4113/Hilly Run!

Hilly Run!
Date of Scene:	13 November 2020
Location:	Upstate New York
Synopsis:	Alex and Kitty meet unknowingly out on a run. Kitty is flabbergasted at the existence of a /Second Summers/. With eyes she can see.
Cast of Characters:	Alex Summers, Kitty Pryde

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Alex Summers has posed:
The thing about upstate New York? Trees. Lots and lots of trees. Alex had veered off the main road and up onto a hill in a path that looks well trod and challenging enough to get his blood pumping. Its well used because plenty of people from the school use it, but he doesn't know that. Instead his toes are digging into tree roots and stuff to propel himself up the first hill and atop of it to look down to see where the trail winds. "Crud." This looks...rough. But the younger Summers isn't inclined to give up and keeps going and like some taunting mario-kart racer a la Princess Peach, Kitty's bouncing ponytail off in the distance gives him something to strive to catch up to.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The weather is cold enough that Kitty is wearing tights for her run, with a light grey sweatshirt whose lettering is faded, but not so much that one can't make out it's a Chicago Bears sweatshirt, if a well-worn one.

Each breath comes out as a mist as she runs along the familiar trail. She'd intended a harder workout, but others had the Danger Room booked. Kitty's work on her new training program would have to wait. And the roads and trails of Westchester offered challenges of their own, if not quite what she'd been looking for.

She runs on, ponytail bobbing back and forth with the movement of her steady running. She crosses the low spot between two hills, then pushes herself up to the top, breathing more heavily by the time she crests the hill.

Alex Summers has posed:
Alex loses sight of Kitty after she crests a hill and he just makes the valley between them. Then feet catch and dig to carry him up the side of the hill in a flurry just as Kitty makes the gap between them. Alex propels himself nearly too fast down the side of that hill, his commotion a loud ruckus that is only accented by his notifying her of his presence purposefully with a panted "Behind you."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The sound of scrambling footsteps behind her alerts Kitty in about the same moment as the man's voice. She's startled briefly, and reflexively phases even if it isn't apparent to anyone else, though only until she's turned and sees just a jogger, heading down the trail behind her and thoughtfully letting her know he's there.

She regains her solidity, and moves over to the side of the trail rather than running in the middle of it as she was. The hill is leveling out then, the trail entering a flatter area, or at least much more gently rolling than the steeper hills they've just been on.

Kitty glances back over her shoulder again briefly to get a better look at the man. There's something familiar about him, but Kitty can't quite to place him anywhere. A few years older than her, blond hair. Why does he look familiar!?

Alex Summers has posed:
That stubbornly set jawline, currently facing the opposition of nature is probably what is most familiar, his eyes the least. Nobody /ever/ sees Scotts eyes. "Rough trail, huh?" His words puffed out as he finds himself pacing beside her instead of outdistancing her. He had thrown on a thermal henley for some university /way/ out on the West Coast. Sweatpants and roughed up sneakers. Once they pass the last hill and find level ground, the man seems far more content to just pace with her still. His breathing settles once more into a measured pace.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty keeps a steady pace, having reminded herself not to try to speed up and race him like so many people are prone to doing. Though it's not long before he seems to have fallen into pace beside her.

The jogging girl glances over again, finding herself in that predicament where you know you're on the verge of remembering or recognizing someone, yet it still eludes you where you know them from. "The hills are, lots of roots to watch for," she tells him, able to carry on the conversation while running, a testament to her fitness. "It's not as bad, this part. Long as it hasn't rained and gotten it muddy," she says. Thankfully that's not the case for today.

She glances over again. "Ah... ok you look really familiar to me but I can't place you or remember a name," she says. "And, no that's not a line!" she adds with a warm laugh.

Alex Summers has posed:
"I don't come up this way too often. Every other weekend?" Alex pants back to her until he has recovered enough to truly give her a conversation while they jog. He'll glance over at her a few times with a widening smirk, the delayed pace of speaking granting him time to be witty. "You're someone I'd definitely remember meeting. And no, thats not a line." He'll tease her back.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The nineteen year old keeps up the pace, it being one she can keep up for a half dozen miles, which is what the length of the run she'd planned is set to be. At his comment she looks over and gives Alex a bit of a warm smile for the compliment. "It's a good one though if it were," she says with a laugh.

