hair decorations in from one's last mate." he said "When a new one is taken, they're undone and the new mate gets to put new ones in." Hence why so many wraith had such a variety of hair designs.

Rogue undressed as well, following him shortly after, and was a bit taken aback by the unexpected explanation. She'd admired the handiwork in his hair for weeks, slowly noticing as time passed that the style never changed, but she'd never thought to ask him about it. She'd assumed there was some cultural purpose behind the choices, or just personal preference and style, but she'd never imagined something like this.

She took a seat on the edge of the tub as well. "It's a lovely tradition," she told him with a fond smile. "Humans don't have anything like that, at least not in my culture." Maybe in others there was something as beautifully symbolic, but certainly not in 21st century America.

Her fingers itched to reach out and touch his hair, but she resisted the compulsion. "How long have you worn these?"

"Several years."

He'd not had a new partner in some time. No time these days it seemed.

She'd have her chance to change them as he no doubt would be with her next, when she wanted to.

When the tub was filled up, he shut the faucet off and slid into the hot water. Felt good on his sink and soaked him to the bones, relieving any aches left over from the fight.

"Would you like me to do your back?" he asked, picking up the sponge and lathering it up.

Rogue followed his example and slid down into the water, the heat seeping into her sore muscles. She'd be feeling the fight in the morning, and she envied his healing in that moment.

It was a day full of surprises for the both of them, it seemed. They both had always kept their distance while bathing, even while working on her training when she could hold her control for a good long while. Now things were shifting in their arrangement, and she was incredibly pleased with it.

"I would like that, thank you," she replied before reaching up to sweep over her to the side and over her scarred shoulder.

Todd scooted closer and began to lightly wash her back, making circles with the sponge over her scarred and marred pale skin. Old scars like these took longer to heal with the enzyme treatment, otherwise they too would have disappeared. But her ribs, having been black and blue and a variety of other colors these past few weeks were now unmarked.

He dragged the sponge along her shoulders to between the shoulder blades and down her spine, working in a steady but relaxed pace.

It was when the sponge moved down her spine that she shivered, the sensation of something moving across her skin sparking a gentle pleasure she hadn't felt in a long time. Her life had only been filled with touches like this, through barriers like fabric, and Remy for one had quickly learned how easy it was to get a reaction from her. Even the simplest things like a back massage could bring her to tears with how wonderful it felt.

She glanced over her shoulder at Todd for a second, slightly self-conscious about her reaction. Which was silly, really - if and when they did take that step, he'd find out all about her.

Todd expected her to feel, well, something, after all she'd not had the touch of another-real touch-in some time. But he didn't mind, she'd react however she'd react.

"Strange to have someone this close again?" he asked, but didn't pause with the sponge as he worked it over Rogue's other shoulder and down her back.

"You have no idea," she murmured, her expression turning distant. "I didn't have the best childhood; my birth parents gave me away when I was a baby, and I spent years in and out of foster homes until I was finally adopted by the D'Ancantos. But we were never a touchy feely family, we never hugged or... Everything was formal between us."

She pulled in a deep breath and closed her eyes, rubbing at them with damp fingers. "And then with my mutation, I never had the chance for something like this. Remy tried, and everything he did was perfect, but it could never be like this. I couldn't risk hurting him." If only she'd known how the world would change, maybe she would have taken more chances.

The commander listened quietly as he set the sponge aside and cupped water over the suds to rinse them off her back and shoulders, being less careful about brushing his fingers against her skin as he did so.

Rough life, plus her mutation, it was a wonder she hadn't fallen to pieces. Humans were indeed resilient creatures.

When he finished washing her back, he pulled her two-toned hair back around and held out the sponge to her. "Care to do mine?" he asked.

That brush of his fingers on her skin shook her from the melancholy of thinking back over the early years of her life, of all the things she had missed because of the hand she'd been dealt. Combined with the water flowing over her skin, it was relaxing. Soothing.

She took the sponge with a fond smile and answered, "Of course." After adding just a small amount of soap, she worked the lather up again before setting the sponge against his skin. Slow, smooth strokes across his left shoulder, and then his right, taking her time to notice the color of his skin, the small tattoo he had there. Her fingers had a mind of their own as she set the tips against those inked designs, tracing one and then another.

"Are they birds?"

Todd folded his arms and settled to rest them down on the side of the tub, chin atop, eyes closed, perfectly content with letting Rogue have her way with him...in a manner.

The scrubbing along his ridged spine felt especially good and he didn't bother holding in a thrum of pleasure when she ran the sponge along them.

He opened his eyes when she traced along the shoulder blade tattoo. "Indeed so" he replied. "During the earliest days of the war, we won a great victory over the Lanteans, taking over a large sector of the galaxy we believe the first of our queens flew. I was promoted from a lowly engineer to head scientist thanks to my idea of using and successfully putting to use the Lanteans technology against them, and received that tattoo." He elaborated.

"How impressive," she commented softly, smoothing the last of the soap suds away from the inked patch of skin so she could get a clearer view. "I think I'm the one who should be honored to be with such an accomplished commander."

She leaned in closer then to brush her lips against one of the small birds in a light kiss before continuing to wash his back. The sponge was swept down one side and the other, then she returned to those ridges on his spine, paying extra attention to them because of the sound he'd made before. As much as she enjoyed having him touch her, she enjoyed touching him just as much, even more so when she could elicit a response like that.

