Disclaimer: I don't claim any part of ownership to any characters in my stories, they're copywritten/ trademarked/
whatevered by Marvel ect.
Author's note: Ok, so I took 2 years of German, went to Switzerland about 6 years ago, and promptly forgot all of it...
so I'm just not going to bother with inserting alot of German words, maybe one or two here, but i figure everyone gets
the idea of the accent, so i'm not going to make things harder to READ by putting it in there. You get the point.
Moonlight Reflections
Chapter Two
Memoirs of Family
By: NightElfCrawler
Kurt glanced furtively aside at Kitty's face as she walked up to the desk, and felt worry and sorrow for her position, her mother was dying and she was putting on such a brave front to hide her inner pain...he knew the feeling well, but hated to see others suffering it.
They walked up to the elevator after being told which room to go towards, and rode it in silence. Kurt kept quiet, knowing that this was Kitty's private moment, and he really shouldn't be here to interrupt, but she needed at friend at the same time, so he just planned to stay in the background and be there when she needed him.
Kitty took a breath and stepped off the elevator as they reached the correct floor, and hesitated as they arrived before the door where her mother was. Her hand shook a bit as she placed it on the handle, then with a firm jut of her chin and a resolute look, she opened the door stepping in, and Kurt followed her.
Laying on the bed was a middle aged woman who still retained some youthful beauty, and beside her a man who looked strong, but had worry lines and grief etched on his face.
"Hi Mommy, Daddy." Kitty said quietly.
They both looked up, and smiles lit their faces. "Kitty!" Her mother exclaimed with a surprised yet warm look. "I didn't know if you'd be able to get away from school to come!"
"Come on mom, who needs school when there's more important things." She ran in and embraced them both with tears of happiness in seeing her family again.
Kurt just quietly walked in behind her, picking up her bag she'd dropped for her, and staying to the side, smiling gently at the warmth of a family reunion.
They laughed and chatted for several minutes, catching up since they had last spoken and written to each other, before Kitty remembered him and turned around. "Oh, Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Kurt. He's one of the friends at the Institute I told you about." She grinned at him and beckoned him closer.
He stepped forward and smiled at them both. "Ah, hello." He shuffled on his feet awkwardly, not sure if he should extend a hand for a shake.
But Kitty's father put a quick end to that dilemma, by gripping his hand quickly and pumping it up and down energetically. "Welcome! Welcome Kurt, it's great to meet you, Kitty's told us so much about you!" Then the fact that what he was holding wasn't quite the same texture as what he though he was holding seemed to hit his brain, and he blinked, glanced down, then back up in confusion.
"Ah, Dad Kurt's the one who wears that holo watch, remember?" Kitty prompted, seeing his confusion. "Like, I don't think the hospital staff would understand otherwise, ya know?" She grinned at Kurt, almost apologetically.
"Ahh!" Her father said, resuming a slow pump of his hand, as that clicked in his mind. "Of course, I understand." He smiled and nodded at Kurt, but still seemed both curious and a bit disturbed by the fuzzy hand. "Well, we'll have to all have a nice private chat later, the hospital is releasing your mother to go home tonight, so we can head back and have dinner at home."
Kitty's eyes seemed to light up, then grow dim. "They're letting you go mom?" She sounded thrilled, but concerned as well beneath that. "Why?"
Her mother smiled sadly at her. "There's nothing they can do dear...the cancer is beyond chance of removal, so the only thing I want is to be home with my family while I can."
Kitty bit her lip slightly at that, not sure she liked that outcome at all. "Well.. at least we can go home." She finally ventured after some silence.
Her mother smiled sadly and nodded at her, seeming saddened to see her child upset by this. "Dad can cook us some steak or something to celebrate, ok hon?"
Kitty nodded sadly, and returned the smile. They spent some time talking while her mother was prepared to leave, put in a wheelchair and checked out, then they all headed down and out to the car, and drove back down the highway. Kurt kept to himself, letting Kitty chatter it up with her parents. It was clear she had missed them a lot.
After some time, they reached a moderate sized house on a quiet street, and they stepped out of the car, and all entered the home. Kurt glanced around, feeling slightly nostalgic of his own home, seeing pictures of loving parents and children on the walls. He suddenly wanted to go home and visit his own parents, being away from them for so long was difficult, especially since he'd been home and never far off most of his life.
