rekindleme | Nightcrawling

Entry tags:

Nightcrawling

Who: Kurt and open to all (particularly all who are inclined to climb on things for little to no reason, or at least look up)
Where: District 1, exploring in a distinctly non-linear way
When: 11th of June, evening onward
Summary: Kurt's not actually all that good at playing normal human, image inducer or not. Wandering and socializing in an extra dimension. Come poke him.
Warnings: Nada

Kurt first intended to just go for an exploratory walk, but he's long since abandoned that verb. He's not ready to turn off his image inducer, but there are some people stranger than he is here, and the odd architecture and raised walkways and tall buildings are too tempting. It's not like anyone's going to see him climbing into random trees and roofs and tell people at school, after all. So while he is on the ground occasionally, he's not inclined to give it any more attention than walls and the convenient eaves and brackets of the buildings. The freedom of movement is daring and leaves him almost cheerful. There might be some advantages to not being home.

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For a change, M'gann isn't out on hero work and patrols. For one thing she's learned there's plenty of other caped people to manage that, and for another there's still some time before complete nightfall. Which, between the weather and the last bits of daylight, M'gann wants to enjoy. Ideally with something nice to eat, as well. It took some doing, but she's managed to find one good pastry shop, and has a bagful of treats in hand.

Even miles and worlds away from either home, sweets are something she can always enjoy. They're delightful on her tongue, and she doesn't even need to morph her body, digestion, or tastebuds all that much in order to savor them. Though for the time being, M'gann is content to stick with her human shape; there's something nice and uplifting about having a bagful of pastries tucked in one arm, and walking down the streets for some sightseeing. It could almost be something out of a feel good 'come vacation here!' TV spot.

It doesn't hurt that the pastries are good too. She has a mile long smile when she nibbles on one, just glancing around at all the buildings as she wanders through and enjoys the evening. (And possibly sends some nearby stomachs jealously rumbling. That's the risk of public snacking, though.)

Kurt's sweet tooth isn't particularly powerful. It's just part of his general passion for junk food in general. Either way, the smell catches his attention immediately from the tree he's perched in at the moment. Initially thinking he might have caught a whiff from a nearby shop, he skitters down a few branches before he realizes it's just some poor person going about her business with a bag of deliciousness.

He wouldn't bother her normally, especially not from a tree, but he remembers her. And feels like he didn't exactly make a great impression. Time to try and remedy that. Since it seems like she'll walk by if he stops to sit properly, he's still crouched like a lemur in the branch when he calls out, "Guten Abend. I remember you!"

Isn't that voice familiar-

That's as far as her thoughts get, before she turns around. M'gann is used to that level of acrobatics from Robin, but seeing it from someone new? M'gann does a pretty impressive double take when she realizes where the voice is coming from. And who it is that's talking to her.

"O-oh! H-hi," deep breath, and she can get her speech back to working normally. And doesn't even drop the bag in the process. "Didn't know you were that good at climbing. And I remember you, too!"

Now remember to wave, with the hand that's holding the pastry instead of the bag.

As acrobatics by Kurt go, this is pretty tame. He at least has the presence of mind not to swing down and hang upside-down. It'd make conversation easier, but it'd probably disconcert people more with his inducer on, and no clear reason he shouldn't lose his grip with his knees and fall in a matter of seconds. So he just shimmies down, as slowly as he can make himself. It helps that he has to fight his tail to keep it from popping out on the way to the ground. Thing has a mind of its own.

"Good, I'm glad I made that much of an impression," he says once he's on the ground. Now if he can just correct the earlier bit of awkwardness...

"Well, you look better then before. That seems good?" She offers, giving him a careful once over. He does seem to be in slightly better spirits which makes her stand a little more at ease. Though that does make her wonder if she should even risk brining up the previous conversation...

"By the way, about before,"

Ultimately, the desire to be helpful wins out.

"I haven't gotten any leads, sorry. Been kind of busy with..." Beating up muggers and robbers, but that's not really civilian conversation. "With learning how to fit in and stuff. But it seems like that information about contact was right. I've been feeling a lot better, after a few handshakes."

"I haven't either, really. It's hard to know where to even try looking, und I'm not the guy for this kind of investigation." Sneaking and overhearing? Sure. But clever plans and tactics and conniving strategy... Well, he can think of half a dozen people he'd rather put in charge. "That's weird news, though, about the touching thing..." He can't help but look unnerved and put off. What is he supposed to do about that?

