"Miss Keety, you look very pink," were the first words that came out of the dark-haired German-American boy's mouth, causing Kitty to arch an eyebrow questioningly at his dubious compliment. Kurt looked like he wanted to kick himself, as he added, flustered, "Uh, vhat I meant vas, your dress--it's very pink, and it makes you look pink as vell, and uh..." Kitty hid a smile of amusement, but outwardly tried to uphold a look of mild indignation, causing Kurt to nervously pull at his collar and redouble his efforts to be charming.
"...And, uh, so you look pink...and zat's a good thing, you see, because it means you're healthy..." Kurt's voice trailed off uncertainly, while Kitty struggled to hold in her laughter, when his eyes suddenly lit up and he added in a rush of words, "And you look very pretty too, Miss Keety."
"Took you long enough," Kitty muttered in amusement under her breath, adding laughingly to herself, "Why is it that Lance can say I'm pretty as soon as he learns my name, and yet it takes Kurt nearly eighteen years to get the words right?"
"Miss Keety? Who are you talking about?" Kurt gave her a look devoid of any visible jealousy but full of curiosity, and Kitty caught herself and stammered, "Er, nobody. Listen, Kurt, I--"
At
that moment, Tabitha sashayed up to the couple, dressed to kill in a stunning
burgundy ball gown and flashing her brightest smile as she greeted merrily,
"Why, if it isn't Mr. Kurt Wagner! And Kitty, how nice to see you, too."
Before Kitty could get her own polite greeting out of her mouth, however,
Tabitha had pushed herself in front of Kurt and begun teasing warmly, occasionally
tapping his arms with her closed fan, "My, Mr. Wagner, how handsome you
look tonight--although most of the credit should go to your dear mother,
I suppose, for prohibiting you from wearing those awful mustard-colored
breeches you seem so fond of. Either way, I'm delighted that you've finally
arrived. This party wouldn't be the same without you, you know."
"Eh...I'm
very flattered, Miss Tabitha," Kurt replied nervously, tugging with some
discomfort at the collar of his starched white shirt and darting a sideways
glance at Kitty, who'd suddenly quieted down and moved a couple of paces
away from him, the annoyed frown on her features clearly conveying her
feelings. Kurt read her irritation and quickly turned back to face Tabitha,
intent on disengaging himself from her in an effort to reconcile with Kitty,
but the spirited blonde cut him off before he could squeeze in a single
word, and happily carried on a mostly one-sided conversation for the next
few minutes.
"Don't
you look like the ideal gentleman tonight; a girl would be lucky to consider
you her suitor." She shot a significant look at Kitty when she said the
last part of her sentence, and the latter barely swallowed the temptation
to outright glare at the flirtatious blonde, who continued after a few
moments during which Kurt laughed embarrassedly, "Vell, I'm flattered you
think so highly of me, Miss Tabitha," while shooting apologetic looks at
Kitty, who rolled her eyes and tilted her face in the opposite direction.
"...But
who am I kidding; a dashing gentleman like you would probably never spare
a look at a simple girl like myself," Tabitha sighed dramatically, reaching
up and tickling him under the chin before her eyes caught sight of another
"dashing gentleman" across the room. Tossing back her hair and flashing
her brightest smile, the pert blonde called out laughingly, "Ray? Ray Crisp,
don't you look handsome tonight!" Turning back to Kurt, she tapped his
arm with her fan one last time, adding, "I have to go now, but don't you
wander off with some other pretty girl and forget all about little old
me, because I want to dance the waltz with you tonight, all right, Kurt?
Bye." And with a smile and flick of her hair, Tabitha was off, gliding
across the polished floor after Ray and consciously rolling her hips so
that the slenderness of her waist was emphasized and her deep wine-colored
skirts swirled alluringly around her long legs.
Without
meaning to, Kurt gaped after Tabitha's retreating form disappearing amidst
the sea of bright-as-verbena dresses, until a pointed clearing of the throat
from Kitty snapped him out of his spell and he turned guiltily to the pretty
brunette, feeling a wave of shame washing over himself as her blue eyes
glared at him questioningly from under sharply arched eyebrows.
"Tabby's
quite the enchanting lady, isn't she?" were the first words that Kitty
spoke, the deliberately saccharine tone of her voice making him cringe.
"Er,
Miss Keety...I didn't mean...I mean, ve veren't...You know how Miss Tabitha
is, she flirts vith everybody..." he stammered nervously, again pulling
at the collar of his crisp flaxen shirt until it was practically yanked
right out.
"Please
don't be angry vith me, Miss Keety," he finished in a tiny voice. Kitty
raised a hand to cover her smile, never having been too upset with him
in the first place, but hearing the guiltily pleading note in his voice,
she decided to have a little fun at his expense, anyway. Looking at him
evenly in the eye, she conjured up her sulkiest pout and muttered with
pseudo-sullenness, "Well, you did hurt me very much, carrying on
like that with a desirable blonde belle like Tabby..."
