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Chasing The Night; 05/23-evening- (617 Pete & Kitty)
Topic Started: Jul 20 2013, 10:45 PM (1,069 Views)
Pete Wisdom
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Knows perfectly well what canny means
Excalibur 617
So now the shower had tried to eat them, or at least Pete. They'd already been attacked by the bed and the floor. No question about it, then. The whole room was out to get them, but together they'd managed to at least conquer the shower.

They were definitely going to head back and put that bed in its place, but as long as they were still here and the water was still warm (sort of a wonder all on its own), they may as well finish what they'd come here to do.

Or start, for that matter. They'd gotten sidetracked almost immediately. Not that he minded in the slightest.

Kitty was quick enough to seize on that, the sudden grin and teasing sparkle in her eyes more than hinting at was on her mind. "I thought that was what we came here to do," she pointed out, drawing a soft chuckle from Pete. "But yeah, we probably shouldn't completely waste all the hot water."

Had they been wasting the water all this time? If so, it was a bloody good waste. Still, he was impressed that it had lasted this long. Apparently the government here had put all their creature comfort funding toward their flagships.

As promised, there were no cigs or bottles of whiskey to be found. Just soap and a couple washcloths, which Pete took while Kitty sought out the shampoo bottle behind him. She gave it a sniff and appeared to find its aroma acceptable, squeezing a good dollop of it in her other hand before leaning back around Pete to put it back where she'd found it.

They'd let storytime wait, but there was still quite a bit of that to get to. He'd already gotten Kitty's attention by hinting at the problems they might run into if he ever went back to Avalon. This was probably a good enough time to get back to that.

Kitty quirked an eyebrow at that, in a manner not unlike when she accused him of having weird friends. "Well, if it's only a bit, then you probably did it wrong," she told him, which was true enough where they were concerned. And Avalon, for that matter. "I'm not sure I've ever been to anywhere in Otherworld when we were only in 'a bit of trouble'."

It didn't sound like she expected that to change anytime soon. Which wasn't all that surprising considering what Pete know about the way Braddock got on with the people in charge there. Kitty arched her head back and began lathering the shampoo through her hair. "So what'd you do in Avalon, exactly? And please don't tell me you ended up accidentally engaged there, too," she continued, and though her eyes were shut, her tone was every bit as expressive. "Otherwise, we really may have to move to Utah."

"'Don't marry anything,'" Pete quoted, setting down the soap. "One o' the basic rules of Avalon right along with 'don't eat anything' and 'don't pull anything from anything.'" He expected Kitty already knew all this, but it was worth stressing all the same. Utah would not be a concern or an option if his troubles there were marriage related.

Right. Only thing for it was to tell her the whole thing, then. Pete took the soapy washrag and began scrubbing himself over with it, working down from his wrists. "I've only bee there twice, yeah?" he started. "First time was when I was only a small lad." With hardly a pause after that, Pete added a quick, "Don't say it," because she could deny it all she liked, but he knew the joke was right there on the tip of her tongue.

"It was during a family holiday," he explained as he moved on to soaping up his chest. "It was near a ley line, and Romany wanted to check it out, but me parents insisted she keep an eye on me. So she dragged me off to a clearing where she sensed a strong aura and set to meditating, and it wasn't long before I wandered off and found a ring of mushrooms." He expected Kitty knew her mythology well enough to catch the significance of that, but paused a moment just in case.

"Next thing I know I'm in the middle of some party with elves and pixies and the like. Thought it was the most brilliant thing ever. Danced and played games and ate everything I could get me hands on." Which of course meant he'd broken that rule, but he'd been seven. "When I decided it was getting late and I should go back to Romany before she got worried, I tugged on someone's arm to ask him to show me the way, and when he turned around, I was looking right back at meself."

A changeling, ready to run off and take Pete's place. He bent over slightly to scrub the washcloth over his legs, tilting his head to keep his eyes on Kitty. "I figured out right away what was going on, and even thought I was scared, I knew I had to think fast or I'd be spending the rest of me life there. So I tricked everyone there. Had 'em believing I was the imposter and he was me. Took a bit of doing, but I finally convinced them enough to get sent back, leaving the other one there."

Pete frowned slightly and straightened back up. "I'd been gone for hours. Me sister had gone mental with worry. I told her everything and once we were back and calmed down, she passed along everything she knew about faeries and Avalon so that something like that would never happen again."
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Shadowcat
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Immaterial Girl
Excalibur 617 - Admin
They still had hot water, the shampoo was acceptable, and they'd only broken the shower a little. Which was more than they could say for most cars they got within fifty feet of, so not such a bad track record so far.

That just left whatever Pete had been saying about Avalon and the 'bit of trouble' he'd gotten himself into there. Of course. Because he was Pete Wisdom, and getting himself into trouble was what he did best. Though Kitty had to admit that if it'd only been a bit of trouble, he must not've been trying too hard.

Avalon and Otherworld had almost always meant more than a little trouble the times Excalibur had ended up there. Or when the Omniversal Majestrix had ended up where they were, considering the thing she had for Brian. God, if Pete had managed to get himself engaged to someone or something there, they really were going to have to move to Utah.

"'Don't marry anything,'" Pete quoted, setting down the soap. "One o' the basic rules of Avalon right along with 'don't eat anything' and 'don't pull anything from anything.'" Kitty paused in washing her hair long enough to open one eye again and quirk an eyebrow. You'd think 'don't let Moira think you defiled Rahne' would've been a well known rule, too, but he'd managed to break that one somehow, too.

As far as she was concerned, she had good reason for concern.

"Try applying those rules where Moira's concerned, too, maybe," she couldn't stop herself from suggesting with a mischievous grin before closing her eyes again and getting back to the business of lathering up her hair. Yeah, yeah, it was a misunderstanding. Moira took it all wrong. None of that would keep Dr. MacTaggert from finding a devious way to exact revenge on him. Where Pete was concerned, Moira seemed to particularly enjoy that sort of thing.

"I've only bee there twice, yeah?" he started. "First time was when I was only a small lad." With hardly a pause after that, Pete added a quick, "Don't say it," as she was considering doing exactly that.

"I'm not saying a word," Kitty returned with a soft snerk as she decided her hair was lathered enough and turned to start rinsing the shampoo out. "Keep going," she encouraged, letting the warm water sluice over her hair and scalp, taking the lather with it.

"It was during a family holiday," he explained as he moved on to soaping up his chest. "It was near a ley line, and Romany wanted to check it out, but me parents insisted she keep an eye on me. So she dragged me off to a clearing where she sensed a strong aura and set to meditating, and it wasn't long before I wandered off and found a ring of mushrooms." And this was why they didn't let Pete wander around by himself. Give him half a minute, he'd find trouble. Or trouble would find him. It was a mutual attraction, apparently.

In this case, that trouble he'd wandered right into seemed to have been a fairy ring.

"Next thing I know I'm in the middle of some party with elves and pixies and the like. Thought it was the most brilliant thing ever. Danced and played games and ate everything I could get me hands on." Oh brilliant, but she supposed any kid would've done the same thing. "When I decided it was getting late and I should go back to Romany before she got worried, I tugged on someone's arm to ask him to show me the way, and when he turned around, I was looking right back at meself."

Hair rinsed, she straightened up, opening her eyes, looking around in hopes there was some conditioner over with the shampoo. Otherwise, he hair was going to be a tangled, frizzy mess when it dried.

"Gotta love shapeshifters," she commented idly, spotting the conditioner and reaching around Pete again long enough to grab it, squirt some into her hand and put the bottle back again. Mutants, faeries, aliens, didn't matter what kind of shapeshifters they were, more of them were up to no good than not.

"I figured out right away what was going on, and even though I was scared, I knew I had to think fast or I'd be spending the rest of me life there. So I tricked everyone there. Had 'em believing I was the imposter and he was me. Took a bit of doing, but I finally convinced them enough to get sent back, leaving the other one there."

