LOCATIONS
1. STAYING IN You like to stay nice and comfy at home! Maybe you're watching movies, handing out candy, or baking spooky cupcakes!
2. GOING OUT You wanna trick-or-treat? Go to a party? Have fun, guys!
3. NO, WE MEAN REALLY OUT Why are you out in the woods? A graveyard? What the hell is wrong with you?
4. IN BUT OUT We thought it couldn't get any worse, but now you're in an abandoned hospital? Some real haunted-ass house? Y'all gonna die.
SCENARIOS
1. TRICK OR TREAT The purest and truest thing you can do. Whether you're a little kid going to get candy, a parent going with them, an adult celebrator or some asshole not even in a costume, have some fun.
2. COSTUME PARTY Ohhh baby. Is this a regular costume party or something fancier? Can you recognize people or is it a surprise? Is there a costume contest? Are you in the same costume as someone else? Damn.
3. HAY RIDES Ride in a wagon with your friends or family, hanging out and maybe enjoying some treats. Unless it's a scary one, then try not to punch the actors.
4. HAUNTED HOUSES So you went to the cool new haunted house in town, going of your own accord or dragged along? Dragging someone else? Remember, don't punch the actors.
5. SCARY MOVIES Maybe you're hanging out with friends. Maybe you're hanging out with family. Or your significant other. Are they scared? Are you scared? Can you get a snuggle out of it? ... Are you just watching Hocus Pocus, because we suggest Hocus Pocus. Or the Addams Family. Unless you ARE the Addams Family, then watch your home movies.
6. HANDING OUT CANDY You stayed home for a good cause! You love seeing all the costumes people roll up to your house in and you love handing them treats. Or you hate Halloween and have all your lights turned off. Don't run out of candy though.
7. BEING A LITTLE SHIT Egging, TPing, setting off car alarms, stealing candy, smashing pumpkins... What is wrong with you? Like, literally smashing pumpkins, you're not hanging out with Billy Corgan. Unless you are hanging out with Billy Corgan. IS HE TPING A HOUSE TOO?????? I knew it.
8. PUMPKIN CARVING Either you love this or think it's gross. Pulling the guts out of a pumpkin and carving it into an aesthetically pleasing design so you can stick a light in it and put it outside. Fucking rad.
9. LEAF PILES You cleaned up the yard! NOW IT'S TIME TO JUMP IN THE LEAF PILES. Or, well, we hope you cleaned the yard. It'd be a dick move to do it to someone else's hard work, but we're not the cops.
10. CORN MAZE Another option for fun scary times is a corn maze! Find your way out safely, but seriously, don't punch the actors.
11. PICKING OUT COSTUMES YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE COOLEST COSTUME AROUND. Did you find something great? Mediocre? Did someone else take the best one?
12. THE DAY AFTER Oh shit, it's discount candy day! Get all the best stuff before someone else does! Or fight for it. Whatever.
13. DECORATING You have to get your house ready for your favorite holiday! Hang those spiderwebs, fake skeletons, and cute little ghosts. Or set up your own haunted house.
14. BEING A MORON On a higher level than being a little shit, you don't believe in creppy things coming to get you. Using an ouija board, exploring abandoned, haunted places, whatever: you're asking for trouble. That said, don't punch the ghosts. It won't help you.
15. BEING SPOOPY YOU'RE the spoopy one. A monster, a ghost, a witch/wizard (wow, rude), whatever. Maybe you wanna scare people. Maybe you wanna cut people's heads off because you don't have on. MAYBE you just want to be left alone, GOD.
16. SKELETON WAR ... Wait, what?
As always, these are just suggestions. Make up anything you want, as long as you're having fun! Also, stay tuned for an extra-special Halloween meme within the next couple of days! |
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bakerstreet2016-10-31 05:49 pm
no subject
Having never seen Kurt teleport before, it wasn't something that Kyinnlen actually knew he could do. He did, however, come from a world where similar abilities were hardly unheard of--techniques of shadowstepping, blinking, and stepping through the mists meant that quite a lot of people could appear as though they'd teleported from one spot to the next, even if that wasn't precisely what they'd done.
So while Kurt wrestled with the skeleton's head, Kyinnlen sunk arrow after arrow into the mass of its chest. One of these hit the ground at the skeleton's feet and set it alight in a ring of blue flame. It wouldn't hurt Kurt, even if he put his hands straight into it, but it hurt the skeleton.
All of this, however, had relatively minor effect. Kurt's initial leap had indeed managed to disorient their foe momentarily, and it swayed on its feet with its chainsaw lowered...before seeming to get its wits (such as they were) back and rev the chainsaw again.
