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tamingthemuseTitle: Human Kindness
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Excalibur (an X-Men title)
Character/Pairing: Kurt/Annie
Rating: G/K
Challenge: #454: Outcast
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1,416
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Marvel Comics and Disney, not the author, and are used without permission.
She stands behind the bar looking like a golden spot in this busy and hard night life. For just a moment, Kurt Wagner can almost imagine the blonde wearing a halo made of the neon signs behind her, but then a chair being pushed back bumps him and he remembers quickly where, and who, he is. She is no Angel, but she is a good friend and it's nice to see her tonight. One might even say he needs to see her tonight.
Ignoring the ruckus the locals are beginning to make, Kurt continues up to the bar and smiles at Annie who promptly tosses the rag she's been wiping her hands on over her shoulder and begins to make him his usual. She doesn't ask questions like every woman he's ever known before, and she doesn't judge him. She doesn't judge him for what he drinks while he's wearing the Lord's cross or for how he looks. She doesn't judge him, he knows from previous conversations, for anything. Ja, he did this tonight: He needed the reminder that there are still good people in this world, still innocents for whom to fight, still people who care for him, while not sharing his genes, no matter how he looks.
She places his first drink of the evening in front of him, and he downs immediately. "Rough night?" she asks, and his long, blue tail swishes underneath his trench coat even as he notes the concern in her voice.
"Ja," he speaks softly, allowing his fangs to flash, but they do not deter her smile.
"Need to talk about it?"
He shakes his head, pointy ears turning slightly back. He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to remember the lives that were lost tonight, on either side, simply because of prejudice and blind hatred. For a few hours, at least, he only wants to be a man in a bar talking to a pretty girl.
Annie seems almost to know his unspoken desires as she places a bowl of chips underneath his elbow. He looks up in surprise, mouth poised to tell her he didn't order them, but her smile stops him and begins again to ease the tension that is riding so high on him this evening. "They're on the house," she says, and before he can thank her, bawdy laughter from a far corner of the pub steals her attention away.
He notes the way her pretty head ducks and glances in the direction of the laughter. He's surprised to see a new waitress flirting with a table of local college kids. "Problems?" he asks, the tip of his tail twitching. If any one gives this sweet girl trouble while he's here --
"Not really."
Kurt knows an evasive answer when he hears it, having given many a one over his long years of living. "Vho's ze new waitress?"
"Heidi."
"Forgive me, but she doesn't exactly favor your family." The other girl's red hair and freckles are a stark contrast to Annie's clean, smooth skin and long, blonde hair.
"That's because she's not family."
"I zought zis vas a family-run business."
"It is, usually, but Papa thought we needed more help than what we've got in our family right now during tourist season. She's only temporary."
Kurt notes the assurance with which Annie speaks and knows it is much more for her own sake of mind and serenity than his own. He watches her watching them for a long moment before he speaks again, "I could have a vord vith him."
"No. No. Please don't. She has a son."
"Ah." Kurt's tail swishes as he smiles. Annie's eyes are back on him, and she answers his smile with one of her own. "So she gives you trouble," he deduces, "but you'll not see harm come to her because of her family?"
"Aye," she admits.
He beams proudly up at her. "You're a good fraulein."
"Thank you," she blushes, "I think."
He doesn't hesitate to place his blue hand with only three fingers on top of her white hand with full digits. He knows she won't run from him or be repelled even if he doesn't use his charm. Annie isn't that kind of girl. "May I ask vhy she's troubling you?"
"I . . . " Annie's eyes dart away.
Kurt stiffens and withdraws his hand. "Is it because of me?" he asks softly. "I can leave." But it pains his heart to even consider doing so when he's come to this pub with his own family almost ever since moving to Muir Isle. It's one of the rare places in the whole world where he's always felt welcomed and accepted for who he is, not pitied or feared for what he is.
"Please no!"
He smiles at the way she cries the words. She pauses again and blushes deeper. He lets his hand return to hers, only this time, she turns her hand up so that her palm touches his. "Annie, you have a rare soul. You're so full of kindness. You're already a beautiful fraulein, but ze beauty of your soul really shines through. You always make mein night vhenever I visit here, and I know I'm not the only gentleman vho feels zat vay." He's seen her be kind to every one, but she is especially kind and generous to the lame, the mentally handicapped, the elders, and his kind. The more the world would trouble her patron, the kinder and gentler Annie is to them, and the more she makes them smile.
