Hi, everybody! Sorry I haven't posted in … holy crap! TWO WEEKS?! Whoo damn! Time got away from me. :( I'm truly sorry about that. Anyway, here's another little tale to tickle some funny bones.
Summary: They never did show what happened when Kurt and Kitty first met. Hee hee. FOOLS! Look what you have unleashed! :D This is my take on it.
Note: This is Kitty/Kurt friendship. : ) I also want to give a shout-out to all the kind, fabulous people who have reviewed! :) SHOUT-OUT! YEAH!!! :D And one last thing: this story takes off RIGHT from the end of "The X Impulse." Thus, it has a bit more Kitty than Kurt at first, but it shouldn't be too boring. Okay? "G'wan wi yeh!" Enjoy! ;)
=== THE ALIEN DOWN THE HALL ===
Professor Xavier and Jean Grey were sitting and standing, respectively, on the front steps of the Pryde family's home. They had just offered to take Kitty back to New York with them in the Blackbird, which was parked on the lawn. Kitty was eyeing it in awe. Her parents were looking at it, too. Harold Pryde was suitably impressed. But Rachel Pryde took a look at the imposing black plane, blinked a few times, and finally shook her head 'no.'
"I'm sorry, Professor. I'd prefer that Kitty not fly in on that plane. I'm sure it's fast, but she just gets airsick so easily!"
Kitty was mortified. "Mom!"
"Yeah, poor little thing," Harold said, putting an arm around his daughter. "We just want to spare your upholstery, professor. Kitty yarks up every time she flies."
"Daddy!"
"Now, we're happy to have Kitty come to the Institute," Rachel said over her daughter's irritated shriek, "But let me put my little girl on something … slower. Harold and I will pay for it."
"And you'll have to remember your inhaler, Princess," her father said. "Remember that one time you flew to see Auntie Lois in Brunswick, and had that attack on the way?"
"Oh my God, this is, like, not happening!" Kitty muttered, staring at the ground and turning beet red.
The professor seemed to understand her plight, and jumped into the conversation.
"Mrs. Pryde, if you feel more comfortable with your daughter flying on a regular plane, that's perfectly fine with us. We'll just send someone from the Institute to meet her at the airport. Is that all right?"
"Oh, that's much better," she said. She didn't notice how Kitty was glowering fiercely at her. "Thank you. We'll have her packed up and there in a jiffy. Come on, sweetie!"
Kitty mumbled and grumbled as both her parents led her away, into the house, and closed the door. Jean and the professor watched them go. The vivacious redhead snorted and crossed her arms.
"Boy, mommy and daddy sure are overprotective. We are doing that kid such a favor," she said.
"I'm not so sure," the professor countered. "I remember another young girl who arrived at the Institute. She was terrified --- had a spectacular nightmare her first week. She woke up utterly convinced that her mummy and daddy had disappeared, and she was all alone in the world."
Jean flushed to the tip of her nose.
"The poor dear ran into my room at three in the morning, in a right panic."
Jean cut him off by clearing her throat. "Well, our work here is done. Let's get to the plane."
"Yes, let's," Charles said, a smile tugging at his face.
~~~*X*~~~
Scott Summers had been elected the official "picker-upper." To that end, he was standing around at the airport, holding a sign that said "PRYDE," and watching as the flock of passengers from Chicago, Flight 39, got off in Terminal 13 at the Buffalo Airport. Grumpy businessmen, exhausted mothers with their children, and a few dyed thrashers (headed towards a skateboarding convention) filed by him before a pretty young woman saw the sign, smiled cheerfully, and walked over. She had big blue eyes, a bouncy brown ponytail, and a slightly green tint to her face.
"Hi!" she chirped. "I'm Kitty."
He smiled. "Well, I'm Scott."
"Hi, Scott. Nice shades!"
"Thanks," he said, a little embarrassed. "Uh, let's get your bags, okay?"
