2013.03.26 - Coffee and Bagels

The weather, now that the darned snow is done and gone, -again-, is promising not to be bone chillingly cold for the week. That, coupled with the music-fuelled drive out to the City (yes, even traffic isn't able to dampen his mood), and his plans for the morning all serves to make his mood quite.. good.

Parking the jeep in a -good- part of town, it's nothing for the teleporter to take those city blocks in one jump, two.. though after the second, he's left a little breathless. He's pushing himself for distance, and it's not quite working for him.

Yet.

It's one bamf.. and he's on the side of a building with a brown paper bag in hand.

Two, and he's on a roof.

Three.. and hello? He's standing in the foyer inside Fern's apartment, looking quite pleased with himself as the soft *bamf* sound of the air rushing to fill the void of the aether sounds.

"Guten Morgen, leibchen. I brought bagels.. und coffee."

Fern's apartment is quiet, but for soft music coming from the boombox on the floor by the sofa. It's Billy Joel, the cd still in the player from Kurt's last late night visit, the strains of Piano Man drifting through the space. Of Fern, there is no immediate sign.

Until a pile of blankets on the sofa moves when Kurt announces himself. It's a moment before Fern's head surfaces, face soft from sleep, the young woman blinking to clear her eyes and focus. "Doodle?" Even her voice is groggy, and as she sits up and the blankets shift, Kurt the Bunny is revealed as well.

Her smile curves slowly. "What time is it? Un-Godly o'clock?" she teases lightly. Red hair is a tangled nest, pushed out of her eyes carelessly. "C'mon in." She moves her feet, although there's already about half the sofa free, tucking them in to afford him more room to sit.

On the coffee table in front of the sofa, there's a small box sitting on top of plain brown wrapping paper.

"Ja.. unless you know other amazingly handsome blue, fuzzy teleporters?" The 'c'mon in' is, well.. a little late, but at least Kurt's polite and hasn't yet stepped into the apartment proper. Given time, he'll appear just above the couch, land.. and lounge. Now that he knows Fern sleeps on it? He even takes note on which side to land.

Not hard to see the blue bunny, and she's not even trying to hide the face she sleeps with it! Yes! "Nein.. it's past Un-godly o'clock und into 'even the birds need coffee to chirp' o'clock." Kurt lifts the coffee and with a double bamf, takeoff and landing, he appears on the far side of the couch with the goodies. His tail moves to fix the blankets that slip off her feet, tucking them under to give them a little more warmth.

"The sun ist shining, und.. well, okay. It's not quite completely up yet. But, it will be.. und when that happens, it'll be a sunny day."

There's a soft laugh at the joke, but as Kurt bamfs Fern's face takes a frown, forced up from her stubborn core. "So you're back up to a hundred percent?" she asks pointedly, referring to his mode of travel. He worries about other women, she worries about him. It's a circle. Still, she scoots closer to him, reaching for their customary hug of greeting, even in this awkward seated position.

Kurt leans over to set the bag next to the box on the coffee table, and glowing yellow eyes linger on it for a moment before he returns his attention to Fern. "Did I miss your birthday?" He sounds.. concerned.

Still, the question regarding his bamf earns her a momentarily disappointed look from the blue bamfer, and he shakes his head even as he supports her while giving the hug, and a kiss on the cheek. "My teleporting is only as good as my practice, leibchen. It has always been that way. The more I push, the better I get.. but.." Again, Kurt shakes his head, one arm still seeking to support her in her awkward position on the couch while the other gets the hair from in front of her face. "It still does not feel right. I don't feel as if I am progressing."

Fern tilts her head, letting her hair get brushed aside, the concern clearly written on her face. "Maybe you need a little more rest rather than a little more pushing," she suggests softly. She doesn't move away after the hug, instead shifting to lean against him comfortably. If there's one thing she's not afraid of, it's letting certain people into her personal space. Most people, actually, unless they're really off putting. Kurt is not, so she stays near.

