9577/Breakstone Skaters

Breakstone Skaters
Date of Scene:	11 January 2022
Location:	Breakstone Lake
Synopsis:	Kurt and Kitty take to Breakstone Lake for ice skating.
Cast of Characters:	Kurt Wagner, Kitty Pryde

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Kurt Wagner has posed:
Winter in New York is cold, but it usually is. One of the bonusses of winter in the area is that it is usually accompanied by snow; sometimes the cold, wet, 'time to stay inside and drink hot chocolate' kind, and sometimes the light, billowy, 'time to go out and play' kind.

Light and billowy it is.

First real snow of the season has put a good six inches on the ground, and the skies above remain overcast, even into the evening hours. Doesn't matter, however, to the snow-elf.

Snowmen are built around the edge of the lake, and the bonfire is set just away from the pier in full yellows and oranges, with stumps 'rounding it.

In the coming darkness, it may be a little difficult to discern a figure on the ice, dressed for the weather of course, making his way on the ice in giant rounds of circles, a distinctive tail following and balancing his graceful moves. A smile is on his face; a wide, toothy, genuine one. One that he hadn't felt in a little too long, even if it has been only a month.. or two.

Seems like forever.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde had sat up in her room mostly. Sitting in the window seat and looking out the window. Nudges from Lockheed's head drew scritching, but failed to distract Kitty from her thoughts.

The few boxes of things she'd moved back from Warren's into her room here were unpacked, the cardboard containers put away. But the move out still dominated her thoughts even without their constant reminder sitting there on her floor.

The flare of firelight draws Kitty's attention over towards the Lake. Lockheed provides a timely little head bump too and then looks back at her as Kitty looks down at him. "Yeah. I'm being kind of depressing. Aren't I?" she asks the dragon. He doesn't have a verbal answer, just an eyeblink.

Kitty sighs and rises, heading over to her cabinet. "Fine. I'll get out and be social," she says as she looks for some warm clothing.

Not all that long later, the Jewish girl's form can be seen walking down towards the lake. Walking on the surface of the snow without sinking in. Warm jacket on and gloves and a stocking cap. With figure skates hanging over her shoulder.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Kurt has absolutely no problem with seeing in dim light, or even in virtually full darkness. The form and figure of one of those whom he calls 'friend' and teammate is easily recognizable, and with the next spin, flip, he is up in the air in a back flip ending with a sommersault, and he disappears with the *bamf*, only to reappear beside the approaching Kitty.

Skates do make it a little more difficult to walk (poor planning on his part!), but it's something he will deal with to be able to escort, accompany,

"Katzchen." The greeting is given with the same warmth one would find at fire's side, or in a blanket just out of the dryer. "You have been in your tower too long." Which, considering his own bout of 'I vant to be alone', might be saying something?

"The lake is perfect, und the fire is warm for after."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde wasn't quite sure who that was out on the skates, her eyesight not as good in the dim light. Though she doesn't jump at that familiar sound and scent as Nightcrawler bamfs his way to her side.

Her expression warms a bit, and her voice takes on a tone like someone on a long journey through unknown places, only to come across something familiar. "Hey Kurt," she says. "Glad it was you out here." She glances back at the school and then back to Kurt. "Yeah, I have," she says, the likening of the skyscraper penthouse to a tower very apt in her thoughts, whether that was what Kurt meant or not. "Mind a little company?" she asks, mostly rhetorically given his warm greeting.

She stops to sit down and get her boots off and slide the skates on and lace them up. "Haven't skated since last year," she remarks. "Bobby thicken the ice, or was it good on its own?" she asks.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
If Kitty will let him, a side-hug will be offered and happily given even as they walk. "I never mind company, if it is you. Und, if I complain when I see you, I need your company." His tones take that softly self-deprecating sound coupled with perhaps an ounce of introspection, though the mood surrounding him changes as he settles into the comfortable companionship.

"It is Mother Nature this time, I think," is offered up grandiously, and the moment she pauses to put her skates on, he's back on the ice, slowly moving backwards with that initial impulse. "Then it is perfect that you come now. It is the first ice of the season, und no one has taken advantage. I was hoping someone would come, so I could share the marshmallows later."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde's arm goes back around Kurt to share the side-hug readily enough. Kurt has the kind of pure, kind soul that makes him balm at the best of times. And far more when one is going through a time like Kitty is.

"I'll keep that in mind. And remind you if so," she says with a laugh that has a little more of her normal warmth in it. She gets her skates on and stands up, testing how tight the laces are with a little shifting about, and then walks on them easily enough to the frozen water's edge. Kitty glides out onto the ice, moving on skates with a similar grace as shows in the dancing she once aimed at for her art.

