2013.08.06 - One Dream - Two Voices

A semi full bully - and a happily full Lockheed - and one Kitty Pryde is slowly making her way back to the room that she shares with Rachel Summers. It's still insanely early, to the point where only a few people are getting up, or using the showers, or planning to do so. Early enough that Kitty will get the chance to make it /to/ the showers, in a bit - before it's swarmed with people waiting in line. 
One hand idly rubs her shoulder a bit, as her fingers clasp onto the handle of her door and swings it open, entering into her room with a soft swish of feet against carpet. Her uniform is in shambles, she'll have to get it repaired before wearing it again. Rips and tears make their way across her frame, from her mid-section to her legs, to her shoulder blades there are tears and rips in the fabric. 
Her thoughts are rummaging about everything from the events that transpired earlier with Doug, to wondering how she's going to broach the topic of what happened to Rachel. This is Kitty's main focus, as she draws into the room, casting her gaze around in search of who might be /in/ the room. Or if Rachel's still asleep.
Lockheed - as soon as the door is opened, flits upwards and crawls back into his bed, nestling about there as he lets out a sigh of contentment..
 
Rachel Summers actually got a decent night's sleep, despite the frustrations of the previous day. Oddly enough, Jean poking around in her head hasn't shaken any fresh nightmares loose, and having her powers back definitely put her in a better frame of mind. She's not really under any illusions that things are over with Doug, Kitty, or even Jean (albeit for a very different reason), but after the events of the recent past, Rachel needed rest, and she got it.
When Kitty pushes the door open she'll find Rachel at least up and awake - dressed in leggings and a tank top, still barefoot and halfway through pulling her red hoodie over her head. "I wondered what happened to you." Rachel's voice is muffled and she clearly can't /see/ Kitty, which strongly suggests her powers are back. With a final tug, Rachel's head pops out of the top of the hoodie and she tosses back the hood itself, running her fingers through her still-damp hair to style it before she really looks at the sight that's wandered in from the corridor.
But when she does? Rachel's eyes widen in shock. "What happened to you?!" She asks again, though this time there's concern and urgency in her voice rather than muffled cheerfulness, and she takes an instinctive step toward Kitty. "Do we need to get you to the medlab? What happened?"
 
Moving into the room, to close the door behind her, Kitty's gaze flickers towards Rachel's outfit. How is it the red-head can make even a hoodie and leggings look good!? It is a trait that this particular skinny Jewish girl just doesn't have. Turning about to flop down into her computer chair, swiveling around to face Rachel afterwards, Kitty offers a shake of her head, one hand idly running splayed through her hair. "Over zealous danger room routine." Comes Kitty's fairly sheepish expression, as her gaze flickers down to her clothing then back to Rachel. "Working out some frustrations on robots is always a good way to start a day."
Twinkling hazel gems alight upon Rachel, then grow series as Kitty gestures the chair. "So - Ray." She begins, the tone showing she has a lot to say, but isn't sure how to start it. A breath, deep, taken in and let out slowly. "How are you? Your powers back? Everything okay?" It's the first concern that Kitty has, followed by a soft. "Because I think we need to talk a bit. I wanted to explain myself." There's self doubt that echoes into Kitty's mind at that, doubting her own actions, as she ponders what she could have done differently.
"So anyway. If you're feeling up to it." A pause. "Want to go for a flight? I mean. I'll phase-walk, you fly, and we both get out of the house, no interruptions while we talk?" Even as Kitty's saying that she's rising upwards, phasing two feet above the ground as she does so."
 