Working the conditioner into her hair, she smiled over at him briefly. "Already working toward that career in espionage, huh?" Quick thinking, though, and it would've had to be a lot of convincing. It was hard to be the Fae at their own games, and most of them weren't the friendly little firefly people you read about in story books or saw in Disney movies.

Stepping to the side as Pete frowned and straightened up, so he could get under the spray to rinse off, she slipped an arm around his waist for a quick, light squeeze as she reached for the soap with her other hand. "I'd been gone for hours. Me sister had gone mental with worry. I told her everything and once we were back and calmed down, she passed along everything she knew about faeries and Avalon so that something like that would never happen again." Oh, really?

Brows going up a little again as she took the second washcloth and lathered it up, Kitty tilted her head. "Romany was a lot more optimistic about you paying attention back then, I'm guessing," the brunette quipped with a grin, "Since that obviously didn't take. You said you'd been there twice," she reminded him. "It's okay," adding that, she started lathering herself up, "Avalon's a little like the Mafia. Just when you think you're out, it manages to pull you right back in."
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Pete Wisdom
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Excalibur 617
Kitty might have a point about extending the basic rules of surviving Avalon to that Scottish harridan MacTaggert. He already knew not to eat or drink anything prepared by her. How that sodding rumor had even started was still a mystery, but Pete knew for certain that it had nothing to do with anything he'd done. Eventually he'd have to look into that, just to get the real story. He still suspected that MacTaggert had downed one shot too many the night before, but he wasn't ruling out the possibility of mind control playing a role in there somehow.

Come to think of it, if that had been the case, his little gamble with Sinclair might have ended badly. Just what would he have done if she'd said yes? What would MacTaggert have done?

Probably best not to think on that.

Moving on, then. Pete had been nothing more than a small child the first time he'd stumbled into Avalon. Which probably came as a bit of a surprise to Kitty. Or at least as an opening she wouldn't be able to resist exploiting, given half a chance. "I'm not saying a word," she assured him when he nipped that one in the bud. The amused snerk that came with it sort of spoiled any chance she had of seeming sincere about that. Which was less than zero from the start. He knew exactly what she was thinking. "Keep going," she said, turning to rinse the shampoo out of her hair, lathered soap steaming to the shower floor in thin sheets.

Taking her cue, the story itself was almost straight out of any number of folk tales. Family holiday, teenage sister obsessed with the paranormal, and Pete himself, wandering off as kids were wont to do, right into a bloody fairy ring. Found a party and joined without a second thought, which including breaking one of those cardinal rules. He'd been too young to know any better. It wasn't until he found himself face to face with himself that he realized how much trouble he was in.

"Gotta love shapeshifters," Kitty remarked after she straightened back up. She looked around a bit and her eyes lit on something behind him. She reached around him, her nearness more than a little distracting. A little pause in his story while he admired the view wouldn't hurt, though.

She pulled back with a palm full of conditioner, which she quickly set to working through her hair while Pete progressed to soaping up his legs. And continuing his story. The only reason he was here, now, instead of trapped in Avalon while a changeling took his place was because of some fast thinking and even faster talking. Damn lucky for him a changeling lost nearly all its power and the ability to change shape once it had taken the form of its victim. It gave Pete just enough to con all of them into believing he was the changeling and get sent back. Wasn't easy, but he'd pulled it off. Barely.

Kitty gave Pete a quick smile and said, "Already working toward that career in espionage, huh?"

"You might say that," he agreed with an answering smile. Kitty moved to the side, clearing a path for him to get under the showerhead. As he stepped in, he drew an arm around her waist even as her own did the same with his. They gave each other a little squeeze while she went for the soap, their wet skin lightly brushing up against each other. He could definitely get used to showering with pleasant distractions like that.

Not exactly a formal start to his career of choice, but a step in that direction. But it hadn't all been skill. He'd been lucky, in more ways than one. By the time he'd gotten back, he'd only lost a few hours. It could have been days, weeks, even years before he'd turned up again. Might be his sister had helped out, there. She'd been worried out of her mind when she finally found him and it wasn't long after that he was given a crash course in all things involving the fae.

Kitty took the other washcloth and began lathering it with soap, arching her brows at Pete as he working on rinsing off the soap on his lanky frame. "Romany was a lot more optimistic about you paying attention back then, I'm guessing," she said, grinning cheekily. "Since that obviously didn't take. You said you'd been there twice," she pointed out, which was fair, because he had said that. As for what his sister had thought about Pete's willingness to listen to her back then, Kitty would probably be best asking Romany herself about that.

She began running the soapy washcloth over herself, leaving streaks of white suds wherever she passed. "It's okay, Avalon's a little like the Mafia. Just when you think you're out, it manages to pull you right back in."

Pete chuckled, twisting around slightly to grab the bottle of shampoo. "Literally, in some cases," he said. "The second time was when I was sixteen, a couple of years after I found out I was a mutant." That was another story. One with its own repercussions that would be important for Kitty to know, but they'd get to that in time. "I was out with me mates, roaming the city like we usually did, looking for things to do." Trouble, in other words, which Kitty would have no problem guessing. Or saying, and this time he didn't bother urging her not to.

He'd hinted at his youth to Kitty before, and had a pretty good idea what she thought about what he'd been like. Most of it would be true, although the truth was he'd never done anything to get himself put behind bars. Not then, at least. That, he suspected, would be less of a surprise to Kitty than one might expect. People with criminal records didn't get in to MI-6.

He worked a dollop of shampoo into his head, massaging it into his scalp and through the damp clumps of hair. "We were in Bethnal Green Tube Station when some girl of about eight wandered too close to the gap and fell to the tracks. Everybody started screaming for somebody to do something, none louder than her parents, but nobody could reach down far enough to get to her." The girl had been too small, and had banged up her leg too much to get to the edge anyway.

"I didn't bother to think," he confessed, taking a moment to bend his head forward and rinse the shampoo out. "Just ran up there and jumped in." Didn't have to worry about landing hard. He'd already figured out by then how to use his hot knives to cushion his descent, and didn't give a toss about the chance of people seeing and thinking he was a mutant. They'd just tell themselves it was something else they saw and mistook it in all the excitement. "I picked her up and lifted her to the crowd, but by then the train was getting too close for me to get out meself. Thought I was a goner. That is until I noticed a glowing outline in the wall in front of me. It was shaped like a chalk drawing of a door, and since I figured it was better to try something crazy instead of just waiting to die, I reached out for the knob." It was not the first time he'd taken action using that sort of logic, and it would be far from the last.

"Bloody thing actually opened." That wasn't precisely true. It was more like the glow filled the entire thing, but what was important was that from his perspective, the wall was gone, and there was a portal of some kind in its place. "I dove in just before the train would have turned me into a blot, and landed on me bum in some sort of audience chamber." He shrugged. "Well, alright, it was a throne room. Just about every kind of fairy you could think of was there, and they were all looking right at me like they'd been expecting my arrival. Which they had."

He gestured to her washcloth. "'Ere, I'll wash your back for you," he offered with a quick smile, allowing his story a brief interruption. Even trying to keep things short, it was a little involved, and while the last trip might have been his first taste of espionage, this was where he'd actually started what could be counted as actual spywork. Not that he would have ever told his dad that he hadn't followed in his footsteps because of a bunch of fairies. Actually he hadn't told anyone this story. Even his sister.
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Shadowcat
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Immaterial Girl
Excalibur 617 - Admin
Avalon and fairies and changelings, oh my.

Apparently Pete had managed to get an early start on his career in espionage. Probably a good thing for him if he didn't have ambitions toward being stuck in the land of the fae for a lot longer than anyone who wasn't a fairy would actually want to be.

That was Otherworld for you, though. Thrill a minute, whether you wanted it or not.

"You might say that," he agreed with an answering smile as she moved over to let him under the shower spray, arm slipping around his waist as his did the same to her for a brief half-hug. Not a bad way to spend part of a night or all of a shower. Not bad at all.

Otherworld could've been worse, too. At least he hadn't ended up in Annwn.

