Professor X wheeled into the room. "Alright, Gaea. Let's see what you can do. To the danger room!" He wheeled out again. Slightly apprehensive, but not showing it, Diane followed the retreating professor. The rest of the X-men hurried up to the control room where they could watch the short woman work.
Gaea walked into the danger room. It was a featureless steel box. She didn't see what was so…dangerous…about it. She walked on fearlessly. All of a sudden, out of the ceiling, a huge spiked mace came falling for her. Almost absently, she held one hand above her head. The air there became solid just as the ball crashed towards it. Nightcrawler tried to warn her about it, but Wolverine put a firm hand around his mouth.
"NO help from the peanut gallery." he growled. Gaea didn't see it coming. The mace bounced right off her wall, then fell again. This time she looked up, and concentrated just as the ball neared the wall, she wrapped it around so that the spiked ball bounced around in a sphere of rock hard air. Finally the ball dropped and Gaea took her will off it as it ascended back into the ceiling. Suddenly some wrapping tentacles squirmed out of the floor, trying to wrap themselves around her. She gestured and flipped neatly out of the way as the tentacles wrapped themselves around the new pillar. Suddenly the floor on which she was standing creaked. Nightcrawler knew the warning noise well.
"Gaea!" He yelled. "Look out, the--" *Smurf* His warning was smothered in time, but too late for Gaea. The floor gave way and Gaea fell. There was a loud thud as something solid hit something else solid, and then silence in the cavernous danger room. Just as the X-men were starting to get worried, just as Storm was about to order Nightcrawler to get down there and see what happened, the hole where Gaea had fallen had begun to glow. Gaea came walking up on solid air, the space for about a couple of inches around her was glowing white hot, so no one could look at her for long. A large robot came thundering out of the wall behind her. The still glowing Gaea whirled and another wall was constructed. This robot was equipped to slam thorough her walls however, and it tried. But its trying wasn't good enough. With a seemingly negligent gesture, the wall burst into 1000+ degree flames. The robot was melted into slag.
"Hmmm." Wolverine murmured. "I'd say she's mad. That's some berserker rage for such a tiny person."
Nightcrawler shook his head. "She's not mad yet." he murmured, then groaned. The robot had done it's job. It had pushed her in between the two clamps of the huge hydraulic press. They began to inch shut, and then suddenly -Nightcrawler turned his head at this point- they slammed shut. The rest of the X-men gasped. Nightcrawler opened one eye. He blinked, then opened the other. Gaea was standing between the two clamps, and they rested just two inches away from her skin. Looking at the screens, the blue-skinned man saw that they were on full power, both attempting to slam into Gaea. Yet they weren't moving. Suddenly Gaea threw out her arms, and the two clamps flew in opposite directions. She was still glowing, and now Nightcrawler murmured, "Now she's mad." When she walked out he was there. "You okay, Leibling?" he asked, noting that her glowing had slowed to a dim shimmer.
"I'm fine." she said a little shortly for Diane's normal tone. But she wasn't. Nightcrawler could tell.
"You sure?" he asked again. Diane nodded. But all of a sudden her eyes rolled, and she fainted against him. "Ha. I knew it." Since his room was the closest, he brought her and set on his bed. Then he tiptoed out to tell the rest of the X-men what had happened.
The next thing Diane knew was that she was in a bed very different from her own. She was staring at a jungle gym…on the ceiling. She started and tried to sit up. Then she groaned. She could barely move. Every muscle in her body screamed when she so much as twitched. "Erph." She mumbled. She had no idea where she was, all she knew was that she wasn't in her new bed. She mulled this over after looking around a bit, and tried to push back a creeping suspicion that this was a certain fuzzy X-man's room. She noted that it smelled a bit like smoke and brimstone, mixed with wet fur. Definitely. She grumbled to herself about the fact she couldn't even move, and boy, what a tirade he would get when he came back. There was suddenly a ball of brimstone next to the bed, and Diane almost jumped.
"Boo! I see that you've woken up." he commented. "How do you feel?"
"Awful. I can't move. You put me here on purpose didn't you?" she asked suspiciously. She got a nod and a fanged smile. "You knew I'd be too stiff to move."
