Bobby and Kitty, Bobby and Angelo

[x-coldhands.livejournal.com]

Bobby returns to Xavier's, and is greeted by an exuberant Kitty. Lots of bouncing and a bit of catching up.



Bobby pulled into the long drive in his father's borrowed car, parking off to the side and getting out. He looked up at the mansion for a minute before heading toward the main doors, knowing that his plan to get to Xavier's office without anyone spotting him had only a slim chance of working--but he was going to try, anyway.

It was not that Kitty was running out of things to do. She had plenty of things she could do to stave off the inevitable summer I-don't-have-homework-wah! boredom. It was that Kitty was running out of things she wanted to do. She'd eventually settled on going into town to get some stuff, and get out of the house, but this plan lasted exactly half a minute after she stepped out onto the porch on her way to the garage.

The half minute, of course, was exactly how long it took her to spot, recognize, and get over gawping at Bobby.

"BOBBY!" she shouted, launching herself off the porch towards the boy.

Bobby broke into a wide grin, his plan foiled already, but in a very good way. "Kitty!" He held his arms open in welcome.

Given Kitty's tendency to just launch herself at people she liked, it was probably just as well that she was small and slight. But even so, being barreled into by a seventeen year old bundle of glee was a life experience. "Bobby! Bobby Bobby Bobby Bobby Bobby!"

Bobby staggered a bit and hugged Kitty tightly, laughing. "Yes, it's me. How've you been, Kit?"

The expression on Kitty's face as she looked up at him was best described as 'beaming'. "You're home! All is well." She hugged him again for good measure.

"Well. That's very flattering," Bobby grinned, letting go of her--and unsurprised to find her still adhered to him. "So tell me what's been happening in your life in the past year."

Kitty had to move back sooner or later, and when she did she'd be able to start bouncing out the excess burst of joyful energy. "You've been gone sooooo long and you missed everything and all sorts of stuff. Everybody got kidnapped off to Asgard and then they came back and Jamie gave me a baby dragon and there was another attack and we Alison killed the kitchen but now we've got a new kitchen and it's very shiny and oh! Oh oh oh! I'm going to college next term, but unlike some people," she said, sticking her tongue out while still grinning at him, "I'm going to live here and commute. Am going to NYU and you're back!" Without pausing to breath, she hugged him again, then grabbed his hand and went bouncing back towards the house. "You're back, you're back, you're back!"

"Um. Yep, I'm back," Bobby agreed weakly as he stumbled after her, not sure if he was more dizzy from the bouncing or the rapid-fire history of what he's missed. "And I'm not going anywhere for a long time, Kitty. You can calm down now."

"I have one word for you, Bobby Drake," Kitty said, turning to look at him and managing to look serious. "Wheeeee!" she said before bursting into giggles and hugging him again.

Bobby giggled too, returning the hug. "Yeah, I missed you too," he said quietly, smiling.

"Ah, sure, know me well enough to read through the glee. That's cheating, that is," Kitty told him, hugging less tightly but not letting go.

"Remember, I've got a year of college education now. I'm a lot smarter than I used to be." He winked and ruffled her hair affectionately. "So are you and Jamie still an item?"

"Yeah," she said, still smiling, although it had toned down from her face-shattering grin. "Two years last month. He's going to NYU, too. How about you? What were you up to while you were gone?"

"Oh, just going to classes. Studying. ...That's about it." Bobby shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Nothing too exciting."

"Quiet. Bah. Who needs quiet. You're definitely not going to get that here. So, was MA right, are you Dorothy?" she added, mind flitting from topic to topic.

Bobby grinned and clicked the heels of his sneakers together, three times. "There's no place like home," he replied in a falsetto.

Kitty laughed. "You're a silly boy, but thanks for the ice cream. Although, of course, it's not a patch on your home made stuff."

"The reminder worked, then." Bobby winked and headed toward the door. "Don't worry, I'll have plenty of time to make whatever you want. But for now, I should really find Professor Xavier..."

"Psh. Responsible thinking. What's that about? You go talk to the Prof, and I'll go post to the journal to insure that at least twelve others jump on you when you get out." She grinned brightly.

Bobby groaned, but he was still smiling, clearly thrilled to be back. "Fine. Spoil the surprise for everyone else."

"Hey, not everyone sits at their computer all day, every day, but those that do deserve the chance to know about you, too. I'm thinking of putting sparkles on the post. Maybe little animations of snow..."

Bobby snorted, a surprised chuckle escaping him. "Don't you think that's a bit of overkill? Although if you really want to get people's attention, add an mp3 of you squealing..."

"Oh, like they all haven't heard me already." Kitty grinned brightly at him.

"Good point." Bobby shook his head and gave her one last hug. "I'm gonna go talk to the prof now. You should pick out some movies to watch tonight. I think movies and popcorn is necessary."

Kitty hugged him back tightly. "Movies and popcorn are totally necessary. Will raid the dvd collection. I'm glad you're home, Bobby."

Bobby took a deep breath and pulled back. "So am I." He smiled and couldn't resist ruffling her hair one last time before heading toward Xavier's office.
-----------------------------

Bobby goes walking by the lake to get a break from the squealing happy girls, and runs into another familiar face. And takes an impromptu swim, whether he wants to or not.


It was good to be back, but the massive squealing and hugging was making him a bit claustrophobic, so Bobby slipped outside to take a walk around the grounds and revel in just being home again, where people accepted him, didn't care he was a mutant, or anything else. He took a deep breath of hot air, wrinkled his nose and dropped his body temperature. Instant air conditioning was nice. He shoved his hands into his pockets and set off on a meandering path, no real destination in mind.

