Conflict of Interest
an X-Men story
by Liberty Belle
He had that hovering feeling, and he didn't like it. It was like a roller coaster moment of suspension, right before the nose of the car crests the hill and goes rocketing towards earth, and all the G's make your stomach cling to your lungs until you can't keep from laughing.
Except he really didn't feel much like laughing.
"Ahhh," he said to his reflection, sticking his tongue out and inspecting it. It was a pink tongue, like any other, even if the white of his sharp canines did set it off rather nicely. What was he supposed to be looking for, anyway? Spots? Bumps? Little monkeys dancing around with party hats and noisemakers?
"Kurt!" a voice called from the bottom of the steps, muffled by his closed door and all the distance between them. He sighed, stepping back again, and rubbed vigorously at his nose.
"Ja, I'm coming!"
"Well hurry, already, the popcorn's getting cold!'
A slight grin dashed the junior X-Man's indigo features, and he vanished in a sudden implosion of brimstone and light. Kitty screamed out loud when he appeared behind her at the bottom of the steps, his three-fingered hands cupping around her eyes.
"Boo!"
"Elf!" she shrieked, turning to swat at him. "Don't scare me like that! What took you so long?"
"I wanted to look my best for you, of course." He threw an arm across her shoulders, and it was immediately tossed off as she stalked, smirking, into the common room with the others.
"We're going to be sitting in the dark, remember?"
"Ja," he chuckled, and leapt ahead of her to waggle his brows at her suggestively. "All the more reason."
The roll of her eyes was enough to curb his romantic enthusiasm, at least for the moment, and Kurt stepped deeply from the threshold to allow her to precede him into the darkened room. The others were gathered here, having already stolen the best of the available couches and throw pillows, but Kitty made herself at home in the corner of a love seat, allowing Kurt--albeit hesitantly--to share the opposite side. He rubbed his small nose again, wrinkling it sharply, as Scott finally started the DVD playing.
"Quit fidgeting," Kitty whispered to him, giving him an elbow in the ribs.
"Ow! I'm not fidgeting," he retorted. "My nose itches."
"Well stop scratching it, then."
"Easy for you to say..."
But it was difficult for him to deny her even the most meaningless request, and he closed his hands together in his lap, trying to alleviate the increasing itchiness by wrinkling and relaxing his nose, squirming it slightly in the hopes it might do some good. The inevitable, however, was bound to happen.
"Heht-TISSH!" He sneezed all at once, unexpectedly, his slender body doubling forward over his lap. There was a faintly smoky scent to the air, but Kurt thought nothing of it as he weakly sat back and opened his eyes, rubbing a forefinger against the upturned tip of his nose. "...Ach... forgive me, Keety. I sink I may be-"
Blink. What the hell...?
Kurt trailed off as he turned his head left and right, finding himself no longer in the company of his friends in the common room, but alone, at one end of the Academy library. "...coming down wiss something?"
Only dimness and emptiness stared back at him, his voice echoing softly off the high ceiling and endless rows of books. "This is disconcerting," he murmured to himself, starting forward, tail held in a twitching S-curve behind him. "How did I get... get..." One forefinger pressed up against the underside of his nose as he felt himself beginning to sneeze, but it was useless: he half-staggered forward, releasing a damp, "Heht-TISSH!" into his cupped palm.
This time the sensation of teleportation was unmistakable: the feeling of being sucked from one place and thrust somewhere else, the chalky softness of dissipating smoke caressing his fur before it vanished into the air. When his eyes opened, he was relieved to find himself still in the Library, though at its opposite end. "Unglaublich... how is this happening? Why is this happening?" Sniff. He touched his nose again, hoping there would be no further sneezing between library and common room... he could only afford so many setbacks along the way.
He took the long route through the Academy halls, eventually finding himself back with the others, their faces all angled towards the flickering blue of the television.
A whisper was leaned towards Kitty as he reseated himself, "What did I miss?"
"Just everything," she whispered back, then glanced at him with the first real hint of interest. "Where did you go in such a hurry, anyway?"
"Uhr... the library."
"Library? Why?"
"I wish I knew."
Kitty gave him an odd look (not such an unusual thing, in and of itself) before turning back to the movie, falling back into the plot of things. Kurt struggled along with it for awhile, but had evidently missed too much of the beginning for the middle to make any sense. Rare was the opportunity to sit so near to Kitty Pryde, however, so he endured the mundane dialogue and shoddy special effects, for that fact alone.
The itch that had been worming around in his nose was not getting any better, and although he attempted to be more discrete with his rubbing, Kitty's elbow occasionally poked him as she felt him fidgeting.
"Kurt," she complained, glancing aside at him. He was using a forefinger to rub at the end of his nose, where it upturned very slightly-elfish, cute.
"I'm sorry," he sighed. "I can't help it."
"What's the matter with you tonight?"
"I think..." he began, then lowered his hands to his lap, beginning to blink in that funny, hesitating way. "...I think I..."
She knew an approaching sneeze when she saw one... just as she knew the method by which the young X-Man tried to either stave them off or bring them on. Reaching out with a sly grin, she stroked her fingertip upward against the little upturned tip of his nose, where his ubiquitous blue fur grew short and soft. The touch sent his fine features into an alarmed spasm of little twitches, and he grimaced his white canines into view as he leaned back from her, clenching a hand around his nose.
"Ach! Heht-CH-" *BAMF!*
He seemed to explode and vanish into a cloud of black smoke, the room's movie viewers renewing their complaints about the interruption, glaring at the loveseat where Kitty was now alone, blinking. She looked around in alarm as the smoke vanished, ignoring the mutters of the others as she scrambled from the seat and out of the room, into the stairwell hall just beyond. Where could he have possibly gone?
"...Kurt?" she asked, her voice echoing back to her.
"Ja, Keety," a voice said. "Up here."
A glance up found the German-born mutant hanging from his tail from the ornate chandelier at the apex of ceiling, although he quickly teleported himself back to the floor in front of her, poised in a cat-like crouch. Kitty eyed him warily as he straightened, rubbing more vigorously at his nose.
"Okay," she began cautiously, folding her arms. "Umm... what just happened?"
"I sneezed," he replied plainly.
"Right, I figured that, but why did you, um..."
"Teleport?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know," he confessed, eyes glowing more brightly for a moment before settling to a limpid calm. "It keeps happening, every time I sneeze."
"So you're not, like, doing it on purpose?"
"Believe me," he grinned, tilting his chin down so that the split part of his dark hair cast his eyes into mischievous half-shadow. "I would never leave your company unless it was beyond my control."
