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Morph had spent the last few nights alone. Rogue has been out sick for most of the week, denying anyone into her room who wants to visit, afraid of getting them sick. Well, other than Jean. No one can say no to that woman. And being the house doctor, she obviously had to check in on her.
“It’s just a bad cold, Kurt,” she explains, to him as they sit around the study hall. “She’ll be back to normal in no time.”
Kurt folds his arms, sitting up slightly on the couch. “Ja, but–”
“Just give her some space until she feels better, alright?” Jean says, standing from the armchair beside the fireplace.
Morph is sitting on the far side of the study, sprawled out across the chase under the large window, deep in a book. But they had been tuning into the conversation across the room, as they always do. Never a direct part of a conversation, but always there, listening, watching out of the corner of their eye, forgotten about as they sit silently apart from the group.
Kurt sighs, leaning slightly into Logan’s body. “Ja.” Jean waves goodnight to the two on the couch, nodding her head at Morph when she notices that they are looking at her. They waggle their fingers at her with a smile, before turning back to the words in their book. They can’t really read them very well from here, considering it’s night now, and the only light in the room is coming from the fireplace. But they really don’t want to go sit by the couple who–Morph makes an annoyed face as they glance over to see the two sucking face, with Kurt lying on top of Logan’s body to do so.
Morph shuts their book softly, standing from their seat. They are about to leave the room, but they pause; a huge shit-eating grin across their face. No–It’s time to be the ultimate cockblock.
“You–” Kurt startles at the first word from Morph, hair standing up on his body as he jumps up slightly. Logan whips his head around on his shoulders, face red and flustered, “–two do know you’re not alone, right?”
“F-fuck–” Logan shouts, as Morph approaches the fireplace. “Morph–Where’d the hell ya come from?” Logan asks, shifting his body to hide his very obvious erection. Kurt does the same, scooting away from him to the far side of the couch, pulling his knees up to his chest.
“Uh, I’ve been in here the whole time,” they say, plopping down in the freed-up armchair, kicking their legs up on the edge of the fireplace and jutting a thumb behind them. “Over by the window. But it got too dark to read over there, so now I’m here.” They open up their book and squint at the page. They can see it just fine, but–
They stand from the armchair with a huff and head to the couch beside it, where Logan and Kurt are still staring at Morph, both very flustered. Morph leans over Logan’s body to flick on the lamp behind him, their chest quite literally in Logan’s face as they do so. “There we go!” Morph says excitedly, plopping down between the two men, but leaning their back onto Logan’s arm, so they can get the best light on their book. “Much better.” They kick their feet up to press into Kurt’s hip, pretty much taking over the whole couch. “Hope you don’t mind, I’m just really really into this book right now and can’t stop.”
“Why don’t you go up to your room then?” Logan says, a growl rising in his throat.
“Uh–” Morph holds a finger in a random place in the book that they were pretending to be reading. “I was here first. If you two wanna fuck so bad, why don’t you go up to your room.” Kurt’s tail flicks around behind him, his eyes glaring at Morph in annoyance now too. “Kinda weird to get freaky on the couch that quite literally everybody sits on.”
Logan roughly stands, letting Morph’s head fall, hitting the hard armrest of the couch. They curse, grabbing at the back of their head, their book falling from their hands and onto the floor.
“L-Logan–!” Kurt shouts, standing too. His eyes are worried now, flicking back and forth between Logan and Morph. “That wasn’t very nice–”
“Well, they’re being a dick!” Logan shouts, turning off the lamp and storming from the room.
Kurt moves like he is going to follow Logan, but clenches his fists, turning back to Morph. “You okay?” he asks, leaning down and picking up Morph’s book from the floor.
Morph has tears pricking the corners of their eyes, but they blink them back. “Y-yeah.” They sit up and take the book from Kurt with a quiet, “Thanks. I deserved that.”
