Who: Ahsoka and Kurt What: Autumn Cleaning When: Saturday November 18 Where: X-Mansion Status: Complete
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It started when Kurt noticed a cobweb in the corner, high near the ceiling. Because it was easy for him to scale walls, he went up to dust it away, but once he was there, he began noticing other cobwebs, and the accumulation of dust in areas normally not seen from the vantage point of the ground. That’s when Kurt decided to spontaneously do a bit of “Spring cleaning’, although being mid-November, wouldn’t it be more like ‘Autumn cleaning’?
His tail carefully held a small pail of soapy water as he used a rag to wipe down surfaces, all the while clinging to the side of the wall in a balancing act that he thought was worthy of a circus act. As he cleaned, he sung to himself, the lyrics of the musical he’d just seen reverberating in his mind and pouring enthusiastically from his lips with a German accent.
“I'm a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal Tryin' to reach my goal, my power of speech: unimpeachable Only nineteen, but my mind is older These New York City streets getting colder, I shoulder Ev'ry burden, ev'ry disadvantage…”
Ahsoka was used to the way the mansion always seemed alive. Every part of it was full of life, and mutants were something interesting when she reached out with the Force. It was almost, almost like running into another Force user there. By now, she'd gotten adjusted to most of the new people in the house — which seemed to swell by day with all the new people arriving.
After her afternoon session at Logan's gym — sword training, since no one else had or could use lightsabers, and honestly, Ahsoka wouldn't trust anyone with one — she'd returned to the house, intent on taking a hot shower and then maybe finding something to eat in the Mansion's giant kitchen. Maybe find Xavier for a game of chess or a quiet conversation.
Singing in the hallway wasn't out of character around here. There were a lot of people with various talents, but this one was an accent not particularly known around this part of the world. That meant it had to be Kurt Wagner, one of the newest mutant arrivals. Her montrals signalled movement above her within thirtyfive yards. She glanced up and found him near the top of the wall.
"Tails come in useful. I always wanted one as a kid."
The voice from below caught his attention and Kurt turned and greeted Ahsoka with a toothsome grin. “Did you, now?’ he said, in a playful manner. “If you ever need one, I’ll let you borrow mine, but I must warn you, I’m quite attached. I’ll have to come along with it.” He tossed the wet rag he was using into the bucket and then, with his tail, handed it down to her. “Hold this, please? While I move over to the other corner?” He could’ve easily managed carrying the bucket of warm, soapy water himself, and had done so thus far, but he wanted Ahsoka to stick around as company, and the best way he thought that could be done was to ask for her help.
“What have you been up to, today?” he asked, scurrying along the side of the wall to the next area that needed cleaning.
The bucket was easily balanced in her hands as she shifted toward the wall that Kurt moved to. She needed to make more friends, and Kurt seemed interesting and interested. That always made friendships take right off. It had been so long since she'd tried; Rebellions weren't exactly the best places to make friends. Allies, enemies, cohorts in times of stress, but never friends.
And then before then, attachments were forbidden within the Jedi, despite her friendship with Anakin, Obi-Wan, Plo, Rex, and many of the other clones. All of that ended with the war and with Ahsoka leaving the Jedi. She'd formed an attachment to Nyx and then was drafted into helping retake Mandalore, but then Order 66 came along and all the Jedi were gone. There was no one out there in the Force. There was no one to trust.
"I worked over at Logan's gym. I teach a meditation class and sword training." She glanced up at the ceiling and the corners he was working on. "Have you been at this all day?"
The mention of his friend’s name brought a smile to Kurt’s face. “I’m awful, I haven’t even been to Logan’s gym yet. In fact,” he added, thoughtfully, “I really haven’t seen much of him at all since I arrived. I need to remedy that, soon. Logan is my best friend, but as if often happens, life got busy, and my current project - the Christmas Carol - is eating up most of my free time. We’ll need to duel at some point,” he told Ahsoka. “I’m sure you could teach me a thing or two.” Jedis were renowned in the fandom as being the best sword fighter, and he was frankly excited at the prospect of facing one and learning.
“Not all day,” he said, stretching his tail out to take the bucket back from Ahsoka. “Only about an hour ago. It needed to be done, and I needed a break from being a director.”
Mention of the duel raised her eyebrows. Anakin and Ahsoka had been super competitive since the first time they met on Christophsis. Of course, that was was twenty years ago, and now she was older than her old Master. She'd also become something of a teacher to him. For a moment, she glanced down the corridor, toward the rooms that were hers and Anakin's in the mansion. She'd need to check on him later. Aphra's arrival had brought about a good many changes that she needed to make sure weren't interfering with him too much.
"We need to duel, huh? Those are famous last words."
“Or epic first ones!” Kurt declared, dramatically, flinging one arm open wide for emphasis. “I’m up for it if you are. Would I be allowed to use my powers?”
"Using the Force is second nature for me. It's almost impossible for me not to use it." Ahsoka shrugged. She wasn't entirely sure what kind of powers Kurt had. Everyone in the mansion had a vast array of them, and it was amazing and overwhelming all at the same time. "What can you do anyway?”
“You mean besides the obvious?” Kurt said, cheerfully gesturing to himself with a wide wave of his hand. After all, he was clinging to the side of the wall and using his tail to hold a bucket. “If I were trying to be sneaky, I wouldn’t tell you, so you’d be surprised and caught off guard during our duel, but you’re lucky… I’m a terrible show-off. Allow me to demonstrate.”
BAMF! Kurt disappeared in a dark, bilious cloud of noxious smoke, while nearly simultaneously, BAMF! He reappeared on the floor in the far corner of the room, and BAMF! Kurt was beside Ahsoka in a slightly crouched position, taking his bow. "Teleportation, mein Frau. It’s not the force, but it’s very useful.”
Each noise and subsequent smoke billow had Ahsoka glancing around the hallway and waving her hand in front of her face. It smelled like [...] She didn't know what it smelled like. The fumes of the Coruscant Underworld. The kind of stuff you couldn't breathe for long without getting a headache and running for your nearest respirator lest other less pleasant things happen.
Which, of course, reminded her of the time she'd been on the run from the Jedi, from the Republic, all because her friend had seen a flaw in the Jedi and decided to use her as a scapegoat to prove it. She wished that Barriss could understand that Ahsoka felt it too, but it was wrong to kill innocent people the way she had.
But she was nothing if not skilled with covering up her feelings, so she smiled brightly at his last appearance and clapped. "Bravo! I'm not even going to lie: I kind of wish I had a way of getting around that fast. Walking is so cliche."
And then before he could argue, she offered to help him finish his cleaning, asking questions about his powers and answering the ones she got in return.