*Riiiiing*
Bobby skidded into the kitchen, grabbed the phone out of the cradle, nearly dropped it, and finally managed to get it into proper listening position.
"Poice headquarters, we've got you surrounded!" he said cheerfully. "You have two minutes to release the hostages before we're forced to send in a SWAT team."
"Get off the phone, Popsicle," came Logan's distance-distorted voice. "I need to talk to the Prof."
"Aww," Bobby whined. "You're so boring, you-"
"When I get home," Logan threatened, "I'm gonna-"
"Going!" Bobby delivered the wireless to the Professor, with speed.
"Xavier Institute," he answered formally.
"Mornin', Charles," Logan said. "Look, this is a bad idea. Smoky hasn't had enough training. She shouldn't be outta the mansion."
"Real-world experience is vital to the program," Xavier lectured. "But more importantly, we've heard from Kurt. He seemed quite stresed. I think-"
"Make it quick," Logan interrupted. "I'm on my cell, and long distance costs a fortune."
"Yes," Xavier gathered the important points in his mind. "Kurt seems to be in your general area. He believes the war is his fault. I'm afraid he's going to do something unwise."
"Just like him, to solve everyone else's problems first," Logan sighed.
"Which is why I want you to find him before he gets any deeper into trouble."
"I'm a little busy trying to make sure Smoky doesn't cause too much property damage."
"Perhaps tonight-" Xavier suggested.
"Just a minute, Smo- What the? Hold on, Charles," Logan's voice lowered in volume at this point, as if he had put the phone down. "Where'd you come from?" There was some more muffled dialogue before Logan returned to his original conversation. "Elf just showed up. I'll call you back," he said shortly, and the connection closed.
Xavier put the phone down thoughtfully. Well, at least all his students were in the same place now. He trusted Logan to bring them home safely.
**********
Kurt trotted along behind Amara. Logan stalked, because that was his preferred method of getting from here to there. Regardless of their strides, they all reached their destination at about the same time.
"Alerba save us," Tikad breathed as soon as they entered the room. He took a step backwards and leaned heavily on a chair.
Kurt hastily retreated behind Logan. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Erti had turned bright red. "This is exactly why we keeping having wars!" he said angrily. "You have no respect for us!"
"It's not like you have much for us either," Tikad shot back.
"Don't fight?" Kurt pleaded, his yellow eyes peeking over Logan's shoulder.
"Heed the words of the Messenger!" Erti raised his arms. "Surrender to our superiority!"
"He's a monster," Tikad's eyes narrowed. "You're a fool to listen to him."
"Hey, they're not that bad," Kurt said in defense of the Vecchia Romans. "At least they were nice to me."
"Only because they're too stupid to be properly afraid," Amara sniffed.
Kurt growled, left his hiding spot, and waved a finger in Amara's face. "You listen," he said, his tail lashing dangerously. "I look like this and I still have more true friends than you ever will. So don't talk."
*Bamf*
"He exploded!" Tikad exclaimed fearfully.
"He fulfilled his mission and returned to the other realm!" Erti said in awe.
"Oh, he does that all the time," Amara griped. "It's *such* a rude way to end a conversation."
Logan went to find the Elf, who, just as he suspected, was already drowning his woes in a corner of the kitchen.
"I'm so tired," Kurt said without looking up. "I just want to go home."
"Yeah," Logan said, leaning on a counter. "We will. What'cha got there?"
"Dunno. Something out of the back of the fridge. No one will miss it."
The kid lived by an odd sort of logic, but it must have been based on a solid set of rules, because it tended to put everyone else to shame.
**********
"I cannot *believe* I only got an A-minus on my math final!" Kitty wailed, throwing her backpack into Scott's car and climbing in after it.
"You should've studied more," Jean said reasonably.
"It's all Kurt's fault," Kitty rationalized. "I couldn't concentrate, knowing that he was out alone somewhere."
"I thought you couldn't concentrate with him 'porting around all afternoon," Scott raised an eyebrow.
