All Hallows' Eve
Posted on Mon Sep 9th, 2024 @ 6:45pm by Charles Xavier & Connor Bruin & Bobby Drake & Kurt Wagner & Iris Walker & Bliss Hawkins & Hayden Davis & Ethan Hale & Aurora Summers & Kennedy Kelly & Maeve MacKenna & Theodore (Theo) Winters & Kayleigh Marshall
6,071 words; about a 30 minute read
Mission:
Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: October 31st, 1990
As the sun set and night descended on the mansion, the students of Xavier's were buzzing with excitement. For the first time in a very long time, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was opening their usually closed campus to the people of Salem Center. A haunted house, movies on the lawn, and refreshments by a bonfire were provided to any Trick-or-Treaters or individuals in the community that were curious about the school just outside of city limits. It was a night for fun and celebration, a good will event for the general population and an evening where the students could socialize and show off all the hard work they had put into the evening's events.
But one expected face had been missing for the duration of the day, Charles Xavier had been shut away in his office with a mutant that had arrived earlier. A handful of rumors already circulated amongst the students about who this new face was and what his business at the school would be. So when Kennedy noticed the doors to Xavier's office starting to open, she couldn't help but linger in the hallway to catch a glimpse of the mutant everyone was whispering about.
First through the door was Professor Xavier. He only made it a few feet before he paused.
"Come, don't be shy," he said over his shoulder. "I am certain everyone will be eager to make your acquaintance."
Out of all the sights Kennedy could have expected, it was a lithe man in a brown burlap robe with a hood over his head. Yellow eyeshine reflected light from his eyes, but otherwise his face was veiled. Only at Xavier's beckon did he come forward.
"Hallo," he said in a timid voice.
"Good evening, Kennedy..I am excited to introduce to you a new friend," the Professor said. "This is Kurt Wagner, recently arrived from Germany. He will be staying with us for awhile and lending his expertise."
"Zuch as it is," Kurt cut in with a nervous chuckle. How many introductions would he face tonight?
"Go ahead," the Professor said. "You are among friends."
Slowly Kurt pulled back his hood. The shine from his eyes faded slightly without the veiled hood to emphasize the glow. His hair was dark indigo, almost black if not for the stygian violet hues. His skin was dark as well, an azure tone that made him inherently shadowy in his appearance. Between his pointed ears, sharp fangs, and undulating tail, he looked very much like a creature of the night.
"God's blessings on zhis house for ze hospitality I hef received," Kurt said meekly. His eyes darted about, wondering what the strange fraulein would say of his appearance.
“Oh!” Kennedy’s posture straightened at the sight of Kurt. She had never seen anyone that looked like him before. While Dr. McCoy was massive and blue furred; his eyes were remarkably human. Even Ethan preferred the use of his image inducer over his natural appearance, making it easy to forget what he actually looked like. Kurt was the most mutant looking mutant that she had ever seen. He was a bit of a shock at first but she soon recovered her pose and stepped forward to introduce herself.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wagner.” Dressed for the holiday in a costume, Kennedy wore an off-white silk dress and a pair of small, delicate, white feathered wings. Her golden blonde hair was braided and wrapped as a coronet on the top of her head to mimic a halo. She offered Kurt an inviting and charming smile but there was a sadness that lingered in her bright blue eyes.
“My name is Kennedy Kelly.” She offered him a hand to shake in greeting. “Welcome to Xavier's, I hope you enjoy your stay.”
"Sehr erfreut," Kurt said, dipping his head as he extended his three-fingered hand. Their grasp was a little awkward, so Kurt did not allow it to linger. "My stay so far has been good. I have not known many Americans, but you hef all been so kind. I am blessed in meeting you." He dipped his head again, perhaps as much to avoid eye contact as in reverence. "Are you a student or, how you say, faculty?"
Kennedy noticed the shape of his hand as they greeted one another and then how quickly he withdrew it. She suddenly felt bad for being put off by his appearance, Kurt seemed incredibly timid and shy about it.
“I am a student here…” Kennedy hesitated and glanced at Xavier who in return nodded his head in approval of her unasked question, “I am also an X-Man, code name Artemis.” Her mutations were a mystery upon introduction but the code name gave him an idea, the huntress and archer of Greek mythology.