Kitty chatted with her parents as they unpacked, and Kurt was left to sit on a couch as they bustled about, as he didn't want to be in the way. Instead, he found a companion in a rather curious cat who came sniffing at him, then gave him the oddest look as if to say 'you're more than you look pal' before jumping up beside him on the couch. He tentatively held a hand out for the cat to sniff, and it did, then licked his hand, and made another face, shaking it's head and licking it's nose a few times, taken by surprise at the fur that wasn't visible to the eye. After a few more sniffs, rubs and paws, the cat finally settled down next to him, purring and submitting to his petting of it's fur. He smiled faintly at the simple pleasure.
Kitty suddenly rushed in, seeming flustered. "Oh my god Kurt, I'm so sorry!" She seemed flushed a bit. "I totally forgot about you! Come on and let's all like, have something to drink and we can talk n stuff." She looked embarrassed.
He smiled slightly. "The cat and I were bonding though." He gave a heavy melodramatic sigh, and stood up. "But if you wish to interrupt our happy company..."
She gave him another 'look'. "Come on you blue hairball." She turned and lead the way into the kitchen where the others were seated at the kitchen table already. He followed her, the cat trailing happily after him, having found a new friend. Kitty pulled out a chair for him, and he plopped down in it, the cat leaping up onto his lap and curling up.
Kitty sat down and smiled over at Kurt. "So..." She trailed off, as if unsure what to say.
"So, Kurt, Kitty tells us you're from Germany." Her father said, solving the problem of awkwardness. He poured Kurt some lemonade that they'd begun serving and handed it to him. "What part?"
Kurt accepted the glass with a nod and sipped it, feeling the sweet tangy juice wet his throat. "Ah, I grew up in the Southern area of Germany." He said looking up, glancing from mother to father.
"Ah, beautiful countryside I've heard," said Kitty's Father, "though I've never visited Europe before."
"Ah, yes it is beautiful." Kurt said with a smile. "It's like no other place I've been to, though I haven't traveled much..."
"Lots of wilderness there? Do much hiking and exploring?"
"Actually, yes. We lived back in the hills, so there was a lot of tree lands to travel in that was uninhabited mostly, it was nice to go camping there."
Kitty's father nodded. "An outdoors guy, huh." He winked at Kitty. "You'd not get her out there much, she hates bugs, dirt, and anything away from a shopping mall."
Kitty scowled. "Daad..."
Kurt laughed, and got a glare at her in return, and held up his hands to show defeat before she threw her glass of lemonade at him. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind a trip, if it's with me..." He winked at her fuming look. "I mean she's such a good student, she could get time off..."
"Yeah, unlike SOMEONE who had chores to do cause he spent too much time goofing off." She retaliated at him.
"Hey, what can I say, it's fun to break the rules once and a while." He grinned.
"Even if you gotta do extra sessions and stuff? You're crazier than I thought, Kurt." Kitty said wryly.
Kurt just winked at her. "Come on Kitty, everyone has a hobby."
She just snorted and gulped more drink down.
"So, Kurt, since you go to the institute, you must have a... gift...too?" Kitty's mother spoke up quietly, smiling softly at their discussion.
Kurt chewed on an ice cube, and glanced at Kitty sideways, as if asking should he reveal his true identity to her parents.
She looked down, then back up. "I told you about Kurt in my letters, didn't I Mom?"
Her mother nodded. "Yes, but you talk about so many of your friends, I lose track who's who."
Kurt just smirked a bit at Kitty, and stood up. "I can show you." He vanished with a puff of sulfurous smoke, and reappeared on the other side of Kitty, leaning on her shoulder casually, much to her chagrin.
Her parents seemed startled, then both let their breaths out in a bit of awe. "Marvelous." Her father said looking impressed. "That must be quite a handy talent to have."
Kurt teleported back to his seat and took another sip of the lemonade. "It has it's perks." He grinned cockily at Kitty, and she snuffed at him.
Kitty snorted and decided to get back at him, and leaned over and punched his watch. "Showoff. So there." She smirked back at him as the holo watch shimmered off, revealing his true appearance to her parents. They blinked, and seemed stunned at first, staring not knowing what to say. Kurt cleared his throat, and threw Kitty a look of his own, wishing she'd given them a bit of warning first, seeing him tended to take people by surprise. They seemed to slowly be drawn from their initial shock, and were torn between curiosity, and the wish to be polite and not stare.
