16291/Random Encounters at Fred's

Random Encounters at Fred's
Date of Scene:	22 May 2024
Location:	Fred's Diner - Mutant Town
Synopsis:	Kitty runs into Alex at Fred's Diner in Mutant Town. They briefly discuss her thesis work and various topics regarding strife between Alex/Lorna and various persons at Xavier's.
Cast of Characters:	Havok, Shadowcat

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Havok has posed:
    Fred's diner is one of those classical diner buildings on the side of a common street where cars can pull up directly to and park then walk straight in. Otherwise, it's received by foot traffic from nearby buildings and common sidewalks. It's located in Mutant Town, so there are often mutants being served in the location. One such mutant is Alex Summers. Though he doesn't look like a mutant nor does he even wear mutant affiliated clothing. Instead he's dressed 'normal' in hiking boots, jeans, and a black t-shirt that fits tightly to his muscular frame (which could be unstable molecules) He's seated in one of the red booths with a glass of dark soda in front of him while he waits on his order. He sits quietly looking out the window to his right at the passerby's and seems to be daydreaming about the mid day sun or life in general.

Shadowcat has posed:
"...Six burgers, four dogs, eight fries, two onion rings... I -- What? No. It's too late. I'm here. We are _not_ switching to pizza... I -- I don't care... So?... I'm not DoorDash. Then call delivery if that's what you want. I'm getting a burger."

Kitty Pryde, wearing a leather jacket, black top, and ripped jeans stands just inside the doorway, a phone tucked just under the dark brown hair that's been let free to tumble over her shoulders. She offers an awkward smile to a couple that are leaving as she slides out of their way, but quickly shakes her head... presumably at whoever on at the phone, even though they can't see her.

"Fine. I will bring _you_ a milkshake _after_ I'm done, but your buddies are getting on my last nerve. Yeah... I know. Alright. Go stop them from doing," she waves a hand vaguely, "whatever I can hear them doing... Yep, you do."

Rolling her eyes, the phone comes down from Kitty's ear, and she finally takes a second to look around. The place isn't big. She wasn't exactly quiet. It's not exactly all that hard to miss Alex, or the way she offers him a kind of 'You okay?' smile from the door.

She doesn't intrude, though. Not immediately. It's not very Kitty-like for her to _not_ stick her nose immediately into (sometimes literally) other people's business. But she looks a little like she's... not sure what to say. Or if he still wants to talk to her.

Havok has posed:
Kitty's voice is impossible to miss especially in such tight confines and in a metal and glass building even over the rumblings of other conversations going on. He is pulled from the window to focus in her and spot her spotting him. He smiles and with a light smile, he mouths the word, "Hey" with no sound from his voice. Just a silent greeting.

He sits up a little straighter. He stands and finds that other people are instantly in his way as a mutant is getting off the stool between the two of them as the male mutant begins working his way out of the diner. Alex simply remained where he stood and will continue to look Kitty's way - they're perhaps 20 feet apart. He motions with a slight duck of his head to peer around the walking mutant.

Shadowcat has posed:
A smile!! Smiles are good. Inviting, one might say. At least, that's how Kitty takes it, especially when he stands.

She takes a step towards him, but that then means that there are two people trapped between them, and for a moment, they're both leaning, trying to make eye contact like a couple of dorks on opposite sides of a subway train.

There's even that awkward moment of trying to get out of each other's way as Kitty tries to go around the people before she finally gets frustrated enough to phases through both of them and end up right in front of Alex.

"Sorry," she offers vaguely to the pair over her shoulder, along with a little, apologetic wave. It might have been a little startling, but it's not like it _hurt_, after all.

"Hey!" Finally, Kitty's fully attention is on Alex. She's standing, still, with a cautiously giddy little smile on her lips. She tosses a quick glance at the booth, but she waits for an invitation, apparently still feeling things out. "How ya been?"

Havok has posed:
He watched the odd awkward personal space confrontation that was smartly resolved by Kitty with simply phasing through them to find herself standing in front of Alex. He smiles broadly and simply steps into her personal space and offers to hug her - or simply takes her into his warm (temperature and emotional) embrace and will say, "Been too long, Kitty.". He'll give a good solid squeeze, almost lifting her off the floor.

