ax_main | Kitty and Nolan

Kitty and Nolan get away to his beach house, then attend a birthday party in the Hamptons. It's all very luxurious. And friendly.

Nolan thanked Clarice before she disappeared in a blink of pink light. He turned back to Kitty, standing with him in the foyer of his Hamptons house, which opened up into the kitchen on one side, and out onto the pool on another.

"Welcome to Casa del Nolan." One of them, anyway, but he said so with a self-depreciating smile, rather than any hint of seriousness. "The guest room is upstairs, if you want to unpack."

"Holy Beach House, Batman," Kitty let out a slow, awed breath as she turned in a very slow, very appreciative circle. She was pretty sure she had never been anywhere so expensive...so luxurious, and that included the school. The place looked like the set off of Beverly Hills drama or something, and she had to turn in another circle, just to force herself to breathe normally.

Nolan rubbed at the back of his neck as a surge of self-consciousness came over him. "I, uh. I'd always wanted a house by the sea. When I saw this one..." He had had to have it. He loved everything about it, down to that ridiculous dolphin sculpture outside. He had still been staying in a tiny New York apartment back then, and he'd put all of his personal money into this place. Like an idiot. Anything could have happened. But it had worked out. Things had had a habit of working out, after a certain point in time. Probably when his mutation began manifesting.

"It's gorgeous," Kitty breathed, taking a few steps to the huge glass wall looking out on the pool. "I mean. Really gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it, outside of movies."

Nolan stepped over beside her, his small travel bag (he had a lot here, after all, in terms of clothes and products) left on the floor. He slid his hands into his pockets, his smile still self-conscious, but no less real. "My thoughts exactly."

She glanced up at him as he came closer, eyes bright with appreciation. "I hated you so much, you know. I mean, I totally respected you, but ugh, I was so jealous. I wanted to be like you. I wanted someone to come in and throw lots of money at me so I could make anything I wanted. I wanted to go to fancy parties and show everyone how...you know, great I was." And her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. Ugh. She'd been such an idiot.

"You're better than great, Kitty Pryde," Nolan told her, honestly, because it was obvious, because he hoped she still knew that. His lips ticked up into a hint of a smile. "And I'll throw as much money at you as you'll let me. But don't think the fancy parties are all that amazing."

He couldn't say something that honest without tagging on some snark.

Kitty shook her head, trying not to blush more. "The point is, I was wrong about all of it. Hating you, and wanting all that attention? It's not me. It's not who I want to be. I don't think you want to have to deal with the attention either," she pointed out.

That was unsurprisingly astute of her, but still, Nolan couldn't help but glance away, back out at the pool. He gave her another small, dry smile. "It's the price to pay. I am paying it."

"The price you pay for wealth, or the price you pay to be able to help others, like mutants?" Kitty asked, setting her bag down beside her.

"The price you pay to achieve your dreams," Nolan replied, dryly but immediately, which was neither option A nor option B. Wealth wasn't the actual dream, but both a by-product and a requirement. As for helping others, that was a responsibility that came with the wealth, with the success, but it was hardly what he had been reaching for. "I'm not nearly that altruistic."

Kitty pursed her lips for a moment, thoughtful, but nodded. Maybe she wasn't that altruistic either. For them both, it was the product of their work, and the space to do it. She stepped closer to the window, with her nose almost touching the glass, and seemed to breathe in the silence of the house around them. Coming from the school, it was almost eerie, but it felt so, so good. She couldn't get quiet like this even in her home back in Chicago. "I wouldn't want the attention," she reiterated, "but this house would almost make it worth it."

"You know I'd hired you as my CTO in a heartbeat," Nolan remarked with a half smile. "Very little of the attention, but a very nice salary. Or..." He turned away from her, and looked out at the pool again. "Well, you can just visit here on a regular basis." He wouldn't mind that either.