Raising the spinning blade up over its shoulder, it seemed ready to take a swipe with it at Kurt, even if it meant nearly chopping off its own head, and Kyinnlen's throat clenched. He didn't know anything about the level of Kurt's combat skills yet and the Labyrinthine Horror was a fearsome foe to be tested against.
Firing an arrow that seemed to fly with the force of a shield before it, he tried to knock the Horror off balance before it could land its hit, but he already doubted he'd manage it.
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Doing his best to stay latched to the creature's head, his claws scrabbled across the skull for a moment, screeching across the bone until he was able to get a better grip. He dug his knees into the sides of its head for better stability also, aiding in keeping him from losing his balance when the skeleton swayed.
The sight of fire had him panicking, although it was only for a short amount of time, considering that the flames did not singe him at all when they suddenly appeared like that. An incredulous look overtook his features at the peculiarity of it, but the roaring of the chainsaw brought his attention back to the situation at hand.
Kurt's heart leaped into his throat again at the motor-run blades coming straight for him, his grip on the skull tightening as he tried to plan his next move. He perked at the idea that came to mind and bent himself backward, narrowly avoiding being sliced in half by the chainsaw. His legs kicked out so his knees could lock over the monster's shoulders, holding his dangling upper half in place for now, but once he figured out the second part of his movement, he wasted no time putting the plan into action.
Allowing himself to drop onto his hands, he stabilized into a handstand and flicked his tail up to curl around the skeletal minion's neck, abruptly dropping his lower half to land on his knees in an attempt to use his tail like a tether.
With the hope that Kyinnlen's arrow would hit its mark, the teleporter shifted so he wouldn't be behind it as he yanked his tail down to try and drop the Horror to the ground.
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For one terrifying moment, Kyinnlen thought that the chainsaw had hit. But then Kurt moved and the sylvari saw that he was still all right and he released the breath he'd been holding, watching his arrow sail straight into the Horror's hip, though with little effect.
It was a clever maneuver that the mutant pulled, Kyinnlen would freely admit, and it did manage to spin the Horror momentarily around on its heels as it rocked off balance. The chainsaw whirred and roared and hit the ground, carving a deep furrow into the stone. But the monster did not fall, and Kyinnlen realized in that moment, that the two of them were simply not enough to take it down on their own.
No one ever really killed the Horror, not so that it would stay dead. This was part of the reason why, for Kyinnlen, it was so familiar. People beat it back or made the old bones crumble temporarily. But the skeleton always managed to get up again after a while. It always somehow managed to return. The best one ever won from it was a temporary respite, and even that seemed very far away right now--downright impossible if all Kyinnlen did was stand back and shoot arrows at the thing. However good a fighter Kurt was, he was still fighting bare handed. At this rate, the two of them would fall long before the Horror did.
If they'd had Sesyria with them, Kyinnlen thought, wishing strongly that his partner had come with him today. If they'd had Sesyria's fire magic, they would probably have been ok. As it was, they were badly outgunned...out chainsawed, whatever.
Switching from his bow to his sword, Kyinnlen leaped towards their foe, his blade coming down hard on the Horror's pelvic bone. It scored the surface but only shallowly, not really impeding the thing as it righted itself once more and raised its chainsaw for a new strike.
At close range like this, however, Kyinnlen could assure that the auras of protection and healing which surrounded him would reach Kurt as well, shielding him to at least some degree. There was nothing immediately visible to signal this protection, but it assured that if the Horror was to land a blow on either of them, the first strike at least would be turned aside.
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As dexterous as the movement had been, it simply hadn't been enough; he tightened his tail and continued pulling, trying to keep the monster from regaining its balance when the chainsaw dropped to the ground. The weapon had been lowered for now, but the motion hadn't done anything to bring the creature down.
Untangling the long appendage from its neck, he crouched low to the ground and moved backwards, teeth bared in a deep, guttural growl. This thing was far harder to battle than he'd been assuming and no matter what they did, nothing seemed to harm it enough to cause a decent amount of damage. He was seconds away from asking Kyinnlen what else they could really do to stop it, although he didn't want to distract the sylvari from what he was doing.
Part of him was currently regretting not taking hold of the other male, dragging him into the mansion and slamming the door to keep the skeleton from coming after them. Though, if he'd done that, there was a chance that Kyinnlen wouldn't have been able to make it home for quite some time and that would not have been fair to him at all.
The reappearance of that large sword made Kurt's eyes widen in astonishment, golden irises following the arc of the blade downward into the Horror's hip bone. He winced his eyes shut for a split second as the attack connected, opening them back up to see ... that the sword had barely done a thing and the creature was raising the chainsaw in another attack.
Instantaneously leaping back to his feet, he rushed forward and jumped into the air, flicking his tail out to curl around the Horror's arms and somersaulting in the direction opposite of Kyinnlen in an attempt to drag the chainsaw away from him and possibly give the smaller of them an opening toward the ribs.
