Summary:Doug and Kitty prank each other, and then have pot brownies Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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"… diced cabbage in dressing! Eh?-
"Eh?" Douglas says, the second one directed at his phone curiously as it goes dark before he has a chance to hang up. Hitting the power button brings nothing at first, but then it brings the boot up screen. Phone must have crashed mid-call or something.
The phone boots up, and as soon as the boot up is finished, rather than the normal boot screen there is instead this image:
https://zipfm.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/59ad5e947989cb6e5118495815213c08-420x420.png
Attempts to unlock the phone seem to fail. It isn't even recognizing the attempt to unlock it. After a half-dozen attempts, the picture on the screen changes. It's still the same image, but now there's a dialogue bubble that says: "Say my name."
When Doug finally gets around to saying outloud, "Hello Kitty" the phone unlocks as if by voice recognition, and immediately dials Kitty Pryde.
The connection is made as Kitty's phone picks up. "Why did the chicken cross the road?" she asks him into the phone.
There aren't many people who could do that to Doug Ramsey's phone, period. Really, just Kitty, since she's familiar with his favorite tricks and programming code.
At the moment, he's sitting in his apartment, with an ice-pack on his shoulder from having given it a bit of a wrench while he was moving some stuff into the Makerspace downstairs - who knew that a 3D printer could be so HEAVY?
"…To get away from my terrible jokes?" He asks, his eyebrows going up. He pulls a trick of his own, though, just because response demands response in kind, and the icon that's attached to his saved number in Kitty's phone changes to a smiley-face emoji with crossed eyes, spectacles, and a bow-tie.
Kitty lets out a warm laugh as she sees her icon for Doug change, appreciating that he was able to get through her own security on her phone. "Nice. But, no, to talk to the guy who got pranked back," Kitty says through the phone. She's breathing a little hard from the sound of it, odd.
Kitty isn't done with the call though. She continues with that old classic way of starting off jokes. "Knock knock."
"…Who's there?" Doug asks, apparently unafraid to see where this rabbit hole goes. He shifts the way his icepack is sitting on his shoulder.
There's a sudden knock at Doug's door, and then Kitty sticks her face through to reply, "The chicken!" She gives a warm giggle and then steps through, turning her phone off and slipping it in a pocket as she moves over to Doug. "Get it. The chicken went to see the guy who got pranked back?" she says, holding out her arms and wiggling her fingers towards him as if to get some much deserved applause for that bad joke.
Kitty's grinning ear to ear though, and not for the joke, as she moves over to Doug. She'll offer him a gentle hug, the gentleness due to the icepack she spots. "You can thank Illyana for the teleport to your door in time to pull that off," she says. "God it's great to see you again!"
When Kitty shows up, Doug startles - but only briefly. "I should've known." Then he's flinging his arm - the left one, since he's juggling the icepack on his right shoulder around Kitty. He has a Valerian and Laureline comic open in front of him on the coffee table, in French, and he was listening to the Boss on vinyl - some would call Doug a hipster, but he always did just see himself as enjoying the finer things in life.
"Whoa-a-a-a." He says, "A surprise visit!" He looks around, at his mostly-clean apartment, and says, "…I would've thrown some stuff around and made the place feel cozy if I'd known you were coming by! Speaking of, tell the Demon Queen I found a Russian bakery that makes Zefir, and I bought a bunch of it as a surprise for her. Or, well, maybe don't, since it's supposed to be a surprise." He pauses. "Ah - she's living here. Sort of. Did she not tell you? I meant to tell you."
"She mentioned, yes," Kitty says. "I'd been meaning to come by but I've been getting settled and…" and dealing with her own Russian issue. Though she doesn't say that. "… and getting everything ready to go for school at NYU," she tells him.
Through all of that, Kitty is just hugging him. It's been WAY too long and so he gets about a 20 seconds hug before she finally lets him go. "God I've missed you," she says again. Kitty runs her fingers through her hair. "Could have used you earlier today. Illyana and I drove back some demonic hordes invading the city through a portal. There were actually a lot of costumed people there. Illyana sensed it from a distance, guess it must have triggered a lot of magic senses."
Doug quirks his mouth, and then he absently drops his good arm across Kitty's shoulders. "Ah, heh." He says, "Well, I wish I'd been there! I caught the tail end of it on the news, but I'd been moving in some equipment downstairs, then putting together a 3-D printer… then doing a little impromptu electrical work when the 3-D printer blew out a breaker when I fired it up."
