Chapter 9 - Kurt of the Chocolate Teapot
Author's notes – yay, more reviews. As requested, here is the next chapter. Enjoy.
Kurt was back in the same coffee shop that he had visited last Saturday, sipping coffee and thinking hard. Mrs McCann might be right, maybe what he really needed was someone to talk to, someone he could trust, someone who was smart enough to deal with things that were proving to be too problematic for Kurt himself to deal with alone. And Kurt had a suspicion that it would be Kitty Pryde who was the someone he was looking for. She was brilliant academically, and, he was now convinced beyond doubt, she had some form of mutant's ability, she could walk through walls, and possibly possessed some other ability that he could not even guess at. And she had been selected to play Juliet, so Kurt would have plenty of time to talk to her during rehearsals. It would all be so easy, were it not for the small but significant problem that he was a member of the Brotherhood, she was a member of the Xavier Boarding House, and the two groups refused to have almost anything to do with each other whenever possible.
Kurt took another sip of his coffee, and looked around. There were a few student from school studying in the far corner, by the window, but he did not think that they were mutants, or friends of Kitty. Over the counter, the people working at the shop were discussing whether they should change the name of the coffee house to The Chocolate Teapot. One of them said that she thought that that would be bad advertising, since a chocolate teapot was a term used for something without value, since, if a teapot was indeed made out of chocolate, then it would invariably melt upon coming into contact with boiling water. Her companion replied that the name was supposed to be ironic, and that, anyway, chocolate could be shaped into eggs and various other shapes, and still remain valuable, so why not a teapot. Kurt listened, grinning slightly to himself. Some people wondered about the most pointless things, he thought, whereas I've got to deal with a giant robot and mutant hating fanatics. I doubt very much I could solve either with a chocolate teapot.
Kurt took another sip of his coffee, and then looked up as he heard a familiar voice. There she was, the pretty, smart, Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde, ordering something low fat that Kurt could not pronounce. She was accompanied by about half a dozen other students, those that lived in the Xavier Mansion for Gifted Youngsters, Kurt was sure of it, now he looked carefully. They're mutants like me, Kurt thought to himself, so why can't we at least be civil to each other, even if we can't be friends? We have enough enemies in America as it is, without squabbling amongst ourselves. He took another sip of his coffee, as Kitty and her friends took a seat not far from Kurt. They discussed school work for a while, but then their voices dropped, and Kurt was sure that they were discussing something to do with mutants, or those who hated mutants. Kurt took a deep breath, steeled his courage, and got up and walked over to their table. Their conversation abruptly stopped as soon as they saw him. All of them were watching him with some degree of wariness, if not outright hostility. Kurt looked around himself nervously, and gripped his coffee cup so hard that he nearly squashed it. Kurt managed a small smile, and turned his attention to Kitty, "I just wanted to say hi," he began nervously, "and to apologise again for the way Toad treated you on Monday. I should have been able to stop him."
They all stared back at him for a long moment. "Um, apology accepted," Kitty replied, hiding her head in her hands, clearly feeling embarrassed at all of this public attention. Wonderful, thought Kurt, I'm only making this worse.
The tallest of the boys, wearing red-tinted sunglasses even though he was indoors, stood up, towering head and shoulders over Kurt. He made it clear, from his frown, that he was looking at Kurt with barely concealed contempt, "Okay, you've apologised, now go away and leave us alone to enjoy our Saturday in peace," he said.
Kitty turned her attention to him, "That's not very nice, Scott," she admonished, "He wasn't doing anything wrong, just saying hello," she muttered.
"You're too tolerant of the Brotherhood boys," the tall boy replied, turning his attention towards Kitty, "you know what they're like. We've given them every chance, and look what happened last week," he gestured at the jewellery store opposite, "they go and commit a robbery."
"Hey, I had nothing to do with that," Kurt protested.
Kitty covered her head in her hands, clearly noticing that the people around her had started to stare at their little group. She looked up at the boy with the sunglasses once more, "Sit down Scott," she muttered, "he's the boy I was talking about earlier, the exchange student from Germany."
"You were talking about me?" Kurt asked, wondering whether he should feel pleased or worried about that.
The tall boy, Scott apparently, sat down reluctantly, and turned his attention back to Kitty, "I just don't want you to be hurt again," he said apologetically, "You know what happened the last time you got involved with one of the Brotherhood."
