Summary:Kurt visits a safe-house to be psychically vetted. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Jean had offered Kurt a chance to visit the school. After all, if you can't offer an education to mutants who've escaped from the circus, what's even the point of being a school? But as usual, there's a certain amount of checking that needs to go on. She sent his information to the school for the more mundane part of things, but the last part is…well, a little more invasive.
She met Kurt at the community center, than led the way to one of the school's safe houses in the city. It's a thoroughly unremarkable place, neither too nice nor too plain, with whatever anyone might need if they're lying low.
"So I get that this is super weird," she says as she unlocks the door, looking over her shoulder with a wry smile. "But you're in charge, okay? If you're ever uncomfortable, you say the word and it's over. Sound good?"
Kurt had not been expecting to hear from Jean quite so soon after their initial meeting in the community center, but then again he doesn't exactly know how any of this is supposed to work. He doesn't seem to have any sort of reservations as he follows Jean to the safe house, though when he steps free of the community center he pulls the hood of his jacket up over his head and tugs the draw strings slightly to partially obscure his features. As they stand at the door, he nods his head and glances briefly toward Jean. "I understand," he says in a thick german accented version of english. "I believe it will all go well."
Sam Guthrie had been informed by Jean that she'd be bringing somebody new by. He's been keeping himself busy doing busywork around the place, a little bit of good old fashioned carpentry as he fixes a set of shelves that got knocked down by some errant students who probably should've known better. But discipline, thankfully, isn't Sam's job. Neither is this, but he likes it.
As he sees Jean coming in, he calls out, "That you, Ms. Grey? Hold on, lemme get the door for you," he calls, jumping down off the ladder and heading over to catch the knob, pulling it open the rest of the way.
There's another here that could pass for Jean's twin, or only-slightly-older sister. Rachel stands leaning against the stairway railing sipping on a can of soda in her hand absently while she'd been watching Sam do his carpentry. It's hit or miss if she was watching HIM or the task he was set to. When he jumps down to answer the door she blinks several times out of her thoughts, propping her hand on her chin, and turns to glance that way. "Oh, we got more newbies? Sweet. I won't be the newest anymore."
"Thanks, Sam," Jean smiles swiftly as she steps inside, making room for Kurt to follow. "Kurt, this is Sam, and Rachel. Guys, this is Kurt. He's new in town, could use a place to set down some roots." She won't share more than that, as Kurt's story is his own, but it's enough for introductions. "We got everything started at the school, but you know. Have to do the rest, and I figured better in a comfortable place."
As the door is opened, Kurt's attention shifts from Jean toward Sam given that he is right by the door. There is a dip of his head toward the man as Kurt follows Jean inside, then an uncertain smile sent Rachel's way along with a lift of a hand in wave. "Hello," Kurt says, his eyes shifting from one to the other. "It is nice to meet you, Sam, and you as well Rachel. My name is Kurt Wagner."
Sam Guthrie offers his hand, the tall blonde giving a wide grin, "Pleasure's mine. Sam Guthrie," he says. If he's perturbed at all by Kurt's unusual appearance, he doesn't show a lick of it and the warmth in his voice seems to be genuine.
"Ain't much of a better place for folk like us to be," he says. "I know it feels a little weird, but it gets to be almost like home pretty fast. Almost. My mama'd whup me if I went any further than that."
Rachel Summers rises from her lean on the stairs with a little stretch. In one smooth motion she plants her hand on the railing only to push up, and swing her legs over without concern for being a good several feet above the bottom floor. Gravity doesn't seem to treat her as it might others. Instead of falling she floats gently down to land on her feet with one hand raising to wave toward Kurt in greeting with a lopsided grin of her own. "Welcome, Kurt. I'm Rachel." For a moment her gaze flickers to Jean uncertainly. Then with a small breath she adds, "Rachel Summers. Nice to meet you."
Jean doesn't seem to hold any ill will for Rachel's introduction, smile flickering. "Actually, Rach, I'm kind of glad you're here. Not to make you nervous," she smiles ruefully to Kurt, "But Rachel's actually more experienced with the mind-searching thing than I am. It'll probably be a smoother experience for you if we work together than if I just did it on my own. Side note," she adds, pointing to Sam, "You don't want to upset his mama. Mostly because then you get cut out of the christmas cookie list, and nobody wants that."