Her eyes shift to the box on the table, and she leans forward to pick it up. "No, you didn't miss my birthday. This came in the mail yesterday." The paper is retrieved as well, turned so Kurt can see the writing. It's neatly printed, precisely in fact, her name and address. There is no return address, and a local postmark. "I don't know who it's from." She pauses, then adds honestly, "I thought you, for a minute, because you're the only one who gives me presents."

The concern is noticed, and with another soft drag of a wisp of hair out of the way, Kurt places a kiss on her forehead, right at the hairline, and rests his fuzzy cheek there as she settles into the cuddle. "Rest is something, leibchen, that does not come naturally to me. It is like.. when I am in a fight. Always keep moving or someone will target me und hit." He had a conversation a little like this before, with someone else. Actually.. many times. "The only time I stop is to determine which way is forward."

Kurt lets her go when she leans forward, and he watches her, pupil-less yellow eyes narrowing. It's obvious that he doesn't like the fact that there's no return address. "I always mark my presents, leibchen." That way he gets credit for it! Well, that and other reasons. Keeping his tones light, he shifts to the edge of the couch, leaning beside her, "Would you like me to open it for you?" Just in case there's something about it?

Fern shakes her head, not satisfied with his words. "Rest is important. For the body," she says, poking a finger lightly at his ribs, "And for the mind. Sometimes especially for the mind, so it has time to recuperate and process information without a constant barrage of new information." Of course, she's not really one to be talking about this, having not given her own mind much of a chance to recuperate from certain events. But, do as she says, not as she does.

Her head shakes again at Kurt's offer, and she puts the brown paper aside, focusing on the box. "I already opened it." It never occurred to her that she shouldn't. She pulls the lid off, revealing a nest of cotton padding inside, and lifts off the top layer. Beneath is revealed a plain silver band. Well, it looks plain at first, but as she plucks it up it can be seen that there are symbols engraved into the metal. It's looks too big for any of her fingers, but she solves that with her next words. "It fits on my thumb. Like, perfectly."

Fern's lecture brings a grin to his face, though he takes care to not showcase those sharpened canines of his. "That sounds extremely familiar, leibchen. Have you been listening to my lectures to others?"

Watching her open the box, Kurt reaches out with his tail to wrap it around her waist in a gentle hold. The padding, everything gets shifted aside. As the band comes out, his brows rise as he looks to the symbols engraved. Kurt holds his hand out, "May I see, bitte?"

A sideways glance is shot to Kurt, and Fern says lightly, "Maybe you should listen to yourself if you won't listen to me." She doesn't comment on the tail-hold, nor try to pull away from it, although there's a musing look on her face for a moment as she brings the ring up. -Almost as if he expected her to disappear when she opened the box.- She surrenders the silver band to Kurt willingly, setting it in the palm of his three-fingered hand, her fingers brushing gently as she releases the little trinket. The engravings? Could be runes, could be nothing, but they aren't familiar to Fern.

"Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul,

"Ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul."

After the ring is placed in his hand, Kurt peers at it, looking at the runes, his tail taking a slightly tighter squeeze around her waist, but it loosens up soon after. A tail hug! Though it does remain wrapped about her, the spade end of his tail resting upon her stomach.

"I have read 'Lord of the Rings' quite a few times. Once, all the way through for Warren," and yes.. he's got it memorized, fanboi that he is. He begins his recitation once again,

"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

"Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

"Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,

" One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

"One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them in the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."

Kurt grins, and he looks to Fern with the barest of turn to his head. "You've tried it on, und there was no ill effect, ja?"

Fern watches Kurt as he examines the ring, giving him a warm smile at his 'confession'. "Geek," she says softly, the single word holding a fondness. She listens for most of the recitation, adding her own soft voice on the last lines. "I liked the movies better, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the books." Read it for Warren? Another geek. Somehow, that's surprising but... not. "Nope, nothing happened, no mind control, no popping away to a strange land. It's just a ring." Apparently. But would she know if there had actually been mind control involved?