"I know. I mean, I try. But sometimes being kind to an outcast causes you to become one."
"It doesn't have to."
"It shouldn't have to be that way," Annie corrects him with as much gentility as she always shows, "but it is." She speaks the last three words with great sorrow, and he realizes this girl, this Heidi laughing and joking among the locals, must not be the first time Annie's been stung by prejudice because of how she treats those to whom the vast majority of humanity is not as kind. She is kind to every one as he fights for a world that hates and fears his people, and where those same people who have hurt him and others like him because of their closed minds and petty prejudices have hurt him, so, too, have they hurt this innocent beauty.
"I have vatched you over ze years, Annie. You have always shown such remarkable kindness to every one you meet. Don't let zese ozers trouble you so. You've got more friends zan zey'll ever know, more true friends, because of your kindness, and ze Lord always repays zose vho are kind and humble." He lifts her hand and kisses its back.
She smiles at him, joy shining in her bright eyes. "I know, Kurt," she answers, using his given name for the first time. He doesn't even know when she learned it, but yet, somehow, he's not surprised. "It must be nice having fur on a night like tonight."
"It is," he admits, long tail swishing. He doesn't bother to hide it this time. He lets it come right out from underneath the hem of his coat. Let the world look at them, he thinks. Let those who would hate and fear them because of what they are, a deformed (to their minds) mutant and a girl whose generosity knows no end, see what they have and be jealous of it. "Perhaps," he dares to add, "it, like life, vould feel better shared."
She smiles. "I take my dinner in an hour, but I don't get off until after I close the pub."
He grins, fangs shining in the neon lights. "I'll vait," he promises, "and help if you'll allow it."
Her smile would have been thanks enough, but she leans over the counter and kisses his fuzzy cheek before every one. This time, it is his skin, hidden by his fur, that darkens, but he does not turn from her. He never will turn from a girl so kind.
"Thank you, Kurt."
"Mein pleasure, Annie," he says, and he knows, even as his cheek tingles where she kissed him so sweetly and chastely, it is. It's always been a pleasure to experience the rarity of the truly kind human nature, and it always will be. He sits back, watches her work as another crowd comes in, and waits, as he always will, for another moment of human kindness.
The End
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Excalibur (an X-Men title)
Character/Pairing: Kurt/Annie
Rating: G/K
Challenge: #454: Outcast
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1,416
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Marvel Comics and Disney, not the author, and are used without permission.
She stands behind the bar looking like a golden spot in this busy and hard night life. For just a moment, Kurt Wagner can almost imagine the blonde wearing a halo made of the neon signs behind her, but then a chair being pushed back bumps him and he remembers quickly where, and who, he is. She is no Angel, but she is a good friend and it's nice to see her tonight. One might even say he needs to see her tonight.
Ignoring the ruckus the locals are beginning to make, Kurt continues up to the bar and smiles at Annie who promptly tosses the rag she's been wiping her hands on over her shoulder and begins to make him his usual. She doesn't ask questions like every woman he's ever known before, and she doesn't judge him. She doesn't judge him for what he drinks while he's wearing the Lord's cross or for how he looks. She doesn't judge him, he knows from previous conversations, for anything. Ja, he did this tonight: He needed the reminder that there are still good people in this world, still innocents for whom to fight, still people who care for him, while not sharing his genes, no matter how he looks.
She places his first drink of the evening in front of him, and he downs immediately. "Rough night?" she asks, and his long, blue tail swishes underneath his trench coat even as he notes the concern in her voice.
"Ja," he speaks softly, allowing his fangs to flash, but they do not deter her smile.
"Need to talk about it?"
He shakes his head, pointy ears turning slightly back. He doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't want to remember the lives that were lost tonight, on either side, simply because of prejudice and blind hatred. For a few hours, at least, he only wants to be a man in a bar talking to a pretty girl.
Annie seems almost to know his unspoken desires as she places a bowl of chips underneath his elbow. He looks up in surprise, mouth poised to tell her he didn't order them, but her smile stops him and begins again to ease the tension that is riding so high on him this evening. "They're on the house," she says, and before he can thank her, bawdy laughter from a far corner of the pub steals her attention away.
He notes the way her pretty head ducks and glances in the direction of the laughter. He's surprised to see a new waitress flirting with a table of local college kids. "Problems?" he asks, the tip of his tail twitching. If any one gives this sweet girl trouble while he's here --
"Not really."
