Hank had been on the second floor landing, on his way to his room for some much needed rest after an all-nighter down at the lab when he heard it: Thump. Thump. Thump.
He looked up curiously, wondering what the cause of the strange noise was. How odd. It was about nine in the morning, so the mansion was mostly empty. The younger mutants were all at school - Logan and Scott and Kurt had yet to return from driving all the younger ones down to Bayville High, the others were away at campus - the Professor was away on a conference, along with Piotr for company (and protection, should he need it.) He'd seen both Jean and Ororo in the kitchen on dish duty when he passed by to grab whatever he could of breakfast earlier, and Rogue mentioned needing a work-out down at the gym. Laura, he knew, was off doing a perimeter check, and Remy had accompanied her. Erik was usually in the administrative office by this time, and that was downstairs. So, by process of elimination, that left one possible culprit.
Hank continued up the steps, turned down the hall towards the attic and stopped short when he saw Logan and Ororo's little one very carefully taking the stairs from the loft down, one step at a time, backwards, while tugging on a heavy canvas bag with her hands. She dragged it down with her with every step she took. All in all, it didn't look very easy, or safe, with the way she teetered every now and then.
"Oh, my stars and garters. Kendall!" Hank loped forward, pace driven by sudden alarm. "What in heaven's name are you doing?"
"Uncle Hank?" Kendall looked up, surprised. She didn't even hear him coming. As she twisted around to get a better look at him, she lost her footing and missed the edge of a step.
"Woah-!"
A pair of warm, fuzzy arms caught her before she could fall any farther. Oof. She looked up at concerned gray eyes on a blue face, and smiled sheepishly. "Hullo, Uncle Hank."
He tried not to smile, tried to keep a stern frown as he looked back at her. But her big blue eyes were making it rather hard. Despite his best efforts, he shook his head with a small, exasperated grin.
"Hello yourself, little troublemaker." He tweaked her nose for good measure. Kendall giggled. "Just what were you up to?"
"Mama said I could play in the Rec Room!" Kendall replied earnestly.
Hank quirked a smile. He'd never dabbled into child psych, so seeing children's reasoning in action like this tended to amuse and surprise him all at once. He nodded patiently. "Alright. Is that where you were headed?"
She nodded. "But I got my blocks first."
Well, that explained the bag in her arms. She'd kept it clutched in her arms, but as soon as Hank went down the remaining steps and set her back on her feet, she put it back down on the floor. It did look heavy for a five year old. Hank moved to relieve her of her burden, but Kendall misunderstood.
"But she said I could get one toy!"
"I know, sweetness," He patted her head, shifting the bag to one arm. "But it seems that you could use some assistance getting it downstairs. Please remember to ask for help next time, alright? As much as I enjoy the pleasure of your company, I must say I would rather spend time with you outside the infirmary, than in it."
"Okay..." Kendall frowned slightly, but nodded her head. They started down the hall, and Kendall slipped her hand into Hank's free and much larger one easily, without a second thought. Hank smiled warmly, always touched by her trust in such a simple gesture.
-x-
Jean floated the last of the pots and pans into their respective cabinets with a smile of satisfaction. "There. All done!"
"Finally." Ororo added with a soft chuckle, wiping down the sink with a dishrag. Between her rain clouds and Jean's judicious use of telekinesis, clean up time was often cut half. It still took a while, naturally, considering all the mouths they had to feed in the morning rush. But at least it didn't take as long as it should have.
Jean stretched her arms up, in a good mood after finishing something productive. "I think I'll go start on those work-ups Dr. McCoy wanted me to look at." Jean had started doing lab work alongside Hank down in the research labs after she graduated a few years ago. She'd wanted to be a doctor, initially, but had forgone further schooling so she could be in the mansion more reliably. But with her degree in genetics, she'd been more than a great help to both Charles' and Hank's research, and helping Hank at the infirmary wherever and whenever she could. "What about you, Storm?"
"I suppose I'll check on Erik. With Charles away, he'll need some help wading through the paperwork left behind." Ororo paused thoughtfully, looking at the clock. "After I see what Kendall's up to, at least. She may want a snack before lunch."
Jean nodded and waved goodbye as the two women parted ways in the hall. Ororo headed for the Rec Room, pausing in surprise a few feet away when she heard two familiar voices instead of just one. She shook her head, smiling.
"- Can we make it taller, Uncle Hank?"
Ororo stopped by the door, grinning at the sight of Kendall sitting on one of Beast's broad shoulders. She was carefully adding another block on top while Beast adjusted the ones below. The block tower was much taller than what Kendall usually made, and was supported by an odd assortment of curious things at the bottom. Books, pens, an empty box of Twinkies. Anything to ensure the tower was structurally sound.
"Taller still, my little engineer?"
"Yes! Rapunzel's tower is really tall. The prince has to use her long hair to climb up. Because he can't fly like Mama, or climb like you or Spider-Man, or poof up high like Uncle Kurt..."
"The poor fellow. He could have greatly benefited from a mutation, hmm?"
"Yeah." Kendall was silent for a beat. And then: "... Uncle Hank, why don't I got a mutation?"
(A question to be answered some other time, hehe. Thanks for reading!)