She allowed him, albeit with a smirk, to pick up her hand and kiss it, reclaiming it quickly afterwards.
"Rrrrright. But Kurt, um... maybe you should tell someone about this. Couldn't this be dangerous?"
"Dangerous? How...danger..." He was trailing again, breath weakening and wavering, and the cane-hook curve of his tail erected beneath his suddenly twitching nose. "...Ach... not again..."
"Kurt-" She began to reach for him, as if she had any hope of holding him in place.
"Heht-TISSH!!"
He got the sneeze all the way out this time, but still there was a tremendous flash of light and smoke, and Kitty reeled back as he vanished from sight. Her arms, first raised defensively against the pyrotechnics, slowly lowered, and her eyes darted all about the hall. Now... where had he gone?
As if in answer, there was a sudden screaming from upstairs, and a tremendous clatter as the bathroom door was thrown open. Nightcrawler either fell or was thrown out into the hall, Jean's voice sounding furiously after him.
"Get OUT OF HERE, Kurt!"
"But I didn't do it on pur-"
The slam of the door silenced him, and Kurt passed a hand back through his dark hair, a sheepish blush reddening the skin beneath his fur. He heard Kitty racing up the steps, taking them two at a time to reach him on the second-floor landing. Her face was open with amazement.
"Oh-Wow," she reported, as if the strangeness of the situation might have somehow escaped him, without her commentary. She offered him a hand to his feet, and together they stood-she boggling, he looking more and more humiliated-at the top of the stairs. "This is so crazy. Kurt... we've got to tell Logan-"
"Ach--! No, Keety, I'm sure it will pass-"
"Pass? Are you kidding? What if you teleported into a solid wall? You could get really hurt." He was beginning to back away, and she pursued him with a quick step forward, leaning to catch his expression as he turned away from her. "...What is it?"
"Nossing," he said, but there was a tremble in his voice, and Kitty abruptly Phased herself through him-coming free on the other side. The surprise on his face lit up his eyes, and Kitty saw him grimace sharply as he forced a forefinger tightly beneath his nose, succumbing to the sneeze he'd been hoping to hide. "Heht-"
BAMF!
Smoke and flame replaced him in a flash and billow, and a moment later Kurt reappeared above the hall-in mid air!
"--TISSH!"
With a shriek Kitty dashed to the banister, certain she would see her friend crash in a pile of broken bones to the marble floor. Instead, he teleported again, only inches from impact, reappearing in a precarious crouch alongside her, finger still pressed under his nose. This time he rubbed it almost violently, squinting shut his eyes. "Schrecklich!" His eyes came open suddenly as Kitty hugged him. "-Vas??"
"Thank GOD! Kurt, I thought you were going to be broken into a million little pieces!" She could not see his sudden grin, but felt his arms wrap around her, and heard the laughter in his voice.
"If this is the reward for being broken into a million pieces, Keety, I'll be happy to do it again! Hey--!" He ducked as she slapped him, and suddenly galloped away from her on all fours.
"Not funny," she blurted.
"Who was making a joke?" he grinned, rising again and folding his arms across his chest. Kitty advanced on him, but her own smile was quickly fading.
"Kurt, I'm uber serious, here. We've got to tell somebody about this-Storm, the Professor, anybody... what happens if your reflexes aren't as quick, next time?"
He had to admit, ‘porting out into mid-air had been more than just a little disconcerting... but how did one explain this problem, exactly? He rubbed at his chin as he looked back to Kitty, furrowing his brow at her suddenly pleading expression.
"Puh-leeeeeeeaaasse?," she appealed.
"Uhr...vell..."
"Good!" Her hand grabbed for his wrist, dragging him suddenly, and Kurt stumbled to keep up.
"Ach--! Where are we going?"
"To see the Professor. C'mon!"
"But Keety-"
"What is it, ‘Crawler?"
"Why run," he laughed, grabbing her suddenly about the waist. "When you can travel in style-"
They were not expecting the explosion of smoke in the library, or the sudden, unannounced appearance of two of their more notorious students, but to their credit, Charles Xavier and Ororo Monroe reacted rather graciously to the interruption.
"Children," Storm began cautiously as the smoke cleared, and Kitty Pryde gave Kurt Wagner a mock-angry shove away from her.
"Quit doing that!", she complained.
"But it was quicker zat way!" he fired back.
The two adults exchanged a slow glance with one another, then returned their collective gaze to the new arrivals. Storm cleared her throat, and tried again to gain their attention.
"Is there something we can help you with, young ones?"
They stopped their bickering, looking up as if genuinely surprised to find they had company. Kitty planted her hands at her hips.
"Kurt keeps sneezing," she informed them, and once again the adults looked at each other.
Storm, maintaining her calm with a little difficulty, prompted, "And this necessitated an unannounced interruption why?"
Passionate as ever, Kitty gestured with both hands, while all the while her German companion stood silently to one side, arms folded and tail curled like a question-mark behind him.
"No no no, you don't understand, he's not just sneezing, he's sneezing and going places."
Again they stared. Kitty rolled her eyes and groaned. "He's ‘porting."
Ohh.
Storm switched her pale eyes to Kurt, who had lost some of his smirk, now that the adults seemed to be in understanding of Kitty's argument.
"Mr. Wagner... this is true?"
"Ja. But I'm sure it's nothing serious... I have sneezed before, wissout any problems."
"How many times has it happened, Kurt?" the Professor inquired gently, his chair humming softly as it was directed forward.
"Only three," he lied.
"Four," Kitty corrected, imperious, as if she had something on him.
Storm held a hand up for the girl to be quiet, asking the all-important, "Why are you sneezing so much to begin with?"
Um. Hm. Here was the part he wasn't keen on admitting. His tail lowered into a deep J-curve, sheepish, as he replied softly, "I... might be coming down wiss something."
"Something?" Storm's brows arched, and he bowed his head down, raking a hand through his shaggy split part. "A cold?"
"Ja."
The Professor steepled his fingertips together, gazing at the young man from the hovering comfort of his chair. "You've never had this problem before..."
"Nein, sir."
"Well... it may be a developing facet of your powers. Unfortunately, it's one you'll need to learn to control."
"Control it?" Kurt wasn't pleased with this news; didn't he already have enough things to worry about? "But Professor, how?"
"Experimentation is my best suggestion... trying to keep in mind a potential ‘safe spot' to teleport to, in case you should fail to control the reaction." He looked aside, and caught sight of Kitty's back as she made a creeping, tip-toeing exit. "Perhaps," he said, loud enough for his voice to carry to the escaping mutant. "Miss Pryde, having been so concerned as to bring the matter to our attention, would be willing to assist you in your practice. Miss Pryde?"
