The Gaze and the Glance
Author's note: Well, this chapter is totally a runt and I didn't even notice. Uhm...I'll probably put two up tonight, to make up for it. It's pretty short. Anyway, nothing much to say here, just them being cute. :) I plan to start getting back into actiony stuff again at some point in the story, but the next few chapters are mostly just about the romance. Other than that, I want to say thanks to those who reviewed and added this story so far, it means a lot to me. I love getting feedback and knowing whether I'm doing a decent job or not. That's all for now, have at the story. :)
Chapter 10
Like most other things, Kurt did his sleeping in a compact, contortionist fashion. They had gone to sleep back-to-back due to the fact he was insistent on being a good choir boy, and he was careful to keep as much distance as possible between them. However, over the course of the night, he had ended up with almost his entire body curled around her torso. He was now sharing her pillow, his head at an angle above hers so her hair was just barely brushing his chest, and his back was likewise bent in a way that seemed like it ought to be uncomfortable. With his limbs all tucked in -hands curled between her back and his stomach, and his legs folded up- Kurt presented an image that was very childlike.
And it was the cutest darn thing Julia had ever seen.
She realized that he was probably going to wake up soon and think she was a total creep for watching him, so she slid as subtly as she could backwards toward the edge of her mattress, sitting with her feet on the floor and stretching. She had never slept so well with another person in her bed. Usually she was conscious of them the entire night, and ended up being unable to sleep because of it. But not with Kurt. She had been out almost as soon as she had pulled the blanket up over them. She hadn't even noticed him moving, and he'd obviously done plenty of that at some point.
Seemingly without her notice, or permission, Julia's hand reached out and stroked over his hair and down his neck, stopping between his shoulder blades, repeating the gesture a couple times. In response Kurt very nearly purred, before his face scrunched up against the light from the windows.
"Vhat time is it?"
She glanced at the clock. "Too early to worry about yet. You can go back to sleep."
"Vhere are you going?"
"Nowhere." She smiled, even though his eyes were still closed. "Are you always so inquisitive in the mornings?"
"I don't usually vake up vith someone to question."
Julia laughed, thinking this was rather like the proverbial 'morning after' of a spontaneous hook-up. Only without the questionable sex and sobriety. And a lot less awkward. She hoped anyway. "You're not going to freak out again if Marcy comes by about pancakes, are you?"
That got an eye open, peering at her sleepily. "Dhat depends."
"On what?"
"On vhether I am avake or not." Kurt closed his eye, pulled the blanket over his head using his tail, and for all intents and purposes, seemed to go back to sleep. She couldn't help another little snicker, heading for the bathroom and a shower.
Upon her return twenty minutes later, she discovered Kurt had migrated, if only slightly, back into a proper vertical position in the bed, still curled up, but no longer in a blanket cocoon. She crossed the floor and sat on the edge of the bed again.
"Hey Kurt?"
"Ja?" He asked sleepily, rolling onto his back and stretching out, rubbing his eyes. He was wide awake in the next heartbeat, as Julia had slid one leg over him, sitting primly on his lower abdomen. Not quite on anything important, but only just shy. Wide yellow eyes looked up her in dismay. "Jyulia...? Um...vhat are you doing?"
"Making sure you're paying attention." Her hands were sitting on his shoulders, leaning over him ever-so-slightly. Or, more accurately, she was basically pinning him in place so he couldn't teleport off without her and avoid her.
"Und how am I supposed to concentrate vhen you're-"
"We just need to have a quick talk, okay? You won't need to concentrate." Seemingly unsure of what to say, Kurt only nodded, but she could gather from his expression he was extremely apprehensive of where this 'talk' was going. She could see him swallow nervously, and wondered if he thought she was going to try and rape him or something.
"Was...vhat are ve talking about?" He questioned, when she had been quiet for a moment or two, waiting for a 'yay' or 'nay' on his part.
"Alright, the basic jist of it is: when I said relationship, I meant a fairly serious one. I can do the cutesy hand-holding kisses on the cheek thing for awhile, but I'm an adult, that's not going to keep me happy forever. I want something more than that, yeah? I just want to make sure there's no question of what I want, and that you're cool with it. I won't force you into anything, but I'm not going to wait forever."
"Obviously," He remarked, eyes darting to where she was sitting on him. Julia felt a smirk creep onto her lips.
"Hey, I just wanted to make sure there's no confusion."
