I'm falling in love with this story, haha. Roommates mostly focused on Gar and Boys Support Boys cycles between Peter, Kurt, Gar, and Ned. Though I haven't expanded on it yet (we're only 12 chapters in), Ned actually has the most important storyline. But this story seems to be most focused on Kurt, and that makes me really happy. Nightcrawler is special, and he deserves his moment in the light. Obviously this story is also majorly about Deke and Lance and Gar isn't going to go overlooked, but I just really like that I'm doing something different each time I reach for the Beast Boy and Night Crawler found-family.

Chapter 2

When Gar and Kurt woke up in the morning and emerged from warm and spacious rooms Deke wasn't the only adult there. Two people who vaguely looked like Deke were sitting at the kitchen island, talking with a mix of exhaustion and enthusiasm with a lot of words that went over Gar's head. The man had laid the side of his head down on the table and was gripping a steaming mug of coffee. The woman was leaning on her elbows and watching Deke cook, occasionally correcting him on something or other.

"Careful not to burn it, dear!" She chirped cheerfully before she seemingly noticed the two teens and leaped off her stool.

"You must be Kurt and Gar! It's lovely to meet the two of you, Deke didn't mention what handsome young men you were! I'm Jemma." Jemma pulled both into a hug before either could react.

"Nana, you're going to overwhelm them," Deke said.

"Yeah, Simmons, give them some space. They're not used to the warmth," the man turned on his stool, looking all the more like Deke from the front, and held out a hand, "I'm Fitz."

Kurt shook his hand, "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Oh look, he's more polite than you, Deke," Fitz said dryly.

"Okay, Boomer." Deke rolled his eyes as Kurt teleported over to him.

"What are you making?"

"Pancakes. With some vegan substitutes. I hope you both like blueberries." Gar wandered over, plucking a blueberry that hadn't been added to the batter yet and holding it up.

"It looks like you, Kurt," he laughed before popping it in his mouth. Kurt rolled his eyes and laughed.

"I invited nana and bobo over because they're brilliant scientists and we were workshopping a breakthrough. We pulled an all-nighter, yolo."

"Oh for heaven's sake, Deke, you have to stop. You're not cool," Fitz pleaded. Kurt barely contained his laughter.

"Leopold! Deke is very cool. In his own special way," Jemma swatted her husband's shoulder.

"That's your nana's nice way of saying that you are not cool."

"I am cool! I've got swagger! I've got clout! Speaking of swag, check these out, Kurt, Gar. We just finished on the working prototypes." Jemma rescued the pancakes while Deke showed off his swag.

"Okay, I'm gonna need a volunteer. Kurt, may I borrow your arm?"

"I didn't volunteer, but if you must." Kurt held up his arm and Deke attached a sleek silver watch to it.

"Okay, watch this. I tested it on myself, first, so I promise it's safe." Gar noticed the bandage on Deke's left wrist.

"Kurt maybe you shouldn't-" Gar started before Deke switched on his invention. Kurt's appearance began to change, his skin turned pale white and his tail flicked out of sight. Gar's eyes widened in awe and Deke offered Kurt a mirror.

"Holy crap," Kurt murmured, his dark eyes widening.

"You no longer have to worry about being caged for your differences, because you'll blend in with everyone else."

"Do I get one?" Gar asked eagerly, bouncing up and down on his heels. Kurt reached over, a slender, pale finger poking Gar in the arm and administering a small static shock. Gar didn't even flinch, he was too excited.

"You do," Jemma interjected, "after breakfast. You don't want your pancakes getting cold. Come on, Deke, honey, yours are done too."

"Thanks, Nana." Deke kissed her cheek and took his seat, chowing down with the boys. Gar ate fast so that he could get a peek at his own alter ego. Gar's excitement was infectious and Deke was beaming from ear to ear when he displayed the second watch. Gar quickly put it on and clicked the first button. Tears welled up in his eyes when he saw his new appearance and immediately Deke got worried.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just like how I looked before I got infected. It's perfect…" Gar had slightly mess red hair now, blue eyes instead of green, and a rosy, almost sun-burnt complexion.