In retrospect, Kitty would reflect that she probably should have seen that coming. She stopped with one hand reaching for the doorknob, and looked back over her shoulder, weakly smiling.
"Ah... who, me? Umm... of course. I'd be glad to help."
"Excellent," the Professor intoned, again touching his fingertips together. "...In that case, children... I trust that you can find your own ways out?"
"Stop squirming."
"But it itches."
"It's supposed to itch."
"I don't think zis is working, Keety..."
She stood back from him, folding her arms, twirling the feather in one hand. Stroking it beneath his nose, no matter how patient he had been, was not making him sneeze... nor had there been any repeats of his earlier teleportations. Now that she had desisted in her tickling, he rubbed the back of his wrist vigorously against his nose, scrunching it up.
"Well, what am I supposed to do, ‘Crawler... I mean... what usually makes you sneeze?"
"Do I know? It just happens. And usually at the most inconvenient times possible..." He sniffled, rather loudly, and Kitty reached past him, snatching tissues from the little box kept on his nightstand. Taking them in one hand, he slipped away to the window, presenting his back to her as he politely blew his nose. Upon turning back to her, his nose had about it a familiar twitchiness, and Kitty returned to full attention. She and her useless feather.
"Uh... Keety...", he began.
"Oh-yeah, I see! Okay... now focus, Kurt... keep your eyes on me, okay?"
He felt plainly ridiculous, standing there before her as he prepared to sneeze, her entire attention focused on him, expectant. Ach, but how his nose itched! He sniffed softly and wrinkled it... sniffed again, rubbing at its sensitive tip with a knuckle.
Kitty prompted, mildly impatient, "Anything yet?"
"A moment-it doesn't happen all at once." He sniffed again, wrinkling his nose in a deliberate attempt to deepen the tickle in his nose. At last he was successful, and his long eyelashes fluttered wildly, breath wavering audibly in his throat. Kitty had never been so impatient to see someone sneeze before, watching his nose twitch as he stole a quick, quiet breath, and then stepped abruptly back from her. The release had a weakly helpless sound to it, but not without its own wet strength as he sneezed into his cupped palms.
"Heht-TISSH!"
Nothing.
Kitty stood, blinking at him in surprise as his eyes groggily reopened, lips still slightly parted to reveal the very tips of his canines. "D... did I port?" It took him a moment, sinuses still tickling fiercely, but he realized he had not moved from his spot. A good thing, too, because-"Heht-TISSH!"-he still needed to sneeze. They were exhausting him little by little, and even Kitty seemed concerned as she stood there silently, tissue box held in both hands.
She held it out to him, blinking, and his tapered fingers withdrew a few tissues, gathering them about his nose as he uttered a sudden, weak, "...Hiihhhh..." He held his breath, dropped down onto the edge of his bed, and then sneezed again: a quick, wet punctuation of sound, "HehtTISSH!"
Ugh... very wet.
Miserably blowing his nose, Kurt looked up only as he felt Kitty's slight weight sink beside him, her hand at his back. She so rarely touched him, it gave him a real moment of shock.
"'Crawler," she began quietly. "...Are... you okay?"
It occurred to him, suddenly, that she had been creeping towards the door when he'd made his little confession to Storm and the Professor. She hadn't heard that he was sick...
With his nose still buried in the little flare of white tissues, pale eyes ridiculously wide and bright, Kurt asked, "Uhr... Vas?"
"Well, I just mean... you never sneeze so much. And it sounds like you're getting a little stuffed up... Are you-"
"Allergies," he said all of a sudden, without having any idea why. Kitty blinked, and he lowered the tissues, bunching them in one hand. "Uhr... it's all this American flora... mein German nose cannot keep up. I'm sure it will pass."
"Your German nose, huh," she chuckled faintly, and reached a forefinger out to again stroke the slightly upturned end of it. He twitched his nose immediately and sat back with a quivery inhale, pushing the tissues hard against his nostrils.
"Hhh!-"
"Oh! Kurt, I'm sorry, I forgot that makes you-"
"Heht-TISSH!"
BAMF!
A burst of smoke and light replaced him, and Kitty leapt to her feet with a little shriek, quickly fanning at the air to clear it. When at last she could see again, her friend was nowhere in sight.
"...Uh-oh. This is so not a good sign." She rushed to the window, throwing back the sash to peer into the garden, but there was-fortunately-no evidence that he'd teleported himself outside. His bathroom was empty, and just as she was rushing to Phase through the door it came open, Kurt holding his little bundle of tissues beneath his nose, looking ashamed.
"...Uh. I ‘ported."
"I noticed," she winced, wringing her hands, stepping aside as he dragged himself to the bed and fell across it in a heap of lean blue limbs. "Um... do you want me to go see if we have some allergy medicine?"
"Nein. If it is alright wiss you, Keety, I think perhaps I would like to just get some sleep... We will practice another time."
"Sure thing, ‘Crawler," she agreed, and half-Phased herself through the door before she grinned back at him a little. "...I hope you don't sneeze in your sleep."
He had not yet taken the tissues from his nose, holding them there as he weakly returned the grin. "Ja," he chuckled, letting his tail wave her a farewell. "You and me both."
"Rise and shine, blueboy!" Rogue yelled in her deepest Southern drawl, holding open Kurt's door without any care for his state of dress. She had been hoping to catch him off guard, actually, but instead saw that his room was still neatly in order, with none of his clothes thrown around as he struggled to dress. The dark shock of his hair was visible against his white pillow, arrow-tipped tail hanging out from beneath the lumpy sheets and blankets. "Jeez-are you still asleep?"
"Uhrn?"
Rogue reached over and grabbed his tail in her hand, giving it a tug until he snapped it irritably back beneath the covers, rolling over to give her a reproachful gold eye. His hair was a mess, and by his expression it was evident he was still half in sleep. Kurt pulled the covers up, so that he was visible only from the nose up. "...Don't you knock?"
"Yeah," she smirked, setting one hand smartly at her hip. "All the tahm. In fact, I been knockin' for the past five minutes-maybe if you'd get your lazy butt out of bed you'd a'heard me."
"Uhrn," he said again, and this time it was less of a question than a statement, his eyes closing tiredly. Rogue grabbed his shoulder and began shaking him vigorously in place.
