Soon we were finished eating and cleaned up. Well, I did most of the cleaning up even though Kurt would have been a big help with his tail, bamfing abilities and natural grace. As I put the remains of our meal back in the fridge, I glanced up at him.
He was currently hanging from the chandelier above the table from his tail. You'd think that he'd fall any second, but Kurt could keep his balance in any situation. Swinging back and forth, he was singing some song that I had never heard before. That could be because it was in German, or it could be because he translated it to German and I didn't recognize the tune. His face was away from me. Closing the fridge door, I called out to him,
"Yo, Elf-Boy." He bamfed down next to me. I'm going to have to get used to that, I thought as I shook the shock off.
"Yes, Cryees?" I inwardly smiled. He had yet to come up with an annoying nickname for me.
"Why do you always hang from the weirdest places?" He gave me a lopsided smile.
"It's comfortable. Vhy did you zink I did it?"
"Because you're the weirdest person I've met so far at this wacked out place you call a home but I call a group home for people who want Chuck's money?"
"Sure, Cryees. Vee only come for zee Professor's money. That's vhy vee all respect him."
"But that's just a mask you put on so he doesn't know! Never mind that he's a telepath and would know if you were here for that reason, that's out of the equation. Now, tell me the truth Kurt Vaugner. Are you here for Chuck's money?" I could see him trying to stop a laugh.
"Ja, Cryees. Me and zee ozzers," here he leaned in closer and looked around before replying with a mischievous smile, "ve're planning to steal from his secret stash tonight. Vant to come along?" Here we couldn't keep it in anymore. We collapsed onto the kitchen floor and laughed until we couldn't breathe. Once we got our breath back, I said,
"Kurt, we laugh way too much. You know that, right?"
"Vun can never laugh too much, Cryees, only too little."
~*~
The rest of the day went pretty much regulation. Since I now lived at "Mutant Central," as I called it, I had to do chores too. And even though Kurt's ceiling job didn't start 'till tomorrow, he had regular chores that everyone pitched in to do. Things like vacuuming, cleaning your room(this was a piece of cake because I didn't have diddly squat in my room that was dirty except for one pair of clothes, after all, I had gotten there just last night), washing windows and doing dishes. We saw more of the others as they came down from their respective rooms. Obviously, Chuck had sent them to do homework. Why wouldn't he send me and Kurt? I thought curiously while rinsing plates with Jean and Kitty, who were talking about some mindless jock. I was manipulating water from the faucet to rinse. Well, at least I could spend more time alone with Kurt. After all, he's turning out to be a great friend, even if he does joke around a lot.
"Hey Crys!" called Kitty. Without stopping what I was doing, I answered,
"Mmmhmm?"
"Here, like, turn around." Sighing deeply, I put the dish down that I was working on and turned to face Kitty.
"What?" She shoved two pictures under my nose. They were both of boys I had never seen before, but I could tell they were jocks. Both sported team jackets and fake smiles that hid what was really in their head. Nothing.
"Like, Jean and I have been having an argument. Which do you think is, like, better-looking?"
"Would that be better-looking in looks, integrity, brains or bravery?" I said sardonically, guessing it was the first one of my choices. She stared at me blankly. "What did I say?" I demanded of Jean. But they both seemed to be frozen. I waved a hand in front of their faces. No response, either of them. It was like something had suspended animation. Creepy. Then, everything was back to normal again. This time, Kitty waved a hand in front of my face.
"Hello? Like, Crys, are you there?" I shook my head.
"Yeah. Umm, I guess the one on the right." The brown haired girl seemed to jump for joy.
"I told you, Jean. Even Crys, like, thinks so. Isn't, like, that right, Crys? Crys?" I had disappeared to my room. They could take care of the dishes themselves. Kitty shrugged her shoulders and whispered to Jean, "Probably mood swings." The redhead nodded and they both went back to work.
~*~
Dragging my feet up my bed, I closed the door behind me, locked it(like that would do any good), and plopped face down onto the mattress. Sighing into the covers, I mumbled,
"My life gets more odd every day."
"I vouldn't doubt zat Cryees. Not for a second." Rolling over on my back to see Kurt perched on my ceiling.
"Kurt, why do you insist on talking to me? And why are you always in my room?" He smiled sheepishly.
"Because I'm your friend. And zis is vhat friends do for each ozzer. Did not you learn anything from my 'suicide lecture?'" I looked at him strangely.
"Suicide lecture?"
"You know. Zee one zat got me in zee hospital ving."
"Oh, that one. Right. Well, you better get comfortable, cause I got a lot to say."
"And I vill listen to every vord."
"That's a bold statement, Fuzzball. I've been known to babble endlessly for hours about nothing until I get to my real point."
"I'm sure I can handle it, Cryees. Now, vat is veighing so heavily on your chest zat you do not even vant to talk to zee Professor about it?" At this I groaned.
