Kitty and Nick, backdated to 6/2/15
Jun. 2nd, 2015 04:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainNick goes to ask the present leader of JVX what it'll take for him to get on the team. At least they're both aware he isn't ready yet.
Funny how things got when you actually took time to slow down. Nick was realizing that, even now, as he turned his phone over a few times in his hand, contemplating on whether or not to call or text Kitty, or to go find her in person.
He'd figured out that Kitty was in charge of JVX now, and now that he was thinking about it, he was beginning to realize that he, well, hadn't actually been at the school for that long. So much had happened to him. His trial, his guitar and the lessons with Jay, his sparring sessions with Toby... let alone all the stuff with squads and now he was aware of the new squad assignments.
Still, he needed to know if he could even be a candidate for JVX and, by proxy, the senior team. That was Nick's current goal, after all, but he was still fifteen, trying to get his head on straight, and all that stuff. But his feet found him at the door to her workshop, hearing that this was her usual haunt. Made sense.
He knocked on the door, hoping that she could hear him. "Hey, it's Nick. You got a minute?" He figured this wouldn't take long.
Kitty looked up from the email she was attempting to compose to her associates (read: mentors) at SI. Blinking at the door, she looked over at the holographic Lockeed hovering over Tony's special holo table. "Did he say Nick?"
"Qussss," Lockheed replied helpfully, holo-smoke puffing once from his nostrils.
She pursed her lips, looking perplexed, but waved a hand. "Let him in." A moment later, the door to the workshop unlocked itself and swung open, Kitty spinning on her stool to meet the visitor.
Nick had never been into Kitty's workshop before, and so he looked around a bit, keeping his hands and arms close to himself, as if in fear he might knock something expensive and fragile over and, well, never hear the end of it for awhile. "Hey, I was wondering if maybe you had a minute to talk about some stuff with me, about the JVX thing?"
Oh. "Oh," Kitty said, then quickly motioned to a nearby stool for Nick. "Okay, sure."
Awkwardly, Nick took the seat, looking warily around the workshop, still wondering if anything was suddenly going to animate and offer him a drink. "I don't guess there's robot arms that move around out of the walls and grab you Cokes and snacks from a hidden fridge or something," he chuckled, nervously, making a poor attempt at a little joke to lead things off. His expression immediately communicated his regret at making the crack. He cleared his throat, awkwardly.
Technology was all well and good, as long as it was thoroughly tested and part of the everyday market. This experimental stuff made him nervous. He swallowed. He didn't want to bring up the utter disaster that had been his and Toby's first and last Danger Room session. That didn't need to be said. It just made him aware of how big his problem was.
"So... I know I'm new. And... I don't know how much you know about... what I went through before I came here. You want the short version or the long story?" he asked, figuring he'd let her choose.
"So, first of all," Kitty smiled warmly and quickly made a hand motion, banishing the hologram of Lockheed from the air. "Nothing in here's gonna hurt you. Promise. Web head and I are working on totally safe stuff, like radios and body armor, so nothing terrible. Second...I know some stuff, but maybe you should tell me what you think I should know? Totally your choice."
Well, that was reassuring. Nick visibly relaxed just a little. He put a hand on his chin, thinking. "Well, I mean, you probably know about... me being discovered, and my parents getting... killed because of it," he said, summarizing it that way. "The judge ruled... what I did, uh, to their killers... as self-defense. They would have killed me, too, otherwise." He still couldn't bring himself to easily and casually say that he'd killed the two men who'd killed his parents. Then again, Nick figured that if he could casually say anything like that, he wasn't fit for JVX or LXQ in the first place.
He blew out a sigh, letting her process that while he thought about whether or not he wanted to bring up the Danger Room session he'd freaked out over. "I... I want to be a part of something bigger, though. This JVX thing I keep hearing about, and eventually the Senior Team. The ones who came to, well... save me."
Kitty nodded slowly, seriously. "Why do you want to? Other than being a part of something, I mean. There are a lot of things you can do to be a part of something. Why do you want to be on the teams?"