Kurt just shrugged it off. "Well I always like to be the center of attention." He smiled internally seeing Kitty's look of chagrin for giving him the spotlight unwittingly again.
Her father blinked and shook his head. "Amazing, forgive me for being straightforward, but how did you end up this way?"
Kurt blinked his yellow eyes over at him, amused at their forthcoming. "I was born this way actually, it's not a usual thing among...our kind." He said hesitating, not really liking the term 'mutants' too much. "But my power developed when I was older, like everyone else's."
Her father blinked, distracted by his tail swishing down at his legs idly. The cat took a fascination to it, unknowingly by Kurt, and watched it swish with hungry eyes, then suddenly pounced on it, sinking it's needle sharp teeth into the plaything. Kurt yelped and leapt out of his seat, the cat startled, still hanging onto his tail as he stood up on the chair, staring down at it. Kitty took one look, and couldn't help herself, and burst out into laughter, and was shortly joined by her mother, and her father. Kurt stood there with slight tears of pain in his eyes, and tried to pry the kitty from his tail, but the more he wiggled, the more she seemed to want to chew... Finally, feeling a bit sorry for Kurt, Kitty leaned forward and took hold of his tail, and phased it out of the cat's teeth, and Kurt quickly held it far out of reach of the cat, rubbing the sore spot. The cat looked confused and disappointed in finding it's toy had suddenly vanished, and gave a snuff, then leapt off the chair in search of more amusing things.
Kitty giggled more, seeing Kurt's wounded look, more of pride rather than of actual physical pain. "Maybe I should get you a kitten for the Holidays, Kurt."
He looked about ready to have a heart attack, and leaned on the chair for support. "No WAY! I'll have bandages all over and look like a mummy or something! My poor tail couldn't handle it!" He rubbed the sore spot, and sat down finally.
Kitty's parents were watching them, a bit awkward at the fiasco, and not wanting to be rude and butt into their conversation. As Kurt sat down, a bit sulkily, Kitty's father cleared his throat. "Well then, why don't I start the barbeque."
End note: Well I got one comment very quickly (thanks!) so I formatted this one and stuck it up there, so feedback please, I have one more chapter written so far, then I'm going to need to think through the next few... ideas are welcome. Oh and join my rpg! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nightcrawler_rpg/
whatevered by Marvel ect.
Author's note: Ok, so I took 2 years of German, went to Switzerland about 6 years ago, and promptly forgot all of it...
so I'm just not going to bother with inserting alot of German words, maybe one or two here, but i figure everyone gets
the idea of the accent, so i'm not going to make things harder to READ by putting it in there. You get the point.
Moonlight Reflections
Chapter Two
Memoirs of Family
By: NightElfCrawler
Kurt glanced furtively aside at Kitty's face as she walked up to the desk, and felt worry and sorrow for her position, her mother was dying and she was putting on such a brave front to hide her inner pain...he knew the feeling well, but hated to see others suffering it.
They walked up to the elevator after being told which room to go towards, and rode it in silence. Kurt kept quiet, knowing that this was Kitty's private moment, and he really shouldn't be here to interrupt, but she needed at friend at the same time, so he just planned to stay in the background and be there when she needed him.
Kitty took a breath and stepped off the elevator as they reached the correct floor, and hesitated as they arrived before the door where her mother was. Her hand shook a bit as she placed it on the handle, then with a firm jut of her chin and a resolute look, she opened the door stepping in, and Kurt followed her.
Laying on the bed was a middle aged woman who still retained some youthful beauty, and beside her a man who looked strong, but had worry lines and grief etched on his face.
"Hi Mommy, Daddy." Kitty said quietly.
They both looked up, and smiles lit their faces. "Kitty!" Her mother exclaimed with a surprised yet warm look. "I didn't know if you'd be able to get away from school to come!"
"Come on mom, who needs school when there's more important things." She ran in and embraced them both with tears of happiness in seeing her family again.
Kurt just quietly walked in behind her, picking up her bag she'd dropped for her, and staying to the side, smiling gently at the warmth of a family reunion.
They laughed and chatted for several minutes, catching up since they had last spoken and written to each other, before Kitty remembered him and turned around. "Oh, Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Kurt. He's one of the friends at the Institute I told you about." She grinned at him and beckoned him closer.
He stepped forward and smiled at them both. "Ah, hello." He shuffled on his feet awkwardly, not sure if he should extend a hand for a shake.
