xp_logs | Kurt and Madelyn, Sunday morning

They have coffee and talk about Alison, the kids and Maddie's plans for the Foundation.

Sometime on Sunday mid-morning, Kurt made his way over to Madelyn's suite to welcome her back and ask how her holiday had gone. Choosing to walk instead of teleport such a short distance, he was soon there nevertheless, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Madelyn called, looking up from her sprawl on the couch. Sunday papers, poptarts, coffee... and a visit to the gym planned later in the day to work off all she'd eaten over the past few days. Life was good.

He smiled as he pushed the door open, walking into the room. "Good morning."

"Kurt! Hi!" She waved at the easy chair. "Coffee? I have lots." Dressed in jeans and a soft flannel shirt, the front of her hair pulled back into a knot on the back of her head, she looked refreshed and calm, and much, much happier.

His smile broadened as he noticed this, settling into the easy chair. "Coffee would be very nice, yes. You are looking well."

"Oh good, Mom'll be glad to know her pampering had results. You wouldn't believe the lectures I got for letting myself get so run-down..." Madelyn got up and fetched another cup of coffee from the kitchenette, setting it on the coffee table in front of Kurt before sitting back in her nest of cushions on the couch. "You look tired," she countered, tilting her head as she looked at him. "Are you sleeping all right, or still having trouble?"

"Mostly all right", he answered a little wryly, reaching for the coffee. "Alison is doing so much better, so that is one big worry removed. But you know how it is here."

"Indeed I do..." She considered him as she picked up her cup and took a sip, looking at him over the rim. "I was serious, you know, about that kidnapping you if you started wearing yourself out."

He smiled slightly. "I would not resist a kidnapping from you too hard, in all honesty. Did you have anywhere in mind?"

That flustered her a little. Sipping at her coffee again to cover the momentary confusion, she replied with a similarly teasing tone. "Well, I had thought about the Bahamas or something like that, but that's a bit of a stretch. And I still owe you dinner, I believe? Up for somewhere in New York? Moira told me about this nice little Mediterranean place in the city."

Kurt took a drink of his own coffee, and nodded. "You do still owe me a dinner, yes. Mediterranean sounds nice."

"Tonight? Might as well round off the whole holiday period with an enjoyable evening..." Madelyn suggested. "Unless you've got plans, that is."

"No, no plans", he assured her with a smile. "Driving or teleporting into the city this time?"

"Well, if you're up for the Bamf Express, it would mean no embarrassing moments involving wine and having to pick up the car the next day." Good, that was settled then - Madelyn leaned back against the cushions behind her back.

He grinned, taking another drink of coffee. "The... Bamf Express can be arranged, yes."

"I'm in a silly mood. Being home that does to me," she said, unapologetically. "And then Alison and I watched movies last night and did disturbing amounts of giggling."

He laughed. "Well, that is good to hear. I think you have both needed it - and Alison is allowed enough sound now to get full enjoyment from watching movies?"

"See, that's the beauty of technology - DVDs have these clever little things called subtitles. But she's up to twenty percent sound now, so she was actually able to get some of the volume." Madelyn looked a little smug. "I can't believe no-one thought of that earlier, you know."

He looked vaguely bemused himself. "It would seem an obvious solution to Alison's boredom. Oh well - someone has thought of it now, even if the subtitles are not quite as necessary as they were."

"Well, they make things easier for her still - twenty percent isn't a lot. And with her not sleeping much, it's a good way of distracting her - with our songbird, distraction is high priority." Madelyn chuckled a little. "Although now Haroun has apparently returned to his senses, that's not as difficult as it was."

He nodded. "Yes - although we all have days when all we need is to get away, his was very poorly timed. How long do you think it will be before she is fit to leave the mansion?"

"Really poorly timed. I was just about ready to throttle him when I heard. As for Ali leaving the mansion... That's a little trickier. She pushed things a bit too far on Monday, and I fully expect her to do it again - she's as stubborn as anyone else in this place. But she is recovering well. It's all a matter of 'wait and see' at the moment, as well as trying to devise a physiotherapy program she can do without causing herself too much extra pain." That there would be some pain involved was unavoidable, a fact Madelyn was resigning herself to. "I think we'll try and get her to hugging first - the queue's around the block for that."

Kurt smiled. "I think I will be joining it. But Miles must be at the front, of course."

"That's not even remotely doubtful," Madelyn agreed with an answering smile. "And somehow I doubt anyone would disagree."

"Quite the opposite", he answered with a nod. "And if they did, I can see, say, Jamie guarding the medlab door with his staff from Asgard."

"Like anyone would risk that..." Madelyn giggled. She couldn't let the coffee get cold, she reminded herself, taking a bigger sip this time. Mmm, caffeine. "So, anything in particular I need to get my head around for the next dance class?" she asked, carefully not mentioning the agreement she and Alison had reached last night about the monthly dance outing. Alison would tell him. That way it definitely was Not A Date.

