as yet untitled (X-Men Movieverse, PG-13)
Title: as yet untitled
Author: Apathy
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Challenge: Kitty Pryde and one other female character.
Summary: Rogue and Kitty have a friendly chat.
Length: 1287 words.
Spoilers: Through X3.
Rating: PG-13.
Disclaimer: They're not mine.
Notes: If anyone could think of a title for this, I'd appreciate it. Written for therck, in thassalia and leadensky's Gal-Pal Ficathon.
Party sounds from the mansion drift through the evening air, damp and subdued.
'Nice night, isn't it?'
Only some quick scrabbling keeps Marie from falling off the bench altogether.
Salvaging what little dignity she can gather, Marie turns her attention towards the voice responsible for disturbing the quiet. Quite possibly the last person she wants to see -- no, definitely the last person, and that list includes Magneto, Stryker, and the entire United States Army.
She smiles, bright and false and sugary. Her face feels like it's splitting in half.
'Why, now, Kitty. You don't have to go sneaking around in stealth mode like that all the time, you know.'
'Sorry. Force of habit.' Kitty's helpless shrug and smile seem as genuine and pure as the goddamn driven snow, and Marie honestly can't tell if the girl is actually that clueless, or just a really good actor.
Whatever else she may be, she's brave. No, scratch that -- suicidal. She's sitting herself right on down next to Marie, lying back on the bench and getting comfy. She's got to have a deathwish, because that's the only reason why Marie can imagine she'd sit her chirpy little ass on down in Marie's personal space when she's got her body language set firmly on "fuck off". She's sitting out in the cold and the misting rain while the rest of the school throws a hey-it's-been-a-month-since-anyone-tried-to-kill-us party. How much clearer could she be?
'So, I figure there's only one reason why you'd be sitting out here by yourself. In the rain.'
Kitty addresses the rolling clouds above her, one hand shielding her eyes. Marie stares straight ahead and fixes her gaze, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tight.
'I wanted to be alone.'
The hint goes flying over Kitty's head, off somewhere into the trees. Whoosh.
'It's warm inside, and Bobby's looking awfully lonely, and the kids are actually having fun for the first time since... well, you know. Now, I know you can be a grouch -- '
Rogue's head whips around at that, lips forming a silent "what?", but Kitty blithely soldiers on.
' -- But even you aren't the type to sit around and get any colder than you absolutely have to. So, far as I can tell -- '
'Shut up.'
' -- There's only one possible explanation -- '
'You don't know anything.' Desperate, now, though she tries to keep her voice bored, and there's panic welling up.
' -- Your powers have come back. The cure didn't work.'
Kitty finally sits up and faces her now -- Marie can see her out the corner of her eye, but can't bring herself to meet her gaze, filled as it probably is with sympathy and empathy and a whole lot of other empty, useless words. She wants to tell Kitty she's full of shit, to grab Kitty's face with her bare hands, here, I'll prove it, to storm back into the mansion and pack her things and leave for good. She wants to do a lot of things. "Sit there and listen to everything Kitty has to say" isn't exactly at the top of her list, but her legs are frozen, happily ignoring her mental commands to get their damn ass in gear.
'Your powers have come back, and you don't know what to do. So you're choosing not to deal for awhile. I get that.'
Hot anger sears her gut, melting some of the ice. 'You don't know -- '
'Yes, I do.' Kitty holds up her hand, and it's a decisiveness Marie didn't know she possessed. 'I do know. No, I don't know what it's like to be you. I'm not you, and I have no right to judge you for any decisions you may make differently to what I would, because they're not the same decisions to make in the first place. But I get having to deal, or not deal, or whatever. I get having to make impossible choices. All of us do.' Some part of Marie's brain registers that Kitty's voice is now gentler. 'You're not alone, Rogue.'
'Marie.' The word comes out as a croak. 'My name is Marie.' As long as she's still Marie, everything's fine. Fine and dandy. Nothing amiss here, no sir.
'Marie. Have you really forgotten that I'm your friend? Maybe we've never been really close, but you've always been there for me.' Kitty takes Marie's cold hand in her own, and it only filters through to Marie a couple of seconds later (too late, too late, oh God) that her own hands are still bare from the party, from when she oh-so-briefly brushed Bobby's arm, and her Coke became a slushie.
But Kitty's hands are safe inside sodden woollen gloves, and she doesn't scream in pain, doesn't jerk back in horror or disgust. And she doesn't let go.
She's still talking. Marie tries to gather the lost threads of conversation, her mind as numb as her feet.
