Memento Mori

23

Kurt woke with a start, still shouting and looked around confused when he seemed to have missed all the action. He stood and disappeared, there seemed to be some sort of impasse happening outside and Kurt figured the woman he was looking for was out here.

Sure enough, still laying motionless on her side was Liesel. Kurt helped her up, she coughed and opened her eyes. "Don't look at me like that, I know...I look like shit." Liesel didn't need to see herself to know. She could feel the grazes on her face, mainly because there were parts of her skin which stung. Blood had stopped coming from her nose, but had dried in a gross, sticky trail. Her lip was split, the blood from whatever she had done stopped. Her leg, she couldn't even get started there. The rest of her just hurt. At least her vision wasn't blacking out anymore, she guessed.

"I didn't know where you were." Kurt said, he had looked about the room, not seeing her he did panic a little.

Liesel smiled and shakily placed a hand on his shoulder. "My friend, I am a hard person to kill." She inhaled shakily, "Although he came very close..." Her eyes trailed over to the scorched dirt where Nur was. Her eyes continued trailing along before spotting Raven and Peter against a wall, she was relieved they were fine. The white haired girl stood close by, she had helped destroy Nur. But, the one form Liesel's eyes stopped on was of course Erik.

He stood still in the distance, watching the pair of them. His expression was as distant as the space between them, he moved forwards at last. Liesel patted Kurt on the shoulder and asked him to help her up. For a rather scrawny boy, he was stronger than he looked. Although his tail pressed against her to steady her better as well.

"Be cool," Liesel whispered, Kurt looked at her confused, her eyes just slid to him and she smiled awkwardly. "Not you, you're already cool." Kurt raised an eyebrow, Liesel just smiled. "Prepping myself." She explained, Kurt soon cottoned on that this was the man who presumed Liesel to be dead. He looked a bit nervous, considering all Erik had done; and he had done a lot here, Kurt wasn't too sure if he'd get something sent his way...what if he was steadying Liesel, but actually not in a way which was comfortable to her? What if he didn't want Kurt even holding onto her? Honestly...Kurt was inwardly not too confident here.

Erik's boots scuffed the dirt, and the two looked at him. They hadn't registered him closing the space with quiet ease. He looked curiously over at Kurt, he in turn just looked wide eyed and helped Liesel to shift her weight. Erik's eyes narrowed and he frowned, Kurt readjusted his hold on her arm and just waited for it really.

He was too concerned over Erik, that he ignored Liesel, "Nein, Liesel!" Kurt exclaimed and lurched with her as she practically stumbled forward to punch Erik on the shoulder. Kurt, considering he was still holding her got taken along too. She had moved suddenly and quickly, he didn't even know she had that much speed and energy left!

Erik just frowned more in their direction, Kurt nervously smiled and pulled Liesel back, and she pointed a bloody finger his way. "You're late!" She shouted, a frown of her own on her face as she pouted at him. "What took you so long? All you had to do was listen to Raven's preaching and come along with her..."

"I didn't preach, thank you." Raven and Peter had been helped up by both Scott and Hank now and were standing close by. Seems everyone was leaving the building, they were all accumulating in the same space.

Liesel raised an eyebrow. "Missed opportunity." She rolled her eyes back to Erik. Giving Kurt a look, she smiled and watched him back off. He got the message, they needed a moment alone. She hopped and awkwardly walked closer, Erik instantly held out his arms. Her hands gripped onto his forearms and she stood there breathing heavily, she forgot this feeling. The feeling of being unable to move properly without almost falling. "Don't," Liesel said softly, Erik was looking over her appearance with a pained expression. "I chose to put myself in danger, Erik. Not you. This, this isn't your fault." She said, relinquishing a hold on him to point at herself. "Although, in some ways, you are also to blame for this..." He narrowed his eyes at her then, she smiled widely. "What? I said to Charles I was going to make you grovel for this, so I am not letting it go."

"Why am I not surprised?" Erik spoke at last, Liesel still smiled. Erik just shook his head gently, "Es tut mir Leid."

Liesel nodded slowly, and a little stiffly. Letting his arms go, she lifted her hands up. Having to awkwardly tiptoe on one stable leg was hard, but Erik leaned down a little and she removed the helmet from his head. She ruffled his hair, revelling in the soft brown strands before travelling her hands down and cupping his face. His face and eyes were looking downcast, and she lifted her hands up slowly. His eyes eventually stopped looking down and looked to her face, even through the grime and blood she still smiled at him. "Ich kenne." She replied eventually in a quiet tone. Her fingers stroked gently at his skin, "Liebling, ist schon okay, ja? Alles ist in Ordnung, es wird in Ordnung sein." Her voice whispered, yet she looked at him reassuringly and honestly.

Erik removed her hands from his face, only to hesitantly place his gloves ones on her cheeks in return. His thumbs smudged dirt awkwardly, it didn't disappear. Liesel's eyes just looked up at him tearily, Erik ignored the group to the side still chatting, and he pulled her to himself. He turned his face and buried it against her hair, her arms wrapped around him tightly and he felt her shoulders shake as she quietly cried against him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears pricking at his own eyes yet he kept them in check as he slowly nudged her back. Tear tracks had smeared the dirt, grime and blood from her skin. She sniffled, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands she looked at him. Erik kept an arm around her shoulders as they joined the small group.

Stopping nearby Kurt, Liesel couldn't help it. She reached up and pulled the boy to herself. He had overexerted his powers to save them, and she had worried for him so much when he laid unconscious. Letting him go, he just smiled and she patted his arm gently.

Looking around, she let out a slow breath as she looked up at Erik. He looked down, sensing someone looking at him. She smiled awkwardly, Erik readjusted his hold on her when it became clear she was struggling to stay upright. She wasn't the only one who needed to get seen to by medical professionals, nearly everyone present needed to be checked over. Only, how to get back to home soil, that was something else, that was another problem which seemed to get answered by Moira. She managed to wrangle something for them, thanks to agent connections, but even still; being back in America, it didn't mean they'd get happily welcomed back, especially considering two of the group had played a part in bringing the city of Cairo to a destructive end.

----

Inventory:

I'm sorry: Es tut mir Leid

I know: Ich kenne

Darling, it's okay, yes? Everything is okay, it will be okay: Liebling, ist schon okay, ja? Alles ist in Ordnung, es wird in Ordnung sein

(Edited: 12/July/2019)