Title: Embers
Fandom: X-men
Pairing: Pryde/Wisdom
Rating: PG-13/possibly R
Prompt: 052 Fire
It's the fire she misses. She realizes that, now. But then again, a lot of things seem clear at one in the morning, with Harry being very free with the tequila as the X-men celebrate Kitty and Kurt's triumphant return.
In the course of the celebration, she's found it really easy to slip away and drink by herself for a moment. Logan is sitting two barstools away, drowning his own sorrows in Jim Beam and cigars. He's given her the courtesy of drinking in peace. He knows that if she wants a drinking buddy, then she'll come to him.
Kitty lifts the shotglass again, the liquor paves its scalding way down her throat. She presses the lemon slice to her lips. It eases the sting, but does nothing against the burn. Of course, that could be because the burn has nothing to do with tequila. No, the burn comes from the fire.
The fire. She misses that feeling. The feeling of living for someone else so completely and openly. She misses nights feeling like she'd never in her life felt anything as alive and vital as the sensations that they were evoking in each other. She misses barely being able to look each other in the eyes without wanting to tell the world to go to hell so that they could be alone. She misses the daily argument about whether to get up and have breakfast, or stay in bed and attempt to fan the embers of what they had probably barely finished before falling asleep the night before.
She misses feeling, touching, stroking, kneading. She misses sliding her hands along skin soaked in sweat. She misses lying beneath him, and watching him as he managed to drive her slowly insane. She misses the surge of power she used to get from being able to do the same to him when it was her turn to be in control.
She misses falling alseep with him. She misses lying beside him and just talking, running fingers lightly over hands and arms. They used to talk for real, then. They told each other about family, and friends. She learned about missions, both botched and successful. He learned about her complicated and involved history. She had told him, and only him, that she worried about how much she enjoyed fighting. She'd never worried about it until she met him, but then again, she'd always been around Logan before, and she'd looked totally sane by comparison.
She misses downtime in the rec room of the Island. She had learned, through her relationship with him, learned to appreciate both M*A*S*H and Dr. Who, and she'd taught him about Stargate SG-1 and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They'd reached non-verbal agreements on the subjects, but the occasional battle royale over the remote still took place.
She couldn't really believe how much she missed cuddling on the sofa with popcorn and Strongbow, screaming herself blue in the face at her beloved Chelsea FC while he made disparaging remarks about her favourite players, and Brian, from his position in the armchair, would loudly sing the praises of Manchester United.
But, really, most of those experiences, save one, could be duplicated with any friend she has, and it's not the thought of analyzing the Korean War through Alan Alda's eyes that has her drinking herself into a stupor on a Saturday night. And it's not the reminder of strolling through Camden Lock's flea markets that has her throwing knives at Logan when he mentions Pete during sparring.
The truth of the matter is that, no matter how much she worries about it, Katherine Pryde is an adrenaline junkie and being with Pete Wisdom was pure heat in itself. And now, without it, she wonders if she'll ever feel warm again.