"It's that obvious? I mean, I've only been here, what, not even a day and you already know my outward signs of turmoil? Arg! Well, at least you're not Jean, because then talking wouldn't do anything since you'd already know my thoughts."
"Ja, and if I vas Jean, I'm sure Scott voudn't be pleased eizzer." We chuckled.
"So, if I won't talk to Chuck, what makes you think I'll talk to you?"
"You dig zee fuzzy dude?" I smiled and said,
"Right, and that has what to do with telling you my problems?" He got a thoughtful look on his face.
"Nozing, but at least it made you smile, ja?" I sighed and said,
"Yeah Kurt, it made me smile." I turned away from him, opened the humongous windows that were standard for each room and walked lazily out onto the balcony. Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned on the railing and looked out at the sky. It was about 5:00, and the sun was getting lower every second.
"Cryees? Are you having mood swings? Should I go and get Jean? I'm not very good at dealing vith zis kind of stuff." I didn't say anything. "Cryees?" He bamfed next to me, perched on the railing, looking concerned.
"Things are kind of overwhelming right now. Maybe it is mood swings, or maybe I'm in depression. And just now, downstairs..." I trailed off. He studied me suspiciously.
"Vhat happened downstairs?" I sighed.
"I honestly don't know. One minute, I was talking to Kitty and Jean, the next....they were, I dunno, frozen. Literally. They just, stopped. I tried to get their attention, but the next second, everything was back to normal, like nothing ever happened. I don't think I should talk to Chuck about it because he takes everything too seriously. He has his own problems to deal with and sometimes, I think that sometimes, we forget that. The people here see Chuck as someone who can solve any situation and knows the right words to say to make you feel better. We forget that he has his own life, hobbies, things that make him a person. He needs to take a day off every once in a while, just to chill, you know?" Kurt's features were frozen in place. Almost as if he was trying not to move. Then it hit me. He was frozen! Just like before. Had he been frozen all the time I had been talking? I decided to wait till he came back, or time resumed, whatever. Looking out onto the mansions' lawn, I heard a voice.
"It's too much, isn't it? You need some relief from your problems and some time off. I can give you that." My head jerked up and I frantically turned it in every direction, trying to find the owner of the voice in my suspended animation world.
"Who's there?" I asked shakily. If no one was unfrozen but me, I couldn't very well defend against an attack.
"Come Crys, don't tell me that you don't recognize me? After all, you did watch the show." Wheels started to turn in my head. Calming voice. No body to go with the voice. Trying to get me on their side. This all meant one thing. Magneto. But how could he freeze time? Or was it me freezing time? I guessed I was about to find out.
He was currently hanging from the chandelier above the table from his tail. You'd think that he'd fall any second, but Kurt could keep his balance in any situation. Swinging back and forth, he was singing some song that I had never heard before. That could be because it was in German, or it could be because he translated it to German and I didn't recognize the tune. His face was away from me. Closing the fridge door, I called out to him,
"Yo, Elf-Boy." He bamfed down next to me. I'm going to have to get used to that, I thought as I shook the shock off.
"Yes, Cryees?" I inwardly smiled. He had yet to come up with an annoying nickname for me.
"Why do you always hang from the weirdest places?" He gave me a lopsided smile.
"It's comfortable. Vhy did you zink I did it?"
"Because you're the weirdest person I've met so far at this wacked out place you call a home but I call a group home for people who want Chuck's money?"
"Sure, Cryees. Vee only come for zee Professor's money. That's vhy vee all respect him."
"But that's just a mask you put on so he doesn't know! Never mind that he's a telepath and would know if you were here for that reason, that's out of the equation. Now, tell me the truth Kurt Vaugner. Are you here for Chuck's money?" I could see him trying to stop a laugh.
"Ja, Cryees. Me and zee ozzers," here he leaned in closer and looked around before replying with a mischievous smile, "ve're planning to steal from his secret stash tonight. Vant to come along?" Here we couldn't keep it in anymore. We collapsed onto the kitchen floor and laughed until we couldn't breathe. Once we got our breath back, I said,
"Kurt, we laugh way too much. You know that, right?"
"Vun can never laugh too much, Cryees, only too little."
~*~
The rest of the day went pretty much regulation. Since I now lived at "Mutant Central," as I called it, I had to do chores too. And even though Kurt's ceiling job didn't start 'till tomorrow, he had regular chores that everyone pitched in to do. Things like vacuuming, cleaning your room(this was a piece of cake because I didn't have diddly squat in my room that was dirty except for one pair of clothes, after all, I had gotten there just last night), washing windows and doing dishes. We saw more of the others as they came down from their respective rooms. Obviously, Chuck had sent them to do homework. Why wouldn't he send me and Kurt? I thought curiously while rinsing plates with Jean and Kitty, who were talking about some mindless jock. I was manipulating water from the faucet to rinse. Well, at least I could spend more time alone with Kurt. After all, he's turning out to be a great friend, even if he does joke around a lot.
