We're Learning to Understand (pg-13)

" Welcome to my world." She muttered under her breath as she took a sip. She set her glass down and stared ahead. She had considered possibilities. Like leaving Mackenzie with Peter and running. She didnt want to be like her mom and abandon her kid. There was always peter.

" I know what you mean. We love em, but we cant leave em. If we ran, they would just follow us. Or we would just end up hurting them. You and eve, me and peter. Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe we are meant to be a team with our loved ones. Its good to have someone watching your back right?" She wasnt just asking him. she was asking herself.

"Usually I would disagree." For having someone at your back only gave them a chance to turn and stab you. Kas didn't care so much anymore.

He wanted to trust Eve. He had been through enough pain, it tempered him, made him apathetic. Maybe he could handle it if things went wrong?
The way Kas saw it, both he and Eve were overdue for some nice.
They were both craving acceptance and closeness to someone.
An undenyable attraction was there. But so was something more.. He couldn't quite grasp what it was, but the feeling was only getting stronger. Did love made you feel like without her you were going to curl up into a dry, empty husk, then crumble and blow away..?

"But I don't know what I'm thinking anymore. I can't even start to explain it."
Kas leaned both elbows on the bar counter and shrugged helplessly.

"yea, i feel the same way." Loika rubbed her temple. It felt like a huge load was being lifted from her shoulders. Having someone she could not only talk to and share things but also knew exactly what she was talking about. Maybe she would keep some of her sanity after all. " So... whats the story behind your barcode? Mine actually serves a purpose. You like Ink or did they tag you too?"

"It's a tag. For a piece of property." He nodded, picking up his glass and taking it down to less than half. "There was a tracking device.." Kas stretched the other arm, tapping a spot on the back of his neck, between the shoulderblades. "Got rid of it.."
Kas glanced over at Loika, frowning a bit.
"But.. they screwed me up in a way I'm not sure I can fix. It's going to be really difficult for me to 'settle down'."
He wasn't just talking about the psychological damage left behind.
There was more to the story. Loika was one who hopefully wouldn't turn this into something embaressing, though.
"I'm... um.. shooting blanks. They didn't want more little Kelly's running amok if I ever got out.."
He took another drink, and stared at his glass.
Maybe it could be surgically repaired, and maybe it couldn't. Kas was too afraid to go and let a doctor poking around there to find out.

Loika flipped her hair to the side so that the barcode on her neck was visible. " Mine is on my neck. Theres a chip like you put in a dog under the tattoo. I need to get it out but i dont trust anyone.. and im not ready to ask Jason yet."

She let her hair down and looked over at him. " I bet Jason would know someone you could trust to help... i mean if thats what you want. I know Eve has baby fever. Sometimes i think she wants to keep Mackenzie forever." The last part was meant as a joke.

Kas smirked at Loika's remark about Eve wanting to keep her daughter. He knew how much Eve liked kids. They were like little aliens to him. From another planet.
He wanted to understand them, but part of him was afraid of hurting them in some fashion.
"I tell you what.. the time comes, and you trust someone to get that thing out, I can help ya. On the same note, I'll pay a call on your buddy Jason if I feel like getting that problem looked at."

Loika sat up a little quickly and wobbled in her seat. The fourth whiskey hitting her a little. " Yes. Yes i want the damn thing out. Its like a parasite or something always on the back of my mind. " She looked at Kas intensely. Her ice blue eyes only made her look more intense.

Kelly's brows went up as he stared back at Loika and she sternly said
"Yes. Yes i want the damn thing out. Its like a parasite or something always on the back of my mind."

He considered this a moment, and then set his glass down.
"Like right now? I could get rid of it now, if you want. No more parasite."
Kas chuckled. He found it morbidly funny someone who just had a small alien growing inside her for 9 months was upset about this.

She blinked in surprise that he was actually willing to take it out of her neck. She patted him on the arm and smirked. " As much as i reaaaally want it out, I dont know that i want a drunk guy poking around my neck. Healing factor or not." She giggled and went back to sip more of her Whiskey. The fourth drink was almost gone.

"Rain check, then." He smirked, draining his glass.
"So, anything else you wanted to talk about? I should get home sometime and make sure my new houseguest isn't tearing everything to shreds or pissing on the furniture.."
Kas chuckled. He wasn't supposed to have pets.. but did this qualify?
"You might want to uhh.. be careful if you come by, too."
He set a ten under the empty glass for the bartender, since he'd been sitting here for hours warming the same seat.
"Katt might remember you."

