2013.09.01 - Airport Blues

The JFK International Airport - it is the end of the summer, the last weekend before everyone has to go back to school. Crowds of people still mill about, most are leaving to their homes, some are leaving to college, others are returning home from one adventure or another. It is /this/ particular grouping that one Kitty Pryde has found herself in. One last hurrah - a nice, two and a half week vacation with her mother. A cruise that was fun, and entertaining. A holiday that Kitty could take with her mother, and yet still sort of be by herself. A last opportunity before the school year sets in, and she's forced to be 'Professor Pryde' versus just Kitty. 
On the cruise, Kitty laughed, and had fun. She danced, and clubbed. She flirted and got flirted /with/. When her mother went to bed, Kitty was filled with the night life, and she sent many different texts to her BFF Rachel Summers. Most where of Kitty and the different destinations, little 'selfies' where Kitty would turn the camera around to take a snapshot of herself and whatever place she was visiting. Others were of interesting people or places that Kitty would visit or befriend. On the whole, they were just silly reminders that Kitty was on vacation and enjoying herself.
Right now, however, that vacation is at an end, and the skinny Jewish mutant is through every little stupid twist and turn that the airport offers. A backpack is slung over her shoulder, and a small suit case is held in her hands. Her clothing...? Well. Currently, Kitty's dressed for an airplane ride, Daisy Dukes with slight stylishly ragged fringe snug in close to her legs and hips, leaving her long, muscular legs exposed, and only a pair of scuffed up KEDS on her feet. For a top she wears a cut-off t-shirt, that is tied about her waist, leaving her 'Danger Girl' mid-drift exposed. Her hair is a wild mess of curls that have been left to just fly wildly around her shoulders. Her familiar necklace hangs from her neck - and a pair of glasses rests upon her nose. Contacts are a pain to fly with. 
 
While the airport is filled this weekend with crowds upon crowds of travellers of all varieties, coming and going from and to virtually every destination imaginable, it's not just those that are passing through the airport that are filling the hallways, through-fares, shops and restaurants. The airport itself is home to a number of employees - pilots, stewardesses, shop clerks, restaurant cooks and the like - and those individuals are understandably staffed up this busy weekend as well. Some of the workers are long-time employees of the airport, intimately familiar with the pulse of the airways hub, however there are certain individuals who are quite new to the entire scene, having only recently started working here. Currently seated upon a modest stage within one of the many bars and eateries of the airport, Marcus Peet is one such person.
Though he looks quite comfortable up on the stage, a guitar slung over one knee as he strums away and wails out a particularly bluesy song, inside Marcus is wondering exactly how it came to be that he's almost literally singing for his supper (part of his wages for this particular set is a free meal from the grill when he's done). A few weeks ago, he was fielding offers for nightclub gigs in down-town New York, along with his other four bandmates, but unfortunately 'The Cryin' Shame' turned out to have a prophetic name for the band, as half the group split off to try the music scene in LA, leaving Marcus alone with the single lone bandmember that he disliked the most. The group was a bust, and that left Marcus to find a new set of musicians to jam with, and to try to eke out a solo career in the meantime.
So, that led him here - The Empire Blues and Brewery - where at least he's able to headline, even if only to a number of weary airplane travellers. But he does get to play his own style of music, and that's something he not only enjoys, but he does well. His voice carries soulfully out over even the dull roar of the travellers that wander past the restraunt in the terminal proper, the bluesy notes and refrains having a raw, emotional purity to them despite the mundane setting. To his credit, the majority of the individuals within the bar proper are actually listening fairly raptly to Marcus as he croons away, abandoning personal conversations in favor of enjoying his performance while they eat, wait for their next flight, or recover from their last one.
Rachel's two and a half weeks without her room-mate have been far more stressful than Kitty's vacation, but in a way Kitty's antics have helped Rachel quite a bit in handling that stress. It's seemed like every time she's come out of a briefing on the deteriorating situation in Genosha, there's been a text waiting on her phone showing Kitty posing with a ridiculously oversized and exotic cocktail. Every time she's had to deal with the dynamics of the eclectic group due to be heading the to island, there's a text from Kitty showing her and one (or more!) cute guys. And while Rachel's replies haven't always been verbose or even timely, that's because she's been falling into bed after a late, hard Danger Room session, or running late for an early one. Even Lockheed's been useful, after a fashion, even if he's a lot better at listening than advice...