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As it turned out, retreating into the mansion and slamming the door was a possibility much on Kyinnlen's mind right now too. Of course he didn't want to do it--the risk was still tremendous. But to avoid it, to keep the two of them in this battle for longer, increasing by the moment the chance for one of both of them to be badly inured... That was just pure selfishness.
Kyinnlen swung his blade up, hitting the skeleton's exposed rib cage, but once again only scoring the bone. Keep this up long enough and yes, like hacking through a tree trunk, eventually they would succeed in cutting the Horror down. But in that time, that roaring blade it held would surely land at least one hit. It came close again to doing so now:
Yanking back against the pull of Kurt's tail, the Horror jerked its arm as though to fling him right against the far wall, and then revved its chainsaw thrusting straight towards the spot that the sylvari stood.
Kyinnlen tumbled back to dodge out of the way and came up on his feet, his worried eyes darting towards Kurt like he was ready to make a dash towards him, especially if he needed help.
"We have to get inside!" he called out over the roar of the chainsaw blade. From a tactical perspective it was their only real choice.
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This was not ideal for either of them. If they continued to fight, they risked the chance of injury and if they ran back to the mansion, they risked the chance of Kyinnlen not being able to return home until they found a way for him to get back. At this rate, it was an unwanted situation for both of them; he wanted them to get back to safety, but was it truly worth the risk?
Another blow and nothing seemed to happen, making Kurt grit his teeth in frustration when he landed on his feet, tail still firmly gripping the creature's arms. He continued pulling, trying to keep the skeleton from swinging that dangerous weapon about, but when it tugged in return to his grip, it threw him off-balance more than he'd imagined it could. He was effectively shaken off and thrown toward the wall, his body twisting as quickly as possible in an attempt to land on his feet, though to no avail.
His shoulder cracked against the wall, sending a sharp pain shooting through his entire left side as he dropped to the ground on his rear. He sat there, momentarily stunned by the strength of the blow to his arm, eyes winced shut in pain. The sound of the chainsaw revving back up made him force his eyes open, shock coming across his face when the monster jabbed at Kyinnlen with the weapon. Thankfully, the sylvari was swift to get out of the way and he breathed a sigh of relief, struggling to get back to his feet, regardless of the pain he felt.
Heading back into the mansion was going to be their only chance. "Then let's go back!" he shouted in return, using the wall to steady himself out, free hand moving to grip his shoulder.
He turned back to where they had entered, stumbling a few paces before righting himself and hurrying to Kyinnlen's side. Splitting up was not an option in this case; if they were both going to head back, he'd be sure to get them both there in the blink of an eye, if need be.
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When Kurt's body hit against the wall like that, Kyinnlen shifted his whole focus to making sure he'd have time to recover. The first thing that required was drawing the Horror's attention and making sure it stayed on him instead of on Kurt.
There was some magic to this, just as there was a bit of magic laced through the way Kyinnlen fought in general. It wasn't spell work per se; more a kind of mystic energy-channeling aimed at the protection of allies. It was like the physical manifestation of the strength of Kyinnlen's will. That's where the blue flame had come from, and it was the source of the spear he now threw, which hooked into the Horror like a javelin on a chain, tethering it to him.
He couldn't pull it off its feet, but he could draw it towards him, raising his sword to block a strike when it tried to bring the chainsaw down to cut him in half.
Metal sparked against metal until the skeleton tried to swing its chainsaw around and strike from another angle, and Kyinnlen used the opening to dodge away, breaking the tether as he leaped towards Kurt and put a hand on his arm.
"Are you ok?" It was a hurried question because they couldn't risk a real pause. They had to get into the house and get the door closed before the Horror was on them again, and it was already approaching, closing fast...
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He wished he'd been quicker when trying to catch himself on the wall, considering the distress it had caused to his shoulder; it didn't feel like anything was broken, but surely, something would be bruised.
The fact that Kyinnlen was intent on keeping the skeleton's attention on him made Kurt both worry and silently thank him, fearing that something would happen to the sylvari that he wouldn't be able to stop. He handled himself well though, kept the monster from possibly slicing the blue boy in half while he gathered himself enough to walk straight. Had they not been fighting for their lives, he might have been caught up in the mysticism of Kyinnlen's strange energy, drawn in by his curiosity to ask about it. Now was not the time for such things.
From the corner of his eye, he watched the Horror bring the chainsaw down, throat constricting, strangling the yelp of fear trying to escape. His heart dropped into his stomach at the thought that it was over, but the other fighter lifted that sword, catching the spinning blade just in time.
Kyinnlen evaded the next attack and when he came to Kurt's side, the mutant wasted no time in grasping his shoulder, words leaving him in a relieved breath, "That was too close for comfort."
