2013.07.12 - Insane? No - well maybe

THEN:
 
 
As the afternoon wanes a bit of a breeze picks up, breaking up the clouds and allowing glimpses of blue sky to be seen above the Xavier Institute. With the threat of showers past and the breeze cutting the hot, sticky humidity, the grounds of the Institute seem a perfect place to enjoy a late summer afternoon.
At least, until someone tells her she shouldn't be hanging around the place.
Having returned from the city with Doug and Kitty after the mixed success of their meeting with Hope, it seems to have slipped everyone's mind that Rachel Summers doesn't /actually/ live here. Which, as far as she's concerned, is absolutely perfect. 'Her' X-Mansion was destroyed when she was fourteen, and being able to walk the grounds of this pretty close replica is a more than pleasant experience. For a little while, at least, she can pretend to forget about everything that's happened to her in her own world, forget even that this isn't her own world, and just try to remember what it was like to be fourteen and innocent again. Leaning against a big, old tree, she rests her head back against the trunk and closes her eyes, her mind drifting back a couple of hours into the past...
...when she was waiting for Doug. Even when he's got a job for her, he always seems to be running late, in her estimation. So she'd amused herself by wandering slowly through the corridors, one hand idly trailing along the wood panelling as if to reassure herself that it was really there, looking at the framed pictures on the walls. Some of them are comforting, like the old pictures of her parents as students that she half-remembers from her childhood, others are jarring, the people in them too /old/, as she knew they'd never lived so long in her world. Others held people she was completely unfamiliar with. She was so engrossed that she almost missed the arrival of a presence at the far end of the hall. Almost. But her telepathic senses prickled, alerting her, though she gave no outward sign, unsure of her welcome in a place that still feels something like... home.
 
Whoop. That sound is the joyful noise of one purple lizard - or dragon if you want to be precise. The small, tiny creature is flitting about /his/ Kitty, as she idly hands him a slice of her apple from the small plate she's carting with her. "I swear dragon, if you keep eating them all, we'll have to get more before we even /start/..." And it's then that Kitty's voice trails off, as her gaze flickers towards the red-headed figure. 
A small tablet is tucked under Kitty's arms, the plate of apple slices held in her hand, and a pair of glasses resting on her nose. Kitty's steps draw her towards the library, where some peace and quiet will be afforded her. Considering the figure's back is to her, Kitty's first response without actually -looking- at the form is to offer a friendly. "Hey, Jean!" Followed by Kitty taking a few steps closer, and her voice trailing off by the short red hair. "Oh, you got a hair cut, it looks really good.." 
 
Rachel's still looking at the photograph as the presence approaches, though she's not really /seeing/ it. She just wants whoever's approaching - and it's not one of the few mental imprints she recognises around here - to make the first move. 'Who are you' and 'what are you doing here' were vying for the top spot on her private list of most likely conversation gambits, so the greeting she DOES get throws her completely. But she can hardly keep staring at the picture and ignore it...!
Rachel turns around, running a hand automatically through her short hair as she does so - she's one of those annoying people who can do that without completely mussing their style - and grins at the approaching brunette. "Not... exactly." She says, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket and shrugging her shoulders, almost as if she's apologising for being mistaken for someone else. But there's a bit of mischief in her voice as she adds, "It's been like this for a while now. I'm Rachel." Even as she's speaking, though, her eyes are quickly darting over the newcomer. The dragon is, frankly, impossible, but the stature, the hair, the face, even if it's too young... "And you're... Kate...?" Rachel hazards, tone shaded with uncertainty.
 
"Kitty." It's the first words that the brunette can get out, followed by a quick. "I know you!" And then Kitty's idly flustered, the tablet untucked from her arm as she shifts it into the one holding the plate of apples. Memories begin to seep in, long ago, a danger-room exercise followed by a trip to the future and all the tragedy that happened during it. "I mean." Kitty gets out, deciding probably first meetings isn't the proper time for such thoughts and revelations. "Welcome to the mansion, have you been here long?" There are no thoughts of kicking the red-head out, nor pondering if Rachel should be there or not. No, the mutant phaser simply assumes Rachel belongs there, as anyone who is so closely tied to the X-Men should be. 
The dragon, for his part, settles onto Kitty's shoulders, and sneaks swiftly down to her hand, grabs another apple slice, and idly munches it as he once again settles about Kitty's shoulders. He eyes the red-head with a curious once over, but does little else, just watches the events unfold. A faint *slurp* *crunch* sound, and the slice is gone, followed by him attempting to capture another one - only to be stopped by Kitty's swift action, as his paw swipes towards the plate, it goes -through- it, versus him getting one. A disgruntled, 'FEH' is followed by Kitty offering the dragon a grin, then introduction to Rachel. "And this is Lockheed." For introductions? The dragon just turns his gaze onto Rachel and waves his paw.
 
