By The Stairs

[Iceman]

As Bobby came down the stairs, his stomach growled and he realized that it was dinnertime. Sure enough, as he turned the corner on the stairs, he saw students milling towards and near the kitchen and dining area.

He'd wait. He didn't feel like being amid all the chatter and people then; which was odd for him. He was usually warm and friendly. But not today.

He paused at the bottom of the stairs, leaning on the railing and wondering whether he should check the office or the kitchen for Storm...If she was even there right now.

[Shadowcat]

Kitty was still flushed when she got all the way up the stairs, halfway from the lingering blush that she'd actually kissed on the first date (even if the cheek, it STILL COUNTED) and halfway because she'd charged up the stairs in shoes that did not make charging very easy, though not as difficult as some of her choices could've made it.

She had actually passed him before she realized that Bobby was hanging around near the bottom of the stairs, looking fairly morose.

"Oh," she said from the top, "Hey, Bobby, I didn't see you."

For once, she actually hadn't. She still kind of had a headrush.

[Iceman]

Bobby hadn't paid any attention to the people walking up and down the stairs beside him, until he heard his name. He looked up to see Kitty, and though he didn't smile, his heavy look faded. "Hey."

She looked rushed--and was she blushing? "You look like you just won the lottery." He commented. That feeling was almost foreign to him...He could of course remember times when he'd been like that, but it was too far gone to remember how it had felt.

[Shadowcat]

Well, it wasn't a look of complete joy or anything, but at least he didn't look so depressed.

"Hey. You look like you just won the lottery."

Kitty grinned at him. "Had a date," she said. "You look kinda down. What's on your mind?"

Maybe if she was lucky she'd diffuse a bit and she wouldn't be so giddy all night. That might get annoying, and even if she didn't have a roommate to plague with it, the night was young yet and she might conceivably run into people. Like she'd run into Bobby.

[Iceman]

"Had a date,"

Bobby's true response to the news was pretty well hidden; though he looked down and swallowed thickly, his face didn't change. He looked back up to Kitty and started to nod nonchalantly--

"You look kinda down. What's on your mind?"

Bobby didn't answer for a few long moments after she asked. His eyes moved down, then darted this way and that, as if looking to see if anyone else was listening. In his head, he wondered if he should tell her. Finally, he decided to. After all, she must be feeling the new publicity as well.

Finally, his eyes calmed down and settled on her again. "I, uh...Teen People wants to do a cover story. On me."

[Shadowcat]

Bobby looked kinda funny. Maybe she'd reminded him of Rogue - probably hadn't been the most diplomatic thing in the world to say, had it? You didn't just get over someone leaving like that. Kitty knew from experience.

At least Rogue had had a reason.

Bobby didn't answer her inquiry for a few moments, either, which was worrying. Maybe it was something big.

Now she really hoped it wasn't about Rogue. They'd never been extremely close friends, but if you lived with someone for any length you got used to them being around, which, for Kitty, translated automatically to worry.

"I, uh...Teen People wants to do a cover story. On me."

Kitty almost laughed. "That's a bad thing?" she asked. "I thought most people wanted to be famous."

Well, not her. But she was weird.

[Iceman]

"That's a bad thing? I thought most people wanted to be famous."

Bobby was suprised at Kitty's response. It was kind of comforting, though, that his friend was on the side he really wanted to hear. But he found himself playing the Devil's Advocate.

"Well, yeah, but...Don't you think...I mean, I'm not in this to be famous." He knew she hadn't accused him, but he felt like he needed to defend himself anyway. "Don't you think that's what it'll look like if my face is plastered on some teen magazine?"

He knew what he wanted her to say, as people usually do when they say 'don't you think?'. But he also wanted to hear her true opinion.

[Shadowcat]

"Well, yeah, but...Don't you think...I mean, I'm not in this to be famous."

Kitty bit her lip and then released it, having forgotten that she was wearing the lip gloss that tasted like wax rather than the lip gloss that tasted like strawberries. "Well, no, of course not," she said. "None of us are."

"Don't you think that's what it'll look like if my face is plastered on some teen magazine?"

Kitty shrugged, thinking. "It might a little," she admitted. "But it's Teen People, right? That's sort of serious - it's not like Seventeen or anything." Nothing against Seventeen, of course. Seventeen was a text second in Kitty's life only to the Torah.

"You'd just have to make the interview not about you," she said. "If you sit there talking about your favorite color, yeah, you're not going to make any friends around here. But you could do it like the Professor used to - just sort of try to reach a younger audience and talk about tolerance and mutant rights and everything, right? That wouldn't be a bad thing at all. We need more coverage that's not all 'ooh look, they saved Alcatraz.'"

[Iceman]

"But you could do it like the Professor used to - just sort of try to reach a younger audience and talk about tolerance and mutant rights and everything, right? That wouldn't be a bad thing at all."

In all his worrying and thinking, Bobby hadn't thought of that--and for a minute it seemed like the answer to all his problems. His eyes lit up, and a smile crept slowly onto his face.

But then he remembered something from his phone conversation that dampened his mood. "They, uh...Said something about about making superheroes more cool with teenagers. I think he called me a, uh...'superhero heartthrob'?"

