Kurt had so much fun his first day in his new home. The people there
were all very nice to him, and they showed him all over the place,
explaining the rules and everything for him. They also demonstrated their
powers to him, telling him how each one of them had discovered them and how
the Professor had come and taken them here to be safe from those who would
do them harm.
Everyone that is, except for Ororo.
This troubled Kurt, and even though he was grateful for the others in talking to him, he still wondered what he had done to upset the woman so much. Or perhaps she just didn't like the way he looked? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that he faced that kind of thing, but something told him that in a place where a man can turn into steel, or have beams come out his eyes, a man who is blue with a tail would not really cause any kind of anger to anyone there.
He decided that he would go and talk to the woman at night, after dinner if possible.
Right now, the man named Piotr had invited him to go to the stables to go and check on the horses, and Kurt could not resist the urge to go and see them.
There were thirteen horses altogether, one for each resident in the school. Twelve of them were resting in the stables, but the thirteenth was running freely through the woods.
"The one that runs wild is Logan's." Piotr explained, rubbing his horse's nose lightly. "He says that he would rather have it running free than in here, but it's safer in the stables don't you think?"
"As long as they are given the proper amount of exercise each day." Kurt nodded, his tail swishing slightly. "Either way, the horses you have are safe here, whether they are running free or in the stables."
"You're a Rom?" Piotr asked.
"Yes." Kurt nodded, understanding where this was going right away and unable to hide his faint smile.
"Then you know a lot about horses?" he asked. Kurt shrugged slightly.
"I learned the trade rather well, yes." He said. "Why?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"My horse, he's been limping badly on his right leg for weeks now, and no one can seem to figure out why. Maybe you could try and find out?" Piotr asked. Kurt smiled and he nodded, opening the stable door and walking in slowly, holding out a hand to keep the horse calm.
Bending down on one knee, he placed a hand on the horse's leg and he tilted his head to one side, as he looked it over, feeling it in certain places to see that was the matter. He slowly lifted up the horse's leg and when he looked under it's hooves, he found the problem.
"How long has this horse had hoof rot?" he asked.
"Hoof rot?" Piotr asked, bending down to see. Kurt nodded, pointing out the signs of the disease.
"This horse has had it growing for quite some time. I think that it was small when you first checked, and you never bother to check again, yes?" he asked, looking up at him.
"We thought we ruled that out." Piotr said sadly. Kurt smiled and gently set the horse's leg down, patting Piotr on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, most people miss it the first time around because it starts small and mostly gets on sheep and cattle and rarely horses." He said. "I can help your horse get better." He assured him. Piotr smiled and took his hand in gratitude.
"Thanks."
"No problem." Kurt said. He suddenly thought of something and he became a bit more serious. "Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Anything." Piotr said.
"Do you know why Ororo doesn't like me?" Kurt asked. Piotr frowned slightly, slowly shaking his head.
"No, I don't." he said. "Why does she hate you?"
"I don't know!" Kurt cried. "That's what has me so upset about it."
"Well what did you do when you first met her?" Piotr asked. Kurt thought about it and he shrugged faintly.
"I bowed to her." He said. "That's all I did to her and for some reason she has been avoiding me and giving me nasty looks when she does see me!"
"That's strange." Piotr said. "Ororo can be mean sometimes, but she usually has a reason for it you know! Maybe you should talk to her about it." Kurt nodded, laughing softly.
"I plan on doing that after dinner tonight." He said.
"Good luck on finding out what is the matter." Piotr said. Kurt laughed, nodding a bit.
"I have a feeling I'll need that!"
***
Dinner was nice, everyone at the table breaking bread together and talking pleasantly. Kurt caught a sight of Ororo during dinner, and he could tell that if he said the wrong thing after dinner, she would most likely send a bolt of lightning down to kill him instantly.
That's why he was really nervous when dinner was over. He fought between going to talk to her and simply going back to his room Scott had shown him earlier that day. Finally his courage won and he went to go and talk to her.
He went to her room, but when he found that she wasn't there, he wandered the entire mansion until he realized that she must have been in the garden with her flowers. When he stepped outside, his guess was right, and he found her sitting on an ivy covered brick wall, looking up at the shining stars in the sky.
"Excuse me." He said softly, walking up to her. Her hair slowly rose, crackling with lightning.
"Get away." She said angrily. Kurt almost did just that, but he mentally scolded himself and he slowly climbed up and sat down beside her, avoiding the angry bursts of lightning coming from her.
"I think we need to talk." He said softly.