Close enough. That's Rachel's first thought, as Kitty gives her name. Her fractured memories made the right connection, this time. And really, the Kate she half-remembers was too old to still be calling herself Kitty... Rachel's feeling more relaxed about meeting this almost stranger, but then Kitty claims to know /HER/. Rachel doesn't try to hide her look of surprise, though after a moment her eyes seem to look inward, just for a second or two, before she blinks and focuses on Kitty again. It's no good. The name and the face are solid and tangible in her mind, the rest? It's a jumbled mess. Unfortunately, that's something that Rachel's gotten used to working around. She's about to make some kind of excuse, but Kitty's already talking again.
"Not long, if you mean today." Rachel takes the conversational opening gratefully. "I'm waiting for Doug. He seems to be good at being late." She grins again as she says that, the expression there and quickly gone. "I've visited before." She says, a slightly odd tone in her voice. Almost... wistful, maybe? "Once or twice." She quickly adds, as if to cover it. Better not to get into specifics that make her own head spin quite this early.
She's quickly distracted from those worries by Lockheed's antics, and the phasing of the plate actually makes her laugh. "Neat trick." She tells the brunette. "Who..." or /what/, she was about to ask, but Kitty's already making the introductions. The dragon's instant pickup on the conversation and his totally on-cue wave have Rachel tilting her head, eyes narrowing slightly in curiosity. She knows a little bit about how brains work. That's not a pet. He's too sharp. The comprehension was instant. What /is/ he? Rachel's getting a whole list of things to think about, but for now she just sketches an ironic salute to the purple lizard. "Nice to meet you, Lockheed..." She says, not feeling quite as silly as she might. 'He understands every word' wouldn't be hyperbole, with Lockheed, she feels.
Then there's the sound of feet moving down a staircase, and Rachel looks quickly in the direction of the sound - eyes seeming to fix on a point /through/ the nearest wall. "That's Doug." She reports. "Finally." She adds, then looks back toward Kitty. "I'd better find /him/ before he loses /me/ again." She doesn't move immediately though, giving Kitty the option of tagging along.
 
The response was a natural, "Sure." From Kitty - after all, Doug is her /best friend, now back from the grave, that friendship means a lot to her. Especially now that Illyana's got her own life, and Fuzzy is currently visiting such exciting places like /hell/. Which reminds Kitty - Kurt's newest picture should be about any time. 
NOW:
That was then. A new meeting. This is now. A day (or so) after the events with Hope Summers has Kitty in a bit of a snit, all things considered. It's difficult to imagine that one of -the X-Men- could be so cruel as to chase a child through time and dimensions, just to kill them for being who they are. That all of humanity could be destroyed to succeed. It's -heartbreaking-, and frankly, very disturbing. Yet, when is the life of an X-Men ever calm and peaceful? The answer is, sadly, never.
It is the red-head, Rachel, that Kitty has hunted down, after finding out Rachel doesn't even have a proper room to sleep in - adjustments were made, a room was cleaned up, and then split in two - and Kitty's got a new room-mate. It was nice to have one with Illyana so long ago, she hopes things will work out the same with Rachel. Thus, outside Kitty ventures, with Lockheed flying after her, as she phases through trees and ground, and eventually finds the red-head she's seeking.
"Rachel!" Is Kitty's /first/ response, followed by a grin as the mutant phaser tosses Rachel a single key. "So I heard you hadn't been formally introduced yet, and thought hey - /my/ roomie is off at the University, no idea if she'll ever be back, or want to be a roomie again, and figured you might want a place to stay. I promise Lockheed doesn't snore. Much.."
 