"Of course my dear leibling. I can't keep an eye on you elsewhere." He grinned at her again. Diane decided it was nigh time they changed the subject.
"Why do you have a jungle gym on the ceiling?" she asked quickly. Boy he was annoying sometimes. Maybe it was mistake to give her life-debt to him.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You changed the subject. That doesn't work. I put you here because…well, to tell the truth, I have no idea." He grinned then swung around on the bars a little. Then he landed softly on the bed next to her. He leaned on a pillow -his bed was large- and grinned at her, knowing all too well that she couldn't shove him off or really make him leave. Gaea stared at him for a moment, then decided not to give him the pleasure of hearing her tell him to get off. She sighed hopelessly. A long silence stretched between them. Then Nightcrawler shrugged as if throwing off the cloak of silence.
"Why won't you let anyone be a friend?" he asked plaintively. He didn't expect the shocked look on Diane's face.
"B-but." she stuttered. "I am your friend…I thought." She looked sad. Nightcrawler shrugged again.
"Oh, you know." He mumbled, turning red under his fur. Diane stared.
"You're blushing." she pointed out, as close to a laugh as ever. "You see", she explained. "I put a bubble around myself, so no one can get close. A mental bubble." Nightcrawler frowned.
"Well, if that's true, then Kitty seems to have phased right though it." He frowned again. "Can I teleport past it?" he asked hopefully. All he got was a slow shaking head.
"That brings you much to close the me." she explained, holding her hands like they were pressed into a piece of curved glass in front of her.
"That's not good for you." Nightcrawler admonished. "It's not good to separate yourself from the rest of the...er…human race. You need to let people be closer to you." He told her twitching his tail in her face. Diane's eyes widened imperceptibly as she noticed how close he suddenly seemed. He smelled faintly of smoke, she noted with an inward chuckle. She turned her head.
"No. I don't need people to be close to me." She closed her eyes, which were suddenly burning for a moment. Nightcrawler was amazed that he hadn't seen it in her face before, though he now knew that it had been there all along. She was lonely. So lonely. She needed someone. And it might as well be him, he thought with a chuckle. He glanced at Diane. And his jaw dropped. Diane was crying. At least she admitted it to herself. She had been sitting there, thinking about what he had said, and then she had felt something warm and wet on her cheek. She had tasted it. It was salt. Then her whole face was wet. Her shoulders shook, and she really hoped against all hopes Nightcrawler wouldn't notice. But obviously he did, because then he was holding her, and she clung onto him for dear life. For the first time in her life she admitted to herself that he was right, she did need someone. And it might as well be him. After a few moments she let go and moved away, wiping her eyes on the pillow. She hoped he wouldn't try an talk about it. Nightcrawler could tell she didn't want to talk about, and to tell the truth, he didn't either. He only murmured something, and pulled her back against him. Diane was surprised at herself. She didn't even try to get away from him. Maybe it was just because he was so warm or something. She carefully lay her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Nightcrawler was shocked. He'd expected her to pull away and push him off. He put his face into her soft golden hair. Maybe Wolverine was right. What was he going to tell 'Manda? He watched her drift off before letting himself follow her to slumber.
Diane woke up again on the large bed in Nightcrawler's room. She almost screamed when she realized she was under blankets, which she knew she hadn't been when she fell asleep. She all but leaped three feet in the air when she realized she wasn't alone. She was glad that she was wearing all her clothes, as was Nightcrawler. She tried not to move, so she wouldn't wake Kurt up, but it was hard because she was snuggled tightly against his chest. She was about to leap up when he stirred and moved his arm around her. It was then she gave up and began to notice how soft and fuzzy his skin was. She tried to push her thoughts away like she always had before, but it was awfully hard with her face pressed against the blue fuzz. She sighed and let her hair fall over herself like a drape.