"Yes--but
you'll always be ze belle of ze ball in my eyes, Miss Keety," Kurt
quickly cut in, starting to babble desperately as Kitty toyed around with
her hair and pretended not to believe him, "You're pink--I mean, beautiful--and,
er, I'm a stupid fool to have ever even looked at Miss Tabitha,
who vill never be as pink--beautiful, I mean--as you, Miss Keety, and--"
Kitty closed her eyes as her shoulders started trembling, and Kurt leaned
back in bewilderment, wondering if she was actually crying. Had his brief
conversation with Tabitha really hurt her that much? Kurt started to feel
like the most horrible lowlife in the world, and only when Kitty finally
opened both her eyes and her lips and allowed a merry peal of giggles to
escape did he realize that she'd been laughing at him all this time.
"Miss
Keety? Are you still angry vith me?" he ventured hesitantly, not knowing
whether he should feel relieved or indignant.
"Well,
I still am," Kitty confirmed, but the smile playing at the corners of her
lips more than negated her words. "But you can make it up to me..." She
let her voice trail off there, and Kurt eagerly glanced in the direction
her eyes had settled on, before piping up eagerly, "You vant me to challenge
Bobby to a duel to prove my loyalty to you, Miss Keety?" Kitty looked genuinely
shocked at his suggestion, gasping, "Now where would you get that
idea?" Then, before Kurt could go off on a tangent about his reasoning,
she said quickly "No, I don't want you to duel with anybody--least of all
Bobby--but I would appreciate it if you could bring me some sparkling
water from the refreshment table where Bobby's standing by...if it's not
too much trouble, that is."
"No
trouble at all, Miss Keety," Kurt replied enthusiastically. "Zen you'll
forgive me?" Kitty put on her most innocent face.
"Of
course I will, silly," she reassured him sweetly, but there was a mischievous
gleam in her eyes that the German boy failed to catch as he eagerly scampered
off to get some sparkling water for her.
Kurt returned in a flash, nearly spilling the drink on several occasions in his haste as he tripped his way up to Kitty and held out a cut crystal goblet of sparkling water, reciting with a flourish, "Here's your drink, Miss Keety...now am I forgiven?" Kitty gave a disappointed frown, pointing out, "Oh, but there's just too much of it--I couldn't possibly hope to finish all that before the dancing starts." A helpless expression came over Kurt's features, as he sputtered, "But you said zat you'd forgive me if I--" Kitty smiled ingenuously, cooing in a voice meant to mimic Tabitha's coquetries, "Of course I would, Kurt--but how can I if you obviously don't care about my feelings and bring me back a whole gallon of water when I only asked for a little glass?" Kurt gave a dismayed pout, apologizing hastily, "But I do care...uh, I mean, I'll get you a smaller glass, in zat case, Miss Keety." And he turned around and trudged off, too confused to notice when Kitty turned her face away and laughed quietly into her hand.
When
Kurt came back, he was carefully holding a noticeably smaller glass filled
only halfway with sparkling water, which he offered tentatively to Kitty
with a nervous smile and a question of, "Is zis all right, Miss Keety?"
The wide-eyed, hopeful look on his face made Kitty hesitate, as she silently
debated whether she should give this game up or continue for a couple more
minutes. Then, hearing Tabitha's flamboyant laughter from the other side
of the room as she flirted with Ray, Kitty decided that a few more rounds
couldn't hurt, and turned to the German-American boy while working her
features into a demure smile.
"It
would
be all right...if I were a ten-year-old child," she kidded while exaggeratedly
flitting her eyelashes at him. Watching Kurt's face crumple up as though
he'd just bitten into a lemon, she added gleefully, barely trying to hide
the fact that she was teasing him, "Oh, but Kurt, I'm just so thirsty--this
isn't enough water. Would you be so kind as to go back to the refreshment
table and get me a slightly bigger glass?"
"But
you...but I...but ze vater...but Miss Tabby..." Kurt's mouth opened and
closed silently, as though he were doing a fish-out-of-water imitation,
before he gave up and conceded weakly, "Anything you want, Miss Keety,
I'll get you more vater." And he slumped off, nearly bumping into Bobby
on his trek to the refreshment table to get just the right amount of water
for Kitty.
On
the other end of the room, a late arrival made his silent, almost furtive
entrance into the ball, clean-shaven and dressed in an appropriately elegant
ensemble, of which only the starched linen shirt actually belonged to him.
Quietly entering through the grand atrium and blending into the crowd of
finely-dressed guests, he failed to notice a certain pretty brunette in
pink watered silk standing on the other side of the room and awaiting her
glass of water, which was finally brought to her by a dark-haired German-American
boy.