"Well, I mean. I know that ... you know. I'm not the strongest. I'm not the toughest. I'm not the fastest or even the smartest. But I've got a good nose on my face, and I wanna put ... what... what I've given to good use. I wanna help others who were in ... are in... situations like mine. This school's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't have what it takes to be a teacher or a TA, and I know Laura's a good tracker. I-I can learn from her. I know she'll still be around and stuff, but two noses are better than one, right?" he explained, not knowing Laura had left the school already. It wasn't like they crossed paths often, or pretty much ever.
"And I know I have a long way to go, mentally, before I'm ready." He kept as much of that failed Danger Room simulation out of his mind as he could. "Probably physically, too. I just want to know how far I got to go, so I know how to get there."
Kitty looked sad, and sighed a little. "I'm sorry, Nick. Laura left the school. She said it wasn't forever - I'm sure she'll be back and can help you, but she won't be around for awhile. But! That doesn't mean we don't have people who can help. Inu-yasha has very good senses, and John Howlett too, but I'm not sure you should go to him for help - he's kind of a jerk. Sharon can help you too! Especially in cat form, and I heard that Bigby will be living in Salem Center, so he's a good resource too. If you want to be a tracker, we can always use people like that."
She took a deep breath. "Right now, I'm not sure you're ready for JVX. You've been through a lot, and that kind of trauma can trigger your emotions in the field. I definitely think you'll be a great team member in the future, though, and we can work together to see if you can develop your training to get there. Are you seeing the school counselor?"
"Oh," Nick said, lowering his head a bit in response to Laura leaving. That... was kind of sad. Hopefully she'd be back soon. He hadn't met any of the others she'd mentioned, but he'd have to give them a try. Except for that John Howlett kid. Kitty seemed nice enough that "kind of a jerk" in her appraisal was enough to steer him clear.
"I know I'm not ready," Nick conceded. "I have been seeing the counselor, yeah. And Xavier's been helping, too, in his own ways." Still weird to think of him as his de facto father, but still. Hearing her say he'd be well on the team eventually, though, gave him some confidence. "I'm more than willing to work with you on figuring out what training I need." She was the boss, after all. At least as far as JVX was concerned. "I've been practicing with Toby, in addition to the squad training and the stuff I do with Mister Judd." Though Nick figured it might have gotten him bopped on the arm for calling him 'Mister' Judd, if only because he couldn't reach his head.
Kitty grinned. "Then you're definitely taking all the right steps. You should see one of the good martial arts people too - Midnighter or Scott or Philip - and see if they will give you extra lessons in hand to hand combat. Focus on squad training, and ask Doc Sampson to let you know when he thinks you might be ready to start training with the team full time. You can also do tracking exercises on your own too. Have a friend go out in the woods and wait a bit, then see if you can follow their trail."
Scott, he knew, the other two, not so much. But the idea for tracking exercises wasn't a bad idea, actually. Maybe some of the younger kids would appreciate it as a game of hide-and-seek? He wasn't sure. He'd think about it. "That tracking thing's a good idea," Nick murmured, scratching his chin while he thought about it. "Th-the main reason I've been doing hand-to-hand practice with Toby is because, well, she heals fast from cuts. I can actually use my claws without... without really hurting her," Nick pointed out. He wondered if maybe someone else could give him the same benefit. He didn't want to snub Toby, though. He'd still keep practicing with her. And maybe soon he'd be teaching her some moves.
"Anything else I should do for prep? I've kept Doc Sampson in the loop, and he knows... what I'm working toward. He's been really encouraging." At least it was easy to be okay about this. Taking some time gave him some time to work on, well, other things. He glanced around at her equipment, and then he blinked a few times. Why not ask?
"Totally off-topic, but I just had a random thought and I was wondering if you'd humor me. Do you think you can make claw-resistant guitar strings?" he asked. She was making freaking body armor. How hard could it be?
Kitty blinked, then looked thoughtful. "What are guitar strings usually made of? Steel? Will it change the sound quality if we change the material?"
