It's Not the Waking It's the Rising

[praypal]

WHO: Kurt Wagner, You!
WHERE: Fountain (Open to 1), Inn, Various Outdoor Locations
WHEN: Nov. 27 - Dec 4
OPEN TO: OTA, Arrival Locked to 1
WARNINGS: None yet.

---

Arrival

Yellow eyes open in the dark. It's cold. And he's weightless- wait, no, he's in water. Did he teleport in his sleep? No, that hasn't happened since he was a teenager. He struggles for a few precious seconds to locate the light, and bamfs-

Or not. His movements feel clumsier too, though that might be the oxygen deprivation. It takes him several more seconds to truly register the full extent of his situation as he struggles to the surface- he can't even cling to the stone walls of the well! This is strange.

He gasps loudly as he breaks the surface, groping one arm over the ledge of the fountain and spitting out a mouthful of water. "Scheisse," he coughs as he begins to haul himself over the ledge- and noticing just how much harder it is than it should be to do so. The laws of gravity are not meant to be so restrictive where he is concerned, and he feels downright clumsy. This isn't right.

Also, it is definitely not Central Park.

Inn

Dressed in the dry set of light grey scrubs he'd found in his pack, Kurt has made his way to the social center of the village, even if he's not feeling too much like his usual social self. But there's hot food and, most importantly a roaring fire that he's gotten himself as close to as one can without risking burning off one's fuzz off.

He's got a bowl of something hot that someone was kind enough to spare, and it reminds him enough of the big pots of stew or curry that they'd leave bubbling in big pots around the clock when the circus was performing that it's bringing him some modicum of comfort.

The Great Outdoors

This feeling of unbalance, this simply will not do. If he is to function here as anyone else, he has to get used to life without the superhuman agility he's been used to since his very first steps. So he's found somewhere nice and empty aside from a few felled trees, and clad in sadly very drab scrubs, he's doing what he would with any other setback-

Pushing past it, and with style.

Even with the loss of his powers, he still has his tail. That lends him more balance than most would have, and he's making the most of it as he makes running leap after running leap, pushing himself into handsprings, backflips, using the tree trunks as balance beams.

And, every so often, falling on his fuzzy blue butt. Or face.

The muscle memory of years in the circus and cross-time swashbuckling is still there, it just feels hindered. He can work with hindered. Hindered just means it's harder, not that it can't be done. The effort of having to work these muscles and his spacial awareness this hard means- well, he's not as aware of the rest of his surroundings than he might be.

He does not realize he's being watched until he stops to perch on a sufficiently stable rock to catch his breath.

Comments

The Great Outdoors

[to_defend]

7 is impressed.

In her world, she was the quickest, so it's refreshing to be here and to find people who could keep up with her, offer her a challenge.

She's content to just observe, watching him try and fail and try again. She understands that mindset; that getting up after you fall is the most important part to learning, to trying again and doing better.

Eventually, though, her target must sense she's had her eyes trained on him for some time; she steps from the brush, swinging her spear around to stab it into the ground, and pushes up the cave-dog-skull-mask she'd finally finished.

"Not bad. How did you learn to move like that?"

[praypal]

Well. That is a very interesting choice of a mask, but not the strangest one he's seen. He's always wondered how Wolverine's hair manages to keep his signature style after he pulls the cowl off.

"I was raised in the circus," he answers without hesitation, giving the young woman an affable smile and hopes the fangs won't startle her. "I performed as an acrobat from the time I was very young. If we had a trapeze set up, I could really show you something." He says this with confidence that doesn't quite step over the line into bragging- more lamenting the fact that he has no access to such facilities. "I am Kurt Wagner, by the way. New arrival."

[to_defend]

Fangs are new, at least on people. She was well aware of them from her experiences with the Beast in her own world. Here, though, it gets a look of passing curiosity and little else.

"Circus? We didn't have that. It looks like a lot of fun. I'd really like to hear about trapeze." If she had to guess, she'd say it sounded like some kind of entertainment, the way he's offering to show off in such a manner. Her own movements were born of necessity.

"I'm 7, I'm ... not exactly new, but I haven't been here that long."

[praypal]

It's very hard for Kurt not to think of Laura when 7 introduces herself. A young woman with a numerical name, and there is some quality to her bearing that almost reminds him of Wolverine's daughter-clone.

"It is a great amount of fun. I am used to having an easier time of it, I admit. I am used to having a little more to draw on than my devilish good looks," he jokes.

[to_defend]

"Yeah?" She smiles back, not catching the joke. "- and what's that?"

He's different like Bull is different, and she wondered what kind of world he came from. "Maybe you could teach me something?"

[praypal]

"Well, the things I am used to are not things I can teach- normally, I can teleport myself and others about and cling to walls. But I could teach acrobatics, ja. Once I am more used to having to hold so tightly on to things- and not being quite as balanced as usual. That's why I am out here- to retrain myself."

[to_defend]

Teleportation? That definitely sounds like something she is not capable of. Acrobatics, though, she thinks she'd do alright.

"So, normally you're able to just ... appear places and stick to things?"

[praypal]

"That is right," Kurt answers. "And I blend into shadows, normally. I suppose I still do a little, but no more than anyone else with my coloring would."

He's scared the crap out of so many students sneaking out after curfew.

[to_defend]

"How has it been, adjusting?"

The hadn't had any vastly different skills than a regular human, outside of the fleshy bit, and that was taking some work to get used to.

[praypal]

"Not as bad as I feared it would be," he admits after giving it a moment's thought. "I've certainly relied more on my tail for balance than I'm used to, but it's more like a sense that's been muffled than taken from me entirely." He imagines the adjustment would be bigger for someone like a telepath, or someone like Storm, whose powers connect her to the planet itself. "And I've been out here every day, with more complicated tricks growing easier each time. I'm sure I'll be in monster-fighting shape in no time."

[to_defend]

She smiles, "Well, that's good to hear; there are definitely monsters out there." Not as big and not as singularly driven as the Machines she fought back home, but enough that having even a little preparation wasn't a bad idea.

"What's it like, having a tail?"