Arriving

[moonshadows]

Herr Xavier brings me out of my trance once land is visible again. I'm so happy to see *things* again that I'd jump down there, except that the fact that I *could* jump negates the need to do so. So I just sit there, blissfully drinking in the awareness of places to jump to, watching the ground creep closer and closer. Now that I think about it, Herr Xavier probably kept me lightly sedated until the plane landed.

The stewardesses ask the other first-class passengers to let us off first; seeing a man in a wheelchair and a monk, they agree. Herr Xavier only has a small bag on the back of his chair, and I have only a small satchel which contains the sum of my worldly goods, so we head directly for the street. I am again very quiet; this is not Germany, where mutants have rights, and I am still very paranoid.

"One of my students will meet us at the door," Herr Xavier says in a low voice. “Her name is Jean, and she's been with us at the Institute for several years now." He speeds up a little, and I see the woman that must be Jean. She's wearing a pastel sundress with matching sandals and a broad, floppy hat. "Jean!" He stops in front of her and greets her fondly.

She leans down to give him a hug. "Professor! We missed you; how was Germany?"

"Oh, just fine. Jean, I'd like you to meet our newest guest." Herr Xavier pauses and turns slightly, giving me an expectant look.

"I am called Brandolf Wagner." I bow slightly. I see Jean giving me a curious look, but I'm still wound up and am seeing *everything* through my lowered hood. After a moment, Jean turns back to Herr Xavier.

"The van's just outside..." she trails off as she turns towards the door, and we resume walking.

The van is right by the curb. Jean opens the side door; a little ramp slides out, and Herr Xavier maneuvers inside. A little awkwardly, I climb inside and sit in the back corner. Jean closes the door, then gets in the driver's seat. She looks at me in the rearview mirror.

"Brandolf? You should buckle up, we're going now."

I shake my head inside the hood. "I will be fine." She looks at me a moment longer, then puts the van in gear.

I'm so tense that I have anchored myself to the seat; even if the van were flipped, I wouldn't budge. We drive for about an hour before I calm down enough to actually look around instead of just sensing everything, and then I notice that I'm ravenously hungry. There was a meal on the flight, but I was effectively asleep through it, and breakfast was a long time ago.

"Jean, could you pull into that rest stop?" Herr Xavier must have read my thoughts. Jean parks by a big wooden building that advertises a 'McDonald's' and a 'TCBY'. "I ate on the flight, but Kurt was...asleep. Kurt?" He turns back to me. "What would you like?"

"A double cheesburger, bitte, and large fries. And..." My voice gets softer, "a strawberry milkshake?" I don't eat many sweets, but I love milkshakes. "If you're hungry as well, I'll drive the rest of the way," Herr Xavier offers. Jean nods, and slips out of the van. He turns to me. "Could you help me move the seats? The one there slides back, and then this one-" he gestures to the driver's seat, "slides to the right."

I jump to the back of the other seat and pull it backwards until I hear it click into place, then jump into the empty space and tug the driver's seat halfway into position. I jump to the other side, push it the rest of the way, and jump back to the now-middle seat. Herr Xavier moves forward and adjusts the steering wheel. I look around from my low perch, and see Jean coming back with our dinner. As she walks up, I open the door.

"Thanks. Could you take this?" She holds out one of the cups she's holding, and I take it.

She looks hard at my hand for a moment, then transfers the other cup to her free hand, offers it to me, and climbs into the back seat. I slip out of the seat, close the door with my tail and a foot, and sit in the back seat with my monk's robe hiked up and my tail out. Jean's digging in the bag.

"Here's your fries.." She holds them out, still looking for something in the bag.

I take the fries with my tail, then hand her the cola as she turns to me with my cheeseburger in her other hand. I've let my hood fall back, and she looks at me in obvious surprise, her mouth in a little 'o'. I wave shyly with my free hand.

"Hallo. Um, I am called Nightcrawler, and sometimes the Blue Devil." Jean blinks at me. I take a fry from the container held in my tail, and that seems to jolt her into action again as she hands me my cheeseburger. Herr Xavier chooses that moment to start the van, and Jean buckles herself in. I curl up on the other end of the seat and start eating, and for a while there's silence as we eat our dinners.