KEEP THE SPARK.

Normally, she'd simply take a seat on the chair regardless of the comment, attempt to sit normally despite how uncomfortable it would be on her legs. Memories of attempting to sit more comfortably by drawing her knees close to her on a chair would lead to being reprimanded, something about looking 'too rude' or 'childish', 'less human' was the more common one.

Her eyes focus on the empty spot beside Kurt in contemplation. Something clicked in her mind, dormant rebellion against what was drilled into her head sparked alight at the sight of seeing someone much like her do it.

Sure, she decides, she can sit on the table. It's not like the St. Juniors would say anything since it's on the patio outdoors and not a counter or table in the kitchen. With the swiftness of a feline, Ivory delicately hops onto the table to sit with him, perched with her arms resting comfortably on her knees.

"Merci!" she thanks in a more chipper tone, accepting the glass and taking a sip of lemonade. Said sip turned into a full on drink once her mind registered how parched she was.

There was something... cathartic about being allowed to sit in a non conforming manner, a sense of freedom that felt impossible only about a year ago, the height it gives her even if it's a little dizzying should she look down. Bright blue hues gaze down at the beverage in her hands in thought, appreciating the break it gives from the unrelenting summer heat.

"Um... Sorry for staring earlier. My tail can't really do that.", Ivory kept an eye on the tail on question as to not knock the pitcher and glasses over by accident making sure it lays next to her somewhat dangling off the table, further proving her point, "It's too fluffy."

A pause and a blink.

"Th-That's not saying it's useless or I hate it! I like my tail!", Ivory immediately clarifies in a panic, her voice shrinks back to It's more common shy tone, "I-I just, um... think it's so cool you can do all of that..."

Not only his prehensile tail, it's how he presents himself with no worry or shame of what he is, it's embracing his physical mutations, doing whatever is natural of him to do without worry. It gives her a glimmer of hope and inspiration where felt to be a losing game for someone like her to fit in. Rogue and Remy have been super accommodating for the furry little Outlier, of course, but Ivory couldn't shake off the perpetual guilt that it was more out of obligation than anything. A belief that her needs are obsolete compared to others warping the intentions of others' actions as much as she knew it wasn't true.

tail sways in gentle wag, always pleased to have a skill admired. ❛ decades of practice. there is nothing to say your tail cannot have use beyond counterweight as well. there is still a limb beyond all that fur — you have much time yet to learn your stride with it, & with that find creative uses for it. ❜ he's not just talking about tails, of course.

kurt sees the way the young mutant carries herself, so worried about inconveniencing others with action & physicality both. he was lucky to be allowed reckless reign in all his fuzzy & tailed toddler glory, but he still knows the learned shame of self - restraint, tucking one's tail between the legs in all senses of the phrase.

he hopes that understanding comes through when he adds on before another sip. ❛ you can do anything with enough confidence. ❜

comfort & confidence can go a long way in a young person's development, something the nightcrawler likes to think their motley little crew is doing an alright job impressing upon the youths in their care. & he does mean " anything " , not simply in a combative capacity — if kurt had his way, the outliers wouldn't have to see a lick of conflict for years to come, if ever. what a wonderful world it would be if one's ability to fight off mortal threat were a subject relegated to thought experiment & fanciful play. thus his mind only reinforces how vital these moments of peace & domesticity are, how important it is to make their current home live up to its namesake.

so he allows himself a snort at ivory's words, making a poor attempt at burying the sound under a cleared throat & contemplative hum. ❛ hm - hmmm, there's certainly people who can't pull this off near as good as us ... it would be difficult to pair " logan " & " graceful " , for example. ❜ he cracks a fanged grin at that. ( oh, not impossible, he cannot be too mean to his friend, but would require tilting one's head. )

it's  not  what  you  have  or  what  you  can  do…   just  being  born,  living  your  life…  before  you  know  it,  you're already  special  to  someone... like you, you're special to me, y'know? + ft. eli's yosuke hanamura. trigger-like content inside, viewer discretion is advised.

