Title: Milk and Cookies
Author: Vi

Prompt Table #: Prompt Table #6 at the Phase&Fire LiveJournal community
Prompt: Secret
Rating: PG
Timeline: Somewhere around X1, pre X2
Summary: Comfort comes from unexpected places.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own 'em.
Author's Note: WHEE FLUFF! John can be cute, in his own weird way.
WARNINGS: Some crude language, obviously. Hopefully the typos are few and far between.

Being a person who preferred warmth, winter nights were always the most uncomfortable for John-during the summer the air conditioning kept things pleasant but not freezing, and he could always open his window if he needed to. During the winter, though, something always happened to the heat in his room, and the temperature would fluctuate between "Slightly warmer than a meat locker" and "Colder than a witch's tit", if said witch was naked and standing in the middle of the Arctic tundra.

"A meat locker would feel like a goddamned sauna right now," he muttered to himself under his mass of bedding, teeth chattering. After piling three blankets on his bed and having a near-calamitous experiment involving last year's essay on Hamlet and his trash can, John gave up trying to sleep and decided to take a trek to a warmer climate-namely, the kitchen. Pulling on his slippers and shoving his now-empty lighter and a small can of fuel in the pocket of his pajama pants, he padded down the hall and hoped Bobby wasn't having another late-night angstfest.

The lovesick ice dispenser wasn't seated at the island weeping into his Ben & Jerry's, thank god, but when John flipped the light on he discovered there was yet another wounded soul seeking comfort of the milk-and-cookies variety. Kitty's head shot up, and she quickly reached up to try to wipe the tears out of her eyes with the end of her flannel pajama sleeve.

"Uh…sorry. I'll just-" Gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder to signal his departure, he reached to turn the light back off, but Kitty shook her head.

"No, it's okay-you can sit down if you want." Seeing his hesitation, Kitty nudged the plate of Oreos in his direction. "You can help me finish these."

Still wary of being in close proximity of the girl who had once made him spit out an entire mouthful of bean burrito when she ran through him unexpectedly, John pulled out a stool and settled himself opposite her. "Can't sleep either, huh?" Oh, brilliant, Captain Obvious. He shoved a cookie in his mouth to keep from asking another intelligent question.

Kitty nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off her mostly full glass of milk. "Yeah. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Oh." Trying to ignore the sirens in his head screaming "EMOTIONAL FEMALE! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!", he tried to formulate an appropriate sympathetic response. "That sucks" was the best he could come up with.

It seemed to satisfy Kitty. "It does suck. It sucks a lot." Finally she lifted her brown eyes to meet his hazel ones. "You?"

"It's just colder than a wit-" Glancing again at her round, innocent face, John amended his sentence. "It's really damn cold in my room." Remembering the lighter in his pocket that still needed to be refilled, he pulled them out of his pocket and set them on the counter.

A thoughtful expression passed over Kitty's face when she saw the lighter, and she pursed her lips a bit before she spoke. "Would you mind if…could I fill it for you?"

Putting a protective hand over the Zippo, John shook his head. "I really don't like other people touching my stuff."

Looking crestfallen, Kitty nodded, her shoulders dropping. "Understandable."

John flipped the lid open, closed it again. Opened it. Stared at the wick. Closed it. She couldn't be that disappointed about refilling a lighter, could she? With a sigh he pushed the lighter and the can of fluid over to her. "You know how?"

Kitty's eyes darted back up to meet his gaze, full of surprise at his change of heart. "Yeah, I know how." Opening the lid, she slid the inner case out and flipped it upside down to pour the fuel in.

"So how does Kitty Pryde know how to refill a Zippo?" His words were sarcastic, but curious. "You don't seem the type to need one of those."

She blushed a little as she slid everything back into place, shrugging as she pushed down the tiny nozzle on the fuel can. "My dad used to smoke. I used to watch him refill his. He quit for a long time, until-" She pushed the lighter and fuel back at him. "Thanks. I know it's silly, but it just felt familiar, you know?"

"Why do you think I carry the damn thing?" His smirk was just small enough to keep her from thinking he was mocking her. Which he might have, and still might, but in the back of his mind John knew this wasn't the time or the place for that.

With "show-and-tell" time over, they went back to avoiding looking directly at each other and munching on cookies. John noticed that Kitty carefully twisted hers apart to keep the filling all on one side, then ate each half separately, starting with the part with no filling. Finally she twisted one that came apart with scraps of white stuck to both sides, and stared at it for a while, as though she wasn't sure which half to eat first.

"My parents are getting a divorce," she said to the cookies, but John heard her anyway. Kitty mushed the Oreo halves back together and shoved the whole thing in her mouth.

"That sucks." There he went again, with his inability to sound sympathetic. For once he wished he'd had a little practice.

Kitty's lips turned up in a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes, and she chuckled softly. "Yeah. It does suck."

The Zippo lid flipped up, the wick burst into flame. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's not a bad thing. It's been coming for a long time." Her dark hair brushed against her cheeks as she shook her head. "I'm actually kind of surprised it didn't happen sooner."

John pulled the flame into his hand and let it flicker there. "Liar."

Another smile, and this time it made it across her entire face. "Yeah, I am." Kitty looked up at him with serious eyes. "Look, don't…don't say anything about it, okay? Not like anybody would care, anyway."

"I try not to talk to anyone unless I have to." He thought for a moment, and the fire that rested above his palm shot out and encircled the glass of milk in front of Kitty.

She jumped backwards with a small gasp. "What are you doing!"

The flame hugged the glass for a moment longer, then retreated and extinguished itself. "Stir it. It should be warm enough." Kitty dipped her finger into the glass and swirled it around, putting it in her mouth to suck the milk off. "That was pretty suggestive. I've underestimated you, Pryde."

Kitty rolled her eyes at him. "I'm going to take this back to my room where I can drink it in peace." Pressing her lips together, she contemplated the boy sitting in front of her. "Thanks, John."

"Don't mention it." He listened to her footsteps get fainter as she left the kitchen and made off towards the dorms.

Putting the lighter and fuel back in his pockets, John shuffled around the kitchen in search of coffee making supplies; he was suddenly in the mood for a little warmth himself.