"I think Jay told me they were made of nickel, usually?" He scratched the side of his head. Maybe he was remembering wrong. "I can't really remember. And it might. I'm not certain." He shrugged. "if it's too big of a pain for you to try, don't sweat it. I can still do bar chords and stuff like that. I know the thicker strings are actually coils, if that makes any difference. But... yeah. I'll do some research, maybe? I-if you're up for an experiment like that, I guess." He didn't want to insist on it. "I'm sure you're pretty busy as it is."
"I'm always up for a challenge! Buuut, have you considered using caps for your claws instead? That way you could play any guitar you want!" Kitty suggested.
It didn't take a lot to make Nick feel kind of stupid. Kitty definitely hit a bull's-eye on that target, though. "I, uh... never... really thought of that," Nick confessed, scratching the side of his muzzle sheepishly. "I haven't really run across any made specifically for claws like mine, but it's not like I've gone running around Salem Center looking for that kind of thing, either." Really, he hadn't been out much at all.
Kitty grinned. "I could try and make some that mimic an organic sound and blend into the color of your claws. No one would even know they're there, and if we make them durable, then they won't wear out too fast."
"I-if it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, sure," Nick said, nervously scratching the back of his head. "I-it'd be handy. Oh, uh... i-it's important that they're like, flat on the tips. So that I can hold the strings down evenly." He remembered Jay mentioning that. "And I'd only really need them for one hand." He could use a pick in the other to strum, no problem.
"Even better. That means that if you need to defend yourself in a hurry, you can use your other hand," Kitty nodded approvingly and hopped up to flip the holo table back on and banish Lockheed from the air above it. "Come here and let me get a scan of your hand for sizing and color. Just how it out above the table."
"O-okay," Nick said, standing up and moving so that he could get his hand over the table easily without getting in Kitty's way. He held his left hand over; that's the hand he'd be using to hold the strings down, anyway, so it made sense to use that one, on the off-chance his hands were slightly different. "Like this?" he asked.
"Perfect," Kitty agreed, running a quick scan, then bringing up a hologram of his hand and claws. "Now I can use this to get a reading on size and color and see if I can't synthesize a material that will work."
Nick blinked a few times at the technological marvel of it all. "This is some sci-fi level stuff right here," Nick murmured, in awe. "Like, beyond Shadowrun." Except no magic. And he was fairly certain Kitty didn't work for an oppressive megacorporation.
Kitty winked at him. "Well, this technology was developed by Tony Stark. Hopefully Stark Industries isn't as bad as in Shadowrun. It's totally new tech, though. Really only in use here and at Tony's personal workshop."
It was just ... tremendously impressive to him. "Wow. This is the kind of stuff that helps make the Danger Room what it is, isn't it?" he asked, and then the scene flashed in front of his mind's eye, unbidden, and he flinched just a bit. He took a breath to keep himself from freaking out, and hoped that Kitty wouldn't notice. "I'd... give a lot just to be a third of how smart you and Tony Stark are," he chuckled, quietly.
"Smarts aren't everything, trust me on this." Kitty made a little face, wrinkling her nose. "And yeah, Tony helped program the hard holograms that we use in the Danger Room. Did you...I mean, I assume you've tried it out?"
"Y-yeah," Nick said, hoping she'd just take his stutter as his usual nerves. "It's, uh. Pretty realistic," Nick said, by way of compliment. Awkward compliment. "Stuff even smells real. It's crazy."
"A lot of that has to do with the AI that handles the Danger Room, but thank you," Kitty smiled.
Still, it was pretty neat. "Well, I guess I'll keep in touch," Nick said, simply, figuring that it was best to let her get back to work. "I-I'll get out of your hair. You're probably super busy without me coming around and making goofball requests for claw caps and crap," he chuckled quietly to himself, unable to really believe it. All the high-tech gadgetry he could ask for, and he wanted claw caps? Ridiculous. "Thanks for ... y'know. Giving me the consideration. And taking time for me. I-I'll see you around."
Kitty watched him curiously, head tilted slightly to one side. "Sure. Anytime, Nick. Take care?"
"Yeah." He let himself smile a little. "You too," he said, giving her a nod as he headed toward the door. Well, that hadn't been nearly as awkward as he'd feared. He just needed to go do something to get his mind off of his bad Danger Room experience. And how cute he found his roommate's girlfriend.
