“Rahne. Wake up.”
Rahne slowly opened her eyes as she was awoken by a voice at her door. She turned her head to read the glowing red numbers on her alarm clock. 03:42. Who was knocking on her door at four in the morning?
Checking her nails before she rubbed her hands over her eyes, Rahne slowly rose from her bed, grabbing her grey jumper from the ground and tossing it over her head as she walked over to the door.
Opening the door, Rahne was surprised to see Dani standing there, the newest edition to the facility. Despite only having been here just less than two weeks, Dani and Rahne had spoken on several occasions quickly finding out how much they had in common. The conversations between them flowed easily, and Rahne felt more at peace when she was near Dani than she’d felt in a long time. But despite all that she was still surprised to see her new friend standing in her doorway at four in the morning.
It looked as though Dani had been about to knock again before Rahne had opened her door, as she had her hand in a fist up near her head. Dani quickly lowered her hand, but not without letting out a small laugh.
Confused, Rahne tilted her head to the side, still too groggy to think of saying any actual words. Still smiling, Dani quickly pointed up above Rahne’s head.
“Now I thought my bed hair was bad,” Dani said with sly smile.
Rahne’s eyes widened, and quickly brought both hands up to try and smooth her short hair down, which she realised must have been sticking up in all places.
Dani gave another small laugh, “Sorry, don’t mean to tease but it looked quite funny.”
“No yeah. It always does that. One of the disadvantages of having short hair,” Rahne said in her thick Scottish accent, slightly croaky from having only just woken up. Dani smiled.
Realising that Dani was standing here at four in the morning at Rahne’s door, Rahne asked, “Not to be rude, but what are you doing here at four in the morning?”
“I don’t know,” Dani said with a shrug. “I couldn’t get to sleep and just felt like being near someone.”
A small smile appeared on Rahne’s face. Dani wanted to be near her.
“Plus, I kind of felt like exploring. Dr Reyes doesn’t like us wandering through the institute, so I figured the best time to do it would be now.”
Rahne’s eyes widened. “But we’re not allowed out of our rooms at night remember?”
“I do,” Dani grinned, “Which is why this’ll be fun. Come with me?” Dani held out her hand for Rahne to take.
Rahne looked down at her hand but hesitated. She’d never been a rule breaker, or rebellious, or anything like a typical teenager. Reverend Craig, her adoptive father had made sure of that. Instilling her with religious beliefs and strict moral code for as long as she could remember. Well. Until he’d chased her with the other villagers all over the Scottish Highlands.
Dani noticed her hesitation, and quickly added, “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
But Rahne really did want to come. She just…
“But I’d love if you came with me.”
At that, whatever little voice inside of Rahne’s head that had been stopping her from taking Dani’s hand was swept aside as Rahne smiled at Dani’s last comment. Rahne took Dani’s hand, giving way to a smile on Dani’s face. Dani quickly jerked her out of the room, giving Rahne only just enough time to close her door, as Dani led her down the corridors at jogging speed.
Dani took a quick look at Rahne behind her as she tugged her along. Rahne noticed Dani had not let go of her hand, and a warm sensation filled her chest at the thought of it. Dani smiled at Rahne, having seen Rahne looking down at their hands before turning back around before she led them into a wall.
Rahne tried to figure out where Dani was taking them, but the walls around her all looked the same, and she quickly lost track of where she was in the facility’s endless hallways. On the other hand, Rahne noticed Dani seemed to know exactly where she was going, swiftly taking them down each hallway, only pausing a few times to decided which direction to go.
Soon enough, they arrived at a set of spiral stairs that went up through the ceiling and beyond. Rahne tilted her head to try to look all the way up, then brought her eyes back to Dani, who was looking intently at her, as though trying to gage her reaction. Rahne blushed slightly under Dani’s gaze, though quickly turned her head to look at the stairs to hide it.
“Where are you taking me? You obviously know where you’re going. This isn’t your first night exploring is it?” Rahne asked Dani.
Dani tilted her head down sheepishly and smiled at Rahne as she walked closer to her. “Possibly,” Dani smiled, putting one hand onto Rahne’s shoulder, which caused Rahne to turn her head to look at Dani again, who she noticed had gotten very close.
“I couldn’t sleep the first few nights I got here. And I didn’t really know anyone well enough to go over to their rooms, so I decided to go exploring, and I found this place. Come on, I want to show you.”
