8160/But They Didn't Have Ice Cube (So He Brought Vanilla Ice)

But They Didn't Have Ice Cube (So He Brought Vanilla Ice)
Date of Scene:	03 July 2019
Location:	Kitty's Room- Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Doug comes to check on Kitty, and they talk about the use of his power
Cast of Characters:	Shadowcat, Cypher

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Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty has been around the school a little more than usual. The gossip mill hasn't picked up on any particular happenings regarding her of late, focusing instead on a number of people who have returned lately to the school.

Today Kitty is in her room. She normally leaves the door all the way open so people know they are welcome to stop in. Today it is left a little ajar, as if a compromise between not wanting to close people out, but wanting random stop ins just because it was open.

Kitty is curled up on the bed, lying on her side with her body curled up around Lockheed who is lying against her stomach. The room is kind of cool by choice, the thermostat set low, but the little dragon is putting out plenty of extra heat for Kitty as she lies there cuddling with her long-time friend.

Cypher has posed:
"It's the amazing Cypher-Man, bouncing from failure to failure! See him alienate people and magically attract *bullets*, and unintentionally imply Elixir is a coward--" Doug says, with a sigh, as he walks down the hall. He pulls out his phone, and then says, "Hello Journal, I just wanted to say talking to people still SUCKS. I am considering going back out into the woods, *except I sold my cabin to Kurt*."

He knocks on Kitty's door, lightly. "Hela kiti. Es s nor mir."

Shadowcat has posed:
"Hey Doug," Kitty says quietly as she hears him there. "Come on in," she says. She stirs and sits up a bit, leaning against the headboard of the bed. Lockheed immediately shifts over from his warm spot on the bed, moving to make a warm spot in her lap. Her hand just shifts with him, petting gently as he settles back in. Yellow eyes look over at Doug before closing again.

"You look... something. Perturbed maybe?" she asks, and if she can't read Doug the way he can read her? The fairly empathic young woman can still read her old friend a bit. "Something happen?" she asks, patting the bedside as if inviting him to come have a seat. Or sprawl. Sprawling is allowed too.

Cypher has posed:
"Just a reminder that I am not infalliable and that I may know what a person is thinking, but how they choose to react is still beyond my control."

He tilts his head, and sits on the edge of the bed, with his elbows on his knees. "People keep nudging me to step up, and I don't think I'm ready."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty's fingers move slowly over the dragon's head, caressing over the spots where the horns emerge. A favorite spot which Lockheed responds to about how many animals like having their ears rubbed. Maybe it makes up for the fact Lockheed doesn't seem to have any ears. Though no one has ever seemed to notice it except Kitty, or at least to remark upon it if they did.

"Yeah. Sometimes a friend can give a push when needed. But, other times... well. Trust yourself," Kitty tells Doug. As he takes a seat on the bed, she moves her feet over to rest on his leg. "Was surprised Hisako armored up like that in public," she says with a sigh. "Going to have to have a talk there. I really thought she knew better," Kitty says, making one of those, another thing that needs doing face and running her fingers through the strands of hair that she's left free of her ponytail.

Cypher has posed:
"People can have multiple reasons for doing something, and they'll frequently deny one of them. Yes, he left because he didn't want them to call in the Reavers. But that's flimsy. You alone can hold off a Reaver hit squad." He might be in more danger, but he also doesn't seem to care. "An X-Man *shouldn't* leave when there's potential danger, and he knows that. And me, not an X-Man, saying that out loud... didn't go over well."

"Expecting everyone to be completely on point all the time... no. We're on point when it matters." Then he pinches the bridge of his nose, and sighs. "You're all right?" He doesn't belabor the point.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty gets that look she gets when she's thinking things through. "I don't know, Doug. At best, his presence was only likely to cause a confrontation. Which I just was lamenting Hisako having caused when I thought she would just take the piss out of them like Carrie did," Kitty says.

She frowns a bit. "It's always a tough call on how best to stand up to people like that," she says. "We do need to stand up to them. But I don't know that every time is the right time for it. Was that the right time? I guess I can't blame him if he said no. I really wasn't looking to do so either."

Cypher has posed:
"Then you wait in the back in case there's a fight. You don't just... become vapor." Doug shakes his head. "No, I handled a few things wrong, there. He's ashamed of his past and he didn't want them to rub it in his face in front of the rest of you, on top of everything else. I should've just left it lie."

