xp_logs | Scott and Kurt, in the medlab

Kurt wakes up to find Scott taking a shift staying with him, and they talk about various things including family.

Scott had taken all the proper precautions so that he could actually be in the room with Kurt. He'd trade off with one of the other team members in an hour or two, but until then... The keyboard of the laptop was all but soundless, and Kurt was apparently asleep again, if not comfortably so.

Kurt twitched visibly, whimpering, then his eyes snapped open - on reflex, rather than because they were doing anything useful right now. His breathing seemed even less even than it had been since the accident, just at the moment.

"It's all right, Kurt," Scott said quietly, looking up. "Just take it easy."

Kurt blinked in his general direction, then clearly made an effort to relax. "Hello, Scott."

Scott saved the file he'd been working on and closed the laptop, setting it aside. "How are you feeling?" he asked, just as quietly.

"Just about as well as might be imagined", was the answer, almost with humour. It was better that than crying again, after all.

"I remember I kept saying 'I'm fine', in the hospital in Seattle," Scott said. "I think your answer is a little more honest."

"I am not a good liar", Kurt told him, looking in the direction of the voice and trying for a smile. "Not in person, anyway."

"So I've noticed."

Kurt chuckled faintly, then gave up the attempt when it set off another round of coughing. "How is... everybody?"

"Well, all in all. Concerned about you..." Scott gazed down at his friend, unable to help a little sigh. He'd always known the possibilities of a severe training accident, given their powers and the nature of their training, but that wasn't the same as being prepared.

There was a pause before Kurt answered that, turning away. He had been about to try a reassuring lie, in spite of what he'd just said, but he couldn't make himself say the words. "Thank you, my friend."

"We've been taking turns. The team, I mean - sitting down here with you." Scott hesitated, then went on more firmly. If there was anyone who could speak about blindness, partial or total, it was him. "We didn't want you to wake up alone."

"I appreciate it", Kurt said sincerely. "I have never been afraid of the dark, but this..."

Scott was quiet for a moment. "I was afraid of the dark when my powers were manifesting and they had to cover my eyes because I couldn't control the blasts. I was afraid of the dark when I was in hospital in Seattle when I lost the eye." And in a missile silo in Wyoming, but he wasn't going to bring that up. "It's natural," he said softly, "under conditions like this. But that's why we're not leaving you alone. It helps, too, if you concentrate on the sounds and the smells... I know that's what I did."

"I will remember that", Kurt said softly, trying to put it into immediate action by focusing on Scott's voice and his own. "And again, thank you for making sure there is always someone."

Scott was silent for a moment longer, letting Kurt absorb the ambient sound, too. "There will be, until you're out of here. And after you're out of here. Whatever help you need, you'll have." He was having flashbacks to the hospital in Seattle and Charles telling him the very same thing. "We look after our family."

"Family", he said after a moment, nodding slightly. "The team are... I was raised with a different idea of what makes family. Not having the same name as the clan, and... I suppose after all Amanda is not my only family now."

"That's the thing about family that you choose. There aren't limits on those choices... I've been wanting to remind you of that for a while now, Kurt, but the moment never seemed to arrive." If this wasn't it, it never would, Scott reflected.

Kurt's head tipped back towards him, a wry expression on what could be seen of his face. "And the family you do not choose? But I suppose that is neither here nor there now."

"I think..." And suddenly he wasn't thinking of just Kurt, but Wanda and Pietro and Nathan as well. "I think they have only the claim on you that you give them, Kurt."

"And that remains to be seen", he said, almost inaudibly. If she would even accept any claim on me now.

"Right now you just need to concentrate on resting," Scott said, then shook his head slowly, even though Kurt couldn't see it. "You've done so much for the rest of us over the years. Just... let us look after you, now."

"I do not think I have much choice", was the wry answer. "And so I will, even if it is hard."