Author's note: Again, I want to thank everyone who's taken the time to review. You guys have no idea how pleasantly surprised I've been by all of the responses to this story. After some discussion with a couple of friends who've seen more of Evolution than I have, we came to the conclusion that Todd probably considers himself to be "trailer park trash," hence he's developed a smart ass attitude to overcompensate for feelings of inferiority. I figure that when confronted on his home turf, Todd would probably be a bit more vulnerable, not being able to hide his background. Anyway, in this chapter, Todd gets a shower! And if I keep with this story, it will eventually turn into Todd/Kurt slash, so be warned!

Part 3

Scattered as if by some giant hand, the trailers spread haphazardly across the park. From out of the ground, scraggly patches of brush reached for the sky with all of their pathetic might. 'Home sweet home,' Todd thought as he kicked at a beer can. He was glad the Brotherhood didn't know where he lived. They would laugh him right out of the group. 'Well,' he amended, 'Fred probably wouldn't, but Lance and Pietro on the other hand...'

With an easy leap, Todd hopped up onto the hood of his dad's car. He knew no one would care. The dumb machine hadn't run in ages. The car had been a real beauty in its day, though. A 1970 Ford Torlino, bright red, not as sleek as the cars which roamed the road today, but filled with a classic grace and charm none of the newer cars had yet learned to emulate. All that was left, though, was the rusted out hulk sitting out front of his dad's trailer.

When he was younger, Todd had dreamed of fixing up the old car and driving it around Bayville. As he crouched down and stared through where the windshield should have been, Todd decided that now he couldn't care less about what happened to the car. He merely snapped up a spider crawling across one of the moldy seats and hopped down.

After spending a moment hunting for his key, Todd unlocked the trailer door and went inside. "Hey Pops!" Todd called. "I'm home!" He got no answer except from the blaring TV, advertising the wonders of Preparation H. No big surprise. Todd crept around the greasy, beat-up armchair and flipped off the TV. The equally greasy, snoring form of his father never stirred.

Now that he was home, Todd settled into the routine which he'd learned over the years; the familiar movements ingrained in his muscles by rote. First he dumped his books on his bed. He'd get to his homework later, doing just well enough to get by. No sense drawing more attention from his teachers than was necessary. Why bother doing well anyway? For the most part grades weren't really a measure of what you knew, just how much effort you put into the work.

Glancing once more at his dad, Todd began straightening. He threw away a couple of beer cans, dumped out the ashtray, grabbed a rag and did a bit of dusting. He'd take the trash out after supper. Todd's chores were simple enough, and they gave both his father and himself a sense of normalcy they otherwise would have lacked. Todd's father wanted to deny that his son was a mutant, so Todd played along.

'Crap!' Todd groused silently as he looked at the calendar. 'It's laundry day.' He grabbed a handful of change out of the jar on the counter, then went to get the hamper of clothes and the detergent. Todd scribbled out a note so his father would know where to find him, and then, with his arms full, dashed across the street to the laundromat.

After half an hour in the sweltering laundromat, Todd was bored. He lay stretched out on a table, browsing through a magazine someone had left behind earlier and watching people go by. The last thing he expected was to see the X-Freaks stroll by. Todd tried to hide his face behind the magazine, but he'd been spotted. Kurt broke away from the group, probably promising to meet up with them later Todd decided, and went into the laundromat. Damn, damn, and double damn! Was that blue freak trying to stalk him or something? "Hey, Todd! Fancy meeting you here, no?"

Hoping that Fuzzy would take a hint, Todd shrugged without looking up from the magazine. Unfortunately, the hint flew right over Kurt's head. "Zhe guys and I are going to zhe movies. You vant to join us?" Want to? Hell, Todd would have loved to go! The problem was, all the cash he had was the change he'd grabbed earlier.

"Can't." Todd answered, wishing he were telepathic so that he could project "go away" right into Kurt's head. Kurt gave Todd a confused look, and Todd jerked his thumb at the washing machines. "Don't you guys ever have any chores at that big mansion of yours?"

The light finally dawned in Kurt's eyes. He didn't leave, though, choosing instead to hop up on the table beside Todd. Craning his head to get a good look at the magazine, Kurt asked, "Zo vhich article are you reading? Fifty vays to become an animal in bed or how to give zhe perfect kiss?" Todd felt the color rise to his cheeks with a blazing intensity as he tossed the magazine aside. Truthfully, he hadn't been reading either article, just wondering what kind of lives the people in the pictures led.

