(no subject)

[passingthru]

WHO: Kitty Pryde & Emma Frost
WHEN: Jan 29th
WHERE: Cerebro
WHAT: Emma and Kitty decorate Cerebro.
WARNINGS: Nah.

Emma shows up to work on Cerebro in probably the most practical outfit Kitty has ever seen her in - light wash skinny jeans (impeccably tailored), a pale blue baby t-shirt with a surprisingly modest neckline but less modest length (idiotically expensive), and kitten heels that don't even add an inch to her height. Her hair is pulled back in a claw clip. It's all surprisingly mundane for her, suggesting a certain seriousness to their job. Or maybe just a desire to not get endless amounts of fake moss on her nicer clothes. And she has indeed come armed with fake moss, and dinosaurs, and plastic trees, and flowers, and lots of glue, all hastily acquired at a nearby dollar store to facilitate their other important mission - to make Cerebro into a dinosaur haven.

The initial work on the machine is precise and slow and thoughtful, as it should be - she doesn't know much about this sort of thing on her own, but she can pull thoughts and diagrams and the like from Kitty's brain as she works, augmenting her own understanding and sharing her knowledge of psychic enhancement in turn. It's nice and moderately productive, as far as they can tell, but there's only so much work they can do without knowing what level of adjustment is safe. So, eventually, they hit something like a wall. The ability to adjust Cerebro's sensitivity has been modified, made easier to dial up or down, and they both feel like they have a better understanding of the machine.

The lack of knowing what's really enough and, honestly, just their presence in Cerebro is starting to make Emma antsy. She produces a bright purple triceratops, and tries to balance it on Kitty's head as she leans over the core of Cerebro.

"I think we've done all we know to do, for now."

Kitty doesn’t want to hear that, first of all. She’s deep in workmode. Even though Emma’s dressed WAY down, she’s downright shabby in comparison, in her too big overalls with a tank top underneath, ponytail high enough to reveal the mark on the back of her neck. It’s that she touches now, reflexively, her mind lost in planning any further modifications she can make, if it’s worth breaking apart Cerebro a little more to know its inner workings better. But she can’t destroy the machine and risk not having it, or hurting Emma.

She shifts her fingertips a little upwards at the feeling of something strange on her head and laughs when she comes into contact with the triceratops. She, too, had bought some plastic dinosaurs and foliage, but had honestly forgotten about this part for a second. “Well, almost.”

She balances very still, so the dinosaur stays put, but reaches in her pocket and ceremoniously places a t-rex on Emma’s shoulder in return.


Though she can sense Kitty's dislike of shifting focus, Emma doesn't comment on it, watching as the other young woman places a dinosaur on her shoulder instead. Years of learning to be graceful give her an advantage, but there's no way she can balance a crappy plastic dinosaur on her shoulder when it's on two legs for very long. It topples off as she slowly tries to stand, but she catches it easily.

"You couldn't even pick a more stable one." A toothless critique. "And honestly, I'm surprised the anticipation of doing this wasn't the background noise in your head this entire time."

“I picked him special for you. Unstable and super dangerous.” Kitty for once is glad that Emma can see the exact amount of vitriol in that statement. It’s none; just an unfortunate joke that Emma set up for herself accidentally.

This draws up a sharp, bright laugh from Emma. "So unkind, darling. I'm so nice to you, and this is how you treat me?"

“Yeah.”

Kitty grins in the shittiest way, and rises gracefully, folding her feet under her so that the triceratops stays on her head. Her head still feels a little bit fuzzy, nothing to do with the dinosaur. It’s weird, coming back to seeing more than just the few wires in front of her. How long had they been working, anyway? Well. Just as long as they had to. And now it’s time to have fun.

Even as she reaches out to flick the triceratops from Kitty's head, Emma gently attempts to soothe the fuzziness in her mind, a smoothing over of her thoughts that's not unlike when she fixes her hair. Hopefully it helps her focus back on the now, so she can let her mind rest. "Two hours," she provides.

That’s not as long as Kitty had thought. She relaxes under the mental touch for just a minute, realizes that means encouraging it, and sloughs it off, prickling under the comfort like a cat whose fur was rubbed the wrong way.

“How do you want to create dino paradise, anyway? Like, little pockets around the room? Just the helmet and the controls?”

"I'll leave the vision mostly to you. This is your diorama, after all. I'm simply the assistant." She looks around, taking in the space, almost confronting it. It already feels less intimidating.

"Let's hide one or two dinosaurs, though. Manny can play 'I Spy' while I do my work, if it comes to that."

“Then we’ll have to hide them really well.” Kitty’s already plotting at how best to occupy a probably worried Manny. She’ll be surprised if all of the X-Men aren’t packed in here when the time comes, to support Emma, but him especially. It’s going to be a stressful day. It’s not today, not yet.