"Waaaakkkeeeuuuppppp," she drawled, jogging him until he had no choice but to open his eyes, and his tail emerged from the covers to wave at her in defense. Rogue grabbed it again fearlessly, and stood over him as he dropped his head back to the pillow, groggy. "Come on! Up! If you get in the shower now you might have time to eat breakfast. Ororo cooked pancakes in the shape of little storm clouds... .Actually, I don't think that was on purpose, but they're pretty damn funny-lookin'."
"I'm not hungry," he muttered, pressing his cheek against the pillow and sniffling. This caught Rogue's attention, and with his tail still in hand she settled on the edge of his bed.
"...Nighty... you feelin' all right?"
He knew he had to keep up the illusion of suffering from allergies, but his nose had other ideas. As he lay there groggily, the need to sneeze slowly overcame him, and suddenly he was flinching beneath the blankets, one hand raised in a weak defense.
"H'TISSH! ...H'TISSH! ...H'TISSH!" His eyes came open halfway, miserable, and again his body flinched under the covers, "H'TISSH!"
"Uh-oh," Rogue murmured, pulling down his covers just a little, so that she could see him huddling miserably beneath, one hand now rubbing at his elfish nose. Her hand plastered against his forehead, although she could feel very little through her glove besides the underlying softness of his fur. "...So that's why you're sleepin' late. Wow, Nighty... you sound awful."
"I feel awful," he replied stuffily, and sniffled back his mounting congestion. Why did it always seem to get exponentially worse right as he woke up? "...My dose runs, my head is stuffed," he coughed a single time. "I'b still sdeesing..."
"Still...?" Rogue released his tail, reaching to his nightstand and pulling out several tissues, passing them into his hand as it crawled free from the covers "You were feelin' poorly last night, too?"
"Ja. I sink my teleporting only made it worse."
"You goofball-why were you ‘portin' around if you knew you were sick? Of course you made it worse!"
Kurt began to sit up, miserably blowing his nose as Rogue, playing the part of the reluctant mother, tried to arrange his hair with a few primping touches of her fingertips.
"I couldn't help it... I would teleport almost every time I sdeesed!"
"Blow your nose again," she told him firmly, and he complied, indigo brow crinkling up with the noisy effort. Her arm draped around him loosely, and Kurt leaned up against her in relief, exhausted. "Well," she sighed, again trying to feel his forehead, and again having little success, "We'll just tell Storm, and you can stay home and rest, today."
"No no," he protested, sitting up again, meeting her green eyes with his bright, pale own. "I cannot do that."
"What? Are you crazy-why not?"
"Because..."
"Because?"
"Because... Keety does not know I'm sick. I... I told her it was allergies."
"Allergies?" Rogue could barely keep her voice under control. "'Crawler, have you lost every last cotton-pickin' marble in that fool blue head of yours??" He winced and tried to hush her, and for this reason only did she lower herself to a chastising whisper. "Why on Earth would you tell her something like that?"
"Because," he pleaded urgently. "She was so vorried for me-I was afraid that if I told her I was sick, she wouldn't want to be around me anymore."
Groaning loudly, Rogue covered her eyes with one hand.
"Uggghghh-Crawler!"
"Please, Rogue-you must promise not to tell her. Please?" He reached for her other gloved hand, holding it in both his own. "I'm begging you."
Her answer was a harsh, frowning sigh.
"I don't like this one bit... have you got it for this girl so bad?"
"Ja," he agreed, wincing.
"How is it you can fall head-over-heels with Little Miss Priss, but I can't get Scott to even look twice at me. This doesn't seem half fair at all."
Kurt agreed, "No, it isn't... not for any of us. But we are mutants, Rogue... when are things ever fair?"
"Kurt... I won't tell her. But she's gonna find out, eventually."
"Not if I can help it."
"And how are you going to keep it from her?"
"Uhr... I will just... surround myself with flora, until I'm better."
"And you think that'll work?"
"It better, I..." Kurt stopped, releasing Rogue's hand and touching the curl of one knuckle beneath his nose. He tried again, "...I..."
"Uh-oh..."
He couldn't stop it. He turned abruptly from his friend, sneezing crisply, wetly, into both hands, slender body doubling forward.
"Heht-TISSH!"
Rogue had heard Nightcrawler sneeze before-the healthy, grinning, almost boisterous sound of it as he and the other boys attacked one another with erasers before the teachers arrived in class-and this was somehow different. Strenuous, yes, but helpless, and extremely wet by the sound of it. Kurt was slow to sit up again, his palms damp as he wrinkled his nose against his face. Rogue handed him another handful of tissues, and they were put to use as he gave his nose another good blow.
"Bless you," she muttered quietly.
"...Sank you. Ugh. This is going to be a long day."
"You can say that again. Look, I'll grab something for you to eat on the way to school-you'd better jump in the shower or you're going to be really late."
"Already there," he grinned, picking up her hand and giving the fabric of her knuckles a quick kiss before vanishing into a cloud of brimstone and fire.
A day had never been so long.
Kurt managed to make it through a quick breakfast-Rogue, bless her heart, had smuggled out a scrambled egg and sausage burrito that he had, surprisingly, been ravenous for. His rapid sneezes on the way to school were masked against his arm, and with a careful turn of his body, and he managed to keep tenuous control over his teleporting. It required concentration, unfortunately; even if he let his guard down, as soon as he sneezed he felt the tingling pull of an impending ‘port all through his body. At least it was teaching him control... the Professor had been right about that, if nothing else.
Most of the day had passed uneventfully, although there was a momentary scare between classes, when he had hurriedly excused himself to the bathroom to succumb to a series of three sneezes. The first two had been strong and wet, but by the third-exhausted by them--he had given into the pull, and teleported himself across the room. No one had been in there, fortunately, although rumors of someone smoking in the boy's room circulated like wildfire for the remainder of the day.
At long last it was final period, and the day was nearing its end. He had traded the answer to one of their homework questions for the luxury of switching seats for the day, and kept his head down on his arms at the rear of the classroom while the teacher droned on and on about some subject which had no interest to him at all. The sound of his own sniffling was loud to his ears, but his propensity for caring was quickly waning.
The holographic imager that the Professor had given him was both a blessing and a curse, today. To everyone else he appeared like a completely normal student: fair German skin, blue-black hair worn long in the back, and with a shaggy split part in the front. They did not see the pointed ears that were really there, or the short blue fur, or the arrow-tipped tail. Unfortunately, neither did they see the pinkish irritation of his nose from his constant wiping, or his somewhat paler complexion. The illusion was a little too perfect... he could actually pass for having hay fever.
