5182/He Was a One-Eyed... One-Eyed...

He Was a One-Eyed... One-Eyed...
Date of Scene:	14 February 2021
Location:	Warren's Penthouse
Synopsis:	Scott stops by to talk to Kitty about the explosion at a nearby school, though gets caught up on other situations too.
Cast of Characters:	Kitty Pryde, Scott Summers

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Kitty Pryde has posed:
An unexpected visit to a billionaire's penthouse usually requires jumping through some security hoops. Well, unless Scott planned on flying the Blackbird in. Or getting someone to fly him. Or teleport him. Or... ok there's a LOT of ways Scott could get to Warren's penthouse.

But assuming he came through the building's front door, there was a security check, and a call upstairs to tell them who was there to see them. The guard gets off the phone and tells the other, "Miss Pryde says it's ok to send him on up to the penthouse."

The other guard gives Scott a friendly smile and comes out from behind the counter to walk him over to the elevator that is express to the top. He swipes a security card to unlock the elevator and allow Scott to use it with a, "Enjoy your visit, sir."

Soon the elevator opens up at the penthouse, a chime having sounded to announce its arrival. "Be right there!" Kitty's voice can be heard shouting from somewhere up above. She emerges from a room, pulling her hair into a ponytail, and wearing jeans and a dark polo shirt. She hops over the railing, falling to the floor below, slowing and stopping just above the ground. Then dropping that final few inches as she unphases. Up above, Lockheed flies out of a room and down to join her as Kitty jogs over to the foyer. "Scott!" Kitty says warmly, tossing her arms around him in a hug.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott may not have announced his visit, but it's no surprise he's coming. At least not once he's there anyways. It took a full fifteen minutes just to clear security on the expensive high rise, which isn't really a surprise given who lives her, but he possibly assumed he and Warren were better friends than this.

A quandry from a different day.

He gives the guard a curt nod of appreciation and steps into the elevator, riding it to the penthouse directly.. it's well above anything he himself will ever be able to afford, but he's anything if materialistic. Appreciative of the finer things, perhaps? Sure.

And glad to see his friend.

Smiling gently when Kitty comes jogging in from an adjacent room with Lockheed in tow. "Kitty." He's wearing a brown bomber jacket over a blue wool sweater, dark blue-jeans, and sneakers. His hair, as his hair often is, is short but swept back in curls along his brow as if he need only run his fingers through it to make it look presentable. Finish it off with his usual form fit, ruby quartz glasses.

"You've certainly moved up in the world, huh? Feel like the Jeffersons?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The Jewish girl grins over at Scott. "It's a little bit of a change of pace. Though, I was living in a mansion from age 13 to 16 and again the last year. So I suppose it's kind of a general upwards trend?" she replies to him with a soft laugh.

"Come in. Have you been here before? I actually hadn't," she says. "Oh and sorry if that was slow. I was napping and needed to throw something on, asked the guards down there to stall for me a second," she say with a sheepish smile.

Kitty motions the way forward, while Lockheed flies around Scott in a greeting before moving to land on his normal perch: Kitty's shoulder. "Want something to drink" she asks him. "Warren had some business, I'm not quite sure what time he'll be back," she says.

It hadn't happened with any great fanfare. Maybe Scott had noticed the pair hugging a few seconds longer at the school before Christmas, though nothing more than that. It wasn't until later, when they arrived together in his car for the ski trip, that there started to be signs the pair were together. Until she let the rest of the school staff know she was moving in with him so would have to commute to the school for her part-time guidance counseling job.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott's grin is muted, but genuine. Soft against what people misunderstand about him, in that he's not as hard as they think. Offering open arms for a hug, even, and reaching up to greet Lockheed with a flick of his fingers along the dragons purple wings. "I haven't." Been here. He admits this matter of factly, unsurprising that he's done little outside of the school, right?

Friendship is hard for him.

At least on an emotional, visceral level.

It's fair to say he's been invited and probably agreed that he would come... but just as fair to say it was polite invite and agreement rather than genuine. People have as difficult a time getting to know him as he has letting them.