He shrugs his shoulders. "It's just a difference in how he thinks vs. how I think. I can't not get stuck in. It's just not how I'm wired. Even when *I* should know better."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty considers and then says, "I can't imagine much that was likely to go down that any one of us couldn't have handled. I wouldn't even take them in a fight against Carrie by herself, not that she'd have been by herself. Well, in any event, maybe it can be argued the choice wasn't the best, though I'm not sure that's the case. But even if it was, I don't think his choice was wrong, either."

Kitty gets a thoughtful look for a moment but then seems to move on. "So how are you doing, other than that? You've been back for awhile. Glad that you came back?" she asks him.

Cypher has posed:
"That's the problem, he wasn't wrong. This time." Doug flattens his mouth into a line. "Yes? No? I'm always of two minds about everything. I'm happy to be here with all of you, I'm just not sure I'm up to the tasks that need to be done. My own capabilities are what's in question, at least to me."

He shakes his head. "But it doesn't matter, because I don't have room for doubt, right now."

Shadowcat has posed:
"You know, you keep saying things like that. Questioning your ability," Kitty tells him. "I'm not saying don't study and train and improve in any area that you want to. But for someone who reads others as well as you do, you sure have a blind spot to yourself. Your ability is so powerful, Doug. It's powerful, and subtly so. And I know you have the mind and creativity to put it to use."

Kitty sits up a little straighter, no longer lounging back against the headboard. "And what's more... if we need someone clobbered, and Rogue isn't around we can get Piotr. Or Logan. Or Scott. Or Hank. Or any number of people. But who else do we have that can do what you do? I'd have to go program up something to take observations and form it into data, machine learning algorithms to process it... and I still couldn't get from something but a fraction of what you are able to. Your power isn't just powerful and useful, Doug. It's /uniquely/ so."

Cypher has posed:
Doug gives Kitty a sideways look. "I used to think it was the power that was useless. I know better now. It's the man who needs some work."

He gives a faint smirk. "I guess you could say these days I'm relying on the confidence other people have in me. Without that, I'm kind of nothing." He stretches, and then says, "Listen... I can tell you don't want to talk about it. I just wanted to say... you deserve to be with somebody who appreciates you as you are, not as they want you to be... or what you can do for them. Don't give up until you find that person, pal. They're out there."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty picks up Lockheed and gently sets the dragon back to the side where he was lying before when she was curled up around him. He barely shifts with the change, just pressing back down into the covers. Kitty slides over to Doug then, the young woman pressing against his side as her arms go around him and she rests her head on his shoulder. "That... it wasn't that. Wasn't ever that. Just... the time wasn't right. He appreciated me, he just needs to take care of himself first," she says.

But she hugs Doug just the same, grateful for everything he brings to her life.

Cypher has posed:
Doug lets out a soft "Oof." And then he says, "Well, I seem to have these fundamental disagreements with people about why we do what we do, but that's OK. We're all the sinner and the saint, as Nana Ramsey used to say." He gives Kitty a warm hug, solid and sturdy, and then sighs. "Aren't we a pair?"

Shadowcat has posed:
"Me here at last on the ground. You in mid-air," Kitty continues on from what Doug started. "Send in the clowns." She pats his far shoulder gently, the other one serving as a resting spot for her head as Doug hugs her back. "I'm really glad that you came back to us," she tells Doug quietly. "And I mean that in all senses of the words," she adds. Kitty just closes her eyes then, soaking up her friend's caring and concern for her, and letting it fill her.

Cypher has posed:
"You know that song ended badly, right?" Doug says, after a moment. He sighs, and lets go. "I made you a promise, once. I intend to keep it. I couldn't stay dead, with that hanging over my head." Then he starts to get up. "I suppose I should go wander off. See what other mistakes I can make today..."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty lets go of Doug so he can rise from where he's seated on the edge of the bed. "The future is what we make it. Even song endings," she tells him with a smile. As Doug comments on making more mistakes, Kitty makes a comment, a callback to days gone by. Back when they were 14 and she had given him a desk calendar where each day had a new quote related to Murphy's Law. "Don't forget Regnor's Correlary to Murphy's Law," Kitty tells him. "Two wrongs is the only beginning." She flashes him a little smile. Her own spirits lifted by the visit, she gets up and moves over to grab her laptop to do a little work, instead of moping.