bamfing | Neunzehn - [Action/Voice]

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Neunzehn - [Action/Voice]

[Locked to Housemates]

[Kurt arrived none too gently in the middle of the night, lying in front of the fountain. His head was dizzy, but when he finally came to, he realized people were walking by him without so much as looking at him, despite his current state. He realized it was night time, but he was still stunned that they didn't seem to notice him. It was only when he waved his own hand in front of his face and realized he could barely see it that he became suspicious. After moving into the light, it was almost as if he was not stepping from the shadows, but front a literal blanket of darkness. It was almost as if the darkness made him completely invisible.

After making his way to the roof, he realized that everything around him was so much clearer. It wasn't quite like daylight, but he could see even into the dark alleyways with almost perfect clarity. Whatever the Malnosso did to him, it was weird. He makes his way home that night, not realizing an even bigger surprise is waiting for him.]

[Open To All]

[The next day when Kurt goes out, he does so with a pair of sunglasses on, in order to cover his now glowing eyes. He avoids the Brigade meeting on purpose (and will be doing so for awhile), instead settling for the mundane task of a quick trip to the grocery store. He's trying to avoid being spotted, so most of his travel will be done by roof top. For the sake of his friends though, he does leave a voice post. He's still wearing his sunglasses for that.]

Hey everyone, it's Kurt. Looks like I'm back. I'm just ahhh... a little under the weather, yeah? I'll be back to normal in no time.

[At least, he hopes he will.]

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[It's a cozy enough place. There's some obvious signs that there are four teenagers living here, though it's not messy. Kurt is the only guy who lives with this bunch though, as evidenced by some of the DVD choices lying about the TV area. In the meantime, he'll pout two glasses of tea for them, bringing it over to the couch and setting it on the coffee table in front of it. He sits down, inviting her to join him.]

It's no X-Mansion, but it's pretty nice here.

[It's fairly retro by her standards, but so is everything else about Luceti, so she's gradually getting used to it. Either way it's not bad, just not Gotham - which is fine, considering she's starting to like this place more than Gotham, anyway. She takes a seat beside Kurt, although she glances curiously at him after he says that.]

'X-mansion'? [She knows what a mansion is, but what's with the X part?]

[After picking up his drink, he leans back on the couch, casually putting an arm along the back of the couch behind her.]

Well, I'm part of the team called the X-Men. So the unofficial name for where we stayed was the 'X-Mansion'.

X-men, huh? Let me guess - superheroes, right? [With a name like that, plus the powers, it wouldn't be surprising. Though with her history, that could complicate things... depending on how they go. Either way, she'll have to find an opportunity to tell him about it. Though no matter when she decides to tell him about being a former thief and being behind bars, it's probably going to make things awkward.]

Not exactly... I mean, we don't really go around rescuing people all the time. I mean, we do sometimes, but mostly it's so we can learn to control our powers. [Though now that the X-Men are publicly known, they don't have to help people in secrecy anymore.]

Well, that'd be important, too. [Melanie doesn't know all the details about the kinds of powers people can have, but learning to control oneself is always a good thing, powers or not.]

It's good that something like that exists. [She says this a bit absently, though. She's a bit more focused on some other thoughts floating through her head at the moment.]

[That's not hard to figure out. Sure, living in Gotham City probably makes the X-Men sound pretty mundane, but still...]

Is something wrong?

Sort of. [Sigh. It's a bit weird to bring this up now, yeah, but if she keeps on waiting then it's probably going to come back bite her in the ass.] There's a reason why I don't talk about Gotham much whenever we talk about our homes.

Bad memories? [But he suspects it's a little more than that.]

[She wishes it was just bad memories.] Not exactly.

My family has... this group that's been going on for years. We were called the Royal Flush Gang. Our gimmick was that we dressed like playing cards, and we always made a point to act more 'sophisticated' than any other criminal, but we were still just thieves. [She laughs a little, but it sounds fairly bitter.]

We committed a bunch of robberies all around the country, which is why we were always on the move. The reason why we went back to Gotham was because my dad had a score he wanted to settle with Batman. It was like some kind of obsession he had, and I almost left because he kept on doing things that were going to get us slagged. [But her mother convinced her not to.] Anyway, we ended up getting caught and we all spent some time behind bars.

After we got out, [her family tricked her into believing that they were being held hostage as a test of her loyalty] things didn't work out so well. So, I left and started a new life for myself. Got myself an apartment and a job... I had actually used the money from that to bail out my brother, before I was brought here.

[Melanie sighs. She's never gone into so much detail about her past, and even though she went straight, it still doesn't change what she and her family did back then.] I know it's kind of a stupid move to tell you this [especially after kissing him], but... you deserve to know. There's no point in me keeping secrets here, anyway.

[It's a lot to take in. Now more than ever, he can't help but think of Tabitha. Sure, Tabitha's dad was as petty as petty crooks go, but he's seen what a criminal can do to their kid. He's seen it first hand when he saw his other life, what it would be like if his real mother had raised him.

At the conclusion of her story, he brings his arm down from the cushion and rests it around her shoulders instead.]

It's not stupid. You tried to be a better person. And you are one. Turning away from a life like that... it isn't easy.

[When that arm goes around her shoulders, Melanie instinctively moves closer to him. It's comforting, and... well, it's nice.]

It isn't, but... it's for the better. I would have probably ended up behind bars again if I stayed with my family.

[He leans in closer. Just a little bit, starting to think about how things were with Mystique...]

I guess sometimes family isn't always good for you. I kind of know what that's like.

[She glances up at him?] You do?

[Pause.]

Then again, I guess family issues are common no matter where you're from.

[He nods.]

I was raised by foster parents. I didn't meet my real mother until I came to America. She... wasn't what I expected.

Sorry things didn't turn out the way you'd hoped.

[She's genuinely sorry to hear that things weren't ideal with Kurt's mother. Family problems are definitely something she can sympathize with.]

It's never easy when things don't turn out like you expect them to. [But at the same time, if everything went as expected, then Melanie never would have been brought to Luceti and never would have met Kurt. It just depends on the situation in question, really.]

I just wish I could have got through to her when I had the chance.

[He knows he tried. But he didn't try harder. All those times he didn't speak up when he could have. Yet how could he? She had no problem manipulating and hurting his friends all those times.]

It's hard, but... [But these things can't be changed.] At least we both managed to turn out okay, right?

[Melanie turned her life around, and even with everything he's been through, Kurt is still a good person. It doesn't change anything, but it's still something, at least.]

[She's right about that. Smiling, he leans back a little further, trying not to worry about, well, everything.]

Yeah, we turned out great. [Though, now a thought occurs to him.] So that's where you learned to fight, yeah?

Yeah. My parents taught me everything I know - and when you're spending most of your life stealing from all kinds of people, learning how to fight is kind of a necessity. [Bitter as she is about her parents, she doesn't sound to upset about that. Thief or not, it's always useful to know how to fight.]

[Hey, fighting is cool and Kurt doesn't find that part bad at all.]

That makes sense. So... if you were in Gotham and a supervillain, does that mean you have a costume?

[That earns a small laugh from her.]

I do, actually. It's this black and white full-body outfit. Strong, doesn't restrict movement... it's good for what it was meant for. I actually ended up wearing it the rest of the days those simulations were acting up. [It's better than fighting in a miniskirt, after all.]

Yeah? I'll have to see it some day. I could show you how we trained in the Danger Room, maybe.

[For an ordinary human it would be pretty intense, but he has a feeling she could handle it. Besides, he wants to see the suit.]

Works for me. I've been needing a bit of a workout, anyway.

Same. I didn't get a whole lot with the Malnosso.

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