Kitty Pryde and the X-Men are trademarks of Marvel Comics. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to
infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copyright to me.
Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at
mshakespeare@callnetuk.com
Notes:
This story is set after Kitty's return to the X-Men. Oh, and I'm ignoring the 'origin of Lockheed' story from Excalibur #40 - that was just a bad dream.....
indicates thoughts
Here Be Dragons!
He awoke upon hearing her humming to herself.. He raised his head from his little nest of discarded clothes and watched her walk through the door without opening it, heading for the bathroom. She always got up early, indeed today the sun was barely lightening the horizon. She must have been for an early morning run, as her tee-shirt and shorts were damp with sweat, and her hair plastered to her face. He preferred to sleep as much as possible, but today he was wide awake at an hour he'd normally avoid waking up at like the plague. An idea came into his head, one he couldn't resist indulging. Chortling to himself, Lockheed flew out the bedroom window, which she always left open during the summer months, to let the cool night air into her bedroom.
The small bathroom window was open, as he'd expected, and just wide enough to let him in. The sound of water spraying against the sides of the shower cubicle let Lockheed know he'd timed his entry perfectly, and covered the sounds as he flew over to the top of the cubicle and perched there, looking down at his Kitty as she showered.
No matter how many times he did this, he never tired of watching his Kitty showering. Precisely why he had such feelings for a bipedal adolescent mammal was something he'd never been able to explain to himself, but he did. He watched as she scrubbed herself with handfuls of shower gel, rubbing it into her hair, then letting the steaming hot water rinse away the rich suds. The little purple dragon growled to himself, but so softly that she wouldn't hear, as he remembered the time he'd done this, only to find his Kitty with 'Stinky', mating. What she'd ever seen in the thin, dark cigarette smoker, he'd never been able to work out - 'Stinky' was even worse than her previous, 'Tinman', though the latter had never managed to mate with his Kitty. I 'ate 'im, I do! I 'ate Stinky, an' 'is cigs! I 'ate 'im 'cause 'e's the only one 'oo came close to takin' my Kitty away! One o' these days, my Kitty'll see what I c'n offer 'er!! he thought grumpily. Maybe he made a sound, he couldn't be sure, but she suddenly looked up at him.
"Lockheed! What do you think you're doing, dragon?? You voyeur! Out, now!! I'm showering alone today, okay?? No company!! Now out!" she yelled at him, hands clasped over her breasts, as the hot water streamed down her face and into her mouth, causing her to cough and spit, to get the taste of shampoo out of her mouth. He cooed placatingly and flew away.
Rumbled! Now what do I do? I know, eat! he thought, as he flew through the mansion and down the stairs towards the kitchen. He found 'Red' there. He liked 'Red', she reminded him of the younger 'Red' who'd been roommate to Kitty back over the sea in the lighthouse. Older, but very similar to his senses. 'One-eye' was sitting at the table, reading the paper.
'Red' looked at Lockheed. "Good morning, Lockheed! Hungry, are we? And I suppose Kitty'll be down shortly, that's why you're up this early, correct?" she smiled at him, and began putting a big pile of scrambled eggs, sausages and bacon onto a plate for him. 'One-eye' scowled at her. "Honestly, Jean, giving a proper breakfast like that to a pet?"
'Red' glared at him. "Lockheed's not a pet! Or do you want to say that to Kitty's face? No, I thought not. Lockheed's a friend, a good one. He's helped us out of more than one occasion, saving the day more than once. I'd say that makes him - "
But before she could go on, 'Claws' walked in. Lockheed liked 'Claws', he'd always been a good friend and teacher for his Kitty, and he'd never tried to mate with her. 'E might smoke those cigs of 'is, but 'Claws' is all right! Lockheed thought, tucking into his plate of food. 'Claws' raised an eyebrow on seeing the little dragon.
"Kit up yet? She needn't be, we haven't got our Danger Room session for another hour or so." 'Claws' seated himself at the table, nodding at 'Red' as she raised an eyebrow enquiringly, and grinning as she ladled food onto a plate for him. Lockheed had already all but demolished his breakfast, and sat back, satisfied, waiting for Kitty to show up.
Suddenly he had a thought. Yesterday, 'Snowman' had played a trick on her - when she was showering, he'd run the hot water until it was used up, and when Kitty shot out of the shower as the water turned ice-cold, 'Snowman' had had set up a digital camera pointed at the door, and gotten away with the resulting picture before Kitty could stop him. He'd then emailed it to friends of his on a webring, along with Kitty's email address. As a result, she'd found her mailbox full of propositions and lewd comments, some of them so suggestive that she'd nearly cried. I'll do 'im f'r that! the little dragon thought, and flew over to the freezer. 'Red', 'One-eye' and 'Claws' watched in amazement as Lockheed grabbed an ice bucket, filled it with cold water and ice-cubes, and flew out of the kitchen, staggering under his heavy load.
"What was all that about?", Scott wondered.
Jean thought for a moment, and smiled. "After yesterday, I think Bobby's going to regret his last 'joke' ......."