Nightcrawler stirred feeling something cuddled against him. It wasn't 'Manda. This person was too small. The long blonde hair gave her away. Nightcrawler pondered kissing her now, while she was too sleepy to slap him, as he was positive she would if she was awake. He pushed it away. He didn't want to take advantage of her. At least, he wanted her awake. He chuckled to himself
Diane really woke up when she felt the vibrations of his chuckle. She didn't really want to move, she was warm and comfortable. But she knew someone would come in soon, and then they'd both get it. She rolled over and stretched. "GET OFF." she commanded, once again the old Gaea with a stony mask of indifference. Then she slipped off the bed and stood. Then she marched out in her rumpled clothes from yesterday. As she walked down the hall she tried to pretend she didn't see the heads turning as she walked. She ignored the smirks as well. She entered her room and changed quickly, before walking out for breakfast. People stared at her there, too. Kitty sidled up to her as she sat down and plopped next to her. Diane couldn't help but noticed that Wolverine sat across from her, smirking, and also, that busty red-head from the other day was still draped over his arm.
"You have fun last night?" He asked teasingly. Diane's eyes glittered a little, but not noticeably. She cocked her head to stare at him.
"Wolverine, don't push it. I'm about to slap you. Besides. With him? You must be insane." she informed him calmly. She got another smirk.
"So you did, huh? And by the way, I am insane." he prompted, obviously not believing her because she looked so calm. He should have. Diane didn't answer, she just reached across the table and slapped him sharply across the face.
"I told you." She said serenely, and got up to get her food. Kurt came staggering after her, yawning. He settled blearily into a chair. He didn't see the look on Wolverine's face as he scowled after the retreating Diane. Kurt's eyes focused on the sharp red welt on his friend's face.
"Hmm." he mumbles. "You annoy her?" he asks. It's not really a question. "She's on a short fuse…shorter than usual. I think she put a little more than her hand behind that." Diane returned with her food, ignoring Wolverine's glare with a skill borne of long practice. Kitty leaned over and whispered,
"Did you really…?" she asks, obviously not noticing the warning hardening of the corners of Diane's mouth.
"Do you want a slap too? And as I said before, never with him." She asked this in a tone like she was discussing weather. Kitty was not…er…phased.
"I'll take that as a no." She smiled, knowing that this is just the way her new friend is. "You did a great job in the danger room yesterday." she said.
Kurt's chest wrenched when he heard her comments. He thought she liked him more than that, but obviously not. Diane replied to Kitty's statement with the cold indifference that hurt Kurt.
"No, I didn't. I lost my temper, which is something I should never allow myself to do, especially at machines that are only doing what they're told. Besides, look what it did to me." She broke off, leaving it that. Kitty looked inquiring.
"What happened?"
"You're asking for a slap." Diane said warningly. Wolverine broke in.
"That was some Berserker Rage yesterday shorty. Hah! There's finally someone that I can call shorty after taking the abuse for years." Diane raised a hand warningly.
"Don't use your enhanced hearing to eavesdrop. It's not polite." Wolverine smirked.
"Too late babe." He ducked. She had thrown a punch this time. He didn't expect her had to fly backwards and smack the other side of his face. He winced.
Kitty leaned even closer. She whispered directly in her ear. "I want you to tell me later…when we're alone." She didn't really leave an option. Kurt suddenly rubbed himself awake and stood, pointedly sitting next to the old Gaea, knowing that he'll only get abuse, but wanting to remind her. Something flickered across Gaea's face for about two seconds. Then she began to push food into her mouth pointedly turning her face away from Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler sadly sighed and closes his eyes. Wolverine stopped smirking, realizing that something serious had obviously happened.
After breakfast, Wolverine pulled Nightcrawler aside. "Look bub." He told his friend. "I know as well as you that something serious happened. If it involves my friends I intend to find out, so why don't you just tell me?" Nightcrawler turned his head and sighed.
"She just lost it all right?" Wolverine shook his head.
"Nope." He crossed his arms, blocking the door. "That's not it, and I know it."
Nightcrawler sighs and gives up. "Look. I'll tell you, but you've gotta stay out of it. She lost control. After she got mad, she lost the control over all her other emotions. She broke down because she's isolated herself and made herself lonely by pushing everyone else away. She just needs someone to hang onto. An anchor." He bamfed away to his room.
Kitty pulled Diane away. "Will you tell me what happened?" she asked plaintively. Diane nodded slowly.
"I lost control of my emotions when I went into the rage. I broke down because I couldn't control it." she explains in her terse manner before marching away to her room. When she opened the door she gasped. EVERYTHING WAS GONE! There was absolutely nothing left in her room. There was a small note on the floor. She picked up and read it. Suddenly her hands tensed, crushing it into a little ball.
