Title: The Exception

Fandom: X-men

Pairing: Pryde/Wisdom

Rating:

Prompt: 100 Writer's Choice- Exception

Kitty was halfway to her room, a full basket of clothes balanced on her hip when her phone rang. She put the basket down, digging in her pocket for the ringing piece of plastic.

She caught sight of the European Exchance, grinned, and flipped it open.

"Yeah?"

"Hullo. Did you get it yet?"

Kitty rolled her eyes.

"I did, and I was going to call you, but I didn't know what your schedule was like, and I didn't want to interrupt."

"Ah. So you liked it?"

"I'm not sure that's the right word."

"I knew you'd enjoy it."

"We still haven't established that I did. It was sort of horrifying."

"I thought it was cute."

Kitty walked straight through her bedroom door, dumping the clothes onto her bed and sitting down so that she could fold.

"Pete, it's a Hello Kitty vibrator."

"I know. I laughed for six solid minutes before I could even bring myself to buy it. But, all in all, I figured it would be worth it."

"Well, Xi'an says that I made the most hilarious noise if that's what you mean."

"That's exactly what I intended."

"Good, then." She rolled her eyes again. It suddenly occurred to her that she spent a lot of the time when she was on the phone with Wisdom doing that.

"So, how are things with you and the Tin-Plated commie these days?"

"You don't really care, do you?" Kitty cradled the phone between her chin and shoulder, folding more clothes and dropping them into the basket.

"Of course I do. We're friends, and friends ask each other how their lives are doing."

"They do?"

"From what I've heard."

Kitty snickered.

"Fair enough. Things are terrible. Apparently, in his world, 'let's be friends' means 'let's sulk around not speak to Kitty.'"

"Ah. Got it."

"And he's been particularly grouchy since your box of what the fuck arrived."

"Seriously? I wasn't even trying that time. It kinda takes some of the fun out of harassing him."

"Does it really?"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone while Pete pretended to consider it.

"Nah. It's still hilarious." He chuckled. "I should be above it, I know, but I'm not. The Realm will just have to deal with the fact that I'm a giant toddler."

"I think they know." Kitty rolled her eyes, digging through the pile of clean clothes for the mate to her red sock.

"Thank God for that."

"He's been paling around with Kurt lately anyway."

"Now, by paling around with, do you mean lusting after?"

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Kitty folded the red socks. "Why do you keep insisting that Piotr is gay despite the obvious evidence to the contrary."

"I dunno. I think it's sort of like Stuart."

"Alistaire is not gay." Kitty snorted. "He was certainly straight enough to drool all over Rachel every twenty seconds."

"Eh." Pete didn't sound convinced. "I'm just saying that any bloke who consistently falls in love with women who are so vastly unattainable is hiding sommat."

"That's how you've decided that Piotr is gay? Because, until a few years ago, I'd have to had to agree with you, but I recently acquired very concrete evidence to the contrary."

"Okay, as disturbing as that information is to my brain, and as much as I would rather hear about anything else, I'd say that it's just further evidence for my argument."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, that's simple." Pete had Wisdomrant tone. "You're just the exception."

"The exception?"

"Yeah. Everyone has someone that they are, or have been, attracted to that is the opposite gender from the gender they're normally attracted to."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, if you're a woman and you're heterosexual, then it's my experience that you've been attracted to at least one woman in your life in a sexual way. The same thing works for men, whether they're heterosexual or homosexual."

"So, you're saying that everyone has these exceptions?"

"I'm not writing a book on the theory or anything, but it's been my personal experience that it's true for about ninety-nine percent of people."

"Huh." Kitty flopped backwards, stretching across the bed, her laundry temporarily forgotten. "That's an interesting theory."

"It's just an observation."

"So, you're saying that Piotr slept with me because I'm the one woman that he was sexually attracted to?"

"Well, have you ever seen him sleep with any other woman?"

"…No." Kitty sighed. "Of course, he says he has. And he certainly gave the impression that he knows what he's doi—"

"Stop." Pete halted her mid-sentence. "I really don't need to hear that."