Todd was saved from having to respond by the appearance of his father. Todd hid a smile at the sight of Kurt cowering before the older man in the grimy wife-beater whose bulk hadn't yet gone to middle-aged fat. "You going to be much longer, Todd?" Mr. Tolensky asked, his voice gruff and scratchy with drink.

Todd shook his head. "Only an hour or so, Pop. It's about time to put everything in the dryer. Sorry I'm taking so long. Got a late start on things because I had to stay after school."

As if this were an accepted fact of life, Mr. Tolensky nodded. "All right." His eyes flicked briefly across Kurt. "Who's your friend?"

Kurt answered before Todd could even get his mouth open. "I'm Kurt Wagner. I've got some classes vith Todd." Todd prayed silently that his dad wouldn't invite Kurt to join them for supper. The last thing he wanted was for Kurt to see where he lived. He knew he was screwed the moment his dad's eyes lit up. Todd could easily guess that his dad was thinking something along the lines of, 'Hallelujah! The boy's got friends! He must be normal after all!'

Sure enough, Todd's dad didn't disappoint him. "You want to stick around for supper, Kurt? It won't be much, just TV dinners, but it's no trouble to fix up an extra one." Kurt nodded readily, never one to turn down the offer of free food. Mr. Tolensky departed, his smile filled with relief at seeing that his son apparently did lead a normal life.

Todd turned his attention back to the wonderful world of laundry, sinking into a sulky silence. When he realized that his attempts at conversation were only going to meet with failure, Kurt sighed. "Did I do zometing wrong?"

Shaking his head, Todd put fifty cents into the dryer and started it. "No, you didn't. It's just, well, my dad and me... We don't exactly live in a mansion. This won't be anything like what you're used to." Kurt's face filled with unspoken curiousity, but a sad note in Todd's voice told him that now would not be the best time to ask questions. The two boys sat in silence waiting for the clothes to dry, and then folded the clothes together in that same silence.

As soon as all the clothing was packed neatly in the basket, Todd led Kurt across the street. He didn't really think that Kurt would laugh at him, but a small part of his mind worried about it all the same. After all, how could anyone be expected to take their enemy seriously upon finding out that their enemy was nothing more than trailer park trash? Even the Brotherhood knew nothing about Todd's home life. Well, except for Mystique since she had access to his permanent record, but she didn't really count.

At least Todd figured that his dad wouldn't be too embarrassing. Mr. Tolensky never drank much on the rare occasions when there was company. That much, at least was nothing to worry about. For the second time that day, Todd fumbled for his key and opened the door. He motioned Kurt in ahead of him, half-afraid to say anything.

Kurt sat down and began having a very normal conversation with Mr. Tolensky while Todd rushed to get the laundry put away. Listening in, Todd couldn't believe how absolutely average the kitchen talk sounded. Mr. Tolensky asked about school, grades, extracurricular activities - everything you'd expect a parent to ask upon meeting one of his kid's friends for the first time.

Supper also proved to be fairly ordinary. The three guys crowded around the TV with their trays, and once they'd agreed on a show, the only sounds proved to be the clinking of forks and knives. All Todd had to do was sit between his dad and Kurt so that his dad wouldn't accidently elbow blue boy and realize the kid had fur. The dinner was over before Todd knew it, and Kurt was saying his farewells. Todd stood in the doorway, feeling a slight pang of loss and reminding himself that he'd see Kurt again soon enough. Was this what it was like to have a real friend? Todd didn't know.

As Mr. Tolensky grabbed a Bud out of the fridge, Todd decided that maybe he should get cleaned up. Kurt hadn't done anything to embarrass Todd, so the least that he could do in return was be semi-presentable when he hung out with Kurt tomorrow. Todd stared at the shower, realizing that he'd not actually tried to get himself truly clean in a long time - far longer than he cared to admit, even to himself. Soon he was under the blast of warm water, reacquainting himself with soap and shampoo.

Lingering thoughts of Kurt remained with Todd all through the night. He kept thinking of all of the day's accidental contacts with the elf, remembering the feel of Kurt's fur - not coarse and bristly, but soft almost like down. Shaking his head one last time, Todd rolled over and went to sleep.