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Driving from Manhattan to Westchester in a '63 Nova with the top down would be, for most people, a pretty darn great way to spend a Sunday. And while Johnny Storm does appreciate the scenery and the drive, he can't help but resent the fact that the trip would have been so much simpler if only he could just fly.
Instead of already being merrily on his way home, mission accomplished, Johnny is still in Westchester. Clad in a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, aviator sunglasses, and a pair of jeans, he's been indulging in a little window shopping while asking around after the actual reason he's there. One problem:
"Excuse me. I'm looking for a girl. She's about five and a half feet tall. Brown hair. Kind of hazel-y eyes."
The man standing outside Harry's Hideaway gives Johnny a very flat look. "Buddy. That is half of the state of New York."
*
Harry's Hideaway is a great place to sit and avoid the hub-ub of the school. Sometimes. Today could possibly be an exception as a certain brunette with very hazel eyes pours over a ridiculously large chemistry textbook while scribbling notes in a notebook just beside it. Her very curly, sometimes unmanageable, hair has been pulled up into a tight bun on her head, and her blue jeans and cable knit sweater rather distinctly tell patrons to leave her alone. At least at Harry's she doesn't have randoms sending her shots.
The half-full cup of coffee has gone cold, as Kitty has literally been here for hours pouring over her studies, even before they start.
She shifts the textbook, knocking over the coffee in the process, and causing java to spill across the span of the book and onto Kitty's lap. She leaps up, despite it not being hot, and exclaims in frustration, "Feh!" but as she leaps, it becomes clear that not a drop of the fluid is on Kitty, instead it's all over the seat she was sitting on. Weird. She grasps at napkins in the dispenser on the table and tosses them onto the booth she'd just been perched on, and then proceeds to wipe them off the notebook.
It's then, of course, her chin lifts to spy Johnny Storm. Her eyes widen. This is awfully coincidental.
*
"I think she might go to school around he -"
Although Johnny can't hear the exclamation through the windows, what he does notice is the very sudden motion out of the corner of his eye. He leans to one side to peer around the man he was speaking to and blinks twice, mouth immediately splitting in a massive smile.
He really is made of luck.
"Found her! Thanks, man." With a quick pat on the arm for the still-unimpressed man outside, Johnny squeezes past him and into Harry's, making a politely-speedy beeline for Kitty's table. He snags an extra handful of napkins on his way. Might as well help, right?
*
Kitty mops up coffee in a very quick, efficient manner. Only to get all up in arms about the fluid on her notebook. Her lips purse slightly, and she touches the book, causing its particles to separate. Carefully, she draws all external ones from the book. A second later, a puddle of coffee appears on the table, and a smug smile tugs up across Kitty's features. The smile disappears, however, when she realizes her pen marks are also gone, and her notebook is, effectively blank. Good job, Kitty Pryde.
She glowers.
And then Johnny Storm is walking up to her. "Uh… hi…" she points to where he can mop up coffee off the table. Her nostrils flare slightly and she sizes him up before asking, "Are you stalking me? I'm just asking to know, and to make sure you know I have a boyfriend. And he's huge. Like… literally huge. Probably wise not to stalk me…" Also she can walk through walls. And stalkers.
*
Laughing at the question, Johnny is quick to go after the coffee where Kitty's pointed it out with his pile of napkins. "Don't you read the papers? Apparently, I'm dating your friend Trish," he notes playfully, shooting her a wink.
Once he's relatively satisfied that the spill has been dealt with, he offers a hand for the napkins Kitty had been using. He'll throw them all out. He's helping. "I promise I'm not stalking you. And that I have no desire to get my face beat in by your boyfriend."
*
"Haven't had time to read the paper since the day in the bar," Kitty shrugs as the pair finish mopping up the mess. "Trish is amazing though. If you dated her, I'd have to comment on your good taste~" Pause. "Not that she's really my friend. We've only met twice, and both times I was, ehn," she rocks her hand uncertainly. "But I'd like to be her friend. If she wanted to hang out." Kitty's eyes glaze over and her head tilts almost dreamily, "We could hang out and paint each other's nails and we could go shopping and she could tell me what to buy because believe it or not I'm not that good at that. You wouldn't know it if you saw me with my friends — I'm basically teaching them fashion," she cringes. "Not my strength."
