Chapter 6 - Old Pirate Bluetail

The morning of Kurt's birthday started out exactly how he'd hoped: with Kate, curled up in bed, teasing him mercilessly about how old he was getting.

She was making it a point to kiss him wherever she could find any wrinkles, especially in the corners of his eyes, since that was where he was showing it the most. "It's so not fair that you still look like you're my age," she whispered in his ear before she kissed him there too, making sure to linger there with a little giggle when she saw Kurt smiling crookedly.

"Nonsense. You still look the same way you did when I met you," he teased back.

"Flatterer," she laughed. "Now, how can I make all the old man jokes I wanted to make about you when you're being so nice?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way," Kurt teased, pulling her down to kiss her more soundly as the two of them got involved in another birthday tradition — getting involved with each other.

When he finally got down to the kitchen, the only one around was James — and it looked as if he'd been out late, if the way he had his head laid down on the table was anything to go by.

"Rough night?" Kate teased, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "That'll happen when your girlfriend comes to 'check' on you all the time."

"I wasn't up that late," James defended, reaching up to shove her hand away, though he leaned his head on Kurt's shoulder once he'd moved away from Kate. "I wanted to make sure I gave the birthday boy his gift. You know, start the day off right."

Of course, that didn't really have Kurt at ease, especially after hearing that it was something that James had remembered after his injury a few days before. "Is that so?" Kurt had to ask, one eyebrow raised — though if he was expecting something terrible, he was entirely off base. James pulled out a heavy but small box and set it down in front of Kurt.

"It is," James said as he picked his head up long enough to cross his arms on the table and use his them for a pillow. "Happy Birthday, Uncle Elf." James smiled to himself, but didn't take off, so Kurt was reasonably sure that it wasn't something too terrible.

Kurt drew in a deep breath and held it as he opened the box, then frowned when he saw the velvet bag inside. "What is this?" he asked, and when he picked up the bag, his eyebrows went up when he heard the clinking of metal on metal.

"Seven gold doubloons, Captain," James said in a growling voice as the smile stretched a little wider. "Yarg." He waited as he watched Kurt's grin spread wider and wider by the second. "There was a scuba trip in the keys with Stark … and I picked a few of them up when they came up for auction so I could get the right number. All Spanish gold."

Kurt's mouth parted slightly before he let out a delighted laugh and then threw his arms around James to pull him into a tight hug. "Danke, James. It's wunderbar."

"So I guess it'll do, huh?" James said as he hugged Kurt back. "Figured you can't be much of a pirate without some gold, seadog."

"You're absolutely right. How shameful of me to have gone so long without it," Kurt couldn't help but laugh, ruffling James' hair with an affectionate smile as a couple bamfs behind him gave James clear thumbs up and grins in approval of his gift choices.

"What happened to 'you're the best treasure a man could ask for'?" Kate couldn't help but tease him as she filled both of their mugs with coffee.

Kurt chuckled at that and teleported over to wrap Kate up in a hug from behind. "This is still true, of course," he promised in a whisper over her shoulder so that his lips were brushing her ear. "But if you think I need to prove it to you, I'd be more than happy to repeat this morning's performance."

Kate turned in his arms so that she could drape hers around Kurt's shoulders, smiling at him with her eyes lidded. "Mmm," she said as she pretended to think it over. "I'm not so sure. You're seventy now, Elf of mine, and we should really start to take that into account."

"Lacherlich," Kurt scoffed, though he couldn't help the grin, knowing that she was, of course, doing this just to rile him up. Not that he was trying too hard not to get riled. "I'm the same as I ever was. Just as you're as lovely as you were the day I met you."

Kate giggled at that, stepping in closer to him as she bit her lower lip. "I'm still not convinced," she said slowly. "We might need to start taking better care of you. You're so old, I don't want to break my handsome man."

Kurt shook his head at that and took her in a much more assertive grip, his hand on the small of her back to pull her right up to him. "You can only try, liebchen," he said in practically a growl in her ear that had her laughing outright before they teleported off together.

James was still smirking to himself when Kari came in, obviously having caught part of that little exchange. "Coast is clear," James said. "It's safe to come in now. The old folks have gone off to break a hip."

