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A true night off was a rare treat for the X-Men. Plenty of nights off were scheduled and planned for, but that was assuming that the endless list of outside factors didn’t interrupt. There was always something that needed doing, it seemed - whether it was regular chores or maintenance around the mansion, training sessions, a mission that popped up suddenly, or just the mundanity of homework, midterms, and finals.
That particular Friday evening, however, had been blessedly free from interruptions. Everyone who hadn’t gone to their rooms for some rest was milling about; some gathering in the kitchen to forage for snacks, others spreading out across the large living room. Kurt, Evan, and Bobby were playing video games, with Amara and Jubilee on the other end of the couch, painting each other’s nails. Jean and Rogue played chess in the corner, Scott was reviewing footage from a Danger Room session with an increasingly annoyed Logan, and Kitty was sitting by the fireplace, writing in her journal.
“This is impossible,” Rogue rolled her eyes, pushing the chess board away, “what’s the point of playing a strategy game with a telepath?”
“I swear I’m not reading your mind,” Jean laughed, “Really, I promise!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rogue waved her off, “go play with Scott or somethin’, I’m done.”
“Please play with Scott,” Logan cut in, seeing an opportunity and seizing it, “If I have to stare at this footage for another second, I’m gonna lose it.”
“As opposed to the calm, cool, collected man I see here before me,” Scott’s voice was heavy with sarcasm, “Riiiight.”
“Ah! Yes! Victory is mine!” Kurt’s voice cut through the conversation, as he jumped up on the couch. He pointed at Evan, then Bobby, chanting: “Kicked your butt, kicked your butt, I am the champion!”
“Cool it, man,” Bobby chided, and sent a burst of frost towards Kurt, who adeptly avoided it by teleporting across the room.
“Whatever, dude,” Evan tossed the controller aside, “that game is trash, anyway.”
“Ach, don’t be a sore loser,” Kurt crowed, teleporting back to the couch. He perched on the arm, then teleported to the TV stand, then back to the couch.
“You’re stinkin’ up the room with all that sulfur, elf,” Logan snarled, his raised voice a warning. Kurt, undeterred, teleported to the coffee table next, which upended a bowl of popcorn and two sodas, immediately spilling and fizzing into the carpet.
“Kurt!” Amara yelped, and Jubilee jumped up to avoid getting caught in the spillzone.
“Half-Pint,” Logan clapped Kitty on the shoulder, his annoyance obvious, “do us all a favor get ahold of your boyfriend, would’ya?”
Kurt froze where he stood, crouched halfway to the carpet, reaching for the now-empty soda cans. He stared at Kitty, his eyes wide, and waited for the inevitable: a scream, a shout, a vehement denial, a Classic Kitty Pryde Style Storm-Out - but it never came. Kitty didn’t even so much as blink, calmly getting up from the big easy chair she’d been curled in.
“Take a breath, Logan,” She said good naturedly, tucking her journal under her arm, “it’s, like, no big. These carpets have seen way worse. If they could talk, they’d probably scream, right Kurt?” She paused, finally seeming to take Kurt in. He was still frozen in place, staring at her. “...Kurt?”
“Uh,” He managed. “Um.”
“You okay, pal?” Scott asked, just as realization dawned on Jean’s face. She whispered something in Scott’s ear, and his face went crimson. “Ah, jeeze. Well… that’s gonna be awkward.”
“What are you talking about?” Kitty frowned at them, then turned back to Kurt, poking him in the arm. “Are you okay?”
“Boyfriend?” He finally managed to squeak out, voice cracking on the second half of the word. Kitty raised a brow, and Kurt’s head swiveled towards Logan. He tried to smile, like he was in on it, but Logan’s steely gaze didn’t crack. “Oh, I see. A joke, ja?”
“A joke?” Kitty repeated, hurt flashing across her face.
“Ah, Christ,” Logan rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m too old for this shit.”
“If this is about to be a big drama,” Rogue drawled from across the room, “take it upstairs, will ya?”