"Why?" Ororo asked, staring at the stars still.
"Because I don't know why you hate me." Kurt said. "Please, what did I do to upset you so much?" he asked.
"You didn't think I would notice?" Ororo asked.
"Notice what?"
"Your embarrassment." Ororo said, turning to him finally. "I saw the look in your face and I senses the heat in your cheeks! You were embarrassed that you were in a house with an African!"
"What?!" Kurt cried, looking at her in confusion.
"Don't lie!" she said.
"Yes, I was embarrassed, but not over that!" Kurt said. "I was embarrassed at the fact that you showed so much of your legs without thinking about it! I was raised by Rom, and we believe that women are [i]marime[/i] or unclean from the waist down, and that because of this, they must cover their legs in a skirt. It was your dress that surprised me, not your skin color!"
Ororo looked at Kurt seriously, and he looked back at her, wishing that her hair would show some sign of calming down. It finally did and he let out a sigh of relief as her face softened slightly.
She slowly reached out and touched the wound on his neck, noticing it for the first time.
"Is this from a collar?" she asked softly. Kurt shook his head.
"From hanging." He said. He slowly rolled up his sleeves and he showed her his wrists, which were scarred badly. "These are from being chained to a French galley for a year before my brother Stefan broke me out." He said. "My back shows signs of the whip they used."
"I have scars like that as well." Ororo said. "I was taken from my family and home when I was a little girl. Before Charles found me, I was a slave." Kurt nodded in understanding.
"My tribe and I were forced to wander over many lands before we reached Prussia, and yet again my tribe must move away from that country too. We lost a few of our people to hunters and slavers along the way, and we couldn't get all of them back." He said.
"I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I just find it hard to trust people." Ororo said. Kurt smiled, waving it away.
"It's nothing." He said. "I find it hard to trust Gadje sometimes too."
"Gadje?"
"Non-Roma people." He explained. "I think trust is the hardest thing to give people sometimes. We have to try and get back our trust in those who do not share our heritage or race. We might get swallowed up if we don't." Ororo smiled faintly and she nodded a bit.
"I like that." She said. Kurt smiled slightly.
"I was told that by one of my former master's as he put me in his holding pen; he was a priest." He said. Ororo couldn't help but laugh at that, and Kurt joined her.
They sat on the wall for a while, talking and laughing quietly under the stars.
Everyone that is, except for Ororo.
This troubled Kurt, and even though he was grateful for the others in talking to him, he still wondered what he had done to upset the woman so much. Or perhaps she just didn't like the way he looked? It certainly wouldn't be the first time that he faced that kind of thing, but something told him that in a place where a man can turn into steel, or have beams come out his eyes, a man who is blue with a tail would not really cause any kind of anger to anyone there.
He decided that he would go and talk to the woman at night, after dinner if possible.
Right now, the man named Piotr had invited him to go to the stables to go and check on the horses, and Kurt could not resist the urge to go and see them.
There were thirteen horses altogether, one for each resident in the school. Twelve of them were resting in the stables, but the thirteenth was running freely through the woods.
"The one that runs wild is Logan's." Piotr explained, rubbing his horse's nose lightly. "He says that he would rather have it running free than in here, but it's safer in the stables don't you think?"
"As long as they are given the proper amount of exercise each day." Kurt nodded, his tail swishing slightly. "Either way, the horses you have are safe here, whether they are running free or in the stables."
"You're a Rom?" Piotr asked.
"Yes." Kurt nodded, understanding where this was going right away and unable to hide his faint smile.
"Then you know a lot about horses?" he asked. Kurt shrugged slightly.
"I learned the trade rather well, yes." He said. "Why?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"My horse, he's been limping badly on his right leg for weeks now, and no one can seem to figure out why. Maybe you could try and find out?" Piotr asked. Kurt smiled and he nodded, opening the stable door and walking in slowly, holding out a hand to keep the horse calm.
Bending down on one knee, he placed a hand on the horse's leg and he tilted his head to one side, as he looked it over, feeling it in certain places to see that was the matter. He slowly lifted up the horse's leg and when he looked under it's hooves, he found the problem.
"How long has this horse had hoof rot?" he asked.
"Hoof rot?" Piotr asked, bending down to see. Kurt nodded, pointing out the signs of the disease.
"This horse has had it growing for quite some time. I think that it was small when you first checked, and you never bother to check again, yes?" he asked, looking up at him.