“Yeah, you kind of did,” Kurt says, but sits beside Morph. “I know you want to have sex with Logan–”
“Woah–” Morph says, holding a hand out and stopping Kurt from continuing. “Okay, chill. I’m not trying to steal him away from you–” it’s a slight lie, but Logan is the one who can detect lies, not Kurt. “I was honestly just trying to irritate him. And obviously it worked, so–”
“No–” Kurt cuts back in. “I know that you still like him. It’s really, really obvious. You aren’t very good at hiding that.” Morph pulls one of their legs up onto the couch to rest their chin on their knee. “But Logan and I–we are happy together. And it is quite upsetting that you can’t be supportive to your friend.”
“Excuse me?” Morph says, turning to Kurt with a dumbfounded look on their face. They stand from the couch with a stomp, throwing their book to the floor again with a loud clatter. “Do you have any idea about the shit he put me through? Did he ever tell you?” Kurt furrows his eyebrows, confused. “No–of course he fucking didn’t! Go ahead–!” they point a hand toward the entrance of the study. “Go fucking ask him what he made me do for him! How much of a ‘supportive best friend’ I was before he dropped me–” they point their hand at Kurt, causing him to flinch slightly, “–for you!” Morph leans down, scooping up their book. “Then you can tell me how much of an unsupportive friend I am!”
Morph turns on their heel, stomping out of the study. Once they are no longer in view of Kurt, they toss their book onto the floor and take off running toward the main doors of the mansion, out into the cold night.
“Why the fuck did I come here?” Morph quietly asks themself. They are currently in their Kevin facade again, but only in a white t-shirt and jeans this time. Their face is resting on the cool countertop of the bar. They had come back to the bar that they and Rogue had gone to a few weeks back. The place is pretty much deserted right now, which Morph is super grateful for. They are already six or seven beers in by now, and the quiet country music is really starting to annoy them. “Hey!” Morph shouts at the bartender, who in turn rolls their eyes, approaching Morph again. “I want another!” they say, holding up their still-full bottle.
“Sorry, buddy,” he says, placing down the clean glass that he had been drying and tossing the bar towel over his shoulder. “I’m cutting you off.”
“Bullshit!” Morph spits out, slamming their drink down on the counter.
“Want me to kick you out, too?” he shouts, snatching the bottle from Morph.
“Hey–!” Morph yells, sitting up and reaching for the bartender. “I was still drinkin’ that!”
“Need some help?” a deep voice sounds from behind Morph. They turn, about to tell off the random stranger, but their eyes widen. He is tall–like definitely over six feet tall–with dark brown fluffy hair and soft hazel eyes. He’s dressed in a brown and white flannel shirt, a brown denim jacket, and some very worn blue jeans. He looks kinda like–
“Logan?” Morph says, squinting at the stranger.
“No,” the man says with a smirk. “Name’s Gavin.” He nods at Morph as he hooks a thumb into the belt loop of his jeans. “You gonna be calm now?” he asks, flashing a warm smile.
“Maybe,” Morph says, smirking back. “My name’s Kevin–” they try to lean onto their fist with a smirk, but their elbow slips off of the edge of the counter.
Gavin catches them with a chuckle, straightening them back up. “Why don’t we go for a little walk, Kevin,” he says with a smile. “Help sober you up a bit.”
“Sounds like a dream,” Morph says, standing from the bar, their body swaying as their feet touch the ground. Gavin laughs slightly, hooking his arm through Morph’s and walking them to the doors of the bar.
“Be back soon,” Gavin shouts, waving back at the bartender.
“You like his friend or something?” Morph asks, leaning slightly into Gavin as the cold air hits them. They already feel a bit more sober from the chill, but the world is still swaying slightly around them.
“He’s my older brother,” Gavin replies, letting go of Morph to shuck off his jacket. He hands it to Morph who accepts it, slipping it on. “Weren’t you in here a couple of weeks ago? With that really pretty girl?”
“Oh yeah–” Gavin must have been at the bar that day too. Though Morph hadn’t recognized him then, not that they were really looking at anyone too closely. “She’s my friend.”
Gavin smirks. “Just, your friend?”
