ax_main | Kurt and Billy backdated

Billy meets the third member of Tommy's crew and wonders why his look-a-like has so many awesome friends

Billy couldn't believe he has been here for three days already and still hadn't covered all the land that belonged to the school. It was kind of insane that this amount of land even existed so close to the city, but then again there were farms and such in New York so maybe it wasn't too crazy.

Billy stood next to the huge tree that he had been told was called the great grandfather tree, or something like that, and watched out of the pond. What did he do now? He could try and train, or maybe go see if Bobby or Kitty were busy...or there was always Tommy.

Ugh.

Kurt had fallen asleep. He hadn’t meant to; it had just happened. The tree had this branch that dipped in just the right way that it was perfect to lie on and that, combined with the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze that rustled the leaves, had been the perfect storm for an afternoon nap. Really, he couldn’t be blamed at all.

He woke to the sound of movement beneath him and stretched slowly. Looking down, Kurt spotted the boy beneath the tree. He propped himself up on an elbow and smiled at the boy. “Hallo.”

Billy jumped at the voice above him and craned his neck to look up and see what looked like a blue person laying on a tree branch. Billy stared for only a second before he remembered what Bobby had said about his roommate being blue and with a tail. "Ah! You wouldn't happen to be Kurt, would you?”

“The one and only,” Kurt replied cheerfully. He teleported from the tree and appeared in front of the boy, extending a hand to shake. “And you are?” He paused then, suddenly realizing that this boy looked familiar. Very familiar.

Billy blinked when the smell of sulfur drifted over to him, but he smiled through it when who he was now sure was Kurt was standing right in front of him. He reached out and shook his hand, only a little surprised to see the guy had three fingers instead of five.

"I'm Billy. I just moved in a few days ago. Cool teleporting skills.”

Kurt smiled and shook Billy’s hand warmly. “It is nice to meet you, Billy. Forgive me, but you look awfully similar to someone else I know.”

Billy sucked in a breath and let it out with a small laugh as he nodded at what Kurt said. He should probably just get a shirt that says, 'I'm Tommy's Twin’ and just wear it for the first few weeks. "Yeah, you're thinking about Tommy, right? We kind of have the same face.”

“You look exactly alike,” Kurt replied because ‘kinda’ was a vast understatement. “But, do not worry, you wear it better.”

"Oh, really?" Billy grinned, he would have to tell Tommy that one later and decided so far Kurt was alright. "Well, thank you. Hope you don't mind me asking, where are you from?”

“I do not mind at all! I am from Germany,” Kurt answered. “Bavaria, mostly, but we moved around a lot. I grew up in a traveling circus. Where are you from?”

"Wow." Billy grinned, clearly impressed before shaking his head. "Nowhere near as interesting as all that. I'm from New York, so nothing really cool to tell ya. So, a circus you say?”

Kurt waved a hand. “Do not undersell yourself—I think New York is cool! I dreamed about visiting all the time when I was younger.” He’d always wanted to visit the places he’d seen in all the movies—Times Square or Central Park or the Empire State Building.

"And now that you're here, what do you think? I mean minus the smell sometimes, cause let's be honest, we aren't the cleanest.”

“I have not been to the city yet,” Kurt said, holding up a finger to say that he was reserving judgement. “But I like it here so far. It is very…American. I do not like your cola, though. It tastes weird.”

"What?" Billy laughed in disbelief. "Wait, wait, which ones have you tried? Cause if you are talking RC or Mello Yellow then okay, but have you tried Dr. Pepper?”

“Coca Cola! We have it in Germany, but it does not taste the same here.” Kurt made a face. “It is the high-fructose corn syrup you use.”

"Well, now I have to try German coke." He winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth and held up a hand. "That sounded wrong. German Coca-Cola, not cocaine."

Kurt made a disappointed sound. “That is too bad. I was about to offer some.”

"Wha?"Billy blinked in astonishment before he caught up and he laughed, reaching out to shove at Kurt's shoulder lightly. "Dude, shut up. I actually believed you there for a second. I wouldn't even know what to do with real coke."