He nodded his head toward the question and shut his eyes, teleporting them in the direction of the exit. It might have been overshot, but the two of them landed at the door to the foyer and he tumbled the both of them past the threshold, rolled onto his back and used both feet to kick the door shut.
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Also lying on his back on the floor where they landed, Kyinnlen panted to catch his breath. The suddenness of the teleportation brought a moment of vertigo, but he shook his head clear quickly, eyes fixed on the door.
There was no roar of chainsaw from beyond, none of the howling echoes of the labyrinth. In fact the interior of the house seemed downright peaceful, quiet.
It was good. It meant that they were safe.
It also meant that the labyrinth was almost certainly no longer simply there on the other side of the door.
But this was what needed to happen. He was going to have to deal with it.
Righting himself and sitting up, he turned his attention to Kurt first. "Let me see your shoulder--you're not too badly hurt, are you? I'm sorry. That was...not at all what I hoped we'd encounter when I asked you to come with me. "
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His legs thudded onto the hardwood of the foyer, vibrant irises blinking in deliberate fashion as he tried to focus his attention on the familiar ceiling. The silence, despite their heavy breathing, was welcoming; he much preferred it to the earlier roar of the chainsaw they had been trying to avoid.
Although, this meant that the door was no longer open and Kyinnlen could not go back. He sat up rather suddenly at this realization, staring long and hard at the door then bringing his uninjured arm up to scrub his hand over his face. How are we going to ...?
Kurt pulled his face from his hand, glancing over at Kyinnlen, his features scrunching in disappointment. He went to respond and hesitated when his left side throbbed with a dull ache, the hand moving to clutch at his shoulder. "I-I'm fine," he stammered, trying to brush off the discomfort he'd felt. "It's probably just a bruise."
He did his best to smile through the pain, the length of his tail sliding around his waist as he shifted to offer his arm to the sylvari. "No reason to apologize, ja? I don't think either of us could have imagined that monster would show up. Besides, I'm more worried about how you are going to get back ..."
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As far as things that were easy enough for Kyinnlen's healing magic to fix, just a bruise (or sprain, or good solid knock against a stone wall) were all pretty low on the difficulty scale. He wasn't at all shy about using his skills either, so there was no hesitation as he reached out to lay his palms at front and back of the spot where Kurt had placed his own hand over the injury, hovering just above physical contact.
For a moment he closed his eyes in concentration. There was a single bright flash of blue-white light as his lips mouthed the silent shape of a few words, and then hopefully, over the next few moments Kurt's shoulder would begin to feel better. That, at least, was something Kyinnlen could offer, because it really was his fault that Kurt had been in that battle to begin with. Not his intentional fault, of course, but nonetheless.
"It's called the Labyrinthine Horror," Kyinnlen explained of the skeleton they'd just fought. "It lurks in the walls and stalks the passages--usually it's best to avoid it unless you've got numbers on your side. But I hadn't seen it in some time. I should have been more suspicious about its absence."
The concern about his way home though--
Kyinnlen turned a worried glance to the door, then stood and walked over to it. Pausing before he reached for the handle, he looked back at Kurt, clearly anxious, fearing what he'd find outside but knowing he needed to see for himself and know for sure. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he slowly opened the door...
...to reveal the crisp, fresh air of an autumn night in New York--the halo of light around the front door and drive, and then the inky blackness of the lawns and grounds beyond. The labyrinth was gone, and with it his way back home.
Kyinnlen didn't look at Kurt again right away. Instead he took a step out into the night air, just far enough from the house to give himself a clear view of the sky. It was full of constellations he did not know. He breathed a long, deep, steadying breath. Inside of him, everything felt tremulous; his legs felt weak. He had no idea how to even begin to find his way back, and he could barely think beyond hearing Sesyria's name in his mind. Pale Mother, how am I every going to get back to him again?
But when, presently, he turned to Kurt once more, he did so with a brave face about the whole thing, giving the young mutant a wan smile:. "I'm afraid I'm going to need to impose upon your hospitality for a while, if that's all right. It seems I'm likely...stranded."
no subject
Regardless of Kyinnlen's willingness to help, Kurt still felt humiliated by the fact that he hadn't been able to avoid injury. That simply reflected on him in a poor way and made him wonder if all his training in the Danger Room was really worth it. Although, he'd only been a student for a short amount of time, so he couldn't very well expect himself to be a perfected fighter within a span of months.
Still, when the sylvari's hands covered his own and settled on the other side of his shoulder, he sat silently while the pain began to dull then almost fade altogether, eyes wide with astonishment at the incredible use of magic. He'd never seen anything quite like it and even with their advanced technologies of the day, he had yet to meet any sort of mutant that had healing capabilities like this. Kyinnlen, of course, was not a mutant, but he was some different sort of being that the humans would not classify as their own. Perhaps, he could be considered metahuman?