“Kätzchen?” Kurt looked around the room, taking in everyone’s faces; expressions varying from pitying, to surprise, to knowing smirks. Kitty tucked her hair behind her ear, clutching her journal to her chest in one hand. With the other, she reached out and slipped her arm through Kurt’s, hooked at the elbows.
“Let’s go up,” She said quietly, face red, “I think, um. We should talk. Obviously.”
In a swirl of sulfur and smoke, they were gone from the living room, landing in the upstairs hallway, just outside of Kurt’s door.
“Kätzchen,” Kurt repeated, pleading, “what is going on? Why did Logan call me your boyfriend? And why did everyone look at me like - why did they all react like -”
“Kurt,” Kitty said slowly, her confusion seeming to rival his, “I guess I can see why the boyfriend comment threw you, because we haven’t actually defined the relationship yet, but did you not know - am I like, a full-on dummy, or -” She ran a hand through her hair, fisting it at the root. “We’re dating. I mean - aren’t we? Isn’t that what we’re doing? God, I feel like a total loser.”
“I think if anyone is a dummy in this scenario, it is me,” Kurt reached for Kitty’s hand, gently untangling it from her hair. “The others made that very clear downstairs. But, Schatz, I think I am missing some pieces here. Because if we were dating, I think I would know about it. If you asked me out, believe me, I would remember it.”
“Right, okay,” Kitty said slowly, biting her lip, “but, Kurt… you asked me out.”
“Is it possible I have amnesia?” Kurt’s face was deadly serious. “Or that I’ve fallen into a different, much better dimension?” At that, Kitty laughed, which emboldened Kurt to continue: “Because this is great news for me, Kätzchen, truly, but I am as lost as I could possibly be.”
“Here, can we…?” She tilted her head towards Kurt’s room, and he nodded. Not bothering with opening the door, Kitty took him by the hand and phased them both through. “You definitely don’t have amnesia, and you’re in the same old dimension, but I think -” Kitty’s laughter bordered on hysterical now, embracing how truly odd the situation was, “- I think we obviously need to work on our communication skills.”
“So to be clear,” Kurt stroked his chin thoughtfully, “you, and every single one of our friends and teammates, have been operating with the understanding that you and I are in a relationship.”
“Uh, yeah,” Kitty laughed again, “because we, like, are! Like, indisputably, we are. Any jury in the world would agree.” At this, Kurt’s eyes sparkled - Kitty was laughing again, and she was in her playful mood where she indulged in imagination games with him. A game, he could handle. He was excellent at games.
“Alright then,” Kurt placed his hands on Kitty’s waist and positioned her so she was standing in front of him, and he sat on the edge of his bed, “walk me through this. Present me with all the evidence you have, Counselor Pryde.”
“Well, Your Honor,” Kitty stood up straight, stifling her giggles, “if it pleases the court, I’d like to submit Exhibit A.” She leaned over and opened his top dresser drawer with a flourish. “You’ll see the Plaintiff - that’s you, by the way, you’re Plaintiff and Judge - keeps a spare pair of the Defendant’s - my - pajamas in their dresser drawer.”
“Ah, but that is circumstantial!” Kurt argued, smiling wide, “you kept falling asleep when we would watch movies together, and you get so cranky when you wake up and have to go all the way back to your room to change -”
“Objection! I am never cranky.”
“Overruled,” Kurt said easily, “you are very, very cranky when you first wake up. But fear not, Kätzchen, it is very endearing.” She opened her mouth to argue, but Kurt carried on: “To your point about the pajamas, Counselor, it was only logical to start keeping an extra set of yours in here.”
“Which brings me to Exhibit B,” Kitty’s brow lifted, a wry look on her face, “I sleep in your bed, like, three or four nights a week.”
“Ah,” Kurt’s throat began to feel tight, “but that’s - we’ve never - after you fall asleep, when the movie ends, I sleep on the couch.” His gaze flickered over to a faded green and yellow loveseat on the far wall, a blanket tossed haphazardly over it, evidence of the last time Kitty had taken over his bed.
