xp_logs | Maddie and Kurt, backdated

They go out to the Pirates of the Caribbean theme dance, and have fun.

She was going to kill Alison for this. And possibly Kurt. Slowly and painfully and with great enjoyment and the use of cold instruments... Contemplating herself (and The Costume) in the mirror, Madelyn started as there was a rather polite knock on the door. Kurt. Shit. She'd lost track of time. Nervously smoothing down the front of her blouse (and then tugging the neckline back up to something approximating decency), she headed for the door, skirts swishing around the admittedly-nifty boots, hoping to God she had not been the victim of a perverse practical joke. A Pirates of the Caribbean themed dance. Were people insane? Or just plain obsessive?

Kurt smiled at her when she opened the door, then his eyes widened slightly when he took in the outfit Alison had chosen for her, before the smile turned into a mischievous grin. "You are ready, then?"

Madelyn was still recovering from the burst of laughter as she opened the door. Captain Jack. Of course. "Apparently so. And very relieved to see you looking like that - when Alison told me it was a theme dance and what kind, I didn't exactly believe her. I thought it was going to be one of her evil jokes." Grabbing her coat from the closet by the door, she came out and shut it behind her, pausing to put the coat on before going any further. "I have to admire the dedication - you didn't have to actually dress up - you could have just used the image inducer for everything, couldn't you? Since I'm guessing you're using one tonight?"

He nodded. "There are two reasons: first, if anyone should happen to brush past me on the dance floor, it is best that what they feel should match what they see - especially with the hair decorations. And second, I could hardly leave you the only one of us really dressed up."

"The first makes perfect sense, the second... actually does make me feel better." She smiled a little bashfully. "I kind of missed all the dressing up parties with the whole 'studying obsessively to get into and then pass medschool' thing. Are you sure I don't look silly in this?" She dropped the coat back off her shoulders so he could get another look.

He took a good long look, at that - just to reassure her, of course. "No, you do not look silly. And remember, everyone will be dressed similarly. And some of them will look silly, but you do not."

"Not silly is a good thing," she said, blushing a little under the rather intent look he was giving her and resisting the urge to tug the blouse up higher, since that would just draw his attention there even more. Wait a minute, there was attention there? The blush intensified and Madelyn yanked the coat back up and buttoned it. "All right then, Mr Wagner. Shall we be off?" she suggested brightly.

He grinned, half-jokingly offering her his arm. "We shall."

"You make a disturbingly good gentleman rogue, you know," she said, taking the offered arm with a grin. There was the trademark 'bamf' of imploding air and the cloud of brimstone-smelling smoke, and they were away.

***

"You were right, about the silly people," Madelyn said as she and Kurt walked into the dance hall. Some people really shouldn't be allowed near leather pants, she thought with an inner wince. Or corsets, especially if they were to be worn with the leather pants. "Suddenly I feel a lot less self-conscious." She'd left the coat at the cloak room, as had Kurt - arriving without coats would have looked strange, to say the least - and was standing a little straighter than she had before.

Kurt was pleased to notice her increased confidence, turning to smile at her. He had turned on the image inducer before they went into the main building, and now looked something (although obviously not exactly) like Johnny Depp. It had seemed to fit. "I am glad to hear it. Tonight should be fun."

Okay, having even a semi-reasonable copy of Johnny Depp smiling at her was making her a little giddy. Or possibly it was the way people were turning to look at them as they passed, the whispers obviously of the admiring kind. As much from the men as the women, too. Imagine that. "I think you're right about that," she said, her sense of mischief surfacing from where it was hiding under her earlier embarrassment. "What say we give them a show, hmm? Since we're already attracting attention?"

He laughed, already turning towards the dance floor. "I am willing if you are."

She took the offered hand and followed him onto the floor. "Your lead, Mr Sparrow. This little pirate wench shall just have to try and keep up."

He nodded with a grin and started the dance. "I am sure you will do very well."

***

"I don't think I've had so much fun in ages," Madelyn said with a breathless laugh. They'd danced circles around the other party-goers, and no-one had seemed to mind one jot, since they were so obviously enjoying themselves. But eventually a break had to be had, and they were sitting watching the rest of the dancers, drinking what purported to be alcohol-free rum punch. How you could have alcohol-free rum, Madelyn wasn't sure, but it tasted good for all that.

He grinned over at her, sitting relaxed and loose-limbed on the bench at the side of the hall. "I am very glad to hear it. Well, not that you have not been having fun before this, but that you are enjoying yourself tonight."