She flushed at the offer, her heart speeding up. Oh god, did he really just offer that? CTO of NolCorp. Oh god. She bit down on her tongue to keep from making an embarrassing noise, then blew her breath out through her nose in a huff. "Man, I would be lying if I said that wasn't tempting. But..." Seriously Kitty, keep it together. "But I should try to at least finish college first. MIT is looking at me for next year and...and I should probably have that degree. You know. For reasons."

Nolan did know those reasons, and he pursed his lips briefly, then smiled at her. He knew why he'd stopped before he'd gotten his own degree, but he also knew he was glad for what he'd learned there. "That's excellent news, if unsurprising. They have a good eye for talent." He glanced towards the kitchen. "It's a bit early for champagne, but I could still pop a bottle open, if you want." He'd even have half a flute, in celebration.

Her eyes brightened, and she smiled shyly. "I would love a glass. You've probably got like, the super good stuff, right?"

"It is actual champagne, if that's what you mean," Nolan confirmed, meeting her smile with a dry one of his own, and then turning away to head for the kitchen. From France, and it cost enough to hopefully be the super good stuff.

Kitty grinned, blushing faintly as she followed him...into a kitchen that looked like Nolan should have a live-in chef. She blew out another breath as she looked around. "Wow. Do you keep this place stocked, or, like, is there a grocery store nearby or something?"

Noaln looked faintly sheepish at her question, but answered, anyway, as he pulled a bottle from the fridge, "It's stocked in non-perishables. I - have a housekeeping company take care of this place. They buy some groceries ahead of time, when I tell them I'll be around. Can you get a couple of flutes out of that cupboard?" he asked as he began to work the wire cage off the bottle, tilting his chin up towards the cupboard in question. A little too high for Kitty, if it wasn't for her mutation.

Noting the height of the cabinet, Kitty merged with the air of the room, letting its substance give her purchase as she stepped upward, then reached out to open the cabinet with a hand that briefly returned to its normal state. The flutes retrieved, she returned to the floor, holding them out to Nolan. It wasn't until then that she paused, frowning and looking around. "There's no one else here, right?"

"No," Nolan confirmed immediately, with another wry smile. "I never adopted the lifestyle enough for live-in staff." Everything else, yes. But live-in staff, no. The idea genuinely weirded him out, still.

"Oh good," she breathed. "Because I really don't want to go public."

The bottle opened with a soft pop, and Nolan poured her a flute, and himself half of one. There was no use pulling his usual tricks to make her believe he was drinking, with her. "Sorry I won't partake more than that. Meds." He put the bottle down, and took the half filled flute from her to touch it softly to hers, with a small, but genuine smile. "Here's to you, Kitty Pryde, and whatever future you want for yourself." Whatever she chose, he knew that it would be amazing.

Kitty took the flute, then flushed slightly, clinking her glass gently to his. It was...the first time she'd actually celebrated her acceptance. Actually, she hadn't even told most of her friends. Her mom knew, and the professor, and she should have told Bobby, but...she hadn't. And now? But here was Nolan, taking time for her, and if he wasn't already in a completely awesome relationship with Gilmore, she might have started forming the crush Bobby apparently thought she had. "Thanks," she breathed. "And thanks for letting me stay here, too."

"As long as you like," Nolan assured her. "Honestly, I don't use this house as often as I'd like." Even less so now, when sense dictated he spent most of his time at Xavier's. "You're doing me a favor, giving me an excuse to spend some time here." He was looking forward to spending more time here with Shaun, too, over the summer, whenever their plans would allow. And he meant his 'as long as you like.' If Kitty wanted to stay beyond Nolan's original plane, she was welcome to the house. He wouldn't trust many people with it, but her? Absolutely.

"It looks like you needed it," Kitty smiled wryly. "After that whole thing with Lil, then Arcade, then the Aliens? You haven't exactly had it easy, either."

"Others have had it worse," Nolan replied with a small smile, and took a sip of champagne. Others, like those directly affected by Arcade, and then the Skrulls. What were a couple of visions compared to that?

