Symphony yawned and stretched when she felt Erik shaking her lightly, trying to wake her.
"We're almost there." Charles answered Symphony's unasked question when she looked at Erik in sleepy annoyance.
Symphony just yawned again, not regretting the fact that her lips curled up to show off all her sharp teeth.
Earlier in the car, after getting off the plane from Russia, Symphony had felt extremely tired from the whole excursion, especially with having the stress of hearing Emma Frost all throughout the trip, and had started falling asleep in the car.
Not wanting to end up falling asleep on either of the boys, Symphony had changed into her fox form to curl up in the middle seat, nose tucked under her fluffy tail.
Charles smiled at the unmatched eyes looking up at him, but quickly turned his attention towards the rubble of the building outside his window, and the group of teens in front of the ruins, looking absolutely miserable.
"Raven!" He called urgently, getting out of the car.
They'd received a call earlier on the plane that there had been trouble, but no one had suspected that it had been this bad.
Raven stood and enveloped Charles in a hug.
"Darwin's dead." Alex Summers piped up after a few minutes of conversation.
"I know" Charles nodded with a frown, "and that's why you're all going back home."
Sean looked up with his strawberry blonde curls hanging across his forehead, and Alex grunted.
"No we're not." Alex responded.
"He's not going back to prison." Sean reiterated.
"Nonetheless, I should never have dragged you into this. It's far too dangerous!" Charles told them, feeling a little alarmed and frustrated at their stubbornness in their current surroundings.
Raven however, tugged his jacket a little, making him look at her. "Darwin's dead Charles, and we can't even bury him." She finally said, making sure that each word weighed down on Charles with meaning.
Everyone went silent for a moment, mourning their fallen friend.
"We can avenge him." Erik finally spoke up, making everyone look over at him, Charles in annoyance, Symphony in foxish curiosity, and everyone else in some form of hope.
"Erik, a word." Charles muttered, pulling his friend aside.
Symphony morphed back into her human form and gave Raven a hug as Erik and Charles talked.
After a moment, Charles turned back towards them with uncertainty.
"We'll have to train. All of us. Yes?" He asked, cocking his head.
Everyone agreed, but then Hank brought up one important fact.
"But where do we go? I'm sure they'll have the facility back up and running, but even then, it won't be safe. We have no place to stay." He pointed out.
Charles smiled. "Yes we do." He answered.
Raven smiled, knowing exactly what was running through his mind, as everyone else looked at him quizzically.
*****
The drive to Xavier mansion was a long one, and Symphony whined a little, finding herself squeezing under a bench to make room for all her fellow mutants.
Little foxy Symphony was not pleased, much less comfortable.
Charles... She mentally whimpered, looking up at him from under the bench, giving him her best puppy eyes that she could manage.
Of course, since she was in fox form again, her puppy eyes were twice as irresistible as they were in her human form. It only took one look for Charles to have his heart shatter for her.
What's wrong Symph? He asked with concern.
Sean is stepping on my tail, and I'm really cramped under this bench. I may be flexible as a fox, and foxes may live in burrows, but I'm not fond of cagey spaces... Came the pitiful little response.
Charles smiled sweetly and looked up at Sean. "Banshee, could you move your foot up a bit so Symphony can get her tail loose?" He asked the young boy.
Sean looked down, and lifted the foot that was causing most of the trouble.
As soon as his foot was gone, Symphony shot out of the small space, moving to lay on everyone's feet, happy to be free of the cramped hole.
Thank you. She thanked Sean and Charles.
Charles chuckled as Erik leaned down to pat Symphony's soft fur.
Symphony licked her lips, not minding the attention at all, until Erik reached a slightly bruised point on her shoulder, making her shift uncomfortably.
Erik looked puzzled and lightly fussed with the fur to get a look at the skin beneath.
"Charles." He called his friend's attention to what he was doing.
"What is it Erik?" Charles asked, leaning forward as much as he could without bumping into Erik's head.
"Where did this bruise come from?"
Charles scrunched his brows and took a look at the bruise on Symphony's shoulder as best he could, before Symphony wriggled away.
"I don't know..." He muttered with a frown.
Symphony just looked at the two of them innocently, before trying to stand up and walk in between everyone's feet without losing her balance in the moving vehicle.
Charles chuckled and shook his head as Erik grinned at how cute it actually looked, with the expression of confusion and concentration on Symphony's fox face.