"You really don't need to put images like that in my head," Kari said, though she was smiling to herself. "And what you got him? That really was sweet."

"It's getting harder and harder to come up with something good for him. It's almost as bad as trying to do something for my folks," James admitted.

"What do you get the people who have everything?" Kari said with a smile. "Yeah, I get that."

"Your mom is easy, though," James pointed out. "Anything purple or funny ... or set her up to watch a prank go down … done."

"Papa was easier when we were little," Kari said as she sat down with her coffee mug. "Chelsea made him one of those macaroni picture frames. I gotta tell you — I think those are his favorite, no matter what kind of awesome Spanish gold you got," she teased.

"So … have you given him your macaroni frame this year yet?" James had to tease right back.

Kari grinned. "No, but I did manage to get him and Mom some tickets to a beautiful play this weekend," she said. "Mom's in on it and cleared his schedule." She drew herself up a bit. "It's kind of nice to have some money to spend on them for bigger things, you know?"

"It is," he agreed. "But that's about all I've got to spend my cash on … tinker a little with Stark, then I'm set to do what I want anyhow."

"Speaking of Starks," Kari said, a little glint in her eyes as she leaned forward. "The bamfs told me that they heard Howard tell Scott he appreciated the job in Chicago, but… he wants to come back to New York now."

"Bully for him," James said. "Sadie's got an audition for a ballet next week. I doubt your brother's getting as much attention as he's used to. In fact, your dad would probably approve. They're doing A Midsummer Night's Dream."

"Oh, he'd definitely love that," Kari said. "He'll come to at least one of her performances. You know he will."

"He usually does," James agreed. "She's gunning hard for the main role, though. She says she's ready."

"I think she'd be amazing," Kari said with a smile. "And my brother will be heartbroken whenever she's gone."

"He's pretty deep, isn't he?" James said, peeking up at her.

"I'm not sure," Kari admitted. "He loves her, obviously. But he also loves being in love. And it's hard to tell which is which." She held her hands up. "Don't tell him I said that."

"There's a reason I'm not giving him a massively hard time," James said. "I don't think he'd hurt her either way. And he's not a total idiot."

"Well, that's kind of why I told you about Howard," Kari said. "I'm on 'protect my brother from the total idiot' patrol."

James shook his head at that, though. "Sadie might be out for fun, but she wouldn't screw over Kaleb."

"Oh, I know that, and he knows that, but jealousy is an ugly, ugly color in my family," Kari said. "And if he thinks Howard is trying to muscle in… well."

"Oh, I'm sure he is," James said. "I'm just saying she won't put up with it."

"I'm just trying to stop the green from clashing with the blue," Kari said. "It's a terrible color on us."

"It really is," James had to laugh. "But they'll figure it out."

"It's so hard being the older siblings," Kari said with a sigh. "Being so right all the time," she added, just to get a smirk out of him.

"I have no idea what that's like, sorry," James said. "Seeing as I'm wrong most of the time."

"To be fair, that means you're right when you agree with me," Kari said, smiling a little wider. "That should help."

"No, no … that's not it."

"Look at you being wrong," Kari laughed, leaning back in her chair as her swaying tail gave away how entertained she was. "Just look at it. So wrong."

"There's no way to argue when you're being ridiculous," James said. "And you have a macaroni picture frame to make. Still."

"I'll give it to him for Christmas," she said, waving a hand.

"Oh. I see. Going all out. Alright. You still have time to make your handprint turkey, though."

"Those are so hard," Kari giggled. "Could you hold the paper straight for me?"

"Maybe. If we can't find the tape to stick it to the table," he said. "Might end up making a bigger mess that way, though."

"That's half the fun," Kari pointed out. "If you're not wearing the paint, how do you know you're doing it right?"

"That's your realm," James said with a little smirk.

"Well, then I'm telling you — seeing as I'm always right," Kari said, shooting him a smirk.

"Only in your realm," he corrected. "Even if you ask my opinion on stuff you already know."

"Seeing as I'm always right," she repeated, the smirk widening into a smile, "then I can tell you that yes, you have to wear the paint to do it right. Absolutely required."