Kitty took a small sip, and then another, because wow that was good. It didn't even burn as much as when she had it with her parents, and oh, yeah, she could get used to this. She hummed happily, eyes closed for a moment. "Fighting through hell, running from a demon sorcerer, losing my best friend to terrorists..." Breaking up with her boyfriend. Yep. She was just going to stay here for a few days. Or maybe a few weeks.

Nolan couldn't help but think of Tessa, of course, and how long it had been since he had heard from her. He ought to send her some encrypted, ostentatiously spam e-mail. "Did you ever, ah... talk with her again?" he asked tentatively.

She gave a small shake of her head, then tipped the glass to her lips with a bit more fervor. "Nope."

Nolan was, like always, at a bit of a loss how to deal with offering emotional support. Or much of anything to do with genuine emotion. He looked down at the flute in his hand, looked back at Kitty, hesitated, then offered, "Would you like -" a hug, he nearly said, but he wasn't sure they'd ever even really touched, so it likely wasn't the thing to offer, "to talk about it?"

Smiling softly, she shook her head. "Nope. Maybe you can show me around instead?"

Nolan gave her one of his own, small smiles, and nodded. "Of course. Come on."

Kitty nodded and fell into step beside him, taking another happy sip of her champagne. "Please tell me you have bath bombs."

"I think so?" Nolan offered with a slight wince, as he led the way upstairs. "I'm more of a shower person." And, well, the pool, but that was for swimming. He'd never found baths all that relaxing, and had never paid attention to whatever bath accessories the housekeepers kept ready. (Shaun, of course, had been very vocally appreciative.) "Here's the guest bedroom." He walked into a room decorated in cream and light blue colors, something that looked straight out of a design catalogue. There was a huge window overlooking the sea, right across from them. The entire house was built to let as much light in as possible. "Your bathroom's through there," he gestured at a door towards the back of the bedroom, "if you want to check."

Stepping into the room, Kitty tried to keep her jaw from falling open (again). This was the guest room? She breathed out slowly and took a few steps inside. "You uh, don't mind if I stay a few extra days, do you?" she huffed out.

"Stay as long as you like," Nolan told her honestly. Shaun was on the other side of the country right now, so it wasn't as if she'd cut in on any one-on-one time they had planned. "I'm only here for the weekend, but if you want to stay longer, be my guest." ...literally.

She turned a flushed and happy smile at him. "Thanks. Things are just so weird now, you know?" So weird, ugh. "And there's a lot to think about. And it's so quiet. I promise not to bother you while you're here," she told him.

"I didn't invite you so we'd ignore each other all weekend," Nolan pointed out, then gave her one of his soft-dry smiles. "Please bother me a little." But to get back to practical matters, he gestured at the closet. "The closet's empty, if you want to hang up your things."

Kitty nodded, setting her bag down on the bed. Then she laughed a little. "Okay. Though I mean, really mostly what I brought is my bathing suit and some shorts. So not much to hang up. Do you have to go to any parties?"

"We can if you want?" Nolan offered. Much as she'd brought the essentials, she would need more than a bathing suit and some shorts to attend one, but he was sure they could get something delivered. "I didn't think you'd be interested, but if you want to discover the backstabbing, luxurious world of Hamptons socialites, there's a - birthday party, I think, tomorrow evening." Or an engagement party. Something.

"I don't know. I wouldn't mind talking about nasty people with you behind their backs, then talking shop together if anyone tries to butt in," Kitty winked.

"You're on, Miss Pryde," Nolan told her with an amused smile. He was curious to experience a Hamptons party with Kitty, to be perfectly honest. "We can go shopping for an outfit tomorrow, unless you'd rather have something delivered." As for him, he would have to see what he had in his (walk-in) closet, and tailor his outfit to the occasion in question, and its expected guests.

Kitty raised her eyebrows at him. "Would you go shopping with me? Or would that like, be super boring?"

Nolan's lips twitched with amusement. "You've never gone shopping with me," he pointed out. Not the way people of his tax bracket did it, either. "There would be more champagne." He used fashion as a commentary on the world he lived in, yes, but only because he liked it so much, or he would've stuck to his old hoodies and t-shirts.