Diane~
It's all in my room. Thought you'd need company.
~Kurt
Diane stormed down the hall, her ears red and the corners of her mouth tense. Otherwise, she's just the normal stony Gaea. When she reaches the door, she suddenly waves her arms, and the air around glows white-hot. The door slammed inward off its own accord, startling Nightcrawler.
"Vas…?" When he saw who it was, and blinked a little at the glow, he grinned. "Well, my dear fraulin. Thank you for joining me." He gestured at an adjoining room, where Diane could see all her stuff.
"YOU!" She thundered furiously. Nightcrawler knew she was really, really mad now.
"Uhm. I thought, since you were pledged to protect me…you might like the adjoining room…" he trailed off at her almost-glare. "And, uh…" Diane gave up under his bewildered look. He was absolutely too cute when he did that. She sighed and dropped onto his bed wearily. Wolverine was right. Rages really took it out of you. Nightcrawler looked at her warily, and when he decided she was no longer dangerous he moved a little closer, twitching her tail at her. He curled it around her ankle. She sighed and looked down at the blue tail. She touched it with two fingers.
"Fuzzy." She murmurs softly. When she looked up, he was a whole lot closer. She almost moved away, but actually decided she liked having his smoky fur near her. She sighed and leaned against him, though the stiffness of her body warned him not to take it any farther. As she relaxed, she realized he was right. She needed someone, something to relax with, to let down her guard with, to let go of her emotions. Nightcrawler took the hint. Well, he'd wait. He stroked her hair absently, still pondering over why she wouldn't let him any closer than this, although, he had to admit, this was awfully close.
Diane stiffened a little when he touched her hair, but then she relaxed again. She could feel it as though he had said it. He was wondering if she really did have any emotions besides anger and loneliness. She lifted her head, determined to show him otherwise.
"I do have emotions, you know."
"Why leibling, what ever gave you the idea I thought you didn't?" he asked, surprised. If she was no telepath, how did she guess?
"You just don't." She blinked at him. "I do feel. More than others. I just don't show it."
"Of course." Nightcrawler nodded.
"You don't believe me." she whispered.
"Of course I do." He said loudly. Too loudly. Diane shook her head.
"You don't. I feel it." She stressed feel, and curled against him tighter, as if cold. "I wish I could prove it to you." she says wistfully."
Nightcrawler looked down. "You can." He whispered, then kissed her. Diane responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. She closed her eyes and let him kiss her. If this was the only way he would believe her, then so be it. And for some strange reason, she liked it. After a moment or two Nightcrawler pulled away, blushing magenta under his fur. "I'm s-sorry." he murmurs shakily. He didn't expect it. Diane pulled him back down to her and kissed him back. Then she lay her cheek against his.
"Payback." She whispered. Then she rolled away from him and off the bed as he heard someone coming. Whoever it was passed the slammed open door. Gaea waved her hand and with an echoing slam the door shut, rattling the jungle gym.
Nightcrawler sighed. I knew she couldn't resist my charm, he thought smugly. Diane caught herself. She mentally slapped herself as she had so many times since she had joined the X-men. Around them, she seemed to lose on control of her emotions. She didn't like it. Not one bit. Gaea like to have everything in control, and around them, especially Kurt, she seemed to lose the control she had developed over her 18 years. She lay back, her ears a little red, slightly away from Kurt.
Nightcrawler sighed. I should have known that was too good to last. He grumbled to himself. He too flopped back. Diane suddenly got up, her ears still slightly red and marched into her new room, slamming the door between them. Nightcrawler decided to let her be embarrassed in peace. All he hoped was that the rest of the X-men didn't try and get too curious. He grumbled as he got up. He had a session in the 'room soon.
Diane shook her head violently once she was alone. WHAT IN THE HECK WAS WRONG WITH HER? She puzzled on this for some time, then settled onto her bed to try and pull all her emotions together. She did. She stood up once more the old Gaea, and pledged to herself never to lose it front of anyone ever again. Yes, even Kurt. She didn't care if he hated her now, she wasn't going to lose it again. Ever. And, she thought wryly, the only reason he wanted her to lose control was that he could hold her. She grumbled on this for a while until she heard him leave. Then she left too. She headed directly for Kitty's room, where she found the other teen on her bed, stretching. Diane smiled.