“I was thinking a parade of dinosaurs.” She demonstrates with the fallen triceratops leading the way, up the big metal cables that lead to the helmet part of Cerebro, “All ending in a tropical paradise on the top of your head. I brought a hot-glue gun.”

Emma can't help but smile a little, thinking of everyone trying to find comfort in proximity, of them all standing around with a procession of dinosaurs to occupy themselves. A quiet hum, and she begins to pull things out of a bag she'd set aside, all of her decoration offerings.

"I thought we could stick some of the moss around and nestle the dinosaurs in them for the hiding part. I like your vision for the helmet. And your foresight in bringing hot glue."

For a few moments she's quiet as she looks through the various faux plants she bought. "Maybe we should get something like Erik's helmet to block my mind, if necessary."

Kitty, who had sort of expected Emma to forget about this side of the project entirely, smiles at all the offerings. She stretches once and then sits back down, plugging the hot glue gun into the wall. “Okay, cute. We should extend that to the whole room for sure. Little dino alcoves where no one’s looking.”

She’s not the one who can read Emma’s brain, but the few seconds where it gets quiet are loud enough for Kitty to look up, a little concerned. It hasn’t escaped her that this whole thing feels like a calm before a storm they can’t predict.

“Probably. Do we have something like that?” She forces herself to be practical. “Unless he has a replica we could borrow quick.”

Emma dismisses Kitty's concerns with a wave of her hand - she's simply thinking, unable to help herself from trying to find other productive things to be working on while they decorate Cerebro. "Little alcoves are perfect. And not that I'm aware of, but I'll investigate. Worst case I'll ask Erik."

She shrugs, opening up a packet of moss before glancing around the room, trying to find a good location for their first dino alcove. "It's hard not to keep trying to think of other safety mechanisms we can put in place, just in case."

“I know. This must be what Scoot’s brain feels like all the time. I will never tease him again.”

Completely a lie, most likely, but Kitty’s brain really is running rampant with every possibility and fallback. She shakes her head to clear it, aware that all she’s doing right now is adding to both their anxiety levels. “We’ve done everything we can do without messing up Cerebro, too. You’ll be safe.”

It’s as confident as it can be. Which isn’t entirely as much as she’d like to project. Kitty grabs a handful of moss and a few little dinosaurs, forcing her brain, always moving at lightning speed, to slow down and concentrate on something she can do at this moment, now. She crosses to a corner of the room close to the door, and sinks to the floor. First dino alcove. “Almost everyone’s going to miss this, I bet.”

Poor Scott. Emma scoffs a little, deciding to start on the paradise on top of the helmet of Cerebro instead. Kitty seems to have the starting alcove covered. Gathering up moss and flowers, she considers all that's been said. She doesn't feel safe - not entirely, anyways - but she feels better than she did before their work had begun, at least. A small victory, one that she decides not to voice.

"I think that's a perfect alcove location." She starts to apply moss to the helmet methodically, immediately finding it soothing, which she thinks is a little stupid but isn't going to voice either.

"You know, it's very fascinating in Scott's brain. The way he comes up with edge cases is something else."

This makes Kitty’s ears perk up a little, even as she keeps her eyes on the scene she’s starting to build up. It’s what’s probably meant to be a brontosaurus and the purple triceratops sharing some water in a little oasis. The hot glue dried to the floor will never come up, but it’s convincing as a pond.

“Fascinating, huh? How’s that?”

God. Emma rolls her eyes as she glances at Kitty, having a hard time caring about the pooling hot glue. "I meant it in a mean way, darling." Well, an approximation of mean, anyways. Gently, affectionately mocking. Not anything to take particular note of. She refocuses on her own work.

"It's wonderfully organized, unlike your little mess." There is no vitriol in this, only a little bit of amusement.

It doesn’t sound mean at all. She’s heard mean. Mean’s been directed at her. Like all the time. But Kitty doesn’t press, and in fact tries really hard to divert her mental attention away from any observations she’s made regarding interactions between her teammates to instead hyperfocus on getting some plastic leaves to stand up like little trees.

“Ever consider mine is just as organized? Only the system’s not for you?” It’s definitely not, and it’s fine they both know it. “I bet it’s a more fun ride, anyway.”

If by fun she means the equivalent mental experience of a slip n slide through an old cluttered house, of course.

Emma takes the gift that is Kitty shifting her thoughts, letting herself let go of the interaction as well. If her companion is willing to dismiss it there's no reason she can't as well. She, too, has some plastic plants to focus on anyways.

"Oh, darling. I'm not sure who it's meant for." She shakes her head the slightest amount. "Between you and Bobby, I'm certainly… entertained. I will say, though, I do enjoy how different you all are. There's a mind ready for any one of my moods, it feels like."

That’s kind of nice to think about. Kitty is in fact a little jealous of the idea of resting in a softer brain than her own. “For me.” She insists. She lets them work in companionable silence for a moment, and then questions aloud,

“Hey, what does your brain look like? You get to see all of ours.”