After her third attempt, Charles lent down to pick her up, and place her on his warm lap, allowing her to curl up comfortably there, laying her head on his arm, and a paw just beside it, watching everyone with quiet glistening eyes.
Eventually Symphony drifted off to sleep like this, and her paw draped right over Charles' arm as her head lolled back some to nestle in the crook of his arm.
It wasn't until it was time to get out of the truck that anyone dared speak a word, for fear of disturbing Symphony, and ruining the heartwarming image she'd presented.
Charles got out first, carrying Symphony in his arms as she slowly woke up, blinking at the sunlight.
Before long, everyone was gathered in front of the mansion, staring at it in awe.
Even Symphony got down out of Charles' arms to wander towards it, looking at it in astonishment.
"Honestly Charles." Erik teased lightly. "I don't know how you ever survived living in such hardship."
Raven moved forward as she spoke. "Well," she began, putting a hand on Charles' shoulder. "It was a hardship softened by me."
Charles smiled as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her head.
Symphony looked on in mild frustration, though she couldn't think of why she'd be frustrated. She only knew that her blood suddenly ran hot, and her body began to shake a little as an unusual anger rose in her gut.
"Come on!" Raven exclaimed, taking a step forward. "Time for the tour!"
Symphony sighed and reluctantly followed Raven, fully aware that Charles was watching her.
Symph... He called, trying to get Symphony's attention part way through the tour.
Symphony tried to resist, but found herself coming to the back of the group anyway, making Charles smile.
This is my room. He nodded towards the well furnished bedroom he was standing outside of. In case you ever need to find me when we're not busy training. He told her.
Symphony watched as the group left down another hall, before changing back to her human form.
Charles smiled again. "You're getting quite good at that." He chuckled.
Symphony half smiled, and licked her lips before speaking.
"What room will I be staying in?" She asked, looking around at the various empty rooms.
"Whatever one you want. Raven's is that one on the right, at the end of the hall. Has been since Mother and I adopted her into the family." Charles told her.
Symphony took a slightly timid step forward, leaning over to look in the various rooms around them, before finding one with a blue and silver theme, right across from Charles' room, just like back in the compound.
Charles chuckled. "I had a feeling you might like that one." He nodded with a sweet smile. "It used to be my Mother's. She said the blue was calming."
Symphony sighed and walked into the room, looking around with more understanding of the objects around her.
"It's yours if you like. I don't mind." Charles told her, leaning on the door frame.
Symphony looked up at him quietly. "She's right." She replied quietly.
"Hmm?" Charles hummed, unable to read her mind right now.
"Your Mother. She was right. The blue is calming. It's a scientifically known fact, and also an artistic fact. Reds often represent fire, rage, violence, anger. Red is an agitating colour, whereas blue more often represents the quieter things in life. Sadness, serenity, sleep, ice, the night..." Symphony informed him.
Charles smiled and shook his head in wonder. "You are quite remarkable." He laughed, taking a step further into the room. "Where did you learn all this?" He asked in fascination.
"My Father. He was a scientist, and my Mother was an artist. They both learned a great deal about colours, and learned even more from each other. I learned to draw, and how to do some genetic science. That's what my father was... He was a geneticist. He's the reason I knew I wasn't going crazy when I found my psychokinesis. He ran tests and found that the X-gene had mutated." Symphony sighed, sitting carefully on the bed.
Charles smiled even more. "I would have liked to meet your family. They sound like remarkable people."
Symphony smiled some, and then stood up. "Raven's wondering where we've gotten to, and Erik is missing his pet." She giggled.
Charles burst out laughing. "His pet?" He asked, unsure of what to say. "He thinks of you as a pet?"
Symphony shook her head. "I think he's still deciding. Apparently he doesn't mind having a fox around as much as he thought he would." She chuckled with a small smile. "Come on!" She summoned Charles, before turning into a fox and taking off down the hall, following the scents of the the others.
"Woops!" Charles exclaimed as he made an effort to keep up with Symphony. "Symphony, slow down!" He laughed cheerfully, nearly tripping over a rug as he jogged after her.
"Charles!" Raven called, hearing her brother calling Symphony.
Erik looked down with a small chuckle, at the fox that had come up beside him.
Charles came to a stop at the door, slightly panting from trying to keep up with Symphony. "You made it to the kitchen I see!" He laughed, looking up at everyone gathered there.
Raven giggled. "Yeah, and the tour's over, which means you get to help Symphony if she gets lost in the halls." She told him authoritatively.
Charles nodded. "Sounds fair." He commented, watching as Erik reached down to scratch Symphony's ears, making her raise her head a bit more.
