2014.03.17 - I'm Keeping The Legwarmers

CRASH. THUNK. *WHOMPH*
Those are the sounds that are currently coming from the bedroom shared by not only one Rachel Summers, but a dragon named Lockheed, and a geek named Kitty Pryde. For the past month, Kitty has been MIA - or sort of at least. She's been off visiting her mother, having a grand time just being away, enjoying vacation (as it was), and helping her mother to move from one house to another. A grueling task to say the least. This has, unfortunately, placed Kitty in a unique situation where as she's now just returned home, she has little idea of what has transpired here for over a month. 
Thus in the middle of the room is no less than two large pieces of luggage (Kitty only left with a tiny one to begin with), and one Katherine Pryde flopped down on her back in her own bed, arms splayed out on each side of her, and an expression of pure joy on her features. It also helps she's letting out a soft. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh." As she does so.
Lockheed, for his part, has darted over to Rachel's bed, and is now beginning to furrow underneath it - for some reason or another.
Most people who were walking toward their room and heard unexpected CRASHES, THUNKS and even *WHOMPHS* coming from behind their door would be definitely surprised, probably curious and possibly alarmed, but Rachel Summers is a telepath. A simple, light mind scan into the room, and the slight frown that'd been forming is displaced by a broad grin. As soon as she touched the familiar mind inside, all of the sounds made sense!
...which only goes to show what an odd life Rachel has.
The door to the room is flung theatrically open, and Rachel stands framed in the opening, hands on her hips as she tries and largely fails to muster an intimidating glare for the brunette who's collapsed on one of the beds inside. "Hey, what d'you think you're doing here?" Rachel demands, trying not to grin. "You were gone so long I thought you'd moved out! I sold your stuff, they'll be over to collect it this afternoon..." Rachel gives up and laughs, stepping properly into the room and pushing the door shut behind her, then moving over to sit on Kitty's bed beside her room-mate's recumbent form. There's even an undignified bounce as she flops down on the bed.
"Tell me everything." She commands, before looking around the room searchingly. "Starting with what you've done with Lockheed. You didn't actually find someone you could palm him off on, did you?" Rachel is, of course, teasing. She loves the little flying rat really.
 
As the door flings open in its theatrical style, Kitty's lifting herself up onto her elbows, head tilting towards Rachel. For a -brief- moment, there's a flicker of 'wha', before Rachel's laughter spoils the entire threat, leaving Kitty to offer her friend a wide, and impish grin. "Pfft. No one else would want it! Except for Doug, and he knows better. Well, not the clothes." A pause. "I don't think." Another laugh, and Kitty's swinging her legs around as Rachel flops down on the bed next to her. 
Planting both hands to each side of her, Kitty's eyes twinkle with delight. "Been too long, but mom really needed help in getting things moved out of the house and into her new apartment. She sold the house. I was - /kind/ of sad about that to begin with, and I did manage to get rid of an entire box worth of my old things I'd left before I became an X-Man." 
(Thus the reason for the two large pieces of luggage that are now planted in the middle of the room.)
"Buuuuuuuuuut. It's best for mom. The house upkeep was just getting too much. So a nice little apartment was the thing." Kitty's mouth pouts ever so slightly at the idea that her home really is 'gone' after all this time, but then she's up and darting towards her luggage. "I brought you back something though..!" 
The large piece of luggage topples to the ground as Kitty begins riffling through the items within. The contents appear to be things like stuffed animals, toys, lego sets, and perhaps a few bits of old clothing. "Not sure where Lockheed got round to.." Kitty states absentmindedly as she continues to rummage through the large trunk.
As if on cue, Lockheed appears from under Rachel's bed, carting a huge box of twinkies, that he pulls out and triumphantly lets out a whoop sound at.
 