Introverts right?

An observant introvert.

He'd noticed. Noticed them hugging and getting close. It's part of who he is. Not just as a teacher and friend, but as a leader. He sees things that people don't necessarily realize they're showing others. "I'm very glad for you both." That too sounds genuine. "It's not a problem. I should have phoned ahead that I was coming, I was just in the neighborhood." He wasn't.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde gives a little wave of her hand to dismiss the claim he should have phoned first. "No, not at all," she says. "We're all closer than friends," Kitty says, in a tone as if she's saying that water is up or the sun is warm. Speaking something that is self-evident.

She leads him to the kitchen, stopping in the fridge to pull out two bottles of grape juice and offering one to him. "I first saw it on New Year's Eve," she comments as he has a chance to see the beautiful kitchen before she encourages him along towards the living room.

"Warren had offered at the school, that day he brought the sack full of Christmas presents," Kitty says. Scott had been there in the Rec Room. That was when the hug lingered, though maybe it just happened on its own. "And I was at work on New Year's Eve, switching over to the network I'd installed, and got caught in the blizzard," she says.

Kitty leads Scott over to where he can see the amazing view. "And... ah. Well." She just smiles a bit. "He makes me really happy," she says, crossing her arms as she looks out at the city. "Which, is good, Lockheed would fry him otherwise, right?" she says. The little dragon nods his head emphatically.

Scott Summers has posed:
Quiet footfalls follow along behind Kitty to the kitchen, looking around at the world from behind his ruby red vision. Everything a dark shade of red to him, it paints the world in an odd hue that nobody can appreciate, but he has seen since he was a child after Xavier found him.

Scott nods along with her, remembering the incident she mentioned with another muted smile, and leaning forward onto the counter with both hands to support him. "It's impressive." Whether he means the budding relationship or the penthouse is left undefined.

"If it weren't true, I'm sure your protector would let you know." Cutting a glance over to Lockheed with a knowing smirk before looking back unto Kitty. "Moving in is a pretty big step." Who would he be if he didn't point out, at the very least, the obvious concerns?

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty gives a soft chuckle and nods her head. "Yes, it is. Not one that I'd take lightly. Even if it might appear that way," she says. She opens up her juice, taking a sip of it as she turns back to Scott more fully. There's a fire going in the fireplace nearby, and a blanket on the couch that seems to confirm Kitty's mention of having been napping earlier.

"I don't know, this is my first serious relationship I guess. I mean, other than what never finally went anywhere with Piotr," she says. There hadn't been any fireworks when she'd returned from England. Piotr had been very neutral, might be a good way to put it.

She smiles. "It feels right though. I have a half dozen years of trust in him to build on. And, I know, people worry about the playboy past he has. But that's not who he is anymore," she says.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott listens, if nothing, and nods as appropriate. A brow raised over the gunmetal frame of his glasses sitting tight against he face with those reflect red lenses, "I know you're not impulsive." He assures her, so that there's no misunderstanding as to his earlier comment on how quickly things developed between she and Warren. "And he's rather charming besides."

It's almost humorous to hear himself say it.

Not that he'd laugh.

He has no problem smirking, or shaking his head, at the absurdity of vocalizing that thought. "Trust is a complex thing and one of the foundations of any form of relationship, romantic or otherwise. That you have that foundation to build upon is comforting. For me and, I'm sure, for you both. So I'm confident that you will find happiness with one another, despite past images."

He nods to the juice she's drinking, a quiet request, perhaps.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty had gotten the two bottles from the fridge, pressing the other one on Scott as he seems to desire it. "When someone's saved your life more times than you can count without looking up actual mission reports... yeah. It really does built a level of trust that most relationships could only hope to have," she says.

Kitty glances around the penthouse then. "It's nice living here. I mean, it's gorgeous, who wouldn't like the luxuries of it. But, I'd happily go do a Thoreau and live in a tree if it meant we were together," she says with a blushing smile.