"We thought we ruled that out." Piotr said sadly. Kurt smiled and gently set the horse's leg down, patting Piotr on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, most people miss it the first time around because it starts small and mostly gets on sheep and cattle and rarely horses." He said. "I can help your horse get better." He assured him. Piotr smiled and took his hand in gratitude.
"Thanks."
"No problem." Kurt said. He suddenly thought of something and he became a bit more serious. "Can I ask you something?" he asked.
"Anything." Piotr said.
"Do you know why Ororo doesn't like me?" Kurt asked. Piotr frowned slightly, slowly shaking his head.
"No, I don't." he said. "Why does she hate you?"
"I don't know!" Kurt cried. "That's what has me so upset about it."
"Well what did you do when you first met her?" Piotr asked. Kurt thought about it and he shrugged faintly.
"I bowed to her." He said. "That's all I did to her and for some reason she has been avoiding me and giving me nasty looks when she does see me!"
"That's strange." Piotr said. "Ororo can be mean sometimes, but she usually has a reason for it you know! Maybe you should talk to her about it." Kurt nodded, laughing softly.
"I plan on doing that after dinner tonight." He said.
"Good luck on finding out what is the matter." Piotr said. Kurt laughed, nodding a bit.
"I have a feeling I'll need that!"
***
Dinner was nice, everyone at the table breaking bread together and talking pleasantly. Kurt caught a sight of Ororo during dinner, and he could tell that if he said the wrong thing after dinner, she would most likely send a bolt of lightning down to kill him instantly.
That's why he was really nervous when dinner was over. He fought between going to talk to her and simply going back to his room Scott had shown him earlier that day. Finally his courage won and he went to go and talk to her.
He went to her room, but when he found that she wasn't there, he wandered the entire mansion until he realized that she must have been in the garden with her flowers. When he stepped outside, his guess was right, and he found her sitting on an ivy covered brick wall, looking up at the shining stars in the sky.
"Excuse me." He said softly, walking up to her. Her hair slowly rose, crackling with lightning.
"Get away." She said angrily. Kurt almost did just that, but he mentally scolded himself and he slowly climbed up and sat down beside her, avoiding the angry bursts of lightning coming from her.
"I think we need to talk." He said softly.
"Why?" Ororo asked, staring at the stars still.
"Because I don't know why you hate me." Kurt said. "Please, what did I do to upset you so much?" he asked.
"You didn't think I would notice?" Ororo asked.
"Notice what?"
"Your embarrassment." Ororo said, turning to him finally. "I saw the look in your face and I senses the heat in your cheeks! You were embarrassed that you were in a house with an African!"
"What?!" Kurt cried, looking at her in confusion.
"Don't lie!" she said.
"Yes, I was embarrassed, but not over that!" Kurt said. "I was embarrassed at the fact that you showed so much of your legs without thinking about it! I was raised by Rom, and we believe that women are [i]marime[/i] or unclean from the waist down, and that because of this, they must cover their legs in a skirt. It was your dress that surprised me, not your skin color!"
Ororo looked at Kurt seriously, and he looked back at her, wishing that her hair would show some sign of calming down. It finally did and he let out a sigh of relief as her face softened slightly.
She slowly reached out and touched the wound on his neck, noticing it for the first time.
"Is this from a collar?" she asked softly. Kurt shook his head.
"From hanging." He said. He slowly rolled up his sleeves and he showed her his wrists, which were scarred badly. "These are from being chained to a French galley for a year before my brother Stefan broke me out." He said. "My back shows signs of the whip they used."
"I have scars like that as well." Ororo said. "I was taken from my family and home when I was a little girl. Before Charles found me, I was a slave." Kurt nodded in understanding.
"My tribe and I were forced to wander over many lands before we reached Prussia, and yet again my tribe must move away from that country too. We lost a few of our people to hunters and slavers along the way, and we couldn't get all of them back." He said.
"I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I just find it hard to trust people." Ororo said. Kurt smiled, waving it away.
"It's nothing." He said. "I find it hard to trust Gadje sometimes too."
"Gadje?"
"Non-Roma people." He explained. "I think trust is the hardest thing to give people sometimes. We have to try and get back our trust in those who do not share our heritage or race. We might get swallowed up if we don't." Ororo smiled faintly and she nodded a bit.
"I like that." She said. Kurt smiled slightly.
"I was told that by one of my former master's as he put me in his holding pen; he was a priest." He said. Ororo couldn't help but laugh at that, and Kurt joined her.
They sat on the wall for a while, talking and laughing quietly under the stars.