| Ever Considered Space Piracy? |
| Summary: | Rachel and Kitty catch up. Kitty has a job offer for Rachel. |
| Date: | 2016-07-13 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
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It has been ages, almost, since Rachel and Kitty have had the opportunity to just talk, shop, and get caught up. Different worldly viewpoints have put them at different parts of the globe too often. Then there were the jaunts into outer space both for Rachel and Kitty! It basically meant the two haven't had a lot of time together.
"So, there I was." Is Kitty's voice, seated at a food court table, a half-eaten subway sandwich in front of her, a cup of lemonade in her hand, the ice idly sloshing about as her hands gesture with her words, "The only person that didn't want any of that cosmic nonsense. I didn't want to be in space to begin with, and I certainly did not want to have 'phenomenal cosmic power'. No offense, Ray, but I've seen what that does to people, you included. So I stepped up and took it. I guess fate works weirdly like that."
Kitty's nose wrinkles upwards, her head shaking to and fro as she remembers the incident, catching Rachel up on the months that have happened between their last real conversation. "After Spartax was freed from the amber, that's when Peter proposed." A wry grin creeps into Kitty's expression at that, before she continues, taking a sip from the straw first, then finishing with a deep intake of breath, letting it out with her words. "Afterwards I gave up the Black Vortex uber power, and had Rocky bring me back to Earth while Peter dealt with this entire King of Spartax thing."
Considering that Kitty left the Mansion in the middle of the night for parts unknown (without telling Rachel), went off into space (without telling Rachel), got ENGAGED (without telling Rachel) and then came back to Earth (without telling Rachel) and proceeded to prioritise donating half her clothes to charity over catching up with Rachel… it's not really the redhead's fault that they've got a lot to talk about!
If Rachel wasn't quite so interested in finding out the sordid (or, knowing Kitty, probably not-so-sordid) details of her affair with Peter Quill, she might almost be offended… oh who's she kidding. Rachel's just glad Kitty's back. The gossip is just a bonus.
Rachel sits across the small table from Kitty, one leg crossed over the other, a half-finished milkshake in one hand, making no attempt to look like she's not hanging on Kitty's every word. Which doesn't mean she can't interject when she feels it's warranted. "Hey, phenomenal cosmic power looks /good/ on me, Kitty. Don't judge." Rachel's eyes gleam with mischief as she says that. "Wish I'd been there to see it."
At another time, Rachel would have been all over the details of Kitty's cosmic adventures, probably loudly comparing them to the mundane routine of the school that Kitty left her to, but the big reveal is coming, and Rachel's on the edge of her seat.
"…Wait, that's it? 'That's when Peter proposed'? Seriously? That's it? You're not going to give me any details? You know I know the raccoon, right? I can get ALL the details from him, is that what you want? Or do I have to read your mind right now?"
Rachel's tone started out at genuinely surprised, went through disbelieving, to mock-outraged, to trying not to laugh in the space of just a few words. Rachel shakes her head, a big grin on her face. "Kitty, you're hopeless! Details, or I tell everyone your fiancee works for a raccoon with a gun fetish."
As good of a story teller as Kitty is, the sly fairly impish grin on her expression shows to all - or at least those that know her - she's making certain to just wet Rachel's appetite. The indignant outrage that comes from the red-head only fuels Kitty's impish grin.
Settling back into the plastic piece of furniture known as a 'food court chair', Kitty takes a long sip of her lemonade first, only the slightest raised eyebrow given to the raccoon comment. "You're talking about the X-Men, Ray. Gun fetishes would only impress them."
The slow deliberateness of explaining everything to Rachel only intensifies as Kitty then plucks up her sandwich and takes a bite, a slight *sniff* given to Rachel. It's ''only'' when she's finished the bite and taken yet another drink that Kitty finally gives in.
"Okay okay. So; you remember when the Shi'Ar decided that ''young'' Jean needed to be put on trial for the acts that old Jean did, or what she'd do. Or, heck, it's the Shi'Ar, I can't say one way or another what they're really up to. Anyway, that's when I first met Peter. He came to Earth in order to warn us of the Shi'ar plot. Only - he came too late to do any good." Kitty settles more into the plastic chair, the cup of lemonade placed on the table in front.
