odd little empath

His words were heard, but Green reacted defensively by pressing his lips to Caden’s again, as if he only listened. The topic of Grey was still an open wound that he didn’t want to lick, despite how often he seemed to circle around it. Truth be told, Green knew Grey hadn’t forgotten - their gross, complex, beautiful entanglement had so deeply shaped him that it was impossible not to think about Grey. He just wanted to hear the words from Caden without really having to dig a little deeper, instead focusing on the soft kisses between them. But the more Green thought about his words… the more the guilt lingered around in the back of his head. Slotting their lips together, he gently pushed Caden against the tiled walls, hands reaching to caress his sides. “Let’s… here,” he said, trying to avoid conversation - the words had escaped him. He was so focused on the tactile sensations when a tiny bubble of jealousy floated through him unexpectedly. The emotion caught him off guard, and he moaned into Caden’s lips. His slow kisses eventually paused, and he bit the pink of his upper lip before pulling back with an honest expression. “Okay, but what if he moved on,” he muttered, his chest tight and uncomfortable. This time, Green didn’t reach for a kiss, instead closing the gap between their bodies, searching for warmth in the cold bathtub water.

The kisses and touches had become less of a grounding sensation and more of a distraction from what the hell it was that Green was feeling, and Caden had to mentally pull back for a second, the guilt and confusion and was that jealousy? His eyes refocused on Green, taking in the oddly honest expression and the pressure on his chest. The answer was obvious, too obvious, for him. But too many years of trying to say the ‘right’ thing held him back from just saying the rather harsh truth. Instead, he was silent for several moments, throwing words and phrases away moments before they were spoken. There was no easy way to say it, he realized, sighing in resignation. “Then there’s nothing you can do,” Caden answered. “And then you move on as well.” 

“Sorry for making assumptions, then.” In Bianca’s experience people usually knew what ingredients they were going to use before they got out the bread to make a sandwich. To each their own, she supposed. She shrugged and went back to her parts, not really interested in seeing what he pulled out of the fridge. She was oftentimes afraid to open it herself, never sure what would be found inside. “I think that this over here came from an RC car and this from a laptop.” As she spoke she identified the scavenged parts. Honestly, she just took whatever she could get her hands on, never knowing what she might need.

As he continued to prep the food, Caden glanced over to actually take a look at what Bianca had been messing around with. He was no mechanic or engineer by any means, but he did recognize the laptop fan, and hummed with a bit of interest. “Do you just tinker around with things as a hobby?” he asked, wanting to know more. “Because that’s really cool.”

Oh. Oh. Rod could have sworn they were in a relationship. Everything pointed to it, like a big ol’ pointer in the sky. The way Green always gifted him with soft kisses and physical intimacy. How Caden managed to get him to open up, get on a deeper level. There was their band, the impetus for the whole road trip. And the way they always slept in the same bed – here Rod was beginning to think that he’d been intruding, having always been fused to Green. The more Rod began to think about it, the less he concentrated on the road, confused about what their relationship was. “Are you sure?” he asked with a nervous half-chuckle in his voice. “This isn’t you trying to fool your old man.” And good God, Rod was flushed a deep salmon. He tried to look Caden in the eye, but he couldn’t. Not after disclosing that he found them to be awfully cute together. “To be fair,” he forced out awkwardly. “When I’m fused to him I could always feel something. But then again, even when I’m fused to Green I still don’t understand him any more.” That went that justification. He should have just kept quiet, not said a word or a peep. Instead, he zippered up and focused on the how the night met the winding road. That was until Caden let out his quiet murmur. “Tell me what’s on your mind. How do you feel and everything?”

He gave a final chuckle, shaking his head. “Mm, no. I promise I’m not trying to hide a sordid affair with the resident malingerer,” Caden replied, amusement clear in his tone. The awkward embarrassment from the elder mutant was to be expected, but the empath still couldn’t help but curl into himself, perching his feet on the seat and making himself seem smaller. Rod’s question made him pause though, the coffee cup pausing and settling on his knees. How was he feeling? He’d been so focused on not letting everyone else’s emotions overwhelm him that he hadn’t exactly stopped to think about how he himself was feeling, ignoring it as best he could. “I think I’ve been trying to not feel,” he said honestly, letting out a sigh. “There’s enough emotions running rampant in this RV without my own freak out being added to the mix.” Caden shook his head with a small smile. “I’ll deal with it when we can stop and I can step away from everyone else for a bit. I doubt anyone wants to get an added dose of whatever it is I’ve been ignoring,” the empath decided, then turned to face Rod with a concerned expression of his own. “And you? How are you holding up considering everything?”

Green protested, pawing Caden softly at the loss of contact, cold war rushing in his place. The prank was behind him - why weren’t they in his Twin XL with his outer space blanket, some hot chocolate with peppermint, and his collection of Build-A-Bears. He sought out warm and brushed up against Caden’s side, his leg wading through the water before tangling with Caden’s. But not only did he seek out warmth… No, Green sought comfort. He bended forward to grab the nearest towel hung on the wall, draping it over their bodies. Once he laid his head on his shoulder and swayed into his frame, Green finally replied. “You’re the weird one,” he said, trying to deflect.