There was a tap to his arm, and Kurt lifted his head groggily to see a small package of tissues being thrust out at him. He followed the hand holding them, all the way up the slender arm to the shoulder where it was attached. Rogue's shoulder. She was a classic back-of-the-classroom sitter, and he was glad to have his friend so near.
Sniffling, surprised to find that his nose had been right on the verge of running, Kurt took the package and tore it open.
"Sanks," he whispered, wrinkling his nose and sniffling again to hold it in. The tissues were velvet-soft around his sore nose, and he blew as quietly as he could, although it took him almost a full minute to relieve the congestion that had been building. Rogue's eyes were plaintive upon him: worried, frustrated.
"How are feelin', Kurt?" she whispered to him, fearless of being overheard. Most everyone ignored her, anyway, and very few students could understand the close companionship shared between she and the forever gregarious Wagner boy.
"...Hanging in," he responded, wincing as he wiped at his sore nose. "How do I look?"
"Same as ever, I guess," she admitted grudgingly. He gave her a weak sidelong grin.
"You mean dashing and handsome?"
"More like thick-headed, and a royal pain in the rear."
"Ach. That too."
"Kurt... I promised you that I wouldn't tell Kitty you were sick... now I want you to make me a promise."
"Heht-TISSH!" His head rocked sharply as he sneezed into his hands, and he held the tense posture for a half second before gasping and sneezing a second time, more abruptly, "H'TSSH!"
The sermon going on at the front of the classroom paused, and Kurt heard chair legs squeaking as a few students glanced back in his direction. The teacher, with her pointer still raised to indicate something on the blackboard, arched a brow.
"...Something the matter, Mr. Wagner?" she asked, without any real sense of concern in her voice. Kurt kept both hands around his nose and mouth, his eyes upturning to the teacher and the many faces that had adjusted to look at him.
"Uhr," he muffled. "No, Frau Mosely."
"Would you care to go the nurse's office?"
Again, muffledly, "Nein."
"Then may I continue?"
"Ja. I'm sorry."
Mrs. Mosely directed a pointed look towards Rogue, as well, who had slithered down in her seat, her hand like a casual visor at her brow, trying to hide her eyes.
"And you, ‘Rogue'? Do you have anything you'd like to add?"
"No ma'am," she answered very quietly, without looking up. The students slowly began to face forward again, and the lesson, little by little, returned to its earlier, droning volume. Rogue snuck a look at Kurt, and found him sitting with both hands still cupped around his nose and mouth. Snagging the tissue wrapper from his desktop, she pulled a few out and guided them into his hands-assuming there was a good reason why he hadn't lowered them, by now. He squirmed to face the wall, his back bowed to her as he gave his nose another long, quiet blow. When he turned back to her, Rogue plucked at another tissue and-teacher's attention be damned-held his chin as she wiped at his nose and upper lip.
"Ow ow," he complained in a whisper, squinting under the well-meant abuse. "Ist sore!"
"Just hold still. There. Now did you hear what I said?"
"Ja..." he took the tissue from her, using it to dab delicately at his nostrils, testing their tenderness. If he had to blow or wipe his nose one more time, he was going to cry. Even sniffling was beginning to sting a little. "Vas ist this promise you want me to make? I am not in a position to do very much..."
"It won't be hard. When we get home, I want you t'go straight to bed. You hear me, fuzzy? Right to bed, under the covers, tea, honey, chicken soup, the whole nine yards. And if you think I won't stand there personally and make sure you do it-"
"Ja, ja, I know you will," he interrupted, cracking a soft grin. "Rogue, I never knew you cared-ow!" He stifled an absurd giggle as she pinched him.
"Say it, ‘Crawler. Say you promise."
"Ja," he whispered back, again touching the wadded tissue to his nose. "I promise."
The bell rang at 2:53, and Kurt swore there was no sweeter sound in the world. He made a quick stop at his locker, gathering his book bag before fleeing with the afternoon crowd into the crisp autumn air of the school grounds. Most of the gang was already waiting, although Kitty had yet to join them.
Rogue stood uncomfortably with the others, hugging her books to her stomach. She lowered her eyes, scowling as a group of boys herded past her, snickering and throwing out comments. Freak, they called her. Kurt heard, and his teeth set into a hard, clenching grimace.
"You should not let them talk to you this way," he told Rogue as he joined her, looking around briefly for Kitty.
"Whatever," she muttered. "It don't matter. How are you feelin'?"
"Worse and worse." He sniffled, wincing in pain as he rubbed at his nose. "You don't have anymore tissues, do you?"
Silently Rogue removed a plastic packet from her purse-something that was met with a white grin from her companion.
"I stopped at the school store. Figured you'd ask." she smirked, tearing it open. Without asking she took his chin in one gloved hand, fitting the tissues around his nose with the other. He might have protested such an indignity-he was certainly old enough to blow his own nose-but her touch was surprisingly gentle compared to his own, and it hurt considerably less than doing it himself. His nose and brow scrunched as he blew, the Spock-ish formation of his hand curling lightly overtop Rogue's. Relieved, at last, he let her hold his chin again, wiping as gently as she could at his nose and upper lip.
"Better?"
"Ja," he sniffled, holding still for this ministration. He added, genuinely grateful, "Sank you."
"Remember your promise to me?"
"I could not forget." Again he sniffled, and then re-wrinkled his nose. "Ugh... Rogue...?"
"Need another tissue?" She plucked a few out, keeping an eye on him as he hovered his hands before his face. His expression struggled, fighting the obvious irritation in his nose, eyes starting to close.
Kitty's cheerful voice interrupted them as she fairly skipped into view.
"Hey guys! What's up?"
The girl's arrival caused Kurt to completely lose his concentration, and though Rogue reached a concerned hand for his shoulder, he turned away from everyone, sneezing unexpectedly into his hands.
"Heht-TISSH!" The force of the sneeze doubled him, and Rouge gently tried to straighten him, giving the puzzled Kitty a slight glare. Rogue turned her attention back to her friend.
"Kurt-are you alright?"
He came up again, but kept his hands cupped a few inches from his face, expression miserable, nose unpredictably twitching. "I'm... I'm gutt, I just.... Heht-TISSH!" He sneezed again into his hands, caught a breath, and then sneezed a third time, sounding positively exhausted, as if it were sapping every last bit of his strength. "Heht-TISSH!"
Kitty, oblivious to the weak, strained sound of his sneezing, clutched her books to her as she stepped alongside.
"Hey, Kurt! You're not ‘porting, anymore!"