He glances at Kitty sidelong, and then says, "You look great." He gets up, and says, "You want something to drink? I want something to drink I think" He opens his ancient green fridge, and then peers out of it. "…NYU, huh? Let's see, I've got… mineral water, some Buratino but that's Illyana's… honestly I don't have *anything* exciting since I still run on the school's diet plan, and I eat out on cheat day"
He blinks once, twice. "…What else did she tell you?"
The brunette gives a warm smile at the compliment. "Thank you. Was working out pretty hard with my team in the UK," she tells him. Kitty is looking good too. She's matured physically since she left Westchester as a sixteen-year-old. The two years have definitely done well for her.
"Water is fine," Kitty confirms as she drifts over with Douglas. At his tone, her arms cross and she gives him a knowing look. "What else are you worried that she told me? You know she's my bestie. Might as well just tell me yourself and get it over with," Kitty tells him, holding onto that knowing look.
Doug rolls his eyes away, and then gets out a bottle of mineral water - again, in Russian - and passes it to Kitty, before he grabs one of his own. He opens it, and then says, "Weeeeeeeeeeelllll that's kind of a long story and it's not so much what she told you as what her gigantic overprotective brother might've found out, before I have time to storyboard a plan that will protect me from being *pasted* by him—"
Doug takes a pull from his bottle of water and closes the fridge. The years have done well by him, too. He always was a scholar-athlete in addition to being an all-round polymath, but now he's stocky and strong. The Xavier School exercise program may have made him the most athletic I.T. guy in the city.
"…We maybe kinda sorta have a 'thing' going on? I mean, maybe? I don't really know? It's hard to tell with Illyana until she tells you so? I mean, I've known her for forever, and she showed up, but I would never *dream of*-"
Kitty Pryde gasps and gives Doug a shove in a shoulder. The not-injured one. "Doug! Are you doing the deed with my best friend!?" she asks. Ok, she kind of guessed that's where he was going, but it won't stop her from giving him a hard time about it.
"You two would be good together," Kitty says, smiling to Doug and letting him off the hook. At least with herself. "Pete… I don't really know how he would take that news, to be honest. I think if she put him in his place it would be ok, but… you might to let her do the talking to him on that one," Kitty concludes. She's grinning though at the mention of two her of best friends getting together.
For a moment Doug looks like a deer in the headlights. "What? *NO*!" He says, shaking his head, and gesturing with his bottle of water. "We have absolutely not…"
He sighs. "We made out a little bit, that's *it*. Illyana, she- you know…" He looks sheepish. "Funny how I'm the Master of Language and I don't have the words to talk about this. I just want her to be *happy*, you know?"
Then he murmurs, "I'm a little worried about him deciding to pay a call on me before she has the chance to do that. Doesn't matter if she does rule her own little slice of Hell, she'll always be his Snowflake, and me, I'm so very *squishable*. Right?"
Poor Doug. And Kitty doesn't offer much help there as she gives a vigorous nod to his squishability. "Yeah. He's -really- strong," she agrees, the girl's brown eyes twinkling just a little bit as she pours it on for Doug. She smiles and reaches over to pat his arm though. "Just tell him how much you care about her and how you'd never want to hurt her. I think he'd be ok with that," Kitty says.
She pulls her hand back, crossing her arms. "And, it's not like he has any kind of high ground when it comes to suave handling of relationships," Kitty says with a soft harrumph. "I'm happy for you though, I hope you two keep hitting it off," Kitty says.
She glances around the room. "Looks like you have yourself quite the setup going here then," she tells him as she takes a sip of her mineral water.
"Well I mean, did she *say* anything?" Doug says. "I mean, you know Illyana, she plays things close to her chest, and I can get a general read on her emotions, but that's not the same thing as her just telling me things." He exhales, and then looks around. "Huh? Oh, the apartment, yeah."
"Well, when I graduated, I decided I needed some money. So I got a job working for SHIELD as an Analyst, and it turns out that with my mutant power I could command a pretty high price. But, you know, I may have dabbled in the stock market for about a week…" Doug looks sheepish, and then says, "But I quit doing it, because it felt like cheating. So I used the money I made and bought this building, fixed up the upstairs…" He shifts the icepack on his shoulder and then stifles a wince. Banged it up pretty good.
