At least it had imploded in a good way. She hadn't woken up the next morning hating herself—well, except for the fact that she had gotten less than three hours of sleep before a Danger Room session with Scott. She had actually felt happy, like the decision she had made to talk to Illyana the night before had been the right one. She had woken with a smile on her face and a spring in her step and butterflies in her gut that sat ready and waiting for when she would see Illyana — her girlfriend next.
They had agreed to take it slow, to make sure and not rush into anything before they were certain their friendship would be able to make it out unscathed, but once they had started it had been impossible to stop. More and more, Kitty had come to realize that they had basically been in a relationship anyway. They still teased each other the same, still talked about anything and everything, still joked and laughed as they always had. All that had changed was the kissing, or lack thereof. And maybe there was a little more touching than usual, too. A few more secret smiles and flushed cheeks, some glances at each other that didn't seem quite as innocent as before, more appraising and less "what the hell are you wearing".
Whether anyone else in the mansion knew what was going on between them had only troubled them initially. A few sly words from Emma had told them that they were being so obvious they need not have been bothering to try and hide it anyway, and so they had stopped. Well, mostly. They were still young, and finding places to hide and make out and laugh was all a part of the fun. As was surreptitiously holding hands under the breakfast table and trying to keep it from being noticeable that they were each only using one arm.
At first, Lockheed hadn't seemed as amused with them as they had thought he would be, especially considering how eagerly he had been pressuring Kitty to make a move when she had been fussing and unable to sleep. He had glared and barked at them whenever they'd gotten too caught up in each other to pay any attention to him, and had taken to rudely forcing his spiny little body between them at the most annoying times. After a few days of that, however, seeming to realize he wasn't going to be able to stop them, he had given up, instead removing himself from their presence when any of their more vexing behaviors started up.
For example, he wasn't currently with them in the living room. He had been, when they had merely been sitting side-by-side, watching the news together and talking quietly. But as soon as they had started making those faces at each other and giggling under their breaths, he had left the room all in a huff. Probably to make a vengeful mess out of one of their rooms. Neither Kitty or Illyana seemed to notice or mind.
They were turned towards each other on the couch, legs tucked under themselves and arms around each other's waists as they exchanged short, sweet kisses, laughing quietly and occasionally punctuating each break with a few teasing words.
"I was trying to watch that, you know," Kitty was telling Illyana as they pulled away, meaning to turn back to the television but finding her gaze unable to tear itself from the blonde's pretty pink lips. They were too tempting to not be kissed, and as soon as she was done speaking, she was going right back in again.
"You can watch it later," Illyana said matter-of-factly as she pulled back just slightly, her lips brushing against Kitty's as she spoke. She brought their mouths together again, grinning into the kiss and mumbling, "This is more fun."
"Mmm," Kitty hummed her agreement, her fingers pressing gently into her waist as she tried to pull their bodies closer together, "For once, I think you're right."
"For once?" Illyana questioned, hooking her index fingers through the belt loops on Kitty's jeans and tugging her closer. She leaned her forehead against the brunette's, bright blue eyes looking straight into her brown ones. She teasingly added, "I think I've been right a lot more than once."
"The jury would like to see some evidence of that," the other girl smirked back at her. She didn't give Magik a chance to answer, however, before she was capturing her lips in a brief yet lingering kiss, playfully tugging on her lower lip with her teeth as she pulled away. Illyana's body shifted slightly as her grin widened and she lurched forward to catch Shadowcat before she could move too far. She brought their mouths back together, pressing a little deeper and letting it last a little longer this time. Pleasantly surprised, Kitty kissed her back, tilting her head and lifting her hands up to Illyana's cheeks as if to make sure she wouldn't break away too soon.
That lasted only moments, however, before the voice of the news presenter grabbed her attention. She abruptly pulled away, a hand on the back of Illyana's head directing the blonde's face down to her neck as she twisted her own towards the television.
"I want to see this," she told her in the way of an explanation, though apparently wanting to catch the story was not incompatible with her desire to feel her girlfriend's lips on her neck. Her fingers slid into her hair, stroking almost absentmindedly.
