The music was already blaring when Kurt entered, passing the banner that clearly and decoratively said "HOME COMING". The school gym was dressed up in paper streamers and had colorful lights flashing. Somewhere a fog machine was spewing water vapor across the floor where his classmates danced, oblivious of each other for the most part.
Despite the hologram masking it, his tail was twitching badly and he had a weird feeling as he entered the gym, observing the teenagers dancing wildly. Kurt had turned down a few freshman cuties for dates, but he wasn't sure why he said no, even to Kitty.
Say, my love, I came to you with best intentions
You laid down and gave to me just what I'm seeking
Love, you drive me to distraction
Todd watched the other students dancing like idiots, and felt alone. She had come with Avalanche, which had annoyed Todd but there wasn't much he could do about it. No one else would come with him, so he wasn't even sure why he was here, other than to see her. Then he spotted Kurt from the corner of his eye.
Alone I see... Todd thought, then hopped over to him.
Hey my love do you believe that we might last a thousand years
Or more if not for this,
Our flesh and blood
It ties you and me right up
Tie me down
"Ugh..." Kurt said. "What do you want?!" His w's always sounded suspiciously like v's when he spoke.
"To talk, yo..." Todd replied. Kurt's tail twitched, and he sighed.
"To talk?" he asked. Todd nodded.
I..." Todd started, noticing Kurt's displeasure, "I kinda wanna call a truce, just between us."
Kurt blinked, and look a bit bewildered.
"A truce?" He asked, and again, Todd nodded. "Why would you want a truce?"
"Because, I want a friend who isn't gonna slap my back hard and knock me down on purpose," Todd replied, "or insult me without good reason, or ignore me when I have a problem..." They were away from most of the crowd in the gym, practically shouting at each other over the booming music.
"Wrong person to come to, Todd." Kurt said, turning. Todd grabbed his arm.
"Wait..!" Todd almost cried, leaving Kurt once again bewildered.
"What?" He asked.
"Can I at least spill my guts to someone I don't have to live with?" Todd asked, looking so sincere that Kurt just nodded and pulled Todd outside to the bleachers, while Todd smiled, and whispered some weird expression of what seemed to be joy.
Celebrate we will
Because life is short but sweet for certain hey
We climb on two by two
To be sure these days continue
Things we cannot change
Sitting on the bleachers Todd told everything to Kurt, opening his feelings like a book. A very angsty book, but a good book none-the-less.
"My life's story, or how I feel right now?" Todd started, "Your choice."
"Current feelings," Kurt said, with a sigh.
"I feel like shit." Todd said, putting it simply at first. "You already know that the girl I like thinks I'm disgusting... And so does the rest of the Earth... That never bothered me before. And Duncan has been beating on me more than usual, though that normally wouldn't bug me, either. But it does, a bit.
"The thing that bugs me most, I guess, would have to be how much of a wimp I am when I'm alone... I LET Duncan beat on me, and I LET the rest of the Brotherhood treat me like shit, and I LET Mystique boss me around." He saw Kurt's eyes flash hurt for a second at the mention of his mother. "But worst of all, I do everything the Brotherhood tell me to, and I end up hurting people I think I could care for...
"Not to say I care for any X-Men, but there are people I've hurt, who I wish I hadn't... People who'll probably never trust me." Here, Todd smiled at Kurt. It was a sad, almost puppy-dog smile, as if to say 'like you'.
"I see..." Kurt said, almost non-nonchalantly. This didn't surprise Todd at all.
"I know you don't care, Kurt..." Todd said, "But let me say, in all sincerity, I'm sorry." This made Kurt look right into Todd's eyes, trying to blink away his confusion.
"You're sorry?!" He asked, a little surprised. "You think that apologizing will make everything better?!"
"No, but it's a start," Todd said, "to a long path that I am more than willing to travel."
Hey, my love, you came to me like wine comes to this mouth
Grown tired of water all the time
You quench my heart and, you quench my mind
Kurt and Todd sat together in the bleachers, outside the school, Kurt speechless; Todd waiting for something to be said. Finally, after five minutes of silence, Kurt found words.
"You want to travel the road to redemption?" He asked, and Todd nodded. "Then leave the Brotherhood, and join the X-Men!"
"Its not that simple..." Todd said. "The X-Men wont trust me... I bet they'll be so freaking suspicious of me that they'll watch me all the time!"
"You have to earn their trust, Todd." Kurt said. "You can't expect them to trust you after you fought for the Brotherhood!"
"No, I guess not..." Todd replied. "But I have to think about it..."
"I understand, Todd." Kurt said.
"Do you?" Todd asked, fighting the urge to hug Kurt tightly.
"Not fully," Kurt answered, "but I know leaving the Brotherhood is a big thing, and if you are going to, you need to plan how..." Kurt sighed. "And I know you will make the right choice for you, in the end."
Todd hugged Kurt. The sudden contact caught Kurt off guard, but it was hard not to hug back eventually, after coming to understand Todd a bit better.
"Thank you." Todd whispered.
"For what?" Kurt asked.
"Treating me like a normal human." Todd replied, sitting back up.
"Hey, I know how it is, being weird..." Kurt said. "I'm not exactly normal, myself."