Kurt studies Sam for a moment, his brow slightly furrowed as if he were trying to follow the phrasing of what the man has said. Very seriously he says, "I would never wish for you to upset your mother. You do not have to say any more." There is a nod then, before he looks over just in time to see Rachel float down to the floor. Chuckling, he says, "That is a neat trick…" before Jean steals back his attention. Looking from Rachel to Jean and back again, he says, "What exactly are you looking for in my head?"
Sam Guthrie points at Jean, "You ain't wrong there. I can't imagine gettin' through December without some o' Mama's sugars," he says.
He winces, "Man, better you than me. I can't imagine what it's like pokin' through other people's minds. I bet you see all kindsa stuff you don't even wanna imagine. Especially in Illyana's mind."
Rachel Summers gives Jean a dubious look at that suggestion. "You only want me for my brain," she retorts with a melodramatic sigh and upward roll of her eyes. It's all a bit jokingly done, but the subject at hand does cause her to sober a bit more seriously. "Yeah it's complicated at times. Jean *does* need to learn a bit more finesse with it," she adds giving her fellow redhead a look.
It only lasts a moment as her expression softens to be as reassuring as possible when looking to Kurt. "Just enough to make sure you're not some spy or plant that might cause harm to the school or it's inhabitants. It's really not as bad as it sounds," she assures. Sam gets a smirk though, and she adds, "I don't usually tend to poke in people's minds unless I have a reason to. I've got enough messed up stuff in my own head."
"Nobody goes through Illyana's mind," Jean assures Sam without a second of hesitation. They all know better. "Honestly, for me it's usually a matter of keeping other people's thoughts out of my head. Which is why the professor and I have been working with the blocks. Ah. That probably also sounds weird. I came into my powers pretty young, and it was kind of traumatic. So someone with similar powers to mine helped me by sort of putting the brakes on things until I could handle more of it."
She nods to Rachel's explanation. "Skimming, kind of. Like when you flip through a book and make sure all the pages are there, none of them are weirdly blank, and none of them say MURDER EVERYONE in boldface type."
Kurt listens to Jean's story with an expression that is obviously sympathetic. "I can understand the struggles of facing the struggles of your powers at a young age. While I did not learn to use my powers until later in my life, I was born looking like this. Though… smaller, of course. It was not an easy life for a child with blue fur and a tail…" he says. Looking around the room and then toward the three he eventually adds, "Where should we do this at? Should I sit?"
Sam Guthrie grins, "I guess I'm just lucky my power is just flyin' really fast and crashin' into stuff," he says. "Don't get me wrong, I made my share o' messes, but nothin' like overhearin' thoughts in a house full o' teenagers," he says.
"I'm going to finish working on the shelves, but if you n eed me for anything, just gimma a holler. Nice to meet ya, Kurt. Hope to see you around more," he smiles.
Rachel Summers reaches out to pat a hand on Jean's shoulder as she starts to step past them. "I think you should grab a seat, relax. Just reminisce. And let Jean here do her thing," she adds with a bemused smirk. "I'll be hovering on the edges though," she offers. "Just in case."
"Thanks, Sam," Jean smiles easily as he heads away, leading Kurt over to a couch. "I'd recommend sitting, yeah," she nods. "Just…in case. Besides, it's more comfortable. Basically, I'm just going to sort of…drift in there. You should be able to tell what I'm doing, where I'm at. It'll be sort of like looking through a photo album with me. It may feel a little odd, but it shouldn't hurt. If it does, I'll know, and we'll stop immediately."
Once they're all settled, she takes a deep breath. "It's a little easier with contact," she smiles apologetically, reaching a hand for his shoulder before she closes her eyes.
As she said, it's noticeable, but not uncomfortable. Sort of like the feeling of sharing a couch with someone, or standing next to someone while looking at a menu together. There's even a sort of comforting warmth to the contact. It really is more or less like flipping through a photo album of his life, if a photo album also held feelings, scents, and other impressions.
Kurt does move over to take a seat on a sofa, though he does not walk. Rather, he simply disappears, leaving behind a faint trace of black smoke, only to reappear on the couch. He readies himself, and once Jean begins Kurt tries not to move. Jean finds many memories, but they are all accurate with who Kurt says that he is. There is nothing dangerous or false there, or anything that could be deadly to the school and X-men.
It doesn't take long. The magic of mental contact, being able to take in large amounts of information in very short amounts of time. But once it's over, Jean lets her hand fall, nodding once. "Looks clean to me," she says with a warm smile, standing up. "If you want to settle in here for now, or if you've got stuff to pick up, you can go ahead. And we'll work out a time to bring you to the school. You should have plenty of time to settle in, with summer starting up."