"You threw up on Wolverine's shoes?" Kurt threw his head back so fast it was a wonder it didn't snap off his neck or at least hit the wall of lockers behind him. "Oh - my - god! Did he explode you with his eyes afterward?"
"No, there was no 'eye exploding.'" Anna finger quoted with such stank a skunk would have turned tail and run. "And, no, I didn't have a concussion. Thanks for asking. I got a clean bill of health from Ororo and some funky-looking machine in the clinic next to the Danger Room." She crossed her arms, clutching one of her textbooks to her chest. "Actually, Logan was pretty cool about it. I mean, it clearly wasn't his favorite thing in the world, but the way he acted kinda seemed like it wasn't the first time that had happened to him."
Kurt shrugged, the single backpack strap on his shoulder losing an inch of grip. "Guy is old as forever as far as I can tell. Probably has seen it all."
"Yeah…" Anna looked around the empty hallway. It was still technically their lunch period, but the pair had decided to get an early start for their classes at the opposite end of the school. Normally they wouldn't bother, especially Kurt who could apparently just teleport, or 'bamf' as he liked to call it, to wherever he felt like. As for Anna, well she couldn't really say she gave a crap about being a couple of minutes late to her 'Introduction to Art Appreciation' class. It was a bullshit elective she took to act as a study hall so she could get some homework done anyway. Still, the others didn't give them much of a choice as far as hanging around the courtyard for the rest of lunch. Evan was being even more moody than normal and pretty soon excused himself, saying that some teacher wanted to see him. Kitty was just about as zoned-out as usual, but left for the bathroom at one point with her backpack and never came back.
Anna leaned up against the lockers next to Kurt. "The others hate me, don't they?"
"What? Dude, I don't think anyone in our little group is capable of hating anyone."
"That right?" Anna gently leaned her head back. "That way Evan has been avoiding me these past couple of days?"
Normally he was always so on the ball and quick the retort, but for at least for the moment, he seemed at a loss for words. He pressed his back against the lockers and slid down to the floor till he was sat down on the hard vinyl tile floor. "…Evan is a really private dude. I think… maybe with you finding us playing the other night - well I think it kinda rattled his cage."
Anna tisked. "Okay, fine. Maybe, I can admit, I shouldn't have just barged in like I did. I still just don't understand all the secrecy. I mean -" She paused and sifted her jaw back and forth. "I don't know. I guess it kinda made me feel even more excluded, you know?"
"I can tell you that was never our intent." Kurt picked at the frays in the knees of his jeans. "The whole thing was kinda meant to be the opposite, actually. Ev and I started it a little after we first met." He shrugged. "I mean, you can't really play with two people, but D&D was just one of those things we bonded over as far as being fans, you know? It was kinda one of the things that helped cement our friendship. We both joined the school just days apart from each other, and at the time it was just us and Scott and Jean. And it's no offense to Scott or Jean, it's just-" He looked up at her. "I mean, you know, they are busy all the time, and they're older, and -"
He paused and then looked back down at the frays in her jeans. "Well, anyway, Evan and I just clicked from the beginning over video games and comics. A few weeks later Kitty showed up and, well, it was a little weird at first. She was pretty shy and we just sorta didn't know what to do with her. One day at dinner, I was talking to Evan about D&D, some podcast or something I think, then Kitty's eyes just - like - blew up. It was then she talked more than either one of us had ever heard her say."
Anna raised a brow. "There was a time when Kitty didn't talk?"
"Ah dude, it was crazy. For a minute there I thought she was mute. She wouldn't look at any of us during dinner, and after her chores and stuff were done, she would just go to her room and we would hear nothing but silence."
"Really? Because all she's done since I've been here is be a fucking loudmouth. Except for the times when she's weirdly frosty in the morning, or like this afternoon."
Kurt picked at the small patch of peach fuzz on his chin. "She's kinda always been like that in the morning. I couldn't really tell you why. I guess it's just one of her quirks. As far as this afternoon - um -" Kurt looked up at her, smiled, and shrugged with his hands. Anna rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, at the mention of Dungeons and Dragons, it was like a pressure valve got released in Kitty, and it was all she wanted to talk about for days. Finally, Evan had the idea that we should just start our own game."
"Evan had that idea? Mister anti-social?"
"He's not-" Kurt folded his legs underneath him in a way that didn't look entirely comfortable. "I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but Evan is usually a little more outgoing."
"I mean, I remember him being nice to me for like two seconds during that whole 'Mystique's my mom' thing."
"Yeah, and that's usually how he is -" Kurt sighed. "I don't know. When I ask him what's going on, he kinda just seems to want to avoid the subject. And I don't want to force him to talk about something that makes him upset." Kurt shifted his legs again, wrapping his arms around his knees. "It's confusing, a little bit. Because, like, we converted that attic together so we could have that time with the three of us, me, Ev, and Kitty. And it's been awesome, you know? It's been our special place to play out our dumb and silly little story. Then, lately…" Kurt waved his hand. "Eh, never mind. Just stinks."
Anna crouched down next to him. "What?"
Kurt nodded his head from shoulder to shoulder. "I mean… I think you two would just probably benefit from talking, is all."
"Talking?" Anna stiffened up. "Talking about what? How much of a douche he's been? Because I'll gladly talk to him about that all day."
Kurt scratched his upper lip with a single finger. "That's… not what I meant exactly -"
"Then what? I should apologize, though I haven't done anything wrong?"
"I - uh - don't mean that either. It's just -" Kurt waved his hands in the air in front of him. "Communication is important… and uh -" Kurt glimpsed at his fat watch and tapped it with his finger. "Oh look at that! It's just about time for class and I really shouldn't be late!" He shot up to his feet faster than anything Anna had ever seen and started walking fast enough down the hallway he was near a blur. "See you later, Anna!" He waved over his shoulder before disappearing around a corner.
Anna sighed through her nose and relaxed her folded legs beneath her. "Man… not you too, Kurt." She mumbled and tilted her head forward, her chin-length hair concealing the sides of her face.