InsaneJournal

Who: Reg and Kitty
What: Accidental awkward run in
When: The day after the age plot started
Where: On the streets
Rating/Warnings: Low, sads for obvious reasons
Status: Complete

People liked to complain about Colligo. And that was fair enough, Kitty supposed; they'd all been kidnapped, after all, and they were on a strange alien planet with no discernable way home and various paradoxical overlaps between times and spaces and doubles. But for someone who'd spent the past few years at the Xavier School for the Gifted, a lot of what happened wasn't that weird. Snowstorms in July? Sure, when one of your teachers controlled the weather and your friend's boyfriend called himself Iceman. Forced kissing? Okay, maybe nothing as embarrassing as making out with a dude almost twice your age on a park bench, but there were mutants who could control their pheromones and others who could manipulate minds, so that wasn't completely impossible either. Heck, even having people go from adults to little kids or vice versa wasn't that weird when there were things like time travel or people getting sucked into space or whatever, and Magneto being powerless - well, Rogue had told Kitty about the cure, and apparently that sort of worked even if it was really scary.

Besides, there were some cool things. Getting to know the Professor - Charles - when he was young (and super cute) was nifty. Enrolling in classes at the university was awesome, and Kitty was looking forward to starting in the fall. And she had an actual job that didn't involve being part of a vigilante group of mutant fighters, and that was extra weird but also cool. When her Star of David necklace had showed up, Kitty was not even suspicious. Just happy.

Now that the snow was melting and the decorations were coming down, there was something else to be excited about: discount candy. Kitty might have made latkes instead of gingerbread, but that wouldn't stop her from loading up on candy canes and red-and-green M&Ms. Besides, the newly kiddified people would definitely love the candy. She was so preoccupied on her way back from the store that she didn't notice the slight young man moving at a much slower pace - and because she was still instinctively used to not using her powers in public, she bounced off him and fell right on her butt. Her bags scattered everywhere, one box of candy canes landing in a puddle with a squishy sort of plop.

It had been almost a month since Juno vanished and Regulus still hadn’t completely recovered from the shock of losing her. It was probably safe to say he wasn’t even half way there. He was up and moving, talking to his friends, however it was mostly out of necessity as they were currently all about eight years old and lacking proper parental influences. This wasn’t recovery, this was obligation to help those he cared about.

With his friends as small as they were he couldn’t lay about in his room, or the sitting room all day staring at the ceiling or some mindless infomercial on the telly, which was about as productive and beneficial as staring at the ceiling. He could have sent Kreacher out, but the house elf sometimes struggled in this mostly muggle world and didn’t always get everything on the shopping list, usually in lieu of hurling curses and, or canned goods at some poor, unsuspecting store clerk for some perceived offence they supposedly made. It was simpler to just go out and pick up everything in one go.

It was quicker too, even if Regulus didn’t walk at his Pre Juno Disappearance brisk pace. One plastic bag full of some groceries in one hand, the other hand stuck in the pocket of his coat he slowly made his way back to his flat. All the while he kept a sharp eye out for mistletoe, the only indication about him that he seemed interested in his surroundings.

Going as slow as he was he wasn’t sure how anyone could miss him, much less bump into him. He felt the thud against his back and immediately turned around to see just who couldn’t be fussed to pay attention where they were going, and he immediately froze. A bewildered expression masked the inner emotional turmoil he was experiencing. He knew instantly this wasn’t Juno, this girl was sitting on the ground looking as surprised as he’d initially felt. And this wasn’t Ariadne, she was an eight year old playing with a puppy right now. This was someone new. The overlord of this place could bring in another Juno look-a-like but not Juno. His expression soured into something both insulted and hurt about this whole thing before fading into something more neutral.

He almost just turned around and left her there. But he didn’t. He blinked a few times first and then, finally, squatted down and reached for the nearest bag. It was torn but he withdrew his wand and fixed it, a testament to how natural and easy it came for him to show magic in front of more than just other magical individuals. He was all the while silent and when he gathered a few of the closest items and placed them in the back he held it out for her.

“You should watch where you are going.” He maybe have sounded slightly offended.

"Sorry!" Kitty cried, confused not only by her own clumsiness but also by the expressions flickering across this guy's face. After all, she was the one who'd fallen over, and he was largely unscathed. But something about this had really freaked him out and she wasn't sure why. She scrambled to a kneeling stance and started trying to gather up her fallen items - and then stopped.