Needless to say, pretty soon Rachel will have a LOT to talk to Kitty about. But not today! Today's all about collecting Kitty, and not bringing her back down to Earth too quickly.
Which partly explains why Rachel's wearing an outfit Kitty won't have seen before as she waits for her friend to work her way through all the formalities involved in getting off a plane. After all, if Rachel's been shopping, what can be wrong, right? Finally catching sight of Kitty, Rachel waves enthusiastically - almost unseating the small purple dragon wrapped around her shoulders. Oddly, none of the people standing nearby seem to notice Rachel reach up and soothe the ruffled creature - and keeping /this/ many people ignorant of Lockheed's presence is a mental workout in itself!
Rachel's heels click against the tiled airport floor as she walks forward to meet Kitty halfway. "Hey, welcome back!" She offers, reaching out and taking Kitty's suitcase with a quick, "Give me that, I can cheat." Kitty can too, of course, but it's the principle of the thing! Suitcase wrested from its owner - and exchanged for Lockheed, who's quick to snake around his mistress' neck, Rachel takes a minute to look Kitty up and down. "You definitely had a good time. I'm very jealous." There's definite feeling behind those last words, but Rachel is already grinning. "And I like the outfit! Come on, let's get something to drink before we head back, I want to hear everything you didn't tell me already!" And she's already striding imperiously toward The Empire Blues and Brewery.
Catching sight of the red-head through the crowd, Kitty's only too happy to relinquish her suitcase in exchange for the purple dragon. Lockheed zooms around to nestle about Kitty's shoulders, nuzzling his head under Kitty's chin to let out soft 'cooos' of noise that none of the crowd seem to notice. In the least! Kitty's fingers lift upwards as she idly scritches the dragon under the chin, then just impulsively slings her free arm around Rachel's shoulders, a quick half-embrace, before drawing back to laugh. "I missed you guys." Is her first statement. The next. "And you've been shopping!"
Shifting the backpack around on her shoulders, Kitty's happily chatting away to Rachel as the two draw towards the bar, where the melodious sounds of some very talented singer drifts across the airport. "I didn't want to wear anything uncomfortable, and the airplanes are always so /warm/, ugh. But you should see the new outfits I bought!" Kitty's hazel eyes twinkle with delight as she pauses before the dark interior of the bar, her eyes shifting about the dark setting to find a bar stool to sit upon. "They're so austere! I figure, y'know, if I'm going to be 'Professor Pryde', I should really look the part."
As Kitty's chatting, her eyes continue to adjust to the lighting, her voice continuing with a giggle. "I had them sent speci..." And Kitty's voice trails off then, as her eyes move past Rachel towards the far corner where the singer is located. "Del..oh my gosh." The last is spoken with a slight flush to her cheeks, and flutter of eyelashes.
Lockheed's response is to lift his head upwards and cast a glance towards where Kitty is looking - and to who.
 
The direction upon which both Kitty and her dragon's attention has been focused is occupied by the evening's entertainment at the Empire Blues and Brewery, who's finishing up his set, wailing out traditional blues fare as he strums his guitar, before ending to the modest applause of those nearby. The stage is lit just well enough that Marcus isn't quite able to see many of the patrons of the bar, as he has a couple of simple spot-lights that are focused upon him, but he smiles and nods to those that offer their appreciation for his tunes, flashing a set of bright pearly whites before starting to pack up his guitar. "Thank you, thank you all very much," he states into the microphone, "It's been a pleasure performing here. I'd let you all know that you can catch me every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, but, I think most of you are on your way out of town." He pauses just long enough in case anyone wants to respond with a polite laugh, before he adds, "I'm also supposed to let everyone know that the luggage claim for flight 823 from Sacramento has been moved to carousel C-11 on the lower concourse." He smiles a bit awkwardly, then, before nodding again. "Thank you again everyone!"