Scott got his exercise for the day by collecting all ten zillion of Kitty's bags from the baggage claim, and loading them into the back of the X-Van. He climbed into the driver's seat and sighed. They still had a long journey ahead of them, and with all the luggage smashed into the car, there was barely enough room for the two occupants at the front. Scott decided to just suck it up and make the best of it.
"All right!" he said, buckling in. Kitty followed his lead. "Well, we've got a pretty long ride up to Bayville, so just sit back and relax."
"Okay."
Scott drove and drove, and Kitty alternately slept or stared out the window. In-between, they made polite conversation, which amounted to nothing. Kitty would have liked to listen to a CD, but her player was stashed somewhere in one of her bags and all her CDs were in another. Instead, she passed the time by glancing at her chauffeur. After staring discreetly at Scott's profile for about a mile and half, she decided that he was very cute.
Finally, they pulled up to the gate that led into the mansion. The sun was just setting. Kitty stared at the huge house with her mouth hanging open.
"Wha-huh-ho!" she chirruped from the passenger's seat.
Scott smiled. "Like it?"
"Like, yeah, I like it! Look at the size of this place!"
He parked the X-Van in the circular drive, got out, stretched, and went to open the trunk. Kitty hopped out from the other side and started to help with the bags. Presently, the front doors of the mansion swung open. A big burly man wandered out and sauntered over to the van. He wore jeans, a white t-shirt and a motorcycle jacket, and sported an impressively wild head of hair. Scott turned to Kitty.
"That's Logan. He's a teacher here."
"Is Logan his first name, or his last name?"
"It's his only name."
"Oh."
"Logan Logan" loped over to them and began to talk to Scott, as though Kitty wasn't even there.
"So you got back all right, I see," he growled.
"Yep," Scott said.
"Who's the half-pint?"
Kitty felt a bit ruffled at this. She was petite, thank you.
"Oh. Logan, this is Kitty Pryde. Kitty, this is Logan."
Kitty squashed whatever annoyance she had for the man and promptly said, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Logan."
She held out a hand and they shook. She smiled. Logan was just blinking, apparently stunned by a simple handshake. Kitty didn't get it. It was just what she'd been taught to do; just ordinary politeness. She hoped he wouldn't get mad, or anything. Scott took a step back. But Logan Logan just snapped out of it and smiled at her. Kitty saw Scott raise an eyebrow. She smiled back at Logan.
"Pleased to meet you too, Kitty," he said. His voice was gruff, but friendly. "C'mon, let's get you and all your stuff inside."
"Okay!" Kitty said, and bounced over to the van to retrieve a suitcase.
"Cute kid," Logan remarked to Scott.
~~~*X*~~~
Kitty, Logan, and Scott hauled all her stuff into the front hall. The two guys immediately started arguing. They were debating on how best to get her luggage up the stairs to her room, when a bell rang. The conversation stopped, practically in mid-sentence. Both guys, without preamble, dropped all the crap they were holding and took off, leaving a very confused Kitty standing in the hallway, in a pile of bags. She had to phase through all her luggage to escape. A white-haired African woman wandered by.
"Oh, my!" the woman said, stopping. "Look at all this! Are you the new girl, who can walk through walls?"
"Yes, ma'am. Scott and Mr. Logan were supposed to help me get all my stuff upstairs, but then there was this 'ding' and they left. Is there some kind of emergency?"
The African woman pinched the bridge of her nose like she had a headache and said, "My dear, never underestimate the power that food has over men. That was the dinner bell."
Kitty started laughing. "I'm Kitty. Who are you?"
"Ororo Munroe." She created a small cloud between her hands. "Also called Storm."
"Cool!"
Ororo just smiled. "Come along, dear. I'll show you to the dining room. Also called 'Ground Zero.' You'll see what I mean."
Kitty walked in after Ororo and was greeted by the professor, sitting at the head of the table. He waved, since his mouth was full of salad, and then motioned for her to come in. He made a long sweep with his arm at a table along the far wall, and Kitty got it. It was a buffet. She nodded happily at him and passed by Logan and Scott, who were both attacking their plates like they hadn't eaten in days. It was a feeding frenzy --- little bits of food were flying everywhere. She immediately understood Ororo's reference.