Dani held Rahne’s hand again, though this time grabbing it more gently, and led her up the spiralling stairs. Rahne could feel her breathing rising but was confused as to why. Worried, she looked down at her hands making sure it wasn’t her powers flaring up unconsciously again because of it, but thankfully all she saw was short unpainted nails.
They eventually reached the top, and that’s when Rahne finally realised where Dani had taken her. Rahne could see the front courtyard through the glass face of the clock tower that sat atop the church. Rahne walked up the glass to get a better look of the courtyard from this high up. The creepy angel that sat in the centre looked even creepy in the dark than it did in the daytime, only being lit by the dim lamps outside.
Rahne turned to face Dani, “I didn’t even know we could go up here.”
“Yeah. I was just wandering around when I found the set of stairs and decided to see where they led. I’m glad I did, it’s pretty cool from up here.” Dani stepped up beside Rahne and looked down at the courtyard. “Although, there’s an even cooler view outside.”
Rahne turned to look at Dani, confusion on her face as Dani just smiled at her and walked over to a small door on the side of the tower Rahne hadn’t even noticed. Dani opened to door which let a gust of cold air into the tower Rahne wasn’t expecting, which caused a tingling sensation on Rahne’s back and arms. Rahne knew this was her mutation trying to keep her warm, but quickly covered her hands with her jumper to stop anything from showing. Rahne had known Dani long enough to trust her, but she still didn’t feel comfortable enough for Dani to see parts of her mutation. Let alone the full extent of it.
Dani noticed Rahne tensing up but took this as a sign of her being cold, “Oh sorry,” she giggled, “Probably should have warned you first.” Rahne just nodded and gave a timid smile, unsure whether her eyes had changed or not.
“Come on, it’s cool out here.” Dani climbed out the door and disappeared to the right.
Rahne turned to look at her reflection in the glass and sighed in relief to see her eyes their normal green. However, the tingling sensation hadn’t gone away, and Rahne knew it probably wouldn’t until she got warm again. Checking her eyes one more time, Rahne walked over to the small door, and crouched down to fit through it.
Once outside, Rahne noticed that the door led to a small ledge that went around the side of the clock tower. Rahne carefully slide along the ledge in the direction she saw Dani go, until she came to a corner. Holding onto the tower’s bricks, Rahne slowly rounded the corner, and saw Dani sitting on the ledge with her legs swinging below her.
“Hey, you made it,” Dani smiled at her and patted the spot beside her, “Come sit down, you’ll feel more stable.”
Rahne slowly crouched walked to Dani, still tightly gripping onto the tower, and willing herself not to look down. She’d never been explicitly afraid of heights, but just being this high up without a railing made Rahne’s palms sweat. She slowly sat down beside Dani, letting her legs swing below her, and grabbed tightly onto the ledge below her. She let herself look down for the first time and felt her breath hitch in her throat.
Dani noticed her friend’s tenseness, and slid her hand overtop Rahne’s jumper covered hand to try and comfort her. “Sorry,” she offered, “I probably should have checked how you were with heights before dragging you out here.”
Rahne tore her eyes from the ground far below her and looked at Dani. “No, no. It’s not that I’ve ever had a big problem with heights. It’s just… Being this high up with nothing but a small ledge stopping me from falling. It’s kind of scary.”
“It’s ok. I’ll stop you from falling,” Dani said as she put her hand on the side of Rahne’s face, which caused Rahne’s heartbeat to start racing inside her chest again, even faster than what being out on the ledge had caused it to. Dani just looked into her eyes and smiled.
“So, prefer short hair, do you?” Dani asked as her fingers played with a strand of Rahne’s hair.
“Yeah,” Rahne said, having been able to stop just staring at Dani, “I uh…” Rahne paused as felt Dani’s hand on her check. “Actually, can’t grow it any longer.”
Dani looked at her surprised, “Really?” she asked as Rahne nodded. “Genetic or mutation?” Dani asked.
“I have no clue. I just know when my foster father tried getting me to grow it out so I wouldn’t look so much like a boy it just stopped growing once it got to this length.” Rahne brought her left hand up and grabbed a strand of her hair to show Dani. Dani reached with her right hand to hold onto Rahne’s hand, leaving her left on Rahne’s cheek, and brought it down beside both of them, without breaking eye contact.