'... Like to think that I could be there for you. And Bobby is worried, too. I had to talk him out of coming out here to look for you himself.'
'I can see why he prefers you.' The words come out quieter than she intended, almost lost in the patter of evening rain.
Kitty whaps Marie over the head with her free hand, and, ow.
'Idiot.' The word is said with exasperation, but also with affection, and Marie can feel the first genuine smile of the evening struggling to break free, small but insistent.
'Whatever happened to singing my praises?'
'That only goes so far.' Kitty punches her gently in the arm for good measure, and sighs. 'Look, he loves you. And I'm not going to interfere. He's my best friend, and you're my friend -- I hope -- and I won't ruin that.'
She lowers her voice conspiratorially. 'Besides, Pete's more my type.'
The admission startles a laugh out of Marie, short and genuinely amused. 'What?'
'There, I've said it. That's my one embarrassing make-Rogue-feel-better confession for the evening. If you want any more, you've gotta return the favour. Or return to the party.' The smile is hopeful, and God knows Marie could use some hope right now. But she shakes her head.
'I'm sorry. I just can't go back in there. Not yet.'
Kitty nods in understanding, and Marie realises that she's still holding Kitty's hand in a deathgrip, wet glove on wet skin, and this is what she has a lifetime of ahead of her. Second-hand contact, never fully touching, and --
Kitty pulls her into a hug, unselfconscious, without fear, and maybe Marie can learn to live with this again. She clings a little harder than intended, but Kitty just holds on, not pulling backwards until Marie eventually loosens her grip.
Kitty stands, hand still on Marie's shoulder. 'We'll have the fire going when you come back in.'
'Sounds great. But did I say you could go back inside?'
'Huh?'
'Friends keep friends company when they're being loner idiots and sitting out in the rain, instead of enjoying the party with all the sane people.' She smiles nervously. 'Right?'
Kitty grins this time, happy and genuine. 'I may be your friend, but there are limits. I'm freezing already.' She pauses. 'Out of the rain, at least. Maybe the gazebo out the back?'
'I was thinking more about the small common room out behind the girls' dorms on the ground floor. With hot chocolate. And bad action movies.'
'And sharing of embarrassing secrets.'
'Only if you go first.'
Kitty grabs her hand and hauls her to her feet, and the two of them run, slipping and laughing, towards the mansion.
Author: Apathy
Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Challenge: Kitty Pryde and one other female character.
Summary: Rogue and Kitty have a friendly chat.
Length: 1287 words.
Spoilers: Through X3.
Rating: PG-13.
Disclaimer: They're not mine.
Notes: If anyone could think of a title for this, I'd appreciate it. Written for therck, in thassalia and leadensky's Gal-Pal Ficathon.
Party sounds from the mansion drift through the evening air, damp and subdued.
'Nice night, isn't it?'
Only some quick scrabbling keeps Marie from falling off the bench altogether.
Salvaging what little dignity she can gather, Marie turns her attention towards the voice responsible for disturbing the quiet. Quite possibly the last person she wants to see -- no, definitely the last person, and that list includes Magneto, Stryker, and the entire United States Army.
She smiles, bright and false and sugary. Her face feels like it's splitting in half.
'Why, now, Kitty. You don't have to go sneaking around in stealth mode like that all the time, you know.'
'Sorry. Force of habit.' Kitty's helpless shrug and smile seem as genuine and pure as the goddamn driven snow, and Marie honestly can't tell if the girl is actually that clueless, or just a really good actor.
Whatever else she may be, she's brave. No, scratch that -- suicidal. She's sitting herself right on down next to Marie, lying back on the bench and getting comfy. She's got to have a deathwish, because that's the only reason why Marie can imagine she'd sit her chirpy little ass on down in Marie's personal space when she's got her body language set firmly on "fuck off". She's sitting out in the cold and the misting rain while the rest of the school throws a hey-it's-been-a-month-since-anyone-tried-to-kill-us party. How much clearer could she be?
'So, I figure there's only one reason why you'd be sitting out here by yourself. In the rain.'
Kitty addresses the rolling clouds above her, one hand shielding her eyes. Marie stares straight ahead and fixes her gaze, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tight.
'I wanted to be alone.'
The hint goes flying over Kitty's head, off somewhere into the trees. Whoosh.
'It's warm inside, and Bobby's looking awfully lonely, and the kids are actually having fun for the first time since... well, you know. Now, I know you can be a grouch -- '
Rogue's head whips around at that, lips forming a silent "what?", but Kitty blithely soldiers on.
