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Post by Nightcrawler on Apr 13, 2007 16:52:53 GMT -5
I am not hiding.
He had to make sure that Cal hadn't dented the floor (which was becoming a regular occurrence at the mansion).
There wasn't anyone else around to take care of that.
Alex Summers had to be placed in a room (which Bobby had thankfully taken care of) and shown where all the information on his brother was.
Forge was away, so Kurt had had to struggle through the database.
The entire contents of Angelo's room had been destroyed.
He was the acting headmaster.
I am not hiding.
And then, when Liam left his room nursing a packet of blood to be met with the screams of a group of younger students...
I am not hiding.
Of course, he was sitting in his office with the lights off and the shades drawn, his body blending in with the shadows.
But at least the door was unlocked.
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Post by Storm on May 5, 2007 21:35:30 GMT -5
Ororo Munroe swept up the stairs, having given Bandero a fond smile at their parting back in the hangar. She had her duffel bag over her shoulder and a slightly darker tint to her already mahogany skin. More than that, however, there was a new gleam in her eye and a feeling of saltwater freedom in her thick hair.
The trip HAD done her good.
It had done her so much good, in fact, that the stiflingly maternal, overly responsible, and entirely too-stressed woman who left the mansion was not exactly the woman who was coming back.
Ororo had regressed.
She glided down the hallway, eager to share the spirit with a good friend, and of course to hear how things had been. She had quickly stopped worrying about the state of the mansion in the past five days, but now that she was back she wanted to catch up. It was so rare that the X-Men were away from each other.
She paused, surprised, outside Kurt's closed door. Perhaps he was elsewhere in the mansion - but he did not generally close his door; there were no valuables inside, and the teachers' files were all on the main faculty computer.
She knocked smartly upon the door. "Ku-urt, are you in?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on May 6, 2007 1:28:57 GMT -5
Normally Kurt would have heard the steps out in the hallway. It was usually quiet in the offices; students tended to avoid the area whenever they could. Distraction led to an unaware mind, though, so the rapping on his office door startled him. He frantically considered teleporting away, fearing it was another student with a problem for him to face. He wasn't sure whether Ororo had to deal with the average demands, or whether he had tried to be too helpful during his short tenure and it had backfired, but it had quickly spiraled out of control. Where were the other teachers when you needed them?
It took a few moments for Kurt to recognize the voice on the other side of the thin door. It was lighter, more carefree than it had been before, but the rich tones were unmistakable. A quick glance at the calendar sitting on his desk confirmed the date; it was that of Forge and Ororo's return.
Kurt was on his feet in an instant, scrambling madly around the large desk towards the door, grateful for the way his feet stuck to the floor and kept him from skidding into the heavily laden bookcase. Brushing his hands frantically through his hair, he flipped on the lights with his tail, and, glancing back at the disheveled office, turned them off again. He was fully aware of the slightly wild look in his eyes; he didn't need Ororo seeing his office to confirm his state of being.
Wrenching the door open, Kurt looked at the beautifully radiant face with a tired, mildly dazed smile. He had never seen a more lovely sight than that of the headmistress returning, back for her position. He didn't even care why she'd been away. "Ororo! You have returned!"
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Post by Storm on May 6, 2007 2:22:44 GMT -5
There was a sound of mild scuffling, and suddenly Kurt stood before her, hair on end and coat slightly more rumpled than usual. She gave an involuntary shake of laughter.
"Yes, I have; did you think I would leave you for good?"
She dropped the duffel bag, swinging her shoulders and hair and wafting a vague scent of seashore into the hall. Her brow furrowed as she registered the sight of his office. "Kurt - were you sitting in the dark?"
She suppressed another burst of laughter, and looked into his yellow eyes with fond concern. "Has it been so terrible?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on May 6, 2007 11:06:16 GMT -5
Kurt shuffled his feet, scooting out into the hallway and shutting the door behind him. "Well, certainly not for good... someone has to be here to witness my foray into madness." He gave a convulsive chuckle and leaned against the wall.
Breathing in the soft aroma that drifted around him, he shrugged off her questions, attempting to make his stance more casual even though his hands were fumbling around his pockets for the ring of keys he had been given on Ororo's departure. "There have been a few... issues that I have had to deal with. It is a much more stressful job than I had suspected."
Swearing inwardly as he found nothing but lint in his pockets, he realized that the keys must still be sitting in his office, but with Ororo standing right there, he was disinclined to open the door again. He would have to get them back to her later.
Taking another deep breath, he looked at her with what he prayed was a calmer, more collected look. "So, how was your trip?"
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Post by Storm on May 7, 2007 0:08:42 GMT -5
"It is a stressful job indeed; but I do not think it needs to be." Storm looked entirely and amazingly unconcerned. "Perhaps you need a few days on the beach, Kurt."