There was another boy sitting there, about her age, and pretty good-looking. He had a straight nose, a pointed chin, dark hair, darker eyes, and a long piece of asparagus hanging out of his mouth. He was also staring at her like he'd never seen a girl before. Jean wandered in.
"Hey, guys," she said.
The guys grunted at her and went back to their food, even the one with the asparagus. Jean went to get a plate. Kitty moved along the buffet line slowly, letting the other gals get in front of her. She selected a bun, a big helping of Greek salad, some pasta, and vegetable soup. A carton of chocolate milk completed her meal. She was about to go sit down next to Scott, when Jean slipped into the seat beside him. Oh, so THAT'S how it is, she thought. And then a few seconds later, Damn it. Storm sat down next to Logan. There was only one chair left, next to Asparagus Boy. She sighed mentally and sat down. Asparagus Boy looked over at her, grinned through a mouthful of mashed potatoes and steak, and said what she assumed was a greeting. He then attempted to introduce himself. It sounded like his name was …
"Curb Fogger? That's your name? Oh, you poor thing!" she said.
Everybody else laughed. "Curb" was waving his arms like "No!" and laughing, too. She waited while he swallowed, and tried again.
"My name is Kurt Wagner," he said, in a gentle voice that somehow suited his crisp German accent. "Ant you ah?"
"Kitty Pryde."
"Keety, ah? Nice name. Vere ah you from?"
"Chicago."
"All de vay from Cheecago! Mein Gott, zat mast have been a long flight."
"You have no idea," Kitty said, unconsciously rubbing her belly. "So where are you from in Germany?"
"All ova," Kurt said, digging into his food again. "Mein family vas in a traveling circus. I vas a trapeze artist."
"Wow! Sounds like a neat way to grow up."
"Oh, ja, it is --- eef you like za smell of tiga crap," he said, and laughed.
"Can it, ya screwball! That ain't proper dinner conversation!" Logan hollered at him.
Professor Xavier, in a rare display of emotion, rolled his eyes. Jean and Scott snickered. Kurt tried to say "sorry" through another mouthful of mashed potatoes. It came out, "Fa-wee."
"It's okay," Kitty said, and laughed. Maybe Asparagus Boy wasn't so bad after all. "So what's your power?" she asked.
Kurt grinned. "Get ready to fan za air!" he said. BAMF! He disappeared and then reappeared in another corner of the room, leaving behind the smell of fire and brimstone.
"Whoa!"
Kurt teleported back into his chair and the two kept talking and eating.
~~~*X*~~~
It was 11:30. Kurt was sprawled on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, with a wide grin on his face. He'd gotten to sit next to an actual human girl, make some sparkling conversation, if he did say so himself, and get to know her. The professor's image inducer had truly given him a chance at a life. Of course, there would be the slight problem of her finding out that he was really blue and fuzzy, and that perhaps his actual parents had been gargoyles, but he would deal with that later. Or maybe never.
There was a knock.
"It's open!" Kurt called.
Scott stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.
"Hey, Kurt."
Kurt sat up. "Hey, Scott. Vhat's up?"
"Not much. Kitty just got settled into her room." Scott looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Look, Kurt, I'm no good at this touchy-feely stuff, but, can I give you some advice?"
"Huh? Vell, I guess so."
"Turn off that inducer and show Kitty who you really are."
"Nein, man! She'd freak out! Besides, she vas diggin' on za fazzy!"
"She wasn't 'diggin' on the fuzzy,' you goof. She was diggin' on the image. Come on. She deserves to know."
There was a long, painful pause as the two of them stared at each other. Kurt knew Scott was right. But if Kitty got scared … He didn't know what he'd do if Kitty got scared of him. If he frightened her away, there would be no more Kitty. And that would be a seriously bad thing, because Kitty was nice, and funny, and very pretty. But … she deserved to know who she spoke to at dinner.
"Ja, all right. I'll show her tomorrow. Okay?"
