A/N- I am soooooo sorry this chapter is so late. I really had a rough time with it, and paired up with the fact that November is a crazy busy month around my house, I just didn't have the time I wanted to sit down and get it out earlier. It was my ~*~birthday~*~ last week, which is my excuse. And I'm sticking with it. November is my birth-month, I get a free pass. ;)
Piotr had been wrong to assume the schmoozing part of his career was behind him. One night of impressing potential buyers was obviously just the tip of the iceberg, an unfortunate reality he'd just come to face with upon his first meeting with his new agent. She was a nice enough woman with a friendly smile and an eye for good art, and she expected him to "be approachable" as she had put it, which was something that was quite out of Piotr's comfort zone. He'd be much happier working behind the scenes, letting his agent take the lead, but until he'd established more of a name for himself, he'd have to do a bit more of the footwork himself.
And the thought of more networking was fairly stressful to him. It was shortly after 1, and his mind was racing with impending meetings and feelings of general doom as he walked down the long corridor leading up to the apartment, twisting the knob and pushing the door open with a deep sigh.
"Hey!" He looked up to see Kitty sitting on the couch with her computer perched on her lap, and he felt his stress thaw and melt away from the warmth of her bright smile. "How was your day?"
He grinned back at her and shut the door behind him with a twinkle in his eye, "Getting better."
"Oh yeah?" Kitty closed her laptop and set it down on the coffee table with a coy smile. "Why is that?"
"You are a sight for sore eyes."
"You used that saying right," She stood up and crossed the room coming to a stop in front of him with a impish grin, "I'm impressed..."
"You are easily impressed." He chuckled.
"Tell me about it." Pyro chimed in from the kitchen, catching Piotr slightly off guard since he hadn't even noticed him there with his head stuck in the refrigerator. "She got those stupid jean legging things a week ago and she hasn't stopped talking about them since."
"Hey," Kitty snapped, casting a glare to the back of Pyro's head, "They're called Jeggings, and they're super impressive. They're the Brangelina of pants, alright?" She turned back to Piotr and knit her brow, "They're like denim yoga pants."
"So you had a bad day, huh?" Pyro asked, pulling out his carton of milk and kicking the fridge door shut, apparently completely oblivious to both Piotr and Kitty's sudden change in demeanor, "Bet mine was worse."
"Oh brother, here we go." Kitty rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and crossed her arms as Pyro took a drink straight from the carton. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand pinched the carton shut, frowning up at Piotr.
"I got melanoma."
"Pyro's been looking on Web MD." Kitty explained to Piotr with a pointed look before turning back to Pyro, "You don't have melanoma."
"Oh yeah?" Pyro slammed his milk carton down on the counter and proceeded to haul his shirt up off his back, "See that mole there? See it?!"
"Can you?" Kitty asked drily.
Piotr frowned and knit his brow, "Put your shirt back on, John."
"Look at it! It's all angry lookin'." Pyro said, craning his neck as far as humanly possible in an attempt to view the mole in the centre of his back from over his shoulder, "Ain't it?!"
Piotr blinked at Pyro watching as he desperately tried to see his back like a dog chasing its own tail, before cutting his eyes to Kitty, "Now seems like a good time for some driving practice."
"Oh God yes." Kitty replied, following Piotr out of the apartment without hesitation, snatching the keys out of the bowl on the way by. They walked down the hall in silence, coming to a stop at the elevator where Piotr pushed the down button with a frown as the memory of Pyro's last health scare sprang to mind.
Kitty took note of the sour look on his face and eased her hand into his, "What is it?"
The elevator doors opened with a ding and Piotr shook his head, "The last time Pyro thought he was dying, he started a bucket list." They stepped into the elevator and watched the doors close behind them, "It was awful. He spent an entire week trying to learn how to play the drums until Remy finally blew them up."
Kitty grimaced dramatically and shook her head, "That sounds awful."
"Yes, it did." Piotr grinned.
"So, how did your meeting with your new agent go?"
Piotr sighed, dropping her hand to ease his arm around her waist, "I do not want to talk about it."
"That bad, huh?" Kitty frowned.
"No, just... stressful." He said, pulling his arm back and running a hand through his hair. The elevator dinged, announcing their arrival on the bottom floor and the doors slid open.
"You sure you wanna take me driving right now? It's probably not a good stress reliever." Kitty pointed out as she led the way through the foyer.
He grinned, "Of course I am sure. You are my cheerleader."
They made their way out to the SUV and climbed in, where Kitty proceeded to adjust the seat to suit her short stature.