He reopened his eyes to look at her, accepting the tissues from Rogue and holding them politely about his nose. He was beyond caring, at this point, wanting only to go home and suffer through the rest of this without having to keep up appearances.
"...Huh? "
"Your allergies," she reminded him. "You learned how to keep from teleporting when you sneeze?"
"Oh." Blinking, he managed a somewhat twitchy smile. "Ja, I... I..."
"Um...Everything OK?"
"He's fine," Rogue interrupted coldly, "His allergies are just really bad..." Again the two girls glared at each other, Kitty bristling defensively as she watched the strange goth-chick protectively take Kurt's arm.
"Well I was just asking."
"Yeah," she muttered. "I can tell you're so concerned."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Kurt buried his face against the crook of his arm, bunching his shoulders up tightly as another sneeze shuddered through him, this one a muffled, "Heht-HHFFFT!"
"Bless you", Rogue said, anxiously keeping a hand on him. He began to lower his arm, hesitated as his nose twitched, and then quickly hid it again, trying to muffle his helpless sneezes. "Heh'HHFFT! Heh'HHFT!"
To everyone's alarm, the holographic image of the very human Kurt Wagner began to flicker and fizzle, so that with each wet sneeze against his sleeve his underlying appearance was revealed. Scott stepped away from Jean's side, tension gathering in his muscles.
"Rogue-"
"I know," she said suddenly.
"You've got to get him out of here-"
"I know." Gently she linked arms with Kurt, beginning to guide him away. He leaned against her tiredly, unprotesting, and fisted a hand at his mouth as he gave into a few seconds of congested coughing. Kitty perked up immediately, squinting after them as they retreated across the school lawn.
"...W... wait a minute, why are you coughing?"
"Ist... ist...," Damnit, he just wanted to get one word out! His nostrils flared, and he forced the word out with another exhausting sneeze, barely catching it against the crook of his arm. "-Nothi...iih.. Heh-ISSHET!"
"Are... are you sure?"
"Can't you even bless him?" Rogue snapped, her green eyes hot as she glared back at Kitty. When the girl could only stand and gape after them, she began guiding her friend away, letting him lean on her. "...Bless you, ‘Crawler."
He sniffled, barely keeping his eyes open. "Sank you, Rogue."
It was harder on him, but at Kurt's insistence they took the long way home, beneath the quiet and shadowing poplars, where no one would see his flickering blue image when he sneezed. Rogue's worry was quiet, but evident, and a few times along the way she stopped to dole out more tissues, letting him wipe at his nose until, sheepishly, he refused to take them from her.
"Nein," he complained as they paused beneath a tree, wrinkling his nose and sniffling deeply in an attempt to relieve himself of the need. "It hurts."
"Did it hurt when I did it for you?"
"Ja... but not as much."
"Here... let's sit for a sec."
They lowered together beneath the dappled shade, and Rogue sorted through her bag, gathering together another small handful of tissues.
"You don't have to," he began, a blush rising beneath his hidden fur.
"Oh, hush, like it's gonna kill either one of us. Your poor nose is probably red as a beet under that imager..."
"Ja," he coughed lightly, and tiredly grinned. "But you cannot see it for my fur."
"Here." She cradled his jaw and held the tissues over his nose, and Kurt leaned forward into them. "Blow."
As he did so, wrinkling up his nose and squinting his eyes with effort, Rogue sighed.
"Listen, I... I'm sorry I snapped at your little girlfriend..."
"She is not my girlfrie... frie..." He began to pull away, long eyelashes fluttering in preparation for a sneeze, but Rogue's grip tightened gently. It overcame him all at once, and he had no choice but to sneeze twice, precisely into the tissues she held to his nose. "Heht-TISSH! ...TISSH!" His eyes reopened, drowsy.
"Bless you. I know she's not your girlfriend-blow again."
"Uhr, but she-"
"Blow, fuzzy."
His chest expanded deeply, and he blew again, features scrunched up tightly. "This itches my nose," he complained when she removed the tissue, tossing it away and reaching for another, still lightly holding his chin in her hand.
"Do you need to sneeze?"
"Um. Hmm..." He made a show of rolling his eyes up thoughtfully, wrinkling his nose, an expression that made her smirk in amusement. "No. Ach-wait, yes--"
One step ahead, she covered his nose again, and this time he closed his hand hurriedly overtop her own as he sneezed into the tissues, his entire body bending forward with a vicious, "Heht-TISSH!"
"Bless you." She said immediately, firmly, and wiped with surprising care at his nose and upper lip. His nostrils twitched as he sniffled, a reflexive response to the touch. He actually climbed to his feet before her, offering a hand up so that they could continue the walk home.
"Sank you again, Rogue... I should maybe get this tattooed on my forehead, for all the times I must say it." As they fell in step alongside one another, he gripped the shoulder straps of his book bag and studied her ponderous expression. "Now... why such an unhappy face, you make?"
"Nothin', I guess," she muttered. "She just..."
"Makes you mad?"
"Makes me furious is more like it."
In spite of his sniffling, as he rubbed at his nose with a forefinger Kurt had to grin.
"But why? She is such a sweet, harmless girl!"
"That's just it!" Rogue snapped, and he saw at once he had touched a raw nerve. His voice softened.
"Ach, Rogue-I'm so sorry-I spoke wissout thinking-"
"No," she interrupted, but gently this time, ashamed. "I... I didn't mean to yell-"
"It is my fault-"
"No, it's not anybody's fault. She just... she seems to have everything that I wish I had. She's everything I wish I was." Looking down at her gloved hands, exhaling a disappointed sigh, Rogue went back to clasping her books against her. "Forget it."
"There will be someone for you, some day, Rogue," Nightcrawler reasoned with her, and placed an arm around her shoulders. "It is not like Little Miss Priss, as you call her, has any interest in me at all."
"Well, it's her loss, ‘Crawler. You know I believe that."
"I know you do. Just as it is Scott's loss. But we have one another, don't we? Two freaks, even among the freaks? Friends always?"
"Always," she affirmed, and reached out to lay her hand over the one he rested at her shoulder.
"Come-walking is for... how is it you Americans say? Pansies."
"Uhr-are you sure you're up for it?" Rogue wondered, squinting one eye at him just a little.
"Ja," he agreed, and dropped his arm around her waist, giving her a friendly pull towards him. "In fact..." His eyelashes fluttered, nose twitching, "...I think...that our timing...is...ihh.." Two fingers from his free hand tucked beneath his nose, and though he held Rogue against him, Kurt turned his head away as he inhaled enormously. Rogue braced herself for the ride, and felt his body convulsively clench as he sneezed.