“Huh.” That, more than anything else, seemed to give her pause and bring her back to reality. “I guess I just assumed you were being a gentleman, or that you wanted to take things slow.” She stared at the loveseat, the light in her eyes dimming a bit as she considered what it could mean. Kurt reached for her, not wanting Kitty to end their game yet.
“Go on, Counselor,” He encouraged, “your evidence?”
“Oh,” Her face had gone red, and she shook her head as if trying to clear the confusion. “Right, yes. Exhibit C - hold on a sec.”
She broke away from his grasp to grab her journal, which she’d let fall to the floor once they’d come into Kurt’s room. Holding it in both hands, she looked to him shyly, glancing to where she’d been standing before, where he’d been holding onto her so casually while they bantered back and forth. Wordlessly, he held his arms out, and her face gave way to relief, stepping back into the space there, letting his hands settle above her hips.
She opened the journal and flipped through the pages for a moment, a triumphant smile filling her face when she found what she was looking for.
“Two weeks ago, you asked me out on what I’d like to submit to the court as our first date. You invited me on a walk downtown to get coffee and go to the library, and you gave me flowers.” She gently removed a dried daisy from the pages of her journal, where she’d pressed it. “I specifically kept it as a memento.”
“Ah,” Kurt swallowed, “I did not realize, at the time, that it was a date.”
“Kurt,” Kitty stared at him, voice flat, “you invited me on a sunset walk to a cute coffee shop where you paid for my order. You gave me flowers.”
“Ja, but I didn’t buy them.” For some reason, he felt that this was an important distinction. “I picked them, because I remembered the last time we had walked through the public garden, you pointed them out.”
“You get how that’s more romantic, right?” Kitty let out another burst of disbelieving laughter. “You get how, like, remembering a comment I made one time about some flowers, going out of your way to pick them for me, then giving them to me at the front door before taking me on a sunset stroll is like, a billion times more romantic than buying any old bouquet at the store?”
“Hm,” Kurt’s throat was as dry as sandpaper. “Ja, yes, I am seeing your point now.”
“Exhibit C, part two,” Kitty plunged on, “per my diary, we walked the whole way arm-in-arm. Plaintiff, how do you respond?”
“I -” Kurt faltered. “I thought it was one of our games. You said you felt like a Jane Austen character. You kept talking in a British accent. You called me Mr. Darcy. Many times, in fact.”
“That was flirting, you dummy,” Kitty let out a frustrated huff, but there was no bite to her words. “Mr. Darcy is a total romantic hero. Plus, I was… nervous. I do that sometimes when I’m nervous. Pretend to be someone else, I mean.”
“Like right now?” Kurt offered, and she nodded. Her eyes looked wet, embarrassment bubbling up inside of her. “Kätzchen, it’s okay. You don’t have to be nervous. I just needed some… clarification. Please - keep going? It’s just me. Only me. The person who had no idea all of his wildest hopes had come true and he was dating his dream girl.”
“I’m your dream girl?” Kitty blushed, pink-cheeked and bashful. Kurt tilted his head back and groaned.
“Kitty,” He said, his voice a high whine, stretching out the vowels: Kee-tee. “You must know that.”
A smile bloomed, then, and she cleared her throat.
“Exhibit D,” she forged on, “we came home and went to your room, where we put on a movie and cuddled.”
“Objection,” Kurt held up a finger, “we always cuddle.”
Kitty quirked a brow.
“Duh,” she said, “exactly.”
“So, how was I to know that this was not the platonic sort of cuddling?”
“Kurt.” Kitty was not amused. “Lie back.”
“This is a highly unorthodox way to run a courtroom,” He teased, as she planted her hands on his shoulders.
“Well, hold me in contempt then,” She rolled her eyes, pushing him lightly back onto the bed. He allowed her to maneuver him, so he was laying on his back with his legs stretched out, one arm tucked under his head.
