goawayleavemealone

He wakes with a start, his eyes darting around the room quickly, and then falling on Kitty, still asleep with her head on his chest.

He blinks, looks around again, and frowns as the events of the day before come back to him.

What had began a simple phone call to check up on an old flame had turned into him inviting her to run away to London, and her confessing that she thinks they belong together.

Which is terrifying, brilliant, and probably short-lived.

She'd promised the night before that she wouldn't hurt him again, and he wants to believe that, but he knows that jumping into this so soon after she was supposed to marry Piotr Rasputin is playing with a very specific kind of fire.

It's hard to ignore how good it feels to have her so close though. He lays back, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the last time they were like this. it was so long ago, before things had gone south. By that point, they'd been sleeping on opposite sides of the bed, barely touching.

But before all that...when things were good?

Things were really good.

It's painful to admit how much he's thought about being able to do this with her again; how pathetic it makes him that he kept missing this.

He closes his eyes and tries not to think about it.

Current Mood: thoughtful

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

enduring_pryde

"Nothing. But marriage would make my name Katherine Anne Pryde Wisdom."

From:

goawayleavemealone

He stares at her for a long moment, before starting to laugh. It's soft at first, and then gets a little louder and he rubs his eyes, unable to stop.

From:

enduring_pryde

She watches him for a full minute before she says "You can go ahead and stop now. Really?" She rolls her eyes. "How is that even funny?"

From:

goawayleavemealone

"S'just-" He sighs heavily and gets a hold of himself.

"It's the least complicated reason to get married I've ever head," he tells her. "And...and life - specifically our lives - are much more complicated than that, love." He grins at her a little. "But...yeah. A'right. If you're that set on it...this works out with us, then...sure. One day we can get married."

From:

enduring_pryde

"Okay. I'll take that." For now. But married before she was forty for sure. "What do you think of us having kids? I mean, at least you're getting acclimated to them from Maggie Braddock. And I'm pretty sure any of ours wouldn't advance so quickly, neither of us being a magical being, but just a pair of Mutants." Which meant a good chance of having a child that would have the X-gene, but it rarely expressed itself before puberty.

From:

goawayleavemealone

It's hardly the mutant thing he's worried about with having children.

Sure it's a concern, but it's not-

"I never really thought about bein' a dad," he admits. "Bringin' more Wisdoms into the world doesn't exactly sound like a very good idea, considering all of the rampant asinine mental illnness runnin' through the family gene pool."

From:

enduring_pryde

"Which can be helped with upbringing, therapy, and if necessary medication, so there are ways around that too." She smiles softly. "I'm just thinking, with Brian and Meg having a kid, and you are seeing less of the field now, this gives us an interesting opportunity." Marriage and children had been on her mind for some time. There was a good reason why she ended up being engaged twice.

From:

goawayleavemealone

He opens his mouth and then closes it.

A mutant kid is one thing. That's hard enough. A mutant kid who will be in and out of therapy their whole life, on and off medications, adjustment after adjustment, just like Pete's mother went through her whole life, trying to wrangle an unruly, unhealthy and unhelpful mind.

"I need to think about it more," he says quietly.

From:

enduring_pryde

She nods. "I understand." She closes her eyes. "I had a very vivid dream. Us, married for twenty years, with an eighteen year old child. And it was one of the most loving things I have ever felt. Who knows if it was real," as vivid future dreams sometimes happened to her for a multitude of reasons, "but it felt real and it felt right. And if it is? We really have nothing to worry about."

From:

goawayleavemealone

It sounds...

Perfect.

It sounds perfect, and perfect doesn't happen to him.

He doesn't trust perfect and he doesn't trust fate. Everything can change in an instant. One decision, one choice could change any future forever.

He takes a breath and slides out of bed, headed for the bathroom. "Gonna get ready for work."

From:

enduring_pryde

She recognises the look he gives her all to well. She catches his hand to give it a squeeze before he can get himself out of bed. Pete didn't think he was deserving of anything, much less happiness. It was meant for everyone but him.