The path is wide enough for two people in most places, with occasional brushes with bushes here or there where it might narrow just slightly. "Hmm. Well, maybe just my mind playing tricks on me then," she tells him. "So you come out here for a jog, or just getting in a run while you're in the area?" she asks, breath making visible mist in the cool November air.

Alex Summers has posed:
"I'll remember to use it again the next time we go huffing and puffing on the same trail. *After* I see some sort of ID, young lady." Alex teases Kitty as they bump elbows to squeeze through the path and out of the way of bushes. "I'm up here visiting family. I go to school down in The City." The City, being New York City. The phrasing in this state always makes it obvious just which city is THE City. "I usually swim. But uh, I don't wanna be an icicle."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty turns her shoulders to the side so they can both fit through the narrow spot on the path, then turns back to continue jogging forward, her ponytail swaying back and forth in time to her footfalls. "Yes, a bit late for swimming. Short of a indoor pool, or at least a heated one," she agrees.

Kitty glances over again at Alex, gauging his age perhaps, and seeing if he has any kind of school logo on his shirt. "In the city? Where at exactly? Columbia? Empire State? NYU?" she asks. She looks like she might be a freshman or so herself. Fit enough that one might not be too surprised to find her out jogging on the trails on a cool November day. "I like the city, but I do find Westchester to be about the right pace for me, too. Though I am in the city quite a bit, working a couple of contract jobs there."

Alex Summers has posed:
"Ya'know..I hadn't checked." Alex muses to himself momentarily, not speaking directly to her. "Uhhh. NYU. I've got a small apartment a bit away from campus. Takes a good twenty minutes to get in on the subway. I graduated from Old Landon. Double majored, Archaeology and Geology. I'm trying to get a masters in Geophysics now." LOT of talking for a man trying to keep up with a woman who is clearly better accustomed to this running.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
If he is looking, he might note the smile that Kitty gets as she hears about the double major. "That is a great combination. A lot of interesting things you could do with those degrees," the young woman comments to him.

Their strides are slowly eating up the trail, which is leading back to Greymalkin Lane. "I spent quite awhile trying to decide if I wanted to do grad school or find work," she tells him. Wait, grad school? Is she older than she looks. "In the end some work found me. Though I still haven't closed the door on that decision at all," she tells him. "By the way, I'm Kitty," she offers, turning to flash a smile over to him.

Alex Summers has posed:
"Its a double major that tells everyone who hears it something very specific about me. I like digging." Alex laughs at his own joke as the trail turns through the woods, still flat and the School starts to come up in the distance. "Both is fun. Working and grad school. I still go out on a dig sometimes when they need somewhat skilled hands." Another glance her way, his gaze holding hers in a way that just invents the universe to place a telephone pole in front of him. "I'm Alex."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"Alex," Kitty repeats, and gives him a bit of a soft smile before she has to turn her attention back to the road now that they are jogging along the side of it. "So you know next time you're up this way, if you wanted to go for a run together," she tells him. "Could give you my number," she offers. "Or, well I'm in the city a couple of days a week. Work from home quite a bit, but I make trips in for meetings and face time with people in the office," she says. "Maybe you could show me wherever it is you're doing your swimming?"

Alex Summers has posed:
"Kitty." Alex repeats her name back to her too, and he glances in time NOT to run into the damnable telephone pole that was waiting to make a mockery of him. He scoots sideways and rejoins the jogging Kitty just as they get closer to the front entrance to the School. "Sure. I'll get paper or something inside." His thumb hooks over his shoulder towards the school behind him. "This uhhh, is me."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
There's a small, but warm grin given as Alex deftly avoids kissing the telephone pole. She moves to the side a bit more to give him some more room, her jogging shoes falling on the pavement now as they run along the fence that rings the school, with those gates up ahead.

