Topaz and Kurt; Topaz and Ty || Bad Choices

[xp_topaz]

Kurt tries to talk to Topaz. Topaz crosses a line.



"Midnight, oi, come on," Topaz grumbled as the cat wound around her legs. She was standing at the stove in her kitchen suite, trying to cook dinner, but apparently the cat was feeling neglected. She sighed and bent over to scoop her up. "Can this at least wait until I'm done cooking?"

Even if the cat could have answered, it would have been interrupted by the knock at her locked door. She sighed, letting Midnight clamber up onto her shoulder as she called, "You and I both know you're just going to let yourself in, Kurt."

"Only if you do not open the door."

Which was spoken from inside the room, because he already knew she wouldn't.

"Bit busy," Topaz said vaguely, flipping the vegetables in her stir-fry. "Cooking, clingy cat, I've got a lot going on."

"Shall I?" He held his hands out to Midnight, not trying to take her unless she chose to jump. "At least you are eating."

"Go on," Topaz said, shrugging her shoulder slightly, and Midnight jumped right to Kurt. "I never stopped eating. Forgot to eat, maybe. But I did that before, too." Before London. Before Taboo. Before she had stopped caring.

He cuddled the cat.

"I think we have all done that from time to time. Until others remind us."

Midnight content, Topaz refocused on her stir-fry, frowning as she stirred the vegetables absentmindedly. "Yeah, well. Doing my best not to bother anyone, so the least I can do is remember to eat on my own."

"Would it make a difference if I told you that you are not bothering us?"

He suspected not.

"Aren't you supposed to say that?" Topaz tilted her head, pushing the vegetables around one more time. "Like telling your kids 'no we definitely don't have a favorite' even though you do. Want some? I always make too much and swear I'll eat tomorrow and then I forget it's in the fridge."

He was, mildly, encouraged by her inviting him to stay and eat.

"I will not say no. And perhaps sometimes it may be so, but not when I say it to you."

"I mean, if you say it to the person's face, that's just cruel." Topaz went to get a couple bowls. How she kept ending up feeding the Sefton siblings, she'd never know. Apparently they just liked to find her when she was cooking.

"The point is, Topaz", Kurt said patiently, "that I am not lying to you. Not even to spare your feelings."

"Midnight, shoo." Topaz, unsurprisingly, ignored that completely. They were getting too close to things she didn't want to talk about. The cat made no effort to get out of Kurt's arms, so Topaz went to retrieve one of her cat nip mice. A quick tap, and the mouse was wiggling out of her hand and running off into another part of the suite. Midnight immediately ran after it.

Kurt watched her go with perhaps the faintest touch of regret - he'd been enjoying the comfort of the little warm body, but it wasn't as if it would be the last time.

"How long did it take her to forgive you for going away?"

"Not too long." Locking herself in her suite for three days with no one else for company had probably done a lot of good. Topaz filled the bowls, handing one to Kurt. "Refused to come near me the first night but I think all was forgiven when I fed her."

"Cats tend to be easy that way." He took a forkful of stir fry while it was still hot. "They sulk, but if you have not actually hurt them, they soon forget."

"If I'd thought about it sooner I would've given her treats and saved myself twelve hours of the cold shoulder." She had been a bit preoccupied, unfortunately.

"You had other things on your mind", Kurt said quietly. "You can be forgiven for that."

"Other things on my mind besides my cat? Shocking. Inconceivable." The words were sarcastic, but not vicious. Topaz took a bit of her food, tilting her head slightly. Okay, this wasn't too bad.

He snorted quietly at that, not quite a laugh.

"To Midnight, I have no doubt it would be."

Topaz watched her cat run around the suite for a moment, preparing herself to ask a question she really didn't want to ask. "How long are you going to keep doing this, Kurt? Amanda's already given up, ya know." And that was good. That was what Topaz had wanted.

Kurt was not, at all, so sure that Amanda had given up.

"As long as I have to, until you realize I am not going anywhere. Just ask my family."

"And what's the line there? There's a difference between me and family." She stabbed a little harder at the vegetables than what was absolutely necessary.

Kurt blinked at her.

"Do you really think so?"

Topaz held his gaze for a solid twenty seconds. "You didn't answer the question. What's the line?" She set down her bowl and turned away. "You didn't put up too much of a fight when your fiancee left."

Kurt froze, staring at her back, and slowly and carefully set his own bowl down. "No amount of argument would have made her stay. Perhaps that is the line."

He'd only finally given up on Mystique, after all, when she proved she didn't want to be redeemed.

"Good to know." Topaz didn't look back at him. Couldn't look back at him. She didn't know when the instinct to push everyone away had become a conscious thought, but she was here now, and if Kurt gave up... then maybe she could as well.

"Most times", he said, looking for where the cat had gone for something, anything, else to look at, "it takes me a very long time to reach that line. Come and find me if you need me, Topaz. I will not turn you away."

But he couldn't be there any more tonight.

"Yeah," Topaz muttered. "Sure." She waited until the smell of brimstone had faded away to turn and kick the cabinet as hard as she could. Stupid, considering she wasn't wearing shoes, but she didn't care. She kicked it again before running her hands through her hair and going to grab her shoes and jacket. She just wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else.



Set much, much later - getting drunk isn't a great idea. Neither is texting the wrong person. But Topaz isn't making great choices.



Topaz was not drunk. She wasn't. She didn't get drunk in public. She saved that for the privacy of her suite, where she could stumble to bed after and sleep a pleasant, dreamless sleep.