Rachel shoots a look at Kitty when she mentions Doug. "I would hope not the clothes, unless there's something he's not telling us!" Rachel says, her eyes gleaming as she smirks to herself. Still, silly thoughts regarding Doug and Kitty's wardrobe are chased away when Kitty actually begins her litany of excuses... er, story.
"I guess you would be." Rachel says, because it seems the thing to say. The mansion's always been home for her, and it's nice to have it back, but she still hasn't really collected a lot of mementoes to clutter up her side of the room. Beyond the contents of her wardrobe, of course. Rachel's eyes are drawn to the luggage on cue. "...but somehow you found a lot more that you just couldn't part with?" She suggests with an impish look, wondering vaguely where Kitty's going to find room for all that stuff.
"Did you?" Rachel's tone is suddenly full of impatient curiosity, considerations of storage space abruptly dismissed. "What is it?" She asks, even though Kitty is already ferreting it out. She even shifts along the bed so that she can try to peer over Kitty's shoulder.
The familiar sound of a dragon emerging from somewhere he probably shouldn't be is /just/ enough to draw Rachel's attention away from Kitty's enthusiastic unpacking, and her eyebrows climb her forehead as she sees the prize he's brought with him. "You had that stashed under there all the time?!" She asks, not sure whether to be surprised or resigned. Either way she reaches out a hand and draws a pair of twinkies to her telekinetically. Ripping open the wrapper on one, she takes a bite and tells the dragon indistinctly, "Storage tax." The other one is handed over to Kitty.
 
"Ooh! So that's where those have been." Kitty states still slightly absently, her hands snagging the offered twinky to pause in digging through the luggage in order to eat it. It really doesn't take /too/ long. Sitting back on her heels, Kitty munches happily at the spongy delight. "I can't part with these! Some of them are classics!" (As can be seen by the large number of old toys that are located in the trunk. "I got rid of all my old clothing though." There's a pause.
"Well, most of them." Though Kitty doesn't get into too much more detail as the twinky is now -gone- with a gulp and a 'mmm', before she's leaning back over the trunk, pulling out a paper bag to gaze inside, before putting it back inside the trunk. 
Lockheed, for his part, harumphs as Rachel collects two twinkies from his stash. He'd let out a 'HEY!' but really it is only fair. "Feh." Two twinkies are -gone- and -ate- before Rachel can hand Kitty hers, as Lockheed happily lets out a sigh of contentment, hugging the box to him. It's difficult to say what -else- may be under Rachel's bed, but for now, the dragon is happy to be home as well. With twinkies.
Finally, Kitty pulls loose a box with a triumphant sound of delight. "Got it!" Hitching back to stand, Kitty's handing the item over to Rachel with an explanation. "So you know what legos are, right? The builder blocks? Back when I was aah... well, what, nine or ten, I put this together. I've always loved it and want you to have it. I've got Doug Slave One, complete with Han Solo in carbonite." 
Within the box is a lego built red dragon. The dragon is -impressive- to say the least, doesn't look a thing like Lockheed, instead has a far more fire-breathing appeal to him, including to red flames bursting out of his mouth, lego style at least. 
 
Rachel's still on her second bite of her twinky by the time Kitty's devoured hers, and Lockheed's gobbled two. Looking from brunette to dragon, Rachel reflects that maybe pets and their owners do reflect one another. At least when it comes to twinky eating. Rachel's amused to see all the toys inside the trunk, shaking her head and then looking up to silently survey shelves, chests of drawers, Kitty's computer desk... anything with a flat surface, basically, and which could conceivably have one of the toys Kitty's brought back crammed on to it. Rachel's conclusion?
They need a bigger room.
Chuckling quietly to herself, she almost misses Kitty's comment about her old clothes. Almost. "You're not sneaking anything into that closet before I've seen it." Rachel tells Kitty cheerfully, convinced that this is for her friend's own good, of course.
All of this is, of course, displacement activity for Rachel's curiosity, because if she wasn't doing something, she'd probably be helping Kitty to unpack, just to get to her present that bit quicker. "I know what Legos are..." Rachel says - or at least, after a moment's thought to dredge up old memories, she does. Her expression's quizzical as she takes the box, but a smile spreads over her face as Kitty explains, and Rachel opens the box to lift out the dragon. Carefully holding it in both hands, she turns it from side to side, looking at every angle. It's perhaps not the first gift that most would imagine giving to Rachel, she of the red leather and often quick temper... but her smile is delighted. "He's perfect." She tells Kitty. "Thank you." Her smile turns mischievous. "I'd better find somewhere for him before you take up all the room with your stuff!"
 
