#or maybe he has extraordinarily good luck since he manages to survive everything by the skin of his teeth

[andrewjostenzarchive]

Nothing Else Matters

This is my gift for @spookymiscreant for the @tfcdiscord winter exchange! I hope you like it! <3

also read here on a03

The night is quiet. Kevin can see his own breath in the air as he and Jean move along the high walls of the factory. His jacket barely manages to keep him warm, but he's fine with that. This job isn't supposed to last long.

He stops in front of the door while Jean vanishes into the wall. Sometimes Kevin envies him for his ability to just go through everything, but his powers aren't bad either. Soon he hears the click of the door as Jean opens it from the inside.

They make their way inside, following the long floors. The building barely has any safety regulations, as it's just a place to produce wool. What they don't know, though, is that they have something that is very precious. What exactly Riko didn't even tell them. Kevin wasn't happy with it, but what should he do?

Finally, they reach the empty room. They see the small box on the desk immediately.

This is far too easy, Jean's voice halls inside Kevin's head. Kevin hates to admit that he's right.

Maybe the humans working here don't know its value, but other mutants sure as hell do.

He makes maybe one step into the directions of the box as the ground suddenly is slippery and he falls to his knees. Is that – ice?

Kevin hears Jean gasp as a bright flame sizzles into his direction. He barely has the time to duck.

Kevin looks up and sees two blonde guys, extraordinarily short. Whereas one of the twins' – obviously they were twins, they are identical – hand is blue, the other's is burning red.

“Elementals,” Kevin hisses, jumping to his own feet, right as the fire one reaches for the box.

“Better luck next time,” he says, grinning smugly.

Kevin extends his arm, starting to control the twins' own shadows. Both of them look at him like he's crazy, though, as nothing happens at first.

Take care of them. I will try to get the box, Jean says in his head right as the shadows leap on the twins from behind, making them stumble. His own shadow follows him as he runs to them, creating a few illusions of himself to help him fight.

He nearly slips again, but this time he knows from the ice. He smiles wintry.

Again the other one shoots a fireball, luckily only hitting one of his illusions. It still hurts a bit, but he tries to hide his flinch.

Finally, Kevin reaches them, lunging to steal the box, but stumbling back when fire comes close to him again.

“Take care of the other arsehole. I can take him,” the fire twin says, right as Kevin hits him in the stomach. The blonde only laughs out while his brother turns around to face Jean, mien emotionless.

It seems Kevin underestimated his power. Though small, his punches are strong and make Kevin stumble.

What the hell is in that box? Jean asks in Kevin's head, but he has no time to answer that.

Right as his fingers finally curl around the box, there is a loud thunder that lets the whole room vibrate, shortly followed by a lightning nearly hitting both Kevin and one of the twins.

They both jump back, Kevin's hand finally having gained the stupid box. Not only does he nearly fall, no. He also stumbles in the ice twin, both of them falling over.

“Andrew!” he hears the one behind him shout, pushing Kevin down from him.

The fire twin – Andrew – leans against the wall, looking up with a frown, obviously not hurt.

Kevin follows his gaze to see a few hooded men. He doesn't see any faces. Nothing.

He stares at Jean who turned pale. The taberni.

Kevin looks at him in confusion, trying to remember what the name means as he feels someone tugging at the box. Instantly he tightens his grip, trying to push the ice twin away. While they both try to hold onto the box, though, they don't notice the hooded men coming closer until he hears Andrew say loudly: “Aaron, watch out!”, the same time Kevin hears Jean say They are right above you!

Right as both of them turn up to look, it's too late. There's another shockingly bright lightning and everything turns black.

Kevin groans while he attempts to open his eyes, his head pounding. After a few tries, he just pries them open, staring right into the dark. Is he blind? Panic rolls over him in a cold wave, but then his eyes adjust and he can make out at least some shapes. “What the hell?”

“I asked myself that too,” he hears a voice.

He flinches, trying to find out where it came from. “Who -”

“Tell me you are not really that dumb.”

Kevin opens his mouth to protest as he remembers. “Wait. You are the ice twin.”

“Ice twin? Really?”

“Shut up.”

Kevin carefully stands up. “Where the fuck are we?”

“How am I supposed to know, shadow boy?”

“Shadow boy?!”

“You started.”

Kevin huffs before taking a few steps, attempting to at least found a wall. Every room has a door, right?

He can feel Aaron's gaze, although he can't see him. “What?”

“Do you really think it's that simple?”

Seconds after Aaron said that, Kevin finds the door. Well, not a lucky thing. He feels a lightning travel through his whole body as he is thrown back, excruciating pain in every single limb.

“Fuck, I think I just saw your skeleton,” Aaron says.

Kevin just breathes heavily, not having the energy to flip him off.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

He carefully reaches for his stomach and flinches. It feels … like burned meat. Great.