"Afterward all of that nonsense took place, he and I started long distance dating while I was teaching the time tossed kids." There's a pause, as Kitty's smile wanes slightly. "Miss those guys, I guess they're doing good back in their own timeline, hard to say what happened to them." A breath, and Kitty's gaze returns to Rachel. "Holo dating, basically, but he was a completely idiot in it, and I let him know I was not interested … in guys named Peter, and childish antics. Buuut.. he's a pretty charming guy." Kitty admits, her cheeks slightly flaming before she lets out a rush of air again.
"So, during one particularly disastrous holo-date, he got captured by the gang his father hired to get him. I stole one of Stark's ships and went to his rescue." Kitty's head shakes, the ponytail whipping from side to side as she talks. "Aaand afterwards, well, let's just say one thing lead to another, and the Black Vortex mirror event hit, and during it all somehow we became even closer than farther apart. After it was all said and done, well, he proposed. Got down on one knee, the entire bit." Kitty's grin is whimsical, as her eyes glint towards Rachel, only to grow more serious as she continues. "Ray. I didn't mean to exclude you from things, but everything happened so quickly, and you were in another part of the country, and then I was in space, and the next thing I know - wham, I'm engaged. I should have pulled you aside the instant I got back to Earth, but I saw just how much insane pink I wore as headmistress of Jean's… Xavier's school. It was.. a necessity."
Rachel narrows her eyes when she sees the grin. She knows that Kitty's dragging out the wait just to torture her, and she's impatient… but she's also enjoying how much like old times this is, with the exception that Kitty's confidence seems to have come on in leaps and bounds from when Rachel saw her last. Clearly, Rachel decides, being proposed to agrees with Kitty.
"My brother, maybe." Rachel remarks with a snort. "The others? Not so much." She has to resist the urge to roll her eyes when Kitty stalls even more, and takes a long sip of her swiftly-liquefying milkshake, raising an impatient eyebrow at Kitty while she does so… which means that she sputters and nearly ends up with milkshake up her nose when Kitty casually mentions that the Shi'ar put a time-displaced Jean Grey on trial. "They WHAT?!" Rachel almost yelps, the milkshake cup crumpling a bit as it comes down hard on the table. "Those b….!" She realises just in time that she's about to start shouting, and bites off what she was going to say until she has a good grip on her temper. "They didn't mention THAT when I last ran into them!" She says the words quietly and venomously, her eyes raking over Kitty. "You're OK? Everyone's OK? Damn it."
With an effort, Rachel calms down and manages a tight smile. "Sorry. You know how I…" Rachel grimaces and takes a breath. "Forget it. You're OK." Rachel grimaces again. "No-one tells me /anything/." She complains, but as is often the way, her sudden flare of temper is already ebbing, and Rachel glances at the rather crumpled milkshake in her hand. A flicker of telekinesis later, and the cup is the right shape, at least. Rachel uses it to gesture for Kitty to continue.
"Holo-dating?" If there's something that might make Rachel forget how much she hates the Shi'ar, that might be it. "Is this the kind of holo-dating where there are logs?" She smiles, evilly, "Backups? Recordings? I think I need proof of how charming he is…" Rachel continues, mostly joking, but quiets down a bit when Kitty seems, finally, to be getting to the good bits.
"You stole a ship from Tony Stark?" Rachel's voice is incredulous, and then she's laughing. "I love it! You really are a space pirate!" Rachel's eyes go wide and innocent when Kitty mentions things leading to other things, then she mock-scowls when details aren't forthcoming. The little bit extra she gets about the proposal mollifies her a little. "At least he did it properly." She almost sounds like she approves.