But Kitty's father put a quick end to that dilemma, by gripping his hand quickly and pumping it up and down energetically. "Welcome! Welcome Kurt, it's great to meet you, Kitty's told us so much about you!" Then the fact that what he was holding wasn't quite the same texture as what he though he was holding seemed to hit his brain, and he blinked, glanced down, then back up in confusion.
"Ah, Dad Kurt's the one who wears that holo watch, remember?" Kitty prompted, seeing his confusion. "Like, I don't think the hospital staff would understand otherwise, ya know?" She grinned at Kurt, almost apologetically.
"Ahh!" Her father said, resuming a slow pump of his hand, as that clicked in his mind. "Of course, I understand." He smiled and nodded at Kurt, but still seemed both curious and a bit disturbed by the fuzzy hand. "Well, we'll have to all have a nice private chat later, the hospital is releasing your mother to go home tonight, so we can head back and have dinner at home."
Kitty's eyes seemed to light up, then grow dim. "They're letting you go mom?" She sounded thrilled, but concerned as well beneath that. "Why?"
Her mother smiled sadly at her. "There's nothing they can do dear...the cancer is beyond chance of removal, so the only thing I want is to be home with my family while I can."
Kitty bit her lip slightly at that, not sure she liked that outcome at all. "Well.. at least we can go home." She finally ventured after some silence.
Her mother smiled sadly and nodded at her, seeming saddened to see her child upset by this. "Dad can cook us some steak or something to celebrate, ok hon?"
Kitty nodded sadly, and returned the smile. They spent some time talking while her mother was prepared to leave, put in a wheelchair and checked out, then they all headed down and out to the car, and drove back down the highway. Kurt kept to himself, letting Kitty chatter it up with her parents. It was clear she had missed them a lot.
After some time, they reached a moderate sized house on a quiet street, and they stepped out of the car, and all entered the home. Kurt glanced around, feeling slightly nostalgic of his own home, seeing pictures of loving parents and children on the walls. He suddenly wanted to go home and visit his own parents, being away from them for so long was difficult, especially since he'd been home and never far off most of his life.
Kitty chatted with her parents as they unpacked, and Kurt was left to sit on a couch as they bustled about, as he didn't want to be in the way. Instead, he found a companion in a rather curious cat who came sniffing at him, then gave him the oddest look as if to say 'you're more than you look pal' before jumping up beside him on the couch. He tentatively held a hand out for the cat to sniff, and it did, then licked his hand, and made another face, shaking it's head and licking it's nose a few times, taken by surprise at the fur that wasn't visible to the eye. After a few more sniffs, rubs and paws, the cat finally settled down next to him, purring and submitting to his petting of it's fur. He smiled faintly at the simple pleasure.
Kitty suddenly rushed in, seeming flustered. "Oh my god Kurt, I'm so sorry!" She seemed flushed a bit. "I totally forgot about you! Come on and let's all like, have something to drink and we can talk n stuff." She looked embarrassed.
He smiled slightly. "The cat and I were bonding though." He gave a heavy melodramatic sigh, and stood up. "But if you wish to interrupt our happy company..."
She gave him another 'look'. "Come on you blue hairball." She turned and lead the way into the kitchen where the others were seated at the kitchen table already. He followed her, the cat trailing happily after him, having found a new friend. Kitty pulled out a chair for him, and he plopped down in it, the cat leaping up onto his lap and curling up.
Kitty sat down and smiled over at Kurt. "So..." She trailed off, as if unsure what to say.
"So, Kurt, Kitty tells us you're from Germany." Her father said, solving the problem of awkwardness. He poured Kurt some lemonade that they'd begun serving and handed it to him. "What part?"
Kurt accepted the glass with a nod and sipped it, feeling the sweet tangy juice wet his throat. "Ah, I grew up in the Southern area of Germany." He said looking up, glancing from mother to father.
"Ah, beautiful countryside I've heard," said Kitty's Father, "though I've never visited Europe before."
"Ah, yes it is beautiful." Kurt said with a smile. "It's like no other place I've been to, though I haven't traveled much..."
"Lots of wilderness there? Do much hiking and exploring?"
"Actually, yes. We lived back in the hills, so there was a lot of tree lands to travel in that was uninhabited mostly, it was nice to go camping there."
Kitty's father nodded. "An outdoors guy, huh." He winked at Kitty. "You'd not get her out there much, she hates bugs, dirt, and anything away from a shopping mall."