Kitty 'hmmph'ed at him and slouched into her seat.
Evan vaulted into the car. Everyone instantly noticed that he was carrying a large but otherwise nondescript book, simply because it was such a rare occurrence to see him in possession of anything resembling a study material.
"Drive!" he said as soon as he was in the seat. "I'm in a hurry." Evan had been working on something very secretive lately, and wouldn't answer any questions about it. At least that's what the other kids guessed, since no one had bothered to ask him a question.
Scott started the car and cautiously maneuvered out of the parking lot. "I thought at the Professor during gym," he said.
"Any news?" Kitty pounced.
"He says Kurt found Logan."
"That's good," Kitty sighed and leaned back.
They rode in silence for a while.
"*Thought at*?" Jean burst out. "Honestly, Scott, can't you come up with anything better than that?"
"What?" Scott kept his eyes on the road. "Nobody's invented a good verb for it yet. It's not something most people talk about often."
"How about 'communicated via telepathy'?" she suggested.
"Do you know how...er..."
"Stilted?" Kitty helped.
"Yeah," Scott snatched up the word. "Do you know how stilted that sounds?"
"At least it isn't the diction of a two-year-old," Jean huffed. "Could you at least say you thought *to* him?"
"What's the difference?"
"The *difference*," Jean said hotly, "is the same as the difference between talking *to* and talking *at* someone. At the moment I almost feel I'm doing the latter."
Kitty stayed out of the argument, but couldn't help feeling that the focus of the debate was more than a little unusual.
"Fine," Scott conceded. "From now on I'll think *to* you."
"And remember that's not the same as thinking *about* me," Jean said. "Which I know you are. In unflattering terms. Do you need me to translate that into small Scott words?"
Scott pointedly failed to answer while parking the car in front of the Institute. Evan took his things and bolted, probably to lock himself in his room again.
Kitty secretly thought that the recent shortage of Kurt-antics was putting a strain on everyone, the sort that one gets when things change suddenly, or when there's an unhealthy amount of seriousness. She rather felt her point was proven.
Bobby skidded into the kitchen, grabbed the phone out of the cradle, nearly dropped it, and finally managed to get it into proper listening position.
"Poice headquarters, we've got you surrounded!" he said cheerfully. "You have two minutes to release the hostages before we're forced to send in a SWAT team."
"Get off the phone, Popsicle," came Logan's distance-distorted voice. "I need to talk to the Prof."
"Aww," Bobby whined. "You're so boring, you-"
"When I get home," Logan threatened, "I'm gonna-"
"Going!" Bobby delivered the wireless to the Professor, with speed.
"Xavier Institute," he answered formally.
"Mornin', Charles," Logan said. "Look, this is a bad idea. Smoky hasn't had enough training. She shouldn't be outta the mansion."
"Real-world experience is vital to the program," Xavier lectured. "But more importantly, we've heard from Kurt. He seemed quite stresed. I think-"
"Make it quick," Logan interrupted. "I'm on my cell, and long distance costs a fortune."
"Yes," Xavier gathered the important points in his mind. "Kurt seems to be in your general area. He believes the war is his fault. I'm afraid he's going to do something unwise."
"Just like him, to solve everyone else's problems first," Logan sighed.
"Which is why I want you to find him before he gets any deeper into trouble."
"I'm a little busy trying to make sure Smoky doesn't cause too much property damage."
"Perhaps tonight-" Xavier suggested.
"Just a minute, Smo- What the? Hold on, Charles," Logan's voice lowered in volume at this point, as if he had put the phone down. "Where'd you come from?" There was some more muffled dialogue before Logan returned to his original conversation. "Elf just showed up. I'll call you back," he said shortly, and the connection closed.
Xavier put the phone down thoughtfully. Well, at least all his students were in the same place now. He trusted Logan to bring them home safely.
**********
Kurt trotted along behind Amara. Logan stalked, because that was his preferred method of getting from here to there. Regardless of their strides, they all reached their destination at about the same time.