As much as he was somewhat envious of Caden’s abilities - he always wanted to play with someone’s emotions, maybe just… understand - Green didn’t like being pinned down, especially not emotionally. Hardly anybody understood him - he could count that number with half a hand. But he appreciated it deep down, nodding wordlessly. The more he focused on his thoughts, the more an unnerving uncertainty plumed from his subconscious. It was disorienting, to say the least, now that Caden had somewhat cracked him. Saw his inner machinations. “It’s nothing,” he said softly. As he’d learned these past few weeks, Green really wasn’t the type to process vocally. It’d helped, kind of, but he was a tactile person. Take fusion with Rod, for example. He craved that kind of proximity. Leaning into Caden’s embrace, he pressed his lips softly against the other’s and kissed him gently as his far hand cupped his cheek. It was supple and dainty, and the warmth made him quiver. “What if they forgot about me.“ He paused. “What if Grey’s moved on?”

The towel over their shoulders was going to get soaking wet, but the temporary comfort was enough for Caden to let himself relax. The deflection was so easy to see that it was almost offensive, but Caden was learning very quickly that it was best to just let the words come in their own time, and he simply let his head rest on Green’s, taking in the warmth and heat and comfort that came with being in contact with another body. It was always odd, being grounded by a physical sensation when everything else in Caden’s life was just a whirlwind of one emotion to the next. Odd, but not unfamiliar, and definitely not unwelcome. Especially since he could feel the gradual descent into apprehension, and he pressed all the more closer, both for Green's sake and to keep himself from getting lost.

He let out a small sigh at the questions, unsure how to respond. He knew... or at least, he’d assumed that the RV that they traveled in now was the same one that Green had arrived in at the Sanctuary all those years ago. It was something of a miracle that they’d managed to go a few days without Grey being brought up. “Honestly? I don’t know,” Caden murmured. He couldn’t lie about this. “But I would think that it’s a little hard to forget given that. Well.” He trailed off before giving a small shrug of his shoulders. “You certainly haven’t forgotten. I doubt Grey has either.” He didn’t know what sort of comfort it would be, but it was the best he could offer.

Either Green was the one variable in all of his antics, or it was the whole world around him. Everything in this scenario was accounted for: the lights, the escape route if need be, the charm-yer-way-outta-this spiel. And, yet, every single time it had always spiraled out of his control and left him with much more trouble that he needed. It was almost as if people had their own reactions that he couldn’t account for… That certainly wasn’t the case as Green splashed water against Caden. “Red, it’s just a mirror, you’re making stuff up again.” The panic began to subside. Green cozied up against Caden’s body, shivering from how frigid the water was, his clothes clung to the curves on his body. As he lay in place for a brief moment, against Caden and under the darkness of the room, it all felt so… unexplainable. This RV was on its way to California, and everything in his life - running away, the whole sanctuary thing, yadda yadda - had led up to this moment. He pressed a soft kiss to the edge of Caden’s lips looking for comfort and warmth. “Could be worse. I mean, you’re not a horse. You wanna see how I could make it worse?” He smirked before planting another quick peck and splashed the side of Caden’s face with water.

“I wasn’t making it up,” Caden muttered, though the protest was half-hearted, knowing that there really wasn’t any use in trying to explain the weird feeling he’d gotten from the mirror. Besides, all he had to do was ignore the freaky whatever it was that was coming from the mirror until they got to California. Just for a second, he picked up the familiar sense of displacement, one that he knew wasn’t coming from himself, but the feeling passed, and he let himself give a small smile as he heard Green keep speaking. “Not in particul-” He cut off when the water splashed on his face, spluttering in indignation. “Really?!” he exclaimed, sitting up and retaliating by sending another splash of water Green’s way. Caden sighed and crossed his arms around him, shivering slightly as the cold actually started setting in. He looked over to Green and tilted his head. “You felt weird for a second,” he stated, figuring that he might as well ask. “What is it?”

After putting her organizer back onto the seat next to her she watched as he put the bread onto the table. Honestly, sandwiches wouldn’t be that bad a meal, although with how many of them there were they would go through the bread pretty fast. “What sort of sandwiches were you thinking? Because right now all I’m seeing is raw toast.” When he asked her what she was making she looked back down at the parts she had in front of her. “I didn’t have anything in mind, really. I might not be making anything today.”

He let out a small laugh,moving to the refrigerator. “Hey now, I just got started,” the empath retorted, amusement laced in his tone. Caden moved towards the mini fridge, opening it to see its contents. “I think there might be some turkey in here,” he muttered, reaching in and pulling out a container filled with... some sort of poultry meat. He really hoped this was turkey. Or chicken. Or just edible. With a small shrug he returned to the table to grab the bread. A quick glance at the scattered parts gave him no more information about what Bianca might have been tinkering with. “Well what was it before?”