She gives him the napkins easily, happy to part with them. "Good, definitely don't stalk me. And my boyfriend could actually beat in your face. Despite you being you. So. Consider yourself warned.
"
*
"I'm pretty sure you could beat in my face," Johnny says wryly as he accepts the napkins from Kitty, turning to find a garbage can to deposit them all into. Quickly. Before too much sopped-up coffee can hit the floor or his shoes. Yick.
After a brief stop for a couple more napkins, Johnny returns, offering one to Kitty before he wipes at his own hands. "I wanted to come make sure you were okay," he explains. "It sounded like you'd had a really rotten time." He pauses. "…and I never did get your name. I should probably ask for that, huh?"
*
Amusement tugs the corners of Kitty's lips and eyes and she vaguely shrugs. Why yes, Johnny, she could beat your face in. The threat just doesn't seem plausible coming from Kitty-ninja.
She shoots Johnny a lopsided grin, "Whatever doesn't kill you~" The sing-song voice garners the attention of a few onlookers who merely receive a shrug in exchange. "My name is Kitty. Like the cat." She grins. "It was a rough night," her smile falters somewhat, "but I'm taking it in stride as best I can. Plus classes start next week. That'll make things better."
*
Johnny does not, it should be noted, invite himself to sit with Kitty at her booth. He gestures questioningly at a free spot, but until he has an explicit invitation, he remains standing.
"Glad things are looking up, Kitty," Johnny smiles, finally remembering to pull off his sunglasses and tuck them into his collar. There. Better. After a long moment, his smile becomes slightly tight. Man. He resents this part. "…there, um. Is another reason I came out here to find you," he admits, dropping his chin and sighing.
*
Kitty doesn't really notice the gesture right away, and awkwardly leaves Johnny to stand there hanging out nearby. "Uh-huh," she catches the tightness in the smile and the way he seems to imply he needs a favour. Of course, it's at this moment that she realizes their incredible differential in height because Johnny is standing. Her eyebrows lift and she motions to the seat across from her. "Sit." Her jaw tightens. "Talk."
*
That makes Johnny wince. Hoorayyyyyy. This is going so well!
Johnny slides into the indicated seat with a very apologetic expression already on his face. "Please understand that I do not want to be asking you to do anything, but my sister knows where I live and is fully capable of killing me in my sleep without any sort of consequences," he says in a hushed voice. "And she wanted to know if you had any kind of comment to offer about the fight that might make the press less inclined to tar and feather me. Which I think is stupid," he hurriedly adds, holding up his hands. Yeah, Johnny, keep going, you're doing great. "But she's on and on about 'don't give politicians an excuse not to trust people with powers by being irresponsible' and if I didn't come out here, I'm pretty sure I'd have woken up smothered by a pillow."
*
Kitty wrinkles her nose at the explanation that is shared in a way she probably would've offered if she'd been on the other side of this conversation. But then, Kitty Pryde doesn't fight in bars. Or garner attention. Being stealthy has its perks.
Her face scrunches tightly and she hums quietly. "So… you want me to what — release a statement about what happened?" This earns a frown. "I… can't." Or maybe she won't. She'll think about that more later. "You really haven't sold this as a good idea. And I'm not sure I want my name in the paper. You see, I have people in my life who are kind of prone to worry. Reading that I needed rescuing at a bar, when I legitimately didn't," except she kind of did by the time she had the second shot, "wouldn't be good for them."
*
"That's because I don't think it's a good idea. I mean, I understand the theory Sue's working with," Johnny sighs, propping his chin up in his hands and making a face across the booth at her. "But… Kitty, my life is insane, and you don't deserve to get caught up in it any worse than you have already just because I made a stupid mistake. You deserve your privacy."
With a sigh, Johnny lifts his chin from his hands so that he can drop his forehead onto the table, instead. thump. "But if I hadn't come out and asked, Sue'd have figured it out."
*
Illyana has connected.