For a moment or two Illyana didn't do anything, her warm breath wafting over Kitty's throat but not much else. She hadn't done this before and the thought made her a little anxious, but as the seconds ticked by and the television still had the brunette's attention, Magik's curiosity grew. Fingers still curled around the belt loops, she pulled the older girl closer still as she experimentally pressed her lips against the soft, warm skin. She held them there a moment before she pulled away, only to do it again and again until the kisses got slower, a little more confident, and some of them involved an exploratory flick of the tip of her tongue. All the while, Kitty's fingers massaged her scalp encouragingly.
When Logan cleared his throat from the doorway, the brunette very nearly jumped out of her skin. Her cheeks flushed as she turned to look at him, eyes wide as Illyana sat up properly and guilty turned to face him. The smirk on Wolverine's face was hidden by the can of beer he brought up to his lips. He nodded at the TV. "Anything good?"
Illyana shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly, swinging her legs out from under her at the same time she turned her back to the couch's cushions and finally planted her feet on the floor. She slouched slightly, grabbing Kitty by the arm and tugging on it until the brunette maneuvered her legs out from under her to plant her butt on the sofa instead.
"Not really," Kitty told him after a few moments of half-panicked silence where she had been completely unable to recall what she had just been watching.
Logan raised his eyebrows at her, his knowing smirk still firmly in place as he raised his drink to them as if in salute, "As you were, punkin'."
Just like that, he left, and Illyana raised her hand to her mouth, biting down on the soft skin between her thumb and index finger in an attempt not to laugh. Kitty, on the other hand, was already leaning over her legs and covering her face with her hands.
"Oh my God."
Illyana burst into laughter then, hugging around Kitty's torso and trapping the brunette's arms against her as she pressed her cheek against the shorter mutant's back. Shadowcat groaned into her hands, jamming her elbow roughly into Illyana's ribs in an attempt to shut her up.
"I am never kissing you again," she declared, her voice muffled against her palms.
"Owww," Illyana moaned through her laughter, squeezing Kitty tighter and nuzzling her face against the back of her shoulder. Through her giggles she managed, "That's a lie."
"Try me," Kitty laughed back at her, "Next time, it'll be Scott that walks in on us. Do you want to look him in the face when he's more embarrassed than we are?"
"Yeah," Illyana's voice was a little too high, "It'd be funny."
She twisted her head enough to glare accusingly at her girlfriend through her fingers, "You didn't know Logan was going to walk past, did you?"
"Now why would I know that?" Illyana asked, propping her chin up onto Kitty's shoulder so that she could look right into her suspicious eyes with her own mischievous ones.
"Magick," the other girl smirked at her, before darting forward to plant a firm kiss against her lips. The sound that came out of Illyana's mouth was startled but definitely not displeased and she quickly pushed right back, kissing her deeper before abruptly pulling away with a grin of victory on her face.
"Told you that was a lie," the blonde poked her tongue out at the other mutant. Kitty rolled her eyes and pushed her hand against Illyana's shoulder in a reprimanding shove.
"You are a brat, Illyana Rasputin."
"That was also me being right more than once," Magik beamed, "the jury has its evidence."
With a glare that hid her amusement, Kitty abruptly got to her feet, phasing out of her girlfriend's grasp where necessary, in order to turn around and stare down at her. She crossed her arms over her chest. Illyana smiled up at her sweetly, holding her arms out and making grabby motions with her hands.
"Come back," she pleaded, then added in a voice that was anything but apologetic and with a grin to prove it, "I'm sorry."
"The jury convicts you on the grounds of false testimony," Kitty stuck her tongue out at her.
"What does that even mean," Illyana started laughing again, tipping her head back against the cushions and letting her arms fall limply to her sides.
"I don't know!" Kitty spluttered, collapsing onto the couch on the other side of her in defeat, "I don't teach law."
"Well it's a good thing, then. Your students would be screwed," Illyana teased, dropping her head onto Shadowcat's shoulder as she leaned against her.
"Like Emma's students are screwed in ethics," the other girl cackled, resting her own head against the blonde's even as her abdomen quivered. The sound of Kitty's laughter made Illyana's harder and she had to turn her face into the brunette's shirt to try and muffle it.