“Uh, yeah,” Morph says with an annoyed tone, like Gavin should already know. “She’s just my friend. And also definitely not my type.” Morph stumbles a bit on a raised part of the sidewalk.
Gavin chuckles, helping to steady Morph again. “What is your type then?”
Morph doesn’t care anymore. What do they have to lose? “You could be,” they say, smirking up at Gavin. And to their shock, Gavin doesn’t really react much, just smiles back at them.
“I appreciate it, but you’re drunk and just saying that 'cause I’m being nice to you.”
“I’m not lying,” Morph reiterates. “I like me a rugged, lumberjack man with–” they wrap their arms slightly tighter on Gavin’s bicep, “–big strong muscles.” Gavin laughs a little as his eyes squeeze closed, a snort slipping from his nose. ‘Oh no,’ Morph thinks to themself, a blush tinting their cheeks. 'This guy is really cute!’
“You’re not so bad yourself, Kevin,” he replies, smiling and wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
They continue to walk around the block, talking and laughing. They eventually come back to stop at the doors of the bar, the soft patter of rain starting to come down. “Did you drive here?” Gavin asks, pulling away, but keeping a hand on Morph’s shoulder. “I can give you a ride home.”
Morph shakes their head, it feeling a lot lighter atop their neck now that the alcohol is starting to work its way out of their system. “Nah, I took a cab.” They rub the back of their neck. “I’m actually just gonna head to a motel for the night. I kinda had a fight with my housemates, and I really don’t feel like seeing them anymore tonight. That’s why I was here.”
“Getting shit-faced to forget your problems?” Gavin asks with a smirk.
“Yeah,” Morph smiles back. “Pretty much. Oh–” they slide the jacket off of their shoulders. “Thanks for this. I didn’t think about bringing a jacket with me.” More like, they couldn’t just manifest one in front of the humans without being chased out of the bar.
“Yeah,” Gavin takes it back, folding it over his arms.
“Well–” Morph turns slightly, waving back at him. “See you around!”
When Morph is only a few steps away, they hear a “Hey–” Morph turns back around to see Gavin trotting up to them. “I have a pullout at my place,” he says and points over to a motorbike parked in the alleyway next to the bar. “You’re more than welcome to stay there for the night.”
“Oh, no–” Morph shakes their hands. “I couldn't–I don’t want to impose!”
“It’s no worry at all. Beats sleeping in a motel.” Gavin smiles. “I promise I’m not a serial killer or something.”
Morph smirks with a short laugh. “Sounds exactly like what a serial killer would say.”
“Make yourself at home,” Gavin says as the two enter the apartment. It’s small, just a one-bedroom unit, but it’s homey.
“I really do appreciate this,” Morph says, pretending to kick off their shoes into the closet, but just fusing them back into their body once their feet are out of view, since they are part of their disguise.
“It’s nothing really,” Gavin says with a shrug, hanging up his coat on the back of one of the two dining chairs. While Gavin gets the pullout bed ready, Morph heads into the bathroom. They sigh as they drop the facade, grateful to see their own comfortable grey appearance in the mirror again. They steal a swig of his mouthwash and rinse their face off in the sink. After peeing and washing their hands, they put up their Kevin facade again and head back out into the living room.
Gavin is in the kitchen slicing up a banana. He has changed out of his jeans and into a grey tank top and black sweatpants, which make his physique look amazing from behind. “You hungry at all?” he asks, peeking over his shoulder.
“Oh no, I’m just fine,” Morph says, sitting down on the pullout bed and pulling their knees up to their chest. That was a lie. Morph hadn’t eaten dinner, and all that was in their system was what was left of the beers that they had downed at the bar. Their stomach growls a bit, but they ignore it.
“Alright, but I make a pretty mean peanut butter banana toast,” Gavin says, placing the banana slices onto his toast.
“How about I let you make me some for breakfast?” Morph suggests, resting their arms on their knees.
“That sounds like a plan,” Gavin says with a smirk, walking over to the pullout. “You need anything else from me?”
“Nah,” Morph says, leaning back on their hands and stretching their legs out. “Thanks again for letting me crash here,” they say and avert their gaze down at their legs. “This really does beat staying at a motel.”