Telepath or not, Rachel's unaware of Kitty's appraisal of her outfit - probably because she's still appraising the state of Kitty's. Some of Rachel's immediate concern fades when she realises that Kitty herself doesn't seem seriously damaged, but there's still the slight crease of a frown between her brows at Kitty's explanation. She's had that need, herself, lately, so she can understand it, but this seems out of character for the brunette - at least the impression Rachel's formed of her so far. "Yeah." Rachel's agreement is cautious. "But how many robots are we talking about?"
Rachel's curiosity is deflected by Kitty's suddenly serious mien. Here it comes, Rachel thinks to herself, her own good mood and Kitty's roughed-up appearance having conspired to make the circumstances of their last parting slip her mind. Rachel nods in the affirmative. "It is now. And with a lot of help from Jean yes." She replies, fairly sure that showing off her restored abilities wouldn't be the best move at this particular moment, though her voice betrays her relief at having them back. There's a slight pause before Rachel replies to Kitty's offer, since she's getting the feeling that what's coming might be a heavy talk, but she nods again without any real reluctance. "Sure."
Rachel doesn't immediately move, however, feeling the need to add, "Look, if you want to grab a shower and change, I'll still be here when you get back?" Since, not being at all unpleasant, Kitty looks like she could use both. But Kitty's already phased and heading out, so Rachel just shakes her head a bit. She's getting slightly concerned. Not about whatever Kitty wants to talk about (although that might be a mistake) but by the fact that Kitty reminds her of when she looks at herself in the mirror, after she's been beating herself up over something. It's a look she's a bit too familiar with.
Still, standing where she is isn't helping, so Rachel opens the window with a flicker of telekinesis and steps toward it, reaching down to scoop up her sneakers as she does so. With a bit of a hop she's pushed first one foot, then the other into her shoes, and in short order she's apparently standing on thin air outside the window.
 
"I'll grab one afterwards." Is Kitty's words, before she's phase-walking her way up and past the mansion. Kitty keeps going until the mansion is a far dot below, and everything spreads out around her and Rachel. The grounds spread out in their perfected glory about them - the lake can be seen, glistening in the distance. The mansion looks impressive - as well as for the first time, fairly small, when you're up this high at least. 
Through the slow progression upwards, though Kitty makes sure to try and keep a quick pace, it's still slow in comparison to actual flight, Kitty finally pauses to cast her gaze below, a quite smile playing about her features. "I became an X-Man when I was thirteen years old." She begins, "And I've seen the mansion like this I don't know how many times. There are days when I just need to get away, away from everything and think - and a lot of the times I'll do it here, looking down at everything." Kitty's hazel gems move towards Rachel, as she shares this moment with her, after all, only Storm has ever shared this quiet moment with Kitty. 
As Kitty hovers there, below the mansion, she speaks. "About yesterday." A hesitant pause, before she continues. "I want you to know that.." A breath, self doubt and accusations forming through Kitty's voice, though she continues. "I never trusted Isaac. I didn't trust anything he said, or did, but. But if /I/ didn't try to help. If I didn't /try/ to get through to him, then I wouldn't be true to myself, or to the dream that Professor Xavier taught me. A dream that - perhaps you've never heard, or maybe didn't know. A dream that all mankind, mutantkind, it doesn't matter age, or creed, or religion, or colour of your skin, or whether you have the X-Gene, or not. That we can live together, peacefully. Rachel, I would rather continue to believe in the good of everyone and get burned every time, than to ever stop believing that maybe one person I can help. That maybe ONE person I can show that what they're doing is wrong, and maybe there is a different approach." Kitty's preaching continues as she wraps her arms around her chest, a protective measure against - well, she's not sure what. 
"I'm also not so naive as to know that there are those that you can't help. But everyone deserves a chance, Rachel. No matter what they've done in their past. Everyone does." Kitty's eyes level upon Rachel, as she speaks that, explains it.
 