Apparently, though, Kitty mused as she grabbed the other washcloth and began soaping herself up, Pete's sister was a lot more optimistic in those days that her little brother would actually listen to her than she seemed to be now. Especially considering that, whatever Romany had told him after he got himself back, it hadn't stopped him from going again, apparently. Since he'd already mentioned he'd been there twice.

It was a little like the Mafia that way, Avalon and Otherworld in general. Just when you thought you were out, it managed to somehow pull you back in. Happened every single time, and then you had to deal with Saturnyne and no one wanted that. Ever.

So, yeah, Pete definitely wasn't the only one with that particular experience.

That had him laughing as he reached for the shampoo. "Literally, in some cases," he said. "The second time was when I was sixteen, a couple of years after I found out I was a mutant." Well, at least he'd been old enough to know better that time, even if he hadn't, in fact, known better. "I was out with me mates, roaming the city like we usually did, looking for things to do."

Soaping up her arms and then her legs, the brunette paused long enough to shoot a smirk and a knowingly lifted eyebrow his way. "'Looking for things to do'. Now why do I think that's just Pete Wisdom code for 'out to get himself and several other people into trouble'?"

Probably because that's exactly what it would've been. If she didn't know that already, she wouldn't know him at all and she'd already picked up enough bits and pieces about Pete's teen years to have a good idea what he'd have been like. God, he thought they'd hated each other at first when they met now? The idea of meeting when they were both teens (which wouldn't actually have been possible without some sort of time anomaly) made her cringe inwardly over what would be the personality conflict equivalent of an A-bomb.

"We were in Bethnal Green Tube Station when some girl of about eight wandered too close to the gap and fell to the tracks. Everybody started screaming for somebody to do something, none louder than her parents, but nobody could reach down far enough to get to her." He was shampooing his hair and she nodded as she glanced up. She didn't need to even guess what came next. Knowing Pete, it was pretty easily predictable.

"I didn't bother to think," he confessed, and she couldn't stop herself from smirking at him briefly again, whether he could see her or not. [b"Just ran up there and jumped in."[/b] Yep, exactly what she'd figured. "I picked her up and lifted her to the crowd, but by then the train was getting too close for me to get out meself. Thought I was a goner. That is until I noticed a glowing outline in the wall in front of me. It was shaped like a chalk drawing of a door, and since I figured it was better to try something crazy instead of just waiting to die, I reached out for the knob." Oh yeah. Pete logic. Convenient magic glowing door? That wasn't a sign of trouble at all.

But still probably better than being hit by a train, and it wasn't like they hadn't done crazier things.

"Bloody thing actually opened." of course it did. They always did, didn't they? "I dove in just before the train would have turned me into a blot, and landed on me bum in some sort of audience chamber." He shrugged as she straightened up and looked over at him again. Audience chamber, huh?. "Well, alright, it was a throne room. Just about every kind of fairy you could think of was there, and they were all looking right at me like they'd been expecting my arrival. Which they had."

Yeah, exactly. Fairies were sly, and once they knew you, they knew you. And you never really knew when they were going to decide to renew the acquaintance.

Pete was waving his washcloth at her, though, so she let those thoughts trail off briefly. "'Ere, I'll wash your back for you," he offered with a quick smile and Kitty moved over closer again, turning her back to him.

"You wash mine, I'll wash yours," she offered, with a quick smile over her shoulder, then gave him a considering look. "Oberon? Or one of the lesser fae courts?" Kitty asked curiously, "Because if it was Oberon I'm not sure I wouldn't have taken my chances with the train."

Not that she'd ever had the dubious pleasure of meeting the fairy king, but she'd heard enough to know that was probably a good thing. Like she'd said, these weren't the pretty little butterfly fairies from storybooks and Oberon was practically a force of nature in his own right. Not someone she wanted to come face to face with.
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Pete Wisdom
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Knows perfectly well what canny means
Excalibur 617
Pete had left himself wide open, quite on purpose, really, and Kitty wasted no time walking right through it. She barely even paused in soaping herself down to send a smirk the former spy's way and arch one eyebrow pointedly. "'Looking for things to do'. Now why do I think that's just Pete Wisdom code for 'out to get himself and several other people into trouble'?"

"Inside information," Pete proposed casually as he squeezed shampoo into his waiting palm, smile going more crooked. She'd never had trouble figuring him out, code or not. "You might say I've had a lot of practice being a bad influence."

And getting into trouble had been a talent of his almost from the start, but particularly then. He may have had certain limits, but apart from that he'd been a complete yob at the time. 'Acting out because of the divorce.' That's what those condescending social workers liked to say, trying to tell him how they knew what he was going through and just wanted to help. Stupid, well-meaning tossers couldn't twig the difference between a sunrise and a fried egg.

Whatever the psychologists might have to say about what he did while he was busy being anywhere but home, that particular trip had taken him to one of the more famously haunted stations in the London Underground. Pete didn't even remember where they'd been planning to take the tube or what they were going to do when they got there. They might not have even known at the time, but it didn't matter since that was as far as Pete ever got that day. As soon as that little girl fell down to the tracks, his decision had been made for him.

That came as no surprise to Kitty, who was nodding even before he said what happened next, and he caught her smirking out of the corner of his eye as soon as the bit about him leaping after the girl came into the story. He'd managed to save the girl, but there'd been no time to get away from the train himself. There weren't even any suicide pits for him to duck under. So when a glowing outline of a door appeared right in front of him, he figured he'd take his chances with it and worry about how mad it all ways later. If there was a later.

As it happened, he hadn't died. Instead he's simply landed bum-first in the throne room filled end to end with as many different kinds of faeries as Pete could name. All waiting for him.

In the meantime, Kitty might like some help washing her back, so Pete left off there to suggest as much. "You wash mine, I'll wash yours," she offered, moving closer and turning around for him. He looked at him over her shoulder and gave him a quick smile before her expression became more scrutinizing. And curious, definitely curious. "Oberon? Or one of the lesser fae courts? Because if it was Oberon I'm not sure I wouldn't have taken my chances with the train."

With her phasing power, the train wouldn’t have been nearly as much a concern, but she had a point all the same. Oberon was serious business. More than most could handle and not the sort Pete, or any sensible bloke would hope to deal with if they didn’t have to. Pete shook his head slightly and said, “Manannán. They arranged the whole thing in the tube.” Some sort of test to determine if he was noble or pure of heart or some other bollocks that hadn’t applied to someone like him. He’d saved the girl because it had needed doing, nothing more. Of course that just made the King more convinced he’d made the right choice in bringing Pete over.

Pete may have gotten out of Otherworld the first time, but it left a mark on mortals that never went away, so it was no surprise that he’d managed to get their attention when they decided they needed help.

Reaching around to accept the washcloth from his girlfriend, Pete bent his head forward for a quick kiss. “Someone in his court had stolen something valuable from Gwyn ap Nudd,” he explained as he began gently scrubbing at Kitty’s back. “So to keep that from leading to war, he wanted me to figure out who did it, find the thing, and return it without King Gwyn finding out about it.”

Which explained why they’d looked to the mortal world for help. “I told them to sod off if they thought they could just grab someone off the street and have them do their dirty work for them.” He shook his head bemusedly and worked the washcloth down to the small of Kitty’s back. “That didn’t go over so well, not that it did much good. From the moment I passed through that door, I had a geas on me, which the King was quick to point out I’d done by my choice alone.” That was faeie logic for you.

Pete moved the washcloth down a bit lower, running it over Kitty’s ass in lingering circles. Probably not necessary, but he couldn’t resist. “So I was stuck,” he continued, “Although he must have decided I needed minding, because the next thing he did was have one of his daughters, Clídna, tag along to ‘help.’” Meddle, more like. At least that was how Pete looked at it at first, and she wasn’t too fond of having to deal with him, either. “If you thought the two of us hadn’t gotten along, you should have seen the way the princess and I went round with each other.”

Taking a step back so that Kitty could rinse herself off, he handed the washcloth over to her. It would be his turn next, so he turned to present his back. Looking over his shoulder at her, he gave a quick smile. “If the first visit was a step toward being a spy, you might call the next one me first real assignment. Took a whole fortnight to get it done. Hardest part was sneaking our way through Annwn.” Pete nearly shuddered at the memory. It might not have been much worse than some of the places he’d gone or the things he’d done for Black Air, but at that age it was like roaming through a living nightmare.

