2013-02-16 Drydocked

Wintry day. The sky is grey, but the air doesn't feel as if there's a real accumulation coming. Snow flakes are falling lightly, though it's just making the snow that's turned slight grey with age back to a delicate white. The lake behind the mansion is frozen, and a spot cordoned off for ice skating, though there is a sign declaring it to be at one's own risk. Off to the side, near the tucked away boathouse is the sailboat that Warren Worthington III has graciously allowed to be kept for the enjoyment of the Institute.

Well, okay. For Kurt's amusement, mostly.

The single-masted sailboat is in drydock at the moment, protected from freezing lines and the like. Just because it's on land, however, doesn't mean that the elf doesn't find a chance to play. Even with all he's seen and experienced, Kurt has his moments.

There's something of an excitement from the elf; showing off a toy, an important part of his sanity. His get-away, other than losing himself in old movies or in St. Patrick's. "Come the spring, Warren und I will be putting her back into the water, und I'll get to sail her again."

Somehow, against all odds, Valentine's Day turned out to not be a complete wreck. At least not for Domino. Somehow, it led to her getting a personal invite to a drydocked sailboat. Somehow, she's allowing all of this to happen.

"Boating can be nice," she agrees in her own 'around the matter' way, tightening her jaw against the irritation from healing wounds while climbing up onto the deck.

Why is she here..? Why did she agree to this? After the way things have been progressing she knows what it's going to lead to...

Interrogation.

And what a nice and isolated location this is for the grilling to commence without interruption.

Why climb onto a deck when one can-


 * bamf*

Kurt makes to scoot Domino up, particularly knowing the discomfort she is feeling at the moment, and lands upon the deck of the boat, behind the 'wheelhouse'. He uses his left hand; the right is still painful, though the bandages are off on the arm to let everything breathe. His hand is scarred, dark skin under that blue fuzz, apparently. There is the beginnings of fur growing back, but not to the 'itchy' point yet. Yet.

"Nice?" Kurt sounds theatrically incredulous. "Nice? It is like nothing.. the wind blowing through your hair.. though I will admit that I have more than most."

Interrogation? Perish the thought.. really!

"I wanted you to know that I enjoyed the dance," and Kurt waves his left hand to gesture dismissively, "Not the fights, or the spiking of the punch.. but the chance to dance with you." He pauses, then offers a soft, "Danke."

"Yerk--!"

"A little warning goes a long way..." Dom mutters while eyeing you upon re-entry.

She's grateful, really! She's also prideful to a fault. The day she can't climb a ladder is a sad day, indeed.

"Think it was the first time I've been to a dance when the fighting didn't originate from me," she jokes while finding a railing to half sit/half lean upon. She's still sorry that she missed the punch before it got removed from the scene of the crime. Even so, there's a thin smile about her now. "It was fun. You've got some moves, Blue."

'Danke.' It's her natural reaction to want to dismiss such an offering without another thought. 'No problem,' or 'don't think anything of it.' She takes a moment longer to respond because she's setting her jaw, taking a firmer hold of the railing behind her. Why should -this- be so difficult? She's flown across the world, gone through millions of dollars, ended the lives of how many people, and she can't even step up to the plate and say--

"You're welcome."

"I didn't think you would mind?" Kurt cants his head, a smile turning easily into a grin, "Next time I will yell, 'Incoming!'. Usually, however, I simply suggest that they hold their breath, though it doesn't really do anything." A light shrug gives his shoulders a brief rise. "But it gives my passengers something to think about other than 'Oh mein Gott, I am being teleported'."

The elf strolls towards the wheelhouse now and turns about to lean on the dead console. He did promise 'slowly'. "I should apologize, however, for my departure from the Medical bay the other night." There is a sound in there, however, that makes his words almost take on that 'but' characteristic. "I have discovered that despite protestations, Kwabena is quite .. taken with you." He smiles, and it's not a happy one, "It appears I have a rival for your attention."

"It's a bit ..jarring," Domino admits. "I can handle it better than my lunch can."

