Kurt was not popular among the X-Men, having been a stranger to the group for too long already, and the quiet distrust everyone emitted when around him had the demonic looking teleporter turning to the one person he could trust-God.
His faith had never failed him, and he walked through each day as if they were the most wonderful of gifts, fully aware of the soft whoosh of angel wings at his back. It was a steady thing, his faith, and it kept Kurt going in the worst of times.
But, on some days, it took all of the willpower he had to make it.
He approached people with a smile, only to let it fall at the widening of their eyes, the reflection of his sharp fangs in their weary gazes. He hung upside down in the gym, and then averted his gaze when the children would glance over at him, too afraid to look at their young faces and see the disgust written therein. He pretended not to act hurt when someone ignored him, or acted as if his opinion didn't matter, or looked at him with thinly veiled revulsion. They were all mutants, but that didn't mean they weren't human. And, oh, how human they truly were.
Even so, the school and its many inhabitants were slowly getting accustomed to Nightcrawler, but some of them still turned their noses at him, and he was hardly a stranger to the gesture- and yet.
It cut him, and it bled him, and it twisted him deep inside so awfully that his outlook was all wrong, and only the familiar comfort of rosary beads and quickly murmured prayers tickling his lips could set it all straight.
That, and a certain white haired mutant with warm cheeks and dark eyes, her smile ever present on her perfect face. Ororo.
She was kind, and looked upon his face with barely restrained curiosity, as if Kurt had come from a place she'd for so very long yearned to explore, and only his marked skin and glowing eyes could reveal to her the secrets she needed to discover. She was a thin sliver of moonlight in the darkness, and a warming ray of sunshine on the worst of his days, and nothing could make him truly despondent if she was near. Storm never judged him, and understood all too well the look of disdain and general hatred he had been privy to for all of his life.
It was a bond- that understanding- that sheltered a careful friendship, and Kurt fell into the steps of his new life with lighter feet, thanks to Ororo.
He waved at the children who disliked him the most, and made an effort to have more than just polite conversation with the peers around him, and he found that teaching gym class was something he wasn't so bad at, getting the students into shape with jumps and twists and flips that were so complicated that they didn't even notice their increasing levels of fitness-little by little, of course. And when he was done with his lessons, children pouring out of the gym in a lazy rush, he'd look over at the door, not a drop of sweat on his face, and find her there, gazing over at him with a perplexed gleam in her eyes.
He'd just smile, and go on with his work of cleaning up the inadvertent mess everyone had made, and he'd do some more flips and maneuvers and leaps just for the fun of it, because the thrill of flying through the air was only rivaled by the power of her all-consuming presence. He never missed the teasing smile on her face, either, fleeting past his peripheral vision before she retreated into the mass of chattering students, blending into shadows and light alike, just like she was born to do it.
And Kurt, for all of his mistakes and sins and shortcomings, couldn't resist her small flirting, the hand on his arm more than just a friendly gesture, hidden behind closed doors as they both took a break from the hectic lives out in the hall.
And he definitely, definitely couldn't resist the press of her lips against his, her long arms wrapped securely about his neck as she softly smiled against his skin, the light shining within her chocolate eyes as bright as the shine of heaven itself.
Please R&R! Feedback of any kind is always appreciated!
If you have any prompts, ideas, or other X-Men pairing (unless I don't even have a sliver of shipping motivation for them), let me hear them, and I'll try my best! ;)
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