“That was the first time I ever took a life,” he told Kitty, expression turning sober. She knew how he felt about killing. And how he felt about how he felt about killing. “I made a plenty o’ enemies,” he confessed. Which was something that he’d definitely have to watch out for if he ever went back to Otherworld. Then, with a semi-self-conscious shrug, added, “And, well. That wasn’t the only first experience I had there.” He and Clídna had saved each other’s lives more times than they could count, and they’d both been young. Long stretches alone, in close quarters, with nobody but each other to trust. It had been sort of inevitable. The fae might not have the same attitudes toward sex that humans did, particularly modern humans, but that was still something that might come up and need to be dealt with.

“When it was over, the King offered to let me stay in Mag Mell.” He shook his head. “It was tempting. For a number of reasons, but I decided what I really wanted was to go back home.” He smirked over his shoulder at Kitty. “I just wanted a normal life. Place was too weird for the likes of me, yeah?”
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Shadowcat
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Immaterial Girl
Excalibur 617 - Admin
She might say Pete had had a lot of practice being a bad influence?

Actually, Kitty was sure she'd definitely say that. This was just another example of why, apparently. Though at this point, she'd say that the former spy could probably stop practicing and go into it professionally.

Which, now that she gave it a little thought, you could probably say that he had.

So there'd been little girl saving and near death by trains and convenient, magical glowing doorways at just the right time to make walking through them more appealing than any other available options. Then he'd apparently found himself in the middle of somone's fairy court in Avalon. Again.

Only Pete.

That begged a couple of questions, at least, but those the brunette put on pause in favor of taking him up on the offer of washing her back. Mmm, she liked the sound of that and if he'd washer hers, then she'd return the favor.

Moving in closer, she turned around, peering back at him over her shoulder with a smile for a second or two before she got back to the business of just what court he'd found himself in. Oberon's? One of the lesser fae? If she had to pick one - not that anybody really got a chance to do that - she'd have picked 'anything but Oberon'. Including the train. He was scary even compared to all the other scary things running around Otherworld. With the possible exception of the Omniversal Majestrix.

Then again, Pete couldn't phase so that would've been a little more problematic for him.

“Manannán. They arranged the whole thing in the tube." Pete related with a shake of his head. Manannan? Celtic...sea deity of some sort? She thought that was right, or at least close.

Pausing to reach around for the washcloth, there was an all too brief kiss before he got back to the story. “Someone in his court had stolen something valuable from Gwyn ap Nudd,” he explained as he began gently scrubbing at Kitty’s back which was very, very nice and had her eyelids drooping contentedly. “So to keep that from leading to war, he wanted me to figure out who did it, find the thing, and return it without King Gwyn finding out about it.”

Yeah, that sounded about right. God forbid they manage their own problems and not over-complicate everything for everybody by pulling some poor mortal into the mess. In this case, sixteen year old Pete Wisdom. It must've been a little like Sid Vicious goes to Neverland.

"Mystical espionage. Great," Kitty sympathized, giving her head a slight shake.

“I told them to sod off if they thought they could just grab someone off the street and have them do their dirty work for them.” He shook his head bemusedly and worked the washcloth down to the small of Kitty’s back. Oh, yeah, right there. That was good. “That didn’t go over so well, not that it did much good. From the moment I passed through that door, I had a geas on me, which the King was quick to point out I’d done by my choice alone.”

Fae logic. Had to love it. Or not, but once you were there there wasn't much you could do about it so you might as well.

Pete's hand moving lower over her ass, making little circles that had her humming softly in pleasure interrupted that train of thought for a few, nice seconds. She turned her head to send another smile and an amused, lifted brow his way, reaching back with one hand to stroke her palm over his hip and outer thigh.

“So I was stuck,” he continued, “Although he must have decided I needed minding, because the next thing he did was have one of his daughters, Clídna, tag along to ‘help.’” There went the other brow to join the first. How did she know that a girl was going to end up in this picture at some point? “If you thought the two of us hadn’t gotten along, you should have seen the way the princess and I went round with each other.”

Trying not to grin and mostly succeeding, Kitty managed a serious nod as Pete stepped back and she turned back toward the spray to rinse off. "Oh yeah. I'm sure the fairy princess was a real terror," she managed with only a slight snerk in place of a full on laugh. And a vow to never, ever tell him about her own time as an unwilling princess when they were thrown cross time, since that would end up backfiring on her.


Meanwhile, he'd turned around himself and was smiling back at her. “If the first visit was a step toward being a spy, you might call the next one me first real assignment. Took a whole fortnight to get it done. Hardest part was sneaking our way through Annwn.” Grimacing sympathetically, she finished rinsing and reached for the washcloth.

"Not exactly a great vacation spot, is it?" she commiserated, stepping up behind him and soaping up the washcloth again.

“That was the first time I ever took a life,” Pete added, sober note in his voice that had her slipping her free arm around him and leaning in to plant a soft kiss at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Sixteen. About the same age she'd been when she'd had to kill Anjulie to stop her from killing Kurt. What a weird coincidence. Definitely not an easy one. “I made a plenty o’ enemies,” he confessed as she drew back and began soaping up his shoulders and working her way down his back.

"With your charming personality? I'm shocked," she interjected with a hint of a grin again. If he kept walking into things like that, she hoped he didn't expect her not to notice.

“And, well. That wasn’t the only first experience I had there.” Oh? Brows drawing together, she tried to work that out for a second as she slid the soapy cloth down the middle of his back, then back up one side. Then it hit her and her eyebrows sailed toward her hairline. Ohhhhh. So that's how it was, huh?

“When it was over, the King offered to let me stay in Mag Mell.” He shook his head. “It was tempting. For a number of reasons, but I decided what I really wanted was to go back home.” He smirked over his shoulder at Kitty and she smirked right back. “I just wanted a normal life. Place was too weird for the likes of me, yeah?”

Well, there wasn't any way she could keep from laughing at that so she didn't try as she drew the washcloth over and down the side she hadn't done yet. "And now you don't have a weird life at all," she told him with a grin, "Just a lot of weird friends."

Taking another pass over his back for good measure, she finished up and then grinned, wound the washcloth around itself and flicked him in the ass playfully, but not hard enough to really hurt. "You know, I'm starting to think you and Wisdom have a lot more in common than I thought," Kitty added, stepping out of the way so he could get to the shower spray. "So, you lost your virginity to a fairy princess." The grin widened, but only turned a little evil. Really. "You know I'm never forgetting that, right?"
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Faerie intrigue. Not even close to the usual way people got a start in Pete's line of business and if he'd had any say in the matter, he'd have had nothing to do with it. He wasn't a champion and he wasn't their bloody pawn. He hadn't had a say, though. They'd seen to that with their 'test' and their geas. Sort of like entrapment, only instead of targeting auto thieves, drug dealers and the like, it was heroes they lured in, whether the term actually fit or not. The fae could be odd like that when it came to mortals.

As Pete's ministrations with the wash cloth moved down to Kitty's ass, the brunette made a contented sound, and for a few moments the story was put aside so that Pete could enjoy that. He could definitely get into the habit of washing Kitty's back, although if she kept smiling at him and reaching behind to run her palm over his hip and thigh, he couldn't be held responsible for any further delays to his story or the shower they were ostensibly taking. Not that he suspected either of them would complain.

He leaned his head forward to indulge in a soft, lingering kiss. That much, he wasn't able to resist. So nice. So sweet and warm and soft. He continued to massage her ass with the washcloth as his other hand slipped around her waist in a loose embrace.

What was he talking about again?

Right, not letting himself get too sidetracked, much as he'd really like to. Somehow Pete did manage to reluctantly withdraw his lips before things had a chance to go any further. Just yet, at least. After, well, that would be different.

