Ororo Munroe (Storm) (0r0r0) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-10-08 00:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, kitty pryde (shadowcat), ororo munroe (storm) |
Who: Ororo Munroe and Kitty Pryde
What: Paying it forward
When: 10/7
Where: A restaurant in Mission Viejo
Rating: PG-13
Trigger warning: Discussion of anti-gay violence & bigotry.
Status: Complete!
Ororo was indulging in bad habits. She never wanted to become one of those people, but here she was, having lunch, and sneakily photographing it for the blog. She and David had started it as a lark when they’d gotten back from their honeymoon, and they’d gotten a lot of fans over the years. When they’d divorced, she’d felt obligated. So every time she came to a new place, she photographed her plate, and hoped no one saw.
"I suppose it's kind of photogenic," A woman's voice said, from behind Ororo. "But you should really see the work they put into the breakfast plate."
The woman was young, and brunette with hair pulled back into a pony-tail that threatened to burst free into curls. Kitty had intelligent brown eyes and a gigantic grin on her face.
Ororo looked up, turning around to see the young woman from the computer network. She chuckled, waving hello. “Kitty, right? I always feel awkward photographing my plate. It’s very ... hipster, I think is the word.”
“Nothing wrong with cataloguing food. In fifty years you might want to look back at all the things you used to eat, good and bad for you.” She came over and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.” Again. It was nigh impossible to not bounce on her feet, but after freaking out Jean Kitty was trying to be a good girl.
“Likewise.” Ororo smiled. “Have you lived here for very long? I’ve been in the area since I graduated from school, but this computer network thing is new to me.”
“A few years now.” Okay a little bouncing on her heels. “Found it early last year, it’s kind of an addiction.” There were also side effects, like dreams, but what the hey!
“It seems helpful, and most of the people seem very nice.” Ororo waved her over to sit down, if she wanted. “Even one or two people who said they were fans of the blog, which is always a fun feeling.”
Kitty came over and sat backwards on a chair. She tempered her grin a bit, but it was Ro and Ro was just gorgeous. “You run a blog?”
“Yes. My husband and I started it on our honeymoon, actually. Mostly just for fun. And I decided to keep it up after our divorce. It’s not as if it was an asset or anything.” Ororo smiled. “I’m just glad it was amicable, instead of ugly.”
“My breakups either go really well or horribly, depending,” Kitty said, laughing. “Some of which I’m not proud of how I acted.” She could go into all of them. Piotr and Pete Wisdom, Alicia and yes, Xi’an.
“David wanted the divorce, but I agreed, because honestly, the spark wasn’t there anymore.” Ororo somehow didn’t feel odd telling this stranger about the breakup of her marriage. “He was grateful - told me that it wasn’t me, just the fact that his life was changing. I accepted that, and we are still friends. He went back to Australia, so at least we don’t see each other around.”
“Yeah, that could be awkward, no matter how good the breakup went,” Kitty replied. She smiled. “I left one of my exes in London, and another moved to Germany.” There was Piotr in Russia, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to count him. “And I was married too, but she... passed away.”
“I’m sorry.” Ororo sounded sympathetic. “I can’t imagine how hard that would be.”
“It’s okay.” She waved a hand, dismissing the topic. It was too confusing and raw and Ororo didn’t deserve to have that all dumped on her right now.
David was still alive, so she couldn’t honestly empathize. She just tried to change the subject. “I at least got to keep the cat. Do you have any kitties, Kitty?” She chuckled.
Kitty grinned. “Two. The twins - my wife’s kid siblings - picked them out. It gets a little crazy at my place, but they’ve learned to deal with it.”
“That’s good. I just have one; Smoke knows she rules my house.” Ororo grinned. “She’s a great comfort sometimes, though. She loved David, but when he tried to take her, she howled and bit him.” And Ororo had had to work very hard not to laugh.
“Smoke. That’s an awesome name for a cat,” Kitty replied. “Is she a little grey?”
“Yes! She’s a Russian blue, so she has grey fur and these bright striking blue eyes.” Ororo had her phone out already, so she flipped to the photos section and showed Kitty a picture of the cat. “She’s convinced that she has princess ancestors, and maybe she does.”
“Oh she sounds gorgeous.” Kitty leaned over to look at the cat. “She looks beautiful. I’m jealous. My cats are pretty, but Russian blues are awesome. Then, I’ve always liked Russians.” She grinned at her private joke.