Well she wasn't going anywhere. When he wasn't over-thinking--a tendency that they both had--things were perfect. And he would begin to see. What changes he had already made to his life spoke of a very competent, caring, and kind man. He was a leader without making a big deal about it, or showing any insecurities about sharing the leadership role with Captain Britain. She thinks a moment to when Scott and Ororo faced each other to lead the X-Men. And Ororo bested him, without any powers. Scott had showed some ugly traits of leadership that day: jealously, short-sidedness, being unable to compromise. And not long after that he walked out on his wife and child to create X-Factor with the original X-Men, including Jean Grey, whom he thought was dead. Toxic masculinity, toxic behaviour, and really a coward. Scott showed that behaviour a lot more times in the years that followed.

Kitty knew she couldn't be married to someone deep within that life. It actually showed signs of a cult in some ways. The leadership had dwindled throughout the years. They had no mandate to follow. In many ways, they had become a self-fulfilling prophecy and the biggest threat to them were themselves.

"One day, you will see just how much good you deserve in your life," she says, not caring if Pete hears her or not.

From:

goawayleavemealone

He doesn't hear her, opting for a freezing cold shower to clear his head. He feels a little like he can't breathe with her here, asking these questions no one had ever posed, or hadn't posed in so long it didn't matter.

He doesn't have any answers.

He comes out shortly after, wearing a towel, to get dressed.

"You wanna make coffee here, or you wanna go out for it?" he asks. "We could stop by the Bake shop again if you like." He pulls clean clothes from the closet, looking at his ties for a moment, before pulling out a blue one.

From:

enduring_pryde

"Sounds great! Let's go out for it," she says, smiling softly and going to take her own shower.

After her shower she touches up on her nail polish on her fingers and toenails and walks back out, body and hair wrapped in two towels. "I'll be ready in about five minutes." She goes to the guest room and dresses in the clothes she had set out the night before. She comes back dressed in a dark blue blouse, charcoal grey slacks, and black flats. "Oh I like your tie."

From:

goawayleavemealone

He nods as he adjusts his tie. "Bake shop it is." He grins at her gratefully. "Suppose you weren't around when I started wearing actual colors."

From:

enduring_pryde

"No. That came after my time." She grabs her computers, notes, and purse. "I like that it matches your eyes." Pete's eyes being her favourite trait. They always told her what his mindset really was.

It was making her feel a bit giddy that he was hers again, in some way. And yet they could also take things slow. The need for sex wasn't quite there. She was satisfied by the other acts of physical intimacy. How he kept rubbing her back the night before had felt so nice. She wanted more cuddles and to be held. She was also suspecting that he was feeling as fragile as she did, so taking it slow was of great benefit to them both.

From:

goawayleavemealone

He hadn't noticed the tie matching his eyes. Not that he pays attention to those kinds of things. Ever. He looks down at the time and shrugs. "Right."

He rests a hand on her lower back as they head for the door.

"Another fun-filled, thrilling day at the office," he jokes.

From:

enduring_pryde

She just smiles.

"Hey, I had fun yesterday. And today maybe we can find out where our furry friends came from. But first coffee. And I have a hankering for a Chelsea Bun."

From:

goawayleavemealone

He nods and kisses her cheek before heading out the door. "Then let's get you a Chelsea Bun."

From:

enduring_pryde

She reaches for his hand. "Are there any members of the X-Men whom you would be okay with me consulting? I'm thinking Rachel, Yana, Kurt, and Doug."

From:

goawayleavemealone

"S'fine," Pete says as they head out. "Just let me know. It's gotta go through official channels with a short vetting process and notes for the home office."

From:

enduring_pryde

"Yes. I'm going to say those four. Ray and Doug can help us communicate with them and Kurt and Yana are both good with stealth. I'll write something up for you when we get to the office."

From:

goawayleavemealone

Pete nods. "Be good to work with Wagner again. I know Meg an' Brian'll be happy about him and Summers."

From:

enduring_pryde

"Yes it would. And Rachel is Rachel Grey now. Code-named Prestige." She grins and glances at him. She definitely has plans.

From:

goawayleavemealone

"Well, we dodged a bullet with that one," Pete says. "I was a bit worried my superiors were gonna see the name 'Summers' an' have a meltdown. Cyclops still isn't terribly popular in these parts."