"Well … when you get your turkey finished — if you have enough paint for the turkey, that is — I'll take a picture so you can show your dad how hard it was to get the thing done."

"You're on," Kari said, grinning at James before she simply teleported off to her art studio — fully expecting him to follow her to get the picture like he'd said.

Of course, James seemed to think that she wasn't serious — because he didn't actually go to her studio. And when half an hour had passed and Kari was sufficiently paint-splattered and had a painting that actually resembled a real turkey — except for the feathers, which were pure fingerpaints — she decided that she'd wasted enough time and simply teleported to the lab, where she knew she'd find James.

"I'm ready for my closeup," she declared, slapping the picture down in front of him for proof.

James turned around to look at her and, for the first time in far too long, simply broke down laughing. "I didn't think you were doing that now," he said, one hand over his stomach as he laughed.

She couldn't help but laugh along with him, though she tried to give him her best unimpressed look. "Well, why on earth wouldn't I? It was a great idea!"

"You're the most ridiculous Elf," he told her, grinning her way.

"High praise, considering the competition," she said, drawing up her shoulders to show how pleased she was with herself.

"They got nothin' on you," he promised as he finally got to his feet and headed across his lab to where he was keeping the camera. He was still chuckling to himself as he switched out the lenses and then, finally, gestured for her to pick her spot. "Alright. I don't know what you're going for, and I don't usually do poses … so … what are you going for? Kindergarten chic?"

"Very proud Kindergartener," she agreed, illustrating her point by holding her painting up almost level with her face and putting on her most excited smile as she pointed at it in a clear 'look what I made' pose, completed with her tail actually pointing at it.

He was smiling as he took the photos — though of course, it wasn't just one frame, and once she was laughing after losing her composure, he managed a couple of really good frames that he was sure Kate and Kurt would love, seeing as Kari was belly laughing and covered in paint. "Perfect."

Kari was wiping tears from her eyes as she tried to get a hold of herself. "Please print those for me so I can give them to Papa. He'll be so tickled."

"Oh, absolutely," he swore. "I've got a new paper I want to try for a few of these." He held up one hand her way. "But … you gotta wait."

Kari finally stopped laughing and picked her head up at that, looking more interested. "Wait for what?"

"The prints," he said, wrapping the camera back up to put away in its case. "What else?"

She shook her head and teleported behind him in an instant. "Oh, come on. Can't I see my own pictures?"

"Not this time," he said, smirking at her.

"Evil Howlett," she accused him. "So horrible."

"One time — one time I tell you to wait, and I'm evil."

"You are aware that my family and I are incapable of waiting, right? I don't even know what it means," she teased him, pretending to try to grab the camera away.

He leaned toward her and dropped his voice lower. "I guess you'll have to learn, then."

"So, so horrible," she laughed, though she did stop trying to steal the camera as she leaned on him for support, clutching her stomach from the long laughing session.

Even though the short mission to deal with what was quickly becoming the usual with the X-Men — yet another group of Superior Rising-sympathetic troublemakers — had been relatively straightforward, quick, and easy, Chloe had noticed that Kaleb didn't seem to be in the high spirits that the end of a mission would usually call for. Especially the end of a mission where no one got shot — either with bullets or with a camera.

"Are you angry that you didn't get your picture taken?" Chloe had to tease him.

Kaleb glanced up at Chloe in surprise and then couldn't quite stop his smile as he shook his head. "No, nothing like that," he promised quickly, then let out a small sigh. "It's just that Sadie's audition started ten minutes ago. I wanted to tell her to break a leg and be there for her."

"You know, she might take that entirely the wrong way and do that too," she said with a little smile. "You know she'll do great. It's about all she does … practice."

"I know, but it's not about the outcome; it's about the journey," he said. "That's what my dad always says, anyway. You have to be there for the whole thing."

"And what do you think?" Chloe said. "You might look like your dad, but you are your own person. You should really stop trying to be so much like him, you know."

Kaleb bit his lip. "I think… this is a really important day for my girlfriend… and…" He chewed over his words for a long moment before he finally leveled with her. "And I'm really sure that Howard went to the audition, and I'm not there."