"Artemis," whispered Kurt. He looked intrigued but said nothing.
She reached out for a wicker basket that she had set aside when she noticed the door to Xavier’s office opening. It was filled with chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers.
“I have to take the s’mores supplies to the bonfire.” Kennedy adjusted the heavy basket under her arm while she spoke. “Would you like to come with me, Mr. Wagner? I can show you the grounds and introduce you to anyone we meet.”
"Bitte," he said, lowering his head for an instant but raising it again to renew eye contact, "my name is Kurt. I vould be as delighted if you used zhat as I vould be to see ze rest of zhis place."
"Oh, yes, of course, Kurt." Kennedy bowed wner own head in a nervous response to his request. She had been raised to call any person older than her by their last name until instructed otherwise. Kurt appeared to be older but by how much she was unsure, his complexion made it hard to tell if he was 20 or 35, so Kennedy had remained formal. But his desire to drop formalities appeared to relax her a bit and he watched her straight-backed posture take on a more languid stance.
"We'll head outside, the darkness doesn't do the grounds proper credit, they're beautiful during the day..." Kennedy directed him out the backdoor of the mansion, past a pool that was covered for the winter. As they walked together she provided him with a tour of the grounds...
Movies on the Lawn
Just outside the mansion on the neat a level lawn sat a projector and bed sheet set up for viewing movies. Blankets and pillows were scattered across the grass while an old black and white version of Frankenstein played. Off to the side was a frustrated Connor who was fussing with a stubborn popcorn machine that refused to turn on.
Connor had pried off the cover plate and removed half the kettle assembly. Multimeter in hand, he was checking all the wires to identify where the short might be. His ruddy brow was knit in frustration at not finding the short.
"Hey, where's the popcorn?" asked a townie kid no older than 13.
"SOON," Connor signed before going back to his multimeter.
Bliss shooed the kid back towards the area with the rest of the kids. She was wearing an ornate nun's habit with mostly White with black accents. She casually twirled her long string of rosary beads with the crucifix at the end dangling from her neck.
"We'll get you some popcorn as soon as the popper is back on track, dude. Give us a couple minutes, okay?"
She turned it back to Connor and his current predicament. She hated to see him frustrated, it made his cheeks flush in a troubling way.
"Connor.... I think I see what the issue is. Let me see."
She reached past him into the open box of wires.
"It looks like this is the short right here....gasaghhhh!"
She started to shiver and shake as if she was hooked up to a 10,000 volt cable.
"Uhuhuh!"
At first Connor stared at her confused, wondering why she was convulsing after touching a closed wire. But after a moment, he realized she was playing with him. The silliness of it made him laugh.
<. Nice try but I already checked that one.> He signed at her without the use of his device, something they had done before the Professor had acquired haptic gloves which could transmit his sign language to his speech-generating device. <. I doubt a little shock would hurt you either. You are strong.>
Bliss smiled sweetly, which made her fangs stand out all the more. And she did look exceptionally sinister as a vampire nun.
<. I just wanted to see you smile or laugh. I've missed that .>
<. I've missed laughing with you too .> Connor signed back. <. Your costume looks scary .>
She had been self isolating in the aftermath of the last few traumatic months. But thanks to some serious therapy and self-reflection, the blonde bombshell seemed to be much improved from her darkest Days. But she knew she had perhaps lost Connor for good. They'd barely spoken outside necessary training, just as Connor wanted in the aftermath of their breakup. But it was starting to get cold in the woods, even if she really didn't feel the temperature change that much.
When he wasn't looking, the multimeter finally located the shorted wire. Connor grinned. He snipped the wire at both ends, tossed it aside, and stripped insulation off a new one that he crimped into place, tying it at both ends with wire nuts. The kettle assembly went back into place quickly enough.
Connor plugged the popcorn maker back into the extension cord and flipped the power switch. It turned on. The heating element got warm. He let out a hoot and turned to the crowd with his fist in the air, then looked at Bliss before thumping his chest twice.
<. You're the best! .>
Impulsively, she kissed his forehead and turned away to yell at the gathered kids.
"Popcorn's back on the menu! Who wants some??"
Forehead still tingling from her kiss, Connor rubbed his mop of messy hair as he stared after Bliss handing out popcorn.
