1963-07-01 - Nightcrawler's Army
Summary: The children of Hell's Kitchen make a new friend and Kurt tries to double dutch jumprope
Related: None
Theme Song: None
fury nightcrawler 


Having found Fury, Kurt's fear has mostly dissipated. There is still an issue with the fact that he looks so different and some don't seem to like that, but he's always looked different and he's been places. He never hid in the Circus tent and he's not about to start now!

The first order of business was to apologize to the kids that he frightened. That wasn't the easiest to do, seeing as he gave them a bit of a fright, but hopefully Fury was able to talk to the parents and they, in turn, spoke to the kids. Or maybe not and the kids will talk to the parents and…something will happen or not.

With kids out on the stoop, sidewalk, and in the street, Kurt made his way out like a normal person - no teleporting! He didn't hide. He just sat on the stoop, reading a newspaper…or pretending to read. The first kid got curious and others soon joined her.

The next thing he knew, Kurt is learning how to double-dutch jump-rope.

*

As Nick finally makes it back to his block, the streetlamps are on, dinners been had, and it's a nice night. It's cooled off, and there isn't any hint of rain like the night before. There are kids laughing; patches of girls playing jacks, boys playing tag-football, and.. jumprope? He slows down to a stop, brows rising, and he finds a lamppost to lean on, arms crossing, just watching the scene play out. Little girls are laughing, shouting out a cadence as the ropes fly. One little girl, Constance, plays the game of counting, jumping in for three, four jumps, then jumps out again to show Kurt 'how it's done'.

"Your tail, Kurt! Your tail!" Emma, in pigtails, shouts. "It's gonna get caught—!"

*

"Ach!" Kurt tries to reach around to grab a hold of his tail but gets smacked by one of the ropes instead. "I can walk one of these things, but I cannot jump it!" He grins as the the kids most likely laugh at him and his lack of jump-rope skills. "Again. Let me try again…" and he wraps his tail around his waist, chiding it as if that will somehow help keep it there. His attention is focused on the ropes to the point that he doesn't know that he's being observed by anyone other than the children.

*

Kurt is lucky he doesn't have ribbons on the thing given Emma's love for the satin bursts of color. Nick is more than happy to let Kurt play with the kids, but they'll have him going and going and going all night if Nick doesn't step in now.

The ropes begin anew; a siren's call, perhaps to the blue elf. As Nick approaches again, the kids start to call out, "Evening, Sergeant Nick!" Each one slightly off from the next and the next and the next. "Simone! Double dutch already? Tell me you started him out on a single rope first."

One of the 'older' girls, 12 at the most, looks unrepentant. "Sergeant Nick, ain't nothing like double dutch. Single rope is for babies."

Nick shakes his head and chuckles, "Kurt, you can stop at any time."

*

He almost had it. Almost. But then the calls of 'Evening, Sergeant Nick' broke his focus and he gets tripped up again. "I can jump a single rope, but this…this is magic. I -will- master it!" He might be a little dramatic for the kids on that. A grin is given to Emma and the older girl, "Tomorrow. We will do this again tomorrow, ja? I'll get it then." He seems very confident about that.

"How long have I been out here?" he asks the older man, "These kids are tolle. Amazing." A wave is given to them as he moves to join Fury if he's going inside. "I…locked myself out…" as if that's a valid excuse. He just enjoyed being around people who weren't out to kill him…even if they were young people.

*

"Tomorrow!" The girls give Nick a look; something very much of the 'I told you so' variety as they begin to pack up their ropes and jacks. One little girl runs over to Kurt and moves her fingers in gesture, "Open your hand." If he does so? He's gifted two marbles. One has a brilliant yellow within, and the other is a speckled blue. "Play ya tomorrow!" and she runs off.

Nick chuckles as he finally, fully swoops in for the save. "Locked yourself out? Sure. Though I think everyone on the block appreciates not having to smell that.. smell through their open windows." He's coming up on the young mutant, and he moves to put an arm around his shoulders. "You eat yet?"

*

Nightcrawler does hold out his hand and seems rather stunned when he's gifted with the two marbles. His three fingers close over them and he pulls his hand to his chest, obviously touched at the gesture. "Danke schoen…" is offered quietly as the girl runs off.