It's been a long time - and apparently a lot of confusing conflict that's taken place within the mansion (if she's been around). He and Lorna are apparently not on top of the welcome back list and it's really hard to discern what happened beyond that there was an imposter and lots of bad blood that got worse.

He'll break from the hug after a second.

Shadowcat has posed:
Awkwardness: Averted.

The hug is all it takes to soothe the girl's wary nerves. A laugh bubbles up as he wraps her up and the floor lifts away. She has to phase her arms free, but she hugs him back, arms briefly around his neck and her smile growing by the second.

"Yeah," she half-whispers once they're parting again. "I've been kind of in and out -- I'm working on my thesis -- and I heard there was a thing that happened and..." Catching herself rambling, she shrugs, eyes brightening again. "Well, I'm just happy to see you!"

Thumbing towards the booth, this time she doesn't wait for an invitation.

"Mind if I join you? I'm _starving_."

Too late. She's already sliding into the opposite of the side he was sitting on, and good luck getting her out at this point -- she's already crossing her legs.

Havok has posed:
Alex seems to enjoy her upbeat tone and pitch. He also likes how she rambles but touches upon a very clear and interesting subject. Seeing that Kitty is entering the booth, Alex also drops down and slides into the seat opposite her. The asking if she could join him is considered rhetorical and she's already seated. Instead, he focuses on her school. "That's frickin great, Kitty. I'm so happy and feel so bad for you at the same time. Lorna and I are still in the middle of our doctorate that's on hold - again. At this rate, you're gonna finish yours way before we do. But, tell me... what is the thesis you're wanting to prove?"

He leans forward, elbows on the table, ready to hear what she has to share.

Ruth, the middle aged waitress is already in route to their table and will arrive in a few seconds to take Kitty's order.

Shadowcat has posed:
"Sooooooo..."

Yeah, it's that loooong sounding, eyes-averting, fingers fidgeting noise that everyone makes when they're embarrassed to admit something.

"I... I feel like I've made a lot of progress..."

Her smile quirks optimistically.

"I mean.. I've narrowed it down to two things. The topic is either going to be Technological Evolution and the Rise of Mutants: Parallels in Adaptation and Integration, which would explore how both technology and mutants represent significant evolutionary steps for humanity. It would analyze how society adapts to these changes, the challenges of integration, and the potential benefits. _Or_ Social Justice in Technological Innovation: Ensuring Equity for Marginalized Groups, which discusses how certain technology can be protected against being weaponized against marginalized groups, including mutants, and propose frameworks for ensuring that tech advancements benefit all members of society. That's progress, right?"

That's... a lot of words that she rattles off without taking more than a couple of breaths.

Because, yes, it's been at the forefront of her mind.

And as luck would have it, when she looks up, Ruth is standing there, patiently waiting for her to finish, which earns her a smile of gratitude from the 25-year-old graduate student.

"Hi! Could I get a hamburger, please? And a side of french fries? And a chocolate milkshake?"

The words are barely out of her mouth before she's sighing at herself and rolling her eyes.

"Make that a diet coke? I don't want to spend the _whole_ rest of the night on the treadmill..."

She smiles a bit more.

"I like your pendant." She taps the hollow of her throat. "Toda Raba Lach."

Havok has posed:
Ruth is a patient woman. Once she's gotten the order written down, she gives a nod, edits the shake to a diet coke and then recognizes the thank you and responds in soft Hebrew, "Ein be-ad ma.". Then she looks to Alex and says, "I'll get yours out with hers."

Alex gives a nod in response.

Ruth turns to walk away and calls out in a coarse voice, "Fred, gimmie a cow done up pretty with a side of strings!"

Fred responds, "You got it."

Alex looks back to Kitty in the mix of it all seemingly still processing the string of thesis discussion topics. He says, "While I don't have a horse in the race or any sway; I'd actually like to read the first. Evolutionary steps, challenges of integration, and benefits. On a personal level. I'm tired of hearing about Social Justice and groups being marginalized. That's like our entire life and it's gotten old. But, do what calls to you and what will be the most interesting for you. Like rocks is for Lorna and I. It's all about rocks, rocks, and more rocks. Oh and how rocks change dynamically over time through environmental pressures and stressors." There's a hidden smile behind his love of rocks. Everyone knows he loves rocks, got rocks in his head, and likes rock music. It always shows on how his tone changes when he mentions rocks.