"I'm glad you like it. You two should keep these on when you're in public, but you don't have to wear them in private homes, like mine or Lance's, and you don't have to wear them if you ever go to work with me. Speaking of, I have to go. Nana and Bobo are gonna take you to meet up with Lance and he's gonna go shopping with you. I expect you boys to fill up your rooms, okay? Clothes, books, whatever. Make it home." Kurt couldn't believe it. He felt like the rug was going to be ripped out from underneath his feet.

"Are you sure, s- Deke?"

"Absolutely. Have fun!" Deke headed out to run his business and Fitz ushered his great-grandsons out, feeling very old for a man who wasn't even middle-aged.

Lance hadn't expected Deke to provide a solution for the great Bobbi Morse problem. Now, he loved his wife and she was a wonderful, welcoming person usually. But she was understandably under a lot of stress with the impending birth of little Nicholas and Roberta, so things were a little tense between them. When Deke had called him earlier insisting that Kurt and Gar stay in the penthouse with him, Lance was happy to oblige. Then Deke had transferred him a humbling amount of money and told him to take the boys to get clothes and other homey stuff. So once more the teens were in his little car.

Gar was rambling about the previous night and that morning and how cool it was to be able to look like he had before he got sick, and Lance was happy to see this kid smiling. They'd both seemed so tired and sad last night, now even Kurt managed to smile a little.

"So you're not an inhuman?" He asked the little green goblin, who wasn't currently green.

"What's an inhuman? I got sick and then the medicine they tried changed me into what I am."

"Ah. Well, an inhuman is someone who is genetically predisposed to have these powers. They change at some point when they interact with… Well, I really don't know exactly what it is. My Inhuman friends know more about it but to be honest I only know so much. Kurt, does any of that sound familiar?"

"No sir, I was born with these abilities and my appearance. It's also genetic, I believe if my birth mom has any influence on it, but she called it the x-gene. She said our species was called Mutants."

"Huh. Well, I'm sorry I called you inhumans last night. I was ill-informed."

"That's okay. Um…" Kurt studied his shirt, feeling stupid, "I wanted to thank you for taking us to stay with your friend. I think… I think it will be good."

"Of course. Deke's a good guy. I'm glad that you guys are getting along. Do you trust me a bit more?"

"Not sure yet."

"That's okay. Let's get you guys some new clothes."

Kurt wasn't into it at first. He didn't know his proper sizing, wasn't even sure what his favorite color was, the whole thing felt super uncomfortable. Gar wasn't as far removed from the simple pleasures of shopping, but normalcy felt so distant for Kurt. He didn't know where to start while Gar happily buzzed around, selecting purple t-shirts as well as shirts that made reference to Toy Story, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mario, and The Office. Kurt kind of just stood there while Gar filled the cart.

"Need some help?" Lance offered.

"No, of course not." An embarrassed Kurt headed in a random direction and discovered the color red. Red was nice. These shirts were soft. A little plain, except the ones with animes that he didn't recognize. To be clear, Kurt hadn't watched a single anime. He hadn't had the time. But there were a lot of cool-looking anime shirts made of soft material in a color that seemed appealing. So Kurt's wardrobe became a mix of plain red t-shirts and anime references that he didn't get. He rounded it out with a couple of clean, professional-looking button-ups and a handful of jackets, a black leather jacket, a soft dark blue hoodie jacket, and a green army jacket. They both got shoes, underwear, and socks as well.

"Okay. I'm ready," Kurt said.

"I like your wardrobe," Lance complimented, "both of you. Seriously. You made some good choices."

"Thanks!" Gar said with a grin, looking forward so much to having new clothes. It had been so long since either of them had new clothes that weren't like, skimpy costumes for performing.

"We have time to hit a few more stops before lunch. We're gonna eat at my house, so you can meet Bobbi, my wife."

"Okay." Kurt tried to seem unfazed by that but he didn't know if he was ready to meet more people. Curveballs kept being thrown at him and if it were up to him he would've just gone home with his clothes. It would be nice to shower and change into something that was only his. He didn't, off the top of his head, know what he would want to make his room feel homey.

Gar knew. Gar's selection was mostly books, with a few video games and a bookshelf to store it all. Gar's book selection didn't seem too careful, if a book caught his eye he grabbed it, with Lance just making sure that there weren't any adult books among the selected.

