It was the middle of lunch at Xavier's Institute of Higher Learning,
and everyone was in the cafeteria shoving food down their throats and
laughing and joking. Well, almost everyone.
Due to the borrowed trenchcoat and the shadows cast by the dormitory hallway, SheCat was extremely difficult to see. Curled up with this rather hot article of clothing, not to mention the red and yellow T-shirt beneath and the cutoff jeans, she was beginning to feel the effects of the lack of air conditioning. Still, she remained motionless, her only movement the erratic beating of her heart and the even more unusual rising and falling of her chest.
Kurt Wagner had known she was there since he had heard her screaming at the occupant of another room. He sensed she had not moved since breakfast. His spaded tail fidgeted slightly; he did not know what her reaction to his consolation might be. As he opened the door to the hallway, light from the window in his room lit up her cheek. A glitter on that cheek told him she was more upset than he'd thought.
Kurt closed the door quietly behind him; the light fell away and left her in shadow again. He stood in front of her, then crouched to her eye level. His flexible spine allowed him to achieve the perfect position; he was looking straight at her face.
She wasn't looking at him, or even past him. Her eyes were open, yet he knew she wasn't seeing anything. Tears had collected on her lower lashes; some had fallen down her cheeks, over the parallel scars. Both Kurt and SheCat were in shadow, and to see them would mean waiting until they moved. His blue skin blended in with the dark like the trenchcoat.
He reached his tridactyl hand to her face and started wiping away the tears. From that moment she seemed to wake up, and stared at him directly. Her green and gold eyes met his yellow, and in a heartbeat he understood her pain.
SheCat was watching him, feeling his hand brush her face. His furred face had some kind of sweetness to it. For so long she had looked at him as a friend. Now she looked at him as a brother, a guardian. Before she had never truly listened to him. Now she was, every soft prayer for her he said. She couldn't discern what he said; it was in German. But she felt what he was conveying, a warm sense of trust. And then the questions arose.
Why had she been so primed to explode? Why hadn't she expected this? Why did she have to always have one-sided romances? Why did she have to yell like that? Why did Rogue have to come along and wreck her life? Why did Remy have to fall in love Rogue, after all SheCat had done for him?
A small sob arose from her throat, choked by a small gasp. Kurt moved to her side and leaned against the wood wall beside her. His tail wrapped around her waste to pull her closer. He lent his head against hers in a comforting fashion, his dark indigo curls versus her soft brown. She felt a swell of safety and hope. Some things were out of her hands; she'd make best with what was.
When Kurt finally left, SheCat stayed for a few minutes. The sun was setting and cast light of brilliant reds in the hall. That red caught her cheek; it was finally dry.
Due to the borrowed trenchcoat and the shadows cast by the dormitory hallway, SheCat was extremely difficult to see. Curled up with this rather hot article of clothing, not to mention the red and yellow T-shirt beneath and the cutoff jeans, she was beginning to feel the effects of the lack of air conditioning. Still, she remained motionless, her only movement the erratic beating of her heart and the even more unusual rising and falling of her chest.
Kurt Wagner had known she was there since he had heard her screaming at the occupant of another room. He sensed she had not moved since breakfast. His spaded tail fidgeted slightly; he did not know what her reaction to his consolation might be. As he opened the door to the hallway, light from the window in his room lit up her cheek. A glitter on that cheek told him she was more upset than he'd thought.
Kurt closed the door quietly behind him; the light fell away and left her in shadow again. He stood in front of her, then crouched to her eye level. His flexible spine allowed him to achieve the perfect position; he was looking straight at her face.
She wasn't looking at him, or even past him. Her eyes were open, yet he knew she wasn't seeing anything. Tears had collected on her lower lashes; some had fallen down her cheeks, over the parallel scars. Both Kurt and SheCat were in shadow, and to see them would mean waiting until they moved. His blue skin blended in with the dark like the trenchcoat.
He reached his tridactyl hand to her face and started wiping away the tears. From that moment she seemed to wake up, and stared at him directly. Her green and gold eyes met his yellow, and in a heartbeat he understood her pain.
SheCat was watching him, feeling his hand brush her face. His furred face had some kind of sweetness to it. For so long she had looked at him as a friend. Now she looked at him as a brother, a guardian. Before she had never truly listened to him. Now she was, every soft prayer for her he said. She couldn't discern what he said; it was in German. But she felt what he was conveying, a warm sense of trust. And then the questions arose.
Why had she been so primed to explode? Why hadn't she expected this? Why did she have to always have one-sided romances? Why did she have to yell like that? Why did Rogue have to come along and wreck her life? Why did Remy have to fall in love Rogue, after all SheCat had done for him?
A small sob arose from her throat, choked by a small gasp. Kurt moved to her side and leaned against the wood wall beside her. His tail wrapped around her waste to pull her closer. He lent his head against hers in a comforting fashion, his dark indigo curls versus her soft brown. She felt a swell of safety and hope. Some things were out of her hands; she'd make best with what was.
When Kurt finally left, SheCat stayed for a few minutes. The sun was setting and cast light of brilliant reds in the hall. That red caught her cheek; it was finally dry.