In the next moment she quickly comes to understand what this meeting is about. It's enough for her shoulders to tense, her head rolling forward and her eyes closing through the cycle of a full breath. Yeah, about that whole 'starting slow' thing? She had just been referring to the dance. Not commitment. Some might say that she's lucky to have two wonderful men seeking her attention in such a fashion.

For her, it's rapidly becoming an unwanted anchor.

"Kwabena doesn't know what he wants," she quickly says back, a cold edge in her voice. When she looks back to you she does so without lifting her head. "I'm starting to question whether you have any better of an idea, yourself."

Darnit. -Darnit!- The urge to slap her palm down upon that railing is almost overwhelming! "I'm not the kind of girl that you want to get too attached to, Kurt. I don't care if you're half demon or whatever, you're still more pure at heart than I am. You stick too close to me you're going to get yourself hurt."

And so will she. Say goodbye to her third rule of survival.

"It gets easier the more you do it," Kurt explains softly, though while he's probably referring to the teleporting, he's not going to clarify.

"Ja, he does. He wants what all men want. A moment of quiet, a moment when there is nothing in the world but him und you. No shooting, no laying of traps. He already has the other, the working side by side." He does too, just.. not quite in that way.

The chill in her voice, the coolness brings his yellow eyes to land now completely upon Domino, and he exhales softly, his smile touching at the edges. "I want to see you smile. If it is me that brings it, I would be happy. But, I have seen too much misery, too much death.. und I am tired of it." He chuckles and shakes his head, "I have given up on love. That is for me in another dimension, und I wish that Kurt well."

Shifting his spot, he teleports quickly to perch on the back of the captain's chair, crouching easily, looking very much like a gargoyle with his arms settled on his knees. "Leibchen, might I remind you that my very existance means I will get myself hurt. Every time I leave these walls, I will get myself hurt. It is our very nature." The smile turns a little winsome. "I will be happy to stick close to you. It would make getting myself hurt more pleasurable."

'Given up on love...'

The tension built up in Domino's shoulders slowly begins to ebb. That part of the situation seems to have been defused, without having to dive into details she'd rather keep heavily buried. Silver linings.

Maybe she hasn't gotten used to teleporting alongside you but she's gotten used to you throwing yourself about like that. It's nothing for her to move her point of focus to follow as soon as you reappear elsewhere. It's seeming like a nervous tick of yours, like how some people would crack their knuckles or play with a pen in hand. Stress, anxiety? It's that sliver of freedom, that shield which you can hide behind when things are starting to look a little uneasy.

The point which you reach pulls an involuntary smirk out of the monochromed woman, once more letting her gaze drift down to the deck. The expression is gone a moment later, recollecting her thoughts into one question meant to punch straight through to the heart of the matter.

"What is it that you want, Kurt? This can't all be over getting a smile out of me."

If she's going to be any more guarded she'll need a pile of cinderblocks and cement.

Kurt has his defense mechanism in full gear. He'd explained it before. Keep moving.. keep moving and two things happen. They can't follow you, and you can't really get a good look out either. It's when he stops moving, and looks at what is coming..?

Yellow eyes follow her movements, the smirk that disappears soon after. He can feel the wall as surely as if it were brick and mortar, though, separating them. There's something of a sadness there, and he puts up a hand, laying it 'flat' in the air.

"It is, after a fashion. The other part of it, I already said as well. I want to be the one that helps it there." He exhales in a soft breath, and disappears from his spot on the chair, only to reappear beside her, seated on the railing. He puts his tail out behind, but not touching, to act as a safety net on the chance that he'll startle her with his appearance. If she goes over, he'll be able to catch her. "I, too, would like a quiet moment, und know that you.. like it too."

Apparently that defense of yours is more than for a combat situation. Or is a conversation with Domino just another form of combat? There's certainly enough tripwires and landmines to tiptoe around...

"Were you too drugged up to notice it before?" she pointedly asks. The other day, in medlab. These two, laughing themselves stupid. At Kwabena's expense, nonetheless. There's something kinda ironic about all of that.