He was pretty sure people snorted it, but then again kids were always inventing new ways to get high. "How long have you been here at the school?”

Kurt jokingly rubbed his shoulder, laughter in his voice as he teased, “Ouch! Is your mutation super strength or something? I got her a few days before the start of the year pizza party. What about you?”

"Start of the year party? Wow that sounds fancy." Billy chuckled before giving a small shrug. "I came only a few days ago so I'm still pretty new to it all. Do you mind me asking how old you are?"

Kurt was friendly and cute, but he couldn't quite put a pin on the age. His face looked young, but the guy was a good four or five inches tall than him, so he really had no idea.

“Sixteen,” Kurt answered, confused as to why he was being asked, but happy to answer. “You?”

"You're older? Oh man." At least it wasn't by a lot. "Sorry, I couldn't tell cause your face is young, but you are so much taller than me. I'm fifteen, just starting on those sweet sophomore years."

He tried to push as much sarcasm into that last bit as he could.

Kurt laughed. “I am not that much older! You made it sound like there were five years or more between us.”

"Hey, when you’re our age, a year can seem huge and don't even talk to me about two years." Billy grinned. "It's when you’re in your twenties that age starts to not matter.”

“Ach, you wound me!” Kurt joked dramatically, clutching his hands to his heart. “I feel old! Positively ancient! A cute boy thinks a year is a huge difference!”

"Okay! Okay! It's not a huge difference!" Billy laughed, cheeks flushing a little at being called cute. "It's a small difference. Very small. Like ant small. Better?”

Kurt immediately dropped the act and grinned at Billy. “Much better. You are too kind. My pride can rest easy now. Danke schon.”

"Phew. Crisis averted." Billy joked and chuckled a little. "You're welcome? I'm afraid I only really know Spanish, and not well. But danke schon is thank you, right?”

Kurt laughed. “Yes. It means thank you very much, actually. It is in that song—” He sang in a warm, pleasant voice, “Danke schon, darling, danke schon.”

"And you sing too? Geeze, what can't you do?" Billy teased, wondering what exactly he was doing right now. Was...was he flirting? Stop! You're an awful flirt!

Kurt sighed as if he were carrying a heavy burden, then shook his head, a hand against his mouth like it was almost too painful to say. “…I cannot whistle,” he revealed.

"Oh no. Now you have lost all my respect." Billy said with a completely serious face, but it split into a grin a second later. "Whistling is over-rated. Unless you can do that ear drum shattering whistle with your fingers.”

Kurt stuck his fingers in his mouth, attempted to do the aforementioned whistled, and failed. He shrugged in a ‘well, what can you do?’ gesture at Billy. “It is very tragic.”

Billy chuckled. "Truly. Think of all the dogs you can't call now.”

That made Kurt laugh. “There is the real tragedy.”

Billy grinned and nodded. "So, are you a shapeshifter too? I ask because almost everyone thought I was you the first time they met me. Tommy thought I was you playing a joke on him.”

“Ah, that would be the Image Inducer.” Kurt held up his hand to show the watch-like device he wore. “It creates a hologram around me that looks like me without the fur and the tail and all the best things about me, so I can go into town unaccosted.”

"That sucks." Billy frowned, then realized what that sounded like and quickly held up his hands. "I meant that you have to change in order to go into town, the watch image changer is cool.”

Kurt smiled and waved a hand to show that no offense was taken. “That is kind of you to say. It does suck. I am accustomed to it, though. It has been my whole life, so I do not know any different.”

Billy shifted a little uncomfortably, looking at Kurt with barely hidden concern. "That's not right. You shouldn't have to be accustomed to changing who you are just to go out.”

“No, I should not, but it is the way it was. I try not to waste time being upset about it. It is done and gone. Do not feel sorry for me. Feel bad for the people who have been robbed of the opportunity of me—I am adorable.” Kurt grinned as if to prove his point.

Billy couldn't stop from answering Kurt's grin with his own. "Yeah, okay. So, I'm guessing you and Tommy are friends?"

He kicked at the grass for a moment. "What's he like? If you don't mind me obviously probing for facts on my look-a-like.”

