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Just because it was physically impossible to see all the way to Central Park from the grounds of the Institute does not mean Piotr isn't trying. Not seriously trying — he knows there's no real point to it — but even as he takes an evening walk around the grounds to clear his head, he keeps casting looks towards the city as if he might see something in the sky. Something bad.
He'd had to throw away everything he was wearing when he came home the night before. That much blood would never wash out and Piotr would prefer not to see those clothes again, anyway. At least he had a second pair of jeans, but that jacket — he'll have to replace it. Somehow.
*
Insomnia always comes more readily than rest. A few days respite had done Kitty some good, yet once more agitation triggers something deep within her psyche. And when restlessness gets a foothold it becomes unyielding. A single image the night previous had rolled over Kitty's mind time and again over the course of the night — well, at least it had triggered a series of others that she hadn't been able to shake.
And probably won't for some time. Having her memory returned to her proved a double edged sword.
But there's little to be done with the past — Ogun had reiterated that to her time and again while under his tutelage. She'd gone to meet the problem head-on. But not finding Piotr around the house meant her thoughts and fears were left to wander, consumer her, and roll over her consciousness again again. So the current problem is one that can only be resolved with air, dirt, and running. At least until the brunette can find him and get the whole story.
Blood. Gore.
Her feet pound the running path of Xavier's. Right. Left. Right. Left.
The steady rhythm while doesn't soothe her, seems enough to abate her nerves.
Right. Left. Right. Left.
She pumps her arms harder at her side as her curly ponytail bounces at her back.
Right. Left. Right. Left.
Faster. She needs to be stronger. She needs to be faster.
Right. Left. Right. Left.
The pain of adrenaline sears over her mind. The way she'd disintegrated into nothing, filling the room everywhere at once; only to be pushed back through some drug-induced hallucination.
Right. Left. Kitty can finally see his face. Right. Left. The smarmy look he'd had. His satisfaction with himself.
Right. Left. She stole Ogun's sword. It's in the Pryde's front closet. Right. Left. She could…
Intangibility happens quiet by accident, pulling her into near invisibility as she speeds up in her path, and strangely, she almost feels like she's floating as it happens — no longer truly on the ground. Which is why she reaches out to ground herself. She rounds the corner on the path, and holds out her hands to grab at anything, or in this case, any one to put on the brakes.
Unfortunately, this has a strange effect as anything she grabs also becomes momentarily intangible — an oddity that she's not tried before. She's always become tangible to grab things and intangible moments later.
Which is why it freaks her out so much. The altered state is momentary, and the contact enough to bring her back to the present rather than thinking about ways to use Ogun's sword. Her breath rakes in her throat as she spies Piotr while her hands move to envelope him in a silent hug.
*
It isn't unusual to feel like one is seeing ghosts moving about the school's grounds — a number of students have gifts that could be mistaken for such. But after last night, the fleeting glimpses of motion out the corner of his eye have Piotr occasionally stopping on his walk and turning to really look.
Just his imagination. Carry on.
It happens a few times before he finds himself coming up on a bend, and he can't keep the surprise off of his face when he nearly walks right into Kitty as she seems to materialize out of nowhere. He'll probably get used to that eventually.
He cracks an odd smile when he stops this time, and Piotr does nothing to discourage the hug. On the contrary, he immediately curls his arms around her shoulders to return it, content to let the silence hang.
*
And hang it does. Kitty's chest rises and falls quickly as she clings to Piotr. She murmurs near nonsense into his chest in indiscernible syllables likely meant to be words. Finally something begins to come together into something akin to actual words, "I… You… blood.. saw…" That makes so much sense. Score one for Kitty Pryde.
*
Just like that, the smile is gone.
With a wince, Piotr does not try to dislodge Kitty from her hold on him, but he does see if he can't lower himself down into a kneel in front of her. Easier for her to look him in the eye that way. "I am alright, Katya," he says quickly. "I did not realize — I did not know that you saw," he admits, expression pained.
*
Those breaths continue to burn at Kitty's throat in gulps of oxygen that won't be easily tamed. When Piotr manages to get at eye level, her eyes blink hard, fighting that burning sensation behind them as she nods some semblance of understanding. Her heartbeat, however, continues to thump, and it's hard to let herself really calm from the pounding in her chest. "What… why… what…" thoughts still won't come in complete sentences, possibly because they are such a jumble on their own.
*
"Izvinitye — I am so sorry," Piotr says tightly, one hand coming up to rest gently against Kitty's cheek. Timidly, he admits "I was hoping you had not. I did not want to undo what good came from our drive." Mission very much not accomplished. Damn it.
"Katya. I am okay," Piotr repeats, raising his eyebrows for emphasis. Of course, the rest is… less reassuring, and he seems aware of that. "…it was Logan. I believe the favor was called in."
*
A few distinct trembles can be felt underneath Piotr's hand, but blinking seems to keep any other emotions at bay. Of course, this is far too much blinking to be normal. Blink. Blink. Blink.
"G-glad… you.. okay…" the feel of the sword in her grasp runs over her mind. It's weight. It's balance. It's sharpness.
