CHAPTER 7- 'This Week Just Keeps Getting Better'
Kurt hung upside down from the light fixture in his dark bedroom, trying to study for his Chemistry test, but with little success. The problem did not lay in the lack of sufficient lighting, for Kurt could see quite well in the dark. Perhaps it was the early hour of 4 am, that was making his concentration seem impossible. Or the fact that today would be his first day of high school where everyone would know his secret.
While this thought brought much distress to the young mutant's mind, it also brought with it a hint of relief. He was definitely worried about whether or not he would be accepted, pointed at or ridiculed, or even the possibility of being feared. It was that sense of knowing that he no longer needed to hide that lifted his spirits, if only a little. The school now knew his secret, that was all there was to it.
Kurt brought his attention back to his textbook and sighed in defeat as he dropped it, purposely aiming for it to land on the bed below him.
"Figures I would have a test on probably the most stressful day of my high school life." He muttered quietly to himself as he released his grip on the light and gracefully flipped in midair to land softly on the floor.
He began to move about the room, gathering his school items together. Enjoying the rare silence that surrounded the large school at this early hour of the day. Finally, he came to a decision that if he was not going to be able to get back to sleep or get any studying done, he might as well get showered before the start of the "school morning rush hour" to the community bathrooms.
He stripped down to his boxers, clumsily leaving his t-shirt and pajama pants in a pile on the floor. Normally, he was uncomfortable wandering through the school so uncovered, but he knew he didn't have to worry about running into any other students for at least another hour or two.
He paused for a moment, having caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His yellow eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, his spaded tail swinging from side to side. "How can they not see me as a monster?" He quietly asked himself.
Of course, last night his peers had assured him over and over that the students of Bayville High would "get over it". They would learn to see past the unusual looks and realize that he was just another average guy. "Sure. An average mutant guy." He had responded.
The truth of the matter was, he was just going to have to see. He was sure that most, probably wouldn't care after a day or two, finding something new to gossip about. But, there was always those few: the ones that took over the role of Duncan Matthews after he had graduated. Playing the parts of the resident bullies and all-around mutant haters. Those people would determine whether or not his last few weeks of school were a living hell.
"Mein Gott. I hope this day goes well." He said a silent prayer to himself and ported to the men's bathroom.
Kurt reappeared expecting to now see his demon-like reflection in the bathroom mirror, but instead found himself staring at a tile wall, a pretty peach colored tile wall. Quickly his brain registered that he was in a shower stall. An occupied shower stall and judging by the tile color, it wasn't the men's room. Hot water splashed past his feet and he quickly whipped around to come face to face with a very surprised Katherine Pryde.
Both occupants of said stall let out a gasp as they jumped back a step. Kitty was now behind the flow of water causing Kurt to get fairly wet.
"Keety!" Kurt's face flushed and he immediately shifted his eyes from the very naked young woman in front of him to a rather interesting spot on the ceiling. Not because he didn't want to look. Oh, how he wanted to look, to admire and enjoy the view. But, his chilvary, guilt and a little shyness caused his averted reaction. Not to mention that little voice in the back of his mind that constantly reminded him "we're just friends".
"Kurt!" Kitty's yelp kept his mind from wandering too far into his imagination of what he must be missing. "What do you think you're doing?!" Kitty screeched in confusion and shock, trying her best to cover herself with her arms.
"Keety, I didn't mean to... I don't know how..." Kurt was murmuring, somewhat incoherently, trying desperately to understand, himself, how he had gotten there.
"Kurt?!" His name rolled off her tongue in such a way that it was very clear from that one word, that she did not want him to be there anymore.
Continuing to concentrate his gaze on the ceiling he managed to tumble his way out of the stall, tripping over the edge and landing on the soft bath mat. He sat there for a second, still a little disoriented. For a minute, all that could be heard was the stream of the shower splashing against the tiles.
Kitty needed that moment to catch her breath. She stood, still clumsily covering her front with her draped arms as the hot water pooled around her feet. "What on earth just happened?" She wondered to herself.
"Kurt. What in the hell was that?! So, NOT funny!" She spoke loudly from behind the curtain, so as to be heard over the water. Her voice did not sound pleased and Kurt very much noticed this.
Kurt stood up, "I'm sorry. Seriously, I didn't mean to" He started to quickly make his way for the door, after mentally deciding to avoid 'porting for the moment. "Um, bye!"
As he exited the room, Kitty phased just her head through the curtain to watch the half-naked, dripping wet figure of her best friend scatter away. A blush crept into her cheeks as she realized she was enjoying the view. "To think, just the other day he was still uncomfortable being too near me." She thought to herself, a smile crossing her face.
