Hello, I'm your wife. Allow me to introduce myself.

[magneticmiss.livejournal.com]

She sat at a table set for two at one of her father's favorite restaurants. The candles, flowers, place settings and linens were all arranged just so. As is she, she thinks, in her brand new dress and shoes, her nails freshly manicured, her hair trimmed and styled.

I might as well be one of the decorations.

A small thought as she plucks at the hem of the tablecloth.

She's waiting to meet the man she's going to spend the rest of her life with. She's less than excited. Matter of fact, she's downright nervous...if not a little scared...but she can't let any of that show, what with the dutiful guards lurking in the corners. She also figures any smidge of potential romance is utterly destroyed by their presence.

She sighs, glancing down to check her watch without being too obvious about it, then takes a sip of water...and waits.

Comments

[magneticmiss.livejournal.com]

Her cheeks once more turn a nice shade of pink as she smiles shyly at him. Then she lowers her eyes to her plate, the smile disappearing.

"Don't be sorry. I'm used to it."

[exiles-2h.livejournal.com]

I don't want you to get used to my family. I don't like being used to my family, and I've had a lifetime of practice.

"I'm sorry," he says instead. "You seem very nice, and ... well." Alex shrugs. "It's family."

[magneticmiss.livejournal.com]

This is taking a risk, but something about him is tempting her to trust him. Worse than that, it's tempting her to like him. She decides to take the chance.

She lifts her eyes with her chin still down, looking at him through her lashes. A very tiny smirk hides at the corners of her lips.

"Might be we're the only nice ones in either family then."

[exiles-2h.livejournal.com]

"Maybe." He has his own tiny, transient smile. "Sometimes it's lonely being the nice one."

[magneticmiss.livejournal.com]

Her hand slowly crosses the table top to brush her fingers against his. It's a shy gesture, ready to disappear like a soap bubble.

"Then maybe it's a good thing their plan backfired."

[exiles-2h.livejournal.com]

He tenses a little under her touch. So many touches at the Summers mansion are bad touches, especially when someone is humming "What a Wonderful World."

But she's flesh and blood, right? No gadgets, gizmos, or thingamabobs lurking in her skull.

He turns his hand to let his fingers brush against hers.

[magneticmiss.livejournal.com]

Her eyes flutter a bit, displaying her own set of nerves, but still, her smile is no less shy, but a bit more warm as she bravely links her fingers through his.

[exiles-2h.livejournal.com]

She shouldn't. He should pull away. He shouldn't let her get caught up in his family's poison.

But it's so, so tempting to have a friend.

Or maybe, comes the whisper in the dark corners of his soul, where he hopes even his niece and Xavier cannot see, an ally?