"Here's
your vater, Miss Keety," Kurt spoke up tentatively, searching Kitty's eyes
for any telltale signs that she was playing a prank on him. "Is zis just
ze right amount?" A mischievous smile danced across Kitty's lips, as she
started to singsong, "Well, Kurt..."
"You
know, Miss Keety," Kurt quickly cut in, "I have zis nagging feeling zat
you're just sending me off on zese water errands to punish me for talking
to Miss Tabitha." Kitty flashed him a bright smile.
"Am
I now?" she asked sweetly, before laughing and sending him off, "In that
case, try to bring me a smaller glass but filled all the way up instead
of halfway this time, all right?" Kurt trudged off with an exaggerated
sigh, and Kitty, still smiling, glanced up and took in the sights of the
ball for the first time since her arrival.
Tabitha
was still teasing and flirting with Ray off in a corner, surprising Kitty
somewhat that she'd stayed focused on one boy for so long without having
danced off to another beau. Amara was walking into the room with the gliding,
elegant step of a refined lady, dressed like a princess and surrounded
by an entourage of other girls, while over by the refreshment table, Sam
was whispering something into Rahne's ear that was making her both giggle
and try to cover it up so as to not scandalize the conservative chaperones
seated a few yards away. Strange that she couldn't find the hostess anywhere,
Kitty thought to herself, wondering where Wanda Maximoff could be. But
then again, the cold raven-haired beauty was rather notorious for
her dislike of entertaining guests...Kitty suddenly froze, when she caught
sight of a new familiar face, male this time, standing tall and confident
and looking handsomer than ever dressed in fashionably tailored clothes
and holding a glass of brandy in one hand.
"Lance,"
she spoke his name softly to herself, fighting a quick battle in her head
as to whether she should go over and greet him, before beginning to move
through the crowds.
Kitty
was halfway toward him when she finally noticed that he wasn't alone. Stopping
abruptly in her tracks with a confused frown, she realized that not only
was Lance not alone, but he was in the company of a beautiful lady.
Wanda, of all people, and as Kitty watched the couple conversing in quiet
tones and giving every appearance of enjoying each other's company, a jumbled
mixture of emotions flashed across her mind. Surprised at seeing the two
talking to each other, confused as to why Lance suddenly seemed to be favoring
Wanda when just last night he'd put on a purposely and hopelessly sappy
show about how pretty Kitty was the only one, and strangely jealous at
the happily interested look in his eyes as he talked to Wanda, Kitty failed
to hear the footsteps behind her until an unmistakable German-accented
voice spoke up, "Zere you are, Miss Keety. I've been looking everyvhere
for you, and I have your vater here vith me; vhere did you go...?" Startled
at the unexpected voice, Kitty barely caught herself in time before she
would have given a high-pitched shriek and jumped through the ceiling,
then turned around and stammered nervously, "Kurt...you, uh, you startled
me there." Kurt only gave her a puzzled look, somehow sensing that her
mood had changed during the short time he'd been absent but choosing not
to voice his thoughts. Instead, he merely offered her the glass and said
pleasantly, "I have your vater right here, Miss Keety--smaller glass, filled
all the vay up, just like you asked." Kitty wore a distracted look on her
face, murmuring in response, "Yes, well, send it back, Kurt. Suddenly,
I'm not so thirsty anymore." Kurt frowned, aware that she wasn't just teasing
him this time, and tried to follow her eyes to see what it was that had
upset her. Realizing that Kurt was trying to look in the same direction
she was, Kitty quickly focused her eyes on his face and said gently, "I'm
sorry for sending you off on all those errands, Kurt, but I'm honestly
not thirsty anymore." Kurt looked like he was about to cry at those words,
and Kitty, cheered up by his funny face, laughed lightly and assured him,
"There now--remember, the reel's starting next, and I wouldn't want to
dance when I'm full of water, now would I?" Kurt brightened up, demanding
eagerly, "You mean, zen, you'll dance ze reel vith me?" Kitty gave him
a sunny grin.
"Of
course I will, you silly boy," she said affectionately. "Was there ever
any doubt about that?"
