Chapter Text
Cerebro had found a new prospective student, but when the Professor announced that Scott and Storm would be the only ones going with him to attempt to recruit them, Kurt was more than a little jealous.
He wasn’t the only one; the whole kitchen was full of groans and complaints once everyone realized they now had no excuse to get out of Logan’s morning training drills.
Scott’s apologetic posture was almost convincing. Logan grinned as if the dismay of his pupils energized him just as much as the steaming cup of black coffee he was sipping from.
As usual, Logan worked them hard before sending them off to clean up and head to school.
Between training, classes and a particularly difficult pop quiz in third period, Kurt had almost forgotten all about Scott and the newly discovered mutant by the time he returned home, walking through the mansion’s doors side-by-side with Kitty.
They were both startled out of their chatter seeing Scott, accompanied by a stranger in the main hall. Kurt almost instinctively ducked behind Kitty, hand flying to his wrist to bring up his disguise before remembering he hadn’t yet deactivated his watch in the first place.
“Here’s two of our knuckleheads now,” Scott said, teasingly. He quickly continued, not giving Kitty a chance to rise to the taunt.
“Guys, this is Carmen. She’ll be starting at the institute from today. We just got in, and I was showing her around a bit while Storm and the Professor take care of some stuff. Carmen, this is Kurt and Kitty.” Scott gestured as he introduced them.
The first thing Kurt noticed about the girl was that she was short, probably even shorter than Kitty. She had tan skin and short brown hair that fell in handsome waves over her forehead. She smiled a bit, not quite making eye contact and removed a hand from her jacket pocket to wave with a soft “hey.”
Kitty smiled and welcomed the girl warmly, attempting to pull her into a conversation, but floundering a bit. The other girl’s tone was not unkind, but her responses were clipped and short, mostly consisting of a single word.
Kurt was suddenly reminded of his first days in his new home, hiding in dark corners out of instinct and feeling too nervous to leave his room at times.
Quickly, as it usually does, the topic of powers had come up. Kurt smiled his most charming smile, and teleported directly behind the newcomer while Kitty was making a show of phasing her arm completely through her bookbag.
The girl jumped, turning her wide eyed stare from Kitty’s demonstration to his, and let out a surprised laugh. Her eyes were also brown, Kurt noticed. They reflected the afternoon light filtering in from the windows warmly.
Kurt adjusted his watch, fingers hesitating, but not pressing, over the button to deactivate his disguise. Avoiding the stares of his friends, and pretending he couldn’t see them exchange glances, Kurt grinned wider, and quickly poofed away to teleport a lazy circle from the ceiling, the chandelier, and then back to his spot next to Kitty, bowing with a flourish.
Carmen seemed at a loss for words, but was smiling a happy, slightly crooked smile, and clapping softly for Kurt’s theatrics.
“Don't encourage this show off,” Kitty said teasingly, and made an attempt to elbow him in the side. He wheezed when she hit home a little too hard.
“It…is pretty amazing, though. You all are.” The short haired girl said softly, gaze drifting between the three X-Men.
Kurt puffed up his chest. “While I AM pretty amazing, I’m sure you must be too, considering you're one of us now. C’mon, show us what you got!”
Carmen glanced over to Scott, who smiled and nodded reassuringly.
“Well, It’s not really on the same level as what you guys have going on, but…” The girl reached out, pushing the too-long sleeves of her jacket up and away from her hands, which began to glow.
It was soft, at first, the ochre undertones of her skin becoming warmer and warmer until, with a flash, they were encompassed in a radiant golden light. One palm tilted upwards, and shining energy jumped and swirled, compressing into a glittering ball an inch or so above the skin. It reminded Kurt of the sun; a concentrated mass of sparking plasma, but with the warmth and light of a bright summer afternoon.
“So pretty,” Kitty said softly.
Carmen shrugged, “I can throw these around a bit too, and cause some damage, but I think I’d better not destroy the place on my first day.” Her eyes were now shining fully with the same light that she held in her hands. Gold overtook both the brown of her irises and white of her sclera completely, and when she blinked, tiny specks of glittering energy were swept up by her long dark eyelashes. Kurt stared, mesmerized by the way the energy twinkled out around her eyes like distant stars.
He nearly jumped when the Professor’s voice came in from close behind them. Carmen did jump, and her lights sputtered and sparked into nothingness.
“I am grateful for your restraint, Carmen. Though, you wouldn't be the first new recruit to make a mess around here, and you certainly wont be the last,” Professor Xavier chuckled. “I see you're already getting to know your new peers, I’m very glad to see it.”
The Professor’s eyes glanced over Kurt’s disguised form, but he didn’t say anything about it. Kurt couldn’t meet his eyes.
Again, he toyed with his watch a bit before pulling his hand away quickly.
“Scott, thank you for all your help today. I’ll take it from here. I’d like to discuss a few things with you, Carmen, and then Storm will help you get settled in your new room.”
Kurt realized he should probably escape before the others had finished their goodbyes.
“Well, I’ve got some homework to do, so, I’ll catch you at dinner, alright?” He said in a forced cheery voice. He stepped back to teleport without smoking out the rest of the group, but his friends were quicker. Scott’s hand came down heavy on his shoulder, and Kitty linked her arm with one of his.
“Yeah, homework! We have a TON of homework,” She was already dragging Kurt down the hall, but she paused to turn back to Carmen, “I know this is all like, kind of a lot, so like, free to ask me anything if you need help, okay? See you!”
They almost missed Carmen’s quiet “Thanks ” as they rounded the corner.
As soon as they were out of ear shot, Kitty rounded on him.
“Sooo, what was up with that?” She asked sweetly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sing-songed, dodging her swipe at his wrist watch.
“Yes you do, Kurt! You never wear this in the house. Don’t you think she’ll be surprised when you’re blue and fuzzy at dinnertime?”
He did not want to talk about this.
“I think she’ll be surprised by my face no matter what. I just didn’t wanna scare her off on her first day.”
“Kurt! You’ve gotta introduce yourself properly next time!” Kitty scolded.
The agitation he had tried to bury under jokes started bubbling up. He really did not want to talk about this.
Scott finally spoke up.
“Look Kurt, you know you can’t hide your true-blues forever, but I don’t think it has to be a big deal. Just come as your fuzzy self at dinner. We all like you the way you are, and Carmen seems really chill, she’ll definitely like the blue guy too.”
Scott tightened the hand on his shoulder reassuringly.
Kurt felt very guilty for the agitation that was still buzzing in his chest, and he did his best to swallow it down. He finally grabbed his watch and deactivated it, the illusion fizzing away.
“You’re right. I don’t know, it’s just…” Embarrassing? Terrifying?, he thought. He genuinely didn’t know how to explain himself.
Kitty wrapped her arms around him.
“It’s okay Kurt, I get it." She playfully shook him a bit, “I’m sorry.”
Kurt hugged her back with one hand, and reached up to his shoulder to pat Scott’s hand with the other. It was a bit uncomfortable, but perfect.
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Carmen didn’t come down for dinner.
Professor Xavier explained to everyone that there was a new student.
He didn’t say why she was not at dinner, only saying that she was taking time to settle in, and called on everyone to be supportive and welcoming to their new teammate.
Each remembering their own difficult starts at the institute, everyone silently took in the professor's words to heart.