But the notion of Logan's favour being called in pulls her out of the comfort provided by that particularly unsettling weapon. "What. What!" her eyes widen. "The demon?! The favour? What happened?!"
*
"I am not sure. I do not think Logan was in control of himself," Piotr says tiredly, leaving his hand against her cheek. She seems to be gaining some of her composure back — comparatively speaking — but he's not ready to take it back. "But he was compelled to do… that, to himself. I think he was lucky Strange was there to stop the bleeding." Which he finds all kinds of unsettling. Bleeding is not normally something one worries about being too much for Logan.
Again, Piotr's eyes glance over her shoulder to look in the direction of the city, his lips forming a thin line. "Central Park was… something opened there. And we were unable to close it."
*
Kitty's lips part wordlessly."Wait. What. Logan is… Logan." Her eyes narrow. "Bleeding out was… a concern?" Not that does worry the brunette, evidenced by her teeth worrying her bottom lip. But then the idea that something was opened has her body stiffening. Her shoulders ache with unyielding tension. "What do…." her eyes blink. "Opened? What kind of…" her eyebrows draw together "…thing was opened…?"
*
"He is. He is also in medbay," which is not a sentence Piotr ever expected to be uttering about the Wolverine, and yet here he is. Slowly, he lets his hand fall to rest against her shoulder. After his conversation with his sister's mentor, he refuses to actually utter the demon's name or even think it particularly loudly… so his brow creases slightly as he tries to figure out how to phrase things.
"Illyana said it was an avatar of… of the demon who made the deal," Piotr says slowly, mouth twisting to one side. "I do not know that word. But it was not alone. And I do not think things will stop coming through until Illyana and her mentor find some way to seal it."
*
Kitty reaches up to squeeze the hand on her shoulder, finally drifting back to a sense of place. Shock writes over Kitty's face as her head lifts to finally look outwards. "Where?" her eyes widen, "And what things?" Her fingertips lift to Piotr's cheek, "More demons?"
*
"Da. And I am fairly certain that my sister saved us from vampires," Piotr rumbles quietly, his expression… odd. It's all so surreal and strange and, if he allows it to be, almost… funny. He sighs and leans his cheek into her fingers. "I can show you where." No protests about it being too dangerous for her or anything of the sort. He knows how capable she is.
*
Kitty's nose wrinkles. "Vampires. Of course." The implausibility of the thing doesn't even register on Kitty's face. "Vampires?" she repeats as the thought begins to really find weight in her mind. "We need to… we need to go. If that thing can't be sealed — there's a lot of people around. They need to be helped — "
*
"We are not the only heroes in New York, Katya," Piotr says gently, and it's his other hand that finds its way to her cheek this time. "And what happened was… it did not go unnoticed. Even the police are warning people away." He tilts his head slightly to one side, pensive. "…I am not suggesting we do not go out there to try and help. But we do not have to rush."
*
The hand at Kitty's cheek is leaned into and her free hand comes up to press against it. There's a weird pull of her lips, an indiscernible thought that crosses over her features. "But," she bites her lip nervously, "vampires we can do something about." Her nose wrinkles and she sniffs hard. Her jaw tightens beneath the touch, a sign that she is actually thinking through things. "I need my sword," she observes as if she hadn't been thinking of it for the last twenty-four hours. "And we need to get the others. We need to organize and banish these hell spawn back to where they came from — "
*
Quietly, Piotr studies her face, seeming pensive. Of course she has a sword. All the women in his life have swords, it seems, so why shouldn't she. Just… just roll with it. He gives a very slow nod in response, taking a deep breath before he interrupts her as gently as he can. "Katya. One thing at a time. Where is your sword?"
*
Kitty has reconnected.
*
Kitty has partially disconnected.
*
Kitty's plans move quicker than she utters them, which is why it takes her a moment to register that Piotr has said her name. Her chin lifts slightly, and she pats the hand still at her cheek. "Illinois," she answers quietly. "In mom and dad's front closet. I left it there when — " she went to Louisiana. "I got it in Japan. From — " she turns pensive and ponders explaining the entire sordid affair with Ogun. Instead, she lands on, " — my travels." Although it's pretty obvious there's a lot more to that story.
*
Judging by the particular way Piotr's lips quirk and the set of his brow… yes, it is pretty obvious. But he does not seem inclined to press her for details — at least, not right now.
"Then I suppose we need to go to Illinois," Piotr replies lightly, glancing down for a moment before he tries to rise back to his feet. "It is not as though we have not been meaning to."
*
"Yes! We need to go to Illinois to get my sword," Kitty agrees wholeheartedly. She pauses and her body freezes momentarily — seconds after which her expression turns a bit pained, "Only, we should probably try to make sure mom and dad don't actually see me take it. I suspect that it'll be on the news cycle soon enough." She cringes slightly. "I know I can handle a lot, but it's in their best interest that they don't know what I actually do handle. When I have to." Her lips purse.
*
Piotr gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I can be very distracting," he promises, offering her a faintly lopsided smile as he leans down to kiss her on the forehead. "And you can walk through walls. It will be fine."