At that moment, the musicians on their raised dais tapped their instruments to signal that the first dance of the evening was about to begin, and a wave of excitement swept across the ballroom as young couples who'd been previously scattered every which where gathered into place in the middle of the room. The ladies and gentlemen each assembled into two separate lines facing each other in anticipation of the Virginia reel, and Kitty dutifully took her position at the foot of the ladies' line, while five feet across from her Kurt finally stopped clowning around with Bobby to grin and joke with her, "Don't vorry, Miss Keety--ve'll show every one of zem for putting us at ze bottom just because ve're one of ze younger couples." Kitty smiled back, but before she could say anything, the lively music signaling the beginning of the Virginia reel started, and the dance was soon underway. Automatically, Kitty took two steps forward along with the rest of the dancers, clapping twice and then returning to her previous place as Kurt flashed her one last grin before moving with easy grace to the center to bow with the top lady--Wanda Maximoff. A look of apprehension entered Kitty's eyes while she awaited her turn, as she began to guess whom Wanda's partner might be, but at that moment, Kurt and Wanda returned to their places after bowing, and it was Kitty's turn to move forward and bow with the top gentleman. Hastily, she crossed to the center as well, finding herself face to face with none other than Lance Alvers. Kitty froze, but fortunately Lance saved her from the troubles of deciding on an appropriate reaction when he smoothly bowed down the way she'd taught him the previous night, prompting her to hastily do the same while giving her a wink and a smile as he did so. And then the moment was gone, as both returned to their lines, Lance casually giving no other indication that he knew her, Kitty silently reproving herself for being so caught off-guard by him and nearly messing up in front of everybody as a result.
Kitty
quietly yawned into one hand while watching the couples on the floor, idly
drumming her fingernails against her knee with her other hand as she wondered
how long she was supposed to rest until she could dance again. At that
moment, a shadow washed over her, and as she started to glance up in surprise,
a friendly male voice spoke up, "Mind if I join you?" Kitty looked into
the now familiar deep brown eyes, hearing her own voice counter, "Not really,
but wouldn't Wanda get suspicious if she sees you philandering around with
another girl?" Immediately, she froze, wishing she could turn back time
before those crisply jealous words could have tumbled from her lips, but
thankfully, Lance's reaction was more indulgent than jesting, as he replied
pleasantly enough with a lopsided grin, "Don't tell me you're jealous,
pretty Kitty." Kitty frowned and crossed her arms.
"I'm
not," she denied sullenly, hoping she sounded convincing and causing Lance's
grin to grow wider.
"Well,
I'll still apologize to you nonetheless for ignoring you for the better
part of this evening," he promised, then glanced around at all the watchful
matrons seated on the sidelines and added quickly, "But not in here. I
don't want one of those old hens to eavesdrop on our conversation." Kitty
tried to smother a giggle, protesting half-heartedly, "Lance! What a horrible
thing to say!" Lance shrugged, still grinning, before asking, "So, what
do you say? I hear the Maximoffs' rose garden is something to see."
"Well..."
Kitty's eyes drifted back to the ballroom floor, and she murmured uncertainly,
"Kurt is expecting to dance the waltz with me..." A dark thundercloud
flashed across Lance's features, before he quickly covered up his unchecked
burst of emotion and drawled shrewdly, "Yes, of course. Now, correct me
if I'm wrong, pretty Kitty, but would this Kurt be the one dancing with
the beautiful blonde in the burgundy crinoline?" Kitty felt her lips draw
together in a tight line, as she gritted out, "Tabitha," too engrossed
in seething to be aware that Lance was slowly but steadily leading her
away from the ballroom.
It
wasn't until the bright lights of the chandelier and candles were abruptly
replaced by the moonlit night that Kitty realized she'd somehow wound up
in the Maximoffs' rose garden after all. Turning to the young man standing
beside her, she playfully slapped his arm while reproving him, "Lance,
I don't recall agreeing to come here with you."
"We
know you would have agreed in the end, anyway, so I just saved us the trouble
of cajoling you into coming here," came the instant tongue-in-cheek response,
causing Kitty to concede a grudging smile of agreement.
"Maybe,
maybe not," she reminded him good-humoredly. "But still, this is the second
time in two days already that you've coaxed me into meeting you unchaperoned;
my reputation will be ruined within a week if I keep consorting with you
like this--"
Kitty
didn't notice the abrupt change of expression on Lance's face, as his playful
smile suddenly froze to allow a look of alarm to seep through. Nor did
she have a chance to perceive it, when Lance suddenly gave a hoarse cry
and roughly tackled her to the ground, ignoring her outraged shrieks and
pressing her flat against the dewy grass as the thick trunk of an uprooted
pine tree suddenly went flying above their heads, barely missing grazing
Lance's hair by a few inches. The heavy tree smashed against a tall cedar
several feet away, and only when all was quiet again except for the sound
of his heavy breathing and Kitty's frightened little gasps did Lance get
off and help the petite brunette to her feet.
"Wh....what
was that? I mean, it couldn't have been an accident, could it? Maybe the
wind..." Kitty stammered fretfully, shivering like a fragile leaf caught
in a breeze but unaware of her trembling. Lance frowned and glanced at
a spot above her head, absently taking off his black broadcloth coat and
throwing it around her shaking shoulders while murmuring in reply, "No.
It definitely wasn't an accident." Kitty looked up at him with frightened
cornflower-blue eyes.
"Then
what do you suppose just happened?" she ventured, not sure she wanted to
know his answer. Lance finally lowered his gaze to meet her eyes, disclosing
quietly, "It looks like we have company, pretty Kitty."