Day 1 and 2
The team had gathered for lunch, but someone was missing from the table.
"Where's Morph?" Scott asked.
"They went out this morning, but here they come" Logan said before starting to eat.
A moment later, the sound of someone running down the hallway was heard before the door burst open. Morph entered, looking very excited, carrying a package of candles and some pieces of metal. They approached Magneto and placed the items near him.
The master of magnetism raised an eyebrow. "What is this?"
"Well, I spent the whole morning looking for a menorah, but I couldn't find one. So I just got some metal and thought you could, you know, use it to make a menorah… you know, to celebrate Hanukkah!"
"Where did you get the metal?" Cyclops asked, confused, but the others ignored him.
"I appreciate the thought, Morph" Erik began, "but you don't have to do this just because I'm here now."
"I just thought it would be fun to do it now that there's another Jewish person on the team," Morph said.
"Wait, you're Jewish?" Magneto asked.
"Yeah, haven't I mentioned it before?" Morph looked at the others, who all shook their heads.
"Well, I'm not really religious" Morph said with a shrug before smiling. "But I like holidays! And I don't usually celebrate any now, so I thought it would be fun to celebrate Hanukkah."
"I don't think—" Magneto stopped when he felt a kick on his leg and noticed Logan glaring angry at him.
"Alright" Magneto said with resignation as he used his powers to shape the metal into a menorah. "We can celebrate Hanukkah."
"Thank you!" Morph hugged him before sitting down to eat. "We should invite Wanda and Pietro."
"I doubt they celebrate this, Morph" Erik said.
"Then this would be their first time!" Morph said excitedly. "Besides, it only takes Pietro like three seconds to get here."
"I think it's a splendid idea to invite the twins" the Professor said, placing a hand on Erik's arm.
The next day, Logan stopped Morph in one of the hallways.
"Here" Logan said, handing something small to Morph.
Morph looked confused before glancing down at the small chocolate in their hand. "Logan?"
"You said you wanted to celebrate Hanukkah, and I heard it's tradition to give small gifts, so…" Logan shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.
"So you're going to give me gifts all week?" Morph smiled.
"You don't have to accept them if you don't want to."
"Only a fool would refuse gifts" Morph said, unwrapping the chocolate and taking a bite.
Logan gave them a small smile before walking away. Morph continued down the hall and ran into Magneto, who had apparently witnessed the scene.
"Do you enjoy indulging in childish things?" he said in a serious tone.
"You're just jealous because the Professor doesn't give you gifts" Morph teased before popping the rest of the chocolate into their mouth.
The shapeshifter kept walking, leaving Magneto behind. They carefully smoothed out the chocolate wrapper, thinking about keeping it in a notebook or book so it wouldn’t get lost. It really felt like a sweet gesture from Logan.
Later, just before sunset, Magneto, Xavier, and Morph were outside the mansion doors. They saw a streak of light approaching rapidly before stopping a few meters away—it was Quicksilver carrying Scarlet Witch in his arms. As she stepped down, Morph quickly approached them to say hello.
"You didn't tell us he was going to be here" Wanda said softly, glancing at Magneto.
"No, I just assumed you would assume he would be here" Morph said as the three approached the mansion door.
Charles didn’t need to use his powers to know his partner was nervous. He took his hand and squeezed it gently.
"I'm glad to see you both. Thank you for coming" Magneto said to his children.
"We're glad you're not doing crazy things anymore" Pietro replied.
"Good evening, Professor" Wanda said politely.
"Just Charles is fine” Xavier said before turning to re-enter the mansion. "Come on in, my home is your home."
The twins chatted with the other X-Men for a while. When the sky darkened, Morph gathered everyone together. They placed the menorah on one of the pieces of furniture. There were a couple of photos, but there was just enough space in the center. Morph handed Erik one of the candles and some matches so he could place and light it.
Magneto looked at the candle. It had been years since he had done this, many years since he had a family to celebrate his traditions with. He glanced at Charles, who was smiling at him sweetly, and at his children beside him. Then he looked at Morph, who was watching him with excitement.
But now he did have a family. He placed the candle in its spot and lit it.
The next day, Morph ran into Logan outside their room. The Canadian had his hands behind his back and looked a little shy.
"Hey Wolverine, did you come to make sure I don't get lost on the way to the kitchen?" Morph joked.
"I wanted to give you this" Logan said, bringing his arms forward and extending one hand toward Morph. In it was a red rose.
Morph blushed and took the flower, but upon holding it, they noticed something odd.
"Where did you get this? It doesn’t have any thorns."
"I removed them so you wouldn't prick yourself" Logan said, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks.
Morph smiled sweetly. "Thank you."
"It's nothing, really. I took it from one of the nearby gardens, so it was free" Logan said, trying to sound indifferent.
"So you stole it?" Morph laughed.
Logan gave them a small smile before starting to walk away. "See you at breakfast."
Morph looked back at the flower—they should put it in water so it would last longer.
Meanwhile, Magneto and the Professor were finishing getting up.
"Do you need help?" Erik asked, watching Charles prepare to move from the bed to his wheelchair.
"Thank you, but I've done this a million times, Magnus" Xavier said before smirking playfully. "Unless you're just looking for an excuse to carry me."
"I don't need excuses for that" Magneto said, turning his head away.
The Professor settled into his chair, smiling. "It was nice having your children here yesterday."
"I'm fairly sure they still don't like me" Erik replied, opening the door to their room.
"They will, once they spend more time with you"
"You're very optimistic, Charles."
That afternoon, Magneto was surprised to see the twins in the school kitchen. “What are you doing here?”
“Morph said it was like this all week, so we had to come every afternoon” said Wanda.
“They were pretty insistent” added Pietro.
“Yes, I’ve learned that since being here.”
“By the way, I heard it’s a tradition to give money to your children on Hanukkah” said Pietro, approaching his father while his sister shook her head.
“That’s for kids” Erik said, amused. “But ask Xavier, maybe he’ll give you some coins.”
“Morph also said there’s a party where you eat cake and get gifts.”
“You mean a bar mitzvah? That’s also for kids” Magneto explained.
“But can I still have one if I haven’t done it before?” Pietro asked.
“You’d have to learn Hebrew first.”
“You can have cake and gifts on your birthday, Pietro” said Wanda.
That evening, everyone gathered again at the menorah. This time, Morph lit the candles. Not far away, Wolverine watched them carefully. Logan loved seeing Morph relaxed and happy after everything they had been through. And while he still didn't like Magneto, he liked him better now that he wasn't fighting them.
When Morph finished lighting the candles, they caught Magneto smiling before glancing directly at Logan. The Canadian couldn't stop his heart from racing.