"You going to read all of those?" Kurt asked, following behind his brother, not half as inspired to make any selections.

"Sure, and you can borrow any of them. It'll be fun. I used to read a lot when I was younger."

"I didn't know that about you."

"There's a lot of stuff that people don't know about me," Gar said with a shrug, "You gonna buy anything, Kurt?"

"Uh… Yeah. I think I want a desk." He appreciated Deke's generosity but he didn't want to splurge.

"Cool! Can I help you pick it out?"

"Sure, bud."

Kurt did make one purchase on a whim. They were in one of the stores and Gar was getting more books, books on science and the world around him, and Kurt found the prettiest thing he'd ever seen. As soon as he saw it, he knew he had to have the telescope. He'd been going through the motions for years now, being a prop for someone else because of his powers, because he was a mutant. So he didn't have passions, he didn't have interests, he hadn't had a normal upbringing and so he really didn't know who he was. But he did know that when Deke had started telling him about constellations he'd felt like there was something that mattered, something that he could care about outside of the safety of himself and his brother. He'd found a real interest in the stars, so he let himself splurge on it.

After picking up the telescope and realizing that there was literally no more room in Lance's car for stuff, they headed to his house to meet up with Bobbi.

"Bobbi's really nice," Lance said, "I mean sometimes she's a pain but that's just because I can also be a pain sometimes. Plus she's pregnant, so that makes her a little less welcoming but ultimately she's a kind and caring woman… Do you guys drink tea?"

"Sweet tea?" Gar asked.

"No, goodness no. Real tea. Hot tea. Proper English tea."

"I've never had it," Gar said.

"Well, that's going to change. Kurt, have you had tea?"

"No, sir."

"I think you'll like it." Kurt nodded, looking out of the window as they pulled up into Lance's driveway.

"Hey, Kurt, look at me," Lance said quietly. Kurt turned his head.

"I imagine that you're under a lot of stress right now, and you probably feel like you're being pulled in a million different directions. I can't promise that I know what's going on inside your head but know that there are people here to help you. I'll help you. Deke will help you." Kurt nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"T-thank you." He didn't say anything else, so they all got out and went inside.

"So, you're Kurt and Gar. Well, it's nice to meet you. I don't know what Hunter has said about me but I promise you that if it had been feasible to take you two in, we would have, but it just wasn't… It wasn't… I'm sorry but…" She trailed off.

"Lance said you were a lovely person," Kurt said, trying to alleviate her guilt and awkwardness, "and that more than shows. It's very nice to meet you."

"Thank you, Kurt. We have lunch in the kitchen, with a vegan option for Gar." Gar smiled warmly.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You can just call me Bobbi. Ma'am makes me feel kind of old."

"Oh, sorry."

"No worries." Bobbi waved them into the kitchen, both boys switching off their alter egos as they moved into the house, and Lance started on making tea while the others started to eat. They talked about Gar and Kurt's powers, as well as the upcoming Hunter-Morse twins.

"Roberta and Nicholas," Bobbi explained, "we're both very excited to meet them."

"If you ever need a babysitter, I'd be happy to help," Kurt offered with a smile. He really liked kids. He was super protective of anyone younger than him. Gar had been the only other kid in the circus they worked at, that mixed with his shapeshifting abilities had made Kurt take special care of the boy. Nicholas and Roberta would have a dedicated babysitter/bodyguard if Kurt made the cut.

"I'll keep that in mind," Bobbi promised. Just then, Lance set down two mugs in front of Kurt and Gar. Gar's said "So not a morning person" and Kurt's was an endorsement for the U.S. Army. Instinctively, they exchanged a look before taking a sip. A wave of calm washed over both of them. To Gar, it felt like a hug, like the brushing off of tears after a nightmare. To Kurt, it felt like a strong hand on his shoulder, a promise. Keep going, Kurt, it will be okay. He set down the mug and blinked.

"Wow, that's really, that's really good." He wondered how many times he was almost going to cry that day, and he stayed quiet for the rest of lunch. Lance let him be quiet. He knew that Kurt was coping the best way he knew how. Maybe Deke would get him to open up a bit more. Only time would tell.