"You dance?" she asks politely. "Would you know where I could start taking my lessons again. I--used to dance." In fact, she thought as she looked around the smooth floored room.
"We could dance in here!" Kitty says excitedly. "I never have had anyone here to dance with. This'll be exciting." She glides to her CD player and puts on some music. It was Brittany Spears' Stronger. Diane listened to it for a few moments, while Kitty watched her a reaction to the music. It almost brought stinging hot tears to Diane's eyes. This was her song. She listened guiltily for another moment to get the beat, then she danced. Kitty stared with an open mouth as Diane danced with a grace far beyond her own. She knew for a fact that Diane had never heard it, so why was she doing perfect steps as though she'd practiced to it for her whole life? When song ended, Kitty clapped and Diane bowed. She looked around for a moment, wondering where she was. When she realized that she'd been dancing, she shook her head.
"Wowowowowowow!" Kitty gasped. "That was great!" She skips around the room. "Here." she says, grabbing a CD. "I'll do my dance routine." She slips the CD into the player and turns it on. Diane recognized the strong beat of N*Sync's Bye Bye Bye. Kitty danced nicely, swaying to the music she'd been practicing to for several moments. Then she turned off the music when she had an idea. Diane clapped. "Hey Diane! Ijusthadagreatidea!" She twirled around the room. "We can dance to Stronger together since you like that song so much! You can teach me all of those moves that you did that I didn't know. You're so much better than me. Didyouknowthat?" She said all this very fast. Diane managed to get a nod in edgewise. "We'll ask Stevie. She's my dance teacher. We can do a thing with her and you can be one of her students and maybe we could do a class together? Howdoesthatsound?"
"Woah, Kitty, slow down. I'd love to. But first, let's get something to munch on. Then I can show you dance steps and we can plan the choreography…" her voice drifted off as the pair of them went down the hall.
Nightcrawler sighed enviously. He'd been eavesdropping on the ceiling -not nice, he knew-. He was jealous of Kitty of all things. Diane certainly wouldn't let him be even that good of a friend. However, he reasoned, maybe it was just a different kind of friendship…but he had to admit that he wished that she would let him be the kind of the friend it seemed that Kitty was. He bamfed to the floor and then bamfed to the kitchen. He yelled boo as he appeared next to the two young women, who were scrounging a snack.
Diane turned her head to look at Nightcrawler. She caught his eye, and let her eyes glitter just enough to tell he she knew he'd been on the ceiling. Then she acted surprised. "Hello, Nightcrawler." she said serenely. "We're just getting a snack, you?"
Kitty was still a little bouncy, but she smiled at Kurt. Kurt frowned at Kitty, trying not to let his jealousy showing through. How he wished Diane would go get a snack with him.
"Me?" he asked. "Just bothering you." Then he was gone.
"Bothering is right." Diane muttered grabbing some chips and dip. Kitty looked inquisitive as she grabbed some sodas.
"You don't like him? All you stuff is in his room…"
Diane growled irritably. "Don't remind me. I had no say in the matter. Now my whole room smells of smoke because he teleported it all in there." *Grumblehmph*
"Oooooooooooh, dear. I heard you slamming doors when you found his note."
Diane came up short. "You knew about it?" She asked.
"Of course. I…Uhm…" she trailed off, certainly not about to tell Gaea that she'd helped move it up the one floor. "He told me." she said quickly. Diane nodded.
"Lets go. I want to listen to it again so I can hear more places for fancy moves." She skipped back to Kitty's room. Kitty trotted after her, dropping the sodas onto a bed and then searching her CDs and putting the Spears in. She turned it on, and looked at Diane. Diane was sitting cross-legged on the bed and swaying with the heavy beat. She was way concentrated and Kitty could tell by the way she moved she was putting moves in, in her mind. When the song finished, she got up and nodded at Kitty. Kitty pressed repeat, eager to Diane dance again. Diane danced right from the start this time. She preformed perfectly…in Kitty's eyes, and added a lot more steps and fancy moves that weren't in the first dance, and that Kitty had never seen in her life. When it was over, Diane nodded happily.