"I know...But with how much better I felt afterwards, I can't really doubt it. When I arrived I wasn't feeling to great." Or all that solid and stable, where her shapeshifting was concerned. Morphing her skin had taken a lot more out of her then she thought, with how much she'd slept the first evening. "But I started feeling better the next day. No relapses, either."

She's even been able to enjoy the pastries and a few nice evenings of crime fighting!

"Huh, maybe we should set up a poking exchange or something." He almost suggested handshake, but that was extra problematic, given not just fuzz, but the wrong number and shape of fingers. He hasn't been trying to port, and his agility is just a function of his anatomy, so he hasn't been out of sorts yet. Or no more than he'd expect. He's certainly not willing to blow his cover yet just to play the hugging game.

"Maybe a friendly hand on the shoulder? I get not everyone likes hugs," even if she adores them. "But just some casual contact should work fine!" Though that reminds her of something else, as she gives him a careful look to make sure he's holding up alright.

"Um...What about you? Are you doing okay?" She still doesn't know what to make of their first encounter; maybe he just has a troublesome backpack and isn't touch averse at all. But past experience tells her to play it carefully, at least for the time being. "Sorry if it's nosey, but I thought I should check?" Because prying or not, she can't help but feel a little concerned; why should he be feeling sick or disoriented if it's so easy to prevent, after all?

A little of the bouncy friendliness leaves him as he fumbles for an answer. "Not really a fan." He'd help it if he could. He's even beginning to suspect that he's not that weird for this place and the people who've been pulled her. But he can't shake the cold, instinctive fear of being found out. The conviction that he'd be either torch-and-pitchforked or dissected if discovered remains even under very different circumstances.

While M'gann, with her shapeshifting now under control is under a little less fear of that...And entering into 'must help unhappy person' mode fast thanks to her thoughts being freed up from similar fears. And, deciding that food is always a fast way towards friendship, she goes rifling through the bag for another pastry.

"Are you a fan of sugar, though?" She asks him as she digs.

...In some ways he's not what you'd call a tough nut to crack. "Ja, always und forever." Sugar is a magical substance made of fairydust, after all. His expression lightens considerably. "At least the food is pretty good in general." He feels a bit silly for being pleased about it. He's still all kinds of kidnapped and in a bind, and he shouldn't consider pretty good snacks a major point, but they could be eating in a cafeteria. Blaugh.

"In that case, here; catch!" She digs out a good sized, golden brown colored thing that could be a donut, with a sizable amount of powdered sugar on it. And then gives it an easy toss towards Kurt, though she keeps her mind ready to snatch or steer it if necessary. (Though how she'll manage to do so unobtrusively, she hasn't figured out yet. Mostly she's hoping that won't come up at all.)

"I've had one already. Trust me, they're good!" Good way of cheering someone up, too. At least that's what she hopes.

The catch is easy, though powdered sugar is always a problem when there's fur to account for. He's totally willing to believe that and bites right in. "Sehr gut." He flashes a slightly awkward thumbs-up (awkward as any gesture involving fingers is when you have two less than a hologram is struggling to make it look like you have). "I'm a sucker for sweets."

"Hey, common ground!" M'gann beams, watching him. And...How does he do that thing with his fingers? M'gann gives them a curious look, trying to figure out just how it works and what sort of significance it might have. Maybe it's one of those expressive things, or way of communicating something?

After a moment of puzzling it out, M'gann realizes she's staring. "O-oh, sorry. Don't mean to be rude or anything, but that's kind of neat, what you do with your hands." And she might, possibly be trying to mimic it as well, as unobtrusively as possible.

If anyone's ever noticed that particular quirk of his inducer before, they haven't said so. A brief moment of trapped-animal panic flickers across his face. There's no Jean to come and fix it, no friends at all to hide with... But that passes. It's not like she felt fur or saw his tail. But despite what should be a great deal of practice, he's just not good at cover stories, coming up with them or delivering them. "What thing?" And now he's looking for an exit that won't look like a sudden, all-out retreat. He'd like to just port...

"This thing..?" She holds up her hand as she speaks in the best mimic she can, unintentionally show casing the Vulcan salute as she does so. Any humor from that is lost on M'gann, though; she's really sure she saw something amiss for a second.

Maybe it was just her imagination or a trick of the light? All the same, M'gann feels compelled to speak again, just in case.