"Hey, we're talking now. It's OK. You had a cosmic romance to deal with, forgetting a /schoolteacher/ probably isn't all that hard." Her aggrieved tone is mostly just to make Kitty feel guilty now. "That was a lot of pink." Rachel concedes, "One minute, jeans and sweats, the next, pink business suits. You never did do anything halfway." Rachel drinks the last of her milkshake, then adds, as if an afterthought, "Don't worry to much about restocking your wardrobe. Illyana and I have you covered."
At Rachel's anger, Kitty's expression shifts ever so slightly, knowing exactly what the Shi'ar have done to Rachel, her family (time tossed and all), it's no wonder the temper flares to life. "We're okay. Yes. And things turned out okay, in the end." Kitty doesn't need to go into any more detail - right now. It isn't the time. Later, she and Rachel can discuss Shi'ar politics.
For now though, Kitty shifts slightly in the uncomfortable and quite plastic, chair. Her gaze flickering around the food court a moment, old habits die hard, after all, before returning to Rachel. Her gaze settles on Rachel at just the time when it's stated that Illyana and Rachel have gone clothes shopping - for Kitty!
A slight gasp of sound echoes forth, and Kitty's left pondering how best to approach this. For starters, both Illyana and Rachel have far different ideas on clothing than Kitty. So; Kitty goes for the more political approach. "….Thank you?" Her eyes narrow suspiciously upon Rachel, wondering with undisguised curiosity just what it is that the two -got- her.
Changing topics just a bit, however, Kitty's upper teeth begin to maul down upon her lower lip, "Speaking of teaching, school, and all that. Y'know. Earth, it's great. I want to be here, for the X-Men.. but there is something about outer space. I have had a lot of bad things happen there, but a lot of good too. There is a part of me that quite thrilled to that adventure. I don't suppose you're interested in rejoining the ranks of Space Piracy?"
Rachel smiles an apparently guileless smile as soon as she hears that softly indrawn breath, a smile that turns into a truly beatific grin when Kitty's eyes narrow on her. Kitty's had romance and adventure while Rachel's been stuck teaching. This is where Rachel gets a point back. "Oh, you're welcome." Rachel tells her, a definite air of self-satisfied smugness about her. "Illyana was a real help. Found a few things I'd never have imagined for you." Rachel says it in such an innocent, reassuring tone, too.
She definitely wants Kitty to worry.
When Kitty starts biting her lip, Rachel leaves off of the fashion-related torture for now. She knows when Kitty's working up to something. She has a terrible poker face. Rachel uncrosses her legs, sits more square-on to Kitty, and folds her arms on the tabletop - after making sure it's clean. She's about to give Kitty a nudge to just spit it out when she finally gets there on her own, albeit in her own torturously winding way. Rachel's eyebrows go up in surprise, and then she snickers. "Did you talk to Alex?" She asks, "I talked to him about missing the stars the other night." Rachel fixes Kitty with a measuring look. "So this is why all the pink had to go? You were making room for space suits?" Rachel shakes her head. "Sorry. We didn't think to get you any." Now she's playing Kitty's own game against her, as she delays her answer a little more… but then she smirks. "I'm not fooling you at all, am I? You really think I'm going to let you go off and have space adventures without me AGAIN?" Rachel laughs and shakes her head. "I'm going to need my own space suit this time." She muses to herself, under her breath but loud enough for Kitty to hear, but then her eyes brighten again. "As long as we have a way home this time, I'm in. The kids'll be glad to get rid of me. I already offered Jean my job." Rachel adds the last with an impish smile.
Worry etches itself around Kitty's gaze as Rachel offers more in-depth clues into what she and Illyana purchased. 'Items that Rachel wouldn't have imagine for her'!?? Kitty has visions of Illyana's clothing tastes, then transposes that onto her own frame. The thought is one of a tight fitting shirt on Illyana, draping open indecently upon Kitty's less buxom form. A snorted giggle escapes afterwards, as Kitty offers a mental 'share' to Rachel at that image.
Now, the real question, however, is whether or not Rachel would agree to spend time in space - if that option arises. The answer takes -forever- to get out, leaving Kitty to shuffle her feet, twist her mouth, and finally state, ever so impatiently, "Rachel!"
