driftfleet | [snuggle up real close everyone]

Hush you. My needs are being met. [Softer.] Besides, the last time I was responsible for young people it didn't turn out so well. [Seeing as they all died (as far as she knows). And yes, the thought of that scares here when she thinks about having her own children. Not to mention having lived in some truly unstable places not suitable for it. She doesn't want to lose herself down that rabbit hole right now though.]

You aren't the devil. And you are always welcome to repeat that at much as you want. [She smiles warmly at him.] You were saying something about a father figure?

[His hands move to cup her face gently, a gesture born of the desire to comfort and make sure she's paying attention to him.] That was Piotr's doing, not yours. You understand? You did nothing wrong, Kitty; he failed them. Not you.

[Kurt holds her line of sight for almost another full minute before relaxing slightly, his tail twitching.] I was. I'm not sure I want to say anything else; there's been a lot of attention already on the subject. It makes me uncomfortable.

I trusted him. [And it was a mistake. It got her students killed and then it got her killed. But not one she was completely alone in. They all trusted him. She still nods after a moment, trying to accept his words.]

[She should probably leave it at that, but the words slip out.] One of them told you?

We all trusted him. None of us realized he wasn't the Piotr who painted Russian winters and New York sunsets was dead until it was too late.

[His mouth twists now, eyelids lowering as he looks at the bed. A muscle in his jaw jumps, his voice carefully steady.] I know the name. He was Weapon Omega's minister of death. I also know who was and was not there when I was a child needing protection.

We did. [Part of her protests that she spent more time with him. Knew him best. But in the end she has to start letting go of these things or they're going to drag her down and that's a stupid thing to do with a second chance.]

Kurt... [The "I'm sorry" isn't said but it still hangs in the air. She rubs his arm. She hadn't recognized the description and certainly she wasn't around for Weapon Omega's reign.] Hank told me of him. I didn't get a name, but I wasn't sure how to tell you. [Which isn't the same as wasn't going to tell him.]

[He didn't really mean to include her in that grouping, because of course she of all people knew something was wrong. But she also had the best reason to think that he would still love her, that he would never lay a hand on her in anger.

His own hand comes up to rest over hers, squeeze gently in silent reassurance.] You know, I miss the days when I thought Victor Creed was the prime example of my mother's bad taste in men. Turns out it was worse than any of us realized.

[Her eyes widen at that revelation.] Ewww. [Disgusted, but in a harmless sort of way.] She could do so much better. [Or could have. They aren't talking about someone likely to still be alive.]

[Kurt shrugs, and adds as nonchalantly as he can:] Man did well enough by Clarice. Tried to do well enough by me, but I think that bastard's best as a father to girls. And at least my mother never bedded Weapon X. I know you adore the man, but you also never had to walk in on him and Jean. [Now it's Kurt's turn to pull a face.] I considered celibacy after that, I swear I did.

[She looks confused as she listens and sorts that out in her mind. She agrees that he was good for Clarice. Hell, it's why she forgave the man who tried to take her to the pens. The comments about Logan and Jean are heard, but she expects that kind of detail from Kurt. The other was a surprise.] He was there? He raised you?

[Kurt nods, looking back up at her.] For a very short time, when I was small. He left to join Apocalypse when I was.. five? Six? All I remember of his leaving was he tried to call me outside and then hearing him and Mom yelling at each other. After that it was just me and Mom living in that cabin. I didn't see Creed again until I was fifteen and we were on the battlefield.

Why didn't you tell me before? [How had she never noticed? Were there looks or exchanges between them that she missed when Creed joined up?]

And give you more of a reason to be afraid of me? Kitty, by the time he joined us the man had been out of my life longer than he'd been in it, and it's not as though I ever called him vater anyway. He's always been Victor to me.

[There's a sting when he mentions her fear, because she had been once upon a time. She'd been afraid of all of them, but Kurt was so different and she shied away from him a little more and a little longer. Of course he picked up on it.]

You know I'm not afraid of you anymore, right?

[Kurt sighs.] I know, Kitty. And I don't blame you for being afraid of me. I was afraid of everyone when Erik brought me back. But by the time it didn't matter any more, it.. didn't matter. It never came up before now.

Hell, the only reason I gave a damn about the other half of my parentage now is that Xavier was being coy about it. Before that, the last time I'd thought about it was back when Victor first joined us and I asked him point blank if he'd fathered me.

[She nods. She gets that there are things people don't know about her not because they're a secret but because they just haven't come up. She hopes he knows he isn't going to drive her away. Not with something like that certainly. Victor turned out to be the monster she assumed when they met and Kurt wasn't choosing any of his involvement with him.]

I guess he said no?

He was able to narrow it down to three potential men. Him, another mutant my mother was trying to form an alliance with, and the man she was actually married to at the time. [One corner of his mouth twists upward in a crooked grin. He honestly finds it funny. He certainly doesn't show any shame or judgement on his mother's choices at the time.] Mom swore that I wasn't the Baron's and that my father had the gene for fur, so I sort of assumed it was either Victor or a fourth man he didn't know about. Turns out Azazel has the gene for it too.

Complicated. [She can't even be surprised Raven was married and with other men not after finding out she'd lived with Victor. He wasn't even a one-night stand.] His name's Azazel? Didn't you want that to be your codename once? [She could swear he mentioned it when she was trying to decide her own.]

She was doing what she had to. [He assumes; he'd never really asked much about that time in her life. Chuckling, Kurt nods in answer to her question.] That or Belasco, but Erik flat refused to call me by a demon's name.

Magneto is wise. [She kisses his cheek.] I wouldn't have called you that either. Not that I really call you Nightcrawler much, but that's just because Kurt is obviously the superior name for you. Or furry jerk.

They're both fine names with long literary histories behind them. Unlike Nightcrawler, which is a worm. [The kiss gets a smile, which quickly turns into a faux-outraged expression.] Jerk? Why am I a jerk now?

You're not. Yet. I figure I'll need to break it out again eventually though. Gotta keep the ammo ready. [She smiles back at him.] You could be Shadow Worm. We could have our own special X club. Not to be confused with a triple X club.

With as often as you called all of us jerks, I can't believe you're rusty.

[See how quickly he starts to motion in the negative.] No. Kitty, you are not allowed to name anything. If you ever have children, I am naming them. You're banned.

What? You'd just name them after demons or other worms. These are my kids Centipede and Abaddon. And I'm pretty sure you have to be at least the father to get naming rights.

I would not name your children after worms, what do you take me for? [Demons, on the other hand..

Kurt's mouth twitches, and for a brief moment he contemplates the wisdom of his next words. And then a wicked grin spreads across his face as a precursor to the horrible joke he's about to make.] I'd offer to arrange that, but I don't think Winn would care for raising my cuckoo.

Edited (punctuation and correct icons are important) 2016-06-09 13:26 (UTC)

[You are so getting an arm punch, Darkholme. You are also the only person who gets this kind of response. Feel special?] Kuuuuuuurt.

As if I'd let you out of being with me if that happened. ...Not that... Nevermind. You start weird things.

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