Kayleigh finally made up her mind to join those who were movie watching, having been in two minds where she wanted to be. Now she was all recovered from her ‘inherited’ injuries she was intending to enjoy herself with everyone else. She grinned as Connor hooted giving him a little round of applause at fixing the popcorn machine.
Bliss turned to Kayleigh with a fanged grin.
"Hey, can you help keep the kids in mind for the popcorn? Once we get everybody snacks, we can start Creature from the Black lagoon."
Kayleigh nodded. “Sure I can do that, I’ll see to it everyone gets a fair share.”
The vampire nun gave Kayleigh a thumbs up. She went to pick up one of the younger kids awaiting the next movie. He was a small boy with aquatic features. He had squid like appendages in addition to hands and feet.
"And how is Kevin today? Enjoying the movies?"
"Oh yes! I especially enjoyed the Frankenstein movie. And you said that the next one was going to be about a man who could swim underwater like me?"
Bliss nodded warmly. "Don't tell anybody but it's my favorite."
"I HAD BETTER CHECK THE PROJECTOR," Connor said, heading over to the roll cart where it sat. If it was that much trouble just for popcorn, there was no telling what to expect from everything else.
Bliss and Kevin strolled to where Connor began to check the projector. "We'll just watch Connor work on the movie, I think he needs proper supervision, don't you?"
Kevin nodded with a shy smile. "He's the X-Men team leader now."
Once Connor got the projector rolling, hushes went throughout the crowd on the lawn as everyone settled down for the next showing. The Creature From the Black Lagoon lit up the screen to the soft cheers of film buffs who were familiar with it.
Connor himself stood transfixed by the film, turning completely time blind in his hyperfocus. Some commotion over the by the bonfire snapped him out of his fixation on the screen. Someone was storming off to the mansion. Was that...?
"EXCUSE ME," Connor said to Kayleigh, Bliss, and Kevin. "I NEED TO GO CHECK SOMETHING." And then he bolted into the mansion in chase.
Haunted House and Hedge Maze
Towards the edge of the manicured lawn resided an old stable. Once used to house horses and carriages, the building had been turned into a place to store odds and ends most of the year. But over the past few weeks the students had cleaned and primed it before setting up a rather chilling looking haunted house. The occasional scream resonated followed by a fit of laughter from inside the building as a line of patrons waited for their turn.
Next to the stable was an elaborate hedge maze with a bucket of flashlights next to its entrance. A more kid friendly event of walking the maze in the dark was available for anyone too scared to venture into the haunted house, still the occasional squeal escaped the maze as people scared themselves in the dark.
With his back towards the house, an over-the-top Bobby loomed and shouted at the people waiting in line. Hyping them up for the scares inside.
"Annie, are you okay? So, Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?"
Bobby was gliding and pivoting across the grass with heel-toe flicks. A white fedora with a black band, sharply snapped brim and creased crown sat sharply atop his head.
"You've been hit by..." He snapped his arms in random directions and rolled his body. "You've been struck by..." The body transitioned into a moonwalk. "... a smooth criminal!"
After pulling off a respectable but not quite anti-gravity lean, Bobby salvaged the move with a hip thrust and crotch grab. "Ooow!"
"Not bad, Bobby," said Hayden as she rounded the corner. She was dressed in a black and red body suit, but with no face paint or mask. "I think this haunted house needs some mysterious fog." She waved her hands and a thick fog rolled in. It stayed near the ground, about shin-high on her. "Whatcha think?"
"Hey, not bad!" Bobby said, looking Hayden over for a minute. "You're the water girl, right? Heidi, no, Hailey... uh, help me out."
"Hayden," she said. "And yeah, I'm the water girl." She turned to face the growing line of ghosts, goblins, and superheroes. "Be careful...you never know what's going to crawl out of a corner..." Hayden looked back to Bobby. "And you're the ice boy, right?" She smirked at him and fought hard to keep it from turning into a grin.
"It's Iceman," he corrected, "but tonight I'm Michael Jackson." He did another pivot and hat flip. "She said I am the one!" Wrong song and dance pairing, but his point was made for what it was worth. "If you want to be scary and all, tell some of those people in line so they don't get bored waiting their turn."
