6

Flitting around the dining hall, swinging from light fittings and popping out from under tables, Kurt handed out the morning mail with his usual stylish flair. Certainly there might have been a more efficient way of everyone getting their letters and parcels, but Kurt enjoyed the task so much, and the others loved his unnecessary displays of acrobatic skill to brighten their mornings, so it continued despite the occasional accident. Neatly hopping down from a ledge to land beside Jubilee and hand her a little package which she tore into with glee, and scooting around the hall for a few minutes before he had returned to Jubilee.

"Look at these!" she grinned delightedly at Kurt, waved the contents of the package at him, "Aren't they just the cutest! I found them in a magazine, I HAD to have them!"

"They are very beautiful bracelets, yes"

"They're earrings" she deadpanned, held the gigantic pink hoops up to her ears, "See?"

"You must have very strong ears" Kurt remarked, eyed the jewellery admiringly, "Have you seen Felicity? I have a letter for her and she does not seem to be here"

"Oh, she'll be over at the gym already. Speedsters, huh? What can you do with 'em? Probably been up half the night, poor kid. Good thing she's got Peter"

"It is indeed fortunate for her" the elf smiled fondly, though truthfully he wondered if it wasn't more of a good thing that Peter had Felicity. He wasn't the jumpy, grouchy kid he'd once been, but he was certainly better off for having someone around who presented a real challenge to him. Nobody else in the Academy could ever hope to join him for even a gentle run, and he knew that Peter had sometimes wished he had a partner to train with who he didn't feel he had to slow down for. He had always got on so well with the little ones, even when he'd been a student himself supervising their gym classes and leading them with kindness and energy that had made him a popular and much-loved member of the school.

Rematerialising in the obstacle room, Kurt had learned long ago to make sure he came in right to one edge of the room. He had used to bamf himself onto one of the rafters, but since Felicity had started training there, he'd soon realised that doing so would sometimes lead to him having to dodge for his life. Most of the other students using the course couldn't run up one wall and across the ceiling – a trick Felicity hadn't even thought of until Peter had suggested she tried it out. At that moment however, the girl wasn't running laps of the ceiling but slipping through alternating high and low bars like an eel, Peter standing eagerly by with an electronic timer. As she slipped out of the top and jumped down, he stopped the clock and offered her a high five and a huge grin

"Nice work, Flickster – beat your best time by a full three seconds!" he told her. Felicity jumped, punched the air. Catching sight of Kurt and jumping back, a little startled. Why were so many people around here blue?...

"Mornin', Fuzzball" Peter grinned at him, "Come to run a few obstacles? About time you started coming, you're getting a little saggy dude"

Kurt laughed good-humouredly. The banter between himself and Peter was exactly that, and under it all they still shared a fond camaraderie that had been forged over many missions together and much saving of one another's lives.

"I have a letter for Felicity" with his light accent, the 'F' always came out slightly sharp. Thanks to that, she'd started thinking about 'Velocity' as a codename, though she hadn't yet had the courage to ask Peter if he thought it would work for her. She zipped over, took the letter, ripped it open eagerly. Nobody ever sent her letters, and this just had to be what she had been waiting for. Scanning the paper inside, a huge grin making her eyes shine as she grabbed Kurt in a hug and kissed his cheek. The teleporter wondered if hugging was a speedster thing, or just a product of being around a cuddle-bug like Peter so much.

"Well?" Peter said nervously, beside her in a blink, "Is that it? What does it say? Did it go through?"

Felicity nodded, and Peter immediately grabbed her up and swung her around in a hug, laughed joyfully with her and set her down to rest his hands on her shoulders, gaze down at her with love radiating out of his eyes.

"It's official then?" she said, smiling back at him broadly, "Am I your ward now?"

"Mine and Angie's…. god Flick, I don't know what to say, I'm just so happy it went through ok!" he grabbed her in another hug, squeezing her tight, "Let's go tell Xavier, c'mon!"

"Good news, I presume?" Kurt grinned sharply, they had almost forgotten he was there in their joy, "What is it?"

"Peter's my guardian now!" Felicity told him, "I have a Dad – a real one!"

"And you have chosen an excellent one, if I might say so" he told her, winked and teleported himself out to give them a little space. The two of them had wasted no time, and Xavier had jumped out of his skin when not one but two sets of fists had started urgently hammering on the door of his study, pulling the door open to see what all the commotion was about and being overwhelmed by two speedsters so overexcited they forgot to speak normally, babbling in a rush until he had grabbed hold of them both and given them stern looks.

"Both of you calm down!" he said firmly, "Do you want something?"

Felicity simply offered him the letter, Peter bouncing on his heels behind her as the Professor read it over and looked up at them with a genuine, happy smile

"I'm very pleased for you both" he said, "This will be the start of a wonderful new life for you, Felicity, and I sincerely wish you all the best in it. Perhaps you'd better come in – if you're part of Peter's family now, there's someone you should really meet."