Flightless birds (Closed to Nama and I)

[Kitexa]

(because I couldn't think of a decent title)

Me: Raven Darkholme, James Xavier later on
Nama: 10th Doctor, Emily Clearwater later on





When the children were young, the Xavier Estate had been anything but quiet. Between James running down the halls screaming "Kirk to Enterprise" or the Cassidy kids...just screaming, Raven Darkholme hardly had a moments' peace. Not that she didn't enjoy parenthood (unplanned though it had been); chasing after a crowd of children tended to wear one down. (Of course, Logan looked after everyone, but she didn't have 150+ years worth of patience or experience in her favor.)

Point being, parenting was tough.

There were nights she'd lie in bed praying for the day she'd let go of their hand and be able to trust them, her son, to make the right decisions without getting into trouble. The day he'd grow up and take responsibility for himself.

And while that day...was a long time coming, when it finally had, Raven almost found herself...missing the childish thing her boy had been before. She still had responsibilities, of course --taking care of Charles while her son took off across the universe--but it wasn't the same.

Charles was such a sad little thing...with James...he'd merely been an idiot. Her little idiot. Her little boy.

Now he'd grown up, and Raven found herself feeling alone.


(Sorry if this starter sucks XD;;; )

[Namacub95]

(The title is awesome!)

The TARDIS whirred with energy as the Doctor flipped switches on the control panel. It was quiet, almost too quiet for him. He had been alone ever since he'd left Emily and James to their own adventures.

He hated the silence in the TARDIS. It grated on him more than he would like to admit. It reminded him far too much of the loneliness he had felt after Gallifrey's destruction, how he was one of the last Time Lords left. Until he'd found his daughter (daughters?), he'd believed he'd been totally alone.

The TARDIS shuddered as it came to a halt again. Xavier Institute. A small smile spread on his face at the thought of seeing his daughter, although he knew that she might still be gallivanting across time with James, and Raven again. He hadn't spoken to her in a while but he greatly enjoyed her company.

With his hands inside the pockets of his coat, he strode out of the TARDIS and onto the front lawn of Xavier Institute.

[Kitexa]

Raven had been meaning to make herself a snack--watch a movie, have a night to herself--when a familiar sight caught her eyes beyond the kitchen window. A closer look brought a smile to her face, relief to her heart.

The Doctor.

True, she didn't know the man quite as well as her son, but he was always the gentleman when he visited...and besides which, his return meant, hopefully, James and Emily might finally have come home. Abandoning (temporarily, there would still be a movie tonight!) her previous plans, blue-skinned woman made a bee-line for the door.

A light click pulled it open, walking down the front steps as he approached. "Doctor?" Gold eyes darted about. There were no sign of the younger time travelers. Had he come on his own?

"James and Emily aren't with you?"

[Namacub95]

The Doctor smiled when he caught sight of Raven approaching him, raising his hand in greeting.

He didn't think it was appropriate to say in front of her, but he admired Raven Darkholme. Emily had explained to him James' family situation, albeit briefly and not in great detail, and someone who was strong enough to go through something as horrific as what Raven had gone through and come out strong, the Doctor could only admire that.

"Nah." he replied "I dropped them off in New York 2012. Shouldn't get into trouble. Well...not much trouble anyway. Nothing they can't handle."

He gave Raven a small cheeky grin "We get a night off chaperone duty."

[Kitexa]

At first, spare threads of concern trickled through the mutant woman's mind; upon hearing they had a set location --instead of aimlessly traveling about--Raven relaxed.

"Is that so?" She answered, smile twitching into a smirk, "can't say I'm disappointed." Not really; she HAD been looking forward to the children's visit, but a night off was a night off, and company was company.

"I was gonna make popcorn" Raven added, leading the man back inside her home, "you want any?"

[Namacub95]

The Time Lord smiled at her, glancing back at the TARDIS for a half second in thought, before answering with a warm smile

"I haven't had any popcorn in along while." he told her "So yeah, lead the way Ms Darkholme. Alons-y!"

He followed her quickly into the Institute, he'd only actually been inside the place once, when he'd been reunited with Emily. He couldn't help but glance around in silent admiration. It was a beautiful place to live, he decided, even if the memories here weren't as light as he would have liked.

Something flickered at the back of his mind at that thought, something that wasn't quite right, but as soon as it came it vanished again with little fanfare. The thought made him frown. He couldn't quite place what it was so he quickly shrugged it off. It could have been nothing.

"Would you, um, like a hand with that popcorn?" he called after Raven.

[Kitexa]

Raven smiled. Cheerful guy, wasn't he?

"I've got it covered." She hollered back, pulling two bowls from a shelf. "You just make yourself at home."


(UGH So short, I'm sorry...)

[Namacub95]

(It's fine! Honestly!)

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around, his mouth set in a firm line. He could feel something was off, he could feel it tingling away in the back of his mind but putting a finger on exactly what was setting him on edge was proving difficult. Usually puzzles and mysteries excited him, thrilled him, but for some reason it wasn't the case now.

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, something wasn't right...and right now he had no clue what.