Maeve had been doing what she and Hayden had spoken about. Golems. In the hedge maze they would hide and grumble, they'd moan and come out of the darker spaces or simply ones would just stand there and look menacing.
She'd felt different since coming into contact with Ben, the 'rock' man who'd protected her, who'd snapped her out of whatever trance she'd been in on that bridge. She wasn't quite sure what was going on but her powers felt glitchy like there were at times unregulated power surging through. Keeping her mind busy had been something she'd been trying to do as she recovered from her injuries and even after that was found with her nose in a good book.
Looking to her left she could see Hayden talking to a boy she recognised but hadn't spoken to yet. Her eyes flickered white then back to normal as he felt a little niggling headache as the next golem rose from the ground and awaited instructions.
"Oh, gotcha," Hayden answered. She turned to focus on the people in line. "A little impatient, huh? Eager to step inside where shadows move on their own...where every creak could be the last sound you hear? Well don't worry, your turn is coming. And you're turn is coming. And yours, and yours, and yours. But don't' forget, you might walk in with your friends, but there's no guarantee you'll leave with all of them. Some spirits like to have company... forever." She laughed maniacally as much as she could. Psychopathic laughter wasn't something that she practiced on a regular basis. "The brothers Grimm have nothing on this house."
She proceeded to tell a story of an eighteenth-century haunted house that a family of murderers moved into. The teenage son figured out what the house was and that the ghosts granted his wishes. He gained eternal youth. And eternal victims.
Bobby stood through her entire story utterly transfixed. Her voices, her hand gestures, he subtle body language that bobbed and weaved with the plot beats of her impromptu ghost story. It made him forget to breathe by the end of it, and not out of spookiness.
"Wow..." he said when she'd finished. "That was pretty good. Did you come up with that right off the top of your head?"
"Thanks," she said. "But not quite off the top of my head. It was my dad's go-to ghost story when I was younger. I could probably re-tell it word for word like him, but I like to change it up a little every time. Add some actions and character voices and a few ghostly sounds...keeps it hopping." She grinned. "Glad you liked it."
"Yeah, it was pretty rad," Bobby said with dopey half grin. How had he never noticed her before? "You tell it good and scary." Nodding over the other direction, he asked, "Do you wanna grab some cider or something? They got it going over at the bonfire."
"I could totally go for some warm apple cider," she said. "Do you think have s'mores over there, too? I mean, it's a bonfire." It had been a long time since she'd made s'mores. What better time now to start back up than on Halloween?
Halloween and haunted houses had never been a thing for Theo, at least not since early childhood. His parents considered it Satanic and evil. So now, he wanted to check things out. He hadn't really bothered with a costume, he'd just blurred himself.
With all the golems finished Maeve had decided to take a walk around the outside of haunted house. She had spent so much time setting up the golems she'd forgotten this was meant to be fun for her as well. Her costume was nothing spectacular, a cat suit with a tail, hairband with ears on it and some face paint for a nose and whiskers. Simplistic.
Theo eased out onto the lawn. Darkness was his friend. He could hide in it in more ways than one.
Feeling a vibration in the ground had forced her to look over to the east. A blurred movement caught her eye and she moved close to it. "I like what you've done with yourself," she joked.
"Me?" Theo responded I didn't even come up with a costume."
"I know." Maeve giggled. "I just like the blurry effect. Looks cool," she added. "I'm Maeve by the way... I don't think I've spoken to you yet but I've seen you around the school a bit."
"Yeah," the young teen responded temporarily turning off his power as he held out his hand, "I've seen you around too. My name is Theo, nice to meet you."
Bonfire
Where the lawn ended, the grounds transitioned into wooded space where an area surrounded by trees had been cleared for a rather impressive bonfire. Massive logs were teepeed against one another as they burned under an endless night sky. Not far from the fire was a table covered with refreshments and snacks along with a tub for apple bobbing.
"Following this trail takes you to a lake and more forested area that backs up to State Park." Kennedy ended her tour as she placed the basket of s'mores supplies on the table. Brushing her hands off she turned around and smiled at him. Kurt had been rather quiet during the whole tour, but then again she too was incredibly nervous on her first day at the school, so she tried to remain as hospitable as possible.
