Part 2 ^_^

Kurt was all for rough-and-tumble, tickling games and generic
fondling. He was an enthusiastic participant and a fantastically
flamboyant cheat. Where he fell over was in certain areas of public
indecency, and where the borderline was between acceptable and
unacceptable skin display.
It came with hanging around centaurs, really, the state of mind in
which taking one's shirt off was the equivalent of stripping naked.
Well, for centaurs, it *was*; and since Kurt's oldest and best friend
happened to have four feet and metal shoes, a lot of that mind-set had
rubbed off on him.
Thus, he practically jumped out of his skin when Amanda tried to take
his overshirt off him.
"Hey! Whoah! This isn't even a second date!"
"What the--?" Amanda's face twisted into amused confusion. "Is this
some German thing?"
Kurt hugged his overshirt back on, trying not to look too shocked or
scared. "Um. It's more of a - Schwartzwald thing."
Amanda's lips moved for a second and she translated the word in her
head. "Black Forest? What's with the Black Forest?" She made herself
comfortable.
"That's where my home town is. There's a lot of little places in there
that people don't know about. Especially the Geisselthal."
Amanda didn't make any 'elves in the Black Forest' cracks, and just
went into listening mode. "Go on," she prompted.
This was the bit people never believed. "Well... That's where the
centaurs live. Most of them, anyway. There's other little communities
scattered all over the mountains, here and there. There are villages,
practically right next door to one another; one has centaurs living with
them, and the other's thinking that they're a myth. That's how it works
in the Schwartzwald... A lot of people who live there are -ah- really
open-minded about --" he fiddled with his tridactyl hands. "-- unusual
things."
"Really? Real live centaurs? I mean, my granddaddy told a story about
this centaur he met in the middle of no-man's-land during the war; but I
always thought he was bullshitting me..."
"Blond hair? Black hindquarters?" He stood and gestured with his hand.
"About so high?"
"Kinda *sounds* like the guy granddaddy said he met..."
"That was Stinz! The Black Major! He's something of a war hero, back
home." Kurt puffed himself up. "I actually got to meet him, you know."
"He's really real? Damn. I can hear granddaddy singing the 'I told you
so' song from here..."
Kurt had to laugh. "Always trust in the stories of your elders. You
never know when proof's going to come."
Amanda just took his temperature. "You sure you're all right, fuzzy-
darling? It's been twenty minutes and you haven't tried to hug me,
yet."
Kurt gestured at his clothes with a helpless grin. "I'm covered in
sauce. I really should get back to the Institute and clean up."
"Can I come with?"
"Ach, you might as well. Herr Professor wants to scope you out,
anyway. Would you believe they gave me the third degree when I got back
after the dance?"
Amanda laughed as she got up. "I can believe it. We went for a three-
hour 'little walk' as I recall..."
He took her hand in the crook of his arm. "Shall we, liebe?"

It was two 'hops' to the Institute, and that sort of thing always left
her dizzy and disoriented. She didn't even get a glimpse of the decor,
much preferring to sit carefully wherever Kurt guided her and shut her
eyes until the rest of the world stopped doing somersaults.
"Terribly sorry," he was saying. "I've been having that effect on
people, lately. I *try* to take the brunt of the trip, honest. Are you
hurt?"
"No, sweetheart," Amanda soothed. "Just slightly off-colour. 'M
feeling *verrrrry* green, right now..."
"Ach. Poor liebe. Just breathe deep, ja? It should wear off in a
moment or two. I hope." He sounded very afraid, incredibly worried. His
lovely, fuzzy hands repeatedly petted hers. It gave her something to
focus on. Something very pleasant. Amanda murmured and smiled. She risked
opening her eyes, and found his golden ones staring at her in concern.
"See?" she said. "Nothing to be worried about, love."
He purred when she stroked his face. "Sehr gut. I never want to hurt
anyone."
"Good *grief*," said a giant blue ape-like creature. "What happened
here?"
"Uh..." said Amanda.
Kurt was grinning. "That's Hank. We're not even remotely related. We
checked."
"Blue fur just happens to be 'in' around here," joked Hank.
"Waitaminute..." Amanda held up a finger, "you sound almost exactly like --"
"Mr McCoy?" Hank smiled. "The chemistry and gym teacher who
mysteriously disappeared a while back?"
"*Whoah*! So Principal Kelly *didn't* slip his mind... You *did* turn
into something else. But - you don't *seem* like a monster."
There was a mutual sigh from both blue mutants.
"Once again, Herr Kelly has some facts right, but the conclusions all
wrong."
Hank took over. "I suffered a spontaneous physical mutation - one that
I'd been inhibiting artificially for a while."
"That covers the rumour about controlled substances," chirped Kurt.
Hank glared at him. "*Thank* you." He cleared his throat. "The
abruptness and shock of my physical transformation had a momentary
effect on my psyche."
"He went nuts for a while," Kurt translated.
Hank ignored him. "*But*... As you can see, I'm perfectly under
control, now, and a permanent member of the staff here at the
Institute."
"And that explains the rumours about Bigfoot roaming Bayville."
"Which reminds me," said Hank. "There's been another 'Bayville Demon'
sighting..."
Kurt grinned and managed a nervous giggle. "How can you be sure it was
me?"
The inquiry was held off by the arrival of Professor Xavier. He had an
amused expression on his face. "Oh dear. Another demonstration by Boom-
Boom?"
"At least she didn't destroy any property, this time, ja? It was only
our lunch."
"Go get cleaned up," sighed the Professor. "I'll have a talk with
Amanda."
"See you later, liebchen," Kurt waved goodbye, and {Bamf!} he was
gone.