“Mm-hmm,” Kitty nodded once in approval, “you were like that, and I was…” she trailed off as she lay down next to him, her head resting on his chest, her body pressed against him, his free arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She could feel his breath against her forehead, and she was sure he could feel hers against his neck. “Yup, just like that. And your tail was - may I?” She paused, and he nodded. She reached over and wound his tail so it encircled her leg and the tip of it rested just below her waist, on the curve of her hip. She made a satisfied sound.
“So let me ask you,” She said, voice low, “if this is platonic to you, when was the last time you watched a movie like this with, say, Jubilee? Amara? What about Jean, she’s your friend.”
“Ach, Kätzchen - ”
“Or, furthermore, we had a group movie night a few weeks ago. Did you happen to see me on the couch like this with Bobby? Evan? Scott?”
“I see your point.” He felt hot all over, like his skin was on fire. It was one thing to lie like this with Kitty when there was a movie on to distract him, to keep his mind otherwise occupied, but with nothing around them but the silence of his bedroom, it was all too real. He felt all at once like he needed her closer and as far away as possible.
“I’m not denying that there’s such a thing as platonic cuddling,” She tilted her chin up to look at him, and when she blinked, he could almost feel her eyelashes tickling at his cheek, “I’m just saying, it doesn’t look like this.”
“Kitty.” Needing her closer won out, in the end. Kurt’s arm tightened around her waist and he pulled her on top of him, so her chest was flush against his and their legs tangled together. Their noses bumped together, and her mouth was dangerously close to his. Her cheeks went pink, and her eyes, wide with surprise, locked with Kurt’s. “The jury has returned with their verdict. You are perfectly innocent and I am, of course, guilty of thick-headedness. It’s a quality I’m tragically cursed with.”
“I like your thick head,” Kitty’s bottom lip jutted out in a mock pout, and she stroked her thumb across his cheek, “even when it leads to major mix-ups.”
She kissed his jaw, feather light, and Kurt’s whole chest tightened and constricted. He felt like his brain was going to short circuit.
“Let me get this straight - from your perspective, we’ve been dating for two entire weeks and I still haven’t even tried to kiss you?” He looked to her, incredulous, and shook his head in disbelief. “You must think my game is very weak.”
Laughter bubbled out of her, and she let her head fall onto his chest.
“Like I said,” he could feel her lips moving against his shirt, and there was a high likelihood that it would kill him then and there, “I thought you were taking it slow.”
“Glacial, apparently,” Kurt’s smile was enormous, his eyes shining with mirth, “a truly sloth-like pace. And at no point did you let your feminine wiles overcome you and take matters into your own hands?” He grasped her wrists, winding his fingers around them.
“You leave my wiles out of this,” Kitty scolded, playing at being offended, “I thought you were like, building to a moment. I wasn’t gonna steal your thunder.”
“And what moment might that be?” His tail swished and tickled at her waist, and Kitty squealed, wriggling away. “There must have been some place you were hoping I’d make my move.”
“If I tell you, do you promise not to make fun of me?”
“I somehow totally missed the memo on us even getting together,” Kurt pointed out, trying to hide his smirk, “I have officially lost the right to ever make fun of you for anything, ever again.”
“Okay,” She pushed herself off of him and sat up at the foot of the bed, straightening out her shirt. Kurt immediately felt the loss of her weight on him, already missing the feeling of her being so close. He followed her lead, sitting up too. Kitty bit her lip, looking him up and down as if she was sussing him out. “You know that bench in the back garden? The one that’s kind of overgrown, because no one really takes care of it anymore?”
“Ja,” Kurt nodded, “the one that’s sort of tucked away?”
“That one. Sometimes when I’ve had, like, a really tough day or I’m just stuck in my own head, I would sit out there and…” Kitty’s eyes dropped to her lap, and she twisted her hands. “This might sound silly, but there’s all these fireflies that come out at night, and I would just sit there and think about how nice it would be to just, like, be out there with you and we’d talk until the fireflies started coming out, and then you’d… kiss me.”