Telling Manannán off had persuaded the fae king to send his daughter along with Pete, although that hadn't exactly been a favor. That had Kitty's other brow rising toward her hairline, but he and Clídna had clashed right from the start. Kitty might not believe it, but some of their arguments had gone well beyond anything he and Kitty had shouted at each other.

Kitty looked like she was trying to contain herself, but there was no hiding the slight grin on her face, despite how seriously she nodded her head while turning to rinse her back off under the shower's spray. "Oh yeah. I'm sure the fairy princess was a real terror," she said with an amused snerk and dubious sincerity.

"Worse," Pete assured her, wondering what she wasn't telling him. From everything she'd said so far, Pete suspected she knew more about failyland than Pete himself. Which meant she had to know just how bad some fairy princesses could really be.

Turning around to allow Kitty to return the favor of washing each other's backs, Pete summarized the rest of it as best he could. All that snooping around Mag Mell and sneaking into Annwn. That last bit got an understanding Grimace from Kitty. She was spot on there. It was not the sort of place one wanted to go to on holiday, or just about any other time. If they had been caught and brought before King Gwyn, there would have been no stopping that war, and Pete would have never lived to see his seventeenth birthday.

That hadn't happened, though. He'd survived, made it back with none in Annwn the wiser about why he'd been there in the first place, but he'd come out of it changed. He'd killed someone, which had been a new thing for him then, and that had hit him pretty deep. He didn't need to explain that to Kitty, though. She already knew. She leaned in, giving him a light kiss and bringing her arm around him. Bringing his own hand up to give her arm a little squeeze, Pete let his eyes slip shut for a moment and sighed contentedly. Just enjoying that moment of contact and understanding with her.

He had enemies in both Kingdoms because of that, which was part of the trouble he might bring with him if he ever wound up back in Otherworld. "With your charming personality? I'm shocked," Kitty said as she scrubbed the soapy washcloth over his shoulders and then lower. Pete chuckled softly. She'd be even more shocked to hear he'd made plenty of friends as well, except for the fact that she wouldn't.

Kitty continued to soap off his back as Pete briefly touched on the other major 'first' that had been part of his two weeks there. He knew Kitty wouldn't need more of a hint than that to figure out what he meant by that. She ran the wash cloth down the middle and then up along the side, and yes, that was nice. He'd forgotten just how relaxing that could be.

The King had been very pleased with Pete, and offered to let him spend the rest of his life in Mag Mell if he'd wanted. It was sort of like an invitation to Heaven without all that business with harps and being pious and worst of all, dying. But it also mean giving up his life, the good and the bad. Leaving all his friends. Leaving his family, no matter what he thought of them. All for something that, however tempting, was the exact opposite of normal.
Kitty smirked as he looked over his shoulder at her, before laughing outright. She drew the washcloth down the other side of his back, grinning as she said, "And now you don't have a weird life at all, Just a lot of weird friends."

"Occupational hazard," Pete said as Kitty made a final pass over his back and then flicked her wrist, expertly snapping the washcloth at his ass. "Hey!" Pete yelped and laughed as he half-turned away from the attack. Oh he was definitely getting her for that. She had to know it was coming, of course.

"You know, I'm starting to think you and Wisdom have a lot more in common than I thought," she said, stepping back to give him room to rinse off. His eyebrows rose incredulously as he moved in, letting the water wash over him. Her grin went even wider and just a touch wicked. "So, you lost your virginity to a fairy princess. You know I'm never forgetting that, right?"

Of course she wouldn't. Not if she was having that much fun with it. "I've never told anyone about that," he told her. "Not even Romany. Even though I'd been missing so long most people thought I was dead." Romany would have believed it, of course, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her that he'd almost chosen to leave everyone forever. As for having something in common with that Wisdom bloke... "After some o' the things you've told me about Wisdom, I almost wonder if that Changeling actually had taken his place," he said with a wry shake of his head.

"Clídna wasn't like that. She was special." Which had made his decision that much more difficult. " She also took it a bit personal when I declined her father's offer." And though she was probably over that by now, it could still make things a bit explosive if he ever returned.

He reached out to turn off the water. "Who was your first, then?" he asked, giving her side a playful prod. "Some sort of space pirate? Asgardian? Scholar from the distant future?"
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Shadowcat
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A fairy princess that was worse than a holy terror?

Actually, she didn't have a lot of trouble believing that, having made the acquaintance of a few fae in her time. It wasn't something she was going to admit to Pete, though. It'd just encourage him.

From the sound of things, though, he'd had quite an adventure in Avalon, complete with intrigue, a trip through Annwn, and the first person he'd ever killed. That was a thing that left a mark, no matter how young or old you were when it happened. In this business, and in the career Pete had chosen for himself, it was going to happen, sooner or later. For Pete, there was even more significance there in some ways, considering his time in Black Air later in life and so she did the only thing she really knew to do. Wrapped an arm around him, let him know she understood that feeling.

There was a quiet moment, a contented sigh from Pete, before he got back to the story. The enemies he'd made in the Fae kingdoms, and that wasn't a thing to take too lightly. Even if she couldn't resist teasing him about it. Given his charming personality, she was shocked. Really.

He'd obviously made impressions, though, as Pete tended to do one way or another, she mused as she finished washing up his back. Enough that he'd gotten an invitation to hang around fairy Nirvana. But no, he'd decided to come back and have a 'normal' life, instead of a weird one. So now he didn't have a weird life at all. Noooo. Just a bunch of weird friends.

"Occupational hazard," Pete insisted, which absolutely deserved the following snapped washcloth to the ass that had him trying to dodge and yelping a semi-indignant, "Hey!" of protest. But he was laughing, too, and giving her that look. She knew that look.

He could try to get even later, but for now, Kitty just grinned completely unrepentantly. And informed him that maybe he and Wisdom had more in common than she'd originally though, given this habit he seemed to be developing of picking up extra, random almost-fiancee's and almost-girlfriends. And losing his virginity to fairy princesses. Which he absolutely had to know she was never, ever forgetting.

"I've never told anyone about that," he told her. "Not even Romany. Even though I'd been missing so long most people thought I was dead." Kitty raised her eyebrow a little at that. He hadn't even told his occult obsessed sister? Well, alright, maybe that was why he hadn't told his occult obsessed sister. "After some o' the things you've told me about Wisdom, I almost wonder if that Changeling actually had taken his place," he said with a wry shake of his head as he rinsed off, but she just chuckled.

"You wish, but sorry. You don't get out of other-dimensional strangeness that easy." Not ever, in her experience, and all the strangeness you might see in whatever double you ran across was always just other parts of your own personality that you'd managed to either tamp down, overcome, or redirect. As much as she'd have liked to believe some of her own other-dimensional counterparts had nothing at all to do with her, Kitty knew better.

The one here was case in point. They were vastly different, but then they weren't at all and she could see herself, a few years ago and a few more added bits of trauma, in this universes version of Katherine Anne Pryde.

"Clídna wasn't like that. She was special." Pete insisted, moving back to the topic of the fae princess and she couldn't help but smile a little at that. Yeah, she was sure she was. Weren't the first ones always? Not that she had a lot of basis for comparison herself, but it had been that way for her, too. "She also took it a bit personal when I declined her father's offer."

"I can imagine." Leaning forward, she twisted her mass of wet brown hair around to squeeze out the extra water. "The Fae aren't really known for their understanding natures." If - or more likely when - they ever found themselves in Otherworld or Avalon again, that might be something he'd have to deal with. Or they both would, given the present situation. But she'd faced a lot worse than angry fairies in her time.

"Who was your first, then?" he asked next, turning off the water and poking her in the side enough to make her gasp in surprise - hey, she was ticklish there - as she straightened up. "Some sort of space pirate? Asgardian? Scholar from the distant future?"

Well, that was an interesting question, and a fair one, Kitty supposed. Share and share alike, and it was a story he'd likely hear at some point or other anyway.

Her smile faded a little at the edges as Kitty shook her head. Not bad memories, not really, but even after nearly four years, there was still a pang there. Dulled considerably now, but it never quite faded away completely. It probably never would. "God no, nothing like that. Have you seen the people in Asgard?" Her time there hadn't exactly been fun and games or anything close to romantic, and if nothing else soured you on that place, having to deal with Loki definitely would. "He was a normal human," she added, stepping over and reaching through the shower door, grabbing the towels and handing one over to Pete.