Another sip of the grape juice is taken before Kitty gives a soft, "Ooo, starting to snow again," she says. "You know he's not too affected by the cold. Took me for a flight over Times Square on New Year's Eve." Kitty then laughs at herself. "Sorry. I haven't really talked to too many people about dating him up until now. I guess having an old friend around and the topic at hand..." she says. "I was probably gushing wasn't I?"

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott follows her gaze around the penthouse, then to the window when she mentions it's begun snowing again. His hand had closed around the bottle thrust against his chest and he opens it to take a single drink, casually letting it hang down at his side from the hook of two fingers around the neck. "I've read that." About Warren being less affected by the cold.

His acknowledgements are quiet. He's content to let Kitty talk, it seems. To gush if she desires. That's always been the way with Scott. He doesn't say anything unless there's something to say. Moving with her, both physically around the apartment and conversationally with little nods when she looks his way for confirmation that he's listening.

Assuredly that he is.

"I don't mind." Her gushing? Or being here... "It's been a while since I have had any kind of romantic interests, so I can't say I quite remember what it's like in those first few months. I do recall that it was euphoric." Another drink, again letting it hang down by his left leg. "There's a certain amount of attraction that naturally develops between members of a team. Close proximity, seeing each other in the best and worst of times, and just... fondness. Friendship..." He waves his free right hand circularly away from himself.

"They're catalyst to these feelings." Silence, at least for a second. "Feel free to gush."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty flashes a smile over at him, always ready to inject a little warmth. "You know, that's one thing," she says. "I'm glad I was away for two years." When she was going to school at Oxford, and helping found Excalibur. "And even after I got back, we didn't really see each other. That is, we had that foundation. But it wasn't just a team dynamic that was active, spilling over. It was just... us," she says.

"Ok, enough about that though. You can report back to the Professor I'm doing well though," she says, teasing and probably not thinking Scott is there to check up on her for Professor Xavier. "So what about you? I lost track of you once you got back from Genosha and helping with the refugees," she says. The ones that Magneto had stranded, soon after they'd been rescued from Brainiac.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott snorts into a quiet chuckle, "Charles didn't send me." He assures her, but even him saying it, it's probably hard to believe. When does Scott just pop over for a visit without being given a mission by the Professor? "I realized how long it had been since we talked." This explanation doesn't sound as genuine, but it might be the curl of her brow.

The subtle look of turmoil that momentarily crosses his otherwise stoic features.

After another swallow of juice, he sets the bottle down, and turns near the counter to face Kitty with his palm leaning down against the surface near the container. "Did you hear about the bombing last night? The one in Mutant Town?" The other hand is up, curling a finger at the skin just beneath his visor right before his left ear. "Mystique was spotted. Two students too.. Cable, Quentin.." The last two names has him frowning.

"Those two are up to something. A lot is happening.. and it's happening right beneath our noses. I need eyes on it and I've only got the one." Playing out a joke against the codename he was given with a little smirk.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty makes a sound. "Yes, saw the alert," she says. Certain things are automatically tagged from the news feeds and send out. The joys of having Doug and Kitty doing programming for the team.

"I hadn't had a chance to do more than skim the main bits," she says. "Quentin? That guy... seems like the kind who would nod along with someone like here," Kitty says with a sigh. "I can try to look into it, though might want to grab Kurt and Hank and some of the others," she tells him. "I'm spread a little thing between the school and work." Work being JVD Fashion. "I'll be there when needed, just extra eyes on it is definitely what we'd need."

Scott Summers has posed:
"I'm already going to talk to Hank about another situation." Scott purses his lips, but doesn't seem upset with Kitty directly. He nods understanding, likely having heard the answer he needed to hear. "It's lovely to see you, Kitty." A small, but warm (if luke), smile crosses his shaven face. "Don't be a stranger." Reaching out to squeeze her shoulder gently.

"If you need me, you know how to get in touch." One finger taps on the countertop as Scott spins with a military twist of his ankles to walk back towards the exit. "Let Warren know I stopped by and said hello." He asks of her with a glance over his shoulder.