"Good man," Scott said, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Okay. Goodnight, Scott."
Scott left, turning out the light as he went, leaving Kurt all alone. He shut off his inducer glumly, and stared out the window at the full moon. With a sigh, he crawled into bed.
~~~*X*~~~
Kitty hummed as she shut off the light in the bathroom. After a long day of traveling, she'd revived over her dinner, and then rejuvenated with a warm shower. She was wearing a long pink bathrobe. Her hair was wrapped up in a peachy towel. And now, her face was covered in a green mud mask. It was supposed to diminish oils --- prevent zits, or something. She got into bed, slipped two cucumber slices over her eyes, and fell asleep.
That didn't last long. For some aggravating reason, she woke up at 1:30 in the morning, incredibly thirsty. Grumbling, she took off the cucumber patches and wandered out into the hall, trying to remember the way to the kitchen.
~~~*X*~~~
Kurt had given up on sleep. He'd been tossing and turning for hours, without success. If he hadn't exhausted himself during the day, he normally had a difficult time getting to sleep. The prospect of showing himself to Kitty, in all his blue fuzzy glory, wasn't helping matters.
"Argh!" he finally mumbled, and smashed a fist into his pillow in frustration. "Vell, maybe a drink of vater vill help."
He threw back the covers, setting both of his two-toed feet on the rug, and stood up, smacking his lips. He wasn't wearing a shirt, just his old pajama bottoms with patches on the knees, and a hole in the seat for his tail. Said tail was whipping back and forth behind him. Now that he was standing, ironically, he felt woozy and sleepy.
"Gott dammit," he muttered.
He shuffled towards the door and opened it.
A door opened down the hall.
Kurt zipped into a shadow, and listened for footsteps. He didn't want to run into anybody at night without his inducer. He heard nothing for a few seconds, so he jumped out …
And found himself face to face with an honest-to-God alien. Kurt had always dismissed stories about aliens, but no more! This one had a pink body, a large, peach-colored head, and an ugly green face.
Kitty found herself face to face with an honest-to-God demon. She'd never believed in all that vampire/gargoyle/goth crap, but here she was, looking at something that was truly from Hell. The thing blinked at her in horror, with huge yellow eyes. It had blue fur and huge fangs.
For a second, neither of them could react. And then the adrenaline kicked in.
"AAAH!" Kurt yelled.
"AAAH!" Kitty shrieked.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" they both screamed together, and took off running in opposite directions.
Kurt hurtled off like a furry blue bullet, crossing himself and yelling "Ave Maria grazia plena!" Running into the common room, he grabbed a massive fireplace poker, and, heaving for breath, gathered his nerve. He ran back towards his room, ready to do battle with the alien down the hall.
Kitty just whirled around and smashed into some paneling. She was so frightened that her power kicked in, and she phased through the wall --- kind of. She kept her clothes on, but left most of her face mask behind on the stained wood. In a panic, gasping and holding her chest, she realized that she'd ended up in the kitchen.
"Omigod! Like, what was that?!" She started to babble to herself. "Okay. Stay calm, Kitty. So there's a demon in the mansion. Maybe it's, like, stupid, and if I just push it towards a window, it'll fly out and go away." She paused. "Yeah, right. Well, like, maybe if I hit it with a shovel, it'll get the hint."
Despite a frantic search, she found no shovel in the kitchen. But someone had left a rolling pin out on the counter. She picked it up with a grin, and ran out of the kitchen, around the common room, trying to get to the hallway from the other side. Maybe she could surprise the demon.
~~~*X*~~~
A light clicked on the hallway. Scott was standing there at the switch just as Kurt rounded the bend, newly armed with his fire poker.
"Scott?"
"Kurt, I heard screaming. What happened?"
"Zere is an ALIEN in za mansion!" Kurt said seriously. "I'm trying to flahsh it out. Vanna help?"
"An alien?" Scott mumbled. It was, after all, almost 2 in the morning. "Kurt, what are you talking about?"