"Alerba save us," Tikad breathed as soon as they entered the room. He took a step backwards and leaned heavily on a chair.
Kurt hastily retreated behind Logan. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Erti had turned bright red. "This is exactly why we keeping having wars!" he said angrily. "You have no respect for us!"
"It's not like you have much for us either," Tikad shot back.
"Don't fight?" Kurt pleaded, his yellow eyes peeking over Logan's shoulder.
"Heed the words of the Messenger!" Erti raised his arms. "Surrender to our superiority!"
"He's a monster," Tikad's eyes narrowed. "You're a fool to listen to him."
"Hey, they're not that bad," Kurt said in defense of the Vecchia Romans. "At least they were nice to me."
"Only because they're too stupid to be properly afraid," Amara sniffed.
Kurt growled, left his hiding spot, and waved a finger in Amara's face. "You listen," he said, his tail lashing dangerously. "I look like this and I still have more true friends than you ever will. So don't talk."
*Bamf*
"He exploded!" Tikad exclaimed fearfully.
"He fulfilled his mission and returned to the other realm!" Erti said in awe.
"Oh, he does that all the time," Amara griped. "It's *such* a rude way to end a conversation."
Logan went to find the Elf, who, just as he suspected, was already drowning his woes in a corner of the kitchen.
"I'm so tired," Kurt said without looking up. "I just want to go home."
"Yeah," Logan said, leaning on a counter. "We will. What'cha got there?"
"Dunno. Something out of the back of the fridge. No one will miss it."
The kid lived by an odd sort of logic, but it must have been based on a solid set of rules, because it tended to put everyone else to shame.
**********
"I cannot *believe* I only got an A-minus on my math final!" Kitty wailed, throwing her backpack into Scott's car and climbing in after it.
"You should've studied more," Jean said reasonably.
"It's all Kurt's fault," Kitty rationalized. "I couldn't concentrate, knowing that he was out alone somewhere."
"I thought you couldn't concentrate with him 'porting around all afternoon," Scott raised an eyebrow.
Kitty 'hmmph'ed at him and slouched into her seat.
Evan vaulted into the car. Everyone instantly noticed that he was carrying a large but otherwise nondescript book, simply because it was such a rare occurrence to see him in possession of anything resembling a study material.
"Drive!" he said as soon as he was in the seat. "I'm in a hurry." Evan had been working on something very secretive lately, and wouldn't answer any questions about it. At least that's what the other kids guessed, since no one had bothered to ask him a question.
Scott started the car and cautiously maneuvered out of the parking lot. "I thought at the Professor during gym," he said.
"Any news?" Kitty pounced.
"He says Kurt found Logan."
"That's good," Kitty sighed and leaned back.
They rode in silence for a while.
"*Thought at*?" Jean burst out. "Honestly, Scott, can't you come up with anything better than that?"
"What?" Scott kept his eyes on the road. "Nobody's invented a good verb for it yet. It's not something most people talk about often."
"How about 'communicated via telepathy'?" she suggested.
"Do you know how...er..."
"Stilted?" Kitty helped.
"Yeah," Scott snatched up the word. "Do you know how stilted that sounds?"
"At least it isn't the diction of a two-year-old," Jean huffed. "Could you at least say you thought *to* him?"
"What's the difference?"
"The *difference*," Jean said hotly, "is the same as the difference between talking *to* and talking *at* someone. At the moment I almost feel I'm doing the latter."
Kitty stayed out of the argument, but couldn't help feeling that the focus of the debate was more than a little unusual.
"Fine," Scott conceded. "From now on I'll think *to* you."
"And remember that's not the same as thinking *about* me," Jean said. "Which I know you are. In unflattering terms. Do you need me to translate that into small Scott words?"
Scott pointedly failed to answer while parking the car in front of the Institute. Evan took his things and bolted, probably to lock himself in his room again.
Kitty secretly thought that the recent shortage of Kurt-antics was putting a strain on everyone, the sort that one gets when things change suddenly, or when there's an unhealthy amount of seriousness. She rather felt her point was proven.