Gavin lets out a slight laugh through his nose. “I mean, it’s no ‘5 star hotel,’ but I’m glad to help.” Morph glances over as they feel the side of the pullout dip down, Gavin sitting down beside them. “You sure you’re alright?” he asks, leaning closer, his hazel eyes searching over Morph’s face.
“Y-yeah,” Morph says, their head backing away a bit. But a tear rolls from their eye, and they quickly brush it away. “Just–my eyes water when I’m tired, that’s all,” they say with a nervous chuckle and let out an over-exaggerated yawn.
Gavin’s expression tightens, and he sets his plate down on the side table next to the couch. “Bull,” he says, leaning on his arm as he cocks his head to the side. “Your housemates, did they kick you out?”
Morph averts their gaze, tucking some of their pseudo-black hair behind their ear. “N-no–I left because–” because you are a horrible person. Morph can’t stop themself from physically shaking their head, willing the thoughts away. “Like I said; we had a fight and I just didn’t want to go back home,” Morph says, straightening their back up straighter. “That’s it. Nothing more to it.”
“What’d you guys fight about?” Gavin asks, eyes still glued to Morph.
“It’s not important. Stupid shit. Petty shit. I started it, so I left to let tensions cool.” They shrug one of their shoulders. “Even if I never went back, they’d be fine without me–” more tears are fighting their way out of Morph’s ducts and they blink them back in.
“Sounds to me like you need better friends,” Gavin says, his words sounding genuine. Like he wanted to believe that 'Kevin' wasn’t in the wrong.
“No, I’m the shitty friend,” Morph says. “My friends–they’re dating. But I used to be with one of them before this, so tensions are just a little high right now.”
“Yikes, that sounds pretty rough,” Gavin admits. He places a hand on the mattress, just inches from Morph’s leg as he leans further into Morph’s face. “If you need to crash here for a couple more days–”
“No offense–” Morph cuts in, finally turning their gaze back to Gavin. “But why the fuck are you being so nice to me?”
Gavin smirks, his face soft, a slight smile on the corner of his lips. “Mostly 'cause you’re cute.” Morph’s cheeks tint red a bit at the comment. “And you just seem like you need a friend–”
“You’re not my friend,” Morph says, turning away a bit. The words sounded harsher than they meant. They sigh, rewording their thoughts. “I literally just met you tonight. We aren’t even acquaintances. Just two random people who met at a bar. You don’t know me–”
“Well I’d like to get to know you,” Gavin says, resting his hand on Morph’s thigh.
Morph’s heart flips in their chest. “You sure about that?” they ask, their heart racing.
“Yeah, I think so,” Gavin says, leaning in closer to Morph.
With a blink, their Kevin facade drops. Thunder rolls outside, the lightning illuminating the room. Gavin’s eyes widen and he pulls his hand off of them, leaning away from Morph. “Yeah,” Morph says with a sad smile. “I didn’t think so.”
“You’re a mutant?” Gavin asks, the surprise already leaving his face, being replaced with curiosity.
“Yeah,” Morph admits, turning away. “Sorry for tricking you.”
“And you’re a shapeshifter?” Gavin leans back in, smiling at Morph, who turns back, surprise now present on their face. “That’s pretty cool.”
“Y-you’re not mad at me for tricking you?”
“You didn’t trick me. It makes sense that you would walk around looking like a normal human. I’m sure that you wouldn’t be able to get into most places looking like–well–this,” Gavin says, gesturing to Morph’s body. “How do your powers work? I don’t get to meet a lot of mutants.”
Morph examines Gavin for a moment, before shifting their form into him. “I can turn into anyone I want,” they say, using Gavin’s voice. They then shift into Rogue. “I can look, and sound like them too.”
The smile on Gavin’s face widens, their mouth opening slightly, so intrigued. “So your friend–this one–she’s a mutant too?” Morph nods. “That’s so cool! Can you do other mutants too? Like ones that don’t look like humans?”