“Have you now.” Ororo smirked. “I actually spent some time in Russia when I was in college. Studied abroad.” Her face clouded over just a little. “I saw some good and some bad. But it was definitely an interesting time.”
“One of my best friends is from there. I dated her brother for a bit. Always wished I’d dated her instead.” Kitty made a face.
She chuckled. “Oh, dear, the one that got away?” Ororo shook her head. “I was in Russia to study, so I never really met any men there. Frankly, I was a little put off by most of them; I saw some nasty anti-gay, misogynist things happen. I don’t think the culture is quite at the same point as the Western world yet.”
“Yes and no. She’s happy and off with her new wife and I’m happy for them. The one that got away isn’t really...around.” She shrugged a shoulder, happy for Rachel to not be around. Safe. Somewhere else. “I’ve read a lot of bad things about the Olympics.”
“When I was studying abroad there, I actually watched a woman get attacked on the streets of Moscow. I went to report it, and the police said they had five hundred other attempted rapes from that fortnight, so get in line.” Ororo shook her head. “It actually got me involved with my current work, though, so I suppose it was a blessing in disguise.”
Kitty looked disgusted. “A lot of places out here have backlogs of rape kits. The whole thing is just disgusting.” She had no illusion that under the right circumstances it could happen to anyone, even her. Even with her skill and mutant powers. “Your work must be fulfilling.”
“That’s something that my nonprofit works on a little - unfortunately, only when it applies to one of our runaways - but it happens more than I want to think about.” Ororo’s face was grim. “I work with teenage runaways, with a focus on those who’ve been kicked out for coming out to their families. We help a lot of people, but it’s heavy work to begin with.”
That hit a little close to home. If she’d realized things when younger, she wasn’t sure that her mother wouldn’t have pulled the same thing. “Maybe I can help out sometime.”
“Anytime.” Ororo smiled in a way she hoped was kind and not patronizing. This girl was obviously at least bisexual, and so many LGBTQ people had problems. It just wasn’t fair, as absurd as she knew it would be to say out loud. “I’m serious. The nonprofit is called Project Go Home, and we try to do as much as we can for these kids - it’s not easy on the budget, in time or money.”
“I have a little money, but time is where I can mostly donate. I could do magic with your computer network and database if you want. Or a website.” Kitty wasn’t trying to brag. She just knew she was good.
“That might actually work.” Ororo took her phone out again, flipping over to the organization’s website. “It doesn’t look great right now.”
Kitty took a look at it. “Yeah it needs some upgrading. I can handle that. I’ll even donate the hardware!”
Ororo blinked hard. “You can do that? I mean. That’s expensive.” What was it about not judging books by covers?
“I’ve got some extra parts laying around. Just looking at the back end here you’ve got some outdated hardware, it won’t be that expensive, and I have the money to spare.” She handed the phone back. “And with my personal tweaks it’ll run as good as something that costs twice as much.”
Ororo laughed. “Really. Is this what you do for a living? Or are you just an insanely gifted hobbyist?” She definitely would not have expected this soft-looking girl to be such a savant. Definitely a lesson to learn.
“A little of both.” Kitty leaned her chin on her hands. “I fell in love with computers when I was a kid. It was that or ballet. I still retain some of the latter but the former became my career. I’m what they call a white hat - I break into computer networks so that I can fix them against other hackers.”
“Oh.” Ororo could make sense of that. “Why do you have to break in? Or do you mean that people hire you to break in?”
“Exactly!” She pointed a finger at Ororo. “I got hired to do the Pentagon last year. That was a lot of fun.”
“Wow.” Ororo laughed, sitting back, looking over at Kitty. “That’s pretty impressive! You must really know your stuff. I feel as though we should at least pay you for the parts for the website, if not for your time. You’re a professional.”
“It goes to a good cause,” she assured her. “Except for my mom, I lucked out really well in how my friends and family reacted to the girl thing, so I want to pay it forward.”
“I’m glad you were mostly lucky.” Ororo shook her head, folding her hands. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy; I can’t even begin to imagine. But at least you had some support. And if you really want to pay it forward, I’d be honored to accept it.”
“I really do, Miss. Munroe.” Kitty grinned cheekily and smiled. This was such an awesome day.