“I think it looks great,” Dani smiled, “You look really pretty either way.” This caused a small blush to appear on Rahne’s cheeks as she just stared at Dani, which Dani noticed. No one had ever made Rahne feel the ways she did now sitting beside Dani. Her heart was pounding away in her chest, and she was very aware of Dani’s hand on her own, and of Dani as she slid closer to Rahne.
“So, foster father?” Dani asked carefully, not wanting to overstep too much, but also curious of Rahne’s life before coming here.
“Well… He wasn’t actually my foster father as it turned out. All my life he’d told me I was orphaned by my real parents, and he’d been kind enough to take me in. But what I found later was that he was my real father. Being a reverend and having a motherless child wouldn’t have looked particularly good for him. So, he hid the truth from everyone in our village, and played the part of the foster father to an orphaned girl. Well, up until her basically disowned me after my mutation appeared,” Rahne said glumly, looking over the ledge of the tower again.
“That’s…” Dani tried to say as her wide eyes showed her shock at Rahne’s story, “That was horrible of him Rahne. I’m so sorry he did that to you,” Dani said as worry and concern showed on her face. “You don’t deserve that.”
Rahne looked up at Dani and saw how much she meant those words. But Rahne couldn’t help shake the nagging feeling in her brain that she somehow deserved all that Reverend Craig had put her through.
Her confliction must have shown on her face because Dani quickly took Rahne’s other hand with the one that had been on her face, and brough their hands up to their chests. “Rahne,” Dani said, looking intently into Rahne’s eyes, “You don’t. You deserve so much more than what happened to you. Because I think you’re absolutely extraordinary, and I’ve never felt this close with anyone else in my life. And I just feel so comfortable when I’m with you. That’s why I wanted to take you up here tonight. I just wanted to be with you tonight.”
Rahne’s breath hitched at Dani’s last words, and felt a smile cross her face as Dani stared into her eyes. Rahne was very aware of how close they had gotten on the small ledge. Dani let go of one of Rahne’s hands and brought her free hand back up to Rahne’s face. Dani ran her hand down Rahne’s neck, but suddenly stopped at Rahne’s shoulder.
Dani’s face furrowed in confusion and her eyes looked down to Rahne’s neck. Dani slowly leaned closer to where her hand was. Rahne suddenly realised Dani’s hand was at her jumper’s neckline, and quickly tore her hand out of Dani’s grip, and brought it up to her neck, pushing Dani’s hand away. Rahne tried to pull her jumper to cover up more of her neck but being a jumper with no collar meant it wouldn’t cover very much.
Dani had recoiled from Rahne’s sudden outburst, and sat there wide eyed, trying to figure out what had just happened. “Rahne I’m so sorry,” Dani said as realisation filled her eyes, “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I was just curious.” Dani looked at Rahne with concern in her eyes worried she’d offended or made Rahne feel uncomfortable.
“No, it’s just…” Rahne said quickly, focussing on not looking at Dani. She’d never explicitly mentioned her mutation to Dani, often just referring it as her “powers” or “mutation”. When they started getting closer, Rahne worried at what Dani would think of her once she saw Rahne’s mutation. The last people who had seen it had chased her out of her village. She hadn’t wanted Dani to think of her any differently. Or treat her differently.
“I umm…” Rahne couldn’t bring herself to speak to Dani.
“Rahne,” Dani stopped her, “It doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t matter how you look, how you may act. To me it matters who you are. And I like who you are,” Dani said, as she attempted to bring her hand back up to Rahne’s face. “All of you.”
Dani’s hand landed on Rahne’s shoulder, and Rahne turned to face her again until they were staring into each other’s eyes again. Dani felt Rahne tense as Dani slowly moved her hand over to her neckline, but Dani kept going, taking Rahne not attempting to stop her this time as a good sign. She reached the spot her hand had been before and moved her hand over the tuffs of fur sticking up from the back of Rahne’s jumper. Dani moved her eyes to look at the back of Rahne’s neck. Rahne’s head turned to look where Dani’s hand was.
“No wonder you’re not cold,” Dani giggled remembering how much warmer Rahne’s hands had been in her own, “Your hands were so much warmer than mine.”
For the first time in a few minutes Rahne smiled and looked back to Dani. “I guess yeah. I don’t usually get too cold.”
“So cool,” Dani said, which made Rahne blush and look down at her hand smiling.
Dani didn’t want to push her too much, but she was also quite curious, so she casually asked, “So is it just there, or are there other parts of you...?”
