Kurt was still waiting in the office when Charles returned. He'd pulled a book off one of the shelves, and Charles was interested to see that it was Jane Eyre. He was a little less happy to see the look of complete and utter confusion on Kurt's face as he flipped from one page to another.
But he quickly put it back on the shelf and turned to Charles when he came in. Charles gave Kurt the best smile he could muster under the circumstances, and then rolled up next to him, trying to pretend that nothing was amiss.
"Vas eferyzing alright?" Kurt asked.
"Yes," Charles said, "A minor spill. Several students were startled. It was nothing major."
If only that were true.
"I was wondering if you would like a tour of the facility," Charles said, "I'm not sure whether or not you want to start taking classes here, but I don't like the idea of you getting lost during your stay."
Kurt smiled back at him, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"I am...not sure zat I vill be here long enough for classes," he said.
Charles nodded, ignoring the pang that statement caused. Kurt wasn't trying to hurt him, only trying to be honest, but still.
"Let's start with the ground floor," he said, "I'm afraid the upper levels have classes in them at the moment. Lunch ended about half an hour before you came down, and I know several classes have tests going on."
"Ja, sounds gut," said Kurt.
Charles gestured to the door and they walked out. Kurt's eyes roved around the halls, no doubt taking in the high ceilings and the beautifully carved wood paneling. Charles's ancestors had been major show-offs. He still had most of the antiques the estate possessed in a warehouse further on the grounds.
He was considering selling most of them soon. Running a school like this wasn't cheap, and he hated having them clutter up the storage.
"Did you build zis as a school or buy it?" Kurt asked.
"It was originally intended to be my family home, believe it or not," said Charles, "I was never particularly fond of the style, not even as a child, but all those extra rooms came in handy for something."
"You grew up here?" Kurt asked.
"Yes," Charles said, "I inherited it when I was around twenty-three and my mother died. I wasn't sure whether or not I should go back, but when I had the idea to start a school five years later, it was the best facility I could find in a pinch. It helped that I already owned it."
Kurt grinned, and then bit his lip.
"Is something bothering you?" asked Charles.
His nephew hesitated for a moment more.
"Did mein...did mein mutter grow up here?" he asked.
Charles looked at him. His nephew was nervous, and he realized Kurt wasn't sure if he was allowed to ask about his mother. Given what Charles had told him already, he probably knew he was prodding at an open wound. Perhaps he thought it would hurt too much, or he thought Charles wouldn't want to talk about Raven.
The honest truth was that, yes, it did hurt to talk about Raven. For many years he hadn't wanted to talk about her, hadn't wanted to even think about her, and when he let all of those emotions drown him, he'd been lost for years.
He'd tried to be more open after that, knowing that the school, mutantkind, perhaps the world, could ill-afford for him to waver and lose his way a second time. And Kurt had a right to know. Raven might be Charles's sister, but Kurt was her son.
So he gave him another gentle smile, despite the pain sparking inside of him.
"Yes, she did," Charles said, "She was always fond of the outdoors, and she loved the grounds here. But she never liked it when it rained. I did. She would come up with such games to keep me indoors with her."
He opened the door to the library and wheeled inside. Kurt followed him closely, his eyes taking in the sea of volumes.
"But she always hated the wallpaper here, which I quite loved," he said, "I thought it looked like moss on a tree. When she was seven she told me it looked like snot."
Kurt chuckled, and Charles felt heartened.
"She was often saying things like that," he said, "She also liked sliding on the bannisters more than was good for her. I was worried she was going to get hurt, but she didn't listen to me. Instead, she whooped all the way down. Our stepfather hated that."
"Stepfather?" Kurt asked.
Charles resisted the urge to wince. His stepfather, Marko, was not the type of man he wanted to remember.
"A very peculiar man," he said, repeating the description he'd once given Alex, "Not someone I particularly liked, but he, my mother and my stepbrother were often out of the house. For months and months at a time. It meant it was just me and Raven."
He sighed wistfully, and spoke the next words without a hint of vanity or pride.
"I think she preferred it that way to be honest," he said, "I know I did."
Kurt shifted his hands in his pocket.
"You vere fery close?" he asked.
"Yes," Charles said, "She was...is, my best and oldest friend. For a long time she was my only friend, and I felt she was the only one who truly understood me."
He tapped the side of his head.
"I don't have to tell you that it's difficult to grow up different," he said, "It was never so difficult for me, because most people won't know I'm a mutant unless I tell them. But, Raven..."
He tapped the sides of his wheelchair.
"Your mother looked very much like you, as I've said before," he said, "But her mutation was that she could change her appearance."
"Oh," Kurt said.
His tail swished behind him.
"Vhy did she not just keep hidden zen?" he asked.