Her own inquiry is followed through with a slow breath, meeting your yellowed gaze once more. The initial response that she wants to go with is 'how would you know what I like?' That, too, gets bit back. Withheld from the conversation. You're not another merc at a bar that's trying to get lucky for the night. Surely you deserve better treatment from her..? Wouldn't everyone at this Institute deserve better?

"You can at least take comfort in knowing that you're the first one I turn to when I need some peace. You want to be the one to make me smile then have at it, though don't hold your breath. I'm not anxious to see what color you'll turn."

Where you teleport, she falls back to that dry wit.

"Do you truly think I do not notice such things? The way your eyes shine, the brightness that is behind them? The way that, for the moment, all care seems to fade from your face. It is so fleeting, leibchen." Kurt's words are barely above a whisper. "Because so quickly after, you do not allow yourself anything beyond those heartbeats."

Kurt holds his hand out, though he's sure it'll be left hanging. "You will give me that chance?" He chuckles quietly, the smile turning to something of a impish grin. "Purple. Though you'd only be able to truly see it in the sun. It makes me look as if I was a bit faded from the sun. Purple roots, blue fur."

..Wow. Suddenly this got from tense to -complicated.- Eyes are the window to one's soul. It seems somehow appropriate that it takes someone with the blood of the infernals in order to see into her own.

There's that hand, an offering of something special, meaningful, without the weight and hassle that comes with the 'relationship' stamp surrounding it. One smile, really..? That's it? Another quick sigh escapes Domino, a long-buried memory floating back to the surface when you ask for that chance.

'Ya got a heart as big as the moon. Yer just afraid t'show it.'

Despite the gruff "Fine" of response, the ghostly woman accepts your offered hand. "But it stops at a smile, or we're going to hit purple."

It's a joke. Honest!

Fine? Kurt will take fine. He can almost feel that stress and strain begin to shift, and at those words, there comes an impish grin once again. He's found his breath, that which was locked in his throat for those heartbeats.

Closing his hand, yellow eyes seem to glow in pleasure, and his tail moves behind her in order to wrap about her waist. His hands are busy! Well, one is, the other is still injured. "It will not be so difficult to ask you to come with me to a club now, fearing being turned down." He chuckles softly, "Though.."

Now, his tail snakes up, and wrapping about a small weapon, Kurt teleports quickly, only to land once again the captain's chair, the gun held in the spade of his tail. "Only one? I am flattered, leibchen," he teases lightly.

"-Clubbing?-" Dom asks, surprised that such a thing would even be suggested! "Yes, you managed to get a dance out of me. Don't start taking this as the norm."

Wait a moment. Something's not right here. Misdirection--

Oh, you son of a--

She pushes herself away from the railing and stalks closer to you, saying in her defense "I try not to make a habit of carrying fifteen pounds of firepower around the student body." Pause. "You also forgot the knife in my boot."

Which she would have used had you of been someone else, and this boat not belonging to a mutual acquaintance.

She comes up to you and holds a hand out, palm open, in a clear 'gimme' gesture. "Last I checked, your name didn't come up under the security team, either."

Kurt hangs the pistol in the air between them, and as she stalks towards him, his tail moves slowly out and behind him. "No? Then.. Bar?" Beat. "Restaurant?" Beat. "Hole in the wall pizza parlour?" He's obviously playing now, his tones light, his accented words.. almost singsong.

A dramatic, certainly theatric, expression of disappointment comes across his face at the mention of the boot, and in the next second, he's gone off the chair and onto the spar of the mast in mid'ships. "I will have to remember the boot for later." He's standing on the spar, leaning against it. Reaching his hand down, he's offering a 'hand up' onto the perch, his tail still holding the pistol. "My name doesn't come up under many things, liebchen. But I have been here for several years. Though, never as a student."

Seriously..? Domino's being baited. With her own gun. "Yeah, and next time I'll make sure to pack a little extra." That aside, in the spirit of keeping things more on a casual level and not slipping into 'date' territory, she says "Hey, I'm always happy to get trashed." It's a rare day indeed when she wouldn't be happy to drown a few more hours of her life away at a tavern.

You're offering her a hand. Not her gun. Blue eyes narrow slightly but she takes your hand once more, ever aware of where your tail is, and the prize at the end. Like the ripest piece of fruit upon the tree, always -just- beyond her grasp...

