Kitty Pryde

It felt almost like a dream — going back to school. He doesn’t know if there’s anything that would jump out at him. Jebediah is interested in engineering, good at putting scraps together into something else. He even caught the interest of Ted Kord, making him excited whenever the boy thought about it. He brings himself back to reality as they talk about his oldest brother. He wonders if some of the other teachers at the school don’t get along with him with his decisions to work for their enemy. Jeb isn’t about to judge, since in his experience Sam has his reasons for doing things. “Ah’ll remember t’ask him all about it.” He says this with a smile, but it quickly goes back to a serious expression. “Ah would like gettin’ ta be just JEB for once. Some o’ the townsfolk back home called me a ‘MUTIE FREAK’ instead of by mah name. Ah haven’t seen Sammy yet, but hopefully ah get ta see him soon. Ah haven’t seen him in over a year.” He misses him, always looking up to his oldest sibling from day one. He missed him even more when Sam left to be a HERO. “Ah wouldn’t mind training. It has been hard doin’ it on my own anyway. Ah’m interested in engineering, could somethin’ be done with that  at your school?”

“Just dishes. Is that supposed to make me want to clean them less or more?” Jono ventured, though he promptly dropped his shoulders in defeat and reached to turn on the faucet anyway. It was his turn, sure, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. He had better things to do than to stand here and wash someone else’s dirty plates. “I just don’t think it’s all that fair of you to make the guy who doesn’t even eat to clean the dishes. It just… Sounds kind of mental to me.”

He sighed, though his tone suggested a tease as he glanced over at her. “At least do it constructively. How else am I supposed to learn?”

As if cutting corners around District X wasn’t annoying enough, he was already regretting stopping to mince nonsensical words with anyone associated with an organization he despised (and that was him putting it nicely, at that). His breathing had returned to normal by the time he heard her speak again, but he had mostly tuned out the explanation, save for the last bit about his father.

“Real cute,” he snorted, quirking a brow. His tone exasperated a heavy layer of sarcasm. “That’s something I definitely haven’t heard before. Did Jack Frost Jr write that for you? It sounds like something he’d say. As for what I’m doing here, which I assumed you’re asking me based on that choppy intonation, that’s no one’s business but my own. Unless you’re oh-so-desperate to press me on it.” 

Kitty raised her brow and decided that she’d been nice to him for exactly two minutes too long. She took a breath and smiled at him, though it was a way of baring her teeth more than a smile. Kitty wasn’t one to back down from a fight with an asshole, even if she did adore his father.

“Ah didn’t know that Sammy did that, why would he join ‘em?” The teenager asks curiously while looking over at the woman who came to visit him. He knows there’s a certain shadow he would live in being the little brother of someone so well-known. Jebediah wonders if he could make a path of his own, whatever that might mean. “Ah’m glad that he joined back up with y’all.” He smiles at that and the expression continues to linger on his face while she introduces herself. The thought of attending the school is exciting, wondering what it was like as three of his older siblings had done that too. “Ah’m happy ta meet you, Kitty. Do ya really think ah could be a good candidate t’be a student there? Ah would like ta hear about it, please. Ah didn’t realize so many people would realize ah was here.”

Kurt wore a wide smile on his face the entire time as they worked on repotting plants and putting them in better areas to stimulate their growth. He’d perched himself on the steel beams that ran like makeshift rafters across the greenhouse; latched onto them with his feet as he draped down over the pots and worked. At her question, he chuckled softly and gestured to an empty space a few feet to their side. “Don’t vorry. Ve aren’t doing anysing zat should kill zem.” He grinned at her comment, however. “My charm is fery powerful.” He joked with a small laugh.

Though he was off on this particular day, he would not waste such time to take advantage of the weekly happy hour. But if he wanted to secure a seat directly across from the bar, in his usual attempts to score a few extra shots from the bartender on duty, he needed to make time. If it meant taking a less populated shortcut. He was not in the mood to shove aside several slow pedestrians who were obstructing his intended path. 

It wasn’t until one particular voice forced him to skid to a halt, splaying his arms forward to keep his balance, lest gravity would force him to the ground, marring his appearance on his away. Thankfully, that would not be the case. He turned his back towards the source of the shouting, squinting his gaze towards the woman while he took a few casual steps backwards to get closer to her.

“Oh wow,” he managed to blurt out through breathless chuckles, “Look who it is. Can’t say I’m surprised to see you here.” He raised a brow when he noticed her clinging to her bag, scoffing. “Relax, I doubt you’d have anything in that bag worth stealing.”

There’s a cheesy grin forming over his face rather quickly after closing the door behind the two of them. “Ah’m a GUTHRIE, that’s correct. Jebediah is mah name. Mah mama always taught us t’be polite.” The blonde wonders just how much he looks like his older brother, if someone looked at him AND could see the resemblance right away.  “Ah wouldn’t mind being bundled up. Ah haven’t seen him in over a year so ah’m really happy t’spend time together.” He had a history of being rebellious, but would need to try behaving. “Ah like getting in trouble and having a little fun, but ah should try bein’ good.”

Kitty was exhausted when she dumped herself on a bench that was somewhere in Star City, a spot between her University and District X. She didn’t expect to have anyone approach her, but when someone did, she could feel them coming up quickly behind her and she turned, ready to tell whoever to buzz off, but they were running. She didn’t know if they were running away from someone or to someone but it definitely wasn’t for her benefit. “Watch it!” she snapped as her bag was nearly trampled and she grabbed it up and stood herself, throwing the bag across her body and scowling. “Hey, what’s the big idea?!” she shouted after him. “You think I can’t defend myself, well you got some nerve, buddy!”

“If it looks like a Guthrie and sounds like a Guthrie, it’s probably a Guthrie,” Kitty said as she looked the boy over, the one who had just held the door for her and called her ma’am of all things. “What are you doing in the shelter? Thought your brother would have you bundled up and bottle-fed by now.” She crossed her arms and looked around. “Or are you the rebellious type and he knows you’re here, but this where you think you belong?”

“Oh, come on, Jono, they’re just dishes and according to the schedule,” which Kitty had made for this month, thank you, “it’s your turn. They aren’t going to bite you.” She rolled her eyes and stood up from the stool where she was sitting at the stainless steel kitchen island. “And no, I’m not helping you. No matter how much you complain,” she added. “But I am going to watch and critique every move because I can.”

Wearing overalls and a cute red tank top, Kitty had let her hair go free as she worked in the greenhouse with Kurt. She had on gardening gloves and boots as she held onto a potted plant she planned to repot into something bigger. “Where do you think this bush should go?” Kitty asked, not the best green thumb, but she was learning. “I don’t want to kill something that has been here for over a year,” she added with a chuckle. “I don’t know why I volunteered for this, Kurt. I guess it’s your charm.”

Kitty was working alone in the server room when she heard the door open. Paying it little mind, she continued to concentrate on seeing what she could salvage from one of the hundreds of Blade servers they had before she replaced it. Of course, it was backed up in another location, but she needed to strip everything from it before destroying it because there was no way to be completely free of data until it was incinerated to dust. She heard the purposeful click of heels coming in her direction, which meant whoever this was, they knew where she was without her saying anything and there weren’t a lot of telepaths that Kitty was on good terms with. She sighed and looked up to the dimly lit ceiling in the noisy and warm room despite all the fans and ventilation, they were always running hot. “I’m a little busy, so if you could make it quick and stay out of my head that would be wonderful!” she called out before looking back at her laptop where she sat on the floor tiles.