“Fuck.”

“You hurt?”

Kevin tries to huff, but it hurts his sides. So he just breathes out a quiet “yes”.

He can hear Aaron coming closer to him, trying to find him in the dark. He nearly falls over Kevin, but catches himself in the last second.

Kevin gets tense as he feels Aaron's cold hands on his body. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Where is the wound?”

“Further down.” Kevin presses his lips together as Aaron's fingers lightly travel down his skin until they reach his stomach. His sharp inhale seems to help Aaron, and after a few seconds, the pain eases and he relaxes slightly.

“Healing?”

“Couldn't let you die before we get out of here.”

“Wow. Thanks,” Kevin says sarcastically, secretly being graceful that the wound is gone – for now.

He presses his hand against it and feels smooth skin, nothing else.

“I've never encountered a healing mutant.”

“Well, congrats, you have now” Aaron replies sarcastically, leaning back from Kevin.

Aaron's sarcasm is the smallest problem he has right now.

“So, the door is secured. Did you try to find something else?”

“No. Why? It's the taberni. This thing is foolproof.”

Kevin rolls his eyes. “Nothing is ever foolproof.”

He can feel Aaron's annoyed mien. “Well, good luck trying. I won't heal you another time.”

Kevin ignores him and keeps on searching. After an hour, he has to admit Aaron's right. So he just grits his teeth and leans back against the wall.

“So?”

“Shut up!” Kevin hisses back, sinking down to the ground. “They will come for me.”

“Who? That guy with you? Alone?”

Kevin bites his lip. “No. Riko. The ravens. They won't let me rot in here.”

“Wait, ravens? You work for them?” The disgust is audible in Aaron's voice.

“Well, who do you work for, then?”

“The foxes.”

Kevin's heart misses a beat. The foxes. His dad.

“They are not that good, though.”

He can hear Aaron huff. “Well, at least we are not killing our own.”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“A team has no “I” in it, shadow boy.”

Kevin doesn't know what's that supposed to mean, so he just turns away. “As if you had any idea, ice twin.”

The next hours are quiet. Soon they figure out that no one will really come to see them. So they reluctantly begin to talk. Surprisingly, Aaron starts. And then it just goes on and on.

Aaron likes medicine. And the colour green. And spending time with his family, although he'd never admit it. He's only with the foxes because of his twin. Wymack is nice.

So Kevin participates in their game and gives away truths about himself.

That he likes history. That his favourite colour is red. That his best friend is Jean, not Riko. That he's with the Ravens since birth.

It's nothing too deep, but enough to figure each other out.

It's better than the lonely dark and cold silence. The only way of communication they have is each other.

It gets to them sitting next to each other, their thighs touching while they talk about the most random shit to pass the time.

Until one day, the door opens. It's unusual. They have to blink to even adjust to the light as a voice speaks.

“Oh, Kevin.”

The voice is so familiar and Kevin's blood freezes.

“Riko? You're here?” He's relieved, yet tense. Riko is unpredictable. But he's going to save him, right?

“Yes, of course. I had to get my box.”

Kevin, half standing, freezes at that. “The box?”

“Do you seriously think you and Jean would ever get it?” Riko laughs. “I had to take matters into my own hand.”

“So you betrayed us to make a deal with them?” Kevin asks, his voice angry.

“Well, Kev,” Riko smiles coldly, “at least I know I can count on them.”

“Where's Jean?”

“The taberni took care of him and that other mutant,” Riko says, considering his nails.

Kevin can hear Aaron get up next to him. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Riko's answer is a cold laugh.

Before Kevin can stop him, Aaron throws a huge icicle in Riko's direction. It immediately bursts midst the door frame, shattering into a thousand pieces.

Riko's smirk is cruel. “Cute. You two won't make it much longer. Have fun rotting!”

Kevin is shaking with anger, knowing that he can't do anything, that he is powerless. He hates it.

He feels Aaron move next to him, but holds him back this time. His grip is tight. “Don't. We can't. It's impossible to get out of here.”

Aaron grits his teeth. “What are we supposed to do then?”

“Wait. Taberni aren't known for mercy, Jean said once. They won't let us simply go by starving and dying of thirst. They will wait until we are weakened and then get us.”

“And then?” Aaron says.

“Then we fight back.”

Admittedly, it wasn't Kevin's best plan. He and Aaron tried to come up with strategies, but since no one really ever survived the taberni, it's hard to think of a way to kill them – or even hurt them so they could flee.

It is exhausting and they really feel themselves getting weaker. Aaron's head rests on Kevin's shoulder while latter rambles about historical facts, trying to keep them both conscious. Their hands are loosely intertwined. They squeeze it from time to time, reassuring each other that they are here and still awake.

So then two of them come and take them, they are practically helpless. They get torn apart and Kevin's hand feels cold. So this is it? This is how they are going to die?

