ax_main | Bobby and Kitty | Backdated to August 25

Kitty and Bobby kiss. Then talk. Whatever, they can do things backwards. It's OK.

Aaand he was apparently in deep shit. Bobby rushed across the building to Kitty's room, figuring that he might as well just get it overwith before Shepherd showed up to give him some more "well meaning" advice. Or, more accurately, to tell him he was an idiot.

He had a feeling Kitty was going to do that herself. He wasn't even sure he didn't deserve it.

Resigning himself to the inevitable, he knocked on the door to her room.

Kitty had no advice. After months of not knowing what to do, or what to say, she finally decided to take her own advice. What could go wrong, after all? He'd get a cheap thrill and she would go back to work and they'd probably never speak again, right? Right.

So at the knock, she just phased her head through the door, caught the back of his neck, and kissed him. It was by no means an amazing kiss. In fact, it was a little bumpy and rushed and nose-smushy. But she'd done it. Of course, then she had to pull herself back through the door, standing on the other side of a piece of wood from him, flushed head to toe and breathless and totally embarrassed. So. Yeah. There was that.

And that...was not at all what Bobby'd been expecting. He stood, staring at the door, for what seemed like ages but was probably just a couple of seconds, trying to figure out what had just happened. She'd...kissed him. Phased through the door, and...yeah. That had actually been a thing.

Having wrapped his head around that (more or less, because he was still feeling kind of dazed), he knocked on the door again. "Umm...is there any chance I can come in?"

Kitty had no idea what to do next. "Um. Maybe," she answered, looking around the room as though her stuffed cat might have a better answer.

Maybe? Bobby's eyebrows shot up. "I...Kitty, if we didn't need to talk before, we really kinda do now?" He shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. Granted, it hadn't been a great kiss - she'd taken him by surprise - but he was pretty sure he could do better. If she wanted him to.

Damn it, maybe he should have waited for Tommy's advice, after all.

Kitty sighed softly, giving in to his logic as she unlocked the door and swung it slowly open to let him in.

"Thanks." Bobby offered an awkward smile as he stepped inside. "So, umm...that was a way better reception than I expected?"

She made a face at him. "I...don't even know what I'm doing."

"For someone who doesn't know what she's doing, you did a pretty good job of it." Bobby quirked a smile. "I'm not exactly complaining here, y'know."

Kitty eyed him uncertainly. "There are a lot of older, more gorgeous girls around here. Girls who like makeup, or flirting, or dresses. Girls who have boobs."

Bobby blinked. "You have -" realizing that he was about to comment on Kitty's boobs (which okay, were on the small size, but definitely worth checking out) he blushed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Okay. Anything I say at this point is prooooobably going to come out wrong. Can we just start with that as a general assumption?"

She sighed and went to sit on her bed, holding out the Blu-ray. "I pretty much assume that anything that a boy says is moronic."

"Ouch." Bobby followed her over to the bed and sat down on the edge, but ignored for the moment the proferred Blu-ray as he debated whether or not to be insulted. Given that she was probably right in most cases, and definitely so in his, he decided not to bother. "Probably accurate," he admitted. "But I'm gonna try not to, so bear with me? Because you're really pretty. I'm not sure where you were going with most of the rest of that, so I'm just gonna skip it, ok? Because really pretty girls don't get interested in me. Verifiable fact. They maybe flirt to get in some practice, but then they move on to guys like Tommy or Warren who don't make a living out of sticking their foot in their mouth."

He took a breath and exhaled. "So, when really pretty, easy to talk to girl agreed to go to the fireworks with me? I figured I was already friendzoned before I even actually asked her out." He grinned crookedly. "Thus is the story of my life."

"The story of my life is that I've never actually had to deal with other kids my age, beyond dance classes, and I definitely haven't had to deal with many boys my age, and I had no idea what was going on - besides the fact that you're really cute, and funny," she pointed out, "And I didn't know how to handle it. I still don't! The only reason I kissed you is because it was the only thing I could think of."

"Well, I'm really not complaining about the kiss," Bobby mused. "I mean, it was kinda hit and run, and I'd pictured myself having a little more time to kiss back, but I'm okay with that."

Kitty flushed a little. "Sorry about that."

Bobby waved aside the need for an apology. "Still not complaining." He offered a faint smile. "Just - next time? If, I mean, there's a next time? Could we do that without the door in the middle? Because doors kiiiinda make things awkward. No offense at all to your powers, which are super cool."

"I don't know, doors could be super cool too, if we're both on one side of them and everyone else is on the other," Kitty laughed.