"It's pure evil, that's for sure!" The blue-skinned male shook his head, kneading lightly at his shoulder after the healing process had been completed. It felt reasonably better and he smiled then dipped his head in gratitude. "Thank you. There's no reason for you to worry about it - you couldn't have possibly known that it would randomly show up like that." And he placed absolutely no blame on the other for what had happened; he should have been a little quicker, more swift in his movements when trying to catch himself, but what had happened did. At least things had been properly fixed and they'd made it out with their lives.
When Kyinnlen rose from the floor, he followed suit, trailing along behind him, but hesitating a few feet away. His teeth sank into his bottom lip when he was glanced back at, both of his hands raising and absently fidgeting against his chest. Please, he thought, let him still be able to get home ...
But there was no such luck.
The door opened and in blew the crisp autumn air, causing Kurt to shiver and wrap his arms around himself at the chill it sent up his spine. He withered at the idea of his friend being unable to return home right away, mind instantly working on how they would be able to get him there. He could talk to Charles - maybe the telepath could help them out. Until then, he had no qualms about offering Kyinnlen a place to stay.
It took a moment, but he returned the gesture with a small smile of his own, stepping forward a couple more paces, his hands motioning over his shoulder - toward the nearby doorway that would lead them to the hall. "It's more than all right. You are not imposing at all, considering it's ... sort of my fault that you are now stranded here. I know, the monster would have gotten us or worse - passed into this world - if I hadn't shut the door, but ... I feel bad that you are stuck here for God knows how long."
And he would be doing everything in his power to make sure he could correct his mistake.
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These were the sorts of choices that had to be made in battle, and they were never easy, but that didn't mean that one could hesitate, and it was important not to lament them overmuch afterwords. Still, none of that helped answer the question of how Kyinnlen would manage to return at all.
"But I have no skill with traveling between worlds--opening portals, rifts, those are types of magic I know nothing of," he shook his head, trying not to sound despondent. "There are some among my companions who do. When they realize I am missing, I have to believe that they will come looking. I have to believe that they will discover a way to find me here. So I...I should just stay put. If I don't go trying to get back to them, maybe I will make it easier for them to get to me?
"...Or maybe that's all wrong. I'm afraid it's hard for me to think about it clearly." It was hard because, despite his relatively calm demeanor, the sylvari could feel the slight shaking in his hands, the fear he couldn't quell that he might never see Sesyria again. He didn't know how he could live if that was true. He loved his former mentor frightfully, desperately, with the very core of his being. Being without him felt utterly unthinkable.
In his absence, however, the only person Kyinnlen had to turn to was Kurt. Drawing a deep breath, the sylvari stepped back into the house and closed the door on the chill night air. "Show me around your school? If you don't distract me somehow I'm afraid I'll stand here just opening this door every ten seconds hoping to find something different beyond it, and that won't do anyone any good."
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He raised one hand to his mouth, biting down on his knuckle and flicking his gaze from where the doorway had returned to normal to his feet. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the other male was right; he knew no one that could make portals to other dimensions and while asking the Professor was a choice, what if he didn't have any idea either? This was starting to become more and more grim by the minute.
At the mention of Kyinnlen staying put, Kurt nodded his head in agreement. If his friends would come searching for him, perhaps they would be able to find the way to the school and bring him back to his home-world with far more ease than he or any other mutants could offer. How long would that take, though? Was there a time difference between the two worlds? As in, they could come and start searching when they noticed him missing, but would they arrive here weeks, months, or even years later?
He didn't want to think about that; Kurt noticed the barest amount of shaking in the others hands and his features instantly became riddled with concern, a soft huff passing his lips as he stepped closer. He could tell that there was something else about all of this that was bothering him, but he couldn't quite place it and he didn't have it in him to pry.
No matter what it was, he's determined to make sure that Kyinnlen would be comfortable in his stay and right now, that meant he was going to be showing him around the mansion to distract his mind before the realization closed in, hit even harder and drove the current truth in like a stake to the heart.
For now, he would have to be strong for both of them. He straightened his wilted posture, somewhat puffing his chest and taking one final step forward, his hand reaching to firmly grip Kyinnlen's shoulder in a reassuring squeeze. "Worry not, my friend. We will find a way to get you back home and until then, you are more than welcome to stay here." There was no need to mention the fact he'd have to ask Charles first when it could be settled at a later time.
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It was true that Sesyria was Kyinnlen's one true love, but that didn't mean for a moment that he had no emotional connection to others. It was, perhaps, a very sylvari way of approaching things, but Kyinnlen's affection for people was genuine--he tended to make very strong emotional bonds with people and the loyalties those bonds fostered were paramount. He also tended to be very relaxed about expressions of closeness with his friends because contact, including physical contact, was something he found valuable and sustaining.