"That'll do." she murmurs. "Not to difficult for you, and still challenging for me. We still have to talk to Stevie. Can you call her and set up a time when we can meet her? In the meantime, I'll show you how to do the steps you don't know. Kitty nodded and skipped out. Diane poked her head out the door and said, "Okay, Nightcrawler, you can come out now."
Nightcrawler bamfed into the room a little sheepishly. He turned to face the dangerously calm glitter in Diane's eyes. Instead Diane's ears were red and her eyes were full from listening to the song three times.
"Why, leibchen!" he exclaimed, "What's wrong?"
"It's me." she whispered simply. Nightcrawler didn't have to ask what. He had been thinking the exact same thing as he listened to the song outside the door. He patted her shoulder awkwardly and grinned.
"You're supposed to relate to songs. That's what they're for."
"No. You're not supposed to cry." she said closing her eyes. "Not me."
"Hey, look, I cried when I read Emily Dickens's poem Nobody."
"You did not!" Her head came up, surprised.
"Yes, I did."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
"Did too."
"Did not."
Nightcrawler sighed. "I still can't argue with you." he complained.
"Big whoop." Diane replied, playfully slapping at him. Nightcrawler ducked, grinning widely. This is more what he had in mind. Still, he knew, she wasn't about to let him kiss her, not here, not now, and he sincerely doubted that she'd ever let him again. Diane suddenly turned away. Her ears were red again, but her eyes weren't full, so he guessed that she was embarrassed. He put his three fingered her hand on hers in a gesture of reassurance. Kitty chose that moment to walk back in through the wall. Her eyes flicked between the two of them, then their hands. Diane's ears flamed again, and Kitty also flushed. Nightcrawler did the first thing that came to his mind. He disappeared. Diane was dazed. She held her hand to her cheek, then turned to Kitty once the color in her ears had receded.
"You called Stevie?" she asks in her normal tone. She got a mute nod. Then Kitty was up and running off again.
"She said we could do one together, she said you sound like a great dancer and she'd really like to meet you, so won't you come to my dance lesson next week, and she says it's alright if you teach me the steps, and we can practice, isn'tthatgreat?don'tyoureallythinkso?"
Diane nodded happily. "Sounds great." She turns the song on, then presses pause. "You start like this." She pulls one leg up along side of her face. She presses the button for off, deciding to show Kitty the dance, slower.
They spent to whole afternoon practicing, Kurt thought, as he went to go get dinner. He reappeared in his room with his food, but to his surprise, Amanda Stefon was sitting on his bed. She didn't look happy. Kurt glanced in the other room. Diane had collapsed onto her bed and fallen asleep in about two seconds. Kurt turned back around, red under his fur. Ohhhhhh dear. This was not the right time for Amanda to show up here.
Amanda's eyes swept over Diane too. "Make up your mind." she hissed. "Her or me."
Diane laid sprawled on her bed. Without opening her eyes she called, "Will you two pipe down? I'm trying to sleep." as though she didn't know they were talking about her.
Amanda snarled a curse at the sleeping Gaea. She raised her arms and ancient magic swirled around her. "You haven't seen the last of me." she hissed furiously at both of them. Then the magic swirled, thicker, faster, brighter. She was gone, leaving traces of colorful magic in the air, and a stunned Kurt to fall backwards onto his bed. Diane took one look at his face and stood up and went to him. She was shocked. She was the reason Amanda had just broke up with Kurt. She didn't even want him!
At least, she didn't think she did…Kurt took one look at her face and burst into tears. Diane put her arms around him awkwardly. This was all her fault, and she was going to do anything she could to make him feel better.Kurt had cried himself out before he noticed -with a start- who as holding him. Then he relaxed again.
Diane, once she was sure that he was done crying, let go of him. Kurt, however, had other plans. He refused to let go. Diane sighed and buried her face in his smoky hair. "I'm so sorry." she murmurs. "She was wrong. I'm not that kind of…" her ears were little brighter pink that usual. "Tell her that."
Nightcrawler shook his head. "She's right."
"She's not…at least for me." Diane groaned inwardly at the meaning of his words.
"Would you care to make her right?" he asked hopefully. Gaea looked down at him.
"I don't need it." she told him softly.
"Yes you do. People never know what is best for them. Isn't that weird?"