Because he was doing magic. With a wand.

"Oh my god, you're a wizard? That is the coolest thing ever!"

Regulus still knelt holding out the bag for this Juno Lookalike to take back. The corners of his mouth quirked up in an attempt at a smile, but his mouth only elevated from a frown to a straight line and it was a very short lived line. This girl’s enthusiasm wasn’t a reason to be rude, but Regulus wasn’t in a lively mood and he found her cheerfulness grating.

“I am.” He kept his response short so as to not give the impression he wanted to hold a conversation.

With a roll of his eyes he stood up, the position was one that would eventually lead to cramped muscle and more irritation. He gave the bag a shake to draw her attention back to the matter at hand.

"Seriously though that is so cool," Kitty continued, finally pushing herself off the ground and batting ineffectually at the snow and grime on her jeans. The slush was part of the whole Christmas experience she could have skipped, really. She took her bag back from the wizard (wizard!!!) with a sheepish smile. "And I am sorry. I'm usually nowhere near this clumsy, I'm actually pretty agile, but I guess I was sort of preoccupied. I mean, if you're a wizard you must not be one of the local people who get all zombie-blargh when you ask them questions about why we're here, so you know what's going on with all the... de-age-ification and stuff." Kitty paused for breath, then tilted her head and looked at him.

"Anyway. Sorry. Can I like make it up to you or something? Buy you a coffee? Or a soda? What do wizards drink?"

“Ya, a few of my friends-“ Regulus tried getting in but this girl just kept talking, which added a whole other level of disconcerting. She looked like Juno, she sounded an awful lot like Juno, all much in the same way Ariadne reminded Regulus of Juno. Enough differences that he could tell her apart, but enough similarities that maybe this encounter undesirable at best.

“No,” he cut in sharply, not caring how rude that made him seem. “I don’t want you to make up anything. Just- just leave me alone?” He hadn’t meant it to sound like a plea, but it did.

Kitty broke off and shut her mouth with an audible click of her teeth, eyes wide. "Uh. Okay? Sorry. Like I said, it was an accident. I'll just - um. Go. Yeah." She took a couple of steps back, then stopped. "You don't have to be a jerk about it, though." He could have at least been nice about turning her down. Or accepted her apology. It was just a stupid accident. And he hadn't even been the one who fell in a puddle.

Catching the look that passed over the features of a face that was so familiar Regulus instantly felt terrible for the way he’d phrased that and for the tone he had used. For the briefest moment he saw Juno hurt in front of him, and that was something he hated to see. Who ever this was, it wasn’t her fault. He knew that. It wasn’t as if she’d asked to don a face that would cause one insignificant person problems, hell, she had no idea who he was.

“I’m sorry, I-“

He didn’t know what he wanted, to be fair. Some days he wished he’d never befriended Juno, or that he could just forget the constant reminder of something so great that probably wouldn’t ever be again. There was slim chance Juno would come back; slimmer that she would remember him. When he left here he would be dead again, and not the kind of dead people turned stones over for to catch a glimpse of. Where ever he was going it wouldn’t be where his brother would end up. At the same time, some days he clung to those few memories he had and couldn’t imagine letting them go.

Today, however, was not one of the latter.

“You look like someone I used to know,” gone was the acerbic tone, replaced with something strained instead. “She’s not here anymore.”

Oh. Oh, crap. "One of the triplegangers? What was her name. Juno." Kitty would have smacked herself on the forehead if she hadn't been holding so many bags. "I'm really - I mean, it's not like I look like this on purpose." She frowned a little, searching his face. "Are you going to be okay? You look kind of freaked out. I don't want to stick around if it'll make you worse but is there someone I can call or something?" Even if she hadn't been trained to intervene in critical situations, Kitty was still something of a meddler.

Regulus’ frown turned down more when the girl mentioned Juno’s name and he held up a hand. “Really, I’m fine.” He took a step back. There wasn’t a graceful way to back out of this. She might have the best of intentions but Regulus just wanted to be away from the situation. He didn’t have it in him to not be self-centered in this which could only lead to him putting his foot in his mouth, again, and offending her.

“Please, really, I’m fine. Just, I’m going to go.”

Kitty stood her ground for a moment, watching his face again. But he didn't seem like he was going to freak out or do anything stupid. So she probably didn't have to follow him, right? She backed up - and through - a newspaper box, and winced. Hopefully he wouldn't freak out. Or freak out even more.

"Um, okay. Sorry - again."