With that, Marcus closes up his guitar case and heads off the stage, hungry for some food. He doesn't mind performing at this place, out here in the airport - at least it /is/ performing, after all, but of course he'd be much happier in a different environment - an actual nightclub or concert hall, if he could manage it. Still, he's getting paid decently, the food's not bad, and he does at least get to sing and play, which is the most important. Right now, however, he's starving, and eager to take advantage of one of the perks of working for a restaurant such as this - free burgers and fries. So, guitar case in hand, he moseys on up to the bar, ready to flag down the bartender there with a slight wave of his hand. "Hey, Jimmy, start up an order for a bacon doub--" he begins, before he stops mid sentence, his casual survey of the bar patrons having revealed to him a particularly fetching brunette whom he recognizes with no small amount of surprise. Is that..? No, it couldn't be. But it is! And she is looking /fine/ in those short shorts and T-shirt too...!
Marcus takes a brief moment to collect himself, finishing his sentence to the bartender before turning fully towards Kitty and the other girl that's with her. "...double cheeseburger. And whatever these two girls are having, put it on my tab." He smiles brightly at Kitty then, closing the distance to her and Rachel, before claiming the barstool directly adjacent to her. His guitar is set on the ground, and he turns towards Kitty, still all smiles and bright eyes. "Hey! Fancy meeting you here. This seat isn't taken, I hope?"
 
Rachel's shielding strongly against the airport crowds - the fatigued minds coming off the planes are bad enough, but the excited relatives (particularly the kids) are just too much - and so she doesn't get even a flicker of warning before Kitty's one-armed hug arrives. Since she's already taller than the brunette without the heels she's wearing, Rachel's pulled into a significant lean to one side! She's startled, but finds she doesn't actually mind. "Me too." Rachel says, and covers her slightly serious tone by quickly adding, "And Lockheed, who lived under the bed for a few days, didn't you?" She asks the purple dragon, sounding slightly aggrieved.
Rachel looks insufferably smug when Kitty notices her new outfit. The shopping trip with Jocelyn was definitely worth it, although she'd decided that already. "I have!" Rachel confirms happily, before she gets a mischievous look on her face. "I love the shoes," High, sharp heels that Rachel walks effortlessly in, "So I got you a pair, too." She adds that conversationally, just as if she wasn't lying through her teeth...
Rachel's eyes light up with interest when Kitty mentions her own shopping trips. "I'll have to...!" She begins, sliding onto a stool and hooking her heels over the rung, then suddenly blinks. "/Austere/?!" Her gaze slides sideways to regard Kitty dubiously, but there's still that intrigued look in her eyes. "OK, fashion show. Later." She says decisively.
Only to discover that Kitty's attention has been drawn elsewhere. Rachel frowns a bit, then follows the direction Kitty's eyes are looking, then glances quickly between the guy she finds at the end of that line, back to Kitty, then back to the guy again. A slow smile starts to break out. "Someone you know?" She asks innocently, before ruining the whole pose of innocence by adding, "Not bad." At least she says it quickly and quietly before the guy actually joins them. "Definitely not." She answers him firmly, before shooting a quick look toward Kitty. She's in charge of introductions!
 
Fluster. Flush. Kitty's thoughts are about as chaotic as the scene outside - what with the yelling, the murmuring, and the general hub-bub of constant activity, no matter what time of day. In fact. Kitty's /so/ flustered. And /so/ completely shocked, when Marcus comes over and offers to have her and Rachel's drink on his tab - Kitty's voice is found sounding something akin to. "It's me. You. I mean. Hi! No one is sitting there!" And then the brunette is just about as tongue-tied as one can get, as her words come together in a string of sounds that /might/ make sense, but most likely they sound just as they look. Strung together without much coherent thought. 
While Rachel's thoughts may be completely guarded right now, Kitty's are raging from. >> YES. Yes he is fine! << To >> Ohmygosh..! << It's probably a good thing that Rachel isn't picking up surface thoughts right now! Kitty's would be even more jumbled than the annoying shrieks of the children in the airport running amuck.
Lockheed, for his part, is highly annoyed by Marcus' appearance, a jealous 'feh' echoing out from his throat as he gets jostled about Kitty's shoulders and is now utterly IGNORED. The purple dragon shifts around Kitty's neck, to nuzzle a bit more against her jaw, leaving Kitty's head to snap back strangely, though given Kitty's current inability to make any true sentences, it just goes with the territory.