Funny how things got when you actually took time to slow down. Nick was realizing that, even now, as he turned his phone over a few times in his hand, contemplating on whether or not to call or text Kitty, or to go find her in person.
He'd figured out that Kitty was in charge of JVX now, and now that he was thinking about it, he was beginning to realize that he, well, hadn't actually been at the school for that long. So much had happened to him. His trial, his guitar and the lessons with Jay, his sparring sessions with Toby... let alone all the stuff with squads and now he was aware of the new squad assignments.
Still, he needed to know if he could even be a candidate for JVX and, by proxy, the senior team. That was Nick's current goal, after all, but he was still fifteen, trying to get his head on straight, and all that stuff. But his feet found him at the door to her workshop, hearing that this was her usual haunt. Made sense.
He knocked on the door, hoping that she could hear him. "Hey, it's Nick. You got a minute?" He figured this wouldn't take long.
Kitty looked up from the email she was attempting to compose to her associates (read: mentors) at SI. Blinking at the door, she looked over at the holographic Lockeed hovering over Tony's special holo table. "Did he say Nick?"
"Qussss," Lockheed replied helpfully, holo-smoke puffing once from his nostrils.
She pursed her lips, looking perplexed, but waved a hand. "Let him in." A moment later, the door to the workshop unlocked itself and swung open, Kitty spinning on her stool to meet the visitor.
Nick had never been into Kitty's workshop before, and so he looked around a bit, keeping his hands and arms close to himself, as if in fear he might knock something expensive and fragile over and, well, never hear the end of it for awhile. "Hey, I was wondering if maybe you had a minute to talk about some stuff with me, about the JVX thing?"
Oh. "Oh," Kitty said, then quickly motioned to a nearby stool for Nick. "Okay, sure."
Awkwardly, Nick took the seat, looking warily around the workshop, still wondering if anything was suddenly going to animate and offer him a drink. "I don't guess there's robot arms that move around out of the walls and grab you Cokes and snacks from a hidden fridge or something," he chuckled, nervously, making a poor attempt at a little joke to lead things off. His expression immediately communicated his regret at making the crack. He cleared his throat, awkwardly.
Technology was all well and good, as long as it was thoroughly tested and part of the everyday market. This experimental stuff made him nervous. He swallowed. He didn't want to bring up the utter disaster that had been his and Toby's first and last Danger Room session. That didn't need to be said. It just made him aware of how big his problem was.
"So... I know I'm new. And... I don't know how much you know about... what I went through before I came here. You want the short version or the long story?" he asked, figuring he'd let her choose.
"So, first of all," Kitty smiled warmly and quickly made a hand motion, banishing the hologram of Lockheed from the air. "Nothing in here's gonna hurt you. Promise. Web head and I are working on totally safe stuff, like radios and body armor, so nothing terrible. Second...I know some stuff, but maybe you should tell me what you think I should know? Totally your choice."
Well, that was reassuring. Nick visibly relaxed just a little. He put a hand on his chin, thinking. "Well, I mean, you probably know about... me being discovered, and my parents getting... killed because of it," he said, summarizing it that way. "The judge ruled... what I did, uh, to their killers... as self-defense. They would have killed me, too, otherwise." He still couldn't bring himself to easily and casually say that he'd killed the two men who'd killed his parents. Then again, Nick figured that if he could casually say anything like that, he wasn't fit for JVX or LXQ in the first place.
He blew out a sigh, letting her process that while he thought about whether or not he wanted to bring up the Danger Room session he'd freaked out over. "I... I want to be a part of something bigger, though. This JVX thing I keep hearing about, and eventually the Senior Team. The ones who came to, well... save me."
Kitty nodded slowly, seriously. "Why do you want to? Other than being a part of something, I mean. There are a lot of things you can do to be a part of something. Why do you want to be on the teams?"