Morph thinks about who else they could turn into, before short blue fur sprouts from their skin. “Ja,” they say, pulling up their Kurt facade, tail swishing behind them.
“Woah! I’ve seen him on the news! He’s part of the X-Men right? Do you know him?”
“Yeah,” Morph says, shifting back to themself. “He’s one of my–colleagues.” 'Friend' was the word that they were going to use, but it doesn't feel right to use right now, considering everything going on between them. “I’m also part of their team, but I don’t really do much.” They bring up a knee, wrapping their arm around it. “I don’t have any special powers, other than being a copycat, so–” they shrug, “–I just kinda hang out in the background mostly.”
“No special powers–?” Gavin cuts in, resting his hand on Morph’s hand. “That’s a load of bull.” Morph’s eyes widen. “I think that your powers are pretty darn special.”
The tears start to well up in Morph’s eyes, and this time, they let them run down their cheeks. Morph pulls up their other knee and folds their arms across both of them, pushing their face into arms to hide.
“Hey, did I say something wrong?” Gavin asks softly, sliding a hand across Morph’s back. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry.”
Morph shakes their head into their arms. “I just–Just gimme a minute.” Gavin doesn’t say anything, just comfortingly rubs his hand across Morph’s back. After a few minutes, Morph sniffs, rubbing their nose into their arm. Gavin holds out a tissue box from the side table. “Thanks,” Morph says quietly, taking the tissue and blowing their nose.
“Sorry if I said something wrong,” he says again.
Morph shakes their head, a sad smile on their face. “Nah, it just kinda surprised me. Something so nice coming from someone. I’m just not used to that.”
Gavin blows some air from their mouth. “Oh good–not that that’s a good thing–! I just meant good that I didn’t say something to offend you.”
Morph chuckles a bit, leaning back against the couch. Gavin laughs a little too, standing from the couch. “I’ll let you get some sleep, okay?” he says, grabbing his plate. “Goodnight, Kevin,” he says.
“Goodnight,” Morph says back, lying down on the pullout.
Morph creeps down the hallway of the mansion, heading for their room. Once Gavin had fallen asleep, they slipped out of his apartment, calling a cab to take them to a motel. As nice as Gavin had been, they didn’t want to get involved with a human, and risk things growing between them. Humans and mutants just didn’t mix, and probably never will. And they know that. After a few days in the motel, they eventually made their way back home. Especially since they hadn’t brought their phone with them.
Once their bedroom door is shut quietly behind them, they finally exhale the breath that they had been holding in. They flip the lock and head over to their bed, flopping onto the familiar scent of the house laundry detergent. It feels good to be back home. Not even a full minute later though, there’s a soft knock on their door. Morph thinks about ignoring it, but then their door knob jiggles, followed by another knock, slightly louder this time.
Morph huffs as they push themself off of the bed, heading over to the door. They unlock it and crack it open, peeking through the slit between the door and the frame. “Scott?” Morph says, opening the door further. Morph crosses their arms and leans against the doorframe. “Now this is unusual. What’re you doing creepin’ the halls at night? Isn’t eight o’clock your bedtime?”
Scott folds his arms across his chest, not amused. “I was about to ask you the same thing. Where the hell have you been?”
“Okay, dad–” Morph says, rolling their eyes. “I didn’t realize that I had a curfew.”
Morph can see Scott's eyes squint behind his red-tinted round glasses. “You were gone for two days, you missed your class–”
“You really just here to lecture me about my absence?” Morph sasses him, cocking up a brow muscle.
Scott huffs, glancing down the hallway before leaning closer to Morph. “Rogue is gone.”
Morph’s eyes widen, their arms drooping slightly. “What? What the hell do you mean she’s gone?”
Scott shushes them, gesturing that they go into Morph’s room. Which they do, Morph backing up and letting Scott come in, closing the door behind them. “We figured that she left with you, since you both disappeared the same night,” Scott explains. “But now you’re back–”
“She didn’t leave with me,” Morph says, and heads over to their desk, grabbing their coat from the back of their chair. “But I’ll go find her.”