Kurt knows an evasive answer when he hears it, having given many a one over his long years of living. "Vho's ze new waitress?"
"Heidi."
"Forgive me, but she doesn't exactly favor your family." The other girl's red hair and freckles are a stark contrast to Annie's clean, smooth skin and long, blonde hair.
"That's because she's not family."
"I zought zis vas a family-run business."
"It is, usually, but Papa thought we needed more help than what we've got in our family right now during tourist season. She's only temporary."
Kurt notes the assurance with which Annie speaks and knows it is much more for her own sake of mind and serenity than his own. He watches her watching them for a long moment before he speaks again, "I could have a vord vith him."
"No. No. Please don't. She has a son."
"Ah." Kurt's tail swishes as he smiles. Annie's eyes are back on him, and she answers his smile with one of her own. "So she gives you trouble," he deduces, "but you'll not see harm come to her because of her family?"
"Aye," she admits.
He beams proudly up at her. "You're a good fraulein."
"Thank you," she blushes, "I think."
He doesn't hesitate to place his blue hand with only three fingers on top of her white hand with full digits. He knows she won't run from him or be repelled even if he doesn't use his charm. Annie isn't that kind of girl. "May I ask vhy she's troubling you?"
"I . . . " Annie's eyes dart away.
Kurt stiffens and withdraws his hand. "Is it because of me?" he asks softly. "I can leave." But it pains his heart to even consider doing so when he's come to this pub with his own family almost ever since moving to Muir Isle. It's one of the rare places in the whole world where he's always felt welcomed and accepted for who he is, not pitied or feared for what he is.
"Please no!"
He smiles at the way she cries the words. She pauses again and blushes deeper. He lets his hand return to hers, only this time, she turns her hand up so that her palm touches his. "Annie, you have a rare soul. You're so full of kindness. You're already a beautiful fraulein, but ze beauty of your soul really shines through. You always make mein night vhenever I visit here, and I know I'm not the only gentleman vho feels zat vay." He's seen her be kind to every one, but she is especially kind and generous to the lame, the mentally handicapped, the elders, and his kind. The more the world would trouble her patron, the kinder and gentler Annie is to them, and the more she makes them smile.
"I know. I mean, I try. But sometimes being kind to an outcast causes you to become one."
"It doesn't have to."
"It shouldn't have to be that way," Annie corrects him with as much gentility as she always shows, "but it is." She speaks the last three words with great sorrow, and he realizes this girl, this Heidi laughing and joking among the locals, must not be the first time Annie's been stung by prejudice because of how she treats those to whom the vast majority of humanity is not as kind. She is kind to every one as he fights for a world that hates and fears his people, and where those same people who have hurt him and others like him because of their closed minds and petty prejudices have hurt him, so, too, have they hurt this innocent beauty.
"I have vatched you over ze years, Annie. You have always shown such remarkable kindness to every one you meet. Don't let zese ozers trouble you so. You've got more friends zan zey'll ever know, more true friends, because of your kindness, and ze Lord always repays zose vho are kind and humble." He lifts her hand and kisses its back.
She smiles at him, joy shining in her bright eyes. "I know, Kurt," she answers, using his given name for the first time. He doesn't even know when she learned it, but yet, somehow, he's not surprised. "It must be nice having fur on a night like tonight."
"It is," he admits, long tail swishing. He doesn't bother to hide it this time. He lets it come right out from underneath the hem of his coat. Let the world look at them, he thinks. Let those who would hate and fear them because of what they are, a deformed (to their minds) mutant and a girl whose generosity knows no end, see what they have and be jealous of it. "Perhaps," he dares to add, "it, like life, vould feel better shared."
She smiles. "I take my dinner in an hour, but I don't get off until after I close the pub."
He grins, fangs shining in the neon lights. "I'll vait," he promises, "and help if you'll allow it."
Her smile would have been thanks enough, but she leans over the counter and kisses his fuzzy cheek before every one. This time, it is his skin, hidden by his fur, that darkens, but he does not turn from her. He never will turn from a girl so kind.
"Thank you, Kurt."
"Mein pleasure, Annie," he says, and he knows, even as his cheek tingles where she kissed him so sweetly and chastely, it is. It's always been a pleasure to experience the rarity of the truly kind human nature, and it always will be. He sits back, watches her work as another crowd comes in, and waits, as he always will, for another moment of human kindness.
The End