Kurt, it seemed to him, was a very genuine and kind person, emotionally sensitive, someone who cared about others. All of these were things that Kyinnlen valued tremendously. In a subtle way, too, Kurt reminded him of his dear friend Shievr, the sylvari with whom Kyinnlen had first awoken, which added to a sense of comfort from being around him.
So when Kurt squeezed his shoulder, Kyinnlen didn't have to force a smile in reply. It was a smile with lingering sadness behind his eyes, true, but it was a genuine smile nonetheless.
Turning towards the hallway and the evidently rather grand building beyond, he gave Kurt a gentle little nudge with his shoulder and then took the liberty of linking arms. It was a demeanor rather mis-matched with his pirate costume, but that was the farthest thing from Kyinnlen's mind right now. There was a school for Kurt to show him around, presumably there would be people to meet as well--all sorts of distractions from his current predicament, in short.
"Tell me about this place?" Kyinnlen asked as they started down the hall. (Of course it didn't occur to him at all that two young men walking through the school arm in arm might be odd in any way, or that the physicality might potentially be awkward or unusual for Kurt. To Kyinnlen it was comforting in part because it was the sort of thing he'd do with any of his friends on any normal day.)
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Kurt had been told on multiple occasions that he showed empathy that simply knew no bounds, whether it was something simple, like someone not doing their best in a practice run during Danger Room battles or something far more serious like this situation. He'd always developed strong bonds with the ones he called his 'friends' and Kyinnlen was certainly no exception to this.
His hand on Kyinnlen's shoulder gripped a little more firmly before drawing back, the slightest lift in his own lips appearing. Yes, they were in quite the predicament, but Kurt saw no reason to apologize again or continue dragging the conversation on when they'd already decided that what was done had been done - for the both of them, in this case.
He blinked in response to the touch at his shoulder then laughed softly when the sylvari looped their arms together. To some, the sight of the two of them wandering the hallways and rooms of the school arm-in-arm would come off as strange, but the cobalt-tinted mutant didn't care in the least. He liked physical contact because it solidified the fact that Kyinnlen didn't fear him, despite his demonic features.
So, with the other at his side, he began to lead them out of the foyer and into the hallway that would first take them to the formal sitting room. If he was to be offering a tour of the school, why not start at the beginning? Of course, he would be avoiding going anywhere near the basement and two sub-basements. That might have to be cleared with Charles first and for the moment, it was best to start simply and not worry about having to explain the situation when it was still fresh for both of them.
"Well, it's a school for mutants - like myself. A safe haven where we can learn without the prying eyes and judgemental accusations from humans." It didn't take long for them to draw curious and outright confused stares from some of his classmates, yet Kurt continued leading them on, lifting his free hand in greeting while hoping that it would (and it did) deter many of the other metahumans around them from asking too many questions or gawking for an extended amount of time.
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Walking through the building, Kyinnlen craned his neck to take in everything that it was possible for him to see. If the other students were curious of him, he was equally curious of them. (And it was probably for the best that Kurt dissuaded his classmates from asking questions or detaining them. The sylvari made eye contact with everyone who looked at him, giving person after person his light, easy smile--he certainly wasn't going to dissuade anyone from coming over to say hello.)
But Kyinnlen was also curious of the space--the atmosphere created by the furnishings, the way people moved around and interacted with these objects, the casualness which told him that people felt comfortable and safe here, the echoes of laughter from farther rooms and corridors which told him people felt lightness and joy and that the school was not always serious, at least on a holiday.
"I don't know much about regular schools, but this isn't what I would have expected. It feels so much like a home--the grand sort of home I would expect a noble to live in, but a home nonetheless. All the students live here, is that right. You don't go home to your parents? Do you get homesick at all?"
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But here, they could be themselves and not have to worry about being judged at all.
From the corner of his eye, Kurt caught sight of a silver blur darting between people as they continued down the hallway and with a playful smirk, the length of his tail shot out, curled around the mutant's wrist and yanked him over.
"Woah, what the--?"
"Like Peter here," he started, reaching his free hand to tousle the platinum strands of the speedster's hair, "He has a fantastic mutation and nobody would know it if he didn't zip around the school constantly."
"Why you gotta be like that?"
Kurt chuckled at the response, gently patting the other male on the cheek then loosening his tail on his arm to let him go free. Peter simply grinned, offered a two-fingered wave toward them and took off once again, a lingering breeze signaling his departure. With that small gesture, it seemed that a few of the other students found it safe enough to smile at he and Kyinnlen or even be so bold as to wave at them, which he returned with as much vigor then continued leading them around - from where they were at, to the parlor room, back through the sitting room and down the hallway to the library, which led them to the day room. He figured spending a few minutes here wouldn't be a terrible idea and then, they could backtrack to the dining hall and kitchen and eventually make their way upstairs.
