Reconsider [XMEN AU]

E l e v e n

        Dalisay began down the hall she'd come from, the one she and Logan had walked down forty-five minutes earlier, just in case he'd thought of following her. She glanced behind her casually, pretending to brush her hair off of her shoulder, and didn't see anyone. Maybe Logan honestly didn't care about her...which slightly deflated Dalisay's self-esteem, although she didn't know why. Sure, everyone would like the entire world to love and care about them, however, that wasn't the way the world, or people, happened to be.

        Dalisay stopped at her room momentarily, wanting to slip into something less noticeable than Ororo's bold orange & blue Knicks shirt. The duffel bag she'd brought with her sat on the floor by her bed, and Dalisay rummaged through it, searching for the black sweatshirt she'd stashed away. It was the one remnant from her past that she was happy to take with her, the black cotton item having been her father's. Despite her father's unreliability and diagnosed mental illness, he had honestly cared about Dalisay, something she couldn't say about her mother. At times, Dalisay wondered if Kun-Woo knew what he had been getting into when he met her mother. Of course, Regan was charming, intelligent, and attractive, no doubt any male scientists' wet dream...however, Dalisay's mother was also selfish, manipulative, and a liar. How could he not see it? And why...why hadn't Dalisay? After her mother left, Dalisay tried to find all the hints, all the things that could've made her leave and made her father go crazy, but she couldn't recognize a single one. Dalisay slipped on the sweatshirt, and with its warm embrace around her, she hoped for the thousandth time that her father was okay. Somewhere, somehow, Dalisay wanted him to be alright, not worrying about her, preferably thinking her dead, and moving on with his life.

        Dalisay took a single, shuddering breath, and left the room, shutting the door softly behind her. She had to go find Kurt before his mind was made up about her, or worse, he left. 

         Kurt slipped through the thick hedges of the garden, trying to take slower breaths, despite his rapid heartbeat. He paused for a moment, and knelt down on the cold earth. The indigo man crossed himself twice before murmuring a hasty prayer of forgiveness, although, deep within himself, Kurt was not sorry for the beauty he had seen, merely for the awkwardness he had presented to Fraulein Faust. Unintentional though it was, he and Dalisay both knew he could have poofed out of her room immediately...as soon as she entered in a towel he should've been gone...

        The image of her; olive skin glistening from the shower, her thick, dark hair dripping wet onto her shoulders and back, goosebumps running up and down her exposed skin...her face, wiped clean of the grime and frustration she'd been bottling up earlier, looked so vulnerable in that moment, that all Kurt had wanted to do was envelope the woman in his arms. Knowing he would never have the courage to do such a thing, he settled on merely getting to see more than he ever should of. It was embarrassing, what Dalisay must think of him. Ya, the blue peeping mutant, was all Kurt could think to himself.
 
        ​"Kurt?" A voice called from seemingly far away. 

        Kurt let out a shallow, shaky breath, unsure what to do. He poked his head out of the bushes to see Dalisay poking her head out of the back door of the mansion. She began to exit the doorway, and venture out into the garden. Kurt glanced about himself quickly, trying to find somewhere to teleport to, somewhere where Dalisay would NOT see him. The only possible place he could think of was a sturdy-looking Japanese Maple on the other side of the garden. Lord, he prayed, please let those branches hold me. And with that, he shut his eyes and willed himself into the boughs of the tree. Kurt opened his eyes and saw the grass beneath him, and seconds later, felt his grip on the branches beneath him fall away.

        He shut his eyes, a throbbing pain coming from his shoulder, afraid to open them again. He could hear Dalisay saying his name, and footsteps coming closer...a callused hand against his cheek. Kurt opened his eyes once again to see Dalisay's face against the darkening sky, dotted with stars. Like goosebumps, was all he could think, and then it all went dark.