She's rewarded with, finally, an answer, leaving Kitty to grin widely, her eyes just glistening with the idea of adventure and excitement in outer space. "And no, haven't been talking to Alex." She offers to begin with, before leaning forward in a conspiratorial pose. "However, if the option does come up - and frankly I can't see Peter desiring life on Earth, anymore than I - right now - desire it. Not to say that we couldn't base ourselves - here - and return when ever and how ever we are needed. Honestly; Ray. I've got a taste for adventure again, and after all the time I've spent being a mentor, a teacher, and a headmistress, it's time to once more feel that adrenaline. Besides, space suits are so nineties, I have plans on clothing." And it's at this point that Rachel pretty much better intervene.
Rachel's eyes also share a glint of excitement, although there isn't quite the sparkle in them that there is in Kitty's, as if they're darkened by a faint shadow. As if something's holding Rachel back from embracing the idea as she might… and of the two of them, she's usually the impulsive one. Something's on her mind, but she still leans forward to match Kitty's pose, albeit after a moment's hesitation. Rachel meets Kitty's eyes, sees the enthusiasm there, and in the middle of teasing Kitty, finds herself giving voice the the one, irrational fear that's holding her back.
"Adventure? Adrenaline? Wait, does this mean the headmistress gig was the mid-life crisis, or is that happening right now?" The words might sound mean, but the teasing tone is anything but. "I don't blame you if it is. I /won't/ miss being a teacher. After the last time I got lost in space, I thought coming back to the school was what I needed, and maybe it was. For a while. But teaching? What was I thinking, I don't know anything about kids!" Rachel snorts and shakes her head. "I'm glad you've decided you're not too old to still have fun." She tells Kitty, teasing again. "I just… Jean's back. My mom's back. I just… I don't want to let her out of my sight too long. I'm afraid I'll lose her again." Rachel's tone has suddenly got all too serious, and she pushes her hands against the table, leaning back to get a bit of space, suddenly a bit self-conscious. "I'm being stupid, right?" She asks Kitty, a half smile on her lips, but a very different expression in her eyes.
Things might all get a little too dark and serious, if the part of Rachel's brain that'd actually been listening to what Kitty had been saying hadn't finally managed to shout loudly enough to get Rachel's full attention. Her forehead creases as she runs Kitty's words back in her mind. "Wait. Hold on. Did you say 'plans on clothing'?" The shadow lifts from Rachel's eyes as a delighted look spreads across her face. "Are we talking 'new costume'? This I have to see. Come on." Rachel stands up and looks expectantly at Kitty. "We both know you're going to need my help." She extends a hand, ready to pull Kitty to her feet.
The first part has Kitty offering a sympathetic expression, she knows just how much Jean means to Rachel. Kitty also realizes how much it means for Rachel to have Jean acknowledge Rachel -as- her daughter. "Ray. I'm not saying we stay out in space forever. And - maybe nothing will come of this. But.." Kitty begins, her gaze beseeching Rachel. "I don't want to go out there again without my best friend there with me. It isn't nearly as much fun. We stay on earth until we're needed out there. Then, when it comes to that point in time, we offer our help. Staying on Earth is important, but so is living. Ray. And if I have learned anything from my time as being a teacher and mentor, living life to its fullest isn't nearly as much fun without friends to share it with."
At the idea of going shopping for clothing with which to become Space Pirates in - Kitty's collecting up her half-eaten sandwich, cup of lemonade and swiftly throwing it into a near-by garbage container. "Now. Now you're talking." She announces with a definite bob of her head. "If only Earthlings know how to make clothing generators." A slight whine is given, as Kitty wipes her hands on her jeans, before turning towards Rachel. "I say we start at the Smart'n'Leather shop. Peter's outfit is quite snazzy, I might borrow a bit from it for my own. And I think you'd look even more snazzy in something similar."