"I'm going to stay here by the fire," Goosebumps rose up on her bare arms and shoulders thanks to the autumn chill in the air, Kennedy's attire had been selected for beauty over practicality. "You're welcome to stay here or visit the rest of the school. Shoot, if you're tired I'm sure I can have someone take you back to your room in the boy's dormitory. But I'm sure others will be itching to meet you, news and gossip travels quickly around this place."
"Dormitory?" Kurt bared his fangs in a smile for the first time. "Nein! Herr Professor has kindly offered me faculty accommodations." The situation made him laugh. It was all very surprising but not unwelcome. "Does zhis mean I am to be faculty? Your guess vould be as good as mine! I hef pledged to earn my keep, however, so ve shall see vhat lies in store, ja?"
“Oh yeah, of course, silly me.” Kennedy said with a forced smile in order to hide her embarrassment, now she was even more confused about Kurt and what exactly he was doing here.
Iris, who was standing near the fire dressed in a tattered lacy gown with a bit of white powder to pale her face and hair into an approximation of a ghost, heard the German accent and words and couldn’t help herself. “Entschuldigung,” she said to the newcomer. “Kommen Sie aus Deutschland?”
"Ich komme aus Winzeldorf in Deutschland," Kurt confirmed, "aber wenn man in Rom ist, soll man sich wie die Römer verhalten." Switching back to English, he said, "Did you know zhat English kommes from ze Deutsch family of languages? Isn't zhat exciting, fraulein? I know zhis and zhat of French, Italian, and Romani from my travels, but English is so unique yet so rare in Eastern Europe vhere I spent much of my days in ze circus." He gave Kennedy and Iris a toothy grin. Such cultured young ladies, but what did he expect from an institution of learning like a prestigious school for the gifted? "I zhink I am going to like it here."
“Kurt, this is Iris. Iris, this is Kurt.” Kennedy attempted to continue with proper introductions now that the conversation had returned to inclusive English.
“It’s nice to meet you, Herr Wagner,” Iris said with a grin. “I don’t get to practice my German much, so don’t be surprised if I speak it with you a lot. In retrospect, I suppose Spanish would have been a lot more practical, but I just had to be different.”
"Zhere is nosthing wrong visth being different," Kurt offered politely. "Alzhough ve do not alvays have ze choice, do ve?"
Aurora was sitting a little way back from the bonfire watching the flames flicker and grow. Having fully recovered from the Beat Street events she was enjoying putting her feet up and relaxing. She liked Halloween but had never really celebrated it properly before, now she was here celebrating it with the everyone else which made it all the more special.
Ethan had activated the camouflagesetting on his uniform and had wrapped a white sheet around himself. He was standing next to the bonfire, almost leaning into it, seeing what Kurt would say or do.
“Kurt will be staying at Xavier’s for the time being. Iris is also a member of OUR extended team.” Out in public it was a bit garish to call her another X-Men but she figured Kurt would pickup on it. Rather than continue with formalities, it was hard to ignore the Easter egg Kurt had left about his past, Kennedy couldn’t help but inquire. “By circus to you mean an actual circus? Like with elephants and clowns?”
Looking around at the small crowd which had gathered, Kurt bit his lip for a moment before grinning widely. He unfastened the rope around his robe and let it fall to the ground. Underneath he was wearing a full-body leotard with black trim on the arms and legs and a stark red vest.
"Herr Getmann's Traveling Menagerie vas an offshoot of ze Munich Circus!" Shed from his monkish garb, Kurt gave his hands a wave in the air as if gathering their attention with his gestures. Years of showmanship awakened within him from his body language to his vocal inflection. "Back zhen I vas known as ze Amazing Nightcrawler!"
Vanishing in a bamf of air coming together in a whispering thunder clap, there was nothing but a whiff of smoke left behind.
"No high vire vas too dangerous!" he called out from above. He was in a freefall but bamfed again before he reached the ground.
"And no trapeze too svift!" This time he appeared to the left and seemed to fall sideways for a few seconds until he vanished again in another bamf.
When he finally reappeared, he bamfed back into the same position where he began, though the momentum was so much that he had to swivel his body upside down like a spinning top on his head. Once he slowed down, his legs drooped back to the ground in slow motion, his handstand fluid and effortless. "Ve did it all, ja," he said with a wink to Kennedy, "even vitsh ze elephants and clowns."
