xp_logs | Kitty and Storm, backdated

After the events of Stoker and Stalkers, Ororo comes to check up on the Kitten, who's doing... ok. This one -is- backdated like woah.

Ororo climbed the stairs towards Kitty's room, a heavily-laden tray in her hands. Cocoa, cookies, plates, napkins... well, one could never be too well-prepared for potential comforting. Even if Kitty was sleeping she could leave this for later, a nice surprise for when she awoke.

Pausing before the door, she shifted the tray and rapped gently against it with a knuckle. "Kitty? Are you up for a visitor?"

The not spending every waking and sleeping minute clinging to Jamie experiment was going pretty well. Not that she wasn't still tending to cling when he was around, but going back to classes and distracting herself with work was always good. She was even ok being on her own for a while - Illyana had some work to do in the library - as long as she knew that there were people about. But actually having people with her was better, and she called out, "Sure, come in," in reply.

Smiling, Ororo managed to nudge the door open without disturbing the contents of the tray, and stepped inside. It was good to see Kitty up and about, and not just going through the motions. "I had no idea what your appetite is at the moment, but I could certainly go for something sweet right now," she said, lifting the tray.

"Hey," Kitty said, standing up to clear off some space on her desk for the tray. "Thanks. Never going to turn down chocolate." She smiled, offering the desk chair to Ororo as she settled back on the bed.

"That's my girl." Cupping a hand around the mug to make sure it was still warm, Ororo held it out for Kitty. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything - I can always come back at a better time."

"Nah," Kitty said, taking the mug and craddeling it to herself. "Just some stuff - it's not due soon or anything. Just keeping busy." It was obvious why she was here, why people kept dropping in to just say hi, but Kitty didn't mind.

Ororo nodded, breaking off a piece of cookie and nibbling at it. She tilted her head, watching Kitty with a fond smile. "I'm surprised Jamie isn't around - though I suppose he has responsibilities to attend to as well."

"And also having other things to do stops Jamie, when?" Kitty asked with a bit of a grin. "But I'm trying... I mean... I can't just always keep a Jamie by me. I need to be ok without him too, sometimes."

"That's good." As much as Ororo trusted her friends at the school, she understood the need to be strong and self-reliant. More than most. "Well, I'm sure before too long you'll be buried under schoolwork again," she joked. "How are classes going?"

Kitty shrugged with a little half smile. "It's going to take some effort to recover from the midterms that went less than well thanks to... everything. But I explained a little about what happened to my advisor and he's letting me retake his midterm, and is going to talk to my other physics prof and the math prof and see if they will as well."

"I'm sure they will," Ororo said confidently. "And if not, well, you'll be able to pull things up, I'm sure of it. What is life if not dealing with all the unexpected things that come our way?"

"Certainly seems that that's what our lives are." Sighing, she took a sip of her cocoa.

A flicker of a frown crossed Ororo's face, and she got up from her chair to take a seat closer to Kitty on her bed. "You made it through, Kitty, and you will be better. Trust me. You have friends and people who love you and care about you, and all the time you need to heal. That's what counts, not the hurtful things."

Kitty shifted closer to Ororo, leaning into her slightly. "I know. I mean, most of the time, I really do know. It's just... I... Oh, I don't know. It's hard to see it, sometimes."

"Of course," Ororo said, slipping one arm around Kitty's shoulders. "And that's fine. There are things that happen to us that are too much to understand all at once. But that doesn't mean you won't, in time. The trick is to be patient and to remember what is good and sweet about life, and eventually you'll see more of that and less of what isn't." With a smile, she looked down at the girl. "At least, that's what I think. I could be wrong."

"Well," Kitty said, a more certain smile on her face, "I'd say cookies and cocoa are both good and sweet, then."

"They definitely are," Ororo agreed with a chuckle. "And luckily I thought to hide both the cookies and the cocoa mix, so we're assured of having more. Until they're discovered, of course."

"Then we'd better finish these fast and go back for seconds, because you know how long chocolate lives undiscovered in this house."