"Glad you like it - and ...Yes!" Comes Kitty's cheerful response, "As I was already sizing up your side of the room." With this, there's a note of mischief in Kitty's gaze. Does she mean it? It's difficult to say, especially given the huge size of the two trunks and the obvious contents within them. Turning back to the trunk, the lid is closed and the sides zipped back up, as Kitty hefts it upwards to stand once more, the contents shifting inside with audible *clinks* and *clunks* and *thunks* within. Giving the luggage careful consideration, Kitty just shrugs absently, and flops into her comfortable computer chair, swiveling around to face Rachel once more.
"Aww, you don't trust me not to put in leg warmers, pink tights, and ballet slippers into my wardrobe?" Kitty's hazel eyes continue to twinkle happily, not offering a single clue as to whether or not she's serious - or not! Still, as she kicks her legs up onto her desk, stretching out with her hands behind her head, Kitty's voice is both happy, content, and relaxed. "Anyway. In all actuality, most of that stuff I'm going to be giving away to Children's Hospitals, or the like. I just couldn't quite part with them at hom.. at mom's new apartment. And most of the clothing will be given away too. Except for the leg warmers, totally keeping them." She's serious. Maybe. 
Tilting her head back to Rachel again, Kitty's smile fades just a bit. "So tell me Red, I've only heard a little here and there about things going on. How've you been? What's new -with you- my friend?"
Lockheed, by this time, has managed to settle onto the bed, and is moving towards Rachel with a purpose filled stride. In his paws is another twinky, that he offers to the red-head with a 'coooooooooo'. He has to get in on the giving act too, after all.
"In that case..." Rachel goes along with the teasing, moving to stand up with the Lego dragon still in her hands. She runs her eyes over her side of the room for a couple of seconds and then places the dragon on the chest of drawers at the foot of her bed, looking over where she sleeps towards the door. She smiles a little as she angles him just so. He nearly found his way to her bedside table, but even though Rachel hasn't had a nightmare in a while, she really didn't want to run the risk of damaging him. "I'm keeping that bit." She declares, choosing to perch on the end of her own bed this time, although after a glance at Kitty reclining in her chair, Rachel pulls off her boots and shifts back a bit to sit cross-legged on the comforter.
"Not for a second." Rachel tells Kitty without an ounce of apology in her tone to accompany the grin she wears as she says the words, eyes sparkling with mischief. Kitty will never know how close she just came to wearing that very outfit. Rachel's gotten really very proficient at that aspect of her powers while Kitty's been away... "Sounds good." She says when Kitty mentions the legwarmers, apparently completely serious as she adds, "I could make legwarmers work for you." It's either a threat or a promise. Probably a threat.
All in all, Rachel's very happy to have her room-mate back, and is slipping easily into the old routine as if Kitty'd never been away... at least until she asks that last question. And it's not like the answers are /bad/, they're just complicated. Very complicated. Rachel reaches down to collect the twinky offered by Lockheed and gives him a scritch by the ears on the way past. "Thanks, dragon." She tells him, before looking at Kitty with a bit of a shrug. "How long have you got?"
 
A soft 'cooo' echoes from Lockheed at the scritch, as he flits upwards to settle onto his own bed, nestling into the soft place with a happy sound of contentment. There's no place like home. It isn't long before the dragon's drifted into a snoring haze, his box of twinkies set next to him. 
As for Kitty? Well, perhaps it's a good thing she doesn't realize just how close she came to wearing said outfit - not that she wouldn't have done so with Pryde. Hah! 
At the slightly more serious feeling she's picking up from Rachel, Kitty's feet kick back down from her chair, as she slides the rollers closer to Rachel's bed. "Hey, long as you need, Ray." Is Kitty's answer, the edge of Rachel's bed now used as a foot stand, at least once Kitty's shoes are kicked off of her feet, and the sneakers tossed in the general direction of her bed. Mostly. They land almost there. Or at least one of them does. 
Socked feet now utilize the edge of Rachel's bed, as Kitty tilts her head to one side, massive amounts of chestnut curls bounding around her shoulders as she does so. "So - spill. I'm all ears, and shoulder, and whatever else you need. S'what friends are for, right?" The last is given with a wide grin that is all - Kitty Pryde.
 