"Alright, so this time we are going to focus on being calm." Piotr said, watching while Kitty shifted the rear-view mirror. She glanced at him through the corner of her eye quickly,
"I totally am calm."
"And maybe, try not to drive at any obstacles."
"Well, I don't try to drive at them- yeah okay, I see your point." Kitty pressed her lips into a thin line, shoving the key into the ignition and shifting into drive, "But you have to stop being so distracting then."
"Distracting." Piotr repeated skeptically, "How was I being distracting?"
"Uhh, you were talking about my underwear and you smell like Christmas. And yeah, I'm Jewish, but Christmas smells incredibly sexy, okay?" Piotr smiled and Kitty glanced at him quickly through the corner of her eye, "And don't smile at me."
"So you just want me to sit here and stare out the front window?" He laughed.
She smiled back, keeping her eyes fixed on the road. "Yes, exactly. And if you can, stop smelling like a candy cane."
For the next few minutes, Piotr went between watching the road, peering at the speedometer, and discreetly glancing at Kitty as she drove, watching for any signs of budding road rage. She let out a low growl and flicked the blinker on with slightly more force than totally necessary.
"I never did ask you how your day was." Piotr said, turning to look at the car she sped past while she anxiously worked the muscles in her jaw.
"Hmm?" She scowled at the car in her rear view mirror before glancing towards Piotr, "My day?"
"I assume Pyro was not concerned with skin cancer all day." He smiled, hoping to distract her from her aggression.
"No, um, actually I got an interview this morning." She answered. Her grip on the wheel relaxed and she cast Piotr a quick smile, "It's at a bridal salon here in town. I'm actually pretty excited about it, I would totally be perfect for this job, I've seen basically every episode of Say Yes to the Dress."
"That is great news, Katya! When is your interview?"
"Thursday." Kitty smiled out the windshield, "I'm kind of nervous about it. I want to keep my expectations totally neutral, you know? No Devil Wears Prada."
"They would be fools not to hire you. And I am not even going to mention your interview bra."
"Thanks for that." Kitty snorted.
Piotr turned back to the road and pointed up ahead, "If you turn down here, I know of a good place for you to practice three point turns and parking."
Kitty nodded and followed Piotr's directions before looking over at him through the corner of her eye, "So, how am I doing so far? Be honest..."
"You are doing well." Piotr nodded, "Fast but well."
Kitty rolled her eyes, "The speed limit is just a suggestion."
"No, it is the law." Piotr stated, noting the way she was impatiently tailgating the person in front of her. He cleared his throat, deciding to take another crack at distracting her from her impatience, "So... about that interview bra." He began, before bracing himself and slamming his foot down on the imaginary break, "Someone is crossing the road up ahead. Katya, stop. Stop!"
The car jerked to an abrupt halt and Kitty cast him an innocent smile, "Sorry."
He squared his jaw and forced a smile, "Yeah."
"You were talking about my underwear. I told you not to do that." She said defensively.
"I thought that you were joking." Piotr said with a frown.
"Why would I be joking about that?!" She laughed, "Under normal circumstances, I don't think I'd mind you talking about my underwear. But I'm trying to focus on the road-" She turned her attention back to the road and uttered a frustrated grunt, "Come on! What the hell is taking this chick so damn long to cross the road?!"
"Katya, it is just an old woman-"
"Who is totally jaywalking." Kitty yelled out the window, "That's right granny, I'm talkin' to you!"
"Katya!" Piotr turned to gape at her.
"Oh please, she knows what she's doing." Kitty scoffed irritably, "I should have just phased through her. I would have been totally justified in just phasing right through her and giving the old bat a heart attack."
Piotr stared at her for a moment before squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing a hand over his face. He never thought he'd live to see the day when he would actually regret escaping one of Pyro's irrational health scares, and yet here they were. He liked Kitty- a lot- but this driving business really did bring out the worst in her. No sooner did this thought cross his mind, than Kitty's foot had mashed down on the gas pedal, causing the tires to squawk and the Tahoe to lurch forward.
"Geeze, can you believe that lady?!" She shook her head in disgust, "She totally gave me the finger. Did you see that?"
Piotr didn't exactly disagree with the woman crossing the road. Instead of adding fuel to the flame, he glanced at the speedometer and unconsciously gripped the dashboard in front of him.
"Maybe slow down a bit..."
"Sorry," Kitty said absently, glancing into her side mirror, "I don't want this bastard to pass me..." She leaned far enough out the window for her voice to carry, "Eat my dust, ass hat!"
"Does it matter if they pass us?" Piotr asked, watching as Kitty glowered over her shoulder at the red compact car which was apparently trying to overtake them.