The way he repeated the title was humorous, because he was clearly so confused by it. He knew his cheeks were turning a bit red. It was foreign to him--he never really thought about his looks, unless he wanted to impress a girl. And even then, he wouldn't consider himself a 'heartthrob'.

[Shadowcat]

Kitty smiled back. She'd made two people happy today now. Success!

"They, uh...Said something about about making superheroes more cool with teenagers. I think he called me a, uh...'superhero heartthrob'?"

Kitty giggled. It wasn't a laughable idea (at all; even she recognized that), but it was the way he said it.

"I'd just go with it," she said. "I think that means they just want someone who makes a nice cover photo."

Bobby would, too. It'd be hard for girls across the nation to be as scared of mutants when mutants were cute, built guys with pretty eyes who still had their heads screwed on straight from living in a normal household. Until Boston, anyway.

[Iceman]

"I'd just go with it...I think that means they just want someone who makes a nice cover photo."

Bobby looked hopeful. "You think?" He asked, one eyebrow cocked as he tapped the wooden railing.

"Oh, and have you seen Storm?" He was feeling a lot better about the interview, but he wanted to make sure it was okay first.

[Shadowcat]

"You think?"

"Yeah, I think," Kitty said, hunching her shoulders a little. "It'll be great." Bobby'd have them converted by the dozens. Too bad Peter was a little past the point where he could be called a teen - he'd have made a nice cover photo himself. Even John, for the punk crowd.

Except he was evil, so no, not really.

"Oh, and have you seen Storm?"

"Nope," Kitty said. "Just got in. She might be in the kitchen, though, she usually makes at least something to help with dinner. I'm going to go finish up some homework - see you!"

Kitty waved goodbye before continuing up the steps.

[Iceman]

As Kitty disappeared up the steps, Bobby called after her.

"Hey, Kitty!"

He paused, hoping she wasn't out of earshot.

[Shadowcat]

"Hey, Kitty!"

Kitty was not, in fact, out of earshot. She turned around, halfway up the steps to the next floor, before pausing again.

"Hey, what?" she asked.

[Iceman]

"A date with who?" He asked, looking up at her at the top of the stairs from where he stood at the bottom. He wore a smile; just a friend interested in her crushes. It's how he'd always pretty much acted, and he planned to keep it up.

He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he couldn't be sure--they talked about a lot of different things, but with her being female and him being male...There were some things they didn't go into much. Which was why he'd kept everything about Rogue pretty much to himself. Though it seemed to be building up inside of him, and turning him into an angsty, troubled guy.

[Shadowcat]

"A date with who?"

Kitty smiled. "Peter," she said. "Well, sort of. It didn't start as a date, but it kind of ended up there."

Certainly a far cry from John - Bobby'd probably approve a whole lot more of Peter than of his ex-friend and now-nemesis, right? She was figuring this whole dating thing out. Go out with the nice guy, not the guy who sets you on fire. First dates not ending in forced bobs were always better.

She could even tell people about this first date. That was nice.

[Iceman]

If it had to be anyone, at least it was Pete, who Bobby was friends with as well. He knew Pete was a good guy. And ten times better than her previous egotistical, arrogant, idiotic, traitor boyfriend...Bobby felt disgust and anger just thinking about John.

"An improvement." He said with a nod, then laughed. She'd know who he was talking about. But he searched for any sign of sadness in her face--he knew that despite John's actions, his death had been hard on her. He wanted to ask how she was doing with dealing with his death...But he didn't. He didn't want to ruin her good mood.

[Shadowcat]

"An improvement."

Kitty smiled again, brilliantly. No one had really approved of her and John. It hadn't bothered her then, she thought, but it was nice to have it now.

"I thought so," she said simply, feeling a pang of disloyalty even as the words came out of her mouth.

It seemed like eons ago that she'd seen him on TV.

Did anyone else even know -?

"He's not dead," she said quickly, knowing Bobby would know who he was. "I - we saw him on the news today. The Brotherhood was in England robbing a bank or something. He got shot in the shoulder. I thought you might want to know."

[Iceman]

"He's not dead,"

Bobby's smile kind of froze--he wasn't sure if he'd heard her right. But as she continued, his smile faded from his face completely. In it's place was a serious expression; a mix of shock and anger, or frustration.

His mind raced with fragmented thoughts, which didn't finish before he went to the next. There was no way...Yes. There was. He'd just assumed John was dead--they all had. Bobby reprimanded himself for not making sure...Though he knew he didn't want to kill anyone. 'I could find him,' he thought suddenly. But he doubted he could; he could be anywhere in the world. Maybe Storm, or Wolverine, would know his whereabouts.

Bobby was no longer looking at Kitty. He was staring straight ahead, at the wall in front of him. "I should have gone back. I should have made sure." He said in a low voice, though loud enough for Kitty to hear.

[Shadowcat]

Annnd Bobby started looking funny again. She shouldn't have told him. No, she definitely was right in telling him, but there had to be a better way to phrase it.

Why had they just assumed he was dead? After all, he'd only disappeared, and even if countless people had been shot (and a few just blown up), what was to stop John being among the many who had certainly got away? You could swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco. Maybe not comfortably, but you could do it.

"I should have gone back. I should have made sure."

"This isn't your fault," Kitty said firmly. "You'd never have forgiven yourself if you'd killed him, you know that. We'll just - have to be more careful."