Charles felt a little like crying. He could see a kind of desire in Kurt's eyes, as though he would prefer that to be his mutation. Even in a climate that was rapidly understanding mutations, Raven would still draw stares in any populated place.
Kurt, however, had a very particular problem. Raven's appearance was unusual, but Kurt looked like something very specific that people feared.
"She tried," said Charles, "But she was the kind of person who burns so brightly that, if you put a lampshade over them, it stifles them."
He closed his eyes.
"It might even put out the light all together," he said.
Kurt didn't respond. Charles didn't expect him to: there were few things you could say when someone told you something like that. Perhaps he'd been a bit premature in confessing that about Raven. The words had just come out.
"Vell, zat vas nefer an option I had," Kurt said.
His nephew's words were light, but there was an undercurrent of something else.
"Kurt, the family who took you in," Charles said, "I don't mean to pry more than you want, but...you said they were kind..."
Kurt nodded quickly.
"Ja," he said, "Zey um, zey did not say anyzing mean to me because of how I looked, and zey did not say anyzing later vhen I began teleporting."
"Teleporting?" Charles repeated.
Hank had confessed his thoughts about Kurt's father when Charles had arrived, but Charles had decided to put such thoughts on hold until later. They were coming back full force now.
"Ja," Kurt said.
There was a flash of smoke, the smell of sulphur, and Kurt was standing on the other side of the room. No, there was no denying this.
"Margali said it vould be good for ze act," he said, "Und zere vas zis vone time, vhen ze support gave out, und I vas able to grab Amanda before anyzing happened. Ze audience zought it vas part of ze act. It alvays did vorry me zat Margali did not like safety nets."
So many thoughts rattled in his head, but Charles decided to keep things simple.
"Amanda?" he asked.
"Ja," Kurt said, "She ist Margali's daughter. I grew up vith her und her older brother, Stefan."
A slight hitch appeared in Kurt's voice when he mentioned Stefan, and Charles filed it away for later.
"So, your foster sister," Charles said.
Kurt looked a little uncomfortable.
"I vish you vould not put it zat vay," he said, "Margali let me know zey vere not mien siblings."
Inwardly, Charles felt his frown deepen. Despite reassurances from Kurt about Margali's kindness, he was starting to get the feeling that it wasn't kindness Margali had shown Kurt. She'd shown him a lack of cruelty, and that wasn't the same thing.
He'd have to wait for more information to confirm that though. The last thing he needed to do was jump to conclusions.
"How did you see it?" Charles asked carefully.
His nephew thought for a moment.
"I...I realized fery young zat lofe did not haf to haf ein name vith it," he said, "Zese titles ve give people, brozzer, sister, mutter, zey are all good titles, but zey are not necessary. All I knew vas I lofed Amanda und Stefan fery much."
He shifted a little.
"But I lofed Amanda in ein different vay. Zat much I knew," he said, his eyes all but glowing, "Und...ve are togezzer now."
Charles smiled, feeling pleased for him, but also a bit cautious. Kurt had said he couldn't go home. Did that mean he couldn't go back to her?
"She ist coming to ze states soon," Kurt said, "Und, I'm not sure if you vill be able to meet her, or want to, but, vell-"
"I would be delighted to meet anyone you cared about," said Charles.
Kurt gave him a shy smile.
"She ist fery beautiful," he said, "Und fery smart. She ist ze vone who vould lofe to live at a school. She vas looking into ze possibility of going into college in a few years."
"I thought you said you all dropped out around fifteen?" asked Charles
"She still vanted to go to college," Kurt said, "She took courses zat you can send away for, had it follow us around vehn ve moved, city to city."
"She sounds like an amazing young woman," Charles said.
"She is," Kurt said.
His voice was wistful, and Charles understood it. Now that he was safe, his nephew was becoming homesick.
"If you feel the need to call, or anything of the sort, then please feel free to use the telephone," he offered.
Kurt shook his head.
"Ve don't haf vone vhere ve live," he said, "Zey vere talking about getting some of zhoze fancy portable vones, but I do not know ze number."
"Oh," Charles said.
"She had plans to visit America soon, und ve vere going to meet zen," Kurt said, "It has only been a few days und I miss her already."
"I understand," Charles said.
He looked around the room and cleared his throat.
"Would you like to see the rest of the Institute?" he asked.
"Ja," Kurt said.
His eyes gave the room a quick once-over.
"For vhat it ist vorth," he said, "I zink zat ze vallpaper looks like lichen. It ist too dark for snot."
Charles couldn't help it: he laughed. Next to him Kurt grinned, and it made hope spark in his heart. Maybe, despite everything that had happened, everything that would probably happen in the future, they were off to a good start.