Rachel's reminiscence fades away as she feels a familiar mind enter her immediate vicinity. That's one thing about Rachel - she never needs to be introduced to someone twice. Once she's become acquainted with a person's unique psi-pattern, it's logged and stored away in her mind automatically. It might be a legacy of her time as a Hound, but as it's one of the less unpleasant holdovers from that period of her life she hasn't really tried to break the habit. She knows Kitty's heading toward her, and even without snooping around she can feel that the other woman is moving toward her with a determined purpose.
Opening her eyes, Rachel blinks them a couple of times to re-acclimatise to the sunshine and shifts her position against the tree, drawing up one knee to prop her foot against the rough bark comfortably. She figures that Kitty wants to talk about everything that wasn't said - at least not out loud - during their run in with Hope, but boy is she wrong. She's not expecting the grin or the cheerful greeting, and the key? She's clearly missed that catch, until the little piece of metal arcs right around the tree to fall into her waiting hand. There's not much wrong with her fine control today, at least. Baffled as to why she's holding a key, Rachel looks at it for a moment, then quickly up at Kitty when the brunette starts rearranging her life for her.
Rachel's torn. In a way, Kitty's offering her everything she'd obviously wanted, given her not-particularly-subtle hanging around the grounds. On the other hand... Rachel /didn't/ ask, /doesn't/ know this person and would be sacrificing her independence to... Oh, the hell with it. Rachel draws in a deep breath, holds it for a moment, then lets it out. Some of the tension she's been carrying since arriving in this world disappears with it, and she grins back at Kitty. "I don't know why you're doing this..." Rachel starts, then snorts quietly to herself and shakes her head. "...but I just spent the last three weeks staking out an /ice cream factory/ because where I come from it makes bits of killer robots, so I'm taking the deal. Sorry. But thanks." She smiles a bit crookedly, and shifts away from her tree to take a step closer to Kitty. A shadow flits across her face that's not cast by the leaves above her when Kitty mentions Lockheed's snorting. "Yeah. About that. I... don't snore." She worries at the inside of her cheek for a moment or two before she makes herself continue. "But I might... have nightmares." That shadow's over her eyes again, even as she tries to make light of her own words. "If I wake you up, you have my permission to smother me to death."
 
Okay so - Kitty realizes as she tosses the key and catches Rachel's torn look that she /didn't/ ask, and she /didn't/ confer with others, and she's being her nosy self without really getting permission one way or another. BUT. It is all in what Kitty assumes is Rachel's best interests. Besides. Kitty feels like she -knows- Rachel, in some small way. That they've been through hell, that Rachel kept her alive, and well, and safe when everything was so confusing and frightening. As Rachel agrees - and admits to at first stalking an ice cream factory, Kitty's hazel eyes twinkle with delight at the idea. "Well, you never know, those ice cream makers can certainly make one /feel/ robotic.. must... have...ice cream." And then.. well, with all seriousness, Kitty's head inclines. 
R"If you'd rather have a room on your own, I'm sure they'll get about to making one up for you." Kitty offers, "But in the mid-term, I thought you might like a place to hang your coat." Stuffing her hands into the pocket of her slacks, Kitty idly leans up against a tree near Rachel's, Lockheed soon finds himself nestling against Kitty's legs, sitting there to watch and listen to everything that is going on around him.
"Well, sounds like maybe you need a friend." Kitty offers, "I promise I wont smother you, unless you consider asking, 'are you okay Red' smothering, then it will assuredly feel like death." That same twinkle enters her gaze, as Kitty flops down onto the ground, stretching her legs out before her, hands resting behind. "I wanted to thank you, though Ray. For keeping me alive. Not sure if you remember, or if its a different you from a different timeline, but /you/ - whether /you/ you or another /you/, kept me safe from the Sentinels while my older self was in the past, and I was in the future. I never got the chance to thank you for that, I really appreciate your compassion and strength, even through the tragedy. It helped keep me sane."
 