As Kitty vanished through the wall, a not particularly reassuring thought struck Rachel. Maybe Kitty's not hitting the showers because, for her, the sparring session isn't over yet? It's a quiet, warning thought that nestles in at the back of her mind as she joins her room-mate.
Rachel could, of course, reach altitude much faster than if she was pacing Kitty. It would be barely any slower if she told Kitty to unphase and carried her up along with her. But, as before, Rachel has more than an inkling that that would be a bad idea. So she merely floats up alongside Kitty as she walks, just keeping pace with her, and enjoying the feeling that she's able to do this again. It was only a few hours, but they did remind her how much she likes having her powers, and how much a part of her they are.
As Kitty stops and looks down at the mansion, a seed of impatience begins to burrow into her - but then she too looks down, and nearly stops breathing. It's so -perfect-. And the only time she saw it from anything like this position... Rachel looks up again, meeting Kitty's eyes. "I stopped being an X-Man, the first time, when I was fourteen years old." Rachel sounds somber, and opens her mouth to continue, before a rueful look comes into her eyes. "Actually, I never got to be an X-Man. Not officially. I was a New Mutant." It's strange, her memories seem oddly clear when she reaches that far back, not like the scrambled mess they become... after. "But I've never seen the mansion from up here. Not like this." She looks down again, musing. "I might come back." She says quietly to herself.
The hesitancy, the shift in Kitty's tone, tells Rachel that the brunette is about to get down to business, and she looks up again, reluctantly pulling herself away from studying all the little details of the mansion and its grounds that are revealed from up here. Instead, her eyes focus on Kitty - and almost immediately she wants to interrupt. 'Good', is the first thing she doesn't say, as Kitty admits she didn't trust Isaac, her eyes darkly approving. 'I got that', she almost says, when Kitty first talks about why she talked to him, Rachel's eyes amused, her lips starting to quirk upwards.
But then the Professor's dream is mentioned, and the casual, offhand comment that perhaps Rachel hasn't heard about it, and Rachel's expression goes blank, as if she's been slapped, and something starts to smoulder in her eyes. Rachel loses track of exactly what Kitty's saying, although she gets the general idea, and holds herself on a short leash until Kitty's finished speaking. The breath Rachel takes then is slow and absolutely controlled, just a slight loosening of the choke-chain she's using on herself. "Kitty." She says evenly. "The first thing you need to know about me is that I saw the Professor's dream die with him." The muscles in her jaw tense, keeping her silent for a second or two until she's sure her temper's not going to get the better of her. "The second thing you need to know about me is that I'm not going to /let/ his dream die here, too." Rachel's jaw clenches again, for longer this time, but then her eyes clear, the anger and hurt receding, becoming less obvious and raw.
"You're not asking me what you want to ask me." Rachel says, her voice not so tight now, the moment where she might have lashed out past, a slight unevenness in her tone the only legacy of the adrenaline that briefly rushed through her when her temper flared. "Believe it or not, I get you. I get why you tried to talk him around. It was brave, and I couldn't have done it." Her lips twist into a dark smile, as honesty makes her add, "Even if I'd wanted to."
Rachel takes another breath. "But that man... you'd never met him before. Doug and I weren't doing anything, and he took our powers. He /took/ my powers, and /Doug/ saw..." Rachel's anger rises again, though this time not against Kitty, and she yanks herself back once more. "Forget it. Whatever his story is, he does this for fun. Maybe he is a stranger in a strange land. I know something about that. But Kitty...?" Rachel tries to stop herself but can't. "I know their names. My handlers. The men who..." Rachel shakes her head. "I could stop them being born, Kitty, and I. Haven't. Done. It." God, it's tempting. When the nightmares come. "So when he attacked me, attacked Doug, had someone pull a gun on YOU? I wanted to take him down. But I DIDN'T. I waited, and when we were leaving?" Rachel's on a roll now, unable to stop and damn the consequences. "I was supposed to be covering you. You and Doug were my responsibility." She doesn't remember that she MADE them her responsibility, asked for or not. "Isaac can turn my powers off like a light switch, Kitty. If he'd done that once you were out of arm's reach? They could have shot us down, and there wouldn't have been a damn thing any of us could have done to stop them." Rachel's finally running down, getting control of herself again. "So I took their guns away. There's no dream if the dreamers are dead." And that is the point where Rachel and Kitty's philosophies seem to collide head-on.
 