"A couple of years older than me. I was seventeen. He was home on break from university and I was on vacation with Ray in Scotland." Working quickly, she toweled the excess water off as she pulled up all those old memories. "His name was Alasdhair. Lord Kinross," Kitty continued, straightening back up and looking over at Pete as she toweled off her hair next, "He was Moira's great uncle? Great great uncle, maybe?" Brows creasing together in a brief, thoughtful frown, she shook her head, "I'm not exactly sure and I've never asked." It wasn't exactly a discussion you had with someone's descendents over dinner, or something she'd ever felt like discussing a lot in general. "I met him just before World War Two," she finished with a slightly rueful half-smile.

Yeah, Alasdhair might've been perfectly normal, but the circumstances were anything but. She'd give him a second to process that, or maybe just stare at her, before she got into the rest.
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Kitty had heard right, there, though she had good reason to look a bit dubious. She was the first person Pete had ever told about his second trip to Avalon. He’d made up some rubbish explanation for where he’d been for the six and a half weeks he’d been gone since the incident at the tube. Long enough for most people to figure he’d died there.

There hadn’t been a funeral, though. Officially he’d been listed as a missing person, and he saw no reason for anybody to think different when he returned. Bit of teen rebellion involved there. More than a little teen guilt as well, but he stuck with his story, even with Romany. Which didn’t mean she didn’t know what had really happened. Pete had a feeling she at least suspected, though she’d never asked. No body. A station famous for supernatural activity, and the fact she knew he’d already been to Avalon once. She’d have gone after her own answers, and Romany usually got them.

He still didn’t quite know what to make of the Wisdom here, but losing his virginity to a faerie, even a faerie princess, did not make them similar in that way. Kitty was obviously going to be teasing him and making jokes about moving to Utah over those misunderstandings with Sinclair and Rachel for a long time. That other bloke, however, seemed to collect superhuman lovers the same way most people collected coffee mugs. If Pete didn’t know any better, he’d think this one might not have been so lucky in outsmarting that Changeling.

Kitty chuckled at that idea. "You wish, but sorry. You don't get out of other-dimensional strangeness that easy." That was the voice of experience, there. As many trips across the multiverse as she'd been on, he expected there had been plenty versions of herself out there that made the younger Kitty here seem bland by comparison. At some point he was going to have to ask her to tell him about some of the more interesting ones.

What Pete had with Clídna was different, though. It had been special, like her, and giving that up had been the hardest part about asking to be sent back home. And the loudest part, once she started telling him what she thought of him leaving her. "I can imagine." Kitty said as she wrung out her waterlogged hair. "The Fae aren't really known for their understanding natures."

"Can't say the same about their long memories," Pete said. He had no idea just how offended she was still feeling, but knew better than to think he'd never have to deal with it. He and Kitty together.

Now that she knew, Pete went ahead and asked about her first, prodding her a little in the side with his finger. She let out a surprised gasp and straightened up. She really was ticklish right there, wasn't she? Before she had a chance to voice another protest about that, Pete started throwing out possibilities. The three that came to mind first were only the first of many, but they'd do until she answered for herself.

He could tell right away that it wasn't going to be a simple answer, not with the way her smile changed. The shake of her head that almost felt like an echo of bittersweet memories. "God no, nothing like that. Have you seen the people in Asgard?" A rhetorical question, and not the sort of tone most people who got an eyeful of the old Norse Gods tended to adopt. Said a lot about her own personal experience with them. "He was a normal human," she explained, the comment juxtaposed with her thrusting her arm right through the shower door and coming back with a pair of towels, an act that was anything but normal, no matter how much the sight of it had become second nature to her.

"No ordinary one, though, I'm guessing," Pete said softly as he accept the towel she handed to him. Not if it was putting that look on her face. He lifted the towel to his head and started scrubbing at his hair with it while she continued.

"A couple of years older than me. I was seventeen. He was home on break from university and I was on vacation with Ray in Scotland. "His name was Alasdhair. Lord Kinross,"

Pete's hands came to an abrupt halt as he turned his eyes toward Kitty, who was looking expectantly back at him. Kinross. Even without the Scotland clue he'd have gotten that one. "Not that Kinross," he asked, almost but not quite making a plea of it. Then, almost as an afterthought while he started working his towel over his wiry frame, he added, "Annie's alright, though, so I suppose they're not all bad."

"He was Moira's great uncle? Great great uncle, maybe?" Kitty shook her head as she toweled her hair off, so she might not have noticed Pete suddenly staring at her. Out of all the potential theories he might have brought up, he had to admit a ninety-four year old man was not among them. "I'm not exactly sure and I've never asked."

Considering some of the questions that were on his mind at the moment, he wasn't all that surprised. There were so many other concerns that would have to be addressed first under those circumstances.

"I met him just before World War Two," she said next, smiling at Pete a bit ruefully.

Oh, marvelous. It really said something that hearing that made what she'd been saying earlier make more sense, now. One of Pete's brows slowly rose toward his hairline as he regarded her. "So the scholar from the distant future was you, then," he said mildly. Then, his other brow rising to join the first, much faster than the first, he smiled and added, "Or you've been twenty for longer than I thought. I don't suppose this is this your way o' telling me that you're a vampire, is it?"

Most times, that would be the sort of thing a bloke would notice, but Rachel had recently informed him that he was the worst spy ever, so he might have missed a few hints.
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Asgard? No. Not in a million years. Had Pete ever been to Asgard? Sure, Thor's group were nice to look at, but they weren't all there was to that realm. Not even close. No space pirates or aliens or time travelers or anything like that, either.

No, Alasdhiar was a normal human guy. No powers, other than being a good, brave, open-minded person with a good heart. Exceptional, especially for his time, but he would've been in any time and she still didn't doubt that.

"No ordinary one, though, I'm guessing," Pete said softly as she handed over one of the towels she'd phased through the shower door. Her smile winded in confirmation. No, he'd been anything but ordinary. He'd been exceptional in all the ways that mattered and that didn't have a thing to do with having special abilities to fly or read minds or walk through walls.

A university student home on break, he'd only been a couple of years older than her own seventeen, and that was all normal enough. But, considering it was her life and the things that tended to happen in it, it hadn't really been normal at all. From everything to who Alasdhair had been to when and how they'd met. So it wasn't a surprise when she got to the part of who that it practically stopped Pete in his tracks.

"Not that Kinross," he asked, almost but not quite making a plea of it and Kitty shrugged and nodded and gave him a slightly amused look while he seemed to think it over a little as he dried off, "Annie's alright, though, so I suppose they're not all bad."

Right. So she probably shouldn't burst that bubble by telling him that Moira wasn't actually related to Jack and Annie Crossan, should she? Yeah, no, she'd just let that ride for now. Especially since there was still the next bit to get to. The part where she explained the Kinross connection.

Even she wasn't completely sure if Alasdhair had been Moira's great uncle or her great, great uncle and asking seemed, well, not like something that mattered enough in the scheme of things to ask. If it'd been that important, she could've looked it up, Kitty knew, but it wasn't. And she didn't want to have to read all the details of his death, staring back at her from a copy of a printed page on a computer screen.

Pete was already staring at her, so it wasn't a huge surprise when she got to the part about meeting him just before World War II that one dark eyebrow started a slow descent up his forehead. Well, he'd asked, hadn't he? Considering he'd just told her he'd got laid for the first time by a fairy princess, you wouldn't think a little time travel would be such a huge surprise. Especially considering the last week.

"So the scholar from the distant future was you, then," he said mildly and she let out a soft laugh as she finished drying her hair as best she could and wrapped the towel around her torso.

"When you put it that way, I guess so. I wasn't feeling very scholarly right then, though." Pete, of course, wasn't finished speculating apparently, as his other brow shifted up to join the first one.

"Or you've been twenty for longer than I thought. I don't suppose this is this your way o' telling me that you're a vampire, is it?" Well, there was a loaded question, wasn't it?