"Heht--H'TISSH!"
BAMF!
Promises were promises, and whenever possible, Kurt did not break those that he made... especially not to friends.
Rogue ushered him to his room the moment they were through the door-long before the others made it back-and turned her back while he changed into a tee-shirt and sweatpants, crawling into the tousled warmth of his bed sheets and quilt. She kissed the air above his forehead, ceremonious, then slunk herself from the bedroom to allow him his rest.
It was there that she nearly bumped into the pink-cotton-and-white-denim perfection that was Kitty Pride. The two girls, nearly exact opposites of one another, stood in bristling opposition for the duration of several seconds.
"Um. Rogue," Kitty said nervously, knowing that any touch from her bare skin would drop her like a rock.
"Kitty," Rogue responded tersely, fingering her gloves. She looked down, and saw in the other girl's hands a silver tray from the kitchen, heavy with a teapot, aspirin, and a covered bowl of soup. Her expression softened, and at last the rigid tension between them began to ease. "...I see you figured it out."
"Yeah well," Kitty began, rather ashamedly. "I am the queen of Dense-ville, but I do have my moments." More softly, looking up, she asked, "How is he?"
"Pretty sick. It's just a head cold, really, but the teleporting put him in a bad way. He'll, um... he'll like what you're bringin' him, though." She paused, and then said with greater difficulty, "He'll like even better that you're the one bringin' it."
"Yeah, uh... I figured. Listen-"
"I've gotta go," Rogue interrupted, starting away from her, but Kitty turned, looking upsettedly at the girl's retreating back.
"Rogue, wait a second. Look... I know you don't like me, and I can't claim to understand why, but we do have to go to school together... and we are on the same team together... and we have the same friends. I think we should try to get along somehow."
Rogue's arms were stiff at her sides as she stood there, grinding her teeth, then slowly let the tension bleed from her. She looked back over one shoulder.
"Look... we can work on that, but not now. Because right now, one of my best friends in the whole world is in there, sick as a dog, and not wantin' anyone to know about it because he's afraid you won't like him anymore. And nice as you can be, Kitty, sometimes I really don't like the way you just blow him off. So you go in there, and you make sure you treat him real' nice, and then maybe we can get to be friendly. But until I see him back on his feet, you're just gonna have to forgive me if I ain't one to join the Kitty Pryde fan club. All right?"
Rogue's words were honed to hurt--Kitty could feel it in the way they were spoken--but there was, in spite of this, an underlying reality: Kurt was her friend, and it was infuriating for her to see him heartsick. To see him sick at all.
"I'm going to go and sit with him," Kitty said softly. Whatever qualms they had with one another, there would be a better time, and forum, in which to air their grievances. Rogue considered her guardedly for a moment before nodding and turning away, vanishing into whatever corners it was the girl found soothing to her in her solitude.
Kitty rapped on the door quietly before phasing through it, tray and all, and leaning a little to see the figure stretched out in the bed.
No, not stretched out-curled up, a huddled mass of lumpy quilt, with his tail sticking out from beneath, like it always did.
"Crawler?" she whispered, hating to wake him if he'd already drifted off. She wasn't even sure he could hear her. His bundled form shuddered abruptly.
"Heht-TISSH!" After sneezing he sniffled, rather deeply, and gave a tiny little cough. There was something rather heart-wrenching about the thought of him all alone in here, just the Nightcrawler and his sneezing, and Kitty crept forward a little more boldly, craning her neck to catch a peek at him.
He was awake, evidently, but his eyes were closed in an effort to catch elusive sleep. The holo-emitter was off, and as always it was a slight surprise to see him there in all his fuzzy blue glory, black hair shaggy as it lay across the pillow. He had a handkerchief in one hand, unconsciously touching it to his nose every now and then, matching the gesture with a small, watery sniffle.
Kitty watched until his elfin nose twitched... then wrinkled... a surefire signal that another sneeze wasn't far off. Like Rogue, she reflected on his between-class horseplay with other boys: the way they would clap erasers at one another before scuttling and leaping back to their desks, faces and hands a mess of white chalk dust, as if nothing at all had been going on. She remembered his sneezing, then: the pinched but strangely cheerful sound as he tried to laugh, and sneeze, and hold his nose closed at the same time, chalk dust wreaking havoc on him. How could she have missed the difference, earlier?
Having stood over him long enough, Kitty whispered again, a little more loudly than before.
"Hey... hey, Kurt. Psst."
Another sniffle. He slit his eyes open, bright yellow in the curtain-drawn dimness, and then reclosed them with a little cough and a murmur.
"...Asleep already?" He seemed amazed. "I never dream so quickly."
"No, fuzzy, you're not asleep." Gently the tray was settled on his nightstand, and she sat alongside him, peeling back the sheets like a lotus petal, seeing what sort of state he was in, beneath. He was fairly well cuddled up in a blanket, and even the slight invasion of cool air caused him to curl up more tightly and shiver, peering his crescent-moon eyes up at her blearily. Finally it came to him.
"Keety?"
"Hey there..." She tucked him back in so that he was a spot of blue amidst all that white, and for a split second Kitty got a picture of how adorable he must have been as a child. Her hand reached down, and began to stroke gently at his dark hair, the texture like oiled ribbons between her fingers. Guilt assailed her as she sighed, "...Kurt... Why didn't you tell me you caught a cold?"
Cough. "A little one," he murmured, and made a pinching gesture with two fingers. Sniffle.
"A little one?" She let a smile tug at one side of her mouth. She couldn't like him in the way he wanted her to, but he was still pretty cute. "Kurt-if I remember correctly, last night you were sneezing yourself hither-and-yon around the mansion..."
Slowly he smiled. Coughed.
"...Ja, well... a little more than a little, zen."
Looking to the tray, then back to him, she whispered, "I brought you some tea... some soup. Are you hungry?"
"Not really," he admitted. "But sank you anyway. I...I..." Why did he always have to sneeze in the first-person? He wanted to hide his face so she could not see it, but there was no way to turn away as his nose twitched with the first sharp tickle of an unavoidable sneeze. He turned his head away as best he could-a matter of a few inches to one side-and uttered a quiet, "Ach-forgive me, please-" before it came over him all at once.
It was not just one sneeze, either, but a fitful session of them, as if his nose was in sudden revolt. He tensed himself up like a fist as they came, and within the fluffy frame of blankets kept his cheek turned against his shoulder. His fingers loosely half-curled towards his face as he seized and relaxed, seized and relaxed.