Kurt lives his life in a study of quiet paranoia. Born a mutant that had absolutely no chance of fitting in with the rest of society, he'd taken his first breaths before being tossed off a cliff, presumably to die. That, right there, was a heck of a beginning to his life.

He grins and leans to give the top of Fern's head a kiss, and speaks into that tousled red mane of hers. "Ja.. I am.. und apparently so are you."

There's a moment as he studies the ring again, and brows rise in prelude to the next, and probably obvious question. "May I take it back with me und have someone look at it?" Other geeks? Nope. Scientists. "Just.. bitte.. humour me?"

Fern doesn't shy away from the affectionate gesture, and despite it's sleep funkiness, her hair smells lightly of peach shampoo. "Maybe a little," she concedes. Boy, what she wouldn't have given to played one of those hobbits. It's her nature, truly.

Again, there's a contrary shake of her head at his question. "It's just a ring, Kurt. I'm sure someone will call me today and ask if I got it. Then what am I supposed to say? I got it but I didn't trust them so I gave it to my big blue guy to have people poke at it?" It's a light tease again, but she really doesn't see it as necessary.

"Leibchen," Kurt begins, and his tones sound in honest earnestness, "You have been seen in the company of obvious mutants." He doesn't want to spell it out, but he apparently has to. "There are people who do not like us, und will do anything to hurt those we care about." A sad smile comes to his face, and his tones drop to something just over a whisper. "That is why I wear the inducer at times. I apologize if my dashingly handsome blue form has caused problems for you."

He keeps hold of the ring for a moment, and once again he asks, "Bitte? I will bring it back to you tonight or tomorrow. If you get a phone call, then you can tell them that it was a wonderful gift und you are sending it away to be sized." How's that for an excuse?

"Humour me? Und if there is nothing wrong, I owe you.. one proper heroing." Kurt is still unsure if that's actually a word, but.. it sounds right?

Fern glances over to see the sad cast to Kurt's smile, and she turns her attention to him fully, twisting to see him better. One hand comes up, fingers softly stroking the fuzz on his cheek. "Who would ever want to hurt me?" she asks, her tone reasonable. She's got that confidence of the utterly normal, and a stubborn streak a mile wide. "No one, that's who. And you have already hero'd for me more than you've ever needed to." She holds her hand out now, palm flat, and twitches her fingers in a beckoning motion. "C'mon. Give."

It is a soft, blue fuzz that lays upon the skin of his face. It doesn't hold any of the harshness of normal facial hair.. mustaches of beards. Taking 'peach fuzz' to a whole new level!

Reaching his hand up to hers as she strokes his cheek, Kurt shakes his head, his tones still soft and decidedly concerned. "Would you like me to begin naming organizations? I can.. mutant und non."

Kurt still holds it, and he holds up a finger, "Give me 24 hours, bitte?" Beat. "Please? Und it will be back in your possession. All I ask is that you humour me?"

A soft chuckle sounds from the fuzzy blue elf, and once again, he shakes his head, but his tones soften to something a little more humour. "Then I will walk a little old lady across Broadway in your name."

Fern sighs softly. Has she finally met someone who can out stubborn her? Her lips press together and she sighs again. "Twenty-four hours," she finally says, grudgingly. "And when you don't find anything weird about it, we'll discuss what you will do for me in return." Red brows lift, a playful challenge in the words.

"If in that 24 hours we find nothing wrong, it will be returned, und you will have me for 24 hours to do your bidding, leibchen." Kurt grins in his victory and puts it in his pocket before leaning once again to set out the bagels and cream cheese, and importantly- the coffee. "I am rather talented too. I can remove lids with my tail, recite every line in 'Princess Bride'.. und can scare the neighbors when they are too loud." How's that for a resume?

Holding out one of the cups of coffee, his brows rise in prelude to his question, "Did I make this correctly?"