"...No. I guess not." She admitted, easing her foot off the pedal slightly with a frown.
Piotr gestured to an empty parking lot not far ahead, "Why don't we work on parking now?"
Kitty nodded silently, following Piotr's instructions to pull into the secluded lot. She quickly reversed into a parking spot and shifted into park, killing the engine as she frowned down at the steering wheel.
Piotr turned to her, his brow pinching together as he inspected her gloomy demeanor, not entirely sure how to approach the situation. She was fine a minute ago, and now she looked completely crestfallen. He glanced around at the empty parking lot before clearing his throat uncertainly, "You don't... you don't want to practice anymore?"
"What is wrong with me Pete?" She sighed.
"I... um..."
She dropped her forehead down onto the steering wheel and whimpered, "Why can't I just drive like a normal person?"
"You mean... without your powers?" Piotr frowned.
"I mean in general."
"You were doing fine-"
"No, I wasn't." She said firmly, sitting back in her seat with her brow pinched, "I was angry because a tiny little red clown car was going faster than me. For no reason. We're not even driving anywhere, I have no reason to go fast..." She squared her jaw and shook her head, "I just... get so angry."
Piotr reached out, brushing his knuckles along her jaw gently, "You are a passionate person, yes?" The corner of Kitty's mouth twitched, and he undid his seat belt, shifting in his seat to face her better, "You are intense, Katya. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I find it to be... appealing."
"Appealing." She muttered, rubbing a hand over her face, "I yelled at an old lady for walking too slow across the road. Oh my God! What is wrong with me?!"
"Well, it is not all appealing." Piotr smiled, dropping his elbow on the back of her seat and pushing the hair off her neck lightly, "But under other circumstances, it is one of my favorite qualities about you."
She glanced at him through the corner of her eye skeptically, "Yeah..."
"I mean it." He chuckled, "Everything is so... exciting to you. You feel things so deeply, and intensely. And while that might include anger and frustration, it also includes all of the good emotions too."
"Good emotions." She bit her lip, the corner of her mouth tugging up.
"When you were telling me about your job interview, you relaxed." He continued, gently rubbing the nape of her neck, "You were happy, and calm, and you were driving the speed limit..."
She closed her eyes as he massaged her neck, "The speed limit is just a suggestion."
He smiled and leaned closer to her, "My point is that when you are not so focused on trying to drive-" He pressed a kiss onto her shoulder, "You actually drive very well." He moved up to kiss her neck below her ear, "As long as I do not mention your underwear."
She turned, looking at him from beneath her lashes, "Is this your way of helping me relax?" She asked thickly, "Because it's not exactly working."
"No?" He hummed with a dark smile, "Then I will just have to try harder."
His lips found her neck and she let out a breathy sigh, "Hang on..."
"I will not give you any more hickeys, I promise." He murmured against her skin.
She tipped her head back and tangled her hand into the hair at the back of his head, "What happened to we should stop until we've been on a proper date?" She smiled.
Piotr felt a pang of guilt as he inched back to look her in the eye. His mother would have been so disappointed in him for treating a woman in such a tawdry fashion, "We should-"
"What? No, Pete. I was kidding." Kitty unbuckled her seat belt and moved closer to him, smoothing her hand up his chest, "We can totally count this as a first date. It counts."
"Katya, you deserve-"
"Pete, we live together. And not in the fun way. We have to take advantage of these opportunities when they show up." A smile danced across her lips and she flicked her gaze to the back seat, "And this is quite an opportunity."
"You really want to count this as our first..." He trailed off into a groan as her warm mouth found the sensitive spot on his neck.
"Think about it," She pulled back enough to look him in the eye, "Any other normal first date is spent getting to know the other person. Well we already know each other. So really, what's the point?"
"We don't know everything." He pointed out with a crooked grin.
"Then tell me something I don't know about you." Kitty suggested, "I'll tell you something, and we can get on with the fun stuff."
His eyebrows perked up, "Just like that?"
She gave him a firm nod, "Just like that."
"Alright. Uh..." He pressed his lips together thoughtfully, "Well, I am... what is the word... ambidextrous?"
Kitty folded her hands on his chest and straightened up, "You're a righty and a lefty?"
The corner of his mouth quirked up and he nodded, "Yes. Well technically, no. I was left handed as a young boy, but my older brother Mikhail was a righty." He grinned, lifting a hand to smooth some hair behind Kitty's ear, "I copied everything Mikhail did. I taught myself to use my right hand, just like him."
Kitty's eyes sparkled with a smile, "That's adorable..."
"Your turn." He grinned, trailing his hand down the length of her back and coming to a stop on her hip.