He considered. "Nothing in particular, that I can think of. You did very well with the last one."

"It's all in the leading, which you do so very well... My Dad was pleased to hear his lessons were coming in handy." Madelyn chuckled a little. "And the kids are actually a lot of fun. Even Miss Monet, when she forgets herself enough to actually enjoy what she's doing. Stinky boys and all."

Kurt grinned. "Monet has the makings of a very good dancer, much as she professes to hate it. If she could just be persuaded not to think it was beneath her, except when she forgets herself..."

"Considering the clouds are beneath her sometimes, that might be easier said than done. Still, I think I actually caught something resembling a smile on her face the other day when she was helping the little girls," said Madelyn, looking thoughtful. "Actually, that could be a way of getting through to her - she obviously gets on well with the little ones."

Kurt looked interested. "I must have been helping one of the others at the time - I did not see that. Perhaps one of us could quietly suggest that she helps the younger ones more often...?"

"She does share a suite with Nga and Leyu..." Madelyn's expression was mischievous. "Perhaps ask her to TA for the little ones? I could have a quiet word to Kitty, make sure she doesn't think she's being slighted. Not that she would, but it's best to cover your bases..." She laughed. "Oh dear, we're sounding all teacherly, aren't we? Next thing you know, we'll have those tweed jackets with the patches on the elbows..."

Kurt laughed. "I am sure if Kitty was told in advance what was going on, she would have no problem with it. She is a very reasonable girl, after all."

"And thank goodness for that. Helps even out the melodramatic types." Madelyn sounded more amused than annoyed.

Kurt nodded half-seriously. "But then, with all the drama we have here, can you really blame them for a little melodrama?"

"Oh, no blame attached. The drama tends to accentuate existing problems, that's all. Believe me, I didn't take Jubilee home with me on a whim - after all the explosions she's been having lately, anyone could see she needed some time out, a chance to get a sense of perspective back. I think it did her some good - she certainly loosened up a lot while she was there. Managed to captivate my family too, which was pretty much what I was hoping..." she mused. "A bit above and beyond the mentoring, but I enjoyed having her there. Even if she and Carlie should never be left in a room alone together - they hatch dastardly makeover type plans."

He grinned, remembering the end of their e-mail exchange. "What was it they did to your hair?" he asked innocently.

"Nothing too terrible, it turned out - Carlie did this French twist thing. I drew the line at makeup, 'though - Carlie's idea of 'subtle' tends to be along the lines of just below 'drag queen'." Madelyn snickered, shaking her head. "Apparently there's a world-wide conspiracy to get me to change my habits - Alison was threatening me with her beauty consultant, but I managed to talk her down to shopping instead when she's up and about."

Kurt laughed. "Knowing Alison, that cannot have been an easy job. Although she does love shopping."

"Actually, it was surprisingly easy. I have a nasty suspicion I've been set up. Still, it keeps her distracted, and if making me her new project means she has something else to think about other than the pain, I'm willing to make the sacrifice." She rolled her eyes dramatically and put the back of her hand to her forehead. "I shall throw myself into the breach that is clothes shopping without fear or regret, like a true soldier!" she declared.

Still laughing, he responded, "You are a good friend to her. I am sure she appreciates the distraction, and will even more so when she is allowed to leave the mansion again."

"Well, it's not like I'm not getting anything out of Operation: Distract The Rockstar Who Doesn't Sleep," Madelyn said. "Apart from the whole enjoying her company thing, and the conversation, and the chocolate waffles of doom... Actually, there is no apart from that. Although she is helping out with the Foundation as of last night."

Kurt tilted his head, curious. "The Foundation?"

"See, that's the problem with all these night shifts, I forget to put the important stuff in my journal and babble about penguins instead." Madelyn pulled a face. "Part of Moira's birthday present to me - she's providing the base funding for the Cornucopia and Anodyne Foundation. Providing aid to those who need it." She smiled a little. "It won't be as easy without the Iceland powers, but I think we'll get there."

He smiled at her warmly. "That sounds like a fine thing to do. And I am sure the Professor and all those here will help in any way they can."

"The more the merrier. At the moment we're still setting things up, but once that's done, well, Ali was making noises about fundraising," she said, sipping her coffee again. "Jamie's HeliX project could easily get involved with that, and I'm sure with all the creative minds here we can think of lots of other things."

He nodded. "You will certainly need more funds - as wealthy as Moira is, she cannot bankroll the whole thing forever, especially when you begin taking on more staff than just the two of you. The HeliX group will be glad to help, no doubt."

"Oh, definitely. Especially if this thing gets as big as we hope. And contrary to popular belief, neither of us is so insane as to think we can do it all ourselves. We're be using Muir's facilities as a base at first, but that's just the beginning."

"If there is anything I can do to help, you know you have only to ask."

"Somehow I had a feeling you'd say that," she said with another smile.