"Ja...vell, you've made your point perfectly clear..." There was a moment of silence, and Kurt cleared his throat. "Could you maybe...get off of me now?"
"You really want me to?"
"Ye-" He stopped mid-word, a look of what she guessed was good-boy guilt flashing over his face. "Maybe. I don't know."
"I'll just wait here while you decide."
A grin that could have almost been called sassy flashed across Kurt's mouth. "Perhaps I could barter a kiss for my freedom?"
"Mmm. You could." She nodded, feeling herself imitating his smile. "But it would have to be a pretty good one."
"I'm villing to risk it." Kurt's hands, which had been stubbornly kept to his sides before, slid up her legs in a deceptively bold fashion, one settling on her waist, the other continuing up her back. She could gather he was still a little nervous, perhaps expecting her to change her mind; so she only smiled and let him go at his pace rather than hers, wanting to prove that if there was anything that would get between them, it was his own anxiety. His wandering hand finally found a place at the nape of her neck, giving Julia a gentle tug down towards him, and Kurt levered himself up slightly to meet her. Her arms automatically slid around his neck, partially to help hold him up, partially to keep him close to her.
It was a gentle, sincere kind of kiss, tentative maybe, but nevertheless full of pure, tender affection that Julia felt to her very soul. She had never felt quite so comfortable and secure as she did in that exact moment. It seemed like there had always been a part of her that craved this kind of closeness to him. She always felt safe, had always found it so easy to trust him. She was seriously beginning to wonder if she had bypassed having a crush on him altogether and simply fallen in love with Kurt.
Julia was momentarily deterred from her thoughts by his tail snaking its way under the shirt she had slipped on after showering, and she would guess he wasn't intending it to be idling away in such a manner. Hoping to spare him embarrassment when he realized his tail was inches from sneaking under her bra, she nipped Kurt's lower lip lightly to get his attention, smiling at him slyly while the tail froze in place, lying flat against her ribs as though she wouldn't notice it if it stopped moving. "You doing that on purpose?"
"Uhm...perhaps I got carried avay?" Kurt's tone was sheepish.
"Perhaps." His tail slithered back out of her shirt, unintentionally making her shiver. It was an odd feeling after all. "Then again, this went from innocent to intimate pretty quick." She slid to one side, getting off of him finally with a smile. "A promise is a promise. A kiss for freedom."
"I'm starting to dhink I vas better off de other vay." He still let her go and sat up, his hand sliding to her lower back rather than her hip. "Sometimes my tail seems to have a mind of its own." He added, giving his extra appendage a dirty look.
"Don't worry about it. I didn't mind, just kinda surprised me is all. I honestly wasn't expecting you to be quite so bold." Kurt flushed, cheeks tinging slightly purple.
"I suppose not paying attention to anything vhile I'm kissing you is going to be a recurring problem," He shrugged, though he looked embarrassed. "At least I didn't bite you dhis time."
"True, but some people think biting is sexy you know."
An expressive eyebrow darted up. "Are you vone of those people liebling?"
"That, darling, depends entirely on whether you intend to keep doing it or not."
Whatever smart reply Kurt may have had, Logan chose to spoil the moment by shoving through her door without a care in the world.
"Jules, Chuck needs to see ya, and he wanted to tell ya to bring Elf-" He paused, taking in the fact that they were sitting in the middle of her bed, unreasonably close together, in a pile of rumpled sheets. Logan however, bless his aloof sensibilities, paid no more attention to the fact after the initial observation. "Never mind. I see ya got that covered. So anyway, Chuck wants to see you both."
"You know, mein freund, most people vill announce themselves before they go barging into somevone's room." Kurt chided, attempting, Julia supposed, to not look guilty or embarrassed, though he had still scooted to the foot of the bed, putting obvious distance between them. "Vhy didn't the Professor just tell us so himself?"
"Guess he didn't want to interrupt," Was Logan's smirking response, turning back to the door with a what was likely supposed to be a wave.
"But obviously he had no problems with it," Julia sighed after the Canadian, rolling her eyes. "Do you think he actually tries to be such a pain in the ass?"
"I'm beginning to vonder," Kurt concurred, sliding off the mattress to his feet, Julia following suit a moment later.
"Guess we oughta go see what Xavier wants."
"Suppose ve should. Vould you like to valk or 'port?"