“He is nice,” Kurt replied. “Friendly, funny. I think it must be hard to be a speedster. It must feel like the whole world is going in slow motion.”

"Friendly? Funny?" Billy questioned skeptically. "Are you sure you don't mean sarcastic, prickly...kind of a butt?”

Kurt laughed. “He is kind of a butt,” he agreed, but it was said fondly. “But, not in a bad way, really. He was the first friend I made here, you know? When I woke up in the infirmary he was there. He did not trust the school yet. I could tell and… I think if he thought we were in any danger he would have protected me, even though he was scared. That says a lot about a person.”

Billy watched Kurt talk about Tommy, the fondness in his words making him smile a little. "Okay. So, you're telling me that Tommy may be a butt, a huge one, but inside he's a pretty good guy?”

“More like he is both at the same time,” Kurt replied. “And he is a good friend.”

"Well, I'm glad for that. He seems like the kind of guy who could use a good friend like you." Billy said, slipping his hands into his jean pockets. "So, here's a question for you. If you can picture it, can you teleport to the city? Since you haven't been, you should be able to go at least once.”

“It is not a good idea to teleport somewhere I have never seen myself.” Kurt winced. “I could wind up inside a wall.”

Billy cringed at that thought and quickly waved his hands to signal that he did not want that, and Kurt should never try. "Jesus, okay then no, let's not do the teleporting thing for the city. Cars work just as good, might take a little longer, but less chance of wall-stuckage.”

Kurt laughed and nodded. “That would be best.” Not wanting Billy to get his hopes up, though, he said, “A trip to the city will be difficult. The image inducer does not have a long battery life. Just around four hours.”

"Well, that sucks major ass." Billy replied bluntly. "We could all dress in furry costumes and act like we are going to a furry convention. That would hide you well from others."

He cracked a grin to show he was joking.

Kurt only looked confused. He was sure it was a funny joke, but he didn’t understand it. “What is a furry?”

Billy faltered a little and then tried to figure out the best way to describe that to Kurt. "Errr...okay. So, you know the full on like character suits people wear at theme parks and stuff? Well, umm...there are a group of people that, in their spare time, like to dress in those and go out and have….fun."

The explanation did not make things any clearer for Kurt. In fact, if anything, he was more confused. He didn’t understand why they were dressing up, or why it was funny. “Like for Halloween?”

God, why had he brought this up?! Billy weighed his arms like a scale for a minute as he tried to figure out an explanation. "Kiiinda? Like, okay, for some it's like a hobby. Example, I like to read and collect comics in my spare time, it's like that only trade comics for giant furry body suits that they wear." And sometimes like to have creepy kinky sex in.

That was not going to be part of his explanation.

Billy shook his head and waved his arms as if to get rid of the word all together. "Sorry, it was a bad joke. Just forget about it and I'll go sit in a corner and think about what I've done.”

“Okay,” Kurt replied, still a little confused. “I am sure it was a good joke, though. I am sorry I do not understand it. I was kind of…sheltered.”

“No, no!" Oh, god now Billy felt like a huge dick. "It's my fault, you shouldn't have to apologize. Seriously, it was my bad, also there's nothing wrong with being sheltered. Some of the nicest people come from sheltered places.”

“No, bitte,” Kurt said with a soft laugh and he put a reassuring hand on Billy’s shoulder. “It is alright. I am not upset. You have nothing to apologize for.”

"I have plenty to apologize for, but thank you." Billy replied with a small smile. He felt his stomach rumble and turned to Kurt. "Have you eaten anything for lunch yet?”

“I have not.” Kurt rubbed the back of his neck, grinning with embarrassment. “I sort of fell asleep up there.”

Billy laughed. "Well, would you like to go with me to see what we can get? The cafeteria is done with lunch, but we could go raid the kitchen.”

Kurt smiled. “That sounds great.” He offered a hand. “Want a lift?”

"Like I'm going to pass up a chance to teleport." Billy grinned and took Kurt's offered hand, wondering how it would feel. "To the kitchen!”

“Hold onto your stomach,” Kurt said with a grin, then teleported them both in a flash of smoke and brimstone.