"I wanted to get out of Salem Center. Too close to home, and mom and dad quit talking to me when I outed myself." As a Mutant, he means.
Kitty Pryde winces at the news about Doug's parents. "I'm sorry about that," she tells him in a tone of sympathy. It seems like every mutant has their tales of anti-mutant sentiment, and too many of them hit that close to home. Her own parents seem to accept her as far as anyone at the school knows.
Kitty gives Doug a little shake of her head then. "Actually… ah… she showed up when I was kind of emotional about Pete," Kitty says delicately. "So we… didn't end up talking about too much more than that. And then the whole hell portal thing and… I never /did/ get my sandwich!" she exclaims. "Well, anyway, no, we hadn't had a chance to really talk about it. I just wanted to hear it from you," Kitty says with a soft grin.
Doug sighs, and says, "Well, it's a lot." He says. "Honestly I think it was less that I was a mutant and more that they had my life all planned out for me. Go on mission, then to law school, join the family practice… that's the problem of being the son of two Mormon lawyers." He shakes his head. "But having had a taste of this *incredible* life… who could just throw it away?"
He gives Kitty a flat look, and then says, "Well you pried it outta me. And wouldn't THAT get me in good graces with my parents."
"Hey mom, hey dad," He says, before he walks to the couch and drops down next to Kitty with a flop, "I met this really *great* girl, and she comes with her own *army of demons*!" But then he grins. "The demons don't bother me. They tried to eat Hercules," He gestures to his tortoise, "But he bit one really hard so now they're all afraid of him."
Kitty Pryde takes a sip of her mineral water. "Yeah, the whole… hell dimension thing sort of returns religion on its head a little bit," Kitty says. Her hand goes to the necklace around her neck from which hangs a Star of David. Though the realities of Illyana's existence haven't seemed to alter Kitty's faith at all.
Kitty smiles over to Doug and says, "Well, I hope it works out between you. If you she asks I'll definitely give you the Kitty Pryde stamp of endorsement." She grins over to her fellow hacker. "And she could use someone like you in her life, more," Kitty concludes. "She's kind of closed off to a lot of the world, I think. There's only a few she's open with. Wouldn't hurt if she had more people in that circle."
"Well I mean I'm not really a religious guy." Doug admits. "…I mean rationally I KNOW there are dimensions and… eh, beings out there. But I put my faith in my friends, first." Doug shifts his ice-pack again, and says, "That and I figured out at about thirteen that LDS just… eh, wasn't for me."
Then he says, "See, the problem is, she and I interpret the same evidence in completely different ways. She sees how she's continually tempted by the darkness. I see that whenever she's been faced with a choice, she's always chosen *us*. You know that, and I know that, but she can't relax her vigil. But, that's why she needs people who care about her, right?"
Then Doug says, "And I do admit, I do like how dangerous she is. I *think* I might be an adrenaline junkie, Kitty."
Kitty holds her feet out to the side, one after the other, and lets her shoes fall through her intangible feet to remove them, then rests her feet up on the coffee table as she gets comfortable. "Yes, but it's a battle for her, Doug. Just because she's won in the past, doesn't mean she's pre-ordained to win the future. She can't look at it like that. She has to meet that darkness and defeat it. Every. Single. Day."
Kitty's words are spoken with a noticeable determination to them, that sounds less a reflection on the matter, and more like she's relating something she's familiar with. Which might strike Doug as odd.
"But yes, she does need those of us who care about her. And support her. And who will give her strength to hold that at bay," Kitty agrees, reaching over and squeezing Doug's good shoulder. "Another way that you're good for her."
Doug gives a little smile. "She's worried that I might wind up corrupted by the things around her. It's kind of sweet, really, that she cares. I mean, I'm no saint." Doug says, before he grabs the remote and turns the TV on to the news, discussing what happened earlier. As a stoned-looking bystander gives his account, Doug says, "See that firefighter right there? Illyana should drop in on him, there's a demon trying to possess him. …I think. I can see it in the way his body language is off."
Then he glances at Kitty and he gives a little smile. "I once promised that if you needed me, I'd be there. And, well… that goes for everybody. I'm an only child. You and the… what'd you call us? X-Babies? You're all my *family*."