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Right, yoo. 'Ere's where yoo get yours! Lockheed thought hotly. The bucket was positioned perfectly over 'Snowman''s head, and the pool cue balanced across the fulcrum of baseball bat on top of a pile of books at hopefully the right position He grinned to himself, and pushed..
'AAARRRRGGGHHH!" 'Snowman' sprang upright in bed, ice water running down his head and chest, to see Lockheed flying away. "I'll get you for that, you little - " he screamed, jumping out of bed to chase the dragon - straight onto the pool cue, which shot upright and smacked him in the eye. "OOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!" he yelled.
"Heh heh heh!" The purple alien chuckled to himself as he fled - 'Snowman' would have a wonderful black eye after this morning......
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Oi, furball! Yoo ain't got no right to be 'ere, yoo 'aven't! Lockheed thought, seeing the large ginger tomcat strolling across the lawn as if he owned the place. That cat was becoming a nuisance, the dragon thought to himself - it kept coming where it had no business to. Well, I can deal wiv' a bloomin' furball! he thought, and flew down behind the unsuspecting cat. He took a deep breath, moved close enough to be almost touching the cat's tail, and -
"ROOOOAAAAR!!"
"MMMRRRREEEEOOOOOWWWWWWRRRRR!!!"
Anyone outside at the time would have seen a spitting, yowling ball of ginger fur shoot across the lawn, up a fence and over and away as fast as its legs would carry it, and a small, purple dragon rolling around on the grass, shaking with laughter.
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Flying back inside, he found Kitty sitting eating breakfast - a light breakfast, she'd be doing hand-to-hand combat training shortly. 'Snowman' glared at him as he flew down and wrapped himself around her warm neck. "So there you are, you little - !" His eye was wonderfully black, a perfect shiner. "I'm going to - "
"Do nothing, Drake." Kitty's voice was quiet, but very, very menacing, as she got up, came round the table and stared him in the eye. "I haven't forgiven yesterday, Drake. Just think, there's no hiding from someone who can walk through walls, and I haven't got revenge yet because I'm still planning what to do. Revenge is a dish best served cold, Bobby - the longer it takes, the worse for you it'll be." She smiled, as he went pale. "Be afraid, Drake, be very afraid!"
"Hey, doesn't the fact we went on some dates count for something??" he asked plaintively.
"Not after some of the emails I got, no!!" she growled at him. 'Snowman' looked like he might argue further, but there was a 'SNIKT' from the table. He went deathly pale, and fled. "Thanks Logan, but as I've told you before, I can fight my own battles."
"I know darlin', you've already given popsicle a black eye", 'Claws' grinned at her.
"Not me, bub. Guess he pissed off someone else........"
"Heh heh heh!" Lockheed chortled to himself - little did she know!
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He flew low over town, looking for fun. There was a kestrel nesting in one of the church roofs, who sometimes liked to come out and engage in some competitive aerobatics, but not today, apparently. So, wot do I do today? Dunno, there ain't nothin' goin' on that I c'n see - wait, some wet cement on that buildin' site....... hmm ......... . He flew down towards it. The workmen must have been at lunch, no-one was around. Lockheed decided to indulge himself. He grabbed a stick which was lying around, flew over the wet cement, and began to draw. When he was finished, the whole surface was covered in noughts and crosses games, but no sign of how anyone could have got to the centre of the cement without leaving any footprints to be seen .............
"Heh heh heh!"
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A little girl sat crying. He flew down to see what was wrong. "What's a matter, luv? Yoo got no 'ome to go to?"
The girl looked at him, and stopped crying. Wide-eyed, she timidly said "I'm lost. My mummy and daddy let me play here, but I'm lost - I can't find the car. "
Lockheed puffed out a little smoke. "Yoo know wot colour it woz?" When the girl nodded, he went on. "Woz it green, like those leaves?" The girl shook her head. "Woz it blue, like the sky?" Another shake. "Um, brown, like the treetrunks?"
"No, red, like a strawberry," the girl whispered.
"I saw a red 'un, I did - a big thing wiv a roofrack, does that sound like it might be your parents' car? " When the girl nodded shyly, he said "Right, this way then!" And flew off in the right direction, slowly enough for the girl to follow.
They soon located the car, as much by the frantic calls of two anguished adults as by the sound of the engine, or the sight of it. Lockheed quickly flew away, leaving the girl to run to her overjoyed parents.
"But mummy, it was a dragon, and he did talk to me, he did!"
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It was late in the evening. Kitty and Lockheed had sat up to watch an old film, 'The Maltese Falcon', with Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, demolishing a big bowl of popcorn and a large bottle of Diet Pepsi ("well, it makes up for all the butter on the popcorn, Lockheed - I leave it to Ororo to be the virtuous one about eating!") between them. As the credits rolled, Kitty exclaimed "That's him! Sydney Greenstreet! I knew the face but couldn't remember the name!", as she scratched Lockheed's stomach, drawing soft coos from him. She got up, draping him round her neck when he made no move to go upstairs under his own power. "Geez, dragon, why do I have to carry you? You can't be all that tired can you?! I don't see why you always act tired late in the evening. After all, you don't do anything all day!"
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FINIS