Malk's Writing
Irene suppressed another sigh. Raven was sulking again. The disadvantage of being a precog was you could only see the future, and had to guess from that about the past. Her gift was erratic, but after living with Raven for so long, she knew about a son lost and to be found... Today was his birthday, a birthday he would never know. And Raven would mourn him, reliving the few short months she had with him.
But that was then, and still in the future. Today, the present had need of her.
"Raven?"
She shifted, red hair and blue skin in movement that Irene felt, but could not see. "What?"
"I'm going for a walk. Join me?"
"You can find your own way just fine."
Irene 'looked' towards Raven. "Please?"
Raven sighed. "All right." She stood up, and shifted out of her blue skin and red hair and into a pale brunette, already dressed in warm clothes. "Well, let's go."
Irene chuckled. "Some of us can't get dressed that quickly."
Once they were outside and walking, Raven calmed down a bit. Getting her to do something always did. And now she needed to be calm. Another did too. Irene gently steered Raven where she needed to go, and hoped for the best, shivering against the unseasonably cold weather and the fear within. There were many ways this could end. Many paths that she had seen, and not all of them ended well. But that was a chance always taken.
Raven cocked her head to one side as they walked through a favorite park. "Do you hear something?"
Irene had heard it for some time now. "Yes. It's from over there, behind those bushes."
Raven left the path through the trees and peered through a screen of bushes. Irene, following close, hear her soft gasp of surprise. "Raven?" she asked quietly, though she already knew.
"There's a girl. She's young, about three." Raven whispered. "You knew about this didn't you?"
"Yes."
"I don't have time to be saddled with a human girl."
"She is not human. She is like us, and has been cast out because of it."
Raven looked back at the girl, who was crying, lying on the ground curled up in a ball. She had white streaks in her hair.
"I don't need a child."
"Don't you mean another child Raven?" Raven remained silent. "I know about your son Raven. I know that you will meet him again, but it will be many years. And your heart is lonely now."
"I didn't ask you to psychoanalyze me."
"But you want a child."
Raven remained silent.
"There are risks, but there are always risks in raising a child."
"Will I lose her, like I lost him?"
"There are many futures with her. In some of them, you do lose her, but if you leave her here, you will never know."
Raven sat, watching the child cry. Then she stood up and walked towards the child. As she approached, the girl looked up. "Who are you?" she asked, a southern accent tinting her words.
Raven knelt down next to the girl. "My name's Raven, and that's Irene,' she said, pointing back to where Irene had stood up. "What's your name?"
The girl looked away, not speaking. "That's okay, you can tell us later. You look hungry, would you like to come with us, have something to eat?"
"Freaks don't get to eat," the girl muttered.
Raven gently lifted the girl up and hugged her, to quickly for her to protest, and she settled into the hug. "You're not a freak," said Raven. "None of my children are freaks."
"Can I be your child then?"
"Yes, you can."
Irene stood back. The future would bring what it would. The present was enough for now.