"Shhhh," Shadowcat tried to hush her, despite the fact that she was still giggling herself, "You made me miss my story."
"That's what the internet's for," Illyana reminded her, wiggling her arm between Kitty's back and the couch cushions in order to wrap it around her waist.
"It's not the saaaaame," she whined, an exaggerated pout on her face.
"Sure it is," the blonde told her, lifting her other arm up so she could poke the phasing mutant's bottom lip with the tip of her finger. Illyana grinned, "Plus, if I'm not more fun than the news then I don't know why I bother."
"Well," Kitty started, bringing her legs up onto the couch and folding them underneath her.
"I need something serious to... make the fun seem even more fun?" she tried, an unsure frown on her face for the way that had come out, "Really though. I don't think I've felt this young in a long time. Getting busted by Logan's didn't help matters, either."
"Is that bad?" Illyana asked, dropping her hand down the brunette's body and instead threaded their fingers together. She gave Kitty's hand a gentle squeeze.
She squeezed it back and shook her head, "I don't think so. I mean, as long as I don't start skipping my own classes and forgetting to plan my lessons, we're good, right? And maybe after everything that's happened, we deserve to feel — and act — our age for once."
"Yeah," Illyana nodded with a smile. She, for one, was glad for that. In the past, it'd been a luxury that she was hardly ever allowed and the last few days had been such an immense relief that she didn't know if she'd ever be able to find a way to explain it out loud. But at the same time, she knew she didn't have to. Magik may have had her childhood taken away, but there was an unspoken understanding between the two young mutants that they weren't going to let this get taken away, too.
"Soooo," Kitty sounded, a cheeky smile taking over her lips as she got up on her knees again to completely face the blonde. She eased her hand out of Illyana's to slide it up her arm instead. She let it rest on her shoulder, guiding their bodies back together until their lips met again, "Lets get back to that."
"Mmm," the blonde hummed her approval against Kitty's mouth, reaching out and placing her hands on the brunette's hips. Kitty's arms went around her neck, her head tilting slightly to deepen the kiss.
That was how Scott found them, completely wrapped up in each other's embrace, the news flashing across the television completely forgotten. For a moment, he just stood there, not entirely sure what to do with himself. Were they going to stop? Should he say something? He had to interrupt, it was necessary, but he almost felt bad for having to do it. He didn't let it show very often, but he was happy that Kitty was so happy again. God only knew she deserved it, and so did Illyana.
Finally, though, he spoke up in a tone that was almost apologetic, "Kitty...? We have a mission."
Shadowcat screwed her eyes closed, a wince on her face and a bright red blush on her cheeks before she even pulled away from her girlfriend. Slowly, guiltily, she twisted her body around to look at Scott, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as if she had just been busted doing something she had already been told not to.
"What mission?" she asked, struggling to keep her embarrassment out of her voice. Illyana, on the other hand, was much more amused. She peeked around Kitty to peer at Scott for a brief moment before she was cracking up again, unable to stop herself.
The leader of the X-Men continued to stand there, looking rather confused for a good few seconds before he found his voice to answer Kitty's question despite Illyana's uncontrollable cackles, "There's a monster in Manhattan making Godzilla look good. We need to shut it down as soon as possible. Jet's getting prepped, we leave in ten."
"I'll go suit up," Kitty assured him, doing her damnedest to ignore Magik. As soon as Scott was out of the room, however, she turned around to punch her in the shoulder. Illyana fell back against the arm of the couch, only laughing harder.
"I told you that would happen!" the other girl exclaimed, "This is not funny!"
"It's a little funny," Illyana told her, making an attempt to control herself by biting down on her bottom lip. It wasn't working. She bent her knee and pushed her foot against Kitty's thigh, "Go before they leave you."
"I'm going, I'm going," Kitty told her, unable to keep the smile off her face at the sound of the blonde's laughter. She stood up, only to lean down to kiss her on the forehead, "Dinner tonight?"
"Duh," Illyana grinned, tipping her head up to look at the brunette, "You have to tell me all about it when you come back!"