Angelo was sitting on the end of the dock with his bare feet in the water, with a cigarette as always. Suddenly, he blinked as Joyita leapt to her feet and raced back to the shore, barking madly. He craned round to see what had her so worked up, then grinned broadly at who he saw.

Bobby broke into a grin as well as he recognized Angelo, giving the dog a curious look and crouching down to offer her his hand before petting her. "Hey."

Angelo was already on his way towards them. "Hey. That's Joyita. Welcome home."

Bobby stood and grinned again. "Thanks. It's nice to be back." He looked around, back at the building, and shook his head in amusement. "Who'd 'a thought I'd miss the madhouse so much?"

"It gets under your skin", Angelo agreed. "Or the people in it do."

"Yeah." Bobby nodded and looked back at him. "So. What have I missed? Catch me up on your life, Angelo." He slung an arm around Angelo's shoulders, companionable and smiling--he couldn't seem to stop smiling, today.

Angelo laughed and took an exaggerated deep breath. "Ah, where do I even start? Got a dog, graduated high school - or, y'know, passed the year an' I'm gonna graduate, applied to a few police academies but 'm probably gonna take at least a year out first..."

"Police, huh? ...I suppose I can see that." Bobby nodded, taking it all in. "God, I've missed so much..."

"Ah, but you'll be caught up in no time. Like you never left." Angelo eyed the lake, casually, as they walked.

"I hope so. I was a little...worried about coming back, to be honest," Bobby confessed, looking down. "I mean...I haven't exactly been the greatest friend, in the last year. No calls, no letters...I thought some people might be a bit resentful of that."

"You do what you've gotta do", Angelo said quietly, shrugging. "I think everyone here can understand that. How're you doin' these days?"

"Now that I'm back here? I'm happier than I've been in a year," Bobby answered truthfully. "The 'real' world sucks."

Angelo couldn't help laughing. "The Professor's givin' you a job, then? Or you here as a grad student?"

"Oh, I'll probably do something or other...I don't care, really. I'll scrub floors, I'll do kitchen duty...I just want to be here." Because here was home, at least for Bobby.

Angelo glanced at him sideways, and nodded. "Can't imagine bein' anywhere else anymore, or not for good?"

Bobby shrugged and was silent for a minute. "Maybe I'm just not ready," he said softly, at last, and then laughed at himself. "I'm not ready to grow up. From Dorothy Gale to Peter Pan in 24 hours."

"Ain't nobody says you have to yet", Angelo countered just as quietly. "An' I knew that was you with the ice cream."

Bobby broke into a sheepish grin. "Good. I was hoping someone would figure it out, but I wasn't sure."

"Marie-Ange got it first", he admitted cheerfully. "An' then she made me tell her where we'd put the chocolate ice cream so she could do her precog thing and check."

Bobby laughed and nodded. "So is there even any left, or did it get demolished yesterday?"

"I think there's still some left. Most of it's been claimed for later, though. Forge - you won't know Forge, he's the resident genius inventor kid - made a guard robot to watch over his."

Bobby laughed again and shook his head. "Man, I'm glad I wasn't around yesterday." In fact, some of the staff may have some choice words for him, at some point--but it was totally worth it.

Angelo was grinning. "Lot of fun, though. I'd say we should do it again, but I don't think we'd be allowed." He shot another quick glance at the water, and started unobtrusively drifting closer to the bank.

Bobby amiably followed, shrugging lightly. "Hey, now everyone has ice cream on demand again. Although if anyone wakes me up in the middle of the night for it, they may get a chilly surprise. One that's not ice cream."

Angelo turned a little to laugh. "If they do that, I think they'd be askin' for it. You been assigned a room yet, or are you back in your old one?"

"I dunno. I just left most of my stuff in my--er, my dad's, that is--car. Dunno where I'm sleeping tonight." Bobby shoved his hands into his jeans pockets casually.

"Other half of my suite's empty", Angelo said casually. "Jono had a powers accident awhile back an' he's kind of... incorporeal right now. You'd be welcome to crash 'til you get a more permanent place."

"Sure. That'd work, until the prof figures out where to stick me."

Angelo grinned wickedly, judging that they were close enough to the edge of the bank. "That's settled then. An' now, we're goin' for a swim." He didn't give Bobby the time to assimilate that before grabbing his arm and jumping into the lake. Joyita followed them, barking loudly.

Bobby flailed as he was abruptly pulled off balance, following Angelo into the water whether he wanted to or not. He spluttered as he scrambled to his feet, wiping hair and water from his eyes.

"That's for bein' a sneaky bastard an' not tellin' anyone you were comin' back", Angelo informed him serenely. "An' also 'cause it's way too hot not to go in the water."

"I wasn't hot," Bobby said with a sniff, grinning. "But I probably deserved that, anyway." He shook his head, flinging drops of water into the air, and started wading back toward shore.

"Divin' in by myself would've been no fun", Angelo pointed out as he and Joyita followed Bobby out of the lake. "The lake's tradition."

"Yeah, yeah." Bobby laughed and trotted out of dog-shaking distance, not wanting a spray from Joyita. "I should probably unload my stuff."

"Need a hand?"

Bobby shook his head. "Nah, I've got it under control. I'll just haul it up to your room for now, all right? Still in the same room?"

"Still there", Angelo confirmed with an easy grin. "An' I think I'll be waitin' until Joyita's dried off before I come up. She likes sleepin' on the bed."

"Good idea." Bobby smiled and raised a hand, jogging toward the front of the building, where he'd parked his vehicle. "See you in a bit!"