@nachtsoklein squatted on the edge of the shaded patio table, sipping lemonade, hiding from the summer sun. the pitcher beside him is yet plenty full, recently refilled. a pat-pat with the flat spade of his tail on the table, invitation for refreshment & company both. ❛ komm, grab yourself a glass while the ice hasn't melted. ❜

Summers were rough for Ivory, Louisiana weather more so. It's not exactly ideal to have thick fur in those conditions even when it's trimmed. Still, she enjoyed the refreshing breeze and fresh air, it's one of the many things she didn't get to enjoy much growing up. While others take the smaller things like that for granted, she embraces every second of it.

She wasn't sure what her plan was stepping outside, never really did when she realized she had full access to it, with limitations of course. Big ears twitched registering a voice close by as she was leaving the rustic-looking home to turn and see a familiar blue on the patio table calling her over.

Ivory stands there for a moment, then looks at her own tail, mimicking the up and down motion of Kurts'. She never really took her tail into consideration of, well, almost anything that wasn't necessary like balancing or making sure it didn't knock anything over. To be fair, nobody else in her life had one save for the cats so it'd be difficult to think about incorporating it to her own for smaller things such as gesturing. The corner of her mouth tugs upward and her attention returns with a nod.

Though where Kurt decided to perch upon left her a bit confused, shown visually through a curious tilt of her head and the raise of her pink brow,

"Um... not to seem rude, Monsieur Wagner, but there's chairs. Why sit on the table?"

those with pelts for skin must do what they can to stay cool, particularly if one's fur color is particularly good at absorbing light, & thus heat. ultimately, it's the weather that was one of the biggest obstacles for the bavarian when the professor took him in an eternity ago — after all the adjustments to not - yet - friends & the missions that entailed being an x - man, & general culture shock notwithstanding, — & louisiana is no new york.

the old manor had its sprawling cold floors, krakoa was a living & engineered paradise down to the centigrade, but here ?? here, it is but a glass with the blessings of ice cubes that gives kurt most of his reprieve. & he has never been so selfish as to not share in a good thing with a kindred spirit, let alone one whose fur is thicker than his own.

if one had asked him a dozen years ago what ivory asked a dozen milliseconds ago, the nightcrawler may have shrunk between his shoulders, an odd sense of shame from something so natural being pointed out, another blatant mark of his difference from the norm even among fellow mutants.

now, he only lifts a shoulder & tilts his head just so in small shrug. ❛ ach, too rickety for me, & there is plenty space here. ❜

bamfs have full rights on kurt's soul, keep it amidst themselves post!resurrection

maintain contractual rights but give over the soul itself during krakoa era as mutants solve death & hope yoinks souls into new shells

being soulless has the same effect as having a powerful artifact hidden in your essence, supernatural shenanigans come sniffing

during krakoa bamfs spread out beyond kurt, kurt doesn't take particular notice of it for a while, realizes weird supernatural shit hasn't happened to him in a long while, goes to illyana without explaining the soulless resurrection thing just to. check things. coz she has experience rummaging in his soulspace & would notice anything odd (odder than his soul not being there)

soul's back (never left as far as kurt believes that illyana knows)

tries to not look surprised

after the third hellfire gala's partycrash feels around his senses for the bamfs & can't find them anywhere remotely near him, takes it as a good sign they don't think the resurrection protocols have been entirely written off, clings to that theory for his hope & faith in the exiled mutants' survival

a few months after krakoa & millions of mutants remove themselves from the picture, spots a bamf watching him

at first thinks it's the legion fragment that embedded itself into him

the bamf disappears & kurt knows it's not

starts spotting/sensing more n more bamfs around, but still none of the weird shit that came round while he had the soulsword or while soulless

knows they're waiting for him to lose custody of his soul again

isn't planning on dying again any time soon

& you know the primary reason kurt even got roped into learning anything about electronics & engineering is coz, yes of course the xmen were woefully shorthanded when he first joined but nr2, he had severe inferiority issues in particular early on because, in his own words, he was just a glorified acrobat, & his teleporting has always been heavily limited & was laughably so in the early days, & the only ways he could make up for all that was his agility, not even his fighting skills at first because he. didn't have. like any. he play-sparred with prop swords with anyone that would humor him in the circus but he was very much not a combatant ; even others that were hardly combatants could make up for that with their mutant abilities. anything kurt learned about fighting he learned with the xmen.