Finally, Kitty gets out a quick. "Rachel. This is Marcus - the.. I mean. When. I ah. I met him at the bank." Hazel eyes shift nervously towards the red-head, before back to Marcus. "Marcus this is my best friend, Rachel." For all that is holy, please don't drool over her. As introductions are made, Kitty's shifting on the bar stool, offering Marcus a bright smile, before turning back to Rachel again, gaze moving from one to the other in quick succession. "Small world." And if there's a snorted 'feh' coming from Kitty, it's not /her/ it's the /dragon/ wrapped around her shoulder that no one can /see/. 
Kitty really wishes the earth would just open up and suck her into it right now, though instead of doing that, Kitty's only left with one option. "You're a really great singer!" 
 
Continuing to smile broadly as Kitty recognizes him, Marcus settles into the chair as she confirms that it's not otherwise reserved, his deep chocolaty eyes seeming to twinkle just a little bit at how the girl is a bit flustered and tongue-tied. Though he attempts to remain gentlemanly, he can't help but give Kitty another sweep of his gaze as he's a bit closer to her, quite appreciative of the outfit that she's wearing and how it looks on her, his attention drawn to the skin exposed along her fit legs and tummy before he remembers to look back up at the woman's face directly, perhaps just a slight bit of coloring evident upon his own cheeks with the motion - though likely hidden behind the dark tones of his skin.
He gives Rachel a polite nod as introductions are offered then, though perhaps to Kitty's pleasure he doesn't really dwell much at all on the red-head. In fact, it seems as just as he's about to say something directly to Rachel, is when a small 'feh' sound is heard coming from seemingly no-where. At that point, Marcus's features adopt a briefly confused look, blinking once, and his attention draws back away from Rachel as if she were the one who made the dismissive sound. Perhaps she doesn't like the way that Marcus is looking at Kitty - or Kitty Marcus for that matter! - but Marcus isn't going to let a judgmental friend stand in the way of he and Kitty getting to know one another a bit better after their random encounter at the bank. He'd been captivated by her timely appearance then, and is only too pleased to have run into her again now. So, he gives Rachel a bit of a 'hmph!' look in return to her apparent 'feh', and turns his attention squarely back to Kitty.
"Small world indeed!" he echoes her then, all charm and smiles again, leaning one arm on the bar as he chats up the skinny brunette. "I was hoping we might run into one another again, didn't really have time to chat much before..." Being a hostage in a bank robbery does sort of put one in a poor position to flirt, anyways, Marcus thinks wryly. Fortunately, he's got a second chance now! He smiles a bit broader at Kitty's compliment then, glancing up towards the stage. "Thanks! Wish I had a better gig than the airport, but... Gotta put my dues in somewhere, and until I can get a band together again, options are kind of limited." He looks back to Kitty then, regarding her with a quiet grin. "So, just getting back into town? Or is it my luck that you've got like, five minutes before your flight leaves?"
The bar is slightly - not a lot but slightly - 'quieter' for Rachel than the airport concourse they've just come from. As her body relaxes on the barstool, she allows her mental shielding to relax a little. Which just means that, instead of being assaulted by a hundred different minds, she's assaulted by the one sitting right next to her. Rachel's shields go back up, but she's already got a good feel for the consternation in Kitty's mind. Certainly enough for Rachel to be absolutely sure that it's the GOOD kind of consternation when looking at a guy, rather than any other kind!
Rachel looks at Kitty with a bit of a quizzical smile, then switches her attention to Marcus, and gets to watch him eye up Kitty. True, he's making an effort to be discreet, but Rachel can tell what he's up to! She returns his polite nod gravely, but with just the hint of a wicked little smile curving her lips as she does so. Unlike Marcus, she /can/ see the little purple dragon, and knows she's not guilty of making that noise! At his look, Rachel just raises her eyebrows a bit, before her eyes dart sideways toward Kitty, look her up and down, and then dart back to Marcus. And her smile's just that little bit wider.