"Too true, demon boy." Todd replied, smiling.
"Be quiet, you Toad!" Kurt laughed. The two got into a laughing play fight, causing Kurt to fall, catching the bar on the bleachers with his invisible tail, and climbing back up to an apologetic Todd Tolenskey.
Celebrate we will
'Cause life is short but
Sweet for certain
We climb on two by two
To be sure these days continue
"Todd..." Kurt said, sounding a lot more friendly than earlier that night. "I have somewhere that I want to show you."
"Sure, lead the way!" Todd said.
"Its at the Xavier Institute, actually..." Kurt said, and Todd looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "In the forest, behind."
"I see..." Todd responded, a smirk on his pale face. "A sort of secret base?"
"I wouldn't put it that way." Kurt replied, smirking as well. "You'll see..." Kurt said, taking Todd's hand and teleporting several times until he was at the gates of the Institute. Todd looked shaken; the teleporting was an amazing experience for him, the feeling was indescribable.
Kurt unlocked the gate, and him and Todd entered, the gate closing behind them. Logan was perched in a tree, near the gate, watching the sunlight fade.
"Yer back early, kid..." Logan said. "Why's stink boy with you?"
Kurt and Todd kept walking, and Logan gave it no second thought, till he saw that they were holding hands. Then he laughed.
Things we cannot
Celebrate you and me
Climb two by two, to be sure
These days continue
Things we cannot change
As they walked hand in hand through the dark woods, Kurt came to a full stop, and looked to the right, until he found an odd looking tree.
"One..." He said, and counted his steps. "Two, three, four... Nine... Fifteen..." He kept going until he got to Twenty-five, then, turning back to Todd, he spoke.
"Don't tell a living soul about this place." He said, an Todd nodded, smiling.
"Not a soul, living or dead." Todd agreed.
Kurt seemed pleased and continued counting, then walked off the path. Tentatively, Todd followed him. They came to a small cliff, over the hanger, though Todd didn't know it. Kurt turned off the hologram, sitting down cross-legged, his tail resting around his waist.
"Well..." He said. "This is it, my thinking spot."
"You come here to think?" Todd asked. "I'll damned well bet the view here is amazing during both Sunrise and Sunset..." Kurt nodded, and Todd sat down as well.
"While I can only agree, you'd have to see for yourself, Todd." Kurt said. "I can't properly explain without messing up the description."
"Then I'll have to sleep out here tonight." Todd said.
"Not without me!" Kurt smiled, and Todd laid down. There was a moment of silence, the two teenage mutants staring up at the stars.
"Aren't the stars beautiful tonight?" Kurt said, suddenly.
"Hmmm?" Todd inquired.
"The stars," Kurt replied, "their beautiful tonight... Don't you think?"
"Oh..." Todd said. "Yeah, they are..."
Kurt pulled something out of his pocket, and began a semi-frantic search for a something else, marked with much swearing. Finally he found it, and lit what appeared to be a cigarette. It was actually a joint. After a few tokes he offered it to Todd, who accepted, albeit surprised and confused.
"I didn't know you toked up, Kurt..." Todd said.
"Have since I moved here to America." Kurt replied, smiling. "I always just changed the hologram it showed when I bought."
"I guess that works." Todd said. "Good to see I'm not the only pothead." Kurt laughed.
"Stoners come in many forms, my friend." He said. "One of them is me." Todd smiled.
"That I can see." Todd responded.
"Not all X-Men are, as you say in America, 'goody-two-shoe's'" Kurt said, with a smile. "Like Scott and Jean."
Todd laughed, still laying down.
"Kurt, man," Todd said, "you rule."
"Nah..." Kurt replied. "I just know how to be myself no matter what people say to me."
"And because I don't," Todd said, "I think you rule."
"Well..." Kurt said, not sure what to say, "Thank you, Todd."
"No problem, bro." Todd replied, and licked a lone mosquito out of the air. Kurt laughed.
"I don't know how people can think that's disgusting," he said, "when I think its sort of cool."
"You do?" Todd asked.
"Yeah!" Kurt replied, smiling. "Its cooler than most people want to admit."
Todd laughed. None of the people he had met in his life had though anything about him was cool, and yet here was Kurt, being so sincere about it.
"Thank you, Kurt." He said. "No one's ever said that to me before." He paused. "It means a lot, really."
"No problem!" Kurt said. "There's a first time for everything." Todd passed the joint back to Kurt. He had been puffing every time Kurt had spoken.
"I'm glad to have a friend." Todd said.
Kurt smiled, choking a bit.
"All you had to do in the beginning was ask." He said, and took another toke.
Oh, my love I came to you
With best intentions
You laid down and gave to me
Just what I'm seeking
Once the joint was done, Kurt laid down as well. Todd was deep in stoner thought, and being in this state made it look like he was asleep.
"Todd..." Kurt said, moving closer to him.
Celebrate we will
'Cause life is short
But sweet for certain hey
We climb two by two
To be sure these days continue
Hmm?" Todd replied, cuddling against his new friend, like a child who had a nightmare.
Things we cannot change...
"Goodnight." Kurt said.
"Goodnight, Kurt..." Todd said. The two fell asleep, looking like two children, holding each other tentatively.
Things we cannot change.