blue-fuzzy:Merci, mon ami!And, trust me, it's seriously not that serious. You'll understand it when you get it.
IManageMyMischief:Don't we all?
AC: Hi, again, X-Men fans. On the last episo-I mean, to re-cap the last chapter, there's a new mutant in the mansion, and she seems to make my beloved Nightcrawler blush a lot. Does anyone else smell a bit of romance brewing? I don't own X-Men: Evolution-that belongs solely to the genius that is Stan Lee. Make sure you review and tell me how bad it sucks!(Obviously joking.)I mean, why does no one think it's awful so far? This isn't right! I need constructive criticism, people!
Siren Song
Chapter 2
As the door to Professor Xavier's office opened, the students who had collected in the hall tried to make it look as though they had not been eagerly awaiting information about the new kid,since Kurt hadn't come back out yet. From what they had heard the professor telling Ororo and Logan, the student was supposed to be a tall, French, male model; then again, Kitty had a way of not always getting gossip exactly right.
So, needless to say, no one expected a doll of a girl to come walking out with the professor and Kurt. Since no one seemed to know what to say, the new girl decided to make the first impression.
"Bonjour, mes amis!" she sung out brightly. "Je m'appelle Mirabelle DeLaCroix."
Almost instantly, Kurt knew what Mira meant when she told him not to laugh. The befuddled expressions around the room made him bite his lip to stifle the laughter that threatened to escape.
"Um, did, like, anyone understand any of that?" Kitty blurted out after a few moments of silence. "Ouch! Evan, that was my foot!"(1)
"Ah, forgive me, I did not stop to think that some of you might not know any French," she apologized quickly, looking quite embarrassed. The sidelong glance she shot at the other German, however, told otherwise. "My name is Mirabelle DeLaCroix, my new friends. But, I would prefer it if you would call me Mira."
"It's nice to meet you, Mira. I'm Jean," the red-headed telepath said warmly, as she started introducing the others, "this is Scott, Evan, Kitty, and Rogue. It looks like you've already met Kurt."
"Oui, I have," she replied, and Jean didn't miss the small, rather bashful smile she gave at mention of his name.
"Mira has lived in France all her life, so she does not know much about American customs," Professor Xavier told them. "I hope you'll all try to help her fit in at school starting Monday."
At the mention of school, the black-haired girl became even paler and turned to the professor. "School?" But, Professor, I do not think that would be a very good idea, considering... she trailed off in thought; Surely he would understand her dilemna.
You don't have to worry about that, Mira. I have already informed the school, and I'm sure everyone will help you as much as they can.
If you say so, Professor, she sighed mentally, knowing there was no negotiating the point.
At that point, the front doors opened and Logan strode in, dusting off his jacket. He noticed all the students gathered around, and asked his gruff voice, "What's all the commotion about?"
When he saw the small girl was the center of attention, he said, "Oh, it's only the midget."
Mira scowled at the nickname. "Monsieur Logan, I already told you I do not like that name. If you keep calling me that, I will be forced to make you stop."
The general reaction to that threat was stifiled laughter, though Logan made no attempt to hide his scoff. "Kid, you're nearly two feet shorter than me. Sorry if I don't take that too seriously."
"We'll see what you say once the jet lag wears off," she warned him, and from the tone of her voice, she was quite serious. "Speaking of which. Professor, I do not mean to be impolite, but would someone be able to show me to my room? I am feeling a little, how you say, drained."
"Of course. You can tell everyone else more about yourself in the morning," he said understandingly. He had felt the girl's fatigue through their whole meeting in his office. "Since you and Kurt have become such quick friends, how about him helping you with your bags?"
"Oh, these things?" She hefted one into the air easily. "These are nothing. I just need a little help finding my room. Once I have had a day or two, I will be able to find my way around here quite easily." She held back a yawn and turned to Kurt. "Lead the way, mein freund, and I'll follow."
The teleporter took her down the hall and up the staircase, grabbing hold of her elbow after she nearly tripped over a few of the stairs.
"Easy zere," he said gently. "You don't vant to fall and hurt yourself."
"No, I don't," she muttered, as if upset at herself. "Merci."
He led her to room that until then had had no one staying in it, and helped her set her suitcases on the bed.
"So..." Mira started, trying to break the silence that had settled. "Professor Xavier says you all have special names depending on your powers?"
"Ja, that's right," he replied, finding it odd that as she spoke she tended to look to either side of them, instead of directly at them.
"Then, what is your name?" she asked him, tilting her head to the side in question.
"Zey like to call me Nightcrawler," he told her with a grin.
"Nightcrawler," Mira repeated, commiting it to memory. "Interesting. And what is your power?"
"Oh, I can teleport. It makes getting to school really easy vhen I vake up late," he joked.
She laughed at that, and fell back onto the the bed. 'My bed,' she thought with a yawn.
"Vell, it looks like you're tired," he stated when she tried to hide it. "You should probably get some rest. Like ze professor said, ve can talk in ze morning."
"Oh, but I don't want to!" she sighed, desperately wanting to stay awake and talk more with Kurt. "It's only nine in the evening. I could stay up until past midnight if it wasn't for the stupid plane ride."
"Don't vorry, it's not like ze vorld is going to end before tomorrow."
"You're right. I'll see you in the morning then?" she asked him hopefully, trying not to sound to eager.
"Of course. First thing!"
"All right, then," she said. "Well, good night, Kurt."
"Good night, Mira. Don't let ze bedbugs bite!"
Her pale eyes widened in fear and she glanced down at the bed fretfully as Kurt started laughing. She obviously didn't think it was too funny, and hurled a pillow at him. Unfortunately,though fortunately for him, he had teleported out of the room and into the hall before it hit him.With another sigh- and a sneeze at the cloud of brimstone left-she slipped the violin case off her back and set it on the bed carefully. Standing back up, she pulled off her long traveling coat and took a long look at herself in the mirror on the wall.
She had always been small; even as a baby her papa her called her his petite sirène. And now, compared to the other students, she was pratically a speck! Even in her three-inch-heeled ankle-high boots-of which she nearly tore off after Kurt left-she was at least two or three inches shorter than the aforementioned German boy. Bending to unzip one of her suitcases, she cursed her uncle in a mental litany of every French swear she knew when she discovered that the wardrobe she packed had all been replaced with designer clothing; like she needed to stand out anymore than she already did!
So, seeing no possible option of wearing her current outfit-a farewell gesture from home(2)-every day the entire time she would be here, she reluctantly pulled off her turqoise-colored, vintage-lace-looking shirt and ankle-length black skirt, she slipped on one of the pairs of pajamas that had been replaced: a silky, icy-blue, button down top with sleeves so long the tips brushed her knuckles, and matching bottoms that completely covered her feet; luckily, Uncle Constantin had remembered that she liked her sleepware to be on the baggy side.
As she flicked the lights off and crawled into her new bed, she couldn't help but think, 'This is my home now. And, things will be different here.'
Notes:
(1): If you didn't get it, Evan stomped on Kitty's foot to try and shut her up.
(2): Small reference to Twilight.
AC: Hm,what do you think that means,'things will be different here'? Hell,I'm the authoress and I don't even know! You guys are smart; you know what to do! Just go on and hit that little button down there at the bottom. You know, the one that says 'Go'?