Grudging victory. Because Fern let him win. This time. "Well, you are handy, I'll say that for ya." She takes the offered coffee. Light, check. Brings it to her nose to sniff. Sweet, check. Takes a sip, and sighs blissfully. "You remembered. It's perfect." For a moment she regards him, hidden behind the raised cup, before she looks away. "You call everyone leibchen." It's not quite phrased as a question, and she's using the term 'everyone' broadly since she's really only heard him use the phrase with Domino, Jubilee and Anita. Certainly not with Warren or Bobby.

Kurt watches as the coffee is tested before his smile grows, and with a quick *bamf*, he's disappeared, only to reappear in the kitchen to look for a bread knife and a butter knife for the cream cheese. Once discovered, he's back on the couch, his tail curling around her waist once again.

"Hmm?" Kurt's brows rise before he nods slowly. "Ja.. but not everyone. Some are 'fraulein'. Um.. translated to.. 'Miss'.. or 'little miss'.." Reaching for a bagel now, he cuts open a couple of them, making them ready to be slathered with cream cheese. "'Leibchen' ist.." Kurt has to think of a good translation before, "Sweet heart.. um.. it is an affectionate term.. 'love'. Something familiar. A fond friend." And then, there's 'leibling'.. which, to Kurt, has the deepest of connotations. 'Loved one' in a diminuative. Saved for those precious few. Amanda. Domino. And, if he's not careful, and she.. soon enough, Fern.

"Und certainly not Bobby or Warren. They are 'meine freunde'. My friends."

Suddenly the soft pressure around Fern's waist is gone, as is the entirety of Kurt himself, and she turns to see him in the kitchen. "What did we say about," and he's back on the sofa, tail around her waist again, "that?" She looks at him levelly, her eyes no longer teasing, but her voice gentle. "Rest."

Scooting forward enough to make her reach to the bagels easier, Fern doesn't look at Kurt again, her eyes on the task at hand as she deals with cream cheese. "So... it's just kind of an all-around thing." Doesn't mean anything then. Ok. So it doesn't make anyone special, including herself. She offers him the knife when she's done with the cream cheese, settling back again.

Kurt exhales in a sigh, and he looks to her, his yellow eyes hold no pupils. No little black speck.. but there's a great deal of expression that lies within regardless. "I do not give that affectionate term to everyone, leibchen." And he uses it specifically. "Perhaps I didn't make myself properly understood?" He murmurs, "It is not everyone."

Taking the proffered knife, he offers a quick 'danke' before leaning over to liberally slather his bagel, effectively hiding the bread with the cheese. "If you recall.. you started as 'fraulein'." Beat. Kurt pauses a moment to offer a quick grace over the bagel before he looks away, not really wanting to meet her eyes for the moment, and gathering his courage, he returns, "Und you are now.. 'loved one'.." Just so there's no misunderstanding? "I can name 'leibchen' on one-- um.. two hands." Six fingers. "Kitty, Illyana.. they are girls I knew when they were children. That.. that is different. Then, there is Ororo.. und Jean. Two dear friends." For whom he has no real romantic feelings.

The only thing that gives a clue to Fern's feelings on this is the light pink that slowly creeps into her cheeks, rising from her neck. "You don't have to justify yourself, Doodle," she says quietly. She's chosen a spot on the opposite wall to look at, letting her foot, still hidden by the blanket, tap to the music playing.

Kurt puts the bagel down, untouched, and slowly rises to his feet, only to sit down on the opposite side of the couch, back into her view. Once he sits down, if she'll allow it, he reaches to take her in his arms again. He liked the cuddle, the feel of her warmth against him. "Du bist ein Freund von meinem Herzen. Die Welt ware ein einsamer Ort fur mich ohne dich." //You are a friend of my heart. The world would be a lonelier place for me without you.// It's the best way he can describe it.. and for him? Untranslatable.

