Heat of the Moment

A/N: Again, a brief explanation of one of the warnings. The "Minor" warning exists purely because I subscribe the CYA school of warnings - the characters are teenagers, and therefore "minors," but it seems a bit bizarre that one must warn about teenagers engaging in sexual activities in fiction, and yet it's ludicrously popular entertainment to watch teen movies and shows involving the same activities (albeit those movies and shows are more discreet). Rest assured that the characters are, at least, both teenagers, so there's no pedophilia or statutory going on.


Chapter 1: Remember When We Used to Dance

It started with the fountain.

Physically, Kitty Pryde, a.k.a. “Shadowcat,” was gliding on the ice, her muscle memory having shaken off the rust of disuse that seemed to coat her muscles when she first began skating. Emotionally she felt as if she were floating, as transient as a wisp of cloud in a strong wind, apt to be blown away at any moment.

After the Professor’s funeral earlier that day, Kitty had lain in her room and cried her eyes dry for several hours, until the visit paid by Bobby Drake – somewhat uninspiredly codenamed “Iceman,” but that was probably a better option than the others proposed, like “Mr. Freeze” or “Frosty”. She’d thought to herself at the time that it was a sweet gesture on his part, but she’d reined herself in by reminding herself that Bobby was Rogue’s boyfriend, not hers. Worse, she’d actually said something about it to him, which, in addition to tipping her hand, had thrown into his face, once again, the difficulties inherent to a relationship in which one person was physically incapable of touching other people. After they shared an awkward moment followed by reminiscences about the Professor’s role in their lives, Bobby outdid his earlier sweet gesture by bringing her out to the fountain in the front lawn and creating a rink for them to skate on.

Kitty glanced over at Bobby surreptitiously; she caught his strong jawline and those ice-blue eyes that melted her and every other teenage girl at the school into a puddle. Up to this point, the silence between them had not been awkward, but comfortable, companionable. Bobby had restrained himself admirably thus far: he was, understandably, an Olympic-caliber ice skater, but he hadn’t showed off his skill in the least, content merely to take laps with her and let her forget – let them forget – about the grief, the pain, the loss… for a little while, at least.

Bobby’s eyes flicked sideways to meet Kitty’s gaze, and the corner of his lip curled into a smirk when she flushed. Aside from the ice, it wasn’t particularly cold that night, so he knew her response arose from other-than-physical reasons. He wondered if she knew how difficult it was for him to rein in his usual ice-skating panache. He wondered if she knew how beautiful she was while gliding along the ice. He wondered if she knew how difficult it was to restrain himself earlier from taking her in his arms, if only to comfort her as he had done during the funeral when he took her hand.

Stop it, he told himself firmly. Rogue was his girlfriend, to whom he’d been utterly faithful, not Kitty – a fact which Kitty had reminded him of earlier, while unintentionally (he assumed) reminding him about how distant Rogue had been since Alkali Lake. Rogue kept blaming herself for “almost killing” him, despite the fact it was the late Professor’s psionic pressure doing the most damage; she now freaked out even when he tried to touch her in ‘safe’ ways, like holding hands through the gloves or running his fingers through her hair. The more he reached out toward her, to show he wasn’t afraid of her power, the more she pushed him away. Their relationship was deteriorating fast; soon, something would have to give.

After making eye contact, Kitty broke it. She looked straight ahead, figuring that she’d probably blushed, but tried her hardest to remain stoic. However, try as she might, she couldn’t suppress the smile from spreading across her face. Even though (she assumed) Bobby hadn’t intended it, Kitty had begun to find this outing rather romantic.

The teenagers made what must have been their twentieth lap around the fountain. Kitty, who was on the outside track, put on a bit of extra speed, intending to start a race. She surprised Bobby sufficiently that she opened a lead of half a lap before he could react, but she soon heard the scrape of his skates increase in frequency. Impishly she spun and stuck her tongue out at him, trying to entice him to catch her.

Kitty had barely turned back around to widen her lead when she felt Bobby grab her hand. Both of them were laughing by this point as Bobby took the lead. He held onto Kitty’s hand even after he’d completed the pass, to the point that her arm was fully extended, until he heard Kitty yelp in what he thought was pain. Not wanting to harm his skating partner, Bobby braked. Physics, in the form of angular momentum combined with a lack of friction, brought Kitty whirling in a much smaller and much faster circle than the one she’d been in. Though she tied to brake, she still felt her balance falter. Her free arm shot out to test the shock of the coming impact, and Kitty prepared to phase.

Instead, Bobby pulled on her arm, bringing Kitty into his center of gravity. He caught her other arm and shifted his own balance to absorb the impact. Clasping one another, the young mutants spun sedately to a stop. Their eyes locked, lingered a few beats as they panted from exertion. Kitty’s tongue appeared briefly to moisten her lips.

What both teenagers noticed most prominently was how warm the other’s hand felt in their own. Bobby felt his hand tingling with the sensation of actually touching a girl’s hand, tingling as if he’d just hit his funny bone, tingling with the intensity of the half-dozen habanera peppers he’d eaten once on a dare from John. Her skin felt unbelievably soft in his hand, while her other arm seemed so slender, so fragile, with his hand wrapped around the forearm. The thought, Perhaps ignorance really is bliss, passed through his mind.

Kitty trembled all over. Bobby’s hand was surprisingly warm to the touch as their fingers interlaced - warmer, at any rate, than the night air over their impromptu skating rink. Her stomach seemed to be filled to the brim with rioting butterflies, as it often did around Bobby. She fervently hoped that Bobby couldn’t feel her heart racing through her hand or forearm; his grip was certainly strong enough, but still gentle enough not to hurt her. Kitty knew she was glowing bright red by this point.

The earlier comfortable silence dissipated, leaving in its wake a strange discomfort of heightened perception. Bobby himself focused on her deep brown, almost black eyes, eyes that seemed to have no bottom, drawing him inexorably toward her. He dimly noted Kitty’s lips parted just a bit as she breathed, their soft pink color accentuated by the tendril of dark hair cascading down her cheek.

Kitty floated upward toward the much-taller Bobby, drawn by his bright blue irises – her nickname for him happened to be “Bright Eyes,” and he had responded to that nickname by occasionally singing Bonnie Tyler. His gaze was so intense right now that Kitty felt as if she’d been physically struck by a sledgehammer. As she closed the distance, a back corner of her brain compared her to a moth hypnotized by flame.

Bobby’s brain finally caught up with what his body was doing, and he braked his approach. Kitty blinked rapidly, as if to clear her mind. She tossed her head slightly, flipping her bangs out of her eyes. Bobby gritted his teeth, kicking himself for causing that close call. I hope that Rogue is fast asleep by now, he thought.

Kitty let the moment finish passing before she finally broke the silence. “Thank you for this, Bobby,” she told him, trying to convey her earnest appreciation for his efforts to cheer her up. She gave him a grateful smile.

Bobby started to grin ear to ear at his success, but changed his mind, not wanting to charm her the way his smile was wont to do, and settled for a tight smile. “Sure thing, Kitty. I… just now…”

Kitty chucked her thumb at the mansion. “Let’s get inside,” she suggested, trying to avoid any further awkwardness for the moment.

Bobby nodded in agreement, and they skated off the fountain, keeping about a foot of air in between them. Unfortunately, unknown to them, Bobby’s wish had been in vain; their encounter had been witnessed from afar by a certain untouchable girl with the white streak in her hair.