Doreen and Kurt

[x-squirrel.livejournal.com]

Kurt accidentally wakes up a crashed Dori and discuss the school that Doreen is still getting used to.

Sugar crashed and worn out, Dori had explored her new home and had ended up in a big, warm room. She had curled up in the sunlight with Monkey Joe and had fallen asleep. They were curled up on the end of one of the couch, her bushy tail twitching occasionally as she slept, lightly.

This place, she decided, was totally awesome.

Kurt had only happened to glance into the sunroom as he was passing by, but the sight of the new student convinced him to step inside.

"Doreen?" he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb her if she was sleeping. "Are you awake?"

Doreen shot up, which sent Monkey Joe tumbling off the couch and her scrambling to keep him from hitting the floor. The bundle of limbs, tails and fur hit the floor.

“I’m okay!” she squeaked. “I’m awake. Yeah.”

"I am sorry!" he said hastily, not having got more than a step further in an automatic move to catch her. "I did not mean to startle you."

“It’s okay,” she said, smiling brightly, “I’m okay. I’m sorry. I sleep really lightly and I didn’t mean to fall asleep, it was just a really comfy couch.”

"Many people do like to nap in here sometimes", he agreed. "Hello. I am Kurt Sefton, one of the teachers."

“I’m Doreen – wait, you knew that! And this is my friend,” she said, as Monkey Joe climbed up her shirt and got back in his place, “Monkey Joe. He’s my best friend. What do you teach?”

"German and gymnastics, for the most part, and my first language - Roma - for those who wish to learn. Hello, Monkey Joe."

She wasn’t taking German. She wasn’t taking any second language but, “There’s gymnastic classes here?” she asked, perking up, and then she noticed, “Hey, you have a tail too, cool!”

"Yes, there are, and yes, I do." He smiled. "I think perhaps there will need to be special classes for you. You may not have discovered everything the likes of us can do."

“Special how?” she asked, looking a bit concerned. She had heard that from teachers before. Generally saying she needed to be in special (in the bad way) classes.

"Special attention", he clarified. "Nothing to do with your intelligence, only to help you work on those skills not many share."

“Oooh, okay. Teachers back home kept saying I needed special classes, but that’s not what they were talking about,” she said. “I know I can jump really far, not many people can do that.”

"Let me introduce you to the balance beam soon", Kurt told her. "And you seem a very intelligent girl to me."

Doreen shook her head, “The teachers back home didn’t think so. My grades really weren’t that great,” she said. There were a ton of reasons why they shouldn’t have been.

"Well, we will see how you do here", was the firm response. "No one will hold your past grade record against you at this school."

“That’s good,” Doreen said with relief. “I was kinda nervous about that. And I mean, I’ve never been to a boarding school before so I wondered how things worked here and stuff.” She also had been worried that Mom wouldn’t have the money for this, but she supposed that wasn’t a problem as she was here.

"Any questions you have, I will be happy to answer. What exactly is it you are unsure of?"

“I don’t know, I was kinda worried Mom wouldn’t be able to afford this. And if the classes were really hard and stuff and I like the building, it’s HUGE,” Doreen said happily. “Monkey Joe likes it too.”

"Do not worry about your mother's money", Kurt reassured her. "The Professor is a very wealthy man. He will take no more in fees than your mother can afford, even if that means taking nothing. I am glad you like it, and as for the classes, they will challenge you as they should - but if it is really too much, you can always talk to us."

The first part was hard. She always did. It didn’t take a genius to figure out with things the way they were between her mom and her Dad as much as she wanted them to be otherwise. “That’s good because Mom doesn’t have that much right now… and I was worried about them being too hard. I mean, I do get some stuff but it’s hard for me to pay attention and yeah.”

"You will have bed and board even after you graduate, if you need it", he promised. "And if it turns out that you need extra help with classes, or allowances for your mutation, you will have that too."

“That’s really cool,” Doreen said as Monkey Joe started clicking, she pulled out some trail mix she had taken from the main kitchen to give it to him, “I mean, I really didn’t know what to expect when Mom said I had to go to a boarding school. Well, Mom didn’t say it really, it was more the social worker’s idea.”

"This is the best possible place you could be, other than home", he said with a smile. "And your mother is welcome to visit, or vice versa, whenever you like."

“Mom would really like that. But we don’t have the money for it. But I’m going to write her a lot and send her pictures and stuff. I like all the trees around and this room is really cool. And if there’s a gym glass I’ll like it even better if they don’t make me just sit in the bleachers.”

"One of my sisters teaches gym", he informed her. "I can guarantee she will not make you sit in the bleachers."

“That’s good. They made me do that back home because they said it wasn’t fair to the other students,” Doreen said. Which was sad, because gym was one of the few things she knew she would’ve done good in if they had let her.

"Several of your classmates will be quite able to compete with you", Kurt said. "At least two of them - including my youngest sister, as it happens - can levitate."

“Really? Is that like flying? That’s really cool,” Doreen said. “I can’t wait for that. That will be so neat. I like jumping the best. It’s also kind of like flying. Well, until you hit the ground.”

"Meggan does not fly, she floats. But Angel has true flight, when she activates her powers." He grinned. "You have discovered the trees outside?"

“Yes! It’s awesome! I’ve never had many places like that at home. And out here things don’t smell like smog all the time, they actually smell like stuff!” Doreen said happily.

"That is definitely a good thing", he agreed. "My sense of smell is not very sensitive, but it is nicely quiet here. Like home."

“Where are you from?” Doreen asked brightly. “I can smell a lot more than I ever did here. It’s so great.”


"Germany, by birth. My people are one of the gypsy clans who have not yet settled, so I grew up moving around the countryside."

“That’s cool. I grew up in LA. We used to take lots of vacations and stuff, but we don’t anymore,” she said. The vacations having been funded by Dad.

"We have a few other students and former students who came from LA. Karolina, Julian, and one of our self-defence teachers lived there before here."

“I don’t know Karolina,” Doreen said, “But Julian and I went to the same high school before everyone said he went to military school. I was really surprised to see him here!”

"A pleasant surprise, I hope", he said lightly. "He seems a nice boy."

“It was, it was!” Doreen said nodding, even Monkey Joe perked up, despite still being tired. “He’s my friend. And the last couple weeks when he was there he kept things from hitting me and stuff.”

"I am glad he was there to help you even for that time", Kurt responded more seriously. "And that is another thing - no one will throw anything at you here, or at least not in malice."

“I know, I know,” Doreen said, “I mean, I don’t really think everyone was really trying to be so mean either. I mean, a lot of them were friends when we were younger. I just don’t think people… really knew what to think.”

"It can be hard", he agreed. "But I can guarantee it will not be a problem here."

“I know. I mean, it wouldn’t make any sense,” Doreen said simply.