"Walk. Definitely walk. It's too early to be upsetting my stomach and going through another dimension." Julia waved her hand placidly. Truth be told, she barely even noticed traveling between the dimensions anymore. Whether it was because she could now dis-assemble at will, or simply because she had been jaunted by Kurt enough times to finally get used to it, she couldn't really say. Still, walking was really her preferred method of getting around if she wasn't in a hurry.
"Very vell. I dhink I vill at least go change my clothes first though."
"Aw, don't want everyone to know you didn't go home last night?" She smiled when Kurt averted his eyes, fidgeting slightly.
"I am...a little uncomfortable vith it..." He admitted. "I don't think I vant to start any unnecessary rumors..."
"I understand, don't worry. I'll see you in Professor Xavier's office then, okay?"
"Ja." He nodded, made a move as though to walk to the door, then abruptly wheeled around and pressed a kiss to her cheek. It was so quick she hardly had time to register the contact, and in the next moment and a puff of sulfur-scented smoke, Kurt was gone, leaving Julia with what she felt must be a rather silly-looking grin etched on her face.
The now-familiar trip to the Professor's office took less than five minutes, Julia knocking even though she was more than likely expected. "Professor?"
"Good morning Julia, please come in." He smiled though it seemed a little lack-luster, offering her the usual spot on the couch, coffee already provided on the end-table. "I'm uh...sorry about Logan. I have a difficult time contacting you telepathically, so I asked him to let you know, since he was already near your room. It was only after that I realized Kurt was also in your room; I'm sorry if he intruded in any way-"
"It's okay, Logan's just kind of rude that way," Julia waved the explanation off. If she wasn't mistaken, the Professor seemed genuinely embarrassed, and she had to wonder just what kind of thoughts he had been picking up on in Kurt's head. "Besides, we weren't really doing anything. Nothing, you know, naughty anyway." At least, not by her standards. Who knew what kind of conduct expectations the Professor had though. She also wasn't sure how she felt about people knowing about her and Kurt's budding relationship before they decided where and what is was going to be. "So, anyway, what did you need?"
"Awhile ago you asked me about vacation time to visit Arizona. Things have been relatively calm as of late, and Hank and I are planning to go to Los Angeles for a medical conference. In light of this, it seems an ideal time to drop you off in Arizona."
"Really? That's great! But wait, what does this have to do with Kurt?"
"I would like him to accompany you."
"Why?" Julia's tone was unintentionally sharp. Did the Professor not trust her to be left alone? Was Kurt going along to keep an eye on her? Or did Professor Xavier fear the reaction of her 'family' to a mutant and he was going as back-up? On the one hand, she would be glad to have Kurt along, even if it was only as a safety precaution; on the other, she was getting a definite 'ulterior motive' vibe from the Professor.
"We may be super heroes Julia, but I still prefer that we always watch each others' backs, even on vacations. If you'd prefer to take someone else along with you-"
"It's okay. I don't mind Kurt coming along. I just thought maybe you were sending him as a babysitter. I know I overreacted last night, and I've been thinking about it. But they were really going to try and hurt him...it just made me so mad..."
The Professor gave her a kind nod, and his eyes were surprisingly understanding. "When we're threatened, it has always been instinctive for humans to go into the 'fight or flight' mode, you're a fighter by nature Julia. But we have to learn to rise above that. Attacking humans, especially civilians, is only working backwards from what we want. You must remember that we didn't help you master your abilities so you could fight, but so you could-"
"Help. I know," Julia said quietly. She understood that, truly she did. But she had also only been trying to help Kurt, her first instinct had been to protect her friend. It was hard to think of helping people at the risk of them turning right around and clubbing your dearest friends with bottles or other blunt instruments. "Anyway, does Kurt know about this, or were you planning to just drop him off and hope he figured it out?"
"Ve discussed it avhile ago vhen Hank and de Professor got their invitations," Kurt answered for himself, materializing near the door. He strode over towards the couch, perching on the back rather than actually sitting on it, but such was his nature. "But ve thought it vould be nice to surprise you."
"All of you, or just you blue-boy?" Julia countered. Kurt loved surprises, especially when they happened to other people, and even when they didn't have the nice reaction this one did. One of his common pastimes was nonchalantly popping out of shadows unannounced and scaring the daylights out of people. And, for obvious reasons, his favorite victim was Marcy. Still, it was good to know he had already decided to go along, it made it seem a little less like she was being cross-examined.