"Oh heck yes!" Kitty blurted, her eyes widening. "Like those really fancy fashion boutiques that only let people in if they have a black card? Oh man, take me shopping, Nolan, pleaaaasse."

Nolan hadn't expected quite that level of enthusiasm, and it surprised a chuckle out of him, his smile easier and less guarded than it usually was. He remembered, very acutely, his first time in one of those stores (drawn in by Shinobi, of course), and how much his inner monologue had sounded like Kitty's external giddiness. "Tell you what. Let's go have brunch in town tomorrow. We'll try out the high-end shops there."

She flashed a grin, giving him a nod. "It's a date. I mean. Not a date. Just a - you know what I mean." And of course, now Bobby was giving her a complex. Ugh!

"I know," Nolan assured her, shooting her an amused look but assuming she said that for his benefit more than her own. "Do you want to finish the tour?"

"Totally," Kitty said, turning away from her bag. She'd unpack later. For now, she was going to finish her champagne and pretend she lived the lavish lifestyle of the rich and famous. For now, she was going to forget everything about Bobby Drake.

***

The party had been a birthday party, in the end, that of a magazine owner whose own beach house was only about a twenty minutes walk from Nolan's. Via the beach, of course. That was incentive enough not to take the car, and so, after a few hours' socializing, Hamptons-style (it involved a lot of veiled barbs, and Nolan's snark working double time), Kitty and he were walking home, shoes dangling from their hands.

The sound of the waves, the salt in the air, the sand under his feet, the beachscape bathed in cold moonlight, all of it was driving home how much Nolan had missed this place. Even the party had; there was a special kind of fun in navigating those events.

"I'm glad we did this," he said honestly, giving Kitty a small smile as they walked side by side.

Kitty, for her part, was glad too. More than glad, she was giddy. She felt better than she had in weeks...maybe months, strolling across the damp sand with the night tide lapping at her toes and the warm ocean air kissing her skin. She was drunk, she knew, or at least solidly buzzed, but she most certainly did not care, especially because it took her mind off of things she'd been dwelling on for far too long. In fact, the whole day had been an amazing change of pace. Brunch and fancy shopping with Nolan, then brushing shoulders with the rich (and possibly famous). She loved every moment of it - most especially because of Nolan and his snarky way of handling all those stuck up people, and inwardly, she vowed that one day she'd be that snarky too.

Tonight, though? Tonight she was giggling, bumping against him as she walked, fancy shoes swinging from one hand. She felt great. "We need to do this more often. Not tooooo often because ew, and I know you like, hate that, but oh my gosh that was so much fun."

"I'd never actually attend those parties if I hated them," Nolan pointed out with one of his dry smiles. He was, in fact, way more at ease at those parties, among adults, than he was at the high school parties of Xavier's. This was his element, or at least, the one he'd learned to navigate. It didn't require being a normal teenager in any way, so they were by far easier on him. "Some of those people are actually decent. And the ones who aren't - I like verbal fencing as much as the next Hamptonite." This, with his usual soft snark, and another sly-dry smile aimed at Kitty. She'd enjoyed those conversations as much as he had, he had felt.

"It was definitely more fun than I thought it would be," Kitty agreed with a fervent nod. "Totally took my mind off of everything. Bobby would have hated it," she told him, giving a mildly annoyed kick to the sand beneath her feet.

Nolan had been carefully avoiding the issue of Bobby, given his conspicuous absence this weekend. It wasn't any of his business, unless Kitty wanted to talk about it. So when she said his name for the first time since yesterday, Nolan was careful not to react in any obvious way. "Is that why he isn't here?" he only asked, somewhat cautiously.

Kitty was quiet for a moment, then shook her head. She took a deep breath and wow, whoa, no tears, Pryde. We're good with this. We're all good. "The Hamptons aren't the issue. Neither are you. It's...we broke up."