The blouse had slipped to where _it_ was happy, but she hadn't noticed, being way too relaxed now to be bothered. And considering some of the outfits here tonight... "There were reservations, I admit, but yes, this has been a wonderful night so far. And you! You've been keeping an inner swashbuckler hidden from me."

He looked innocent. "I have told you I grew up in the circus, nein? It is hard not to develop an inner swashbuckler, there."

"The Amazing Nightcrawler, yes, I remember." She pushed an errant curl out of her eyes and chuckled. "I suppose... it's hard to reconcile. Kurt the circus performer and all-round buckler of swash and Kurt the teacher who is always so quiet and polite. Not that those are bad things, just... it's a contrast." Madelyn looked down suspiciously at her cup of punch. "Non-alcoholic my ass."

He laughed. "I am mostly 'Kurt the teacher', these days. But I do enjoy letting out 'Kurt the circus performer', when I can. That is why these dance outings are always so much fun."

"Then I'm very glad to be able to help out, then," Madelyn said. "Because I have to say, 'Kurt the circus performer' looks like he was being stifled a bit there."

Kurt shrugged. "Perhaps, a little. We adapt. And I do still have my trapeze at the school, and circus skills class in vacations."

Madelyn nodded, still intrigued by the difference. Kurt of previous outings had been friendly enough, yes, but also slow to talk much about himself, instead asking her the questions. And letting her make the decisions. Which got a bit tiring after a while. "So, from what I read on the journals and hear from Clarice, you're pretty good with that sort of thing?" she asked, indicating the sword hanging from his belt. It had resulted in one or two comic moments when it had tangled with her full skirt during a particularly enthusiastic twirl.

He nodded. "It was part of the act, when I was not on the trapeze. I would spar with others of the circus's swordsmen and women."

"Alison wouldn't let me have one," Madelyn said with a mock-pout that really shouldn't be combined with the outfit she was wearing. "She said I'm dangerous enough with a hypodermic."

Kurt laughed. "Not to mention your tranquilliser gun."

"There were mitigating circumstances there!" Madelyn protested, but not very convincingly. "All right, I probably went a little over the top there. Alison wasn't the only one short on sleep." She sighed dramatically. "Moira took my tranq gun away. Although I did get it back for Vermont..." Her expression darkened a little, and she changed the subject. "I still go down to the pistol range sometimes, keep my eye in. Not that I have much call for shooting here, but I actually sort of miss the regular practice."

Kurt shrugged. "If you enjoy it, there is no reason not to practise. I have no real call for my sword skills, after all, but I still keep them up."

"Guns aren't exactly considered an art, unlike the swords. Even though they're both designed to kill." Madelyn gave the sword a considering look. "You couldn't teach me sometime, could you? People keep telling me I need a hobby."

He smiled. "Of course I could - I have been helping Clarice sharpen her skills, after all. I would be happy to."

"You know, we keep this up and the kids will start one of those betting pools of theirs," chuckled Madelyn, finishing her punch. Looking down at her feet, she said solemnly. "I'm seriously falling in love with these boots. Every girl should have a pair of knee-high boots, I've decided this. Now to think of reasons to wear them when I'm not dressed as a pirate wench."

He grinned. "Why not just wear them? Now you have more free time to be social, now Hank is back."

"Which you would have noticed, given most of that social is with you," she laughed. "It's taking some getting used to, having actual free time. Although that'll change now Moira..." She stopped, bit her lip and changed what she'd been about to say to. "...is needing a break rather desperately."

He gave her a slightly odd look at the hesitation, but didn't ask. "This is true. But you should still have more free time than you did when it was just you and Moira."

"Hmm. Maybe. We'll have to see." Looking out over the dance floor, Madelyn couldn't help grinning at the sight of someone in full pirate regalia, complete with parrot, waltzing with another wench. The stuffed parrot kept slipping and he had to keep shoving it back up again, giving the impression of a very drunken bird. Unconsciously her fingers were tapping on her leg in time to the music.

He followed her eyes, before his gaze dropped to the movement of her hand. "Would you like to dance some more?"

"Now I've cooled down again, yes, I would." And it meant avoiding the topic of Moira's health - Madelyn hoped they'd announce it soon, because damn it was getting hard to sit on it.

He grinned and held out a hand, hopping up gracefully. "Then let's dance."