2774/Nurturing the Roots

Nurturing the Roots
Date of Scene:	09 October 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Colossus

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Shadowcat has posed:
Out in the gardens might be the last place people expect to find a computer geek, but Kitty's always liked tending to the flower beds. Getting her hands dirty, feeling a connection to the dirt, there's something very therapeutic about it. Of course, that it allows her an unobtrusive (*cough, cough*) way to spend time with a young man for whom she holds great affection is a massive bonus. She doesn't wear gardening gloves, even. With her hair pulled up into a bouncy ponytail, dressed in her grubbiest shorts, a T-shirt, and a battered pair of running shoes, you'd be hard-pressed to guess that she's a digital genius.

Lifting one arm to rub an itch on her cheek with the back of her wrist -- perhaps the only almost-clean locale she can find -- she leaves a streak of soil on her face. "You've asked me a ton about the university over there... but you haven't really told me much about what you've been doing since last summer," she offers quietly. She only made it home for a bare week last summer and hardly saw him around before leaving again. "Are you only working on the combat kinds of classes or are you teaching other things?"

Colossus has posed:
"Officially, I am art teacher," comes Piotr's reply, a bit of a laugh going along with it. It's not precisely self-deprecating, but obviously even he recognizes some of the humor inherent to the team's very visible 'tank' having such a seemingly contradictory role at the school. "But not all students are interested in that kind of thing. So I am trying to be helpful elsewhere also. Of course with physical training, and also here, encouraging them to come and spend time working in garden. I am even helping a bit with the cooking." Of course, the student rumors are probably fairly dreary when it comes to that topic. Apparently he's a big fan of garden-fresh borscht. Healthful, but not exactly cheeseburgers and fries.

Smiling momentarily as he watches Kitty put that unintentional dirt smudge on her cheek, he turns and walks a short way to grab something from the basket before returning to the bed of empty earth where they're working, and crouching down a bit to work a particular patch. "Of course, there have been various troubles, so maybe there is not as much free time recently. Many of the students are eager to join in, but is... worrisome, when they have not had much time to train." Here, his tone definitely echoes of deeper concern for the danger these young people are thrown into.

Shadowcat has posed:
"Neither did we, if you remember," Kitty points out from where she's kneeling in the bed laying out mulch around the autumn blooms. She does smile. "I'm glad you're still painting. I hoped you wouldn't lose that." Sometimes the things they see make people walk away from things that give them joy because they can't FIND their joy. When he walks to the basket, her eyes follow his movements closely -- Hate to see you leave, LOOOOOVE to watch you go -- and then she averts them very quickly when he turns back around, busying herself once more with her dirt. "Are you happy here doing those things? I mean... do you want to do other things?" He is, after all, far more than just a hero.

Colossus has posed:
"Da," comes Piotr's singular, but meaningful acknowledgment of that fact. "Is the way of the world, I know. This is not the only place where children are made to grow up too soon." He shakes his head. "I do not know if anyone has talked to you, about the wedding, but there was not even any choice, there. We did not send the students out to face trouble, trouble came to find all of us. Then the invasion. And soon... it will be something else. Mutant-haters, or some other enenmy or danger." A quiet pause. "And I know this is way of world. I love my homeland but it is a place with history of much darkness. Still, now that I am helping to teach them..." Obviously, he feels it a bit more intently. "Once, I only worried about protecting Illyana. Now I have much bigger family."

A thought that concludes with him looking back up from his work toward her. "I like it here. Teaching is important job, is rewarding. But, hmm. I do think about other things. Maybe not... other kinds of work, but simple things. Of family farm back home. Things like this."

Shadowcat has posed:
It makes her smile. Kitty's always loved to listen to him talk. For some, the accent might lead to the assumption that Piotr is a dumb brick and nothing more, but to her, his artist's soul and contentment with simpler things in life has always been soothing, his intellect never in doubt. "It is an important job," she agrees. "It seems to suit you, Piotr... you've always dealt well with teenagers." She grins -- Illyana is a bit of a trial by fire on that front, after all. "It's funny... coming here changed all of us in different ways. But in the same ways, too. Home, family, that sense of belonging. It's important. It's ... the reason I came back without attending all the graduation ceremonies. They were supposed to happen the same week as the attacks... I needed to get home. But by the time I arrived, it was already over." She glances at him and pauses in her movements. "I was *really* glad everyone was okay."