The blonde reached for Kitty's cheeks with her hands, but stopped when she noticed Scott approaching the doorway again, hands clasped behind his back. Instead, she dropped them to the older mutant's shoulders and patted them.
"Illyana," He called out to her, making her furrow her brow, confused, as she turned her head to look at him. He smiled and indicated the hallway behind him with a tip of his head, "If you wanna come, you better suit up. Uniform's in your locker."
He gave the two a smirk before he turned and made his way down the hall and out of their sight. Illyana's gaze snapped back to Kitty then and she grinned widely, "Katya?"
Kitty grinned right back at her, taking her hands to haul her to her feet, "Wanna port us to the locker room?"
Her first mission with the X-Men. Ever. She'd dreamed about this. At one point, it'd been her goal but event after event and blow after blow, it had become a very distant possibility that was eventually crushed by N'astirh and his dumb demon invasion. Or so she thought, at least. Illyana hadn't expected the X-Men to invite her on their mission. She figured it was only because of Kitty, given that she hadn't really been "in action" in over three years, but that wasn't bothering her right now. She was just happy to have been asked along. So happy, in fact, that she was having trouble containing her excitement.
Magik tapped her yellow-booted feet against the metal floor, her hands, which were covered by gloves that matched her boots, were placed on her knees where her fingers drummed against them. She even stopped quite often to admire the uniform that was definitely a step up from the one she had originally worn as a New Mutant. It was black except for her the yellow "X" over her torso that reached around her waist and over her shoulders. Completing it was the black X-Men emblem over her left breast that she periodically reached up to trace her fingers over.
Illyana turned her head to look at Kitty, nothing short of beaming, for what was probably the 900th time. Kitty took her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze, genuinely glad that Magik was getting the opportunity she had dreamed of for so long. Otherwise, however, her attention was focused on the mission and Scott's instructions as they approached the site.
"That thing came out of the ground and we're gonna drive it back in. Beast, you're in the air. See if you can't turn it around with the firepower we've got onboard. Shadowcat, Magik, and Emma, you're crowd control. Get the civilians to safety or you get them calm enough to get there themselves. Wolverine and I will flank it and keep its movement contained," Scott ordered, turning in his seat to let his hidden gaze dance over his team members. He finally stopped on Illyana, "Can you get us down there?"
"Yessir," she nodded, unfastening her harness as the others did the same. She motioned them towards her and as they crowded around, a bluish-white light circle formed beneath them and in a flash they were gone, swallowed by the portal.
It spat them back out down in the chaos-laden streets, just far enough away from the several-stories-tall dinosaur beast that they didn't have to do anything to avoid the giant stomping foot that crashed down so hard it caused the road to cave in. While Logan and Scott ran towards the monster, respectively unsheathing claws and shooting crimson blasts towards it, Emma, Kitty and Illyana stood a second longer to assess the damage.
"I can get the people on the ground. You two wanna get everyone out of the buildings?" Kitty suggested.
"On it," Illyana told her as she glanced to Emma who only responded with a tight nod of her head. With another stepping disc, both of the blondes were gone, and Shadowcat was left alone to dash after Wolverine and Cyclops, determined to get everyone out of their way so they could concentrate on the real objective.
"Away from the big scary monster! Away!" she shouted on her way past a cluster of stunned and stumbling people, surprised not for the first time in her life that that was such a difficult concept to understand, even in an emergency situation. Overhead, the Blackbird hovered just in front of the creature, unleashing a seemingly endless stream of ammunition that seemed to be barely irritating it, let alone getting it to move back towards the hole it had crawled out of.
'How is it that they never come out in the middle of a desert? It's always a big city,' Kitty mused, again not for the first time in her life.
Her hearing almost completely deadened by the artillery guns on the jet, it was all she could do to start gesturing wildly at a couple to get out of the way. Fortunately, they seemed to understand. Unfortunately, they couldn't move fast enough to avoid the car that had just been flung their way. Without a second thought, she dived for them, the front of her body scraping along the ground but managing to get her far enough to grab their legs, phrasing all three of them.
The vehicle flew through them, crashing to the ground just a few feet away. Before Kitty could even get to her feet, the woman had fainted.