She had just gone into the city for a couple drinks because she needed to get out of the mansion and away from everyone for a little bit, especially Kurt. And the bartender had made... well, she couldn't quite remember what it was. Vodka and something and something. It had been really good. So maybe Topaz had indulged in a few more than what she should have.

But she definitely was not drunk.

She also wasn't stupid, however, and as she stared down blearily at her steering wheel, realizing she couldn't focus on it, she knew there was no way she was driving home. She didn't want to die that bad.

"Laanat hai," she mumbled, trying to go through her contacts and find a name that didn't make her cringe. Amanda - no. Kurt - no. Hope was in Washington. Molly was - could Molly even drive? Contemplating that question wasted about five minutes before she finally continued scrolling. Tandy. Brilliant. Tandy would pick her up and not ask any questions. She hit Tandy's name and sent what she was sure was a perfectly legible text asking for a ride from a bar in the city.

That done, she rested her head on the steering wheel and waited.

It took Ty three tries to figure out what Topaz had texted to him. And another minute to figure out she didn't mean to send it to him. Another two minutes to find several pictures of the place she was supposed to be, and another two minutes to build up the courage to attempt teleporting.

He landed on top of a newspaper vending machine on purpose.

Topaz' head jerked up off the steering wheel to see a pile of limbs and clothes on the newspaper thing next to her car. "What... Ty?" She stared at him for several moments before realizing he probably couldn't hear her, and rolling down the window. "What're you doin' here?" Her voice definitely didn't slur at all.

He held up his phone with a wry smile. "I think you mis-texted, but I was in the neighborhood..." He jumped to the asphalt and leaned on the car.

"Huh?" Topaz looked down at her phone again. Apparently Ty and Tandy were really similar when one was... not in her right mind. "Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to bother ya."

Ty tapped the roof. "Scoot over, I'll drive you home, since I'm here. And a little scared to try teleporting again so soon."

Topaz blinked at him, then obediently crawled clumsily over the center console, collapsing into the passenger's seat and curling up tight. "Stupid," she muttered, half into her shoulder.

"On my good days, but I'm cute, so I make up for it," he said easily as he slid the driver seat all the way back before he sat. "Just let me know if you have to barf, or anything."

"Not you," Topaz said blearily, curling up tighter. "Me."

He checked for the keys in the ignition, then glanced over at his passenger. "If you don't put your seatbelt on, I'll agree with you."

"Mmph," was the only answer he received before the tiny ball struggled to get the seatbelt over herself without moving. That part she managed - getting herself actually buckled in was another thing entirely.

Ty swatted her hands aside and inserted the tab into the buckle. "Make sure that's across your hips," he prompted as he started the car. "And maybe we should stop for some water and sandwiches," he murmured with a side-eye.

She wiggled a bit, struggling to get the belt down where it needed to be so she could curl back up again. "M'not hungry," she mumbled, head resting against the window. That was probably strange, considering she hadn't eaten anything except four bites of stir-fry all day. She couldn't find it in herself to care.

Ty stayed silent until he got out of the city. Boston or the Big Apple, city driving was terrible. Finally feeling like not everybody was out to kill them, he looked over at Topaz again. "Fast food or gas station? I'm starving."

Topaz was half dozing at this point, staring blankly out the window, lost in a haze of thoughts. "Mm?" She mumbled. "Dunno. Don't care. Not hungry."

Electing the drive-through, Ty ordered everything on the value menu. And then a veggie burger with cheese. "Wait, do you eat cheese?" He asked Topaz.

"Sure." Another mumble. She hadn't drank enough, she realized belatedly. She could still feel things. That sucked.

"So yeah, veggie burger with cheese, large water, two large colas, two large fries, and every sandwich on the value menu," Ty confirmed. He pulled forward to the pay window, steadfastly ignoring the wide-eyed cashier eyeballing the lack of church bus at her window.

"Too loud," Topaz grumbled, covering her ears, even though that was far from the problem. Psi powers and alcohol didn't mix well. The silent surprise from the cashier might as well have been a piercing shriek.

Ty reached over to pat Topaz on the head as he pulled forward. "We'll be back on the road in less than five minutes, Topes."

Topaz gave him a vague glare and mumbled, "Bhaad mein jao."

"Sorry, girl, I speak English and Allspeak. While you can understand me in both, I have absolutely NO idea what you're saying." Ty said as he gratefully took six bags from the cashier. He flashed his best grin at her before rolling up his window and driving away.

"That was - wait." Topaz frowned, eyebrows crinkling, before giving up on trying to solve whatever horribly complex puzzle was in her head and curling up tighter, tucking her arms down between her chest and knees.

Ty poked her with his elbow. "Hey, passenger feeds driver. That's the way it works. You have a sandwich in there too. Pony up, magic girl."

That got him the best scowl she could manage. "Should've driven m'self home," she muttered, grabbing one of the bags and digging through it. Every sandwich on the value menu was a lot, so finally settled for just handing him one of the large fries and, because she knew he'd bug her, she picked out the veggie sandwich and unwrapped it, picking at the bun and taking small bites of bread.

"There's cheese there, too," Ty helpfully pointed out before shoving a handful of fries into his mouth.

He might as well have been speaking German for all Topaz understood or acknowledged him. She picked at the bun for about ten minutes before leaning her head against the window again, watching the dark street pass by and letting the gentle motion lull her to sleep.