Nolan winced in sympathy. "I'm sorry," he said, quietly, after a few seconds. He hesitated, then reached out to put a hopefully comforting hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what else to say, especially when he'd never quite understood that match, something he had never said, since it was none of his business.

She made a face, but didn't pull away. She was too buzzed to bother, and the pain felt pleasantly numb. "It was kinda mutual."

"I'm still sorry," Nolan added, then pulled his hand back and slid it into his pocket as they kept on walking. "What happened?"

Making a little groaning sound of frustration, Kitty looked up at the stars. "I don't know. I don't think we were ever really that invested in it. I just...wanted the romance, you know? And he probably just wanted a girl. It just got to a point where I realized I didn't really love him like a boyfriend. I love him like a friend."

"And he felt the same?" Nolan ventured hesitantly. Why, why had he embarked on this conversation? He had no idea how to navigate it. Being Shinobi's friend was much easier; it mostly took a liberal application of alcohol, and the odd pat on his thigh or shoulder.

She huffed a soft, somewhat annoyed breath. "He suggested it!" Which, yes, was kind of annoying. Sure, she'd started hinting at it, but he was the one who was all, 'let's be friends', and that was just really super mature of Bobby and ugh, it was annoying.

"That's not a good thing?" Nolan asked, watching Kitty with some confusion.

Kitty looked over at him and made a face. "Since when have you ever known Bobby Drake to make the mature choice?"

"I don't really know Bobby Drake," Nolan pointed out, a little dryly. "But he was dating you."

That was so sweet, Kitty had to lower her head and just watch her feet as they walked. "Except it wasn't enough for me."

He didn't deserve you, anyway. Probably not the thing to say, since Kitty did still like Bobby. Love him, even, as she had said, if only as a friend. The truth was, Nolan envied people like Bobby Drake. They made friends so easily, and everybody loved them. But to put it simply, if horribly snobbishly, Bobby hadn't seemed smart enough for Kitty.

"You deserve to get everything you want," Nolan offered quietly, chancing a glance at Kitty. "Not to be stuck in something you don't really want."

"But I did want it," Kitty moaned softly, leaning against him. "I thought I did, anyway. It was fun! But... not what I thought it would be."

Oh! Right. Nolan tentatively slid his hand out of his pocket and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. That was what you did, right? "What did you think it would be?"

"I don't know!" she flopped her head against his shoulder-ish area and sighed. "Passion. Romance. Something fantasy-like that I probably shouldn't have expected. I mean, I'm a realist, okay, I get it, there aren't knights in shining armor or anything, but...you know, a spark!"

Someone else might have known enough to stop walking and give Kitty a hug, but Nolan managed to rationalize away the option, unused as he was to such things. "Sparks are good," Nolan confirmed, a little quietly. It was difficult not to think of Shaun, of course (it was generally difficult not to think of Shaun), but his own happiness had nothing to do in this conversation. "And not outside of the realm of possibilities at all."

"You think?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Oh, I know," he told her with a soft smile. Only then did his dryness come back, as he took a dig at himself. "I mean, if I can get that spark... You're entirely more lovable."

A sly grin crossed her lips and she looked back at the ocean. "You guys are the cutest."

Another soft smile graced Nolan's lips for a brief instant, fading as he very nearly admitted, I don't know what he sees in me. That would have gotten them wildly off topic. "Unless you find your spark, anyway. We'll have no choice but to give up our top spot." 'Cute' was not the first adjective that came to mind when he thought of Shaun, anyway, for all that it certainly also applied.

"Well in the meantime, I'm happy for you guys," Kitty sighed contentedly. "And I'm really happy you invited me."

"I'm happy you came," Nolan told her, his tone warmer than he usually let himself be. Kitty, he had grown to realize, had become something of a real friend over the year, and Nolan was not exactly gifted at making those. Friends.

Kitty was glad she'd come, too, even if it had precipitated the split between her and Bobby. Maybe Nolan was right. Maybe it was needed. And maybe someday she would find that spark. For now, however, she was content to enjoy the beach with her friend, and sleep in late in the morning.