As soon as Kurt was in the hall, he forced the door shut and leaned his back against it, closing his eyes as he sighed. "Oh yeah, this day's gonna be great." He muttered sarcastically under his breath.
As Kitty returned to finishing her shower, she was still a little angry from the intrusion. However, he had seemed sincere in his apology. And she believed him that it had been an accident, even Kurt knew better than to pull off a stunt like that. So, by the time she was dried off and applying her make-up, she had decided that she should go make amends with him. She knew that this day was going to be rough for him and the last thing he needed was for them to be in a tiff.
Not wanting to get dressed for school at such an early hour, Kitty quietly dug through her dresser drawers in the dark room as Rogue continued to sleep. She finally found a pair of pajama bottoms and a white tank top. She quickly combed out her wet hair after dressing, put on her pink fuzzy slippers and set off to find her blue friend.
The friend in question was in his room, having just returned from his own shower. He sat, towel wrapped around his waist, concentrating on brushing through the wet fur down his arms and chest. It wasn't really something he had time to do every morning, but this particular day he had plenty of time to kill, especially since he was in no hurry to run into Kitty downstairs.
"What is happening?" He thought to himself. "First Kitty and her phasing and now my teleporting."
His thoughts were distracted by a soft rapping on his door. He looked up, but didn't hear it again. He returned to his grooming as Kitty's head phased through the door.
"Oh, whoops. Sorry, I didn't actually think you were in here." She said, her eyebrows raised, and he was sure that if he could see her arms on the other side of the door, they would be shrugging.
"Can I come in?" She added in a friendly tone.
"Of course." He replied softly, expecting her to still be angry.
She phased through the rest of the door and walked over to him, stopping and quietly standing there, not really sure where to start.
Kurt looked down out of nervousness, but spoke up first. "Are you still angry? Because, I really am sorry."
She caught his eye, lifting a curious eyebrow. "It really was an accident right?" Her tone was playful.
"Of course! I vould never, on purpose!" Kurt held up his hands in a "don't shoot me" defensive pose.
"All right then," A smile spread across her delicate features. "It's forgotten." She paused for a moment before adding, "Besides, your expression as you fumbled your way out of the shower: Priceless!"
"Hey, I vas just as surprised as you vere!" He added, a little defensively, but couldn't help laughing along with her.
"You didn't really see anything did you?" She asked, still smiling.
"No! Of course not."
She accepted his answer, even though she could tell he was blushing.
"Of course, I did get a pretty decent view of you." She slipped in, his eyes widened as he quickly turned to her.
"Vas do you mean?" He sounded a little concerned.
"I don't think I had ever realized how built you are."
Kurt could feel his cheeks growing hotter.
"But you wet down that fur a little... "
Kitty could swear she could actually see his face turning a brilliant purple.
"...and you are ripped!"
It was true, with all the acrobatics Kurt practiced, on top of all the Danger Room sessions, and you add in his extremely high metabolism, the young mutant was all muscle. It was just hard to see under all that fur.
This had been a new revelation for Kitty that morning, but right now she was taking advantage of the opportunity to inflict embarrassment upon her friend.
"Ja vell... all those training room sessions." It was the only thing he could think of to say.
"Oh Kurt, I'm just giving you a hard time. I figured I needed to even the score on who was more embarrassed this morning." She was giggling now.
"Oh." He started to laugh a little along with her.
"I did mean it though." She added.
They both continued to giggle until it lulled away into a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Kitty was sitting on the edge of Kurt's bed as he still sat in his chair, brush in hand.
"So," Kitty spoke up to break the silence. "do you have to brush all that every day?" She asked curiously, pointing at the small object he was holding.
"Um, I try to." He answered, a little bit uncomfortable, having never shared with anyone his special grooming needs until now.
"Dang. That must take awhile. I really have to stop complaining about having to dry and straighten my hair every morning." She casually ran a hand through her damp locks.
Kurt was a little perplexed by her ability to just pass by the news that he brushes himself head to toe, everyday, as though it were as normal as brushing his teeth.
"Don't you think it's a bit veird?" He had to ask.
"Not really, do you have any idea what all it takes for Rogue to get ready in the morning!" She was determined to keep him in a good mood today, and she was not going to let him dwell on all his differences.
Kurt smiled, but he was thinking back to what Kitty had said earlier. "So, you straighten your hair? Vhy do you do that?"