"Heht-TISSH! ...Heht-TISSH! ...Heht-TISSH!" A pause to catch his breath, to weakly open his eyes, and then he grimaced his sharp canines into view, curling up more tightly, trying to hide beneath the quilts as his nose resume it's tickling. "H-TISSH! H-TISSH!"
"Kurt," Kitty began anxiously, reaching for the blankets as he pulled them overtop his head, shuddering underneath. The sneezing developed a distinctly wet sound, but he would not emerge, even for tissues.
"Ach... wait-H'TISSH!-I... I only---Ack'CHISH!"
She bit her lip, holding still as he breathed carefully beneath the blankets... then slowly poked his head back into view, expression quivery but a little more stable. Silently he touched his nose, letting his head drop against the pillows. "I... I'm sorry..."
"Shh, don't be. Here..." She pulled what remained of the tissues from his little bedside box, reminding herself to get more for him. Kurt took them tiredly, rolling his back to her as he strenuously tried to blow his nose, wishing for a split second that he had Rogue's more tender touch. He grew still as he lay there, both hands holding the tissues to his face, and then cinched up again unexpectedly.
"Ih-TISSH!"
"Bless you," Kitty said suddenly, realizing that she had been neglecting it, all this time. Okay... so maybe Rogue had good reason to be pissed at her. Had she really been so thoughtless? "Did... did that help?"
"No... my nose is stuffed," he sighed, rolling onto his back. Kitty covered him again, criss-crossing the blanket across his chest, cocooning him in the folds.
"Ummm... I think I might know how to help."
His yellow eyes leapt to her face, hesitant but curious, watching as she kicked off her tennis sneakers and stretched beside him on the bed: above the covers, positioned on her hip, her long frame still not quite so tall as his own. "Okay," she smiled crookedly, poising her hand over him. "Lie still."
Nightcrawler's eyes crossed inward as she descended a forefinger towards him, and touched his nose just beneath its tip, where the fur was as short as velvet, and just as soft. Where, too, he was the most sensitive-the place he always rubbed, conspicuously, when he felt a sneeze hesitating. His jaw set tightly, eyes crinkling as his nostrils helplessly flared.
"Ach," he blurted. "Keety-"
"Shh, would you? I know what I'm doing, already. Just try not to ‘port." His senses reeled as her fingertip began stroking upward towards the tip of his nose, gently but repeatedly, until his eyes were almost watering with wavering self-control. Kitty felt his nose twitching under her touch, and heard his breathing become shaky.
"If... if you keep doing zat," he protested weakly. "Ist g... Ist going to make me sneeze..."
"That's the idea, fuzzy."
"Ach---" Kitty drew her hand back as he inhaled and suddenly doubled forward, sneezing explosively. "HEHTISSH!"
No sooner had he collapsed back against the pillows than she was stroking his nose again, soft and persistent, making his nostrils twitch in irritated response. He even tried turning his head away, protesting in his throat, but the soft upward petting of her fingertip could not be evaded, nor the steadily mounting desire to explosively sneeze again in response. Did she realize what she was doing to him?
"K... Keet...." he tried to get out, but each time he spoke his voice became a wavering sound of preparation, and after a few seconds more of her soft stroking he could do nothing but lay in the cradle of quilt folds: fangs slightly grimaced, eyes weakly half-closed and staring at her, ribcage expanding and relaxing as his breathing grew steadily deeper... and deeper...
He inhaled suddenly, raggedly, nose spasming with tiny twitches as it could take no more, and Kurt closed his eyes tight.
"Heht-TISSH!" The first sneeze was an exclamation, body curling up like a fist, and he felt a warm and unexpectedly strong aerosol against his palm, quickly covering his nose and mouth with both hands. His nose continued twitching on its own, quick and rapid little tickles caused by Kitty's stroking, and it sent him into a vigorous stream of sneezes, each one tightening his body in upon itself. "H'TISSH! H'TISSH! TISSH! TISSH! HEHTISSH! HEHTISSH!" It began to abate, but not altogether, and Kurt lowered his hands from around his face by a few inches, expression twitchy and hovering, eyes barely open.
"Bless you," Kitty told his weak expression.
He sneezed again into his waiting hands, face flinching into a split-second grimace, "HITISSH!"
"...Bless you..."
Another flinch, head twitching forward as his face again crumpled into a quick, tight scrunch of release, "HITISSSH!"
"I'm losing my voice, here, elf-bless you! You okay now?" Her hand fell to his shoulder, remaining there as he fumbled for the tissues she'd given him, holding them tightly to his nose. Blowing for several long seconds, he finally exhaled an almost groaning sigh of relief.
"I can brease again," he said with relief, softening the ‘th' sound with his German accent. Kitty rose from the bed with a faint smile, letting her hand trail away from his arm.
"Yeah, I figured that might help. No more fuzzybluesneezes?"
"Ugh," he sighed, collapsing back onto the pillows, curling the quilt up under his chin as he shivered down beneath its warmth. "...I sink... one more...but it's stuck..."
She giggled helplessly, adjusting the tray on his nightstand before folding her arms.
"Want help?"
"Nein," he grinned, voice cracking faintly. "It vill come. Keety... sank you for-"
"Don't, Kurt. I was miserable to you, earlier... I should have realized. I'm sorry... it's just..." She looked down at her hands. "I know that you like me, but..."
Her voice trailed off into the quiet, and Kurt nodded tiredly, peering out at her from beneath his blankets.
"I know: But. You cannot fault me for trying."
"No. We're still friends, though, right?"
"Ja, of course." And thinking of Rogue, of what her friendship meant to him, and vice versa, he echoed her sentiment from earlier. "Always."
"I'll let you get some rest... if you need anything-"
"You vill hear me yell," he smiled faintly, sniffled, and then fluttered his lashes with a look of gathering dismay. Here it came. Kitty waited by the door, watching him as he parted his lips... half-veiled his eyes... and his chest worked like a bellows, deeply in and out with a tremulous, "...Aehhh..." and then, slightly higher in pitch, "aehhhh..." Kurt seemed to freeze perfectly like that for two seconds, then doubled suddenly forward, succumbing to final, explosive, "HEETTISSSH!"
"Bless you," Kitty said with a quiet wince, and watched the blankets shift as he squirmed his way more deeply beneath them.
"Sank you," he sighed, sounding stuffy again. "...Gutten abend, Keety."
"You too, Crawler," she murmured, Phasing herself out of sight. "Sleep well."
The End
Characters, situations, etc, belong to their creators.