“You’ve been daydreaming about me, Schatz?” Kurt’s face was soft with surprise, full of tenderness. Kitty’s cheeks burned, and she grabbed a pillow, swatting him with it.
“Oh, like you’ve never imagined it,” She tried to roll her eyes, but her smile betrayed her.
“Guilty as charged, once again,” Kurt held his hands up, an easy acceptance of being called out, “but my daydreaming changes on the daily. Yours is much more thorough.”
“I want to know,” she scooted closer to him, resting a hand on his knee. Kurt draped his hand on hers, absently stroking his thumb over her knuckles. “When do you think about it?”
“I’ve thought about kissing you in the middle of a mission, right after one of us does something especially badass or especially risky,” he admitted, “I’ve thought about kissing you when you’re studying at the kitchen table, when you have your head in a book and your tongue is poking out, just a little.”
“I don’t do that,” Kitty laughed, “do I?”
“Mmm, ja, you do,” He paused to imitate it for her, his tongue just barely sticking out from between his lips. Kitty hit him with the pillow again, and he laughed. “It’s how I know you’re truly focused. It’s very sweet. It makes me want to see if I can break your concentration.”
“By kissing me? For sure, that would do it,” Kitty smirked. “Would you knock all my books off the table, too?”
“Never,” Kurt feigned shock, “I know how carefully you treat your books.”
“Okay, so what else?” She prompted. “I want to hear the whole list.”
“The list is endless,” He gave a weary sigh, “and exhaustive. The cafeteria, the danger room, my room, your room, the coffee place, the library, Scott’s car, the jet, the pool, the roof - I must admit, I never thought of the back garden. But that’s very romantic. I just never really go there.”
“It doesn’t have to be there,” Kitty shrugged easily, “it was just a thought.”
She leaned forward, an invitation. Kurt was deeply tempted - her eyes fluttered closed, her mouth slightly parted, the two of them having just spent the better part of an hour laughing together. He could kiss Kitty Pryde right now, if he wanted to. And there was a high likelihood he could keep kissing afterwards, too.
“Excuse me, Dream Girlfriend,” He said instead, shaking his head, “give me a chance to be Dream Boyfriend and make your wish come true, please.”
“Kurt, you don’t have to -”
But his hands were already on her shoulders, and they were gone; appearing in an instant at the back garden in dusky twilight. The rose bushes were overgrown and wild, half overtaking a stone bench that had certainly seen better days. Just as Kitty had said, there were flickers of yellow light coming from fireflies all around the garden.
“Kurt,” Kitty reached for his arm, squeezing it gently, “I was gonna say, it doesn’t matter where it happens. It was always going to be a perfect kiss. It’s you.”
Warmth spread from Kurt’s chest all the way up to his ears and down to his toes. He let his eyes drift close, just for a moment, and allowed the reality of the moment to wash over him. That morning - hell, even an hour ago - all of this had seemed impossible to him.
“Did I lose you?” Kitty’s voice was soft, curious, and his eyes snapped open.
“Never,” He smiled wide, letting both of his hands come to rest on her shoulders. “Now, walk me through every step of this scenario you’ve created. And don’t be afraid to boss me around a little, I am excellent at taking direction.”
“Ku-urt,” Kitty half-whined, “the anticipation is killing me.”
“Can you believe this,” Kurt spread his arms wide, turning to the open air as if it could respond, “our first kiss, and she wants to hurry up and get it over with!” He turned to Kitty, cupping her face in both hands. “The anticipation is half the fun, mein liebling. Now that we know it’s inevitable, rather than just a foolish hope, the anticipation part is exciting.”
“Try agonizing,” Kitty gingerly removed his hands from her face, and wound her arms around his neck instead. “You’ve only been anticipating it for a few minutes. I’ve been waiting for the moment for weeks.”