Colossus has posed:
The large man has to chuckle a little over that assessment. "I do not know that I am well understanding many... habits of modern American teenagers," he admits. "Like Ellie and her friends with their twitters! It is very confusing." Piotr shakes his head here, with an exasperated sort of look, albeit one that cannot fully banish his smile, the fondness always edging back in. "So can be hard sometimes. But they are good bunch. And we are all lucky to have school like this." Although this thought does trigger a brief furrowing in his brow, a momentary thought of concern, that seems to come and pass- or be pushed away -quickly.

"I did not see the... main battle of recent invasion, since we locked down the school for safety. But I encountered some of the aliens on an earlier patrol. It was all a frightening thing." Which says a lot, coming from a near-invulnerable man of metal. "But... is good you are back. I did worry, for whatever might have been happening elsewhere in the world." And then, before things can get *too* mushy, he quickly adds, "I am sure Illyana is very happy also. Is... very good, for her to have friend here. You know she is not making them easily."

Shadowcat has posed:
Mention of Illyana makes Kitty frown just a little herself. "We talked on video chat and stuff... but it isn't the same. And *she's* not the same. She's... slipping, Piotr." After all that the two girls -- no, the two young women -- have been through, Kitty of all people might be the one best able to tell. Having lived with and controlled the Sword for a time, it's perhaps telling that she's a little worried.

She tries to shake off that thought for now, glancing at him as they work companionably together in the dirt. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you yesterday."

Colossus has posed:
Piotr's expression, and in fact his whole overall mood and demeanor, do shift here. Of course, it's hard not to be aware of just how... strange his sister has become, so much so that it can be difficult for him to fully confront the fact. Who wants to think of their 'little snowflake' as some kind of bizarre demon queen? "Da... It has always been hard, since she... came back." He frowns. "I, I do not really know what is happening to her, or what can be done. She is too fond, I think, of her... strange world, to encourage her to turn away from it?" Glancing over, his expression is somewhat imploring. "I would do anything I could to help her, but I do not know how."

This also seems to overwhelm any such minor problem as being briefly embarassed. If he was, well, it obviously doesn't matter in comparison to this.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty sits back on her heels and looks up at him, her dark eyes meeting his. "I don't either. And it might take a while to help her... but she's still in there, and I'm *going* to find her." She sounds determined. And then she blushes, dropping that intense look. It makes her stomach flip-flop.

Colossus has posed:
It's a quietly bleak moment, at first, and the pain and worry behind it shows through what is usually Piotr's stoic facade. It's difficult, facing a problem so very close to his heart where all his strength is utterly meaningless. And hearing that Kitty doesn't really have any better answer doesn't make it easier. But there's also strength in hope, and that is what he seizes on, on the young woman's own apparent determination. "Da, we must be strong for her," he finally resolves. "Katya... It is good you are here. I am not sure how I would be doing this by myself. But... together, maybe we can help her." Of course that's a loaded word itself, and the man seems to realize it even as he says it, looking off in a moment of sudden embarassment. "Because we are all her family, da?" Nice... save?

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty looks up at him with a shy smile. "Are we going to keep doing this?" Her tone is gentle, but the crimson color that climbs her cheeks is vivid. And much of what she promised herself about coming home and being here was to not fall into the old patterns of childhood Kitty. She's a grown woman -- a young one chronologically, though much older in some ways -- and it's time to take a risk. And hope like mad that even if she gets the rejection, they'll still be friends.

"I get that three years ago I was too young. But ... apparently it hasn't gone anywhere." Oh //GOD//, she didn't realize how utterly, completely terrified she was going to be to do this. "You still make me blush like I'm 12 every time you smile at me. And you still run away from me when Yana's been a brat and drawn attention to it. I'm... tired of tap dancing, Petya. Will you at least let me know if you're *not* interested in... me?"

Colossus has posed:
That is certainly one way to topple the giant, at least figuratively!

Piotr is certainly holding to an old pattern, one that Kitty has apparently sussed out in her time away. Maybe he hasn't quite had that same benefit of perspective, because while it was still time apart, he was here, waist deep in all the same drama, from deadly threats to the school setting. The same setting where, as teacher and student, there was always a bit of a barrier. Confronted with her fresh view on things, he's obviously taken a bit off guard. And like everything, shows easily in his expression, which is never quite so stoic and controlled with her than it is with the world at large.