When he bodily puts himself back into her line of sight Fern lets her eyes linger on his. There's no flinching away from the pupil-less gaze, and no flinching when his arms reach for her. She shifts closer, leaning into him, letting her arms slide around him as well, although she keeps her bagel well clear of his clothes and whatever fur and hair is exposed. "I don't speak German, Doodle," she says softly.

"Can you learn?" is asked in a whisper. Kurt leans over to kiss her cheek, though now, it's obvious that the intent is to lay a kiss upon those lips for the first time. It's bold, for him.. and if she can feel his heart pounding in his chest, it's the fear of rejection.. not for the 'normal' reasons, but for all the reasons he's experienced and conjured in his mind.

"'You are a friend of my heart.. und the world would be a lonelier place for me without you.'"

While she catches the intent, Fern only offers her cheek for the press of Kurt's lips. Unless... no... Until she has made a decision, she fully intends to not allow either Warren or Kurt that quarter, it would be fair to neither. It wouldn't be fair to herself, either. Even with her best intentions, she's not above the call of hormones, attraction and desire. No, she accepts the kiss to her cheek, but stays close, rubbing her cheek softly against his. It's a different sensation from any she's felt before, not the scratchy stubble of a beard, more like velvet against her skin.

"Yes, I can learn it," she returns softly. It's not really obvious that she's as smart as she is, and she doesn't go to lengths to prove her ability to anyone. She doesn't need to prove anything to anyone unless it's on a stage.

It's honestly not the reason he bamfed into the apartment, a mind to seduce. Or even try and get the cuddles. It's just..


 * sigh*

Kurt is waylaid, as it were, and the kiss goes no farther than her cheek, though he really, really wants to kiss her. His tail winds around her waist, adding to his holding of her. "Danke.. there are just times when english escapes me. After all, it isn't my first language.”

"Do you work today?"

It's not a walk in the park for Fern to hold to her resolve. While she's very particular, she's not celibate or without needs. But, as Kurt has seen, she is nothing if not stubborn, even when it comes to resisting the whisper of her blood in her ears. Maybe even more, then. She stays close, then turns her head to return a kiss to his cheek, soft and warm. When she does move back, it's not exactly moving away, but she turns to settle back into the sofa again. "I'd like to learn, for those times you can't express yourself in English." She can, she just needs to put her mind to it.

She nods to the question, "But not until later. I'm doing dinner shift." It's her usual shift, so her afternoons are typically free for auditions.

Kurt really does have a great deal of his father that runs through his veins. He enjoys the contact, he enjoys the warmth, the touching.. and the pleasure. Add to it Catholic guilt and the fear of rejection, and one is certainly left with .. a fuzzy blue elf.

How again do people think he's lucky in love? Okay.. sometimes he gets 'lucky', but that's when she's drunk, and he doesn't look very furry. Or blue.

Allowing her to have a little more space, a little more room on the couch, his tail is what remains wrapped loosely about her. "I will take this with me.." and he pats his pocket, ".. und will be back. It will give you the chance to get up, und get dressed." His brows rise in question, "Say.. in about an hour? Hour und a half?" The bagel? All but forgotten.. as is the coffee.

Fern frowns lightly, not having expected him to leave so soon. Nor to promise to return so soon. But yeah.... an hour and a cold shower would do wonders. Make that, "An hour and a half should be fine. Are we gonna do something today?" Asking if she's working, planning to come back, she gets a feeling that something is up.

"If you have no other plans, ja?" Unless, of course, the moment Kurt enters the lab, all the alarms go off because of the ring in his pocket. Or, if all the alarms go off because someone(s) is/are in trouble.

"Hour und a half. If I am delayed, I will call."

Rising to his feet, Kurt turns about to lay a kiss upon her forehead. Return home, drop off the ring to Beast. Then, cold shower. Warm coffee.. and bamf back the way he'd come.

"Auf wiedersehen, leibchen." In the next moment, Kurt is gone.. leaving behind that distinct scent of 'eau de bamf'.