"Well yeah. Then." Bobby glanced at the closed door, then back to Kitty. And grinned.

"This was easier with you on the other side of the door," she flushed.

Bobby laughed. "Why don't you let me take a turn, then?" He leaned in and, more than a little awkwardly, brushed his lips over hers.

Kitty might not have a lot of experience at some things, but no one ever said she was a slow learner. With the touch against her lips, she tilted her head into it, reaching out to lean a hand gingerly on his thigh as butterflies erupted warmly in her stomach. Okay. Yeah. Much better.

Pulling back, Bobby offered a crooked smile. "So...still mad at me?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I was never mad at you."

"You kinda were," Bobby corrected. "But I was more than kinda mad at me, so it's all good." He grinned. "So, you wanta come watch Princess Bride? Meet Tommy's alternate reality self and talk over the movie?"

"Billy I've met," Kitty then nodded to the desk where a bunch of graphic novels were stacked. "He helped me carry my comic book care package in from home. And yeah, whoa, they could be reverse copies. I mean, he likes D&D. And Star Wars." She couldn't imagine Tommy even knowing what the first one was. "But. Yeah. I wouldn't mind watching?"

"Oh man, I've got competition already." Bobby grinned and got to his feet, then held out a hand to help her out. Just now, he wasn't really worried about competition. "Have you seen the guy's comic collection? I mean, I didn't see it, but I saw the boxes."

Kitty's eyes widened as she took his hand and hopped off of the bed. "Oh man, no! I have to see that."

Bobby sighed melodramatically. "Definite competition. So sad. First time I'm going to lose the girl because of the size of my comic collection, though." He slipped his arm around her shoulders, though. "So what'd you get in the mail? Anything good?"

For a second, her brain malfunctioned. He had his arm around her. Right. That was a thing. "Yeah, uh, Lost Stars just came out. That new novel? And Cassian & K-2SO, and Rogue One #5," she told him, turning him to the desk to show him the stash.

"Cool. I haven't really read the comics," he admitted sheepishly, "but the movies were awesome."

She grinned and found herself pushing up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "The movies are awesome. So you're forgiven."

"Mmm. I like being forgiven." Bobby grinned back and gestured towards the door. "So, shall we? You can start my Star Wars comics education later. Assuming," he added with full seriousness (or nearly, because his eyes were sparkling mischief and the edges of his mouth kept twitching, "that we survive the perils of the fire swamp."

"With two Tommy's? We'll never survive. We may as well die here." Kitty huffed, even as she tugged him toward the door.

"Well, we could always shove one or both at the ROUSes," Bobby pointed out. "That could distract them long enough for us to get out."

"You have the best ideas," Kitty laughed.

"See, I tell people that, but no one ever believes me," Bobby complained, adding a dramatic sigh for affect before grinning. "Possibly because of all the ones that don't quite work out how I think they will?"

"Oh I'm familiar with those," Kitty rolled her eyes, then tugged him out the door, only to pause in the hall as a thought hit her. "Are we? Are we just, you know, I mean we haven't had a real date or..."

"I don't know." Bobby paused as well, looking awkward, and reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Do you want to be?"

Okay. Boyfriend was big. And they hadn't even dated yet. Think about this rationally, Kitty. "How...about...you know, dating? I mean, this is technically our second one? But. If you don't want to say that..."

"No. No, I'm good with dating." Dating was good, right? He was in favor. "And this definitely counts as our second. Because first dates are always awkward." Bobby nodded decisively, then grinned. "Or, y'now, so I've heard. Because not really an expert."

Kitty huffed and leaned against his side in relief. "That makes two of us."

Bobby let out a sigh of relief as well. Granted, he'd kinda figured, based on what she'd said earlier, but still. "Good. I mean, not that you haven't, just..." He sighed again. "You maybe had a point about the moronic thing?"

She made a little face again. "I shouldn't have said that. Sorry."

"Pfft. It's true. I've got a horrible case of foot in mouth disease. I don't think it's contagious, though," Bobby joked, "so you're probably safe. From that, anyway."

Kitty's lips twitched. He'd actually just proved his own point. The statement made the thought of kissing him again less than appealing, especially since she knew what the real disease looked like. But then, she looked at his face and forgot about it entirely. "Come on, maverick. Let's go see about that second date in the fire swamp."

"Now, you can't say I never take you anywhere nice," Bobby quipped back, giving her shoulders another squeeze. And sparing a thought that he'd have to remember to tell Tommy to keep his advice. He'd actually done okay on his own.