Kennedy offered Kurt a round of applause for his acrobatics as he described his life as a circus performer. The wink at the end evoked a small smirk from her, despite his shy introduction Kurt appeared to be rather charismatic.
“That was so cool!” exclaimed Iris, eyes sparkling in delight. “I wish I could do something that cool! Well, I have been working on a new trick, but I’m not sure if it’s quite ready,” she added, nervously chewing her lip.
"Practice makes perfect, fraulein," Kurt said over his shoulder to Iris as he bowed to the others. "Danke, everyone!"
Ethan was fascinated by the new arrival. He looked and sounded intriguing. Intriguing and different.
Theo walked up to Kurt not in the least bit shy. "I can teleport like that too. Well maybe not just like that, but I can teleport."
“This is Theo, Ethan, and sitting back there is Aurora.” Kennedy gestured at each of them as she mentioned their names while she continued to play unofficial hostess. The memories of being the new person at the school were still fresh enough that she felt bad leaving Kurt to navigate everyone on his own. “Everyone appears to be excited to show you what they can do, maybe there’s another circus act in the making.”
So many names from so many eager teenagers. Kurt had never felt so popular and the giddy grin on his face showed it. "Oh my! Hallo to you all!" Looking at Theo, he said, "Anosther teleporter? Vell met!" He laughed at Kennedy's circus act comment. "A circus act vould be quite ze commitment and vould detract from your noble vork here. I retired from ze circus and resumed my studies at ze monastery, but I zhink I hef a trick or two I could pass on."
Aurora was playing with the bonfire flames, making little flames dance, hearing her name mentioned she looked over offering a warm smile to the newest face, he was certainly different. “Welcome, Kurt. It’s nice to meet you.”
"And you, as vell," Kurt said, bowing with a flourish. "Aurora, vas it? Zhat is a vonderful name. I shall remember it."
Aurora smiled warmly. “Thank you, Kurt, you’re very kind.” She waved her hand making the closest flames of the bonfire do a little dance.
"Is zhat your doing?" Kurt asked Aurora with a nod at the fire. He put his hands in the air and began to dance in the Romani manner, trying to match the undulations of his body with that of the flames. "Ja, I zhink I know zhis dance!"
Aurora nodded and smiled. “It is” she made the fire dance a little more.
"Whoo! Now it's a party!" Bobby trotted over to the bonfire with Hayden at his side. "Got any s'mores ready?!" When they came to stop, they were close enough for their hands to brush together, though neither one gave any sign they'd noticed. "We could do some cider too if there's any left."
“There’s stuff for s'mores over there,” said Iris, and then with a look of concentration (not here not here not here) she walked directly through the small stack of hay bails that stood about chest high to her and triumphantly gestured to the card table full of skewers, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.
"Yo! Check out Iris!" Bobby shouted. "She walked through that just like Jace! Well, better even because she doesn't have a stick up her ass."
“Well, I AM a ghost, after all,” replied Iris cheekily.
"Yeah, and Jace is a goblin," Bobby put in. "Of course you do it better. Whoa, what if you could do both at the same time? That would be gnarly!"
“What’s your damage, Bobby?!” His arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed by Kennedy, how could anyone ignore someone who made so much noise and fanfare anytime they walked into a room? She was going to do her measured best to ignore him but his obvious jabs made it hard for her to turn the other cheek. His digs against her boyfriend wouldn’t go without response. Jace had stood up for her when Bobby was awful to her, so she would do the same.
“Never mind, we already know… you’re a walking train wreck of a person. It’s impossible for you to not overcompensate for every insecurity festering inside of your broken brain. So let’s all take a minute to acknowledge Bobby in all his obnoxious glory.” Kennedy offered him a slow, sarcastic golf clap in response to his over the top behavior. “Do you feel like the big, important man now? Have you found another girl to make you feel special?”
Bobby glowered at her for a moment, all sense of joviality gone. His nostrils flared for a moment as he wrestled with what he wanted to do versus what he knew he should. She wanted to do this in front of everyone? Fine. "For your information, you blue-blooded bimbo, I'm dating a man. Unlike you and your little punk. My man friend's name is Kevin and he's not a miserable cow. Unlike you. Gonna keep clapping for me now, princess?"
