xp_logs | Kyle & Terry

xp_banshee posting in

Terry and Kyle discuss their plans for the day post therapy - and a few other things. (Backdated.)

Terry sat on the couch in Kyle and Arthur’s suite, leaning into her boyfriend’s side as she read a book. Normally, she’d have been in her office, but since she and Kyle had therapy – with different therapists – scheduled for the afternoon, she’d taken the day off. “Do you still want to go to that Brazilian restaurant with all the meat after our appointments?” She asked, idly checking her watch. They still had a bit of time before they needed to leave.

"With the meat on the swords? I mean, the day I say no to that is probably a day you should make sure I'm not possessed." Kyle had one leg kicked up over the arm of the couch, and was typing away on his laptop, occasionally punctuated with huffs and muttering about teenage boys and karma. "Possessed. not mind controlled or brainwashed. The last time I was brainwashed I also would've eaten meat on a sword. Probably more than usual."

“Duly noted,” Terry murmured, knocking her temple against Kyle’s shoulder as she turned the page in her book. “How many times’ve y’been mind controlled?”

Kyle's body language went very still. "Does it count if like, the first time kind of overlapped the second time?" He very carefully folded his laptop closed, "So, the people that stole me from jail, irony, tried a brain washing thing, and it didn't totally take, and there was a whole other guy who did it later, and that did take and had to get undone, but like, after that, some of the lingering stuff from the first time came back." He tilted his head. "So twice, but kinda also three times? Wait. Except no, hold on. Also the nanites from that asshole in Alaska. Shit, okay, so either three or four, not two or three. I feel like I'm forgetting one though."

The answer to what had been an idle question left Terry neary speechless. She closed her book after noting the page and sat it aside, twisting so she could see Kyle directly. "You're lucky we've got therapy this afternoon, else I'd wrap you up in a blanket like a taco an' cuddle the shite out o'you." Three to four, possible five. Christ. "Y'know, sometimes I consider joinin' up with your team just t'keep an eye on y'while y'run about doin' your hero business."

"Oh, most of that wasn't even X-Men stuff." Kyle said, all too casually. "Nanites was like. I'd quit for a while. Actually..." He looked up and off to the side, thinking. "Other than Genosha, which was more the stuff leftover from the first time, none of brainwashing was team stuff. It's just..." He slumped back into the couch and rested his head on Terry's shoulder. "Honestly, most of the reason I joined is because this keeps happening to mutant kids. Not just here, Genosha. Weapon X. All that shit, kids keep getting kidnapped or killed or turned into weapons and I'm just not here for it. You guys do your best to get kids to safety but fuck, sometimes they're already in the bad shit and somebody has to get 'em out. Might as well be the guy who gets back up when he's shot."

Terry turned her head so she could press a kiss to Kyle's forehead. "Y'offer those children so much more than just bein' the one that gets back up," she said. "Y'care in a way few do. No' just about gettin' them out o'those awful situations they're in, but then after as well. That's just as important." She gave him another brief kiss. "You're a good man. That comes through in everythin' y'do." Shifting just a bit so she could run her fingers through Kyle's hair, she leaned her head against the back of the couch and hummed tunelessly -- just a normal, everyday kind of hum.

The rumble in Kyle's chest wasn't exactly a purr, more a gutteral click, but his eyes slid shut and he leaned back into Terry's hands. "We're not gonna get out of here on time if you do that." He opened one eye, and grinned. "Either gonna take a nap, or the other thing. The not napping."

"What's the sayin'?" Terry asked, half-laughing as she raised her head to look at Kyle properly. "Don't threaten me with a good time?" She kissed his forehead again, then his nose, then his lips. "But we can't skip. Maybe after dinner, once we're home, we can do the not nappin'. Or a movie or something."

"Both is something we could do. I don't have to get up early tomorrow." Kyle agreed. "Also I mean, my therapist will probably be totes thrilled if I'm like 'well I was gonna be late because Terry and I were gonna get busy but I decided to be responsible.'" He paused, and rested his forehead against Terry's. "Not to make it weird even though it's weird, but that's been a topic lately. You were right, I didn't have to use the word, she got what I was putting down."

Terry closed her eyes for a moment, just breathing with Kyle as she let her relief settle heavy in her bones. “I’m glad,” she finally said, kissing the end of Kyle’s nose again. “She’s helpin’ y’work through things?”

"I mean it's like." Kyle paused, clearly considering his words. "Okay, you remember the day me and Logan were doing Danger Room stuff and I had to go into medical to get my one wrist tendon like, fixed because it healed stupid?" He pointed to his hand, completely unremarkable and unscarred. "And Clarice had to remove some scar tissue before I could even get it fixed? It's like that. We're removing scar tissue, and it sucks and I hate it, and I definitely wanna eat a ton of steak after. But it's easier to talk about, sorta. Some days at least."

Smiling a little, Terry nodded. "I understand that," Terry said, nodding. "And y'know I'm happy t'fix y'all the steak y'like. Or just set up the grill so y'can fix it for yourself. And y'know I'm always here for you, whether y'want t'talk or not."

"Steak on swords." Kyle said. "I am really invested in the swords, and the guys who will let me cough up fifty bucks to eat endless cuts of steak. or lamb. or porkchops. Anything on a sword."

"Meat on swords," Terry agreed, laughing softly. Leaning up, she kissed Kyle's cheek, then his lips. "Let's go, then, else we really will be late."