"I skipped seventh grade." She shrugged, phasing into the back seat with a grin, "Okay, fun time!"
"Wait, you skipped?" Piotr frowned back at her from over his shoulder. "You... skipped over it right? That is what that means?"
"Yeah. My teachers all thought it'd be good for me. Long story short, it sucked. I spent the remainder of my school career trying to fit in with people who were older and taller than me. And they all had better hair."
"You are... smart..."
"Geeze, don't seem so surprised." She snorted, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the back seat with her, "Don't make a big deal out of it, okay? Shush now, fun time."
Any arguments Piotr might have been gearing up to use were quickly forgotten when Kitty pressed her lips against his, apparently more than satisfied with this miniature version of a first date, and quite eager to get on with the fun stuff. A little part of him still felt guilty for not having given her a real first date, but she had definitely managed to help him almost forget that little part. Besides, if he were to really think about it, she'd been right; The past four months sharing an apartment filled far more of the necessary requirements for a first date. If anything, they knew too much about one another.
So there they were, only days prior nothing more than just friends, making out in the back of his Chevy Tahoe as if it was exactly what they'd meant to do all along. He wasn't exactly sure how long they were in the back seat for, with her legs draped over his lap and his hands roving around her back, but the three sharp knocks on the rear passenger side window was much more effective than a bucket of cold water.
Kitty pulled back quickly, turning to stare in shock out the window at what appeared to be an unamused looking police officer. Piotr quickly shifted and rolled down the window,
"Hello officer..." Piotr began. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "I was just teaching... my roommate how to drive-"
"In her mouth?" The officer quirked an eyebrow, turning his stony gaze to Kitty after she let out a laugh.
"Well... he was teaching me to drive. We were... taking a break." Kitty explained, smoothing her mussed up hair down with her hand, "See, I'm really bad. Like... really, really bad. And my..." She cut her eyes to Piotr for a split second, "Roommate was just trying to help me relax. It was definitely working."
The officers face remained sharp and thoroughly unimpressed, reaching to the back of his belt and pulling out his ticket book.
"And I totally know what you're thinking; get a room." Kitty continued with an anxious smile which was not returned in the slightest, "But you know, we've only just started... with the kissing... situation. And we're concerned about what our other roommates will think. This scenario was just too difficult for us to pass up, you understand that."
The officer gave her a slow blink, flipping open the ticket book and clicking out the pen, and Kitty's anxious smile faltered, "I mean, it's not like we're breaking the law or anything. Wait... we're not breaking the law right? Because I seriously don't think that our other roommates would ever in a billion years let us live it down if they had to bail us out of jail for indecent exposure or something. Nothing is exposed, here. Everything is... imposed." She pressed her lips together and shook her head, "That's not the opposite of exposed."
The police officer let out a breath and muttered, "They don't pay me enough to deal with this shit." He rubbed a hand over his face before turning his frown to Piotr, "How old are you two?"
Piotr opened his mouth to respond when the police man held up his hand and continued, "It's bad enough that I have to scare horny teenagers away this place on a daily basis, but you two are grown ass adults. Now get the hell back on the road before I find something to write you up for." He eyed Kitty as he put the ticket book and pen away before giving his head a shake, "And get her some help."
The police officer turned around and returned to his cruiser, leaving Kitty and Piotr alone in the parking lot once again.
"Did you just talk your way out of a ticket...?" Piotr asked as Kitty phased herself into the passenger seat, "He was going to give us a ticket."
Kitty shrugged, "Yeah, I find that police officers find my cutesy flustered prattle to be way too bothersome. Plus, I imagine there's a lot of paperwork involved, and it's just totally not worth it." She shook her head and phased Piotr up into the drivers seat.
"You just charmed your way out of a ticket." Piotr grinned at her.
"Well, I wouldn't say it was charm... More like I crazied my way out of a ticket." She smiled back, "I'm an expert at sounding crazy. I'm like a walking get out of jail free card, and I'm totally not even just referring to my powers."
Piotrs grin widened and he leaned forward, giving her a kiss, "This was a horrible first date." He muttered against her mouth before pulling back and turning the key in the ignition, "Are you sure you still want to count it?"
"Are you kidding? We made out in public and ran from the law. We're like Bonnie and Clyde, with less... guns and bank robberies." Kitty frowned thoughtfully. "I guess Bonnie and Clyde was a bad example..."
"We should get going before he doubles back and changes his mind." Piotr said, as he pulled his seat belt on, "I am not sure your charm would work twice."
"Twice, maybe. Three times, definitely not." Kitty shook her head as she buckled up, "Don't ask me how I know that, I don't want to re-live it."