Shadowcat has posed:
A soft giggle escapes Kitty's lips at the 'diner-talk.' She's fluent in English, Hebrew, and mostly passable in Japanese. She even knows a good amount of Russian, thanks to Piotr and Illyana, and some German! But it's diner-talk that makes her laugh.

"I love this place," she muses into the brief silence, then her attention is back on Alex and she's nodding, tucking her hands between her thighs.

"Yeah... I know, but the fight isn't over. A _lot_ of strides still have to be made, and people deciding not to talk about because they're fatigued is exactly what the opposition is counting on," Kitty laments, clearly still torn, even if the suggestion bring a quirk of a grin back to her lips. "Logan likes the first one, too. He said I should go all the way back to steam engines -- you know, James Watt and Thomas Newcomen?"

That grin turns a bit more sheepish, then.

"Okay... to be fair, he only sort of grunted the word _engine_ because he was mostly asleep, and I took the steam part from the coffee I was shoving in his face."

She shrugs.

"I still thought it was insightful... for, you know... Grumpy. So, that helps. I want it to be something impactful that people will want to read, you know? I can always focus advocacy efforts elsewhere..."

Because maybe if she ever _actually_ starts (and finishes) her thesis, she'll have gobs of time again. Or.. you know. Not.

"So what's up with the doctorate progress being measured in geologic time, then?" See? She can be nerdy about rocks, too. Not very well. But, she can try! "Are you getting back on it? Or you have other plans? Still... figuring things out?"

Notably, she specifically doesn't ask for details about what happened.

Havok has posed:
"Logan only wants you to go back to the steam-engine because he was born before that. Honestly, if you wanted to turn it into some historical document, then you'd have to interview Selene and Apocalypse about what strides they made in advancing the species. Oh, and don't forget about Sinister. He was around way back when too. All the baddies have years on us. Including Magneto, he's ancient." Then Alex pauses a moment and goes into the offered segue of topic change, "Right now we're on hold. All of our research is back at Xavier's anyway. And when I say 'hold', I mean, we're taking time for ourselves. She mentioned just the other day that she wanted to go back to the canyon. But we'd need to get our research to take with us... Which means we're not in any rush to get back to it. If anything, we're enjoying our time away from it all and living in the city. It's been a nice change."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty snorts at the Logan crack and rolls her eyes at the mention of the others.

"Hard pass. I'm sure I can get what I need from Wikipedia."

But those eyes still glint with amusement.

She listens intently to the explanation, though, and lets out a soft sigh towards the end. A little frustration. A little understanding.

Somehow, 'Do you want me to go smuggle stuff out of the mansion for you?' seems like a dubious offer, but it's there in her eyes as Kitty chews on her lip for a moment.

"I get it. And I'm glad you've been taking good advantage of the break, but if I can do anything..."

There's a little roll of her shoulder.

"Information retrieval and extraction are a couple of my specialties. That's all I'm saying."

Her smile grows a bit more, but it falters a little after a moment. A thought -- a question -- ghosts across her eyes, and for an instant, it almost seems like she's not going to voice it.

"Have you spoken to Scott, recently? Since... you left the mansion?"

Havok has posed:
Alex smiles warmly to the offer to smuggle his stuff out of the mansion and he shakes his head. "If it were as simple as grabbing a thumb drive, then sure. But it's actually a bunch of stuff scattered all around our work-room. Too much stuff that would have to be sorted and catalogued before we move it. So it's all good." Then he shifts and takes a drink considering the history with talking to Scott. There's a slight shake of his head with a sour look on his face, "Nah. He's really not a person that I'm interested in talking to lately. Sorry, Kitty. Scott and I aren't really on speaking terms right now."

Shadowcat has posed:
"I get it."

Which thing? Both, maybe -- the research, the fact that relationships (even with family, maybe _especially_ with family) can be hard.

Still, there's a small, sympathetic smile that lingers on Kitty's lips.

A few seconds of silence follow, and she seems grateful for Ruth's return with their plates of food and her drink. Her eyes lift, and her smile broadens again. She even claps in quiet excitement and anxious anticipation.

"Yum. Thank you _so_ much," she gushes to the waitress before sliding a paper napkin into her lap and turning her attention once more across the table. "I'm so glad I ran into you. We should make sure it's not so long, next time."