"Look!" the furry teen shouted. He pointed at the wall, where the remains of Kitty's face mask were starting to drip onto the floor. "See, eet left behind zis disgasting slime!"
Scott scratched his head. He was about to turn around and walk away, when something small and fast collided with him. He heard an "oof!" and turned around. Kitty was sitting on the floor, in her bathrobe and towel, a rolling pin getting away from her, with only a thin ring of green around her face. He helped her up.
"Vas ist das?" Kurt asked, confused.
Kitty saw him and screamed again. "Run, Scott, run!" she screeched, and tried to drag him away.
"Kitty, it's okay, it's … it's only Kurt."
Kitty stopped pulling on him, but her look told him exactly what she thought of his mental state. "Like, no way! That's like, the son of Satan! That's not Kurt!"
Scott said nothing. He just put an arm around her and fought with her, (it was quite an amusing tussle) until finally, he'd turned her around. Now she was facing the blue guy down the hall. A change had come over the scene. With the light on, the demon didn't seem quite so menacing. The shadows on his face were a little softer, the glow to his eyes less pronounced. She stared at him. Nobody said anything for a bit. Scott looked at the floor. Kitty looked baffled. Kurt looked like he wanted to disappear. Finally, he couldn't take the silence anymore, and spoke up.
"Vell, at least zere's no alien," he said, gesturing at her with the poker. "I'm sorry. I deedn't know vhat to sink, mit dat goo you had on your face."
Kitty was just stunned. Her shoulders drooped.
"No," she said softly. "No freakin' way."
The voice, that gentle voice, was the same as Asparagus Boy.
"You're Kurt Wagner? The guy from dinner?"
Kurt gulped. "Ah, ja. I am."
"Wha-What happened to you? Is this, like, some sort of curse that goes with your power? You, like, turn into a demon when the sun goes down?"
Scott snickered. Kurt looked mildly annoyed. He handed the poker to his tail, and crossed his arms.
"You haff been reading too many of zose verdammt fairy tales," he declared. Then he sighed, because she was basically right. "I am cursed, zough. Zis, za fur, za fangs, zey neva go avay. Only ven I put on ze indusa."
"Your watch," Kitty said, putting it all together.
"Yes."
Scott slowly stepped back, to give the two their space. Jean came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. The two younger teens ignored them, but both looked extremely embarrassed.
"I'm sorry I scared you," they both said at once, then laughed.
"I vill try not to do zat again," Kurt said.
"Yeah, well, I promise no more alien faces. I'll make sure I come out of my room looking like me," Kitty replied.
"Me too."
"You do that," she said, with a smile. "I'm going to bed. 'Night, Scott. 'Night, Jean."
"Goodnight, Kitty," the older teens said together, and turned to go.
"'Night, Kurt," she added, almost as an afterthought.
"Gute Nacht, Kätzchen."
Kitty gave him a tiny smile, which made Kurt feel a bit better, and slipped into her room. Scott and Jean kept walking, turning the corner and dropping out of sight. Kurt was alone in the hall.
He heaved a huge sigh. Well, at least Kitty had managed to say a few words to him before fleeing. He considered that a step in the right direction. Feeling extremely silly about the whole incident, he went to put the poker away. It took him a few minutes to find the fireplace in the dark. After he got the poker back into its stand, he stretched and yawned, and wandered off in the direction of his room.
Almost immediately, the time caught up with him. It was very late, and he'd had a very long day. He suddenly felt very weary, and ready for bed. The hall was dark again, and everything was inviting and sleepy. The rolling pin that Kitty had dropped was lying innocently on the rug.
He never saw it.
"Whoa!"
*WHOMP*
Kurt, now sprawled face-first on the floor, sighed, and assessed his situation.
"Okay, so she is not yet fumly digging on za fazzy man," he said into the carpet. "But at least she is not an alien! Zat's somesing, ja?"
THE END …
Of this story. Fear not, folks. There will be more. :D Or, 'ya know, be afraid. Be very afraid. Whatever you prefer. LOL
Cheers,
Kiki