"We all live here, ja. Sort of like a boarding school? Of course, we can go visit our parents whenever we like, but ..." he trailed off, eyebrows knitting together and his head turning, fangs sinking into his bottom lip a moment. "... some of us don't have parents to see anymore."
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But then suddenly, from almost out of nowhere, what had seemed almost like a trick of the light in the hall had materialized as a person right in front of them. The sylvari's mouth opened in surprise as he realized that what he'd seen wasn't a trick of light at all, but instead a person moving just that fast. About a dozen more questions occurred to him at once--questions about what it felt like to move so quickly, about whether Peter had to worry about running into things if he couldn't stop fast enough, if he got tired, if he could move slowly if he wanted to.
Somehow, though, he hadn't even gotten as far as introducing himself or extending his hand in greeting before the silver-haired mutant was off again. Fitting, perhaps. Maybe he required that people just get used to that degree of speed around him. Still, it left Kyinnlen feeling momentarily lagged and trying to catch up with everything around him, so somehow he and Kurt were moving again before he'd really even formulated a proper response. By the time he managed, "He's very fast!" it felt distinctly belated indeed.
That, perhaps, was part of why he felt his mind was practically swimming by the time they got to the day room--there was so much to this place and well as to its people. Unsurprisingly, though, Kyinnlen dealt with this in a very typically sylvari way, which meant mostly that he forgot about the forms of delicacy and tact that most other races used when talking about sensitive matters and simply said, "Oh, did they die or just give you up--like charr give their cubs to the fahrar? Is that part of mutant culture, for you to form warbands?"
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The sight of his friend's astonishment brought on a short burst of laughter, his free hand raising to cover his mouth and muffle the noise. Yes, Peter could have that effect on people, no matter how new to the school one was or if they'd been there for years; the ridiculous amount of speed the silver-haired mutant had could be more than stupefying at times, but in his own opinion, Kurt found it rather endearing.
Thankfully, the hand cupped around his face stifled another snicker and once he was sure he'd be able to answer with a straight face, he lowered the arm back to his side, head bobbing in agreement. "Exceedingly so! Faster than bullets from a gun, even. Incredible, isn't it?"
After they entered the day room, the teleporter led them over to a nearby bay window, spun so their backs were facing it and sat them both down on the bench. This way, they could take a moment to rest and if any of the other students deemed it necessary, they'd be able to come and introduce themselves. His face wrinkled with slight discomfort, but he brushed it aside, chalking it up to the fact that there might have been the chance of Kyinnlen not exactly knowing how to gently approach a subject like lost family. "I know nothing of my biological parents and my adoptive mother and siblings are somewhere in Germany, which is many, many miles way from New York. Uhm, I would not say it's in our 'culture' to do such things, but myself and some of the other students are on a team called the 'X-Men'. We protect mutant and human-kind alike."
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Sitting down beside Kurt, Kyinnlen took the opportunity to remove his pirate hat and his eye patch, revealing the mohawk of leaves atop his head as he did so.
"Do you miss them--your siblings and the mother who adopted you?" This was a gentler question, and it would have been even without the slight wince that his first inquiry had drawn.
"I don't know what your team is like, but I know about my own and how much they mean to me. I rarely return to my homeland, and I've come to accept that. My life isn't there anymore. But the people who I live and work with--my guild--they mean everything to me. Most of them are sylvari too, and in a way we're all siblings, but I don't feel that's what binds us. There's something else. Something deeper." He looked at Kurt searchingly here to see if the young mutant would understand his meaning. It was the sort of thing that felt hard to put into words, but no less vital for that, especially now. Being separated from these people made it feel even more imperative that he speak about them, try to keep them close even when they were so far away. Maybe the X-Men Kurt spoke of would be a way that he could relate to Kyinnlen's experience.
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Kurt watched as Kyinnlen removed the two items, a slight grin lifting his lips, free hand moving to motion toward the hat, "May I?"
His smile faltered, but only just, iridescent eyes glancing away. "I miss them with each passing day, although Professor Xavier - one of my teachers - has promised me that we will locate their whereabouts and secure their safety." 'No matter what resources need to be expended' was what he'd been told.
Listening intently to Kyinnlen speak, the blue boy's gaze followed a fellow mutant's feet before turning back to the sylvari, the quirk of his lips returning. "We are a relatively new team, but as long as we continue to work together and put trust in one another, I believe we could become like some sort of close-knit family, despite the fact that we are not blood related. Is it ... something sort of spiritual that you believe connects you to them?" Maybe he wasn't understanding correctly or maybe it was the fact that it sounded as if Kyinnlen's group was far more held together; it was not as if the X-Men would fall apart at the simplest things, but there were times when Kurt had stood back, listening to them argue and fuss and try to map out plans when all he knew was that he would be helping with removing people from harm.