"I thought it looked interesting. And maybe that it's some sort of sign language or signal or something? I've got friends who speak with their hands, sometimes. Not like...In place of vocal communication" she's fast to clarify. "But to add to it."

Kurt immediately squeezes his fingers together, trying to hide the strangeness, though that ends up looking almost as strange. "I, um..." There's not really an option here that looks better than retreat, but that'll probably just make him look stranger. He really needs his memory-rewriting telepath right now. "Just like this? Nein, doesn't mean anything." He tries to look like he's mimicking her now, but it's a pretty thin act.

There's still a learning curve to Earth culture, body language, and customs...But even with that, M'gann is pretty sure she isn't imagining any awkwardness at this point.

"...Really?" She doesn't sound or look all that convinced; maybe just because she was hoping for some sort of friendly conversation topic between them. That, however, is looking more and more like a lost hope at this point.

"Sorry, I just thought it might mean- Hello, Megan." She bops her hand against her forehead, giving a case in point example. "I didn't mean to make things awkward." She ducks her head, still with her hand pressed against it, in apology.

"It's okay. No big deal." He's calm again now, past the dizzying, stupid fear that comes when he's at risk of being exposed, and now he just feels stupid. This poor girl. She's perfectly nice, not even particularly awkward, compared with his friends. He just manages to keep doing the wrong thing. He's certainly not clear on how he might fix it now.

There's one way he knows to keep a conversation moving through a rough patch, though, even if it's a tricky segue. "So what would you be doing if you weren't in Creepy Kidnapping City? Besides eating doughnuts, I mean. Just curious, since, you know, people seem to be here from everywhere." People can usually be persuaded to talk about themselves, with the added bonus of taking attention away from him.

Actually, of all things being told to talk about herself is still something that throws M'gann for a loop. It's still strange, that people outside her team are interested in hearing about her; usually, the best she's always hoped for has been being ignored, overlooked, and not the target of any malicious attention. Positive interest, though? That leaves her puzzled, as her speech clearly shows.

"M-me? Well," though once she gets her balance back, M'gann breaks out into a smile as she thinks back on her home away from home. And lets her mouth speak at will, out of eagerness. "I'd be on Earth...I mean, of course I'd be on Earth! But I'd be going to class, high school education, cheerleading with the Bumblebees for the Happy Harbor Hornets and of course spending time outside of that with my Team- With my friends!" She stumbles over the last.

That all checks out, as far as he's concerned; specifying earth is important when people apparently come from all kinds of worlds, cheerleaders have teams, even the phrase "high school education" apropos of nothing in particular doesn't strike him as that odd. He's forgiving, given his own English. "Same. Well, not so much with the cheerleading. I wouldn't look good in the uniform." He can't help being a little leery of that information. He doesn't consider the jock types totally hostile, since Jean's Miss Soccer Star and all, but the cheerleaders definitely wouldn't notice him even before the outing of the mutants. "I'm more of a... hanging around being lazy guy." There! Back on track.

"Really? I think you'd look fine in it."

That wide smile and light to her eyes suggests that she's joking...Mostly. "Mainly hanging out, though? Doesn't that get," M'gann is about to say boring, but then she thinks back on their conversation before, recalling some of what was said.

"Oh- Wait, wait! I remember now; you said you were from Germany before. I guess that changing locations like that is pretty surprising; better to take things easy, huh? Come to think of it, I needed to do some adjusting when I arrived at the states, too." Some, but not all. That statement doesn't exactly line up with her claim to be from Massachusetts.

"Well, I got to the States a year ago. I guess I'm just not a joiner." A big part of it is Danger Room sessions, flying lessons, and missions taking up a lot of his time, but a lot of the other X-men manage to make time for school junk. He hasn't tried. "I was kinda homeschooled when I was younger. The whole club thing just doesn't work for me. ...Where were you before?" He figures he's probably remembering her story wrong, but then, she has no hint of an accent. Army brat, maybe?

"B-before?"

Oh.

Oh dear. She realizes her mixup a second too late, with not nearly enough time to control or mask her expression into something other then 'oh NOT good.' The best M'gann can do is give a nervous laugh, glancing away to look at the building around them.

"Oh! Well...Like I said, Massachusetts was before Rhode Island. Um, before then I was with my family in-" Think think think because this would be a really good time to come up with an Earth location.

"Q-Qurac. Um, Middle East territory. That's where some of my family is at." That technically isn't a full lie, either; just her adoptive family instead of the one on Mars.

Nightcrawling

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