Inside a nearby building, Illyana was having slightly better luck thanks to Emma, who was using her telepathic abilities to forcefully calm them down. It made it easier for Magik to gather them up and port them down to the nearest exit and get them out of the immediate danger zone. She made several trips, popping in and out of various floors and rooms to make sure the entire office building had been evacuated. When it had, she moved with Emma to the next one. But with the monster thrashing around outside, its massive tail smashing through a window and nearly taking a few office workers with it, it became clear to the both of them that they were going to have to split up and move faster.
Illyana left Emma alone, teleporting herself to the next closest building instead. Unfortunately, without the older mutant there to trick them into cooperating, Magik had a lot more trouble. Trying to calm people down enough for them to come with her was a feat that was quickly making her lose her patience with them.
"Do you want to live or be squashed and eaten by that thing out there?" She finally yelled over their panicked screams. It got the attention of some of them, indicated only by the fact that they turned their heads to look at her, "That's what I thought. Come with me."
Each person inside the room migrated towards her and as soon as they were close enough, she activated a stepping disc, "I wouldn't move around to much if I were you. If you do and you get left behind with the demons, it's not my fault."
Before the civilians, that were now more frightened than they had been already, could protest they were all being swallowed by the portal. When they resurfaced, it was with the rest of the people Illyana had saved earlier. The blonde peered around the side of the building, tipping her head up to look at the dinosaur creature. Cyclops and Wolverine were evidently getting no where, and Illyana was getting undeniably bored with this.
"Don't do anything stupid," she turned to warn the large group of people just in time to catch Emma leading an entire army of unnaturally calm civilians to their location. Without so much as an acknowledgment to the White Queen she teleported herself out once again.
Kitty was on the ground still, trying to coordinate a small group of civilians to walk with her out of the rubble. They had been seemingly frozen in fear at a bus stop when a building - thankfully empty - had collapsed above them. Kitty had managed to make all of them intangible before they could be crushed by the debris, but that wasn't going to help them if they all suffocated to death instead. She couldn't breath with drywall phased through her lungs, and neither could she speak, so trying to communicate with the terrified group that they needed to follow her was a nightmare. Finally, however, with much flailing about, she managed to get her message across enough to lead them out into the light.
Unfortunately, things outside hadn't seemed to have changed all that much. The monster was still growling and smashing, Cyclops still blasting, Wolverine still slashing, and Beast still firing from the jet. If anything, it looked like they were only making it angry.
"Guys? I think we need a new plan." she thought to the rest of the team.
And that was when Illyana appeared on top of the monster's head. She immediately crouched down, reaching for whatever she could in order to keep herself from being flung off with all its movement. Her efforts were in vain, however and when it thrashed its head to try and dislodge her, Magik had to think fast. She grabbed onto one of the spiny growths protruding from its thick skin and swung herself around it, planting her feet back on safe "ground", still squatting down to keep her balance.
"You're a couple million years late for your extinction, dino. Let me help you find it," And with that, Magik opened a stepping disc, just large enough for the oversized creature, right beneath its feet. She rose to her full height as it began to quickly sink into the portal, descending down to become nothing more than chow for the denizens of Limbo. Illyana leapt off its head just as the portal closed, effectively sealing the creature away. She landed on the ground and made like she was dusting her hands against one another before she turned to look at the others.
Logan just stared at her, his arms falling limp and disappointed by his sides as if they had just lost their entire purpose in life. Kitty walked up beside him, jaw slack but eyebrows lifted, thoroughly impressed and pleasantly surprised. Emma joined them just a moment later, crossing her arms over her chest as her glacial eyes found Scott who was just as taken aback as the rest of them. Illyana looked between them all, trying to determine whether or not she was about to be in trouble.
Cyclops answered that unspoken question for her when he reached out and patted her on the back proudly, "Well played."
"We should have thought of that before," Kitty grinned.
"I make a spur-of-the-moment decision to let Magik on the team and this is what I get," Scott said, though the expression on his face was anything but upset.