"Well, yes," she admitted awkwardly, "but that does not mean that they are all alike."
"Yes, that's right," said Kurt quickly, before someone could interrupt him, "and I have no idea about any history that you may or may not have with the members of the Brotherhood, but I never even wanted to join them in the first place, and only arrived in America last Friday, so can hardly be blamed for anything that happened between you two groups before that, now, can I?"
Kitty turned a slightly apologetic smile towards him, "Why did you join the Brotherhood if you didn't want to?" her question was more curious than accusing, but there was a slight edge to it.
Kurt knew that he would have to be cautious in answering her question, but that he certainly should not lie to her, and perhaps lose her trust forever. He shrugged, "The courts ordered me to leave Germany and come to America," he began, "because I have a…um…relative over here," he did not want to admit that Mystique was his biological mother, just in case that would influence the way in which Kitty thought about him, "and she wanted me to spend time with her. So I was sent over here to America, and told that I would be staying at the Brotherhood Boarding House, and also that I was to spend some time with my relative over here."
There was a long moment of silence, as they all watched him slightly warily. Then Scott, who seemed to be the unofficial leader of their little group, got to his feet once more, "Okay," he said, "so you're innocent of anything that the Brotherhood might have done, I can accept that, but that does not mean that you have a right to demand Kitty's time and attention. If you have something to say to her, say it now in front of all of her friends, and then leave us alone to get on with our weekend in peace." He folded his arms, and obviously looked down at where Kitty was blushing as red as a beetroot.
Kurt sighed. It was obvious that any attempt to be friendly with them was not going to work right now. It would probably be better back at school, anyway, where he could talk to Kitty without her having essentially an overprotective bodyguard controlling who she spent time with. He gave Kitty an apologetic smile. "Um, I was just wondering if you would like to arrange some time to do some rehearsals," he said awkwardly, "for the school play. Perhaps we could meet someplace where it's quiet and we can be alone together, so that we do not have any distractions."
Kurt realised a moment later that he should not have phrased it quite that way. Scott leaned closer towards him, and Kurt was sure, even though Scott's eyes were covered with those strange shades, that he was glaring at him, "We are not going to let you be alone with Kitty. We know what happens when one of your people is alone with one of our people."
"Please Scott, I can handle this," muttered Kitty, "it's just that we are in a play for Mrs McCann's class. Kurt just wants to arrange some time when we can rehearse together. You should be glad that one of them is showing an interest in his education for a change."
Kurt smiled slightly upon hearing that. Yet even though Kitty was defending him against her overprotective friend, he was still considered to be one of them; different, not the same as their little group. Kurt wondered if they would always feel that way towards him.
Scott relented slightly, "Okay Kitty," he said, "but if you are going to be alone with him, make sure that it is at least on the school ground, so that there will be someone nearby just in case he causes any trouble."
"I don't want to cause any trouble," Kurt said, "I just want to rehearse being Romeo."
Scott folded his arms over his chest, "How very appropriate," he muttered sarcastically, and then turned his attention back to Kitty, "What is he talking about?"
"It's for the play," she replied, "Romeo and Juliet. I didn't know that he had the part of Romeo until just now, though."
"Yes," Kurt replied, and pointed towards Kitty, "she's going to be a catapult. I mean Capulet."
Scott shook his head, "A German Romeo?" he asked.
"Why not?" asked Kurt, "It makes about as much sense as an American Juliet. Anyway, the Bard of Stratford-Upon-Avon purposely designed his plays so that they could be interpreted in a number of different ways for different settings, since they are all to do with the universality of the human condition." He winked at Kitty, "See, I was paying attention in class," he added.
Kitty blushed prettily, but then turned to where Scott was scowling at her, and sighed. She turned her attention back to Kurt, looking slightly apologetic. "I'll talk to Mrs McCann on Monday. I'll see if she will let us book a room on Thursday lunch-time, if that's okay with you?"
Kurt nodded, "That should be okay," he said. He really wanted a chance to talk to her alone, without her over-protective friends guarding her, and hopefully that would be the perfect opportunity to do just that.
"Right, you've done what you wanted to do," said Scott, "now please leave Kitty alone so that she can enjoy her drink in peace."
Kurt held up his hands, and sighed, "I told you before, I don't want any trouble," he said, and made his way back to the other side of the room.