' -- But even you aren't the type to sit around and get any colder than you absolutely have to. So, far as I can tell -- '
'Shut up.'
' -- There's only one possible explanation -- '
'You don't know anything.' Desperate, now, though she tries to keep her voice bored, and there's panic welling up.
' -- Your powers have come back. The cure didn't work.'
Kitty finally sits up and faces her now -- Marie can see her out the corner of her eye, but can't bring herself to meet her gaze, filled as it probably is with sympathy and empathy and a whole lot of other empty, useless words. She wants to tell Kitty she's full of shit, to grab Kitty's face with her bare hands, here, I'll prove it, to storm back into the mansion and pack her things and leave for good. She wants to do a lot of things. "Sit there and listen to everything Kitty has to say" isn't exactly at the top of her list, but her legs are frozen, happily ignoring her mental commands to get their damn ass in gear.
'Your powers have come back, and you don't know what to do. So you're choosing not to deal for awhile. I get that.'
Hot anger sears her gut, melting some of the ice. 'You don't know -- '
'Yes, I do.' Kitty holds up her hand, and it's a decisiveness Marie didn't know she possessed. 'I do know. No, I don't know what it's like to be you. I'm not you, and I have no right to judge you for any decisions you may make differently to what I would, because they're not the same decisions to make in the first place. But I get having to deal, or not deal, or whatever. I get having to make impossible choices. All of us do.' Some part of Marie's brain registers that Kitty's voice is now gentler. 'You're not alone, Rogue.'
'Marie.' The word comes out as a croak. 'My name is Marie.' As long as she's still Marie, everything's fine. Fine and dandy. Nothing amiss here, no sir.
'Marie. Have you really forgotten that I'm your friend? Maybe we've never been really close, but you've always been there for me.' Kitty takes Marie's cold hand in her own, and it only filters through to Marie a couple of seconds later (too late, too late, oh God) that her own hands are still bare from the party, from when she oh-so-briefly brushed Bobby's arm, and her Coke became a slushie.
But Kitty's hands are safe inside sodden woollen gloves, and she doesn't scream in pain, doesn't jerk back in horror or disgust. And she doesn't let go.
She's still talking. Marie tries to gather the lost threads of conversation, her mind as numb as her feet.
'... Like to think that I could be there for you. And Bobby is worried, too. I had to talk him out of coming out here to look for you himself.'
'I can see why he prefers you.' The words come out quieter than she intended, almost lost in the patter of evening rain.
Kitty whaps Marie over the head with her free hand, and, ow.
'Idiot.' The word is said with exasperation, but also with affection, and Marie can feel the first genuine smile of the evening struggling to break free, small but insistent.
'Whatever happened to singing my praises?'
'That only goes so far.' Kitty punches her gently in the arm for good measure, and sighs. 'Look, he loves you. And I'm not going to interfere. He's my best friend, and you're my friend -- I hope -- and I won't ruin that.'
She lowers her voice conspiratorially. 'Besides, Pete's more my type.'
The admission startles a laugh out of Marie, short and genuinely amused. 'What?'
'There, I've said it. That's my one embarrassing make-Rogue-feel-better confession for the evening. If you want any more, you've gotta return the favour. Or return to the party.' The smile is hopeful, and God knows Marie could use some hope right now. But she shakes her head.
'I'm sorry. I just can't go back in there. Not yet.'
Kitty nods in understanding, and Marie realises that she's still holding Kitty's hand in a deathgrip, wet glove on wet skin, and this is what she has a lifetime of ahead of her. Second-hand contact, never fully touching, and --
Kitty pulls her into a hug, unselfconscious, without fear, and maybe Marie can learn to live with this again. She clings a little harder than intended, but Kitty just holds on, not pulling backwards until Marie eventually loosens her grip.
Kitty stands, hand still on Marie's shoulder. 'We'll have the fire going when you come back in.'
'Sounds great. But did I say you could go back inside?'
'Huh?'
'Friends keep friends company when they're being loner idiots and sitting out in the rain, instead of enjoying the party with all the sane people.' She smiles nervously. 'Right?'
Kitty grins this time, happy and genuine. 'I may be your friend, but there are limits. I'm freezing already.' She pauses. 'Out of the rain, at least. Maybe the gazebo out the back?'
'I was thinking more about the small common room out behind the girls' dorms on the ground floor. With hot chocolate. And bad action movies.'
'And sharing of embarrassing secrets.'
'Only if you go first.'
Kitty grabs her hand and hauls her to her feet, and the two of them run, slipping and laughing, towards the mansion.