Coming home to a home-cooked meal

Irene stepped through the front door of their shared home just as the last sliver of moonlight slipped below the horizon. The house was quiet, almost too quiet after the chaos of the council chamber and the frantic hours leading up to it. She paused in the entryway, still wearing the golden mask that was really her reshaped face, blue skin gleaming faintly under the low lights. Her robes whispered against the floor as she moved deeper inside.

In the living room, Raven lounged across the wide sectional like a contented panther after a successful hunt. She was topless, her swollen breasts heavy and veined with faint blue lines, milk beading at the tips. Seven small blue bodies were draped across her in various states of sated exhaustion: three curled against her stomach, two latched loosely to each breast, and the last two sprawled across her thick thighs, tiny hands still clutching at her skin even in sleep. The air smelled of warm milk, sweat, and the faint metallic tang of recent birth.

Raven’s yellow eyes flicked up, lazy and satisfied. “You’re late, love,” she purred, voice low so as not to wake the litter. “Council run long?”

Irene let the mask ripple away, revealing her own fierce yellow gaze and the subtle smile playing at her lips. She crossed to the couch in three strides, shedding the heavy blue robes as she went until she stood in nothing but her transformed skin, ocean-deep blue, scarlet hair cascading over her shoulders.

“I attended the entire meeting,” she said. “In perfect disguise.”

Raven’s brows lifted. A slow, wicked grin spread across her face. “You attended the meeting naked?”

“My mask. My robes. My luxurious cape and matching boots. All of it is a skin-deep illusion.” Irene sank onto the cushion beside her lover, one hand sliding possessively over the curve of Raven’s thigh.

“Emma stared. Several times. She squinted like she could smell something off, but she never said a word. The rest were oblivious. Xavier included.”

Raven laughed softly, the sound vibrating through the sleeping children. “My clever seer. Blind no more and already playing dress-up with the council.” She leaned in, nipping at Irene’s lower lip. “Did it feel good? Sitting there, watching them all while they thought they were looking at the same old Destiny?”

“Intoxicating.” Irene’s hand drifted higher, tracing the sensitive skin over Raven’s shoulder. “I could see every flicker of doubt on Emma’s face. Every twitch. And I knew no one would ever suspect. Not yet.”

Raven shivered under the touch, eyes half-lidded. “You’re dangerous now, Irene. More dangerous than you’ve ever been.”

“Says the woman who just birthed four more in the time it took me to sit through one telepathic meeting.” Irene’s fingers dipped between Raven’s shoulder and neck playfully. Smiling as she watched the woman shiver. “We’re both rather unstoppable these days, aren’t we?”

The blue-skinned mutant arched slightly, careful not to disturb the babies. A soft moan escaped her.

“Keep talking like that,” Raven murmured, “and I’ll wake the whole litter so that we can go again.”

Irene chuckled, withdrawing her hand with deliberate slowness. “Later. Let them sleep. We’ve earned a night out together this time.”

Raven’s grin turned predatory. “Oh? Planning to share the hunt?”

“Why hunt alone when the prey is so much more plentiful when there are two of us?” They shared a long, heated look of promise and hunger and something deeper, ancient, unbreakable. “So let’s dress for the occasion,” Irene said, already rising.

“Something… distracting.”