But thenFury is there again, "What smell?" Does he notice it or is he being cheeky? He's still holding the marbles, "I bought the children some ice cream when the truck came…" a good use, he felt, of his money. "I had some of that. Does the truck come around every day?" So otherwise, no.

His eyes widen and he shows him the marbles, "Herr Nick! How do I play a game with these?"

*

Nick leads the younger man in, closing the door to the outside behind him. Up the stairs of the tenement building, and he pulls his key out to unlock the deadbolt. "You're doomed. Those kids are world champion marble players." He doesn't sound surprised that Kurt doesn't know how to play the game. It's pretty much an American kid game. "I'll give you the basics, but after that, you're on your own." Beat. "After we get something to eat." He mumbles, "I can't believe you didn't eat anything. And yes. The ice cream truck comes around every day in the summer. So don't you buy them something -every- day. Those little beasts will be impossible. You'll have your own little army by the time school comes around again."

*

Nightcrawler follows, "If it is anything like the jumping rope, I know I'm in trouble," but he's still smiling. "The basics will be good, danke. I think the, ah, kids…" he tries out the word, "would like to teach me." Although he doesn't want to lose the marbles given to him. "Well, I didn't want to leave the…kids…out there alone," and he wasn't sure he wanted to test going into a deli. Maybe tomorrow. "I guess I am hungry…but I also don't want to eat all your food!" The ribs were devoured once he figured out how to eat them.

His grin widens, "Is it so bad to have my own army?"

*

"Eat all my damned food. Someone has to."

Nick turns the lights on in the apartment before he makes his way to the icebox. Opening it, he pulls out some cheese, some salami and puts it out on the counter to cut up for snacks to hold off the hunger pangs while he cooks them both something.

"If you don't want to lose those marbles, you'd better practice all day tomorrow." Never let it be said that Nick doesn't -listen-. He does, and he -hears-. 'didn't want to leave the kids out there alone'. Nick knows Kurt's a smart one, a bright kid… young man. And now? He gets it.

Home. Invested in the community that is called Hell's Kitchen.

"You're gonna be unstoppable, Kurt. Your little lieutenants doing your every bidding. Eyes and ears on the street?" Nick chuckles and shakes his head, stil cutting. "I'm impressed."

*

Kurt tucks the marbles safely into a pocket before he moves closer to the kitchen to help. He knows how to do basic cooking. "Maybe they will go easy on me?" although he's pretty sure that won't happen.

He does laugh at the commentary about him being unstoppable, "Why would I need eyes and ears on the street?" But there's a bit of pride that he's impressed his Herr Nick! It's like a kid getting his father's approval. The grin softens a little then, "Children know. They know who is good and who is bad…I remember that and I've seen it with the kids at the Circus." Yellow eyes look to a window and then back at Fury, "If the kids know that I am not bad, maybe the adults will see too."

*

"You did all that yourself, Kurt. Those kids. That's your victory right out there." Nick gestures with the knife in the direction of the window. "Children do know. And they're gonna be some of your biggest allies out there. Words' gonna travel fast, and soon enough, you'll leave this neighborhood and pass into another, and you're gonna have a little bodyguard contingent of the braver kids. You see, most of 'em, they'll stare." He is back to work, but he keeps looking back and forth between his work and Kurt, "But the braver ones, they'll come up because they were told by their friends about you. So, they can't lose face.. and when the braver kids come forward, then the little ones will. Piece by piece."

Nick's got some of the cheese so when Kurt does come in to help, he's handed the plate of meat and cheese. "I got this.
"The adults? Some'll see, others are going to need some pursuading."
"

*

Maybe Kurt intended that…maybe he just wanted to prove to himself that he really wasn't that horrible. Maybe he just wanted to meet the kids who Fury watches out for. Maybe it was a combination of all of them. Taking the plate of meat and cheese, he offers another quiet, "Danke," before he goes to perch on a chair to eat. "Do you think so?" It would be nice.

"Even if some see, maybe others will see too. But the kids who learn…they won't grow up with the fear." At least, that's his hope. He gives a satisfied nod at that expression of thought before digging into the plate of food.

*

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