"In case I didn't already give it away, I've got my official position around this place nailed down. Security. And firearms instructor."

It's all the 'warning' you get before she suddenly leaps in an attempt to tackle you. If she can get in close enough then maybe you won't be able to teleport without her catching a ride. One way or another, though? She's -getting her gun back.-

It is deliberate. Kurt wants to keep things light. The heaviness of heart stuff is done, and now his job is to see her laugh. To smile. And for her to play with him. A kiss, well.. that may or may not come after, though of course he hopes it will...

A date? Ideal.

"I will have to see, then, if you are a cheap drink date, or an expensive one that holds her alcohol well."

His hand is still outstretched, his right this time as it is his dominant hand. When she takes it, he has to brace for the pain he knows is coming soon after. Physical Therapy. "Security, ach so?"

It's warning enough as he can feel the tensing of the muscles before she takes that leap. The moment she's up, and tackling, he teleports again- once, twice.. and lands back on deck. One thing that perhaps Domino will learn from the experience is that energy is not dissipated in the act of teleporting. Her tackle remains.. a tackle as they emerge from that last teleport. Kurt is, however, an accomplished acrobat. Her tackle is turned into something of a flip, or an attempted one as he works to control her flight and landing, his hands ending to cradle her head so it doesn't crack on the deck.. which may very well be the opposite to what she was expecting. He's so very good at what he does that he rolls with her, his tail ending in the air, and their positions reversed from where she'd probably hoped they'd be.

A blue, fuzzy, grinning face peers from above, and leaning over, makes to place a kiss on the tip of her nose before handing her the pistol with a swivel of his tail. "Congratulations on your new job."

Anything worth having--


 * Bamf!*

-Thud.-

--is worth fighting for.

"I can handle my drinks a lot better than I can handle shooting myself," Dom admits in a low voice, the pain from her yet healing wound coming back to remind her that it's still there. Maybe she should be following your lead with that whole physical therapy thing! Instead of driving all over creation looking for giant power armor-wearing bad guys to snipe at from a thousand yards. It's a thought.

Once again she scrunches up her face as you plant that kiss. Playful. Innocent. Taunting. All at the same time. You may have won this round, but she's onto you. You watch the patterns then find where the gaps are. Those gaps become your safety net, your own hyperspeed highway. She's here on her back now because you saw her coming, all the time in the world to react. She simply needs to counter your instinct, move in a different direction as soon as you think that you've got her pinned down.

In the meantime she simply nabs her pistol back, staring back at you with a faint smirk settling into place. "Looks like you're stuck with my winning personality for a while longer. You'll understand if I'm not ready to jump back into sparring."

Kurt does watch, and he predicts. He can feel muscles tense, he can see the twitching under un-fuzzy skin. He's blessed with the ability to teleport in the blink of an eye and to reappear as quickly anywhere he wants to be. And that includes ten feet in the air, twenty.. or fifty miles away. He can, however, be defeated. It's been done before. Many times.

The victory grin begins to fade as it begins to dawn on him that there is still that chest wound. Kurt's expression is one of concern and guilt all pressed into one as he gently rolls to the side and gains his feet. He offers a hand, and thinks better of it, instead leaning to basically lift you from the ground and onto your feet, his tones genuinely apologetic.

"I am sorry, liebchen.. forgive me."

Sorry..? -Sorry?- No, no, no. Don't be playing -that- card on Domino! She's content enough to pick herself up, carefully tucking her XDs pistol at the small of her back, then she turns her attention toward you.

Then stalks closer. She's attempting to root you into place with that cold stare of hers...

All so she might keep you off your game long enough to hook a foot behind one of yours, get one arm behind your shoulders and another across the front, then -push- you backward. Not to the deck. More like she's dipping you amidst a frantic dance, but with a lot more enthusiasm than what is healthy for the dancefloor. What this woman lacks in your ludicrous agility she makes up for in raw physical strength, though she's still far quicker than the non-mutants of the world.

All that's left to find out is if her spur of the moment plan happens to work.