And Kitty listens, it is this that she's been wanting to express, to get out, and to understand. Silently she listens. She can feel the anger that her words triggered in Rachel, and it makes Kitty -glad-. Glad that the dream means so much to Rachel, that the mere mention that Kitty had of it - startled her so. Kitty didn't mean to anger the red-head, but to ensure that what Rachel does is for the right reason. So, Kitty meets Rachel's gaze with an even stare, not flinching, or backing down. 
She listens, and she understands, or at least - she tries to. She also doesn't interrupt, not even her thoughts will, instead she listens, and then slowly nods. "I understand why you did it, Rachel, but sometimes there are also better ways to go about it. Hey, I didn't like having so many guns on me, either, but going out in the field? You can't protect us all the time, that's why you have to trust that I know how to get out of a situation like that, with or without my powers. Just as /I/ have to trust /you/ - that /you/ know what you're doing. Taking the guns away was a choice, versus putting up a telekinetic shielding around all of us. A more subtle motion that might have gone unnoticed - versus the removing of the guns. Rachel, I've been in worse situations than not having my phasing, and as a result, we both need to learn how to adapt /if/ we're going to go out in the field together." A breath, and Kitty continues quietly.
"You're swiftly becoming one of my best friends, Rachel. A place that Doug's always had - and I'm very glad to have you there, besides me." Kitty sniffs slightly, as she continues. "But in the field, we both have to trust the other, and to understand how to proceed for the best of each. So, I think it's time you became a morning person, and our work outs will include danger room sessions with you, and me, and maybe Doug too if he's up for it." 
Rachel didn't expect Kitty to flinch, or back down - she wasn't trying to browbeat her, even during the few moments when her temper was directed squarely at the brunette. Rachel feels as strongly about what /she/ did as Kitty evidently feels about her own actions. But once she feels her point is made, and Kitty goes about deconstructing it, Rachel once again remains silent, not interrupting. Not because she's holding herself back, this time, but because despite the early hour, having spoken that openly, that honestly to Kitty, she feels tired and drained. The most she can manage while Kitty's still speaking is a slight shake of her head when Kitty suggests a TK shield. Isaac could sense her telepathy, she couldn't take the risk he'd sense a shield to, and turn it off - a shield's no good if you're suddenly not a telekinetic any more. But Rachel doesn't say anything, this isn't an after-action debrief - this is simply two people trying to understand why the other acted the way they did.
Only one thing draws a sharp reaction from Rachel, and that is the stress that Kitty adds to that /if/. Rachel stiffens a bit. It's as if the dressing-down she expected after Pashtun is being administered by Kitty, for another reason altogether. "If?" Rachel asks, a little fuzzy on whether Kitty has the authority to bench her from the team, or this is a more personal sanction.
Still, what Kitty says next puts that threat, if it even was a threat, out of her mind, at least for the time being. "Kitty... you're about the /only/ friend I have here." Rachel offers with complete honesty. Jean's been far kinder than Rachel could have hoped for, but the idea that she might be a friend is something Rachel's going to have to work on. "Doug..." Rachel shakes her head, the movement a little sad. "He doesn't understand, I don't think he /can/ understand me. I thought I owed him the truth, but... telling him was a mistake." Rachel smirks humorlessly. "I actually think he'd be happier if I made him forget the whole thing."
Rachel realises she's gotten far, far off track. "Danger Room. Got it." Rachel's expression is complex, she's aware that Kitty intends to 'train' her, and she's trying very hard not to instinctively balk at that for certain personal reasons, and she tries to cover it. "But I think we'd better start tomorrow, because you look like you're done for the day already."
All right, Rachel decides. She'll play this one Kitty's way for now. It's her world, her X-Men. Maybe she's right. All Rachel knows is, right choice or not, it worked. Her friends are safe. And apparently, still her friends.
 
"If I even go back into the field!" Kitty states with a wave of her hands outwards. "School is starting soon, and my focus will be there - on teaching them, helping them, protecting them. I promised Fuzzy Elf that I would, and I will, without a doubt. So the 'if' belongs to the fact this might all be moot. Some of them don't feel like they're safe here, and I want to change that, stop that feeling, make them see it /is/ safe. And I will do that with every ounce of my being, I promised Fuzzy that much, and I won't back down. So, yeah. If. If I get the chance again. Could just be you and Doug, Ray." 
Her gaze flickers away from the mansion and back to Rachel, as Kitty's gaze rests upon the red-head. Kitty isn't empathic, by any means, but she can also see Rachel doesn't /quite/ understand yet where Kitty is coming from or meaning. "Hey, I don't mean that you don't know your stuff. You do! What I mean is - I spent half of my life training in the danger room, learning everything I could about those that I went out with. They, in turn, learned what they could about me. So when we moved out against foes that were tougher, and badder, and meaner, and didn't hesitate to kill you - then we knew how to handle it as a /team/. And it's that environment, and that working progress that I think we should do. Frankly, Red. It's as much me learning from you, as it is the other way around." 
As far as Doug goes, well, Kitty shakes her head. "Doug... I. Hey. He's my closest friend that I have, but he's a guy." And that's just all there is to it, as Kitty offers a grin towards Rachel. "So anyway. Thanks for listening, and for understanding, Ray."
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