Rahne hesitated and felt her face blush slightly, but eventually spoke, “No, my arms as well,” she said looking down at them.
“Can I see?” Dani said without thinking. She quickly worried she’d make Rahne pull away again, but luckily Rahne seemed more comfortable now, and brought her hand up and held it in front of Dani. Dani cautiously looked at Rahne, to make sure she was comfortable, and then looked down at her outstretched hand. Dani held Rahne’s hand and pulled up her jumper to just past her wrist. Dani saw that the outside of Rahne’s arm was covered with the same dark red fur as at the base of her neck. She also noticed that the back of Rahne’s hand was also covered in fur, which confused her.
“Wait, is it always there?” Dani asked confused, certain she’d never seen any hair there before.
“No, it comes and goes luckily,” Rahne clarified, “I just can’t really control that and all of the rest of it all too well. Which is why it’s here now,” Rahne said, sounding slightly frustrated.
Dani smiled at Rahne’s frustration, finding it cute. “Well I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to show me. And it doesn’t change what I think about you. I still think you’re pretty cool. Maybe even a little more now.” Rahne couldn’t keep the smile from creeping over her face.
“Maybe one day you’ll be comfortable enough to show me the rest of it,” Dani said hopefully.
“One day,” Rahne said, though her smile stayed on her face.
Dani sighed and looked out over the courtyard, and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “Jeez, did it get colder,” Dani said laughing which Rahne joined in on.
“Well I mean we can just go back inside,” Rahne suggested.
“Nah, I wanna stay out here a bit longer. Maybe I could just steal some of your warmth I just found out about.” Dani said, snuggling up to Rahne. Despite the action surprising Rahne, she responded by putting her arm over Dani, and bringing her legs up to her chest to mick Dani. Dani rested her head on Rahne’s shoulder, sighing contently at how warm Rahne’s neck was.
They sat there for what felt like hours, both content in the other’s company. The first rays of the morning sun began to shine above the endless number of trees that surrounded the facility.
“The suns starting to come up. We should probably head back before Dr Reyes catches us,” Rahne spoke first.
Dani sighed before sitting up and stretching her legs out. “Yeah I suppose so,” Dani said, looking over at Rahne. “Thank you for coming with me tonight,” Dani smiled.
“I’m glad I did,” Rahne replied sincerely.
Before Dani could decide whether it was a bad idea, she leaned in towards Rahne, noticing the shock on Rahne’s face but continued when she saw Rahne didn’t pull away until their lips connected. Dani brought her hand up to Rahne’s face, and Dani felt a hand around her waist.
Dani then pulled away and looked up into Rahne’s eyes to gage her reaction. Rahne’s eyes were wide in shock, but she hadn’t pulled away, nor lifted her hand from Dani’s side. Dani giggled at Rahne’s shocked face and smiled when she looked into her eyes.
“Come on, we don’t want to be caught,” Dani said with a sly smile as she stood up from the ledge, and slowly made her way around the tower back to the small door. Rahne was still in shock and hadn’t moved yet. Only when Dani was around the corner was Rahne able to tear her eyes off Dani. Rahne quickly stood up to follow Dani but caught a look at herself in the clock glass. Without her even realising, her green eyes had turned to their alternate dark yellow. Realising Dani must have seen it but not said anything about it, or shown any discomfort because of it, Rahne couldn’t help a smile forming on her lips.
With a little less fear in her heart than when she had entered out onto the ledge, Rahne quickly followed Dani around the corner and through the little door. Meeting Dani in the tower, Dani grabbed onto Rahne’s hand and they quickly climbed down the steps of the tower. Once at the bottom, they raced through the hallways together, hand in hand, until they got to their corridor. They stopped outside of Rahne’s room, and just stood there looking at each other as they caught their breaths.
“Get some sleep Rahne, I’ll see you in a few hours,” Dani said smiling as she quickly hugged Rahne and then dashed off to her own room. She turned back to Rahne as she closed her door, giving her one last smile.
Still standing dazed at her door Rahne slowly turned around to open her door, and she walked into her room. Throwing her jumper on the ground she quickly climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her.
As the adrenaline slowly started fading away, Rahne could feel just how heavy her eyelids have become, and soon enough felt the sleep taking over her. But not without one last image of Dani looking at her with so much care in her eyes. Something Rahne hadn’t felt in too long. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have met Dani. And with that, sleep overtook the young mutant.