He thought it was absolutely adorable.
"Right then." Charles finally sighed, turning from fun to business. "Training. We start tomorrow, so I suggest we all get a good night's rest. I will personally spend time with each and every one of you, to help you get a better handle on your powers. Some of you may already have them mastered," here he looked at Raven, "but not all of you, so you have to learn. Agreed?" He asked.
Everyone nodded in agreement, including Raven and Erik.
"Right then. Go unpack whatever needs to be unpacked, and then come back here for supper. After that we'll all go to bed." Charles ordered, and everyone left, except for Symphony, who turned back into a human once everyone was gone.
"I have nothing to unpack." She told Charles sadly.
Charles smiled and nodded. "I know." He told her. "I kept my Mother's clothes. You look like they might fit you."
Symphony smiled. "You'd let me wear your Mother's clothes." She stated, unsure if he was going to actually go through with it or not.
Charles just smirked and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" He told her, laughing at how he was now the one telling her to come, when minutes before, she had told him to follow her.
Symphony followed as Charles pulled her back to the room she'd chosen, where he opened her closet, revealing quite a few boxes, stacked against the back of the wardrobe.
Pulling one out and setting it on the bed, Charles opened one of the boxes, and smiled sadly as he saw an old skirt his Mother used to wear, sitting there on top.
Even though his mother wasn't the best person in the world, he'd still loved her dearly.
Carefully pulling the skirt and a simple blouse from the box, Charles found an old pair of brown shoes. "Here." He said, handing the outfit to Symphony. "Try these on." He suggested.
Symphony nodded and went into the bathroom to try the outfit on.
Whilst in there, Symphony found a cupboard of shoes, which made her smile.
"Your Mother liked shoes?" She asked, pulling a pair out.
Charles laughed. "She enjoyed keeping up with fashion where she could." He answered.
After a few moments of waiting, Symphony stepped into Charles' view, carefully twisting around so he could see her from all angles possible.
Charles grinned.
"How you knew these would fit me so well is beyond me." Symphony giggled, before pausing to see Erik standing in the doorway.
"Erik." She greeted, making Charles look over at Erik.
"Stunning, isn't she?" Charles asked with a cheeky smile.
Erik teasingly smirked at Charles. "Foxy. Better watch out Charles." He warned.
Charles just laughed as Erik moved from the doorway to head... Wherever he was going.
Charles looked over at Symphony again, and smiled. "I'm glad those fit." He told her as he stood. "If you like, I can help you get the rest of those boxes out... Maybe help you unpack." He suggested.
Symphony nodded. "I like that idea." She answered.
And with that, they spent the next two hours unpacking, joking, and laughing, neither of them noticing when Erik, or Raven, would pass by the open door and watch them for a few minutes, smiling at the rapid fire conversation between them.
Once they were finished, both were exhausted.
"That... Was fun." Symphony sighed, flopping back on her bed.
Charles nodded in agreement as he flopped down next to her. "I didn't realize that Mother had so many clothes! I knew she had a lot, and that I'd packed them all away, but I suppose it doesn't hit you, just how much there really is, until you have to put it all away."
Symphony started laughing, but then arched her back and started coughing, making her sit up fast enough to make the room start spinning.
Charles rolled over to sit up in mild alarm, grabbing Symphony's shoulders.
"Symph, what's wrong?" He asked in alarm.
Symphony leaned forward tiredly, gasping from her cough attack. "I'm okay." She quietly assured Charles. "I just can't lay on my back without being propped up some. Never could."
Charles frowned. "Why not?" He wondered.
Symphony smiled tiredly. "Can't breathe right otherwise. That and I get a killer headache." She giggled at the last bit, making Charles smile a little, glad that she was able to laugh at her own problem, but still concerned.
"I'm fine." Symphony assured him quietly, patting his hand.
The two sat like that for a few minutes before Symphony's ears twitched. "Come on, I think Raven's making supper, and I'm starving." She finally muttered, standing up from her seat on the bed.
Charles stood as well, but turned with a frown when Symphony leaned backwards, and made her entire spine crack.
Symphony just smirked, and shook her head.
I always do that when I've been sitting too long. Symphony giggled, making Charles shake his head with a small grin.
You are a unique creature indeed. Charles answered, before leading the way down to the kitchen, where Raven was indeed cooking supper, and Erik was sitting at a table, reading a book.
The scene was a domestic one, and made Symphony feel right at home.