"Well, I mean. I know that ... you know. I'm not the strongest. I'm not the toughest. I'm not the fastest or even the smartest. But I've got a good nose on my face, and I wanna put ... what... what I've given to good use. I wanna help others who were in ... are in... situations like mine. This school's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't have what it takes to be a teacher or a TA, and I know Laura's a good tracker. I-I can learn from her. I know she'll still be around and stuff, but two noses are better than one, right?" he explained, not knowing Laura had left the school already. It wasn't like they crossed paths often, or pretty much ever.
"And I know I have a long way to go, mentally, before I'm ready." He kept as much of that failed Danger Room simulation out of his mind as he could. "Probably physically, too. I just want to know how far I got to go, so I know how to get there."
Kitty looked sad, and sighed a little. "I'm sorry, Nick. Laura left the school. She said it wasn't forever - I'm sure she'll be back and can help you, but she won't be around for awhile. But! That doesn't mean we don't have people who can help. Inu-yasha has very good senses, and John Howlett too, but I'm not sure you should go to him for help - he's kind of a jerk. Sharon can help you too! Especially in cat form, and I heard that Bigby will be living in Salem Center, so he's a good resource too. If you want to be a tracker, we can always use people like that."
She took a deep breath. "Right now, I'm not sure you're ready for JVX. You've been through a lot, and that kind of trauma can trigger your emotions in the field. I definitely think you'll be a great team member in the future, though, and we can work together to see if you can develop your training to get there. Are you seeing the school counselor?"
"Oh," Nick said, lowering his head a bit in response to Laura leaving. That... was kind of sad. Hopefully she'd be back soon. He hadn't met any of the others she'd mentioned, but he'd have to give them a try. Except for that John Howlett kid. Kitty seemed nice enough that "kind of a jerk" in her appraisal was enough to steer him clear.
"I know I'm not ready," Nick conceded. "I have been seeing the counselor, yeah. And Xavier's been helping, too, in his own ways." Still weird to think of him as his de facto father, but still. Hearing her say he'd be well on the team eventually, though, gave him some confidence. "I'm more than willing to work with you on figuring out what training I need." She was the boss, after all. At least as far as JVX was concerned. "I've been practicing with Toby, in addition to the squad training and the stuff I do with Mister Judd." Though Nick figured it might have gotten him bopped on the arm for calling him 'Mister' Judd, if only because he couldn't reach his head.
Kitty grinned. "Then you're definitely taking all the right steps. You should see one of the good martial arts people too - Midnighter or Scott or Philip - and see if they will give you extra lessons in hand to hand combat. Focus on squad training, and ask Doc Sampson to let you know when he thinks you might be ready to start training with the team full time. You can also do tracking exercises on your own too. Have a friend go out in the woods and wait a bit, then see if you can follow their trail."
Scott, he knew, the other two, not so much. But the idea for tracking exercises wasn't a bad idea, actually. Maybe some of the younger kids would appreciate it as a game of hide-and-seek? He wasn't sure. He'd think about it. "That tracking thing's a good idea," Nick murmured, scratching his chin while he thought about it. "Th-the main reason I've been doing hand-to-hand practice with Toby is because, well, she heals fast from cuts. I can actually use my claws without... without really hurting her," Nick pointed out. He wondered if maybe someone else could give him the same benefit. He didn't want to snub Toby, though. He'd still keep practicing with her. And maybe soon he'd be teaching her some moves.
"Anything else I should do for prep? I've kept Doc Sampson in the loop, and he knows... what I'm working toward. He's been really encouraging." At least it was easy to be okay about this. Taking some time gave him some time to work on, well, other things. He glanced around at her equipment, and then he blinked a few times. Why not ask?
"Totally off-topic, but I just had a random thought and I was wondering if you'd humor me. Do you think you can make claw-resistant guitar strings?" he asked. She was making freaking body armor. How hard could it be?
Kitty blinked, then looked thoughtful. "What are guitar strings usually made of? Steel? Will it change the sound quality if we change the material?"
"I think Jay told me they were made of nickel, usually?" He scratched the side of his head. Maybe he was remembering wrong. "I can't really remember. And it might. I'm not certain." He shrugged. "if it's too big of a pain for you to try, don't sweat it. I can still do bar chords and stuff like that. I know the thicker strings are actually coils, if that makes any difference. But... yeah. I'll do some research, maybe? I-if you're up for an experiment like that, I guess." He didn't want to insist on it. "I'm sure you're pretty busy as it is."