"No, that was only for a little while and it was way before I met Alasdhair," Kitty countered with a grin. Been there, done that, story for later that wasn't related to this one. Then she lifted her own eyebrow his way, "I think you'd have noticed if I burst into flames as soon as we went out into the sun," she pointed out. Plus, she was a big fan of garlic. You know, she was starting to wonder if Ray might be right. Being out of the UK was scrambling his spy powers.

Reaching over to pull the shower door back and exit the old fashioned way, the brunette shook her head. "Nothing like that, though. Just good, old fashioned accidental time travel with Ray and being chased around by the Shadow King and some Nazi's. So, you know, Tuesday."
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Yes, that Kinross.

What other Kinross would it have been, what with him being a Lord? It was just like Pete had said that first night at the Chalk and Cheese, they were all related over there. He did like Annie, though. Really, when he made good on that promise to rebuild Hadrian's Wall, it was really only going to be there to keep MacTaggert out.

Still, Pete had figured when she said the bloke was home on holiday from Uni, it meant he was a student. Not one of the professors. A professor who had to have been knocking at death's door if he was MacTagger's great-great Uncle. Kitty really did know how to tell stories in a way that got your attention, alright.

Or maybe he'd been right the first time about him being a student, since this had all apparently happened some seventy-five or so years ago. Right. Well, when he'd guessed there was a scholar from the future involved, he hadn't expected it would be her, but now she'd gone and turned that around on him, too, hadn't she?

Kitty laughed a bit, still working the towel through her hair before hooking it around herself like a terrycloth toga. "When you put it that way, I guess so. I wasn't feeling very scholarly right then, though." Considering she was in Scotland shortly before the start of sodding World War Two, she would have had plenty of more urgent concerns, no matter what the plot of Lost in Austen would have one believe.

On the other hand, he couldn't help teasing her with one other possibility, this one being that she was a vampire. The pictures he'd seen in that box the other Kitty had come snooping around for sort of spoiled that theory. As a matter of fact, the other Kitty spoiled it, but he wasn't about to let little details like that stop him.

Without even missing a beat, she grinned and answered right back. "No, that was only for a little while and it was way before I met Alasdhair[.]" Unfortunately, both of Pete's eyebrows were already as high as he was willing to let them go, so he settled for a simple, "Heh," in response. That was going onto the list of stories he was looking forward to hearing about, as well as the already continental sized list of reasons her life and her friends were much, much weirder than his.

Kitty took her turn at lifting an eyebrow this time. "I think you'd have noticed if I burst into flames as soon as we went out into the sun," she informed him simply.

As he got back to toweling himself off, Pete let his smile grow even cheekier than it already was. "Wot, you haven't been phasing through all those UV rays and the like this whole time?" he asked, not bothering to try to sound innocent when it was that much of a lost cause. He was probably going to get another pillow thrown at him for that one, but she'd have to get to the bed for that, first.

She did pull open the shower door, perhaps to get moving in that direction, and shook her head as she got back to a more direct answer to his original question. "Nothing like that, though. Just good, old fashioned accidental time travel with Ray and being chased around by the Shadow King and some Nazi's. So, you know, Tuesday."

"There's that 'A' word again," Pete drawled, giving himself one final pass with the towel before simply letting it drop right on the shower floor. He wasn't sure whether it said more about her or him that he took more notice of that than the element of non-corporeal villains and Nazis, but either way, it needed complaining about. Especially since it looked like he was just going to have to get used to it no matter what he thought.

This whole thing going on now being a good example. He didn't care for being separated from her like that, and if it meant dealing with more than his usual dose of craziness, it wasn't even a contest.

As for the rest of that particular story, it wasn't too hard to put the rest of the pieces together, including where Alisdhair likely was now. No need to have her spell that out unless there was something important about it she wanted him to know.

Pete followed Kitty out of the shower and shrugged casually. "All the same," he said, his smile growing slowly wicked, "I might have to check you over for bite marks, just to be sure." And with that he swept his arms around her, trying not to laugh and mostly failing. Assuming she didn't just phase right out of his grasp, this was going to make their journey back to the bed a bit more difficult, but he had a feeling neither of them were going to really mind all that much.
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Shadowcat
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Oh, come on. A vampire? Really?

Besides, that was years ago, long before she met Alasdhair. And it'd only been for a little while, during the Cross-Time Caper. Okay, maybe Lilith counted, too, in a technical way. That was more possession than actually being turned into a vampire, though.

Which probably wouldn't do much to support her point, at all. Especially when Pete's eyebrow were already well on the way to the top of his head as he let out a little, "Heh," that told her that'd caught his interest again. Well, they'd get to all her weird life eventually, she was sure.

Just like she was sure Pete would've noticed sometime in the last four months or so if she'd actually still been a vampire. Bursting into flames as soon as she walked out the door into they daylight would've been something he'd probably notice.

Pete kept toweling off, giving her one of those smiles. The ones that told her his evil mind was probably working overtime. "Wot, you haven't been phasing through all those UV rays and the like this whole time?" he asked and that got him an immediate roll of brown eyes as Kitty considered throwing her towel at him, since that was the closest thing at hand that probably wouldn't knock him unconscious.

"No," she said instead with a slightly sideways tilt to the 'you really are thinking about this too much' smile she sent his way, "but if I ever do end up a vampire again, I'll have to remember that trick. Thanks for the tip."

Leaving assault by random object for later, Kitty pulled the shower door open as she moved back toward the original question. No, it hadn't involved vampires. It had involved accidental time travel, and Rachel, and the Shadow King and a few Nazis. You know, normal stuff for pretty much any given Tuesday when you lived the spandex life.

"There's that 'A' word again," Pete drawled, finishing drying himself off and dropping the wet towel in the shower. Because he was a guy, and the word 'hamper' wasn't in his vocabulary. Also, he was Pete and it violated some basic law of Wisdom-ness unless there was stuff everywhere.

"You really should be getting used to it by now," Kitty informed him, using her own towel to squeeze the excess water out of her hair as she stepped out of the shower, before she dripped all over the bathroom and bedroom. Pete followed her out, leaving his towel to languish in the damaged shower, all alone.

"All the same," he said as she lifted her head and turned his way. Oh, that smile on his face didn't mean anything but trouble, did it? Tossing her own towel into the hamper, her brow lifted up a little again. "I might have to check you over for bite marks, just to be sure."

Pete's arm came around her and she laughed, since he seemed to be losing a fight not to do the same. "You mean you weren't paying attention before now?" she teased fondly, slipping her arms around his neck and leaning in for a soft kiss before pulling back. Soap and shampoo, but she could still swear she smelled the faintest hint of cigarettes. It was probably permanently embedded in his pores now. "Well, I guess you should be thorough," the brunette allowed faux-thoughtfully, then flashed a grin of her own, "but we've probably broken the bathroom enough, and if I was a vampire, I probably wouldn't be too keen on that, so I suppose you'll just have to catch me."

With that as his only warning, she phased away, turned, and sprinted back toward the bedroom with a laugh. Grinning at him briefly over her shoulder as she headed through the door. "If you can manage that, I might just tell you about the time I was a magic princess."

Which was, despite any childhood fantasies, not nearly as fun and entertaining as it sounded.
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Pete Wisdom
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Normally being able to walk around in the sun would tend to suggest a lack of vampirism. Not to mention Kitty didn't seem to think there was such a thing as too much garlic on her food, including one or two things that had no business being seasoned like that in the first place, in Pete's opinion. As for going into places without being invited, Kitty did that better than just about anyone.

One might even say that side of her played a big part in helping them get to where they were right now.

If there was one thing he'd learned about the spandex set since quitting Black Air, though, it was how good they were at breaking even the most basic of rules. Kitty, especially, who was as good at finding creative ways to use her powers as Pete was with his hot knives. For all he knew, she could have been phasing sunlight through her the same way he kept that nasty fresh air at bay with his cigs.