Exactly like she thought, she was taking up too much space. “Of course! Sorry! Thank you! I just got it untangled and it’s a process I didn’t want to repeat again.” Bianca said, unable to settle on a suitable reply at first. She picked up her organizer from where it was sitting on the seat next to her and placed it on the table, putting the wire that she had just spared from being disturbed safely away. She then moved on to more unnecessary parts, keeping only the bare necessities out on the table. She thought that she had cleared enough space, but she also knew her tendency to spread out. “Is that enough space or would you like some more?”

"Oh! Yeah, wouldn’t want that,” he replied, before awkwardly waiting as she cleared a space for him to put some food supplies on the table. “That’s perfect, thank you,” Caden answered, a grateful nod in her direction before he glanced over the supplies that they had, a resigned expression on his face. “Let’s hope everyone likes some sort of sandwich,” he muttered, placing the packaged bread on the table. As he started to figure out what else he might be able to make, he glanced over to the parts still on the table. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you’re making?”

Caden’s panic slapped Green suddenly. So suddenly that he backed right into the door knob, jabbing right into his spin, and he let out a yelp. Combined with the pain in his foot, Green hopped right into Caden, toppling them unevely into the tub. But before the panic could overtake him, he was going to extend this joke the furthest he could. As he lifted himself from Caden’s body, his iPhone light slid over his face, revealing a glare. “I’m gonna haunt you, you lil shit,” he growled. It quickly dissolved into a half-smirk before Caden’s panic imprinted onto him. “Relax, relax.” His voice was trembling. “Red, I made it up – urf, you’re such a party-pooper.” Scrambling to get up, Green slipped right back onto Caden. His rattled nerves only made him flail wildly. “Caden, stop, you’re making this worse.” Reaching for something to grab onto, he pulled onto the last thing they needed: the bathtub knob, water dousing their sides.

Sometimes he wondered why he ever thought that a trip in an RV was a good idea. Caden yelped as his elbow hit the edge of the bath tub, and it only served to make him panic and lash out even more. He was hearing words and teasing from Green, and was that a- no fuck that. “What do you mean relax? The mirror feels things and you aren’t freaked the fuck out what the hell-” And then water. Great. Fantastic. “Let me out you asshole!” The empath attempted to shove Green off of him to get out, only succeeding in slipping and splashing water everywhere, drenching them both. But the soak was enough of shock that he realized that now Green was panicking, and he shut his eyes to force himself to take a moment to breathe because this wasn’t helping get him out of this situation at all. Besides, Caden reasoned, he couldn’t feel anything from the mirror now, and he wondered if he’d imagined the whole thing anyways. After a moment of just trying to calm down, he let out an annoyed sigh and shook his head. “I think this may have been one of your worst ideas yet.”

Lucille let her shoulders fall, relaxing for a split second, then actually turned towards him.

“Well, thanks I gues-” oh. Oh no. Oh shit he looked like a damn puppy. He was like a shaggy poodle that she had just verbally kICKED.

God damnit why. W h y.

Lucy sighed. “It was sweet of you to check in. But really, I’m fine.” She let go of her suitcase long enough to run a hand through her hair. It really looked like he meant well, which, point for him. Guess chivalry really wasn’t dead, or whatever. But it didn’t matter that he looked like a kicked puppy, because he was still a stranger, and if there was one childhood lesson that really stuck with her it was that one. But, well…she was lost. Maybe he could give her directions? Worst case scenario, he snarks at her some anti-mutant shit and she screams for help.

“If you really want to help, do you know how to get to the nearest Sanctuary? I’m, um, visiting my sister. My car broke down though, so I guess I’m a little lost.” Oh god why couldn’t she be a decent liar like her sister?

Caden grinned when she seemed to relax, not entirely used to seeming like an aggressor or a formidable threat of any sort. He liked to think that he was a rather calming presence, but he supposed that there really was no way to tell when you’re wandering around alone, and it was better to be safe than sorry.

But his sheepish smile dropped at the mention of the sanctuary, and he knew that his suspicions were confirmed. “I hate to tell you this,” Caden began, biting his bottom lip and looking down to his feet. “But if you’re looking for the mutant Sanctuary in New York, then you’re out of luck. It was destroyed, and there’s no one left.”

The empath let out a small sigh and looked back up to gage her response, genuinely concerned that she might not believe him. “If you were looking for your sister then...” he trailed off. “I’m sorry.” Caden was silent for a second before he shook his head and tried inject a bit of hope into the conversation. “There’s a group of us, all mutants. We’re headed to California. There are rumors of another Sanctuary there, if you want to join us?”

     “so he’s spontaneous.” interesting. often times, people’s actions tended to speak a lot more about them than words ever would, so dana wasn’t bothered by the short reply. if anything, they were even more curious to get to know their cheery new companion. “very. come sit,” they patted the seat beside them. “what did you do before this, caden? i get performing waiter vibes from you. very charismatic.”