xp_logs | Topaz and Kurt | Saturday Afternoon

Topaz finds Kurt to properly thank him for the journal.

It wasn't very often one found Topaz actively looking for someone. But that was what she was doing today, walking through the halls, in search of a certain blue-skinned man. Her school bag was hanging off one shoulder, the journal among the many books tucked away in there.

Eventually she made her way down to the gym, yo check and see if he was down there.

He almost always was, when he wasn't working or doing more sociable things, and he twisted on the trapeze to look at the door as he heard it open.

"...hello, Topaz!"

It was probably a sign of something that Topaz's first reaction was to physically flinch back when he called her name. If there was one thing she wasn't used to, it was people calling after her. She pushed down the urge to run, instead simply just pressing herself against the wall as she looked up. "Hullo Mr. Sefton. I hope I'm not botherin' you?"

"Not at all. It is a public room, if not one I have seen you visit before." He swung himself up to sit on the frame, comfortably. "So what can I do for you?"

"I just..." She shifted, clasping her hands behind her back. "Well, I wanted to thank you - properly thank you, I mean - you know...for the journal."

He smiled broadly at that. "You are welcome. I am glad you liked it, and hope you did something you enjoy on the day."

"...Sure." She'd spent most of the day in the library. That was technically something she enjoyed, right? "It's just another day, though, really."

"I suppose. But most people do like to do something to mark birthdays for others, even if they ignore their own. I thought perhaps you would appreciate something with a purpose more than something pretty but useless."

The journal certainly was useful. She'd found herself scribbling in it more than once since she'd found it on her doorstep. It was surprisingly helpful in keeping her thoughts organized. "Do you ignore your birthday, Mr. Sefton?"

"Less ignore, more possibly would forget if I was allowed to", he admitted. "But someone else always remembers and helps me to celebrate it."

"Ah. Seems like there are a lot of people around to help with that." If there was a note of amusement in Topaz's voice, she couldn't be held responsible for that.

Kurt grinned down at her cheerfully. "Well, I have three sisters and a girlfriend, as well as many friends, here in New York, another brother and sister and entire extended family back in Germany, so it is true I cannot remember the last time it did go past unnoticed."

"Plenty of people to make sure you never forget." She'd seen his extended family. It was...huge. To say the least. "Alice loved birthdays." As usual, the words have slipped out before she's really aware of what she's saying - or even aware that she's thinking them.

"And perhaps so did you, at the time?" he said gently. "You would have been very young. I have not met a child yet who is not excited by their birthday coming."

Topaz shrugged, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "It's not my real birthday," she admitted after a moment. Why not? Mr. Sefton already knew she'd been in an orphanage. What was another small detail?

"But it is the only one you have ever known", Kurt countered with a small shrug. "I only know exactly when mine is because my adoptive mother was there to see me born. The precise day of your physical birth does not matter so much, as long as there is consistency."

Consistency. Oh that was a laugh. Well, she'd had it for a few years, at least. Topaz pressed her lips together for a moment, looking away from Kurt. She missed Alice. She missed the way things used to be.

She'd never say that out-loud, of course.

"Topaz..." He said hesitantly. "You know that anything you may say to me will never go any further, yes? Or if you do not want to do that, you have the journal. Confiding to paper is better than confiding to nothing at all, and keeping it all inside."

"I know." And she did, that was the funny thing. He'd made this same offer so many times, and she knew it was genuine, she just...couldn't. But she had the journal. That was something.

"Just remember. I may say it again, but whether I do or not, it is no less true, if things ever change, if you should decide you want to talk... I will be here."

Topaz just nodded, still not quite looking at Kurt anymore. "Right. I'll remember. I promise." And she would. "Thank you."

"Again, you are welcome. For everything you may feel a need to thank me for."

Finally she looked back, a small, almost smile pulling at her lips. "Right."