Old Habits (Raine)

So… Raine was Zero. And they were not talking about it.

Early on in their relationship, there were hints, but you only dated a mutant for so long before they shared their power with you. Stephanie did her best to feign ignorance when Raine explained how her power worked, but Steph recognized it right away. The way she tethered gravity was too distinct to forget. Steph waited another week, but she eventually shared her own mutation. Raine was clever; she would recognize the telltale shadowplay.

They both knew, and they both silently came to the agreement: they would not talk about this shared secret. Things were going well! Malia liked Raine and it was not like Steph was picking up jobs anymore. There were still requests, some more persistent than others, but Steph was ignoring the siren’s call of exciting Syndicate contracts. Her access coin had admittedly gone missing amongst her things, which helped deter her from testing the marketplace, so she was not looking around the apartment for it.

Stephanie woke up feeling the familiar warmth of Raine in her bed. Steph kissed the tip of Raine’s nose to gently wake her for the start of the day. ”Morning, sugar,” she purred in Raine’s ear. ”I was going to get breakfast started if you’d be willing to get Malia awake and dressed. I promise there’ll be coffee waiting for you when you’re done.”

They had found their routine. After a messy, risky life, Stephanie had something domestic and peaceful with Raine. It was comforting. Maybe it was quieter than she was used to, but that was the goal, right? Steph had never been in a real relationship before this, and it took two months before she felt confident enough throwing around the word “girlfriend” to describe what they had. Nowadays, Steph used the word as often as she could. It felt good in her mouth when it was paired with Raine.

Grabbing a shirt and undies, Steph wobbled to her feet and managed her way to the kitchen. Grabbing bread from the pantry, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. On the floor in front of the door to the apartment was an envelope. Mail was traditionally delivered to the box on the first floor, so this solitary letter was delivered by hand to her door. Without opening it, Stephanie had an idea of what to expect.

Picking up the lavender envelope with no text or markings except a single “S,” Steph found the pile of yesterday’s mail on the counter and dropped the innocuous envelope atop the pile of opened letters. She would throw it out later, probably. In the meantime, she would get to work on scrambling eggs, mixing pancake batter, and as promised, starting the coffee pot. And only occasionally would she glance at the mystery envelope.