*
Kitty's arms cross over her chest. "Good. So. No statement. We're in agreement." Her lips purse. "All I need are the Prydes visiting from Illinois because I'm in trouble." She reaches for her coffee cup only to frown. It's empty. She feels a deep sense of loss.
"And that's fine to ask. I just… I fly under the radar. Almost all the time. I need to keep some things in my life really… really… private." She shoots him a tight-lipped smile.
*
"No statement." When Johnny sits back up straight, his expression is… guarded. He's already running over the multitude of ways his sister will react to this news, all of them furious.
He's gonna die.
"Can I buy you a fresh one?" Johnny asks, gesturing towards Kitty's cup. "To make up for coming all the way out here to bother you for an alibi?"
*
Rogue arrives from Harlem.
*
Rogue has arrived.
*
Rogue leaves, heading towards Xavier's Institute [XI].
*
Rogue has left.
*
"If you want… I have A LOT more notes to write," mostly because Kitty made the first set vanish. "Just brushing up before classes start. Important to remember things now and then, especially when it comes to formulas."
She issues him a weak smile, "I'm sorry I can't help you. It honestly exposes too many people…"
*
"And it really is okay," Johnny insists gently, reaching across to briefly lay a hand on top of the notebook sitting in front of Kitty. "I completely understand. I'm sure that if I explain that to Sue, it'll work out." He hopes.
He cranes his neck to look around for a waitress and lifts a hand to flag one down. "I mean, she's probably making mountains out of mole hills," Johnny says with an optimistic smile that almost meets his eyes. "She's so freaked out about me giving all people with powers a bad wrap that she didn't even let me fly out here."
*
Kitty blanches. "If you ever come back this way to Westchester and hang out around here… I mean, Harry's it good, please don't fly." She actually reaches out to squeeze his hand in order to get his attention and not break eye contact. "People want their privacy here. They want it quiet. They don't want to be featured in the paper because you happened to fly by and something else got photographed."
After she makes her very pointed plea, she returns her hand to her lap and clears her throat. "And I definitely know a lot of people who use their powers for more mundane things," like walking out of a room because she just didn't feel like using the door, "but she might not be wrong about that one. When you fly you're like a firework. Pretty fire display~"
*
Having his hand taken certainly does the job — Johnny immediately looks across to Kitty and blinks in surprise. That is… a rather more intense look than he was expecting. "…okay. I promise," he says slowly, drawing his hand back once she releases it. He crosses his heart with his fingers. "No flybys. Probably no Fantasticar, either," he grumbles thoughtfully, looking off to the side. He'd have to tell Reed.
*
"No. No Fantastical. Nothing that gets attention," Kitty says evenly. "People around here want to be left to their business. It's one of the few havens left from the big city, and they come here to avoid all of the celebrity of Manhattan." The weight of Kitty's stare cannot be shrugged off. "Not everyone understands it, but honestly, most try to follow it. All we need are cameras poking around down here…"
*
Very slowly, Johnny nods his head. "….sssssso I should probably get the hell out of here before anybody recognizes me," he says in a rather resigned voice, already shifting to slide out of the booth. On his way up, he fishes his wallet from his jeans and fishes out a couple of singles, which he offers her way. "Here. This should cover fuel for the studying session," he says lightly, tilting his chin towards her empty cup.
*
"That's not exactly what I meant, but I do need to get back to the studying," Kitty lifts her gaze as he begins his retreat. "Just stay away from the theatrics here. We don't need people seeing us doing our thing or printing our names in the paper. Honestly, extra attention is something few of us really want." Because she can speak for all of Westchester, apparently.
"But thank you. For the coffee."
*
The smile Johnny musters up as he leaves the cash on the table is pretty weak, but he tries anyway. "Of course. It's so easy for me to blend in," he says with forced lightness. Wallet still open in his hands, he pauses and slowly draws out a business card and gives it a very pensive look.
When the card for Xavier's School lands on the table, it does so in two pieces.
"Good luck with the new semester." Johnny flashes a quick, tight smile before he turns to head for the door, sliding the wallet back into his jeans.