The younger woman is just starting to nod about getting paper or something, when Alex indicates where he's going to get it. It causes her to slow to a stop rather abruptly, and she glances over towards the gates, and the plaque which says, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

Kitty's head tilts to the side slightly. "Wait, this is you? You don't go here. Or, work here," she says, brow furrowing as Alex puts this conundrum before her.

Alex Summers has posed:
Alex takes his time to look over his shoulder, peering even and takes in the school further. Yup...thats the right sign. Thats the right gate. He'll walk over towards the pedesterian entrance pull out the ID card and press it to the reader for it to whine a moment then unlatch. "My brother lives here, I'm visiting him this weekend." The card lifts up. GUEST. Alexander Summers.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty walks over to the gate with Alex, still peering at him curiously. Right up to when he pulls out the ID card and runs it through the reader to open up the gate. She's pulling out her phone, manipulating it quickly with two thumbs. Pulling up the gate logs to see just who he is.

Though she spies the print on the card even before the results come back. "Alexander Summers," she says, expression curious. "Summers. Brother?" she says as it all hits home. She reaches over and holds up her hand to Alex's eyes, covering them up for a moment so she can see just his face without the eyes. "Oh my god, you're Scott's brother!? No wonder you looked familiar!" she says, pulling her hand back and laughing. "I went to school here. And... I'm actually helping out with guidance counseling. I even filled in for Scott's English Lit classes when he was in Genosha," she says. And then pauses, it sinking in that Alex will know about mutant things as well.

Alex Summers has posed:
Oh. Alex is quite familiar with /all/ of that response. A Summers that isn't so earnest and forthright. He even has the gall to smile and lean forward into the hand to ensure it covers the portion of his face that would be properly obscured by sunglasses. He knows both of these reactions so far. "Yep. Just found him again a few months ago. Well, he found me. The whole...thing." Perhaps *this* Summers had wanted to keep it a bit more hush-hush. "Yeah. Genosha wasn't exactly a summer camp experience, huh?" He stuffs his hands back into his pockets again. "I guess you don't really need my number anymore, huh?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The young woman is practically giggling. "Oh wow. Other than the fact, wouldn't have pegged you as relatives," she says with a grin. She manipulates her phone for just a second and then holds it up, to show it has Alex's phone number on it. "Got it. I'm one of the system administrators," she tells him with a grin.

She looks down at her phone again, looking at the information that was put into the system when he got the ID card. Twenty-four, so she wasn't far off in her guess. She looks back up, pocketing the phone again. "And, you know we do have a heated pool, too," she adds. "Which I guess is why you usually swim up here?"

She moves over to the open gate with him. "Feel like getting a warm drink with me?" she asks.

Alex Summers has posed:
"Well thats something we can both agree on then." Alex and Scott aren't exactly similar in many aspects. "I asked him if he wanted to be the Hardy Boys for Halloween. He asked if I had been talking to Logan." The gate is held open, his arm high so that it will be easier for the shorter Kitty to stride beneath and go inside. Then he follows along after her. "A system administrator? With my phone number? You aren't checking out my computer when I connect to the wifi, are you?" He'll let the warm drink invitation hold for the moment.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde walks in through the gate as Alex holds it for her. "Well, I /haven't/ been," she says in a teasing tone as if that could be about to change now. "Is there anything in that browser history you don't want seen?" she adds, flashing a grin towards Alex. "But yes, Doug and I mainly are the ones who look after the school's systems. Wrote them and built them, largely," she says. "Forge helps with fabrication too, I mostly do the design on the hardware."

She can't help but eye Alex a bit. He's Scott Summers brother! And quite different, so far. "I can't believe I didn't even know you were out there," she tells him. "I've known Scott... well, like six years now," she says.

Alex Summers has posed:
"Then you've known him longer than I have." Alex murmurs in response to Kitty as he lets the gate shut behind them, clacking into place. Hands dump into his pockets as they walk up the main drive towards the school. "Aren't you fancy. I know enough to do my homework, run my tests and the like. And I wouldn't dare use the school's internet for insidious things. You'll have to do better than that to catch me." Heels scuff into gravel alongside the driveway.