driftfleet | [snuggle up real close everyone]

Heeeey. [She's actually pretty sure he meant that the nice way.]

So, should we talk about the thing we haven't talked about yet? [The blue elephants in the room.] You know, the part where you have to get two mother's day gifts this year. [Or none since neither of them is really his mom.]

[Kurt stills, the grin that had begun to spread turning brittle.]

Nein. [Swallowing, his jaw works as though the words he's holding back are something in his mouth that he's grinding to nothing.] I've only made contact with one of them, and that's how I intend it to stay.

[She nods.] How're you doing? [She can't really imagine how she'd feel to see a version of one of her parents here. It's hard to even picture. There would be a lot of feelings though.]

They're not my mother, Kitty. One of them is too violent, she screams when she should be coaxing, and I'm fairly certain she helped Apocalypse in her world. The other--the other is Xavier's, and far too young to be saddled with the knowledge of me.

[There's relief that he already knows about Mystique's connection to Apocalypse. She was having a hard time deciding how to break that.] The things Rogue told me about her weren't good.

As for the other one... I told Hank he should tell her. I don't know if he did. It just didn't seem like the kind of info that was going to stay secret here. Not with two of you at the time and another version of her.

Nor Remy. She doesn't know I'm aware of the connection.

[He sighs, low enough that it comes out half growled.] I suppose there'd be no keeping it secret with the prisoner lists being public.

The fellow Darkholme might raise a flag, yeah. I didn't say anything when I met her though.

...She was blond. [Which surprised her a little.]

[That makes him blink.]

Her body or the form she was wearing? [One wouldn't be strange at all; his mother's work stranger forms than that. But the one she reverts to has always been a redhead. Kurt suspects its one of the ways she grounds herself.]

The form she was wearing. I just didn't expect her to be in disguise on her own ship I guess. She seemed pretty comfortable in it.

It might not be a disguise to her. [And that is deeply disturbing to him, but in light of McCoy's distaste of his natural form, it makes horrible sense. His mother had always been so proud of her appearance.]

Probably a very good idea we avoid each other.

[Nodding.] I think it's what she's used to. [That was the part that surprised her. She knew Mystique could play roles and play people, but she also seemed so unapologetically herself.

Kitty reaches out to rub his arm and give it a little squeeze.] Also, I might have accidentally become friends with Hank. [By which she means she definitely did. How did that happen?]

[Kurt's very glad he's wearing a shirt, because otherwise Kitty might be able to see his stomach tense against the very real rolling sensation. Saliva gathers in his mouth, and for a moment he honestly wonders if he's going to be sick at the thought. He swallows, and the moment passes (but not the revulsion).] It seems typical of these better worlds.

[His eyelids lower, his line of sight flickering to her hand on his arm before looking back at her face. The spade of his tail comes up to rest on her hand, curl around it slightly.] They're all very easy to like, aren't they? [His words are soft, and carefully neutral, because he can't blame Kitty for believing them. He wants to believe that Xavier and McCoy are exactly as they say they are, wants to trust Erik like he did his own. Kurt can't blame her one bit; but he can't trust her with his reservations any more. Probably for the better.]

I guess when survival isn't your only problem you get new ones. [She may not be able to see his stomach, but she knows this isn't comfortable for him. She'll leave it there for now.]

They really are. [She sounds almost defeated saying it. She's torn. She both wants to keep a distance and wants to just embrace them. She's doing a lot better at the latter. Then her eyes widen as she remembers something.]

I didn't tell you about Leto, did I? I asked him to look into Hank's future, see if he goes all Dark Beast. [She feels a little bit bad about that, but she would have changed it if she had it to do over.] He said no, but when he looked his eyes started bleeding. He said a presence—not Hank—blocked his view of more.

[She was their assassin rather than their spy for a reason. Being here, in a dubiously kinder place when she's had time to begin healing, Kurt can see why.]

Nein, you failed to mention the presence of a powerful precog in the Fleet. [The scolding look he gives her is only half-hearted, as he's already running through the possibilities. Of course it wouldn't be McCoy, even their version didn't have that kind of power. If the man didn't have any kind of resistance or immunity to telepathy, Xavier might. Cain Marko's face flashes in his mind as he murmurs:] He didn't happen to give any details of this presence, did he?

[Her look is suitably apologetic at least?] He sees timelines past and future. He also looks a lot like Xavier. He comes over to play chess with me sometimes. [Because it's really easy to beat someone who can see your moves ahead of time.]

He didn't have a lot of details. Someone very powerful. Apocalypse or someone working for him came to my mind because...of course he did. [He's the monster in her book.] But who knows. I warned Erik for what it would be worth to them.

[snuggle up real close everyone]

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OK I'm on mobile screw fancy formatting

So fair!

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