“Ah, true, so I should have mercy on you.” Kurt drew an arm around her waist, pulling her in close, and Kitty nodded in agreement, giving him her best pout. He flashed her a smile, all fang. “Here, let’s set the scene… two young lovers, out in the garden at nighttime -”
Kitty let out a groan.
“Are you trying to goad me into a ‘shut up’ kiss or something?” She demanded. Kurt’s forehead wrinkled.
“And what might that be?”
“You know - in movies, when someone is talking and talking during a romantic scene and the other person says ‘will you just shut up for one second’ or something like that, and then kisses them,” She huffed impatiently, “it’s, like, a classic of the genre.”
“I see,” Kurt pretended to mull it over, “a very effective tactic. But, no, I meant it about setting the scene. Here.” He reached over and turned his image inducer on, skin changing from fuzzy blue to smooth and cream colored; eyes turning from yellow to golden brown. “Now I could pass for a lead in one of your romance books. Mr. Darcy, ja?”
“Nuh-uh, I don’t think so!” Kitty wrapped her fingers around his wrist, twisting it towards her, and turned the image inducer off again. “Our first kiss is so not gonna be when you don’t even look like yourself. I want to kiss you, not some holographic fake-out version of you.”
“Oh,” Kurt was surprised by the relief he felt washing over him, the same warm feeling from before filling him up again. “I thought... I was afraid that maybe…”
“I know what you were afraid of.” Kitty’s voice softened, her tone shifting to something gentler. She sat on the bench, and when she gestured to the empty spot next to her, he let himself fall into it. “But it just, like, isn’t true. Okay? I’m all-in on this thing with you, Kurt. The whole shebang.” She took his hand and held it, slotting her fingers with his, and he let himself really look, taking in the sight of their two hands together, her pale skin against his deep blue.
“I like you so much,” she said, “like, more than I can even really put into words, y’know? And I love that you want to make this my dream moment. It’s the sweetest thing I can even imagine. But you don’t have to win me over. You already have me.”
“Oh,” he said again, voice soft as could be. The same thought from before floated through his mind: an hour ago, this had all felt impossible. He tried to joke it off, to deflect what he was feeling. “You’d better stop saying such lovely things to me, Kätzchen, or else I might cry and ruin this beautiful moment.”
“I told you,” Kitty tossed her hair over her shoulder, rolling her eyes upward, “you are the moment.”
“For the record,” Kurt squeezed her hand, “I like you so much, too. More than I can even put into words.”
He slid an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. His tail flicked and swished, coming to settle low on her hip.
“Tomorrow,” He asked, voice barely a whisper, “can I take you out on a real first date? One that we both actually know is a date?”
“Yeah,” Kitty’s eyes went soft, a smile unfurling, “I’d really like that.”
His free hand came up to cradle the back of her head, his thumb just beneath her ear. He swiped it over the soft skin there, and it sent a shiver down Kitty’s spine. She shifted closer, her thigh pressed against his, and he tilted her face upwards, their gazes meeting.
“Kätzchen,” He leaned in close, “I’m going to kiss you now.”
There was one agonizing moment where he remained entirely still, then he closed the distance between them, sealing his lips over hers. Kitty made a soft sound, her fingers tangling in his shirt, tugging him closer, parting her lips to deepen the kiss.
After what might’ve been a few seconds or a few lifetimes, they broke apart, and he pressed his forehead to hers.
“What do you think?” He asked, half hope and half false bravado. “Did it live up to your daydreams?”
Kitty laughed, and kissed him again.
“Dunno,” she teased. “Jury’s still out on that one.”
“Ach, again with this judicial system of yours,” Kurt’s eyes flashed, a playful look returning. “Do I at least get to plead my case?”
“It’s only fair,” She beamed, already reaching for him. “I hear your opening argument is pretty impressive.”
Kitty winked, and Kurt felt the whole earth move. He dipped his head, saying a silent thank you to the universe for all the misunderstandings that had brought them there, and closed the distance between them again.