Kitty scowled. "Daad..."
Kurt laughed, and got a glare at her in return, and held up his hands to show defeat before she threw her glass of lemonade at him. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind a trip, if it's with me..." He winked at her fuming look. "I mean she's such a good student, she could get time off..."
"Yeah, unlike SOMEONE who had chores to do cause he spent too much time goofing off." She retaliated at him.
"Hey, what can I say, it's fun to break the rules once and a while." He grinned.
"Even if you gotta do extra sessions and stuff? You're crazier than I thought, Kurt." Kitty said wryly.
Kurt just winked at her. "Come on Kitty, everyone has a hobby."
She just snorted and gulped more drink down.
"So, Kurt, since you go to the institute, you must have a... gift...too?" Kitty's mother spoke up quietly, smiling softly at their discussion.
Kurt chewed on an ice cube, and glanced at Kitty sideways, as if asking should he reveal his true identity to her parents.
She looked down, then back up. "I told you about Kurt in my letters, didn't I Mom?"
Her mother nodded. "Yes, but you talk about so many of your friends, I lose track who's who."
Kurt just smirked a bit at Kitty, and stood up. "I can show you." He vanished with a puff of sulfurous smoke, and reappeared on the other side of Kitty, leaning on her shoulder casually, much to her chagrin.
Her parents seemed startled, then both let their breaths out in a bit of awe. "Marvelous." Her father said looking impressed. "That must be quite a handy talent to have."
Kurt teleported back to his seat and took another sip of the lemonade. "It has it's perks." He grinned cockily at Kitty, and she snuffed at him.
Kitty snorted and decided to get back at him, and leaned over and punched his watch. "Showoff. So there." She smirked back at him as the holo watch shimmered off, revealing his true appearance to her parents. They blinked, and seemed stunned at first, staring not knowing what to say. Kurt cleared his throat, and threw Kitty a look of his own, wishing she'd given them a bit of warning first, seeing him tended to take people by surprise. They seemed to slowly be drawn from their initial shock, and were torn between curiosity, and the wish to be polite and not stare.
Kurt just shrugged it off. "Well I always like to be the center of attention." He smiled internally seeing Kitty's look of chagrin for giving him the spotlight unwittingly again.
Her father blinked and shook his head. "Amazing, forgive me for being straightforward, but how did you end up this way?"
Kurt blinked his yellow eyes over at him, amused at their forthcoming. "I was born this way actually, it's not a usual thing among...our kind." He said hesitating, not really liking the term 'mutants' too much. "But my power developed when I was older, like everyone else's."
Her father blinked, distracted by his tail swishing down at his legs idly. The cat took a fascination to it, unknowingly by Kurt, and watched it swish with hungry eyes, then suddenly pounced on it, sinking it's needle sharp teeth into the plaything. Kurt yelped and leapt out of his seat, the cat startled, still hanging onto his tail as he stood up on the chair, staring down at it. Kitty took one look, and couldn't help herself, and burst out into laughter, and was shortly joined by her mother, and her father. Kurt stood there with slight tears of pain in his eyes, and tried to pry the kitty from his tail, but the more he wiggled, the more she seemed to want to chew... Finally, feeling a bit sorry for Kurt, Kitty leaned forward and took hold of his tail, and phased it out of the cat's teeth, and Kurt quickly held it far out of reach of the cat, rubbing the sore spot. The cat looked confused and disappointed in finding it's toy had suddenly vanished, and gave a snuff, then leapt off the chair in search of more amusing things.
Kitty giggled more, seeing Kurt's wounded look, more of pride rather than of actual physical pain. "Maybe I should get you a kitten for the Holidays, Kurt."
He looked about ready to have a heart attack, and leaned on the chair for support. "No WAY! I'll have bandages all over and look like a mummy or something! My poor tail couldn't handle it!" He rubbed the sore spot, and sat down finally.
Kitty's parents were watching them, a bit awkward at the fiasco, and not wanting to be rude and butt into their conversation. As Kurt sat down, a bit sulkily, Kitty's father cleared his throat. "Well then, why don't I start the barbeque."
End note: Well I got one comment very quickly (thanks!) so I formatted this one and stuck it up there, so feedback please, I have one more chapter written so far, then I'm going to need to think through the next few... ideas are welcome. Oh and join my rpg! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nightcrawler_rpg/