"So..." he called to Raven, trying to sound as relaxed as possible whilst his mind was searching for the cause of his unease "How has everything been with you lately? I heard from James that Charles is making improvements."

[Kitexa]

Something sounded...off, in the Doctor's voice, akin to Logan when the elder mutant was on edge, though to a much milder degree. Taking note, Raven tucked it away; the Doctor had only been here once--now he was alone, without his daughter to breech the awkward floating between them. The Xavier inhabitants were family to the blue-skinned woman. To the Doctor, they, she, were merely acquaintances.

"He's doing well enough." With the popcorn set to pop, she turned her attention to the refrigerator . "The nightmares are lessening, and he's getting better at talking to people." Butter, salt, chocolate syrup, caramel sauce... "The new heart's really doing him good."

The microwave beeped; Raven looked up. "Feel like something salty or sweet?"

[Namacub95]

The Time Lord nodded at her words. It was good to hear some good news, he knew that any sign of hope after all that had happened would be a good thing for everyone at Xavier Institute. They'd been through too much to see sadness again so soon after everything had turned around. He wanted only the best for them, for Raven.

They deserved that much, at least.

"That's good. I'm glad everything's going well." he replied before brightening somewhat "Salty, please, if it's going."

Once again, the hairs on the back of his neck began to tinkle but he shrugged it off. It was probably just a gust of wind or a small breeze. Nothing to overreact about. He didn't want to make Raven uncomfortable. He enjoyed her company too much and he wanted her to have a good opinion of him. She intrigued him, she was interesting and new and not like anyone he'd met before. Maybe it was a little bit selfish that he wanted her to think well of him

Just ignore it. He told himself Focus on Raven.

[Kitexa]

"Sure."
She smiled to herself. For some reason, she'd assumed he'd be for the sweet.

You learn something new everyday, Raven. And she didn't really know much about the Doctor, despite his daughter feeling like family.

Popcorn was as good a place as any to start.


A few minutes and she returned to the living room: a bowl in either hand. Handing the Time Lord his, she took the opposing arm chair, cradling hers in her lap.

"So, how are things with you?" She asked, tilting her head just slightly. That unusual tone she'd heard earlier seemed reflected in the Doctor's eyes.

That's...odd.

[Namacub95]

((By the way, I'm absolutely adoring your avatar! ^^))

He gave her a warm smile, accepting his popcorn from her "I'm doing well. Just travelling around, nothing particularly exciting."

Well...'well' was a bit of a lie. He was getting lonely again. Apart from having the company of James and Emily, and the reluctant company of his other daughter before she managed to elude him again, he was still on his own after the whole fiasco with Donna. The TARDIS was too big for just him on his own, the silence drove him to distraction sometimes, remembering that it was his own fault that he was on his own.

But he didn't want to burden Raven with that. That was his own problems, no need to burden her with them. He supposed it was the curse of a Time Lord.

He popped some of his popcorn in his mouth when he felt a tingling sensation run down his spine. It was worse in here than it had been before and it was irritating him. He wanted to spend some time getti g to know Raven rated than being driven to distraction by whatever it was. A disturbance in the time-stream? Possibly. That would usually set alarm bells ringing inside his mind...but what was causing it, now that was the question?

Something odd was going on and he wanted to know what. It was a puzzle for him to decipher, dangling in from of his face until he couldn't resist the temptation to investigate any longer. He felt immediately ashamed that it seemed like he was blowing of Raven. She deserved far better company than he was currently providing.

But if it was a disturbance in the timestream occurring within the Institute...then surely Raven had to have noticed something? Maybe Hank or Logan or possibly even Charles had come to her with some odd incident? A memory lapse? Something that would indicate that something was amiss.

"So...Raven..." he began, unsure exactly how to word his thoughts "Has anything...odd happened since I last dropped James and Emily back?"

[Kitexa]

She stopped. "..no." Came the slow response. Minus the traditional things; Charles combatting his alternate "self," James and Logan bickering less about mandatory training sessions and the younger Cassidy children acquainting themselves with their inside voices...changes, yes, but none she was sure he meant.

"...should it have?" He knew time far, FAR better than she; if something was or wasn't here...

Scaled face pinched, going slack a second later. "Why are you asking, Doctor? I thought you said the kids were fine."

[Namacub95]

(Late reply is laaaate...)

In hindsight, he quickly realised, he probably should have worded his question better. He didn't think about how his question would make Raven worry about their children. He should have realised that beforehand and now he felt like a bit of an idiot.

"No, no, no!" The Doctor quickly back tracked "This isn't about James or Emily. They're both perfectly fine." Most likely

Now he felt even more like he should have kept his mouth shut, it was probably nothing at all and he shouldn't have worried Raven, she probably had enough on her plate without him causing her unnecessary anxiety...but whatever he was feeling was getting worse, more frantic. Something was causing this and he wanted to know what, Raven knew the Institute better than he ever would.

"It's..." he paused trying to think of an appropriate way to explain himself without scaring her again "Well...something just feels...out of place. Like something's been changed."