"Heh. Fair enough." Kitty sat back up, folding her Cats Laughing t-shirtt and lying it in her lap, playing with the loose threads around the collar. "But, no. I haven't ever known, for sure, that he slept with any other woman except for the one that he fathered that child with."

"He did what?" Pete choked, his coffee going down the wrong pipe.

"It's a long story." She shrugged. "But, he has this illegitimate kid or whatever."

"Sounds like a short story to me." Pete considered this new information. "Hmm. Maybe she was unattainable."

"Oh, she was." Kitty nodded.

"Well, unatainables are safe because you can't have them long term, so desiring them, and even occasionally sleeping with them are all part of my theory."

"The theory allows for that, huh?" All of a sudden, something clicked in Kitty's head. "Wait. You said that you've seen this be true for about ninety-nine percent of people?"

"Yep." She heard the click of his lighter.

"So, that means that it's true for you?"

"…Yes."

"You have an exception?" Kitty couldn't believe what she was hearing. "This would have been interesting information to have when we were together."

"Pryde, we never talked about it."

"I know. I just… I didn't think we had to." She grinned. "Did you sleep with him?"

"No. We snogged, though."

She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was headed.

"Huh."

"Yeah. He died soon after that and we never really got to figure it out."

"Oh. Well, that sucks."

"Rather." She could actually hear him take a drag off of his cigarette. "Hey, so what about you?"

"Me?" Kitty sighed. She should have known this would come up. "Well, I guess that Xi'an is my exception."

"The Vietnamese girl?"

"Yeah." Kitty folded her jeans.

"How much of an exception are we talking, here? Are we talking about a slight exception or a naked and sweaty one?"

"…The second one." Kitty dropped her face into her hands. She couldn't believe she was discussing this with Pete of all people.

"Brilliant." He was smiling now. At least she'd made him smile. She felt a little guilty about forcing him to revisit what was obviously a painful memory for him.

"Yeah. It was only the once, though."

"The exception usually is."

"Huh."

"Although, she wasn't the first girl I ever kissed."

"Oh?" She could hear paper rustling. He was working. "Who was?"

"Well, she wasn't who I thought she was, that's for sure."

"Ah. Courtney Ross."

"…How do you know that?"

"Pryde, you think that Black Air doesn't know all about her?"

"Oh. Good point."

"Yep. We had a bit of a file on her."

"I'm not even sure what happened there. I was only fifteen and she got me drunk."

"Which are, in my experience, both important points to a predator."

"True." Kitty picked up the basket of folded clothes, walking to her dresser to start putting them away. "I didn't sleep with her, though."

"Well, of course not." Pete shrugged. "She wasn't your exception."

"Right." Kitty smiled. "Hey, Pete?"

"What?"

"Have you ever slept with a guy?"

"I'm a spy, Pryde."

"Meaning?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Have you ever slept with a guy because you wanted to?"

"No. I've done what I've had to do for my country, and it wasn't always fun, but, in the end, my country is safe."

"It's kind of hot when you go all patriotic like that."

"Want me to start talking about The Realm again?"

"Please don't." Kitty rolled her eyes yet again. "I couldn't take it. It would just get me too hot."

"I understand." Pete snickered. "I have that effect on women all of the time."

"I'm sure you do. It must be rough."

"It is. Especially when they want to take me home and shag the daylights out of me. I have to explain to them that I'm only one man."

"Poor baby."

"Yep. It's a rough life, but someone has to be me."

"They got the right man for the job." Kitty smiled. "Hey, look, I've got to go. I have a class to teach."

"Uh-huh. You don't fool me." Pete chuckled into the phone. "You're sneaking off to put that present I bought you to good use."

"I'm hanging up, now." Kitty snorted.

"Because I'm right, right?"

"Because I'm hanging up. I'll call you tomorrow."

"I'll be by the phone."

"Well, you'd have to be for the whole 'calling you' thing to work."

"Nice, Pryde." He snickered. "I should go, myself. I've got a meeting in a few minutes."

"Okay. Goodbye, Pete."

"Goodbye, Kitty."