"For you," is all Emma supplies before slipping into the quiet comfortably for the time that it's there. She glances up only momentarily at Kitty's question before pressing the base of a flower onto the helmet with glue. It's megaflora.

"Oh, come now, I can't go telling you my secrets. My mind is private." This is said with a dose of amusement, given that neither she nor Kitty afford their companions as much privacy as they probably should.

"I don't really let anyone in if I can help it."

Well of course Kitty couldn’t let any of that be. She abandons the dino alcove in favor of crossing to where Emma’s working, so she can start the long parade of dinosaurs, scaled by size, up the cables.

“That’s so hypocritical.” She points out, like perhaps she’s the expert on privacy and boundaries around here. “I’m sure there’s nothing that awful in there. I wanna see. Just a little.”

She closes her eyes and tips her chin up in anticipation, as if this would aid the process.

Emma doesn't really make much mind of Kitty moving over to her, waiting patiently for her to begin speaking again even though she knows what she'll say. She laughs a little, shifting to get a dinosaur herself to secure amongst the foliage on the helmet.

"Says the girl who walks into my room unannounced."

Once the dinosaur is affixed she turns to Kitty, noting her uplifted chin, her almost puppy dog expression. And then, in her mind, Kitty sees white, like a bright light has just been shone in her face and her eyes are adjusting, the edges slowly coming into focus, giving the idea of columns and bookcases, and-

Emma gently spikes her friend in the brain, not enough to do anything more than sting, as she grins and whatever scene Kitty was viewing abruptly disappears. "Oh, darling, it looks like my mind didn't want you in there."

Okay, honestly, in retrospect, Kitty wasn’t sure what she’d been hoping for here. She knows Emma is every inch as stubborn as even she is. Maybe she’d just wanted to pierce through that annoying air of superiority and see her a little messy too, just for a minute.

Maybe she will, one day. It doesn’t matter. As soon as the brain blow hits, Kitty becomes intangible, a defense mechanism by now. She uses this new state to float through the top of Emma’s head, taking a long few moments to stare at where her brain must be, and then go out the other side, before settling back down. It won’t feel like anything,unfortunately, but it does allow her to grin and say,

“That’s fine. The flyover view’s nothing to write home about, anyway.”

Despite Kitty's maneuver, Emma remains satisfied with her results. She turns around to face the other young woman, honestly looking just about as satisfied as she does. They can both win this one.

"You're terrible." It doesn't sound like she thinks she's terrible at all. "This is why you'll never get to see anything. Can't be letting street cats into a palace." This, too, has no sense of conviction in it.

Kitty scoffs, and turns her attention back to the dinosaur parade. “You know the thing about cats.” She points out, conversationally, smirking, “Is there’s no letting them in. They go wherever they want.”

That’s not really a threat, because how could it be. Just something to remember, as she innocently glues a moss carpet. It’s perhaps the sight of the helmet again that reminds Kitty what exactly they’re doing in the first place, and why it might be important to not divebomb trust with Emma for the fun of it right now. She sobers, an imperceptible shift to those who don’t know her, just a change in how her jaw’s set.

“But I won’t try to find a way in when you’re hooked up to this thing. Poor sportsmanship.”

Emma, of course, is well aware of the shift. She leans to gently pinch Kitty's arm in reprimand for her concerns. "I'm not scared of you in the least. But, regardless, we've done all the hand wringing and feeling bad we need to, darling. We're supposed to be having fun now. A dinosaur paradise constructed with worries swirling around in our heads just won't do."

And then she's back to her work, pausing to turn the helmet around in her hands. It looks absurd, even incomplete. It's impossible not to smile a bit, and she shows it to Kitty. "The only thing you need to feel bad about is how my scenes are so much better than yours."

“You pinched me.” Kitty takes a moment to sit with the indignity, but it does knock her out of her own head, a little. Sometimes it feels wrong to have fun, even for her. But Emma, loathe as she is to admit, is right, here. A morose parade of dinosaurs is kinda just depressing.


So Kitty looks up, and spares a laugh that is real, sharp and sudden. “You’re going to look so stupid, and you’re going to have no one to blame but yourself.”

Emma laughs as well, at the offense of the pinch, at the threat of looking stupid. The former is earned and the latter is correct. "I've absolutely brought this on myself, but I'll be blaming you too."

“Credit, not blame, in this case.” Kitty beams, turning her face up again, but going intangible so she can’t be prodded either physically or mentally this time. “I’m taking so many pictures.”

Comments

[seeingred scott summers ⊗ cyclops]

I LOVE THEMMMM being so terrible to each other 🥹 my girls

every bit about scott's brain was very mean. obsessing over the worst thing that could happen in any situation lowers his anxiety actually

[passingthru KITTY PRYDE]

Ok it's true, his very fascinating brain does not deserve this, sorry Scoot 😔

[blauerdamon kurt wagner ⚔️ nightcrawler]

These girls make me smile :') They're terrible :')