Kitty Pryde covers up her face as Doug brings up that moniker and she gives a sight. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?" she says, shaking her head. "Sorry, you know I'm sorry… I was just upset and… it was about being demoted after being on the team for so long already… not a statement on you guys. I mean, it was but it wasn't because of you, it was just me lashing out. Not an opinion about any of you," she says.
Kitty has made this apology a dozen times. And probably will have to a dozen more, even if people just bring it up to get under her skin. It works. "But you are family," she tells Doug in agreement as she sits back in the couch, crossing her arms.
Doug quirks his mouth and he says, "Well, YOU aren't the one who said 'Hey everybody, don't tell Ramsey he's a mutant'. I swear to god I have not forgotten my vow to put a whoopie cushion in Xavier's wheelchair. One day, *one day* I will get the chance to get one minute alone with it in a moment where that man can't read my mind, and bam. Whoopie cushion."
Doug pounds his fist into the palm of his hand. "Gonna get him."
Kitty Pryde holds up her hands as if distancing herself from that part. "You're correct there. Though, he thought it was doing you a favor. We didn't know the school there was still a problem," Kitty says, sighing. "We really should go burn that Club to the ground some day though."
Okay, not really. She doesn't mean that, he'd likely know. But it sure would be satisfying if they did. Kitty takes a sip of her mineral water. "So. It's good to be back," she says softly. "Things are… ah… looking up a little bit and all. I wasn't really sure what to expect," she says.
"Well, you know. The struggle goes on," Doug muses, as he takes a sip of his mineral water, "And life's not all sunshine and roses. But we find the light where we can. The Makerspace down on the ground level will be open soon, and I would like *you* to maybe find a little time to come in and maybe do some technology workshops. You always were better with hardware than me."
Then Doug looks straight ahead at the TV, and murmurs, "Honestly I always viewed the Hellfire Club as an indictment of the rich. All that money and power and all they can think of to do with it is dress up in BDSM gear and outfits that look like they were ordered by throwing darts at the International Male catalog." He wrinkles his nose.
Then he glances at Kitty. "…I know he thought he was doing me a favor. Still." He puts his hands over his mouth, and maes a *Thbbbbbrrrrt* noise. "…You in?"
"You bet. Who all are you planning to open it up to? Is it mostly the mutants here in town?" she asks. "I'll be starting up at NYU when the new semester starts. So my schedule will be dependent on that. But we can fit some in," Kitty says.
She takes a sip of her mineral water and glances around. "So you're all rich now, and I'm bumming boxes of cereal from the school kitchen. Knew I should have stuck around here for school," she says with a laugh. "Not that I have any regrets. I -loved- Oxford," she says.
Doug looks sheepish. "My powers have — grown. All kinds of patterns, puzzles, I can just… I can see and interact with the way things stick together. It's got its downsides. Sometimes I disassociate, or I get overstimulated and start shutting things — and people out. But I'm aware of it and I take steps to control it."
He moves to give Kitty a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. "I'm not rich. I made some money, and then I used it. I'm not out to be a billionaire. But I mean — I guess —" He seems to be at a loss for words.
Kitty Pryde grins over to Doug. "I'm just kidding. I think it's great you did well for yourself," she tells him. "And that you're doing this with it, as well. Doing something to help others." She reaches up and rests her hand on his where it sits on her shoulder, squeezing his hand back. "And if you get that way and need help pulling you out, you know I'll be there. You've always meant a lot to me. That's not changed," Kitty tells him.
She pats his hands before pulling her own away. "I think I grew up a lot in my time away. Just, being on my own. And also forming my own team. Kind of forced me to grow up," she says. "Which I'd always wanted. Um, you know what I mean," she says, not wanting to revisit the X-babies comment. "But… it's given me some perspective now. And it's good to be back with everyone."
"…Pot brownies help." Doug says. He pauses, and then says, out of the corner of his mouth, "I have a *prescription*." Then he says… "Ah… hm. …You wanna have a brownie and then play Mario Kart?" He jerks his chin toward the TV.
Kitty perks up at the mention. "Um… ok. I haven't really had any before, so this should be interesting," she tells him. "And Mario Kart, of course," she says with a laugh. There isn't a video game yet that Kitty and Doug haven't mastered, probably flipping the score on if the game doesn't go high enough. And so the rest of the afternoon is spent.
…Illyana will probably find them both passed out on the couch. Which, to be fair, probably won't annoy her that much.