Chapter Four
The mansion was in utter chaos. The mutant community had been devastated. Overnight, they had gone from a population numbering in the millions to perhaps two hundred. The telephones were ringing off the hook, and people wandered around the premises in a state of shock. Kurt hadn't slept more than an hour at a stretch in the past three days. He had just finished a six hour shift manning the switchboard when his cell phone rang.
"Ja, hallo?"
"Blue! Hi, it's me. I'm sorry to bother you..."
He smiled and interrupted her, "Melinda! You never bother me."
"Are you okay? This thing with mutants has been all over the news, and when I didn't hear from you..."
"Ach, you assumed the worst. I'm sorry, Schatzi, I've been swamped here. I should have 'phoned you already. I'm fine."
He could hear her sigh in relief.
"It's okay, I know you're busy, I just wanted to make sure you're all right."
"Ja." Kurt reflected how the sound of her voice was calming something inside him.
"And your friends?"
"For the most part, we're all intact. Everyone's in a state of shock, I suppose."
"I can imagine. What're you gonna do?" Melinda asked the last very softly.
"I...I don't know." Kurt gave a helpless, miserable little laugh. "We're trying to determine where the mutant community stands, right now."
"I know this probably sounds trite, but if there's anything I can do, Kurt..."
"Ja, actually there is. I desperately need to get away from this, for just a little while. Do you feel up for company?"
"Of course! You don't even have to ask."
An hour and a half later saw him stretched out on Melinda's couch, his head on her lap. She ran the fingers of her left hand lightly through his hair, brushing the curls back from his forehead. It was soothing, and he felt the anxiety and tension of the past several days fading under her gentle touch as he talked.
"I just don't know how to describe this feeling, Melinda. What happened in Genosha was horrible, but this...Gott. You know, religious extremists are saying this is God's judgment on mutants." Kurt's eyes shone with unshed tears.
"They're zeolots and they're full of it - surely you gotta know that?"
"Ja, maybe...but what if they're right? I've spent my life believing I am the way that I am because Gott wished me this way. What if I'm wrong? What if I'm a genetic mistake?" He swallowed hard.
"No!" She added in a softer tone, "no, Kurt, you are not a mistake. That's bullshit. Those guys can't know what God almighty is thinking! They just want the world to think they do. God did make you special for a reason, and, in the time I've known you, I've seen you do more good for the world that ten ordinary men - put together - can do in a lifetime! Don't let a bunch of religious crazies talk you outta knowing that."
He closed his eyes, lulled both by her words and the continued motion of her hand. "I don't know much of anything anymore, Liebling. I just became an endangered species. What is Gott's plan in that?"
"I wish I knew," she answered softly.
Kurt found himself dozing and woke with a start.
"Shhhhh. Look, we're not gonna solve the world's problems tonight, so just take it easy. Get some sleep." Melinda stroked his brow with her thumb until Kurt drifted off to sleep.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Mmmph" Kurt grunted in protest and felt around with his eyes closed, trying to find his pager. He located a pocket, but it wasn't his own.
"Was?" He found himself in a tangle of arms and legs, and opened his eyes. He and Melinda were curled on the couch together, facing one another. One of her legs was sandwiched between his legs, and her face was nuzzled against his neck. His arm was wrapped tightly around her and his tail...Oh dear, he thought.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Ach, nein! Kurt hurriedly located the beeper and shut off the racket. Luckily, Melinda slept on. Now he just had to carefully move his adventurous appendage before...
"Whazit?" Melinda opened her eyes and looked around muzzily. Her brown gaze fixed on his golden one in surprise. She wiggled a little and glanced down, "What the..?"
Kurt whipped his tail behind him and grinned sheepishly. "Ach sorry, it's...er...cold natured...you know. It looks for some place...warm." He cleared his throat.
Melinda tried to keep a straight face and failed miserably. "Yeah, right."
"Nein, really!" He was saved from further explanation by his cell phone ringing.
"Not a moment's verdammt peace!" He muttered as he answered the call.
"Hello?" Kurt shifted and sat up, sighing. "Ja, ja, I'm on my way." He clicked the phone closed and shrugged. "Duty calls."
"At six in the morning? Jeez." Melinda sat up as well, yawning and curling her feet underneath her.
"Afraid so. Danke...for last night, I mean."
She smiled at him. "Any time."
"Ja, I see you later." He noticed with embarrassment that his accent had thickened.
"I'll be here."
The fact that he knew she would burned like a comforting little flame in his chest.
The mutant community coped, as it always managed to do. Things would never be the same, but that was to be expected. Public sentiment had gone from moderate acceptance of mutants to outright disapproval in many cases. Kurt was as busy as he'd ever been with the X-Men, fighting for damage control. In fact, he'd been gone from New York more often than he was there over the past few months, and he hadn't had nearly as much time as he would like to explore the changing dimensions of his relationship with Melinda.
Their friendship had subtly shifted since the night on the couch. They'd always been affectionate with one another - that wasn't new - but it had increased to an easy familiarity. He found himself going out of his way to touch her, to step close enough to catch the scent of her hair, or brush against her, just to feel the heat of her body through her clothes. At the same time, he'd never even gotten up the nerve to kiss her. He was at a loss. It was completely unlike him. Normally, he kissed first and asked questions later, but then, most of the time, it didn't really matter. He was the devil-may-care swashbuckling hero, who had a reputation of trying to sweep damsels off their feet - it was all fun and games. Some of them liked it and some didn't. This wasn't the same, and a part of him was terrified.
He'd never been involved with a normal woman. There was Christine, but that hadn't really been a relationship. Amanda was the closest to normal he'd gotten, and she was a hereditary sorceress that was a stewardess by day and battled the demons of hell by night. Somehow, Kurt felt that didn't fall under most people's definition of "normal".
Melinda cared about him, he knew that without a doubt. She'd never shown any reluctance regarding his appearance, but did that apply only so long as he kept his distance romantically? He couldn't bear the thought of her turning away from him in disgust. Kurt felt like he was teetering on the brink of something, and if he took just one more step, he'd never be able to go back.
So far, he'd kept her separate from his life with the X-Men. None of his friends knew about her, or even where he went so often. Logan had teased him about having a girl, but he hadn't taken the bait. Why didn't he want them to know? He just wasn't sure. Kurt supposed it was because a part of him wanted to have something all to himself. He wanted something that he didn't have to share with the X-Men. Kurt was ashamed of his behavior. They'd been his family all of his adult life.
Melinda seemed to have no such compunctions. He'd met several of her co-workers and friends, and he was now invited for dinner at her parents' house this weekend, for Melinda's birthday. Kurt was feeling very ambivalent about that. What would they possibly think of someone like him, especially in the aftermath of recent events?
