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

[minus1twin]

Wanda glanced over at him, her eyebrow rising in a curious arc. "You might know Tommy and Billy then." Her sons... some an alternate universe. "I've met a few people from alternate universes." She took him with a bit of amusement in her expression. Wanda wasn't 100% comfortable with the idea but she was getting used to it.

"Can I ask... do you know me personally?"

She hadn't heard a lot of great things about the Wanda that Tommy and Billy knew.

[praypal]

"We've met a few times, and you- she- was helping one of my students learn to control some of her abilities, the last time I spoke with her. I don't know her closely, but she's a lovely woman who's accomplished quite a lot," he says, because first meetings are not the time to bring up some of the more... complicated issues that come with her other self's past.

"Billy and Tommy- I believe your other self has mentioned them, but I've never had the pleasure, actually. I suppose it's only a matter of time, with as few people as there seem to be around here."

[minus1twin]

"I see."

Wanda's expression softened into a warm smile. "They're good kids." It was a little complicated but Wanda didn't really mind. She had a family, even if it was by proxy of another universe. It was a comfort in a strange way. Wanda had never considered becoming a mother before now.

"Well," She looked up at Kurt, her light green eyes reflecting the firelight. "I hope we can be friends. There aren't powers here but we help each other." She'd learned to hunt and prep meat for that purpose.

[praypal]

Kurt grins. "Well, I would be a fool to turn down such an offer of friendship, wouldn't I? And you can count on me to provide as much help as I can," he assures her. "I have to say, this has been one of my more pleasant trips outside of my home reality, outside of the loss of my powers. Not a single person has tried to kill me, and the lack of anti-mutant bigotry is refreshing."

[minus1twin]

"Does this happen to you a lot?"

Wanda smiled at him, her eyebrows arcing in a curious expression. She hadn't had a lot of experience jumping between worlds or times. This was technically her first though she'd met enough people from alternate universes for it to be familiar to her.

She couldn't imagine doing it all the time.

"And I think you look nice." He looked different but Kurt was still handsome and he had a good smile.