Leaning forward, Rachel puts an arm around Kitty's shoulders to balance herself - and incidentally give Lockheed a soothing scritch behind the ears. "Hi Marcus. Good to meet you. Kitty's told me about you. Sounds exciting!" Rachel deliberately leaves it vague as to whether she means the meeting was exciting, or Marcus himself was exciting. She only lets that hang for a second before she continues. "Hey, Kitty. I figure we're not in a hurry... any more... so I'd better make sure the car doesn't get towed. Jean would kill me." Leaning back again, Rachel gets down from her stool and shoots Kitty a quick grin. "I won't be /that/ long." She says. "Get me a drink or something, OK?" She nods amiably at Marcus again, then spins around and walks out of the bar. Reaching back to Kitty with her mind. << I'll call before I come back in, OK? >> She says with an innocence that's utterly feigned.
 
The small purple dragon is not mollified by the scritch in the least, and as Rachel moves to leave, the dragon is not about to go with her! Though, he /is/ intelligent, and /does/ know and understand that Rachel is keeping everyone from staring at him like he was some circus freak. So.. Lockheed willingly draws back over to Rachel, encircling the red-head's neck as he lets out another faint mumbling note, not at all ashamed of the fact that it will only make it appear that Rachel's still making strange noises. "Hmph." Indeed is Lockheed's announcement.
As for Kitty, she's fairly oblivious to anything going on right now, any stares, or looks, or - well. Anything other than her own internal debating. As Rachel leans in and attempts to soothe the dragon, Kitty's gaze flickers side-ways at her, offering a wry grin at her friend. >> Don't be too quick. << Is Kitty's statement, as she begins to relax a bit more, swinging her legs upwards to rest her KEDS against the bottom stool of the bar. "Oh..sure Ray." Kitty finally actually states, her hazel eyes twinkling with her own form of mischief, at least now that her heart has stopped thumping in her chest, and she can put two words together. 
Turning back to Marcus, Kitty lets out a soft rush of air. "I guess proper introductions are necessary." She offers, her eyelashes lowering as her hand extends. "I'm Kitty Pryde. And hey - at least you have a .. a gig! And really, who knows, here at the airport - why you could have some famous person hear you, and sign you up for some big contract!" Ah, Kitty, always the optimistic mutant.
For Marcus's part, he's only too happy to see Rachel leave, and indeed does figure that the red-head is offering additional notes of displeasure as the unseen Lockheed issues another not-so-quiet missive while retreating. Marcus quirks a single eyebrow briefly at the red-head, answering her with abit of a confused tone, given Rachel's cheery demeanor that's in direct opposition to the under-her-breath noises that he thinks she's making. "Nice to meet you too - sorry to say that Kitty and I hadn't met long enough for her to tell me about you. Glad to hear I've been talked about though!" As Rachel departs, then, Marcus shakes his head almost imperceptibly, before returning his attention fully to Kitty.
Marcus reaches out to take Kitty's slender hand in his slightly larger one, his skin warm and soft against hers, with the exception of the slightly calloused pads of his fingers, owing to his long hours playing guitar. "Kitty Pryde," he echoes, smiling broadly. "Marcus Peet, here. And yeah, I'm thankful for the gig! It's steady, and that's a plus. Getting some dough so I can buy some more of my own equipment... Might be a surprise, but the bank didn't give me the loan I was applying for that day..." He continues to grin, before he realizes that he still has hold of Kitty's hand, having kept contact with her much longer than really necessary for a simple handshake. He clears his throat a bit self-consciously as he draws his hand back, another small flush of color darkening the skin tone of his cheeks.
"Not sure about the contract, though. Most famous people have their own chartered flights, private jets, that sort of thing. Don't get many big names coming through the terminal proper. Well," he corrects himself, smiling widely again. "At least that's what I thought before. Now that you've come through and heard me sing here, gonna have to change that." The bluesman offers Kitty a playful wink then, before starting to chat easily with the girl about his recent woes with his former band, to asking her about where she's flying back in from, and other similar topics that will allow the two to get to know each other a little better against the setting of the bar and restaurant. They talk that way for a good while, even exchanging phone numbers, and Marcus is quite thankful that Rachel makes good on her promise of giving the two a significant period of time by themselves. In fact, despite the meeting was quite by chance one might almost call it a date... should one be so inclined...
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