Kitty's smile went even more lopsided than before as she said, "No," in a tone that suggested he wasn't all that far from her throwing something at him after all. "but if I ever do end up a vampire again, I'll have to remember that trick. Thanks for the tip."

"Just don't go sharing it," he remarked drily as she opened the shower door. This made twice that she'd been a vampire, just from what she'd told him so far. Lilith might have been a possession, but it was close enough to count. That was already two times more than most people could get away with being turned. Teasing aside, he didn't fancy the thought of her taking another turn with that for any reason.

Time travel, then. That was how Kitty had gotten to meet MacTaggert's ancestor. Accidental time travel, because that word seemed to find its way into more of what Kitty and her weird friends did than not.

"You really should be getting used to it by now," Kitty informed him as she stepped out of the shower, using part of her towel to wring most of the water out of her hair. Pete, having already dried off enough to suit himself, was content to simply leave his towel lying on the shower floor where he'd dropped it.
Another thought occurred to Pete, then, and he couldn't quite hold back a smile as he gave voice to it. The smile became even more wicked as Kitty turned toward him, arching one brow as she threw her own towel into the nearby hamper. She never had trouble catching on to when he was planning to make some. In this case, it was wrapping her up in his arms and announcing his intention to check her for bite marks. As good as her argument for non-vampirism had been, he didn't see any reason not to be sure.

Kitty laughed, which only made it harder for Pete to contain his own urge to do the same, and slipped her arms around his neck. "You mean you weren't paying attention before now?" she asked, voice teasing before leaning it to press her lips to his in a kiss that was all too brief. He liked the way she smelled. Clean and soapy, but still distinctly her.

"Well, I guess you should be thorough," she added, seeming to give the idea some thought before flashing her teeth in a playful grin. "but we've probably broken the bathroom enough, and if I was a vampire, I probably wouldn't be too keen on that, so I suppose you'll just have to catch me."

So it was going to be a chase, then. Pete didn't bother trying to tighten his grip, knowing that would be useless. In fact, he did the exact opposite, unlinking his arms as she phased out of them and turned toward the door. "Hey!" he protested, laughing even as he began moving in an attempt to get a head start. She was quick, though, getting a good step or two ahead of him as she dashed for the door, laughing some more, herself.

Just before she reached the door, she grinned at him over his shoulder and said, "If you can manage that, I might just tell you about the time I was a magic princess." With that she ran through the door, which he couldn't do himself unless he wanted to hot knife the hinges and kick it down, which would be a bit excessive just to cut down on her unfair lead. He hand was already on the doorknob, anyway, so he'd really only lost a second or two.

Barking out a surprised laugh even as he yanked open the door, Pete said, "The rat must have loved that. Is there anything out of myth and fable you haven't been?" He ran back into the bedroom, quickly locating Kitty and making a dash for her. "This doesn't involve you playing dressup from your favorite Japanese cartoon, does it?"

Probably not, but the question might distract her as she tried to escape him in the limited confines of the room. Eyes dancing, Pete waited until he was good and close, then grinned as he reached out and made a grab for her wrist. She might still be phased, but he would catch her. Or, depending on what she came up with, she might be the one to catch him, but he didn't see a thing wrong with that.
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Shadowcat
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Now he wanted to check her for bite marks? How the heck was she supposed to take that, except to suppose Pete hadn't been paying the sort of attention he probably should've been paying before now?

She didn't really give him a chance to answer, leaning in for a kiss instead. Liking that she could do that. Right now, later. Whenever. If she had her way, there'd be lots more kissing Pete Wisdom in her future. Kitty would allow, however, as the kiss came to an end (too soon, but they all seemed to do that, however long they lasted), that he probably should be thorough in his investigation. Except they'd already broken the bathroom enough for one night. Not to mention if she really were a vampire, she probably wouldn't be too keen on being discovered.

So, really, that just left her one choice.

Phase and run. With an added challenge to Pete to catch her if he could as she did just that. Knowing her well enough by now to know trying to keep hold of her was wasted effort, Pete dropped his arms instead, calling, "Hey!" after her with a protesting laugh. Laughing herself, the brunette made a run for the door.

Maybe she'd give him just a little more incentive, she decided, in case he didn't have enough already, Kitty decided, pausing at the door to throw back a promise of her past adventures as a magic princess if he could manage to actually get his hands on her again. With a parting grin, she was through the door and back into the bedroom, Pete not very far behind.

Except he needed to actually stop for the door the old fashioned way, so she had more of a head start than she probably would've otherwise and he was laughing again even as he got the door open and made it into the bathroom herself.

"The rat must have loved that. Is there anything out of myth and fable you haven't been?" Not really bothered that Pete was making a beeline for her now that he was through the door, Kitty frowned thoughtfully and took a second to think about that one.

"Werewolf," she answered as he closed in. "I'm pretty sure I've never been a werewolf." She knew at least one, though. Not counting Rahne, who really didn't count since she was a mutant.

"This doesn't involve you playing dressup from your favorite Japanese cartoon, does it?" Oh god. Eyes rolling toward the ceiling (and really, did he think she didn't see him there, trying to sneak up on her in plain sight?), Kitty just shot him a look.

"You just wish I was dressing up like Sailor Moon," she retorted, not even bothering to phase again as he grabbed for her wrists, grinning like he thought she was just going to stand there and let that happen. Instead, she ducked away from his grasp and moved to the side, skirting around the bed and putting that between them.

"You'll have to do better than that, Pete," she told him with a return grin and watching to see what he came up with next. She wouldn't make him chase her too much, but a little exercise wouldn't hurt him.
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Pete Wisdom
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Bloody Hell, a magical princess?

Pete didn't need the promise of that story as an incentive to go after Kitty, but it didn't hurt. By now he wasn't even that surprised. A ninja, a pirate, heir to a demon kingdom, time traveler, vampire at least one and a half times and who knew what else. Her life was practically right out of the pulps. Not that he had much room to talk, seeing as his first lover had also been a magical princess, but it was starting to sound like the list of things Kitty hadn't been was the shorter of the two.

The door had only presented a momentary delay, and it took no time at all to spot Kitty in the bedroom. Not that she had that many options or room to run around in the first place, but she was swift and creative. Even without her powers, she could make sure this wasn't an easy chase if she wanted to.

He was still going to catch her all the same, and he might even surprise her along the way.

Kitty indulged in a moment's thought, frowning a little and seeming not the least concerned at his approach. "Werewolf," she replied in answer to his question. "I'm pretty sure I've never been a werewolf."

Not so far. It might be only a matter of time before that changed. That was alright, though. Romany knew all sorts of ways to help out with that. He'd half expected Kitty to say mermaid, but he'd check on that later. As for what she'd actually meant about being a magical princess, there was usually more to Kitty's stories than on the tin, so he figured he'd ask now about whether she was referring to dressing up like a character from one of those Japanese cartoon programs.

His girlfriend answered that with a roll of her eyes and gave him one of her patented looks as he drew closer, almost within arm's reach now. "You just wish I was dressing up like Sailor Moon," she said, and Pete chose that moment to make a grab for her. Perhaps she'd be distracted enough by his suggestion to slip up.

But no, with a quick flash of bright teeth, she gracefully evaded him. "Nah, I fancy the way you're dressed now," he said, whirling to follow she rounded the bed and stood with it between them.

Her grin flashed back as she stood there, ready for his next move. "You'll have to do better than that, Pete," she teased, her voice inviting him to give it another try.

He laughed again, crouching down slightly, arms spread slightly apart as if he might vault over the bed. "Or I'll have to do worse, yeah?" he suggested, his own grin growing significantly more wicked. "Me belt's still lying around here somewhere. Might be able to use that to keep you from gettin' away."

With that, he made a run around the bed after her, waiting until she started moving herself before he seized the blanket hanging over the edge with both hands and yanked it off in a single smooth motion. Or perhaps not so smooth of she tried to vault over the bed to get away from him, but that was okay. It just added the possibility of knocking her off her feet to his current gambit. With the blanket now in hand, he jumped forward, arms raised to throw it over her.

Should be interesting to see how she got out of that, especially if she played fair and didn't phase.
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