"Do you think she'd be flattered by a stalker?" Chloe asked. She wasn't surprised Kaleb was jealous, but she didn't want to see him bent out of shape over easily-preventable drama, either. "Because … that sounds like stalker move number seven to me."

"I think she used to like Howard a lot and he's a charmer," Kaleb grumbled with his arms crossed.

"But you're a charmer and a hero." Chloe shook her head. "No brainer."

"It's easier to be interested in the one who's around," Kaleb muttered. "Absence doesn't always make the heart grow fonder. That's a total myth. Just ask Howard."

"I don't know about that," she argued. "Maybe if the whole absence thing doesn't work, it wasn't right to begin with."

Kaleb let out a sound of frustration. "I really do like her, Chloe," he said. "I do."

"I know," she said, nodding. "It shows. But I don't think you need to worry about it if she feels the same way. She'd be foolish not to."

Kaleb couldn't help but smile at Chloe and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek as the jet was setting down. "You're right. Of course. I should listen to you more," he said with a small, teasing smile.

"It would make your life easier," she agreed.

Kaleb nodded his agreement, obviously in a much better mood now as he teleported off to be, as usual, the first to the debrief, ready to get it done so that he could go see Sadie.

Once Kaleb was out of the jet, James put a hand on Chloe's shoulder and gave her a little smile. "You're an exceptional friend. You know that, right?"

Chloe looked up at him with her lips slightly parted in surprise before she shook her head. "I'm just… talking to him," she said, trying to hide her blush.

"Whatever you say," he replied. "Let's go finish up so you can get to … whatever you were planning before."

"Chess game with Magda, you mean," she said with a small smile.

"Sure. That," he agreed, though he kept a hand on her shoulder as they made their way to the debrief. "I'm still not wrong."

"He just needed a little pick-me-up," Chloe defended. "There's nothing special about that. I'd do it for any of my friends."

"Then they're lucky," James said. "But you know you can't lie to me, right? It's offensive. More so than I can explain in the amount of time we have available right now."

Chloe pretended to be busy folding her glasses in their case. "You've been conspiring with Charlie."

"I don't have to," James said. "And I haven't seen her in a while, actually. Now … Elin and I … we still know all the things … even without your sister."

Chloe looked up at the perfectly serious expression James was wearing and then let her shoulders drop. "He's still my friend, even if he's dating someone else."

"Which is why I said you're an exceptional friend," he repeated. "Most people can't do that."

"My brother did," she said. "And it worked out for him, which is great, but I think that's the one lucky card my family gets on that front."

James was already shaking his head. "I don't think so." He steered her into the room and leaned over her shoulder to whisper before Scott could start. "All the things, Chloe. All of them."

Chloe couldn't help but shake her head at him as she sat down for the briefing, though that didn't mean she wasn't thinking about what he'd said all the way through the meeting, either. In fact, it was probably the first time Scott had ever had to ask her anything twice when she was halfway sneaking a peek over at Kaleb and trying to sort out what exactly James had meant by all that.

Sadie was one of the more confident girls waiting for her name to be called at the audition. It wasn't that she wasn't nervous; it was more that she knew how to cover it. And instead of fretting and wearing herself out running through the steps they were expected to perform, she simply stretched.

"Already picturing yourself center stage with roses being thrown at your feet, right?" Howard's voice rang out as he caught up to her with a smile.

"No," she said, smiling back at him as she turned his way. "I probably won't get the role I want." Sadie had to shake her head. "What are you doing here, Howard?"

"Well, it's the weekend, so I thought I'd come to New York and see my favorite ballerina before the rest of the world figures out they have a star on their hands and you're whisked off to boys much more handsome than I am," he said, producing a single white rose from behind his back.

"Clock's ticking then, hmm?" she had to tease, though she was definitely not expecting the flower and it showed as she bit the inside of her lip as she held it. "Thank you. You really didn't need to do this, though."

"I wanted to wish you well," he said. "And yeah, I did." He gave her a look with both eyebrows raised. "You're the one who wanted someone to throw themselves at your feet, remember?"

"Howard …" She let out a disbelieving laugh. "I wasn't requesting you do anything like that."

"I took the initiative. I'm spunky like that."