“You know where she is?” Scott asks.
Morph pulls their coat on, and shoves their feet into their shoes. “I might have an idea.”
Scott’s car pulls up to the curb in front of the bar. “Here?” he asks, making a face at the bright neon signs around the door.
“I don’t know for sure, but it’s the first place I wanna check.” Morph shifts to their Kevin facade, and steps out of the car. “Just stay here.”
Morph opens the doors and sighs in relief as they see fluffy brown hair sitting at the bar. They cautiously approach Rogue, not wanting to startle her. “Hey,” Morph says quietly once they step up beside her.
She still jumps, her head turning quickly toward the voice beside her. Her face is red and puffy, eyeliner smudged around her eyes and tear-streaks staining her cheeks. She’s wearing a turtleneck, scarf, and gloves, not letting any skin show other than her face. “M-Morph?” she asks, looking them over.
“Yeah,” Morph says, letting their true face show for a moment on the half of their face that is away from the other patrons. “You okay?” they ask, reaching a hand out toward her.
“Don’t touch me!” Rogue shouts, standing quickly and knocking her stool over.
“Rogue–”
“S-stay away from me, Morph!” she shouts again, backing away from them.
“Hey–!” a deep voice sounds as a couple of guys approach the two from the pool tables. “This guy bothering you, miss?” the man says, placing his hand on Rogue’s shoulder.
Rogue shrieks, grabbing the man’s arm and throwing him a good distance across the room, knocking over a couple of tables. “Don’t touch me!” she shouts again, grabbing her own arms before digging her hand’s into her hair and squeezing her eyes shut. “Get away from me!” she screams. The room begins to shake around them. The man that she had thrown stumbles to his feet, and he and the rest of the patrons make a run for the doors.
“Rogue–!” Morph shouts, holding their hands out, dropping their facade. “It’s okay!” they take a step closer to her. “Rogue–!” She screams, collapsing onto her knees and folding forward. “I’m here!” Morph shouts, dropping to their knees in front of her. “Look at me!” Morph leans down, not daring to touch her right now, but trying to get her to look at them “You’re okay, Anna. I’m here. You’re okay.”
“What the hell–?” Scott shouts, having just thrown open the door to the bar.
“Stay back!” Morph shouts at him and he stills by the doors. “Rogue–” they say, turning back to her. “Look at me,” Morph says quietly. “Please. I just want to help you.” She shifts onto her butt and pushes her head between her knees, her body rocking as she tries to breathe. “Let me help you, Anna.”
She finally looks up at them, her green eyes glowing bright, contrasting the bloodshot color in her whites and how red her face is. “I’m right here,” Morph says, cautiously reaching a hand out to her. “I’m right here.”
Rogue’s face twists and her eyes screw shut as she launches herself into Morph’s arms, sobbing into their neck. They stumble back a bit, but catch her, holding her tightly in their arms. “I’ve got you,” they say softly, running a hand over the back of her head.
“I killed Remy,” she sobs out, and Morph shushes her. “It’s my fault he’s dead. ‘S all my fault!”
“It’s not your fault,” Morph says quietly, rocking her in their grasp. “It’s not your fault.”
The car ride back to the mansion is quiet. Morph sits up in the passenger's seat but has a hand reaching back to hook onto Rogue’s gloved fingers as she stares silently out the window. Scott knows better than to say anything right now and keeps his mouth shut for once.
Once back home, Morph walks with Rogue to her room, with her still gripping loosely onto their hand. They sit just outside her bathroom with the door cracked open as she cleans herself up. Once finished, Morph helps her dry her hair and braids it back for her. No words are spoken for the rest of the night between them, and Morph still does their best to keep their touching to a minimum, so as to not set her off again.
She dresses in another long sleeve turtleneck and some leggings, pulling on her socks and gloves as she climbs into bed, shifting to just one side, silently inviting Morph to stay with her. They smile and climb under the covers, but keep their distance as she moves slightly further away from them.
But when Morph wakes in the morning, Rogue is snuggled up against them, sleeping comfortably in their grasp.