An even older oneshot from yesteryear that I'm finally posting to this account. Sorry for any mistakes; I've decided not to edit these old works due to time constraints.
Hope you enjoy them anyway!
In the months that Piotr Rasputin had spent at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, he had learnt a few important things that he knew would stick with him for the remainder of his stay at the mansion. Firstly: Don't speak to the girls and Sunspot before breakfast; it will in blood and tears. Secondly: Don't trip down the stairs in the middle of the night when looking for the kitchen; Logan doesn't like being woken up at 2AM. Thirdly: Never, ever, take out your sketchbook when in company. Especially if such company is Remy LeBeau and has told Rogue and Jean that you're the greatest Russian artist of the 21st Century (Remy, of course, was exaggerating. Piotr didn't think himself to be as great an artist as the Cajun claimed; it was just a small hobby).
Because of the way words managed to travel so fast in his household, it wasn't long before Piotr had every student and teacher peering over his shoulder; breathing down his neck to take a peek at his doodling.
"Can you draw me, Pete?" Bobby Drake asked, leaning down to take a closer look at the paper. Piotr tried to inch away from him, but didn't want to be rude to the younger teen either. He didn't like others looking at him or at his work without permission, but he had a standard of manners as well.
"No no, me!" Jamie Madrox and his copies popped up in front of Piotr, nearly making him jump in surprise. Had he not spent nearly 3 years around Pyro and Sabertooth, he probably would have been startled enough to move from his spot. However, a child such as Jamie was hardly comparable to either Acolyte.
As Jamie's copies merged back into the original boy, Bobby crept around to the front to join him, sneering the whole while.
"You'd break his pencil, Jamie!" The boy crossed his arms and glowered at Bobby, unable to come up with a comeback that wouldn't get him in trouble with Scott, whom was currently giving the boys a stink eye.
"Guys, like c'mon." Kitty spoke up and rolled her eyes at Bobby and Jamie's antics. "Stop bothering Peter. He'll draw what he wants."
"We're just having fun, Kitty." Jamie stuck his tongue out and pouted in defeat. Bobby mimicked her eye roll and scoffed.
"Yeah, don't be such a killjoy about your boyfriend."
"What th- He's not my boyfriend, Bobby!" Kitty's scowling face flushed deep red and she glared at the smug mutant. The others standing around her took a step back; an angry Kitty was not a good Kitty, especially after years of training under the Wolverine. However, that information seemed to have pass right over Bobby's head.
"Yeah, right. I bet Petey's got a tonne of drawings of you two making kissy faces!"
"'Kissy faces'?" Jubilee repeated, giving Bobby a look along with Amara. "What are you, 5?"
"No!" He retorted. "But you know it's true."
"It is not!"
"Not exactly, tovarishch..." All curious eyes turned to Piotr. The Russian slumped into his seat, suddenly becoming nervous of revealing the contents of his sketchpad. He hunched his shoulders over and fiddled with his pencil, avoiding any eye contact. Piotr was not a man of weak nerves or insecurity, but the moment his work was invaded and poked at by observers, he felt defensive yet weak to stop it.
You know.
Like every artist.
Piotr swallowed hard and fiddled with the neat corners of his sketchbook before flipping back through the pages.
"Last week, during hockey finals, I saw Katya, Rogue, Logan und Kurt watching. It was..scenic, to say the least." Piotr adjusted his hold on his sketchbook as he came to the page he wanted. On the white paper canvas, the dark grey etchings formed the perfect imitations of their shapes, down to the last detail of the dimple in Kitty's cheek and the fuzz to Kurt's fur; even the rising bubbles from Logan's beer had been added! There were several spots where the lining wasn't so thick and the lines meshed into each other, but the picture was still crystal clear.
A moment passed and a few jaws were picked up from the floor.
"Whoa..."
"That is SO cool!"
"I had no idea you were so talented, Peter."
"Ya drew us without tellin' us? That's kinda creepy, Pete, Ah gotta say." Rogue immediately felt the eyes on her. "What? It is!"
"Can I have this framed, Pete?" Piotr blinked and looked down at Kitty, who was now next to him and gazing down at the sketch in complete awe. He was confused for a moment; it wasn't exactly her greatest moment caught on paper. When he had seen the four, Logan and Rogue were cheering on their favourite team while Kurt and Kitty looked on in complete boredom. Kitty herself looked about ready to drop off to sleep, and he felt like he had emphasised the wrinkles around her eyes too much to be anywhere close to flattering for the Valley girl.
Despite that, the girl next to him was in a state of wonder as she gently brushed the tips of her fingers against the pencil marks, as if to see they were real. Her touch was so light that nothing smeared, and for that Piotr was thankful. Whenever his drawings were touched inappropriately, it was always a nightmare trying to remedy the new mistakes.
"When I finish it, you can have it, Katya."
Kitty turned her head to face him, wearing the biggest smile he had ever seen on her face. He couldn't help but smile in return, feeling the warmth in his heart grow. He often felt like this around his dear sister, Illanya, but this...this was different in all its foundations. He wasn't quite sure what to call it.
"Told ya he was your boyfriend."
In the split second after finishing that sentence, Bobby felt the swift strike of a hand at the back of his head and he curled up in defense, clutching the fragment of his skull that had probably been knocked out of place from the hit. "Ow! Kitty!"
"Don't be so rude, Bobby!" Kitty scowled at him again and put a free hand on Piotr's shoulder. "At least Pete would be a better boyfriend than you ever could."
With that said, Kitty leaned over to Piotr and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. The Russian man's face turned bright red and his eyes widened to a noticeable degree, unable to form any word of thanks to the young lady. Jean chuckled to herself and patted Kitty on the back.
"Good thing you only kissed him on the cheek, Kitty. Anywhere else and he'd have probably dropped dead from shock."
"Jean!" Kitty's face was on the verge of burning in embarrassment, but she managed to keep herself cooled down to a light pink cheek. Remy joined in on the laughs when he poked the unmoving Piotr, receiving no response.
"Either way, he ain't gon' be talkin' for a few hours, Chat."
"Great..."