[video/Action]

[passingthrough]

Who: Kitty Pryde and everyone who tags!
Broadcast: Yep!
Action: Planet fun! Or Windrose maybe. I'm flexible.
When: Now or nowish. Definitely now-adjacent.

[Broadcast]
I have an important request. I need someone who can make cheese. Do cheese makers have an old timey name like cobblers and haberdashers or are those only for clothes? Anyway, calling all of those.

Cheese doesn't seem to be a thing here from what I can tell, but we're just one ingredient away from some really great pizza. I have no idea what cheese requires other than cows or goats or something. I grew up so close to Wisconsin, but I feel like I learned so little.

I would also accept alternative cheese. I know there were vegan kinds made out of hopes and dreams or something I assume. I can pay you or share the finished pizza or do something in trade if I had skills. I could beat someone up for you maybe. [She's not going to do that. Probably.] We'll work it out.

[Action]
[She's on the planet doing all of these things and more but this post won't get to CAPTCHA! You might find her on the Windrose veeeery rarely!]

Comments

[grandstanding]

I've had plenty of times like that. Being able to slow down every now and then is underrated. [He knows it's not always an option. On the flip side, it's not always by choice. He'd had ten years of absolute nothingness to contend with. He would never recommend it to anyone.

That draws a smile out of him.] As long as we avoid visiting a lake together, then, we should be all right.

[passingthrough]

It is. [The fleet feels slower to her even if only by her ability to measure it. And it's nice. She has Kurt and Winn and other X-Men whether they consider themselves that or not.]

[She smiles, feeling playful.] Well, now I feel like we should plan a trip together. Anything but a lake doesn't narrow it down much, and I am still on the clock.

[grandstanding]

I've been trying to get the lay of the land as far as possible, so I wouldn't be averse to it. Have you visited the tree? [There are many trees around, but if Kitty's heard the stories, she'll know which one he means.]

[passingthrough]

I have. Kurt and I went. Assuming you mean the one handing out surprise gifts for getting all touchy feely. You?

[grandstanding]

That's the one. Charles and I thought it was worth a look, given all the stories about it. [He had been extremely skeptical, right up to the last moment. And after that, wary of the idea that a mystical tree could reach into his own world and pluck out an object of sentimental worth.] This planet does seem to revolve around that, doesn't it.

[passingthrough]

It really does. Soooooo, what did you get? [She has to ask. She's contractually obligated as someone named Kitty to be curious.]

[grandstanding]

[As ever when it comes to his gift, he doesn't answer immediately, pausing. His natural inclination to keep his private life just that always rears its head. It passes quicker these days, and so he reaches into his pocket and places an antique silver locket on the bench in front of him.]

It was my mother's.

[passingthrough]

Oh... It's beautiful. [She wants to ask if her picture is in it too because that would be wonderful, but if it isn't then it would hurt too much to ask.] That tree does some things right.

I got a photo of my parents. [Just two mutant, Jewish orphans here.]

[grandstanding]

[It's a connection he's not flippant about. Knowing what he does about Kitty had prompted him to show the locket, instead of just telling her and keeping it hidden. His expression softens a bit at her answer, and he nods.]

Mine has those as well. I'm glad you got it.

[passingthrough]

Me too. And for you.

Can I see? [It's okay if she can't. She wouldn't blame him if he wants to keep it private, but she knows she likes being able to share hers with others. It makes it feel more real.]

[grandstanding]

[There's a moment's pause where it seems like he might say no. His parents are such a personal matter for him, and there are few people who he's even discussed them with. Only Charles knows what they actually look like.

He touches the locket with a finger and it unfolds, the two pieces each holding a small, sepia photograph. A man, and a woman.]

[passingthrough]

[She looks at it thoughtfully, not daring to reach out and touch.] Your mother was beautiful.

[grandstanding]

[He looks at the photo in silence for a moment, unable to meet Kitty's gaze.]

She was. [Reaching out to take the locket back, he snaps it closed and returns it to his pocket.]

It was one of the few things I was able to retrieve, after the camps.

[passingthrough]

That's amazing you were able to find it at all. [She never recovered anything from the remains of their house. Destroyed and burned with Chicago.] I'm glad you were able to get it back here.

[grandstanding]

I knew where we'd left it. [Buried, in the yard, before they were taken to the ghettos. Even then very little in the box had been salvageable.]

So am I. I haven't seen it in years.

[passingthrough]

Sometimes I felt like I was forgetting how they looked. I'd have nightmares where they'd be faceless.

[grandstanding]

[He'd been lucky to keep those two photos, so he never had nightmares quite like that. The ones he did have more than made up for it. He murmurs his understanding.]

Unfortunately, it happens, with time. I don't remember what the other members of my family looked like anymore. I was too young.

[passingthrough]

[She almost wonders if that would be easier. Being young enough you weren't sure what you were missing. Better to always wonder or always long? It's pretty lonely either way. Or it is unless you build new connections. Friends. Teammates. Family.]

People really need to stop with the genocides. They lead to a lot of sad stories.

[Such an understatement, and if she was going to say anything else it's cut off as the door opens. A group of customers comes in and fills a few tables.] They look thirsty. I guess that means I'm up. [What with being a bartender here at the moment. Even if she'd been pretty content to just get lost with Erik as if they were just hanging out here together, swapping war stories. Or orphan stories.

She refills his beverage first.] In case I don't see you again. [He gets a little smile.]