"Katya I..." At first, he's so surprised, so off balance, that the words are difficult to find. "I am sorry." And while there is a pause there long enough to make the words a little frightening, he does go on. "You, you are right. I act... like child, and it is not fitting, for a grown man to behave as such." He pauses, just to gather himself. "But of course... no. Or yes?" He grapples a little with the negative phrasing of her question. Grammar is hard! "I am not... not being interested?"

And having turned so he's not trying to say all of this to the flower bed, he does reach out, albeit tentatively, and just to brush that earlier dirt smudge that found it's way onto her cheek, and tries it a little less awkwardly. "You are... very important to me. And I am hoping you are not going away from here, away from me, any time soon."

Shadowcat has posed:
Sitting on her knees there, she simply watches him. Whatever he says has to be better than this strange little tap-dance that's gone on since she was living here. And now grammer is definitely hard. Because his answer didn't clear up ANYTHING. "Piotr..." She turns her cheek into the giant gentle hand. "I'm not going to up and *leave* just because you aren't interested in me like that. I just.... wanted to deal with my own feelings and I needed your clarity to help me do that. I don't want to walk around playing the 'does he or doesn't he' game anymore. I just want honesty from you." Ow. Ow. Ow. Her heart is aching a little, but she will live. Don't ask a question you're not prepared to dislike the answer of. "It's okay." She smiles up at him.

Colossus has posed:
Well, that was pretty much bound to happen and to go as precisely terribly wrong as possible! Though, as much as the words may be confusing, there's a gentleness in Piotr's touch, and a fondness too, in the lingering of his thumb, that may be a little more telling. But words matter too, and his brow furrows as they seem to get all tangled up, stuck in them somehow. It's probably not the first time, though maybe the first in such important circumstances as these.

"Nyet," he interjects, a bit abruptly and with an obvious touch of frustration, and a frown to match. "I am not saying correctly. Katya, I..." Frown. "I am not good at this. I am wanting you to stay because... I am wanting to see what can happen between us? But not to... rush into things?"

Shadowcat has posed:
Oh. She blinks at him. OH! Kitty blushes visibly both from he misunderstanding and from.... well, oh my god, he just said it out loud!! She starts to say something, then stops. Starts one more time and stops again. ULP.

"Okay!" The words as much a squeak as they are a gasp of air as she finally realizes she actually had forgotten to breathe for a moment there. "I... don't want to rush anything," she hastens to assure him. "I just ... wanted the uncertainty of that part gone. Too... too much else in this world is uncertain. I didn't want that to be anymore." She hasn't moved from his touch, very still beneath his fingers as if she's afraid if she draws attention to it, he'll move away really fast. "Uhm... it's... kind of nice to know it's not all just a one-way crush," she admits with that shy grin again.

Colossus has posed:
There's a moment where Piotr looks... as if he's not sure if he managed to say it right this time either, so he sits, waiting on some kind of sign or confirmation. It's not an unreasonable worry, considering! Yet her squeak of a reply is met by a look of definite relief. "Okay," he echoes, seizing on that, and a smile makes its way back onto his face, pushing aside the prior outright confusion and alarm over just how spectacularly he was messing things up.

Then, his look turning a little more thoughtful, the man nods. "Da, is... is good to have things you can be sure about, that you can turn to, when everything else is so difficult. I am glad... to be knowing you feel this way also. I always worried, it was just... silly thinking, on my part." And yet, as if her own thoughts were a bit prescient (or perhaps just proof of how well she knows him) Piotr does seem to finally remember his lingering hand, and draws it back. Despite all this, that shyness is not so readily thrown aside, particularly in the openess of the moment.

"I ah, am I supposed to be helpding with meal soon. Perhaps we should head back in for now?" It's not quite him suddenly running away, but he does start cleaning up the tools once again. Progress?

Shadowcat has posed:
"Da," Kitty responds absently, her brain on overload as he draws his hand from her face. He always worried about it too? Really? She's kind of dazed as she helps him gather up the gardening tools and then there's this giddy urge to giggle that she squelches madly. When they part at the door to the mansion, she shoots him a smile that she's never given him before... a glimpse past the shy to the deeper emotions behind it all. And then she's gone, perhaps to squee REALLY REALLY HARD into a pillow somewhere.