"I'm always up for a challenge! Buuut, have you considered using caps for your claws instead? That way you could play any guitar you want!" Kitty suggested.
It didn't take a lot to make Nick feel kind of stupid. Kitty definitely hit a bull's-eye on that target, though. "I, uh... never... really thought of that," Nick confessed, scratching the side of his muzzle sheepishly. "I haven't really run across any made specifically for claws like mine, but it's not like I've gone running around Salem Center looking for that kind of thing, either." Really, he hadn't been out much at all.
Kitty grinned. "I could try and make some that mimic an organic sound and blend into the color of your claws. No one would even know they're there, and if we make them durable, then they won't wear out too fast."
"I-if it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, sure," Nick said, nervously scratching the back of his head. "I-it'd be handy. Oh, uh... i-it's important that they're like, flat on the tips. So that I can hold the strings down evenly." He remembered Jay mentioning that. "And I'd only really need them for one hand." He could use a pick in the other to strum, no problem.
"Even better. That means that if you need to defend yourself in a hurry, you can use your other hand," Kitty nodded approvingly and hopped up to flip the holo table back on and banish Lockheed from the air above it. "Come here and let me get a scan of your hand for sizing and color. Just how it out above the table."
"O-okay," Nick said, standing up and moving so that he could get his hand over the table easily without getting in Kitty's way. He held his left hand over; that's the hand he'd be using to hold the strings down, anyway, so it made sense to use that one, on the off-chance his hands were slightly different. "Like this?" he asked.
"Perfect," Kitty agreed, running a quick scan, then bringing up a hologram of his hand and claws. "Now I can use this to get a reading on size and color and see if I can't synthesize a material that will work."
Nick blinked a few times at the technological marvel of it all. "This is some sci-fi level stuff right here," Nick murmured, in awe. "Like, beyond Shadowrun." Except no magic. And he was fairly certain Kitty didn't work for an oppressive megacorporation.
Kitty winked at him. "Well, this technology was developed by Tony Stark. Hopefully Stark Industries isn't as bad as in Shadowrun. It's totally new tech, though. Really only in use here and at Tony's personal workshop."
It was just ... tremendously impressive to him. "Wow. This is the kind of stuff that helps make the Danger Room what it is, isn't it?" he asked, and then the scene flashed in front of his mind's eye, unbidden, and he flinched just a bit. He took a breath to keep himself from freaking out, and hoped that Kitty wouldn't notice. "I'd... give a lot just to be a third of how smart you and Tony Stark are," he chuckled, quietly.
"Smarts aren't everything, trust me on this." Kitty made a little face, wrinkling her nose. "And yeah, Tony helped program the hard holograms that we use in the Danger Room. Did you...I mean, I assume you've tried it out?"
"Y-yeah," Nick said, hoping she'd just take his stutter as his usual nerves. "It's, uh. Pretty realistic," Nick said, by way of compliment. Awkward compliment. "Stuff even smells real. It's crazy."
"A lot of that has to do with the AI that handles the Danger Room, but thank you," Kitty smiled.
Still, it was pretty neat. "Well, I guess I'll keep in touch," Nick said, simply, figuring that it was best to let her get back to work. "I-I'll get out of your hair. You're probably super busy without me coming around and making goofball requests for claw caps and crap," he chuckled quietly to himself, unable to really believe it. All the high-tech gadgetry he could ask for, and he wanted claw caps? Ridiculous. "Thanks for ... y'know. Giving me the consideration. And taking time for me. I-I'll see you around."
Kitty watched him curiously, head tilted slightly to one side. "Sure. Anytime, Nick. Take care?"
"Yeah." He let himself smile a little. "You too," he said, giving her a nod as he headed toward the door. Well, that hadn't been nearly as awkward as he'd feared. He just needed to go do something to get his mind off of his bad Danger Room experience. And how cute he found his roommate's girlfriend.
