Title: unexpected breakfast
Fandom: Marvel Comics [X-Factor (2020)]
Characters:/Pairings: Jeanne-Marie Beaubier/Daken Akihiro, along with various other members of the X-Factor team.
Length: 700 words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: No major warnings apply 
Notes: Written for fan_flashworks Amnesty #60 - Challenge #13: Breakfast
Summary: Daken’s idea for a romantic morning-after breakfast with Aurora turns into a not so romantic team breakfast. Oops.



The mattress shifts beside him. He feels Aurora slide gently out of bed. He hears her searching for her discarded clothes.

"You didn't think you were going to sneak out before breakfast, did you?" Daken says.

"I'm not sneaking out, I'm getting up," Aurora says.

He opens his eyes. "Looks like you're sneaking out to me."

"If I were sneaking out you wouldn't even see me go. Besides I live here, remember?" Aurora pulls her shirt over her head.

"As if I could forget."

"Wait, did you say something about breakfast?"

He stretches his arms above his head, grins, and pushes the sheet aside. "I might be persuaded to cook."

"Oh really? I thought I was pretty persuasive last night."

"Indeed you were."

Aurora bites her lip and pulls on the rest of her clothes. He sits up slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves. He doesn't want to scare her away. This all still feels tenuous. Her scent is all over his room. His bed. Him. He likes it. A lot. Standing up, he moves toward her. She doesn't run. He nuzzles her neck, bitting very gently. Just a nibble. He marks her and something inside him growls - mine, mine, mine. She gasps softly. Daken wraps his arms around her, presses up against her, and sucks on her neck, just a little. "I'm going to take a shower, and then I'm going to make you breakfast, how does that sound?"

Aurora turns around in his arms. "It sounds good." She kisses him and then she's gone. Her scent lingers.

She's already at the counter when he makes it down to the kitchen. She smells fresh and clean, so much so that he wants to dirty her, just a little.

"I put water on for tea," she tells him.

"You're amazing," he says.

"It's just heating up water," Aurora says.

"I was talking about last night." He loves the way she blushes so easily. "Are pancakes okay?"

"I love pancakes, but honestly, anything you make will be fine."

"Oh, they'll be more than fine." Her laughter brings a smile to his face and there's this warm feeling that nearly overwhelms him. It's happiness and it scares the fuck out of him. Happiness, joy, or whatever you want to call it - is a difficult emotion. Too wrapped up in violence and revenge for him to fully relax into it.

Eye-Boy walks in just as Daken's putting the first of the pancakes in front of Aurora. He thinks about telling him to go away, but being mean to Eye-Boy feels a little too much like kicking a puppy. Still, he just sighs as the kid sits down.

"Are those pancakes?" Eye-Boy asks, hopefully.

"They are, want some?" Daken says.

"Yes, they're so fluffy and cute. Thank you."

"Not a problem."

Aurora smiles at Daken and he knows he's made the right choice. Jean-Paul appears in the room while Daken's plating Eye-Boy's pancakes.

Jean-Paul kisses the top of his sister's head and shoots a glare at Daken. "I didn't know you were planning to make breakfast."

"Well, I didn't exactly put out a memo," Daken says.

"I will have some," Jean-Paul says solemnly.

Daken rolls his eyes. The man can't even ask nicely. "Sure thing."

David and Tommy join them soon after Jean-Paul takes the first bite of his breakfast and declares it acceptable. Daken eats his own share of pancakes in-between serving everyone else.

Shortly after David and Tommy sit down, Rachel comes in from walking Amazing Baby. "No one told me there was gonna be breakfast."

"It wasn't exactly premeditated." Daken stuffs his face with pancake and nods at the table. "Sit and I'll feed you too."

Rachel sits down. "You're the best, Akihiro."

Lorna is the last to join what was obviously supposed to be a romantic breakfast between him and Aurora but has apparently turned into some kind of team breakfast situation.

Feeding everyone feels satisfying. It's nice feeling like he's part of something that's not just the job. Something that doesn't revolve around his ability to kill things. It won't last, of course. Nothing does. But for now, he's content to let himself feel this fleeting joy.