*Chapter 3*
~Conversations~
It was after lunch before Kitty found the time to talk with Jean since her sword practice ended up taking longer than she had planned. It took some searching through the twisting corridors of the mansion before Kitty located the red-haired psychic. Jean was putting her four-year-old son down for his afternoon nap when Kitty approached her. Now that Nathan was sleeping Jean had some free time and Kitty needed someone other than Bobby to talk to.
"Hi Jean, did you have a good morning?" Kitty asked quietly, mindful of the sleeping child. Since she had spent the morning doing chores and practicing she was eager to see if she missed any interesting happenings.
"Yes I did," she replied. "And you didn't miss much." She added before Kitty could ask. "The only thing involved Bobby, and you're talking to me right now to avoid him again aren't you." The way she said it made it a statement, not a question. Jean Grey-Summers was a mind-reader, Kitty didn't have to say a word, Jean knew already.
"Yes I am, but I really want to talk anyway." Kitty replied. "Even if it does involve Iceman I would like to hear it, especially if it is at his expense."
"Well, if you insist. Bobby finished his chores in record time, probably to get more time to spend with you." Jean couldn't help but smile at Kitty's partly horrified, partly disgusted expression upon hearing this. "So he was standing around with nothing to do since he had no desire to interrupt your practice. He must have become incredibly bored because he offered to watch Nathan for a while." Her smile widened at Kitty's shock, Bobby found small children, like Nathan, irritating and avoided them like the plague. He must have been truly desperate to make such an offer. "Of course I let him, and of course I spied on him to make sure things went well. Bobby made a valiant effort, I must say, but Nathan ran him ragged in the end. Poor Bobby looked like a horse ran over him before he gave up and brought Nathan back to me. He went to clean up but he's still looking for you. I think that's so cute, he chases after you the way he does. But you won't give him a chance, why is that?" Jean asked, genuinely curious about the reason for Kitty's constant rejection of poor little Robert Drake.
"Well for one thing I don't like him." Kitty began; she paused to organize her thoughts before continuing. "He's never serious about anything, always joking and flirting with any girl who is remotely pretty. He has that bad habit of using his powers irresponsibly, like when he froze Ray's bathwater solid as revenge for when he was beaten in some card game. He is a year younger than I am, and he acts much younger than that. And on top of all of that, I have no romantic interest in him what-so-ever. I don't mind being friends with him, but I can't see myself courting him." She finished her little speech on the many flaws of Bobby Drake and awaited Jean's response.
"Well I do admit he is rather immature, he can be terribly annoying, and he is rarely serious about anything. But you never really gave him a chance in the first place. Every time he tried to gain your favor you either turned him down before he could get started or ignored him completely. How can you honestly say you have no romantic interest in him if you do that? If you did give him a chance you might find that you like him more than you thought. Or does liking him as more than a friend scare you?" Jean asked in response. Kitty knew that what Jean said was true, but she wasn't free to do as her friend suggested. There was one more reason why she could not court Bobby Drake, but she didn't dare think of it, lest Jean find out. And Kitty wasn't sure she was ready for Jean to know about that just yet.
"Maybe, but I don't think so. Besides, if Bobby stopped blindly chasing me and took a good look around him, he'd see that someone else is interested in him. God only knows how long Jubilee has liked him. If only he noticed, or she got the guts to admit it, they could make a great couple." Kitty finished with a sigh of exasperation. Sometimes people could be so silly when it came to their personal feelings. Not that she was exempt from that, from time to time in the past she'd been as bad as anyone.
"You have a point there," Jean conceded. "But will you at least consider what I said?"
"Of course Jean, you know I will." Kitty chirped cheerfully.
"Good, now why don't you go and find poor Bobby and cheer him up a bit, okay?" Jean spoke in a voice that made the inquiry into a command.
"I suppose I must." Kitty sighed in resignation. "Well I'm off then, see you at dinner!" She turned and left the room, searching reluctantly for her despised, not-so-secret admirer. She vainly hoped that he would be hard to find, but luck was not on her side today. Bobby was sitting next to the goldfish pond in the center of Ororo's garden doing something few people saw him do. The ever bright and cheerful Iceman was swirling his fingers in the pond and he was sulking. Great, just what I need, a sulky little boy who just so happens to be infatuated with me, somebody up there must hate me today. The only thing that will cheer him up is me, and if I do then he'll become even more smitten with me. And that's the last thing on earth that I want. Well, here goes nothing.
"Hello Bobby, have a rough day today?" Kitty asked, forcing a small smile. Bobby looked up, realized who was speaking to him, and instantly forgot that he was sulking.
"Kitty!" He joyously exclaimed. "I didn't think you'd talk to me."
"Why ever would you think that?" She asked him innocently.
"Well, uh, you seem to ignore me whenever I'm around. And you never take me seriously when you do notice me." Iceman replied nervously, fiddling with a fallen leaf.
"Okay," Kitty admitted after a short pause. "Maybe I have been ignoring you a bit lately, but don't take it too hard. I've just had a lot on my mind as of late." There, that wasn't a lie. Just don't ask about it.
"Oh? What's bothering you?" Bobby asked, looking mildly concerned. If something was bothering Kitty Pryde it had to be pretty bad for her to admit it.
"Nothing's wrong." Kitty answered quickly. "It's nothing important, I really shouldn't have let it get to me the way it did. I'll be fine, really. You have nothing to worry about." She assured him. He studied her suspiciously for a moment before responding.
"Are you sure about that?" Iceman asked. Shadowcat nodded. "Alright, if you're sure about it then I won't ask." Kitty smiled in relief, but it was short lived. "But I do have a question for you though." Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Kitty wondered with mounting dread. "Would you like to attend the London Play Festival this coming week? With me, that is." Bobby added the last sentence hurriedly when he realized that he hadn't said who she would go with. Kitty felt her heart sink down somewhere near her shoes, if not completely in them yet. What on earth could she say that wouldn't completely crush him?
"I really would like to go, but I think that I will have to pass." She said finally.
"Why?" Bobby asked. Damn him, why does he have to use the kicked puppy look? I hate that!
"Because I promised Amara that I'd help her with her new horse next week." At Bobby blank look she elaborated. "You remember, Lord Xavier ordered a few new horses and they should be here next week. Amara doesn't have a horse yet and I promised I'd help her pick and work with one."
"Oh." Iceman said in a small voice. "I see, well if you change your mind or anything let me know." Bobby slipped back into his earlier sulking mode, gazing forlornly over the fish pond.
"I'm really sorry, I wish I could go but I already promised my time to someone else. Maybe next time okay?" Kitty said in a final but futile attempt to lessen the impact of her refusal. "Anything else you want to talk about?" She asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"No," he said dully. "That was it."
"Okay then, good bye." Shadowcat mumbled as she left to the stables to take care of he horse Phantom.
//Everyone, please assemble in the dining hall immediately.// The foreign thought intruded into the minds of all the residents of the mansion most unexpectedly. They all stopped whatever it was that they were doing and complied with the mental instructions. Lord Charles Xavier rarely used such a means to communicate with them and he had called for everyone. Whatever it was that was happening must be serious indeed...