It seems to Rachel that she's spent a lot of time trying to explain what's been going on in her life. She might have expected to be getting good at it by now, but somehow... she isn't. At least Jocelyn didn't think she was crazy. Jean was harder to convince, so maybe she's getting worse with practice! It's a wryly amusing thought. But this is Kitty. If anyone deserves to know what's been going on, it's her. Besides, as the brunette slides her chair over and gets comfortable, Rachel knows she's not going to be given a choice.
Looking at Kitty's grin, in fact, Kitty's whole demeanour, the way she's doing her best to look like there's nothing more important than listening to Rachel, the redhead can't help but chuckle to herself, her spirits lifting a bit. "All right." Rachel gives in, tries to collect her thoughts, and then just pushes a hand back through her hair in annoyance and starts talking. "There's been a couple of big things happen while you've been away. With me, I mean. Not..." She doesn't really need to go on. The whole situation with Darkseid is well known - even if Rachel knows a bit more about it than some, via Jocelyn. That's not a confidence she's about to break, though. "Anyway." Rachel looks at Kitty, and says honestly. "More bad dreams." Kitty's shared them, she'll know exactly what she means. But then Rachel suddenly grins. "And I need to tell you, Terminator 2? Not a good movie to watch after you've woken up from one of MY nightmares." The fact that she can joke about it might be a good sign, but Rachel continues quickly. "Jean found me. I wrecked HER night's sleep, too, but not... like what happened with you." Rachel can't help but shoot Kitty a silent look of apology for that. "My dreams weren't making any sense. It was like I was remembering things I knew happened differently." She snorts quietly. "You know what a mess the inside of my head was." Was - past tense. "I was tired, I didn't know what else to do... I let Jean inside my head." Rachel shakes that head, now. "I don't know exactly what happened, but what was wrong with my memories? The Phoenix did it." She pauses, choosing her words carefully. "It didn't think I could handle the truth, so it built me this little fantasy that my parents - my real parents - were still alive." Rachel's words and expression are carefully neutral. She hasn't decided what to make of what the Phoenix did, yet. She doesn't like the idea that her mind was messed with, but she has the uncomfortable feeling that the firebird was right. "That's why my memories were shot. Two sets, real and fake, all jumbled together." Rachel takes a deep breath. "All that's burned away now. My Scott and Jean... they died. Before everything you saw, they were already gone. It hurts, but... I'm OK. I feel like I know who I really am now."
Rachel's eyes are on Kitty. Friends or not, that's a lot to lay on the brunette and she knows it.
 