Xavier came to a stop facing Amanda. "Shall we talk about your -
intentions - towards Kurt?"
Amanda giggled. "You sound like a Fifties Sitcom Dad talking about a
daughter... Is everyone around here old-fashioned or what?"
"Sorry. It's just that Kurt's already had two - somewhat rocky
relationships in his time here. He may pretend to bounce back, but," he
tapped his head. "I know what's going on on the inside, as it were."
"Kurt and I already talked about that," said Amanda. "Well... He
babbled a lot and I listened. He said I'm the first person he hadn't
frightened."
"And you neglected to tell him the truth."
Amanda startled. The memories had been right on top of her mind. Had
he just picked those thoughts out of her head?
"Yes. I'm a telepath. I do try not to -er- 'head hop', but some
thoughts and feelings tend to broadcast themselves. For example, Kurt
trusts you implicitly. Whole-heartedly."
Once again, that slight guilt gnawed at her. "I'll try my best never
to break that trust, sir, but -- the truth would only hurt him. And I
don't want to do that."
"Nevertheless, you were scared."
"Only for a handful of seconds," Amanda defended. "It *is* kind of a
shock, you know."
He knew, only too well. If it wasn't for cerebro's extrapolation
program, he would have been shocked, too. Just the relief from Kurt at
finding another individual who just treated him like a person instead of
a - he hated the word - freak; just the relief had all but bowled Xavier
over. He'd wanted to protect the boy ever since.
"I can understand," said Xavier. "But I still have to ask. What sort
of future do you see with him?"

Kurt brushed down again, taking care to smooth down every whorl or
crinkle in his fur. Amanda loved to touch his fur, so of course he had
to make doubly sure it felt nice for her, going over himself twice with
the stiff brush before the final, purely cosmetic, smooth-down with the
soft brush.
And besides, it made him feel great.
So what if the only other people who touched his fur and liked it were
thousands of miles away? He had someone here who was just as important
to him. Someone who actually listened to his stories of home with an
open mind. Someone with a sense of wonder.
Everything else was in the wash, so he threw on a disreputable pair of
old jeans. The pair he used to wear when helping the circus set up. The
pair that didn't matter if anything happened to them, because it already
had. Repeatedly. He grabbed a muscle-shirt he usually wore during work-
outs and squeezed into it before heading down to where he'd left
Amanda.
Maybe the Professor had finished interrogating her by now.
_You can relax,_ said the Professor's voice in his head. _Your
girlfriend is quite safe from me._
Kurt grinned at his choice of words. His girlfriend. Cool. Amanda had
the Professor's personal seal of approval.
She was smiling when he came in, and smiled even bigger after she gave
him a once-over with her eyes.
"Sorry about the tatty clothes. It's wash day today. Mein entire
wardrobe is currently in the rinse cycle."
"*Wow*," said Amanda. "And you said *I* was gorgeous..."
Then she pounced on him again.