"She should come with us more often. Things would go a lot faster," the brunette thought aloud, subtly eyeing Cyclops to see what his reaction to that would be. Scott exchanged a quick look with Emma who didn't seem too opposed, then sent a glance to a hopeful Illyana before he finally rested his gaze on Kitty.
"Can you get her in the Danger Room every morning for practice?" He asked her, the crease in his hood indicating that he'd raised his eyebrow.
"Yana?" Kitty turned the question onto her girlfriend, not wanting to leave her out of the conversation.
"If that's all I have to do to be an X-Man, then how come I was stuck with the Baby Brigade for so long?" Illyana asked, putting her hands on her hips and shifting her weight onto one leg.
"It's not the only thing you'll have to do, and this is a big responsibility. But I think everyone here would agree you have a lot of potential and letting that go to waste would be a bad judgement call," Scott told her, placing his hand on her shoulder, "We've underestimated you in the past. This is me apologizing. If you want to join us, the offer's open. Let me know what you decide."
Sensing the end of that discussion and the impression she got from Scott that he wanted Illyana to think about it more first, Kitty spoke up, "So. Home time?"
"So, X-Man, huh?"
Kitty flopped down onto her bed, holding herself up on her forearms to look over her shoulder at her girlfriend, a teasing smile on her lips, "And to think, all it took was teleporting Godzilla into Limbo."
Illyana crawled onto the bed after her and sat at the brunette's feet, grinning widely, "I guess not doing what I'm supposed to pays off sometimes."
Kitty flipped over to look down her body at her, "Don't get ahead of yourself. That was one time out of how many that you've done that?"
Illyana laughed, shrugging her shoulders. Even if she tried to count the times, they'd be up all night and if they were gonna be up all night, counting wasn't what she wanted to be doing. The blonde let her chin rest in her palm, her fingers holding her cheek, "I'm finally gonna be an X-Man with you."
"About time," the brunette laughed with her, then her expression suddenly turned serious, despite the subtle teasing note in her voice, "Guess you should go to bed now so you'll be nice and rested for the Danger Room tomorrow."
"Nah," Illyana told her, already making her first bad decision as an X-Man. She crawled up Kitty's body rather quickly, grinning at her all the while. She stopped once her hands were pressed against the mattress at the the older girl's sides and her blue eyes gazed directly down into Kitty's brown ones.
Kitty could not help the blush that crawled onto her cheeks or the smirk that appeared on her lips, "This isn't your bed, Illyana."
"Does that bother you?" Magik tipped her head to the side, biting down on corner of her own bottom lip.
"It does if you're just going to lay there and not do anything," the other girl trailed off quietly, her gaze dropping to the blonde's mouth. Illyana let out a breathy chuckle and she leaned down, capturing Kitty's lips in a deep kiss. The brunette murmured her approval against them, her arms easing out from under her and letting them lay flat against the mattress. Instead, her hands went for her girlfriend's hips, fingers absently rubbing over them. Magik lowered herself down onto her, wiggling in between Kitty's knees and grinning against her mouth.
It was then that Lockheed swooped in through the still-open window, shrieking bloody murder and swooping at the two of them like he was an angry bird and they were too close to his nest. Once he had their attention, and boy had he gotten it fast, he quieted instantly, instead landing on the bed and attempting to squeeze his body between them, cooing affectionately at them as he did.
"Lockheed," Kitty groaned, exasperated.
"Lockheed!" Illyana echoed, stubbornly attempting to keep him away but soon let up, letting the little dragon win once again. She flashed him a glare that was half-serious and half-playful, and then her eyes were back on Kitty. She leaned down for one last kiss, her teeth lightly raking over the brunette's bottom lip as she pulled away, lingering there as she spoke quietly, "Goodnight, Katya."
"Night, Yana," Kitty smiled back at her, tilting her chin up just enough to press a chaste kiss to her girlfriend's mouth before she pulled away. Illyana crawled off of her then, begrudgingly patting Lockheed on the head before she made her way to the door. She paused in the doorway, looking over her shoulder to give Kitty a small smile before she flipped off the light and closed the door behind her.
Kitty sat there in the dark then, smiling uncontrollably to herself while Lockheed only glowered.
