Kitty and Betsy --Last Friday Evening

[x-psylocke.livejournal.com]

It's been a while since they've talked and much fluff is had as these two girls play catch up.



Kitty had her nose burried in the book that was sitting on the table in front of her. Her dinner dishes had been pushed over to the side with a promise to herself that she would clean them `just as soon as I finish this chapter`, but that had been two chapters ago. She`d had her dinner late, though, so there weren`t many people coming by to be upset by her current lack of table manners.

Betsy had managed to do her nightly meditation before starting on her late night rounds. It was all apart of the process to help move forward. She looked up and saw the light coming from the slightly opened door. Betsy's face tightened. "You can't keep running forever," she said under her breath, as she
made her way inside. "No matter how much you want to."

Immersed in her book, Kitty wasn`t even aware that anyone had entered the room - Nero Wolfe was about to unveil the true murderer and she was enthralled, convinced that it must be the pretty socialite Archie had been flirting with through the whole thing but Kitty was also suspicious of the maid.

She made her way to the refrigerator and pulled a bottle of water hidden behind the cans of sodas and cartons of fruit juices, containing God knows what. Betsy twisted off the cap and took a generous swig. Making her way over to Kitty, she looked at the book that had caught her attention so deeply. "Good book?"
Betsy asked, taking a seat next to the young girl.

Kitty started at the voice so close and her head flew up. "Oh! Mrs. Braddock. Um, hi. Yes, yes. Really, really good." She blushed at having been so easily
startled.

"Sorry," Betsy replied lamely. "I didn't mean to frighten you so. I thought I made enough noise for you to realize..." Betsy paused in her explanation.

"Nevermind. I shouldn't have intruded. I'll leave you to your book."

"You probably did make enough noise," Kitty said, blush deepening. "I was in a whole 'nother world. But no, you didn't really frighten me." She smiled brightly. "I haven't seen you since I've gotten back - how are you?" She blithely ignored the offer to be left alone - now that she'd made it out of the world of the book there was no real excuse not to clean up and go to bed, and she didn't feel like it.

Betsy was halfway out of her seat when Kitty put her book aside. She sat back down, hesitantly. "Good. Been a bit preoccupied with the start of term." Which actually meant she'd been working harder at avoiding the older students. "I was glad to see that you survived your summer."

"It was a close call. I'm convinced there is such a thing as terminal boyfriend withdrawl, although my mother disagrees. And I guess it must be pretty busy for the teachers, huh?" Kitty asked. "I mean, all we have to do is decide what classes to take. You have to decide _what_ to teach."

"Yes," Betsy said with a huff. Her smile growing. "Well. It's been challenging, as always. But, I'm sure Jamie is glad to see you, as we all are."

"I think even if people weren`t glad to see me, I`m glad enough to be back for everyone. I swear, I`ve been on cloud nine all month."

"That's good to hear," Betsy replied, reassuringly. She picked up the paperback and gazed at the title on the cover, Betsy continued. "So, I'm sure that it's
only your book that been keeping you down here at such a late hour?"

Kitty nodded reassuringly. "Yeah. For once I`m not amongst the ranks of the school insomniacs, just drawn in by an utterly brilliant author. Do you know Rex Stout`s Nero Wolfe books?"

"No, I'm 'fraid not." Betsy shrugged her shoulders, "As of late, my book selection usually consists of case studies and research. I haven't curled up to a good book in quite some time. I do have my favorites though."

"That's understandable," Kitty said. "Well, if you ever get the time I highly recomend them. The Professor has the whole series in the library. Nineteen thirties mystery novels set in old Manhatten. They're brilliant."

"I'll keep that in mind." Betsy said, standing up and stretching out like a cat. "I should be heading upstairs, it's getting late. But, I was wondering
what you were planning for yourself after you finish school? Maybe we could continue this conversation some other time when I'm actually not this tired."