"Hey Crys!" called Kitty. Without stopping what I was doing, I answered,
"Mmmhmm?"
"Here, like, turn around." Sighing deeply, I put the dish down that I was working on and turned to face Kitty.
"What?" She shoved two pictures under my nose. They were both of boys I had never seen before, but I could tell they were jocks. Both sported team jackets and fake smiles that hid what was really in their head. Nothing.
"Like, Jean and I have been having an argument. Which do you think is, like, better-looking?"
"Would that be better-looking in looks, integrity, brains or bravery?" I said sardonically, guessing it was the first one of my choices. She stared at me blankly. "What did I say?" I demanded of Jean. But they both seemed to be frozen. I waved a hand in front of their faces. No response, either of them. It was like something had suspended animation. Creepy. Then, everything was back to normal again. This time, Kitty waved a hand in front of my face.
"Hello? Like, Crys, are you there?" I shook my head.
"Yeah. Umm, I guess the one on the right." The brown haired girl seemed to jump for joy.
"I told you, Jean. Even Crys, like, thinks so. Isn't, like, that right, Crys? Crys?" I had disappeared to my room. They could take care of the dishes themselves. Kitty shrugged her shoulders and whispered to Jean, "Probably mood swings." The redhead nodded and they both went back to work.
~*~
Dragging my feet up my bed, I closed the door behind me, locked it(like that would do any good), and plopped face down onto the mattress. Sighing into the covers, I mumbled,
"My life gets more odd every day."
"I vouldn't doubt zat Cryees. Not for a second." Rolling over on my back to see Kurt perched on my ceiling.
"Kurt, why do you insist on talking to me? And why are you always in my room?" He smiled sheepishly.
"Because I'm your friend. And zis is vhat friends do for each ozzer. Did not you learn anything from my 'suicide lecture?'" I looked at him strangely.
"Suicide lecture?"
"You know. Zee one zat got me in zee hospital ving."
"Oh, that one. Right. Well, you better get comfortable, cause I got a lot to say."
"And I vill listen to every vord."
"That's a bold statement, Fuzzball. I've been known to babble endlessly for hours about nothing until I get to my real point."
"I'm sure I can handle it, Cryees. Now, vat is veighing so heavily on your chest zat you do not even vant to talk to zee Professor about it?" At this I groaned.
"It's that obvious? I mean, I've only been here, what, not even a day and you already know my outward signs of turmoil? Arg! Well, at least you're not Jean, because then talking wouldn't do anything since you'd already know my thoughts."
"Ja, and if I vas Jean, I'm sure Scott voudn't be pleased eizzer." We chuckled.
"So, if I won't talk to Chuck, what makes you think I'll talk to you?"
"You dig zee fuzzy dude?" I smiled and said,
"Right, and that has what to do with telling you my problems?" He got a thoughtful look on his face.
"Nozing, but at least it made you smile, ja?" I sighed and said,
"Yeah Kurt, it made me smile." I turned away from him, opened the humongous windows that were standard for each room and walked lazily out onto the balcony. Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned on the railing and looked out at the sky. It was about 5:00, and the sun was getting lower every second.
"Cryees? Are you having mood swings? Should I go and get Jean? I'm not very good at dealing vith zis kind of stuff." I didn't say anything. "Cryees?" He bamfed next to me, perched on the railing, looking concerned.
"Things are kind of overwhelming right now. Maybe it is mood swings, or maybe I'm in depression. And just now, downstairs..." I trailed off. He studied me suspiciously.
"Vhat happened downstairs?" I sighed.
"I honestly don't know. One minute, I was talking to Kitty and Jean, the next....they were, I dunno, frozen. Literally. They just, stopped. I tried to get their attention, but the next second, everything was back to normal, like nothing ever happened. I don't think I should talk to Chuck about it because he takes everything too seriously. He has his own problems to deal with and sometimes, I think that sometimes, we forget that. The people here see Chuck as someone who can solve any situation and knows the right words to say to make you feel better. We forget that he has his own life, hobbies, things that make him a person. He needs to take a day off every once in a while, just to chill, you know?" Kurt's features were frozen in place. Almost as if he was trying not to move. Then it hit me. He was frozen! Just like before. Had he been frozen all the time I had been talking? I decided to wait till he came back, or time resumed, whatever. Looking out onto the mansions' lawn, I heard a voice.
"It's too much, isn't it? You need some relief from your problems and some time off. I can give you that." My head jerked up and I frantically turned it in every direction, trying to find the owner of the voice in my suspended animation world.
"Who's there?" I asked shakily. If no one was unfrozen but me, I couldn't very well defend against an attack.
"Come Crys, don't tell me that you don't recognize me? After all, you did watch the show." Wheels started to turn in my head. Calming voice. No body to go with the voice. Trying to get me on their side. This all meant one thing. Magneto. But how could he freeze time? Or was it me freezing time? I guessed I was about to find out.