It's true. There is a way to gain advantage over Kurt. It's when he allows for a person to get close. Perhaps it's why the rule of mercs is NEVER to get involved, but that's not the way the elf thinks.

He goes from concern to.. concern, as he catches the coldness of those ice blue eyes. He's not afraid, no.. he's smarter than that. But, there's that moment when he simply doesn't move as he watches you approach.

Now, Kurt knows you're quick, he does. He truly does. He's seen it in the Danger Room over the chest of gold. But, the speed and strength takes him by surprise, and in one moment, he's standing.. and the next, he's.. dipped? It's all he can do //not// to simply teleport out of this.. well.. okay.. embrace (after a fashion). He's not concerned about his safety, and she's gotten him fair and square!

He's got some semblance of balance; the tail does wonders as it whips around to find that spot where he's 'good'. Reaching out with a hand, he reaches out to wrap it behind you, giving him another spot to steady him. "Touche."

Smirk. "I'm a lot tougher than that, Blue. You want something to apologize for, stab me with a knife first."

Then she plants one of those quick pecks of a kiss to -your- nose (gotcha!) before letting you up. She can be a brat, too.

"Keep trying. You're bound to break my unyielding stoicism one of these days."

A moment later and Dom's frowning slightly, a quick hand pulling her phone out of hiding then rattling off a numeric code onto the display. It takes but a moment to read what's on the screen, the tension starting to return to her shoulders.

Timing...

"I'm going to have to disappear for a day or three," she says in that flat, factual tone while putting the phone away. At least she's -telling- someone this time. That's progress, right?

Kurt laughs at the kiss on the nose, and he straightens, his footing found. No sense reminding her that he could have simply teleported out of your arms. But, what fool would actually do such a thing?! Not this elf! No fool, he.

It is on.

"I look forward to that day.. or.." and the elf frowns for a moment. "Perhaps not.." He doesn't want to see her cry!

The frown gains his attention, however, and Kurt cranes his neck to lok at exactly what it is. He doesn't catch it, however, and straightening, he catches the tone. Shoulders slump and there's the feeling of distance. Nodding, he's not really happy about it. Reaching up to stroke the side of her face, he looks at her with those pupil-less eyes. "If I asked you not to go, you would anyway." A statement. "Make sure you come home?"

Dom could go into some detail about why she has to leave, about what's at stake. She could say whether it's for a good cause or whether it's all for the money. She could even tell you something as open as what part of the planet she's going to be heading to.

But..she doesn't.

"You're right," she confirms while keeping her head bowed, her gaze cast downward in similar fashion. There's always something right around the corner to remind her of who and what she is, as if she could ever forget. Truth is, she rather likes it here. Both the good and the bad. What the heck else would she do with herself?

"You'll be back to griping at me for not taking it easy in medical soon enough," she offers along with a thin smile. "I've got my own physical therapy lined up."

Translation: Someone's got themselves a price on their head that's too good to pass up.

Leaning in, Kurt goes place a light kiss that bowed forehead and lingers for a moment. "Du sollst nicht toten," he murmurs. A wish, perhaps. //Thou shalt not kill.//

He takes a step away, and nods at her words. "A full day in the medical lab to finish those transfusions, und then the beginning of Physical Therapy. By the time you return," and he holds his injured right hand out, "This will be driving me nuts."

Turning about now, he offers his arm. "Do you have time, then, to walk with me back?" He could, after all, always teleport back, but that would mean he loses those last ten minutes of your company.

There's something curiously symbolic about all of this, least of all one with your heritage telling Dom not to kill. For the moment she allows the comment (warning..?) to pass, instead reclaiming that look of idle amusement to cover up whatever she may be thinking about next. "The joys of healing."

When your arm is offered she inclines her head slightly and takes it in her own. What the hell. She doesn't have a lot to offer on the return trip to the Institute proper, falling back into the silence of her own thoughts. It's only before she parts your company that she finds something to say, leading you into a gentle hug that feels wholly uncomfortable and alien to her. This one is solely for your benefit, as she knows that her last words are going to hurt.

"Ich kann nichts versprechen." //I can promise nothing.//