Not even a flicker, when killer robots are thrown into the mix? Rachel's surprised that Kitty takes that in her stride so easily. Either she's had a very interesting life, or she thinks Rachel's joking. Either way, it's a little disconcerting, and keeps Rachel quiet while Kitty offers her own joke, and then the prospect of her own room. Rachel feels adrift, as if control of her life has somehow slipped through her fingers, and a bit of a frown starts to develop on her features. Deep inside, a bit of rebellion stirs, but two things stamp it out before it can take. First, although she's been getting by, she's acutely aware she hasn't been doing much more than that, and second... she's been programmed to be obedient. The Hound programming might not dominate her any more, but its hard to fight its insistent tug when the thing you're being told to do is something you /want/ to do. She doesn't even realise what's happened as her frown smooth itself out, and she too sits down. Leaning back against her tree again, she draws up one knee and loops her arms around it.
Rachel just watches Kitty as she talks... and talks. She still feels like she's out of control, but it seems easier to go with the flow for the time being. As Kitty's conversation turns to things Rachel has no memory of, though, Rachel's frown makes a reappearance. Being thanked for things she hasn't done is making her uncomfortable, and as for keeping Kitty sane? Rachel's starting to wonder whether she actually IS sane. It's only when the Sentinels are so casually dropped into Kitty's sentence that Rachel starts giving any credence to the idea that Kitty might not be as crazy as she's starting to sound. At their name, Rachel takes a sharply indrawn breath, and chooses her words carefully. "Kitty, I... Look. I don't know why I'm telling you this but... my memories... they're like a thousand broken mirrors. Images, bits and pieces... that's all. I don't know if I did the things you say I did, if I am the person you think I am, or..." She grimaces a bit, but at least it's a break from the hunted, self-conscious look she'd been wearing since she started to speak. "Or if you're completely crazy, frankly. I don't - can't - remember." There's only honesty in her words. "If you're paying a debt, here? You don't have to, and you shouldn't. I feel like I'm cashing in someone else's favour." Rachel's words aren't flippant. "But if you're offering it to me? The me that's here, not the one in your memories?" Her smile's got more than a hint of bitterness to it. "I do need a friend. I kind of promised Hope I'd find her if she needed me, but..." Rachel shrugs and looks away for a moment. "Never mind. Anyway." She's clearly trying to change the subject, and quickly. "I'm sorry about all this..." She taps her temple with her index finger. "...between me and Hope. I saw you picked up on it. I just... wanted her to know I wasn't hunting her."
 
Shifting her position a bit to pull her legs up and sit crossed-legged, versus stretched out, for once Kitty -listens-, and remains silent for a bit, pondering how best to offer assistance, without making it seem like she's being a nosy, bossy, twat (for lack of a better word, and to bring up Pete's opinion at times). At her seated position, Lockheed takes this time to flop himself, belly up, on Kitty's lap, there she idly scritches his belly to contended 'coooos' that come forth from the dragon. "I guess I /do/ sound nuts." Kitty offers with that wry grin to her features, before it fades just as fast.
"And I don't mean to be shoving you into a direction you don't want to go!" She re-assures, with a sincere tone. "I mean, totally wont be offended if you'd rather sack out elsewhere, really." Her earnest hazel eyes take in Rachel, as she draws in another soft breath, and lets it out slowly. "I guess, well, whether it was you, or another, that doesn't matter at all. I'm here - as a friend if you want. Always. Ray. Do you mind if I call you Ray? Or would you prefer Rachel? Forget it if you want Miss Summers, cause you're not /that/ much older than me." And again, Kitty's grin is wide, tone mischievous. Though she has to ponder a moment about whether Rachel is Rachel that Kitty remembers, or another entirely. Ah. Time travel is /such/ a complete pain in the behind. 
At the realization that maybe Rachel doesn't /want/ Kitty as a friend, or at least a room-mate, that Kitty's stuck her nose in where it doesn't belong.. well, Kitty's bullish enough to just keep sticking it back in, as it looks like Rachel /needs/ one, and Kitty's just stubborn enough to keep at it. At least Kitty'll always have Doug to talk to. Looks like she's completely freaked out the red-head though.
"Oh don't worry about the t-pee stuff." Kitty informs with a quick gesture away, and a grunt from Lockheed as she stops scritching him, only to proceed to continue to soft 'cooos' once more. "I understand, especially given her story. Scary stuff that." A haunted look crosses Kitty's eyes before she plucks up a protesting Lockheed to set him on the ground, herself standing. "Anyway. The offer still stands, room-mate, snoring dragon, and smothering help if you want. Or just. A friend if nothing else." The skinny, Jewish girl offers Rachel a hand. "And I might -be- insane, but sometimes, you have to be, in order to live the life that we lead."
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