"I told you before. I need a friend, not a lover." She put her hands down in a gesture of finality.
"Oh, yes you do." Nightcrawler insisted. "And I don't intend to give up." Diane sighed. She almost gave in. She had discovered, last time, that she thoroughly enjoyed his kisses.
"I'm not giving up." he repeated, and then pressed his lips against hers.
Diane should have pushed him away. She really should have. But she couldn't bring herself to do it when he was feeling so miserable. Besides. This was nice. She sighed, and was a little sorry when he moved away. "Your teeth are sharp." she murmured softly. Then she fell back against his bed and began to drift off, not really noticing when he curled up against her.
Wolverine chuckled to himself. Despite what either of them said he could see something was going on between the misfit and their new guest. He knew misfit had noticed, and he also knew that Diane simply refused to see it. He ambled down the hall, and when he passed 'crawler's door, he identified the scents of both of them asleep. He chuckled again. For about the fiftieth time in the past twenty minutes, he wondered what was going on. It wasn't what everyone else thought, that was for certain, and there was something about their new X-man that told him that it was a lot deeper than puppy love. He wondered silently why Nightcrawler hadn't noticed that the girl was lonely when she turned up at the mansion. For heaven's sake, he could almost smell it on her. When he ambled down the end of the hall and went down the stairs, he chuckled again. Kitty was still practicing her moves. Cripes! She'd been practicing all day, and even now, when Diane was exhausted, she still danced. He heard a tune drift from somewhere outside. It didn't sound right, so he went out to investigate. He had to lean on the door frame, because he was all of a sudden too tired to stay on his feet. He slid to the floor, out cold.
Kitty turned off the music and collapsed on her bed, breathing hard. She really loved the new steps Diane had taught her, and she loved the dance as well. Then, as she lay there, her genius's mind wandered over Diane and her personality, along with what Kitty knew of her now. She heard Wolverine pass her door with a chuckle, and she sighed. Diane was such a strange person. She kept a close friendship with her, but she kept shoving Kurt away, even when they lived in the same room. Kitty knew Kurt had done it without Diane's permission, but still, Diane hadn't moved all her stuff back, so…Didn't mean that she'd accepted him? But then she suck her head through the ceiling. They were curled up together, asleep. She sank back onto her bed. That was weird. When they were around others, Diane almost pretended he didn't exist. Kitty sighed and started to drift off, hearing music.
Cyclops was working on his motorcycle in the garage. He was confused. The X-men hadn't had anything to do for a while, and he was afraid that their new guest and newest member was getting the wrong impression of them. She'd never seen them work in the 'room. She must think they're just lazy people who say they did stuff a long time ago, but didn't really help people. He scrubbed a non-existent spot off the side of the shiny Harley. That brought his mind to the odd way that their guest was acting. She pretended she felt absolutely nothing, but that was impossible. She also completely ignored Nightcrawler, but that was weird too, because she'd given a life-debt to him, which was a sign of high honor. Plus, she lived in his room. A haunting tune drifted across the air. Kitty must still be dancing with Diane, he mused. He shook his head. Weird. All of a sudden, he was tired. He leaned against the seat of his Harley. Well..it was probably…alright…to…..drop…..off……for…..a…….
Ororo was in her attic, watering her tropical plants with a little black cloud that poured water over them. She turned her head as a tune came whistling up on a breath of wind. It wasn't something Kitty normally listened to, and it certainly wasn't what Diane and Kitty were dancing to. Storm held her hand to her forehead, sitting on her couch, tired from her session in the danger room. The black cloud suddenly disappeared.
Colossus was in the danger room, working on some stuff. He had already finished the hydraulic press, and was working on the robot. He tossed the mechanical robot in a judo move, and went onto the presser. He held it up as it tried to smash into him. He though he was hearing flute music, but he shook his head and kept up his arms. Suddenly he was too weak to hold onto his armored form. Just as he collapsed, the thought occurred to him that he be crushed. The presser began to slam down. Then all the lights in the room went out and the presser stopped.
A dark figure holding something long tiptoed out of the dark observation deck. Then he entered the entrance chamber, where all the X-men, including Gaea, were laid out in costume. The figure began to laugh, and the sound echoed throughout the whole chamber.