Out of all of the X-Men, out of all of Rachel's friends - and they're mostly one and the same - Kitty's the only one who really understands how important having a family is to Rachel, who knows just how often fate has chosen to dangle a sense of belonging in front of Rachel only to snatch it away again. She's the only one who's never assumed Rachel is acting out, or just being a brat about it, too - although Rachel's self-aware enough to know she's done both those things often enough in the past. So when Kitty speaks, Rachel listens, although her lips begin to quirk a bit ruefully as Kitty's answer becomes the kind of mini-speech she's so good at. By the end, Rachel has her hands raised in mock surrender. "OK, OK, I give in, stop looking at me like that!" She says, and laughs, feeling a weight lifting from her, a shadow of fear she wasn't even aware of burning away. "I'll do it. No regrets and no second thoughts."
Rachel insisted on hauling Kitty to her feet - she had her hand out, anyway - and waits patiently enough (for Rachel) for Kitty to clear away the debris of lunch, her hands stuffed in the back pockets of her jeans - mostly to stop her folding her arms impatiently. "Who needs clothing generators when you've got me." Rachel says complacently, extracting her hands and falling in beside Kitty. "I still have SOME of my old tricks. You think it, I can make it." She slides a glance sideways at Kitty, as if she's tempted to skim her thoughts right there and then. Better not. And then Kitty says… Rachel actually stumbles, before catching herself. "Leather? You? LEATHER?" Rachel says in not wholly mock amazement. "Kitty Pryde, what a BAD influence your Star-Lord is. I like him already. Let's go."
Laughter bubbles forth from Kitty, her hazel gems sparkling with delight and the thought of new adventures waiting over the horizon. "Yes. Leather." She announces, and even offers a tap of her hand to her head, showing Rachel the idea she has in mind.
A dark blue leather jacket rests about waist level on Kitty, the sleeves are long, with the stitching ever so slightly pronounced along the sides. It has a nice wide buckle at the bottom, which hangs down ever so slightly past her waist. A pocket has a stylized 'X' on it, just to keep it - well, Kitty. The shirt beneath is an off-white shade, having the appearance of some form of rough, or armor style material - enough padding to take a shot, or two, without flinching.
For slacks, Kitty's thoughts ponder over it a bit, settling upon a stylish pair of off-white material, with knee pads for protection, and a pair of tall, thick boots to finish it off.
Kitty's gaze draws towards Rachel, the same grin still written on her expression. "Something like that. I'll probably have to have the leather jacket died, and well.. unless." Again, Kitty's hand idly taps her temples. "The former Phoenix avatar can assist with that." Is it a challenge? Why yes. Yes it is.
Her steps continue towards the leather shop, speaking as she does so. "I have learned life is simply too short, Ray. It's time we both seized control and not be afraid to stand out - at least for me. You. You've always stood out well, Red. It's what I've always admired about you."
Rachel shakes her head slowly, exaggeratedly so, disbelief written into the movement, and opens her mouth to tease Kitty some more… and it remains inelegantly hanging open as Kitty pushes an image to the forefront of her mind, and Rachel jumps at the chance to take a peek. Rachel stops, closes her mouth, frowns, and turns to face Kitty, her arms folded and a suspicious look in her eyes.
"It's leather. And it's GOOD. I mean, REALLY good. Who ARE you, and what have you done with the Kitty Pryde I know?"
Rachel delivers the words in a flat, suspicious tone that matches the look in her eyes perfectly. She holds the look for a beat, then another, then finally her expression cracks and she grins. "Seriously, I like it. And the colour? Pfft. Ask me to do something DIFFICULT." She adds the last bit with a touch of asperity. Of course she can change the colour to suit Kitty.
Dropping her arms to her sides, Rachel falls in beside Kitty once more, and follows her into the shop, the idea of /following/ Katherine Pryde into a shop that sells leather still drawing a smile to her face. "'Always'?" Rachel questions as they disappear inside. "I remember a few times when you wished I wouldn't stand out quite so much. Like… in England? When Alistaire was around?" She's teasing, not trying to open old wounds, and as she looks around at the clothes on offer in the shop like a predator surrounded by prey, Rachel smiles. "Let's see how how ready to stand out you are, Kitty."