There /is/, in Kitty's mind, nothing more important than listening to, helping, and being there for a friend. Whether that friend is Doug, Illyana, Piotr, or Rachel - Kitty's always going to be there for them. To listen. To help. To just stay quiet and let them talk, or offer her own opinion and suggestions or help. After all, as the saying goes, that is what friends are for, and Kitty..? She takes that very seriously. 
It is this reason that she quietly listens to Rachel speak. Of Phoenix. Of Jean's help. Of her fractured memories that are now whole. Hazel eyes narrow slightly only to widen just as fast as each bit is explained and told. Finally. A soft rush of air is let out of Kitty's lungs, her head bobbing up and down with a slow, nod. (Hey at least Rachel now has a chance of believing Kitty's story instead of thinking she's an insane whacko!) 
"There are some memories that are too difficult to take all at once." Kitty begins, not taking up for the Phoenix, but at least understanding what it meant to do. "Maybe it had the best intentions in mind for you, Ray. Still.. I'm glad you know the truth now. About yourself, your past." 
Tilting her head to one side, Kitty has to admit, Rachel -does- seem to be even more calm, even more in control and happy to be who she is, versus the mixed up and contorted lies that the Phoenix put in place. "Still, if you look at it one way, Red. Scott and Jean? They're not dead yet, not in this time line, and not in yours either. In some time, some place, they're still living, breathing, and working towards a better future, just as you are doing so. And knowing your past, knowing who you are, knowing what may come, that can only strengthen you, as a person. I'm sorry I wasn't about to help with that, but glad that your 'mom' was." 
A pause, a beat, and Kitty's grin grows. "I say that's time for celebration. We should totally treat ourselves when good things happen, and this - this is a good thing."
Rachel knows Kitty's terrible at hiding her feelings, so she's not surprised to see her friend's eyes widen when Rachel tells some parts of the story. It's comforting to see the reaction, though, and know that Kitty's thoughts aren't hiding behind a poker face. Rachel nods, a bit unwillingly, but acknowledges there's some truth in Kitty's words. "Yeah. I guess there are. And I guess it did, or else... why bother to save my life and send me back here in the first place?" A stubborn look comes into Rachel's eyes, though. "It's still something else that's messed with my head, and there's been too much of that." Rachel realises that she's speaking more to herself than Kitty, and focuses on her friend again. "Me too. I felt stuck before, like I couldn't go forward because I didn't know where I'd been. It's different now."
Rachel looks a bit more uncomfortable when Kitty talks about her parents still being alive in some fashion. She's just learned for certain that they died nearly a decade ago, in her personal timeline. If she starts thinking about them being alive, if she starts thinking that she can save them... that would be dangerous. "It's OK, Kitty." She says, although a flicker of sadness passes over her features. "Somehow, even with what the Phoenix did, I always knew they were somewhere I could never reach them." The sadness vanishes as Rachel gets a thoughtful smile. "It's a bit weird for Jean, I think. Having a daughter when you haven't actually got a daughter?" Rachel grins. "But I can't help thinking of her as my mom and, well, she lets me get away with it."
Rachel shifts position on the bed, pulling up a knee to wrap her arms around, and looking thoughtful again. Kitty's suggestion catches her by surprise. "I was going to..." She begins, a bit startled, then shakes her head. "Never mind. What did you want to do?"
 
With a wrinkle to her nose, Kitty's laugh is light and soft. "Well, she is your mom!" A pause a bit, and Kitty just shrugs. Time travel. Dimensions. So bizarre to think about. So she just doesn't. As long as Rachel's happy, then everything is right as rain. "I'm glad everything is different, that you can move forward. I fully believe in that. You know. Moving forward. Looking back is good, but for a moment, just to remind yourself of what transpired. Looking forward? That's the key. And you can now, because you're whole. You know who you are, and hey, guess what Ray? You're an awesome person and friend. Even Lockheed thinks so." A wry, impish grin is what Kitty offers, as her hand gestures to the snoring dragon that is still sleeping ever so peacefully away in his bed.
Turning her attention back to Rachel, Kitty's leaping upwards, the chair flying backwards by her actions to go skidding across the room, ending up several feet away from Kitty in the process. "We need to go shopping. It's like totally spring time soon..." Her eyes shift to the outside. "Well, it should be one of these days as long as no more snow falls. And we need an entire new wardrobe for spring. Shorts. And t-shirts. And sandals or flats or ah.." Kitty's gaze flickers to Rachel's choice of shoes. "Well, whatever you want. /I/ like sandals." 
As Kitty ticks these off, she also hmms quietly. "Maybe Yana will be about, and we can get a great clubbing outfit, and you, and me and her, and Doug and Piotr can all go clubbing. I would -so- like to just get out and /dance/ and.." And Kitty pauses in her thoughts, turning around to cast an appreciative glance at Rachel. 
"And I'm totally going on about me again." Flopping onto the edge of Rachel's bed, there to sit 'Indian' style, with her legs crooked beneath, her, Kitty's hands plant on each side and slightly behind, "Soooooo is there anything else I should know before I drag you off shopping? Cause now is totally the time."
 
