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[indent][indent][sub][color=#c9b142][B]Location:[/B][/color] [COLOR=gold][i]The Xavier Institute[/i] - [I]Westchester, New York[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][color=#c9b142][b]New Mutants #1.08[/b][/color][/right][/sup][/indent][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][sub][indent][indent][color=#c9b142][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/color] [@Bounce][/indent][/indent][/sub]

[indent]Two figures danced back and forth through the ruins of a castle keep sat atop a cliff. Their ornate blades met again and again to the rhythmic clanging of steel. One advanced as the other shuffled back, though neither showed any sign of weakness. One, a mustachioed man with dark hair to his shoulders, performed a dramatic front flip off of a rock, spinning in midair over the head of his opponent, before landing with flair. The second, clad in black with a mask concealing half his face, pressed the attack. Their duel, although impressive in swordplay, was even more fierce on the battlefield of wit.

By the time Mandy Patinkin and Cary Elwes had each revealed their respective twists, the young man in the Xavier mansion's recreation room was thoroughly enthralled. So much so that he barely noticed another body plop down in a huff beside him on the couch. He continued to watch the film, sitting at the edge of a cushion, leaning forward as if that would bring him closer to the displayed duel. 

The individual beside him sighed dramatically. When that proved ineffective at garnering his attention, the sigh transformed into a frustrated groan. 

"You know," said Kurt Wagner not once removing his eyes from the large television screen, "it's a lot easier to have a conversation if you use your words."

The teenage girl next to him pouted. "Says the guy more interested in a movie than his friend's problems. Haven't you seen this one, like, a million times?"

"Ja, and I hope to see it a million more." Kurt reached over and hit pause on the remote. "But I suppose it can wait for now."

The boy turned to his friend, a slight smile stretched across his blue-tinted features. It had been a few days since the two had hung out, ever since the recent student team training had begun there hadn't been much free time for the younger girl. Though, Kurt knew his friend well enough to realize most of that was likely self-imposed. 

"What's up, Kitty?"

"Everything!" The exasperated Kitty Pryde tossed her arms up.

Things hadn't been going the mutant girl's way. It had been two days since the first team evaluation at the hedge maze, and Mirage had put the five of them through several more exercises during that time. None of which had been overly tough, certainly nothing like Kitty had been expecting and hoping for, but that didn't make the events of the week any less frustrating. Especially as Kitty was pretty confident Mirage had been targeting her in the training - selecting her for the most challenging tasks, singling her out when lecturing the group, and giving her more chances to fail compared to the others. 

Kitty was sure their mentor had it out for her. Ignoring all the rest of the frustrations, that in itself was particularly hurtful for the teenager. She had been so excited to have Dani Moonster as a mentor, and while she did her best to not let it show during training or even throughout the rest of the day, that sort of letdown was getting to her. 

It wasn't something she would share with anyone else, but Kurt had always made her feel comfortable. Since his arrival at the mansion two years ago, the pair had formed a fast bond and Kitty had realized she could always go to him when she needed to vent. To her, he was like the older brother she never had. 

"You really think Dani's favoring Katie?" Kurt asked once Kitty had finished blurting out everything she'd been repressing the last few days. 

"What else would it be? Little-miss-perfect and her two tag-alongs get assigned the simple stuff. Bobby just keeps sleeping through everything. That just leaves [i]me[/i] being the one stuck doing the tougher stuff."

The nineteen-year-old raised an eyebrow at the younger teen. "But isn't that what you wanted? Weren't you the one telling me for years that you wanted to be challenged? To be given the chance to prove yourself?"

"Yes! But that isn't the point!"

Kurt had to stop himself from pointing out the obvious. He had learned long ago that sometimes bringing light to the absurdity in someone's logic wasn't what was needed. 

"It's just not the same," she continued. "I can't do what I want to do if Dani keeps picking on me!" 

"And what is it that you do want, then?" Kurt said after a moment of considering his words. "Right now, I mean. Not in the future because we both know you want to wear the X someday. But right now. Today, tomorrow, over the next few weeks and months, and however long this whole X-Men-in-training program lasts. What do you want, Kitty?"

"To win." Kitty's response came with no hesitation. "To be the best."

"Who are you trying to beat?"

"What?"

"You said you want to win. But who are you trying to beat? Your teammates?"

Kitty gave him a look like he was an idiot. "No, of course not." 

"Then who?"

"I just... I don't know! Why does that even matter? I don't know who I want to beat, I just want to prove that I belong at the top," Kitty said.

Kurt raised his hands disarmingly. "I'm just saying, Kitty, that you're a part of a team now. It may not be the team you hoped for, they may not have an X on their chest right now, but they're still your teammates. And if you're trying to win all the time without them... then doesn't that mean you're really losing?"

The older boy placed a hand on Kitty's shoulder. "I'm [i]not[/i] saying you're a loser, so don't take that the wrong way. We both know that you, Kitty Pryde, are [i]definitely[/i] not a loser. But if you really want to prove yourself as X-Men material, then shouldn't you be proving that you're the best teammate? And not the best all by yourself?"

Kitty chewed on her bottom lip as she considered those words.

"I still think Dani's picking on me," she finally said. "But... you're right. You're [i]always[/i] right."

She punctuated those last two words with a playful shoulder bump. 

Standing, Kitty said, "Fine. I guess I can give the whole team thing a try. Doesn't mean I have to like them, though."

"You? Like other people? [i]Never[/i]!" Kurt clutched his heart as if the mere notion had shocked him to his core.

One of the couch's pillows collided with the side of his face.

"Oh, shut up." Kitty couldn't help but laugh. Kurt always knew when to switch from wiseman to jokester, and he never failed to cheer the teen girl up. 

As she left the rec room, new thoughts and plans flooding her mind, Kurt reached back over for the Blu-ray remote. His thumb pressed the play button and the screen lit up again.

"Please understand," Kurt echoed Cary Elwes as the scene came to a close. "I hold you in the highest respect."

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