“At the end of the day, I don’t really care what makes your dick hard,” Kennedy snapped back at Bobby. “But the way it pressed into me when we kissed just continues to confirm how confused you really are. I wonder how many other people around this bonfire could say the same thing?”
There it was, the public acknowledgment that Bobby had flung himself at anyone and everyone who was willing to give him the time of day. All of them knowing that he had done the same with each of them suddenly cheapened any connections they might have felt with him, at least it did for Kennedy. “Finding touch off school grounds is probably for the best because it was only a matter of time before we were all subjected to your horn dog behavior.” With an over the top bow that matched his mocking description of her, Kennedy turned to leave. “Enjoy your empire of shit, my lord.”
Looking around at all of them, Bobby felt very ashamed. He snapped the white hat off his head and gave it to Hayden who was still next to him. "Here. I don't need this." Turning around, he shifted into ice form and sped away on his ice sled. "I don't need any of this."
Ethan had been half-listening to the various conversations going on around him until Kennedy and Bobby's voices were raised. He walked closer to where the two stood, prepared to defend his friend when Bobby's words surprised him. 'I'm dating a guy?'
What the hell was going on? One thing was clear, Bobby had just outed himself. He needed some answers and Bobby needed someone to talk to. Confused, he took off after the older teen.
Kurt furrowed his furry brow over his glowing yellow eyes as he processed that entire exchange. "Mein Gott..." he whispered before bowing his head. Though speaking low, his voice still carried.
"Most High, Glorious God,
enlighten ze darkness of our hearts
and give us true faith, sure hope, and perfect charity,
Lord, zhat ve may carry out Your holy and true command.
Amen."
It was an adaption of a Franciscan prayer that Kurt often prayed alone, but it felt right in this situation. He looked up at the group with a quizzical expression. "So vhat is s'mores?"
Iris glared at Kennedy. That had been incredibly rude of her. But, she said nothing to the other girl. Instead, she turned her attention to Kurt. “S’mores are the best thing ever invented,” she told him, vowing to herself to find Bobby later and make sure he was okay. “You put some chocolate on a graham cracker, toast a marshmallow and put it on top, then add another graham cracker, making a sandwich and voila! S’mores! Supposedly so named because once you taste them, you want some more, or if you talk fast like some Americans do, s’more.”
Aurora got to her feet before taking to the air to go look for her friend. “Bobby...” She looked around before following his psychic signature.
But he had taken off at full speed, too humiliated and ashamed to give pause. By the time Aurora had taken to the air, Bobby was already long gone.
Kurt accepted a s'more from Iris and gingerly took a bite. "Ow! It's hot but very good!" Bits of melted marshmallow got stuck along his mouth.
Hayden quietly accepted the hat and watched as Bobby slid away. It didn't quite match the rest of her costume, but she put it on her head anyway. What else could she have done with it. She had no idea what had happened between the two of them and it really wasn't any of her business. She smiled demurely and went to make some s'mores and maybe roast a hotdog.
"Ah, Frankfurter!" Kurt looked at Hayden's hotdog and grinned at the familiarity. He slid a hotdog on the end of the roasting stick. "I know vhat to do visth zhis!"
Aurora gently flew back towards the bonfire, but her enthusiasm was waining given Bobby’s rapid departure. She looked around before sighing and touching down in a quiet spot. She gave the festivities one more look before turning and heading back towards the Mansion.
"Oh yes," Hayden said to Kurt. "And they're so much better roasted over a fire or on a grill." She put some ketchup and onions on hers before continuing. "My aunt would boil them in a kettle..." she shivered slightly as she remembered the taste and texture of boiled hotdogs. "I swore I'd always cook them on a grill after that. Or like this, this works, too."
Soon a number of people surrounded the bonfire and they wall wanted food. A line began to form which zigzagged across the lawn, though it moved quickly enough.
"Hey, cool costume!" said a little kid to Kurt.
"Costume?" Kurt repeated, then looked down at his old circus performer outfit that he'd worn beneath his monkish robe. "Oh, ja, I am an acrobat!"
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