"I saw the fire and it helped pull me out of my thoughts," she admits. Kitty just glides back and forth for now, slow arc back and forth going from the one skate's inner blade to the other. "How have you been doing, Kurt?" she asks.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
There. She is up and on her feet, the muscle-memory bringing graceful glides. Kurt smiles at the effort, the sharpened teeth showing in the happy expression. It does reach those pupilless yellow, seemingly glowing eyes, and he looks as if he's at peace.

"I have been better," is admitted slowly, though his skating is a touch more than 'slow'. He's circling, the spade-tipped tail arcing behind him. "But, they say there are stages of grief, und I am at 'acceptance'." His expression saddens momentarily as his progress does slow, "Beyond acceptance, I have no idea what to do."

Kurt spins, and lets the momentum eventually bring him to a stop. "You may have heard, or no. Mystique has confirmed that she is my mother." With all that it brings. A deep breath is taken, released, and he brings a game smile to his face once more. He's tired of 'him'. He's wallowed too long there, searched a soul that had come back wanting, and once accepted, he's facing the world again, looking out. Looking out for others. It's where his strength lies.

"Und you, Katschen. Did you go home for the holiday?" Hanukkah, that is. "Did you get to see your family?"

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Skating does not require the most exertion to move. The smallest transfer of weight, pushing with the foot against the blade in the right way enough to redirect Kitty to glide over towards the blue-furred mutant. Kitty's expression softens as Kurt reveals the source of his own melancholy.

"I hadn't heard," she tells him. Though she serves as guidance counselor a day or two a week at the school, she had been living in the city with Warren Worthington, and working contract at JVD fashion more often.

Kitty reaches out gloved hands for his, taking them lightly if he lets her and giving a little squeeze. "Kurt, you're one of the finest people I've ever known. That's all that matters," she tells him. She gets a rueful smile and looks away. "Which always makes the memory of how I freaked out when we first met all the tougher on me," she says, looking back to him. Though it hadn't taken him long to win the thirteen year old girl over.

She gives a tiny shake of her head then. "Nah, we were talking about having Mom come visit over Christmas. But everything sort of... fell apart finally and, well, I saw her for Hanukah though earlier in the month."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Kurt puts his three-fingered hands into her small, delicate ones, and when she squeezes, he offers a light, gentle squeeze back. His head cocks at the compliment, and his smile returns, while not full force, it's there, written plainly. The memory of her freak-out, however, brings a wider smile, and he shakes his head quickly, "Never. It has become a sort of 'hello, how are you' for me. I know that was what you really meant." He's teasing, of course. He's never brought it up, never threw it back in a moment of pique, and while he does remember, it has turned into a cherished memory.

Once his hands are retrieved, he's ready to skate beside her, gliding across the lake in an easy freeform. "I am glad you saw her." There's a moment of silence before, "I'm glad you're home." It's a simple statement, but it's filled with so much within the words. "If you ever wish to come und bake cookies with me, or simply sit with the gargoyles with me on the roof, you know you are welcome. Or, if you refuse to come out, I will send a bamf after you." From bedtime stories to reality. "Und it will be Moe." His tones turn slyly amused, "He does not play fair."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The memory is something of that for Kitty as well. Something that showed her own progress in growing as a person. And the graceful way that Kurt had accepted it somehow left the memory one that brings warmth now, than the levels of embarrassment it would have usually.

But that's the kind of person he is.

Kitty glides along with Kurt, transitioning from forward to backwards easily, keeping herself facing towards him as they both drift about. She lets out a quiet laugh about having the bamf sicced on her. "I'll probably see you up there. And happy to watch you bake, or help you mix. You just don't want me in charge of it," she tells him. There's a reason she's known for eating so much cereal. And several smoke-filled kitchens in her younger days that tend to stick in one's memories. "I did," she starts to say something about cooking, but that seems to take her thoughts to somewhere she doesn't want to go. Instead she says, "I've gotten used to ordering out."

A little flap of wings can be heard as Lockheed glides down out of the sky. He circles about the pair of skaters before finally flying to Kitty who catches him in her arms and he climbs up onto her shoulder. Puffs of steam come up from his breath which is a bit warmer than human breath even.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
When she's ready to talk, Kurt will have a mug of warm milk for the two of them. When that will be, God only knows, but He may be willing to share the information when the time comes.

Instead? It's nice to be here, out in the cold and dark, with the promise of the warm fire just on the bank of the lake.

"You will be the one that decides what kind of cookie it will be. The architect. I," and he adds a quick gracious, sweeping bow, and when he straightens, he finishes with a broad smile again, "your humble servant."

The appearance of the little dragon, brings a barked laugh to the elf, and Kurt watches his progress. "Yes, Lockheed, we shall go to the fire. I have promised Katschen marshmallows, und you can have one." He waits for the complaint that he knows is coming, and wags a finger, "Two. At the most."

With that, he's leading the pair towards the warm glow that is the bonfire. "I think you should be fitted for a hat and scarf as well."