He seemed to not want to go back into his office, so she picked up her duffle bag again and headed towards her room, looking expectantly at Kurt to come with her.
She smiled again at his veiled display of discomfort. She was no fool. "No, you first, me later. What happened while I was gone?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on May 7, 2007 0:21:53 GMT -5
"I am afraid, Göttin, that they do not make swimsuits for my body type," Kurt said with a small grin. His tail waved back and forth. "Nowhere for a fifth appendage to go."
Of course, he wasn't likely to have a calm day at the beach anyway. People tended to run screaming when he laid down next to them on a blanket. It wasn't the sort of thing to inspire relaxation. Still, it did mean he'd have the beach to himself...
Starting after Ororo as she moved through the hall, Kurt caught up with her quickly, his sloped-back gait matching her stride easily. Stumbling slightly at her question, he caught himself and ran a hand through his hair. "Ah... there were occurences that... er... I was unprepared for." He added under his breath, "Loud occurences."
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Post by Storm on May 7, 2007 0:37:28 GMT -5
"There are beaches where you do not need a swimsuit," Ororo replied, devilishly. She had been to nude beaches before. She very much liked nude beaches, actually.
They turned a corner and she began to skim her way up the steps towards the top floor. "Loud occurences?" She couldn't help but laugh. "Was Bobby pulling pranks again? Or did Siren have nightmares?"
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Post by Nightcrawler on May 7, 2007 1:06:56 GMT -5
This time Kurt actually did stumble, his jaw dropping slightly at the images that flitted through his mind. Blinking, he caught up again and stuck his hands in his pockets, casually drawing his coat around him. "The waters in Germany tend to be a bit cold much of the time for such things. So far from the equator, I am afraid. And I understand that they frown upon such things here in New York." He gave a little shrug. "American sensibility. Ich kann nicht vehrstehen."
Loping along beside her, Kurt grimaced at the thought of Siryn waking up again with her terrible wail, but fortunately that was a problem he hadn't had to deal with. "Nein. Liam forgot to stay in his room while he was feeding. He emerged among a group of younger students. One of the girls screamed and tried to shoot him with a ray of light." Shaking his head, he recalled the repair to the wall that had been required. "Liam had to be calmed down, of course. He was blinded for a good quarter hour, and he caused a bit of damage to the vases in the hall."
"Aside from that, someone ransacked Angelo Espinosa's room. Everything he owned has been destroyed. He is convinced it was Maggot, but there is no evidence, and I do not know how to use the computers to perform any sort of analysis. I have been waiting for you and Bandero to return."
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Post by Storm on May 7, 2007 1:19:08 GMT -5
"Watch the lumps in the carpet," Ororo said helpfully. "American sensibility indeed. Ridiculous."
She frowned to hear of Liam's misfortune. "He is sensitive, that boy. Although anyone would have been insulted." She sighed lightly; some students took longer to fit in than others. Even here there were cliques... And it was near impossible to intervene with the social issues of teenagers. She let it go for the time being.
"Ah, well, the vases were Pottery Barn. The Professer knew better than to decorate this mansion in family heirlooms."
Kurt's next statement, however, stopped her short. "Ransacked --" She turned to face her friend as they reached the top of the stairs.
"Was house security compromised? Or was it an inside job? Was anything stolen?" Vacation buzz or no, this was important.
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Post by Nightcrawler on May 7, 2007 1:29:32 GMT -5
"Ah... yes. Lumps in the carpet." Kurt was grateful for his blue complexion, as it meant that he couldn't be caught blushing. Chalk up one point in favor of his mutation.
Shrugging off Liam's sensitivity, be it physical or mental, Kurt moved on to the next issue. "No, mansion security seems to be intact. Nothing has been reported missing, and since we do not keep extensive records of what our residents, student or otherwise, keep, we do not know if anything was stolen from Angelo either."
He scratched his fuzzy chin thoughfully, looking at the walls. "It is suggestive of an inside job, however, in that the only place where anything happened was Angelo's room. That suggests something personal, and as far as I have seen, Angelo has not sent any mail or made a single phone call to let anyone know that he is living here now." He glanced at Ororo out of the corner of his eye, the corners of his mouth tugging upward. "I have been catching up on my detective novels. Does it show?"
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Post by Storm on May 7, 2007 1:39:48 GMT -5
"It does show," Ororo replied, amused. It probably was a personal vendetta; she remembered the conversation with Bobby, before she left, about Skin and Maggot's fight.
She sighed one more time, and filed the information away in her mind (albeit in the 'Important' slot). "I will talk to Angelo. And I just may talk to Maggot, as well." There was a rather intimidating gleam in her eye as she once again made her way down the hall.
[con't in "Unpacking, and Shaking Out the Sand" - Dormitory]
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