He lifted his head at the brush of her lips, glancing over his shoulder, but merely smiled and set his chin back down as she went back to work on his spine.

They weren't bone but stiff cartilage, which accounted for the mushy bed he preferred as laying on his back on a mattress-like surface wouldn't be nearly as comfortable.

Right now, he was more comfortable than he'd been in a long time with her fingers and the sponge working over his back and skin so wonderfully.

After feeling the cartilage spines beneath her fingers, she understood the bed he favored, which had been a bit of a mystery from a human's perspective. It was easy to see why it might be more comfortable than the mattresses back home though.

She finally set the sponge aside and washed off the soap as he had, cupping the water in her hands and letting it trickle over his skin. Her hands followed the water each time, though, sliding over that smooth skin to make sure nothing was missed. And just to feel another person with her own touch.

"We should do this every time we bathe together," she said as she finished and let her hands fall away from him.

"Typically we would" he said, turning to look at her "But its a bit tough to relax when it feels like you're ripping my spine out" he pointed out. "We can this too when we have the shower ability installed." he said, shifting to turn and face her entirely.

He looked her over. He often observed her scars when they bathed, but now he could touch them. Lifting his hand from the water he caressed his fingers along the one on her shoulder to gauge her reaction.

Oh, right. There was that. But now that they could, she was glad to hear this wouldn't be the only occasion. It really was incredibly relaxing, and intimate in a very particular way.

When they'd first started bathing together like this, she hadn't minded him looking at her scars or the rest of her, but it hadn't exactly been enjoyable either. Now, though, she was pleased by having his eyes on her, and her gaze followed his fingers as they touched the scar on her shoulder. She didn't flinch away or give much of a reaction at all, just looked back to him and said, "There was a mutant who could melt things with his hands. It was kind of neat until it was my skin."

"Hm," he grunted, "I know how that feels"

Their first meeting wasn't the first time he'd crashed a dart ship. Fortunatly a fellow wraith saved his life-and skin-with The Gift. Still, he endured that agony for several hours before he'd been found and healed. Apart from starvation, burns were some of the worst wounds he never wished to feel again.

Todd touched another of her scars. "What of this one?" Scars told stories, and since they were about her, he liked hearing them, even if they were painful.

The knife wound on her hip, a straight line three inches long. She shifted ever so slightly as he touched it, the scar tissue there much more sensitive than the burned tissue on her shoulder.

"A baseline human did that one," she told him, her voice even and calm despite the subject matter. Because it was Todd she was telling this to. "It was shortly before the war started. I was at an anti-mutant rally trying to gather information and things got out of hand. I'm fairly certain his intention was to kill me." Lucky for her, he'd been too drunk to aim properly, and she'd been quicker than him.

Todd ran his thumb over the knife wound, listing to her talk about it. Plenty of those in his years. From shallow cuts to outright impalement.

He wondered how the man recognized her as a mutant though. Maybe he got lucky. Or not if he died.

"Did you kill him?" he asked, withdrawing and settling to rest his back against the side of the tub, elbows on the edge, fingers playing in the warm water.

She blinked at Todd for a moment, then shook her head. "No, of course not," she replied, being reminded again of the differences between them. "I didn't even use my powers on him, I just got out of there. We were trying to stop people hating and being afraid of mutants - if I'd killed him, it would have just made things worse."

And if she'd used her powers to do it, she'd have him in her head even now. She had enough of his kind crammed into her mind to last a thousand lifetimes. So much anger and hate just because they were afraid of people they didn't understand, people who were different.

The wraith would have, turned around and turned the other's knife on the man.

They relaxed in the water a bit longer before even the insulated tub couldn't keep it pleasantly warm anymore and they got out.

"Returning to your room or staying with me tonight?" he asked, rubbing the tips of his hair out to dry them and then pulling on his robe.

It wasn't in Rogue to kill so easily, especially not now. She'd seen too much needless death to willingly take a life herself, unless it truly came down to her or them.

She did the same with her own hair, trying to dry it while working through the new tangles that had formed, and smiled at his question. "I'll stay here," she decided, putting away her towel and retrieving the robe she had used while staying with him before.

As she slipped the robe over her shoulders, she asked him, "What will your crew think when they find out about us?" She didn't know if or what he would tell them, but they would notice when his hair changed after they took that step.

"They will ask, I will tell them. Undoubtedly they will question how we had our fun as I have yet to tell them that you've gained complete control of your ability. But I'll elaborate on that as well." he said, going over to the desk and picking up The Count of Monte Cristo and settled on the bed.

He pat the spot beside him, "Come along, I don't bite" he grinned broadly.

Edited 2015-12-24 00:08 (UTC)

Well, that answered the question of how much the crew would know. Pretty much everything. She wondered if she should expect the same sort of questioning she'd gotten from them back on Atlantis once they found out.

Chuckling quietly, she gave him a grin in return as she took the indicated spot and gently nudged his side with her elbow. "That might be more convincing if your teeth didn't look like that," she teased him good-naturedly.

Edited 2015-12-24 00:12 (UTC)

The crew wouldn't make as big a deal over it as those on Atlantis would. They'd accept it and continue with their jobs without much fuss. As for Atlantis, it was probably best Rogue say nothing. If she could avoid it.

He chuckled, continuing to show off his teeth before opening the book to where they left off and holding it out to her to continue.

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how bout she has him read to her instead?