Next thing he knows, his knees hit a cold floor and he has problems with keeping his balance. Automatically, his eyes scan the room, skipping over the hooded creatures until they lock with Aaron's. At least he's not alone. He nods at him, aching to hold his hand again. It seems like Aaron feels the same, as his fingers twitch while he nods back. Then Kevin closes his eyes.

Get down!

The voice is sudden in his head and he flinches, but listens to Jean's voice and throws himself onto the ground. Jean seems to have told Aaron too. As soon as both of them are down, chaos ensues.

All kind of powers fly through the room, hitting the wall and the taberni. Vaguely Kevin recognises the fire twin as someone helps him up to his feet.

“Jean,” Kevin says, his voice strained.

“Come on, we gotta get you out of here.”

“Not without Aaron.”

Jean sighs before pointing to Aaron, held up by his twin. “See? He's safe. And now we have to leave.”

People ran past them, and if Kevin was more conscious, he'd recognise the foxes. For now, he has to focus on walking and not stumbling.

Whatever plan Jean and Andrew had for them, it obviously didn't work.

Kevin feels himself getting thrown against a wall, a lightning missing him, but only barely.  

His head is pounding as he opens his eyes, warm blood trickling down his neck. Fuck.

He blinks a few times, the adrenaline not really helping much.

Where is Aaron?

“Aaron?”

He sees a bit of blonde flash in the other corner, but it could be who knows who.

Nevertheless, Kevin gets up, ignoring the black edges in his sight.

He's right. It is Aaron. He also looks pretty out of it, but his head perks up as he sees Kevin.

That's when it happens. Kevin notices taberni coming closer to them, one of them raising his hand. The lightning. It will kill him. Aaron told him that he could only heal others, but never himself.

“No,” Kevin breathes out, gathering all his energy to sprint the last few metres to shove Aaron aside.

This time, the lightning hits him directly, travelling through his body and back. The air smells of burnt flesh as Kevin falls to the ground, the only thing he feels is pain pain pain. His ears are ringing loudly, blocking out ever thought he could have.

The last thing he feels are cold, wet hands. Then everything goes dark.

Then he opens his eyes, it's bright. The ceiling is a blinding orange with white paws all over it. “What the hell?” he mumbles to himself, attempting to sit up. He inhales sharply as hurt spirals through his body.

Someone carefully puts their hands on his shoulders, pressing him down again. “Not good.”

He looks up, his frown turning into a smile as he recognises Aaron. “Did we make it?”

Aaron nods, scooting closer on the edge of the bed. “We did.”

Kevin breathes out relieved. Then he looks up at Aaron's face again. “Are you okay?”

Aaron raises his brows. “You were the one hit by the lightning, remember?” Although he sounds nonchalant, Kevin can hear the underlying worry in his tone.

Kevin gives him a crooked smile. “How could I forget? It hurt like a bitch.”

Aaron huffs before taking Kevin's hand. “That was so stupid of you.”

Kevin just shrugs, his thumb caressing Aaron's skin. “Better get used to it, ice twin.”

He grins as Aaron rolls his eyes. “If you ever do that again, I will kill you personally.”

“I would let you,” Kevin answers without hesitation.

Aaron blushes slightly, avoiding his gaze. “Idiot.”

They sit in silence for a while, fingers still linked. Kevin can feel the words he wants to say on the tip of his tongue, but he can't get them out. He feels like he's going to choke on them. He's angry at himself. They are just words.

So he sighs, which brings Aaron's attention back to him. Kevin uses his free hand to smooth out the frown on Aaron's forehead before putting his hand on his cheek.

Aaron's gaze is intense, his eyes seeming darker than ever before.

“Come here,” Kevin mumbles, quiet, afraid to break – whatever it is between them right now.

Kevin puts up his other hand, too, cradling Aaron's face completely as they lean their foreheads against each other.

'I'm glad I didn't lose you.'

They just breathe for a while, warm, shaky.

'I'm glad you are here.'

Slowly, painfully slowly, Kevin lifts his head, his lips brushing against Aaron's.

'I don't know where I'd be without you.'

And then they kiss. What starts out careful, like they are afraid to break each other, like it's just an illusion, gets more passionate, Kevin's hand in Aaron's hair, biting lips, suppressed moans into each other mouths. It's just them, alone, together.

Kevin still has his eyes closed as Aaron inches away a bit, both of them breathing heavily. Then he opens them, his look soft, warm.

Aaron's hair is a mess, his cheeks red, his lips kiss-swollen. Probably he doesn't look much different.

In this moment, he just doesn't care. About where they are, what Riko is doing with the box, what is in the box, what he's going to do if he finds out they are alive – nothing of it matters, right here, with Aaron so close to him.

So he just pulls him in again and lets the world just be.