"Yeah," Kitty sighed, "it really is late..." She looked half mournfully at the book she was so close to finishing. "I should go to bed, too...And I'm not sure I plan to ever finish school," she added with a grin. "But if you mean what am I going to do after Xavier's, well, a bachelor's degree or two and at least one masters before I go on to collecting all the Ph.D.s I could ever need to be happy. That and helping Jamie's assorted plans to save the world."

"I'll just be sure to keep your plans for Jamie to myself for the time being," Betsy laughed outright. "Honestly, I've never been made to feel so ill-prepared in all my years. Which means, I've got to introduce you to my twin brother, Brian. He'd get a right kick outta you."

Kitty joined Betsy`s laughter. "I think Jamie is well aware of my plans, actually. And yeah, Paige and I could probably found the Xavier`s chapter of
Overachievers Annonymous, except we`re not annonymous and we`re neither of us trying to quit."

"Is he now?" When did everyone find time to put themselves together? "I'd rather you not be anonymous. Overachievers are a teacher's dream. Though don't tell my brother that," Betsy added, amused. "I teased him horribly as a child."

"Yeah, but that's what siblings are for, or so I'm told. I've been lucky enough to miss out on the ragging. But I'd like to meet him - especially if I can use it as an excuse to go overseas. Actually, Moira said she wanted me to meet someone, too. Why is it that all my British professors want to introduce me
to random friends and siblings? I'm telling you, if Mr. Wisdom decides to introduce me to his father I'm going to be very worried."

"I think he'd like that very much. He's very much the brain of the family." Betsy ducked her head down, she couldn't believe she was proud of the little tosser.

"If you make it somewhere around Malden, England. You should look him up."

"I'll definitely give it a shot, although I'm not even sure where that is." Kitty glanced down at the table. "Not really up on my geography, sad to say." With a sigh she started gathering her dishes - there really wasn't any excuse not too.

Betsy thought on it for a moment and picked up a plate and handed it to Kitty. "Well, our home is south of London, close to Dorset." She paused for a moment,
enjoying the feelings of nostaglia. "It's quite beautiful out there, you know. It's really not so hard to find once you know where to look. But since Brian has been continuing his studies in London, he's procured a flat in the city.

"Which means there's rarely anyone home except for Jamie. And even, he's always gone on business trips and whatnot." Betsy leaned up against the island, crossing her arms across her chest. "You know, now that I think about it, I wonder who's been taking care of King George?"

"I'm going to assume that King George is some sort ofpet, and not the monarch you have locked up in your basement," Kitty said, grinning as she dumped the
dishes into the sink and turned on the tap.

"I'm going to assume that King George is some sort of pet, and not the monarch you have locked up in your basement," Kitty said, grinning as she dumped the dishes into the sink and turned on the tap.

"Oh, he's our Great Dane. Actually, he belonged to my father." Betsy shrugged. "Brian took care of him afterwards, but I doubt he could manage him in London."

"Yeah. Large pets in cities don't usually work too well," Kitty said as she started to scrub. "How old is he?"
xpsilocke: "Not at all." Betsy agreed. "Well, father passed when he was a pup. So, I'd say he's about fifteen years old. I could be off by a year or two, but that sounds about right."

"Isn't fifteen kind of old for a dog?" Kitty asked, her attention half way on the dishes.

"Right. It is. Though if anything happened, I'm sure they would've told me." Betsy's face darkened at the thought. "Perhaps, I should call home."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Kitty said quickly, looking up. "I just... Well, and calling home is never a bad thing, right?"

"No, it's not." Betsy said, absentmindedly. After a moment of silence, Betsy continued. "Kitty, Would mind if I excused myself? I really think I should try and call home."

"Nah, that's ok. I've almost finished these and then I think the book and I need to get to bed." Kitty smiled.

"Alright. Sleep well, then" Betsy said, hurriedly leaving the kitchen, in search of a phone. If a dog aged seven years to one human equivalent. Yes, fifteen was very old for a dog.