"I dunno, I guess I like it better when it's not curly, it's easier to manage. Of course it does take like three times as long to get ready."
"I can imagine." He replied, starting to feel a whole lot more comfortable in his current situation. Kitty had such a great way of doing that. "Eet's not just mein insomnia that gets me up so early, I just vant to be beautiful!" He added, smiling, pretending to flick his hair away from his face in a pompous manner.
It did Kitty's heart good to see her friend smiling again, and she laughed along with him.
"All right then gorgeous, hand me that other brush."
Kurt reluctantly handed her the other round, silver paddle brush. A little curious as to why she wanted it.
Without saying a word, she stepped around behind him and began running the soft bristles down the short velvet like hair covering his back.
Now this was something completely different that he had never let anyone do to him before. Hell, just the other day he had been telling Kitty how he wasn't used to people touching him. And now his best friend, the girl he had had a crush on since they'd first met, was brushing his fur while he sat wrapped in only a towel. (A/N follow the link to see an illustration of this scene: img./albums/v664/Queequegg17/KittyKurt.jpg)
He had definitely noticed how nice her caress felt as she moved in a soft rhythm down his spine. He fought hard to hold back a purr that so desperately wanted to escape his lips.
Kitty had noticed that his breathing had slowed down considerably and he seemed much less jumpy as she continued her work. She watched his tail lazily swing from side to side, it too seemed fairly content in her actions.
"So, I take it your feeling a bit more comfortable around me?" She couldn't help, but point out to him.
"MmmHmm" He audibly agreed without using any words. "If I had known that all I had to do vas 'port into your shower to get treatment like this, I vould have done it long ago."
He flinched even before Kitty had a chance to smack his arm. "And I know how to hurt you too, fuzzball." She said in a threatening manner, grabbing a chunk of his fur in her hands, pretending as though she was going to pull.
"Okay, okay, geez." They were both laughing now.
"So, vhy vere you up so early mein Katzchen?" Kurt decided he better change the subject, to prevent her from stopping what she was doing. He also went back to finishing the brushing of his arms and chest.
"I couldn't sleep, I guess I'm a little nervous for you too."
"Oh." Kurt answered, a little shocked and a little touched that she was so worried about him. "Thanks."
Just then, there was a loud thump outside Kurt's door followed by laughing and a very angry sounding Rogue shouting. "Drake! I swear, ah'm gonnah stab ya with one of yer own icicles!"
"Sounds like it must be time to get up." They both laughed at Kitty's statement.
"Well, I better go finish getting ready..." She handed the brush back to Kurt. "See you at breakfast?" She started to phase her way through his door.
"Ja. I vill see you down there."
Kurt's tail which had been swinging, quite contented with the idea of him being brushed all day, sadly fell limp as his Katzchen left the room.
End Chapter 7 - "This Day Just Keeps Getting Better" Author's Notes: Well, I figured we needed a little bit of light heartedness, (and a bit more Kurtty fluff) to keep this puppy going. Let me know what you thought of this chapter, hopefully it was WAY better than the last one. Again, I apologize for that. Review please! I don't normally do shout-outs, but I just wanted to personally thank all who reviewed my last chapter. Thanks for sticking around!
Min-kat - I'm glad you liked the school's reaction to Kurt's true self. It was very much intentional. It seemed that every fic I had read on the subject was, just as you said, an all out panic and "kill the beast!" type reaction, but I wanted to try something a little different. :o)
Quill of Molliemon - Hmmm... it is odd isn't it? (Don't worry it's not a mistake on my part) There's more to it, glad you picked up on it! :o) Thanks for always reviewing!
Akai Kah'ghe - Aw shucks, blushes thanks! I will keep writing as long as y'all seem to enjoy it!
Raskolion Phoenix - Thanks, I know this one was not as good as the others, but I decided that I just had to get past it (suck it up and post what I had) or this story would have never been updated! Thanks.
Did you mean different from MY version of 'Kurt's watch fritzing at school' fics or from other 'everyone panics' fics? Or just completely different all together? Just curious.
Darkness1 - Well thanks, I do hope you enjoyed the next few chaps as well.
jamesasker - I didn't actually think you were still reading. Thanks for the review and thanks for always being so great! You're such an awesome friend!
SouthernSass - Well, I gave you your update, but I think that next time I will hold out for the secret chocolate stash!
Aqueous - Umm... just don't kill ME, okay?
And to all those who have reviewed now or in the past: thanks so much! Your words are encouraging, you're suggestions helpful, and it's such a great feeling to know that at least SOMEONE is reading (and apparently enjoying) it!