Rachel grins and nods. It feels right to think of Jean that way, however weird the situation is. She listens to Kitty as she gives her little speech about the benefits of looking forward rather than looking back, and honestly gets a little lost, though she knows Kitty means everything she says from the heart. She draws the line at 'awesome person', though, and snorts and shakes her head. "I guess he must do, who else does he GIVE twinkies to?" She asks lightly.
Rachel doesn't move for the moment, as Kitty bounces up to her feet. The room's not that big, and Kitty's enthusiasm is doing a good job of filling it up right now. "Shopping. The magic word." Rachel says as if she's savoring the idea. "Don't worry, we can fix that." She adds, innocently, on the end of Kitty's comment about sandals. The wicked smile that flashes across her face doesn't help much, although Kitty's still going, so maybe she missed it. "Clubbing sounds good." She puts in helpfully, then frowns. "Wait, we're talking Doug clubbing? Does he even own any clothes he could wear to go clubbing? Or..." That smile's back again. "...are we taking him shopping too?" That could only add to the fun, as far as Rachel's concerned!
Blinking at Kitty's sudden change of tack, Rachel laughs and nudges her lightly with an elbow. "We CAN talk about you, y'know." She reminds her friend fondly, but Kitty has just given her an opening, and there was something else she needed to tell her. "But actually..." Rachel says with a rueful look. "There was something else, and I'm terrible at telling this story, so..." Rachel twists around on the bed so she's facing Kitty, and reaches out to lightly touch her fingertips to Kitty's temples. "...I'm going to make you watch the show, instead."
For Kitty, the room vanishes, as Rachel speeds her through her memories. The impossible London. Meeting Adam Warlock there, and then again in reality. The spaceship making a hard landing, the refugee from a different future. Phyla-Vell. Walking through a marketplace, jaw-droppingly astonished by the aliens bustling around her. Eating Kree-Shi'ar food. And Knowhere itself, the great Celestial head floating in the void.
Rachel breaks the connection, again feeling the sense of awe and exhilaration she felt the first time, almost undimmed. "I've kind of taken a second job, too." She says, in as casual and understated a manner as she can manage.
 
"FIzzlfraglsnitch!" That is all Kitty can get out right now. Her eyes? They're wide. Not with shock. Or horror. Or confusion. But with wide-jaw-dropping enthusiasm. She adjusts to the memories, feeling, tasting, watching, listening. She lets everything shift around, shuffling through her memories, and going over what Rachel experienced again and again. Her legs unwind themselves a bit, stretching out as far as she can without hitting Rachel. And her emotion? Beyond excited. That shows through in her next voiced out statement. 
"THAT IS SO COOL."
"Rachel! You're like a space adventurer!"
That, too, is spoken with awe and respect, not that Kitty didn't have respect already for Rachel, but this is beyond thrilling. "I'm so jealous." Which is true, though Kitty's hazel gems just sparkler. "Every time you go out - you need to show me -everything- that happens. And bring back some space slugs for Lockheed, and some Shi'Ar food for me. I so loved space. It was - well. It was just beyond thrilling. Did I ever tell you about the outfit generator that the Shi'Ar had? Oooooooooooh MAAAAAAAAAAAAAn it was cool." 
Leaping off of the bed, Kitty begins to pace to and fro. "That's just.. Wow, and this entire Starchild thing! What do you think. I mean, wait. Hold that thought." And Kitty's darting to the closet, there to yank out her winter coat, and stuff her feet into a pair of nice boots. Gloves are removed from the pockets of her jacket, as she begins to shove them on, one hand after another. "We go shopping. You tell me your feelings on things, and what you're going to do next, and I can live precariously through you. C'mon. It's getting late, and I'm sooooooooooooooooooooo not ready to put all that stuff away in the luggage. Oh and as for Doug, who knows, /I/ don't go through his wardrobe, but we should take him. Next time. With Illyana. She's great at keeping Doug in line." And Kitty's still talking as she moves out the door and into the hallway. "I'll drive. You talk. And Ray..? I'm glad I'm back."
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