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"And I hope that your family will be with you again soon and safe. Is Germany a dangerous place for them?"
When it came to talking about his own team, though, a different sort of look came into Kyinnlen's eyes.
"Between myself and Sesyria I think there is something spiritual, yes. He was my mentor when I was new to the Vigil, but I think I was in love with him before we were ever assigned to work together--from the very first moment I ever saw him, really. He so much as told me that he'd never love me back, told me I should stop, that I should find someone else." Kyinnlen's hands were folded in his lap, his fingers absently rubbing the joints of his knuckles as he spoke.
"I guess I might be a little stubborn," he gave a slight self-deprecating laugh, "or just very patient. I always felt that whether or not he loved me, I still loved him all the same. And eventually he changed his mind about what he'd said--there were visions from his Dream that he came to understand differently than he once had, and he decided he could let himself love me after all." The smile that Kyinnlen gave Kurt as he said this lit up his whole face--just talking about Sesyria made him feel a little less far away, and the effect was immediate. But whereas for many people, this sort of love would have closed them off to intimacy with others, for Kyinnlen it was something that opened him.
In a way, he felt that he needed to share this with Kurt, and being a sylvari, he didn't really pause to think whether doing so would be strange or confusing for the boy. To him it just felt natural to take Kurt's hand and hold it in his lap between his two own as he continued to explain.
"After the time when we were stationed in Orr, Sesyria was assigned to work as a liaison at the Durmand Priory. It didn't take long for our quarters there to just get too cramped though. So we decided to move to Lion's Arch, which isn't too far away, and Sesyria hit on the idea of buying a house. I thought he meant just for us, but he didn't. What he bought was a place big enough to assemble a whole group. There are ten of us...plus Shievr's animals--people we worked with in Orr or who we've known for years.
"It's Sesyria who leads the guild. He's a tactician--he's got a knack for organization and planning. But what binds us together is more than that. There's intimacy and love and living together and," he added this with a little laugh, "the kitchen table where it feels like everything takes place."
Actually, in point of fact, it was Sesyria and Kyinnlen together who formed the nucleus of the guild, but Kyinnlen wasn't going to say that, preferring instead to let his own role simply be inferred.
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He wrinkled his nose in thought, lowering the hand to the scar at his throat before answering, "It's not so much that they are in danger in Germany, but when I fled the circus we were living with, the new owner was a less than decent person."
The shift in Kyinnlen's demeanor earned a raised eyebrow, although he smiled, propped his elbows up onto his knees and shifted a little closer, intent on making sure he could hear each and every word the other male was going to say.
However, his features wilted when the sylvari began to talk about the person that he loved and how he had been adamant about not reciprocating the feelings. He'd known that all too well, but it was slightly different in his case; he hadn't told the one he felt strongly about anything that could hint toward that sort of thing. How did one actually approach a subject like that without sounding strange? Kurt didn't know, considering that he had never felt anything like it before. Until his settling in with the school, of course.
"There is nothing wrong with being stubborn or patient," he slipped in after Kyinnlen's laughter, falling silent once more to allow him to continue talking. Watching the others face practically glow with happiness as he spoke of this 'Sesyria' made Kurt's heart swell, the warmth flooding through him like a tidal wave of fire. The sight of someone so utterly content ... How exceedingly perfect - almost soulful, in a way.
His hand being grabbed surprised him at first, but when Kyinnlen brought it over, rested it in his lap between both of his own, the indigo tint of his cheeks darkened to an extremely vivid shade of violet, looking as if he might have some sort of sunburn. Not that he was uncomfortable with the gesture at all, more-so that he'd never had anyone willingly hold his hand like that. It felt oddly intimate, yet warm and friendly and he couldn't resist the urge to curl his three digits around Kyinnlen's hand in return.
Still, he remained quiet as Kyinnlen went on about his and Sesyria's home, their family and friends - animals included. A wistful sigh was the only response for a few long minutes, his eyes becoming half-lidded, vibrant irides glittering with elation. It all just sounded so fairy tail-esque; he felt the smallest bit of envy, but only momentarily, his thoughts more focused on if there would ever be a chance for his friends or even himself to be that happy.
"Without you by his side, I am sure your other half would be incomplete." He gently, yet firmly squeezed Kyinnlen's hand with his own, raising the free one to tip the hat back onto his head, fangs gleaming in a vivacious grin. "The two of you seem to have quite the team - ah, family sounds far better, actually - to support you both in all that you do."