"Yes, you are," she agreed, shaking her head with a smile before she slipped over to give him a quick hug. "Thank you. Hopefully, this will go smoothly."

"It will. I'll be cheering you on. This place have any balcony seats?" He looked around dramatically. "I didn't notice when I was too focused on saying hi to a pretty girl."

"What a lucky girl," she had to tease. "Anyone I know? And of course there are balcony seats. Try not to throw tomatoes."

"I'd never do that, but I'll throw roses on opening night," he promised before he spun on his heel to head up to the balcony.

Sadie chuckled as he left, though when she looked up again, it was clear that Howard's little entrance wasn't missed by most of the other girls lined up to audition. But that really just had her rolling her eyes that much harder. At least she didn't tell him which part she was gunning for.

It wasn't long before the other girls started practicing again — all nerves and anxiousness showing clearly, some of them much worse now that they knew that Howard Stark was watching from the balcony. When it was Sadie's turn to dance, she stepped onto the stage and fully tapped into every bit of natural grace she had access to.

Her dance was as perfect as she could make it, and when she was done, she didn't dawdle and wait to be dismissed either, instead simply making her way off stage once she'd taken her bow.

When she got backstage, though, she was greeted with a poof of blue smoke as Kaleb finally arrived, still in his uniform, and pulled her into a spinning hug. "I only caught the last few seconds, but if the whole dance was that good, you'll be the star of the show," he said.

She beamed at him and gave him a kiss. "You're such a charmer, sweet Elf."

"The very best," he said, puffing his chest out as he said it.

"Without a doubt," she agreed.

He grinned and teleported a little further away from the stage with her so that he could wrap her up in a proper kiss. "We had a mission come up or I would have been here sooner," he explained, looking as apologetic as it was possible for him to be.

"It's fine," she said, still grinning at him. "It's not like I don't know how that works." She kissed the end of his nose. "And it's not like I don't know how important what you're doing is. So proud of you."

Kaleb couldn't stop grinning at that as he kissed her again. "Yes, but this was important to you. And I just wanted you to know that I would have been there if I could have."

"If I get a part, and if it all works out, then all I really would like is for you to see one show. That's all."

"You will get a part, and I will be there," Kaleb promised.

She smiled wider at him and nodded. "Then how about I change? They already said that they'd text if they wanted us again."

"Sounds perfect. Then I'll take us somewhere nice for dinner. Even if you don't get a part at all, this was a big audition, and I feel like spoiling my girlfriend," he said, though he was still holding her very closely.

Sadie gave him another kiss before he finally let her go, and she rushed off to do a quick change. "Five minutes," she promised.

Kaleb nodded as he settled in to wait, though of course, that only meant that he was able to overhear the gossip about Howard Stark watching the auditions. By that time, Howard had seen the blue smoke and taken that as his cue to leave, so the balcony was empty by the time Kaleb teleported up to see him. Which also meant that Kaleb didn't get to tell him off like he'd meant to, either.

When Sadie stepped out, she was smiling as she made her way over to Kaleb. "Ready?"

He smiled at her and offered her his arm, though it wasn't quite the broad smile he usually had on as he cleared his throat. "I heard a rumor that a rich philanderer — sorry, philanthropist — came to watch the audition."

"Yes, that's right," she said, nodding her head. "He came by and was … himself."

"Well, he's not in the balcony anymore," Kaleb said.

"Huh," Sadie said before she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Someone must have scared him off. Probably someone more fierce than him."

When Kaleb grinned, he made sure it showed all his teeth. "It's a mystery."

Sadie returned the grin, flashing her canines too. "Total mystery," she agreed with a growl.

"Between the two of us, the world should be quaking in its boots," he teased, then swept her up into a kiss. "But personally, I'd rather be romantic than terrifying."

"Clearly, we are in perfect agreement, then," she said gesturing to her rather flowy, pale pink dress. "Pretty sure I'm the polar opposite of scary most of the time."

"You're positively exquisite," he agreed before he did his best impression of his dad's showman's bow and kissed her hand. "Do you have any plans tonight, Miss Howlett? Or can I monopolize your night?"

"Only if the plans involve a dashing and handsome Elf," she replied.

"Perfect," he said before he simply picked her up and teleported off with her.