Loika choked on her whiskey and spit some of it out at the same time. She coughed and choked for a few moments before she gasped enough air to be able to talk. She looked at him in disbelief. The bartender looked at them warily and she waved her hand away at him to let him know she was alright. She blinked and stared at Kas in shock. " You kept that thing? What the hell is wrong with you!? you're lucky she hasnt killed you!"

"She ain't a 'thing'!" He started defensively "I couldn't help it! I passed her in the hallway on the way out, and she was still alive.."
And fighting for it. He didn't feel much sympathy for rock-man, but the cat girl struck a heartstring.
"I don't want to think about what they would've done because she failed to stop us. I know what happened every time I fucked up. Death would've been kinder."
And that was the truth. Kas didn't doubt Loika knew how that felt.
"So.. I'm keeping her in my place until she's healed up, and then I'll figure out what to do."

Loika shivered when he reminded her of the all too important lesson they had both learned in failure. Hers ranged from no food and sleep for days, to being shot or shocked. Her body still carried many of the scars. " Geeze just be careful alright? We both know some mutants arent exactly stable and now you have an injured one in your house. If shes anything like us Half animals she is gunna lash out at you. Animals in pain tend to do that." She paid for her last few drinks and smirked. " Does Eve know about your little housepet?"

Kas listened to the advise, nodding. He was already past the stage of biting and clawing, and now the kitty-girl seemed to think Kas, his place, and everything in it were -hers-
He couldn't get her away for longer than a trip to the bathroom while he was at his apartment. Hence, he spent as much time out as he could get away with.

"No. Hell no. I don't know how that would turn out."
Kas shook his head and tried to imagine.
Eve could, on one hand, actually take a liking to the feline girl. She was more or less a housecat, capable of some words.
More likely though, Eve would find a twelve-year-old girl glued to him and curled up on his bed next to him when he slept distasteful, and ask all sorts of questions that would put them both in a lot of trouble.
But he couldn't just toss her out, like some stray.
He knew exactly how it felt. Kas wasn't going to back down on this one.
Sooner or later, Eve would probably come over, though maybe his 'guest' would be out investigating the rest of the world by then.
"Probably not a good idea. She would wonder where the cat came from."

Loika scratched her head in thought. " What happens when she comes over for a surprise visit and miss cat thing thinks that territory is hers. Dont get me wrong Eve is the fiestiest girl i know but i dont know how much of a chance she would have against that thing if she just came walkin in unaware." She shrugged and drained the last of her glass. " just sayin..."

"You know.. whenever someone says 'just saying', its never after having something good to say." Kelly sighed. Loika did have a point. He didn't have any idea how Katt, as he'd taken to calling her, would react to an invasion of her territory.

"Oh well... I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it."
Kas really didn't know why he'd given into his guilty conscience then, anyway.
He'd never felt like that in the middle of an operation before.. usually that was all reserved for when it was over, and there was time to be 'emotional'.
The only conclusion he could derive was that it was because of Eve.

"I guess we'll know if I can't manage to take care of a cat, then there's not much hope I could raise a kid." He chuckled sardonically.

Loika snickered, then covered her mouth and blushed. She didnt mean to snicker at Kas. She didnt do it to be offensive. " Sorry its just... Did you just compare a housepet to a child?" Her snickers errupted into laughter. She had no idea why it was so funny. Maybe it was the long day, maybe it was the drinks. For whatever reason it was funny.

" Well i guess some couples do get a pet before they get pregnant..." She said after her little laughing fit had subsided. . I dont see me and peter ever getting a pet though. A dog is out of the question as i would be talking to it all the time, and i HATE cats

Last edited by Loika Faelith on Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:13 pm; edited 1 time in total

"Mayyybe?" Kas couldn't help chucking some as Loika started laughing.
"Yeah, I don't think you need a pet. You have enough demands on your attention. Wouldn't want your baby to get jealous. Or worse, your dear angerface boyfriend."
He snikkered "I'd only imagine what that could turn out like. 'Honey, why do we have fifteen pounds of prime rib in the the fridge... and nothing else?' 'Because he listens to me!'"

Loika laughed harder, almost falling off of her barstool. " Hes not thaaaat angry. Hes just... just..." She laughed more. " Hey if i got a dog, we can both beg for attention and treats! I bet he would only walk one of us though." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she laughed. She didnt know why this was all so funny but it was hysterical.

Kas smiled, glad to see Loika pulling out of her funky cynical mood.
"Maybe only one of you would get treats, you never know... Since the dog could discuss the budget with you. 'Honey, the dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can. That's almost $7.00 in dog money!'"
Okay, so he really was trying to make Loika fall off her chair.
"And the next time I dropped by the Xavier school, there would be a sign on the front gate reading 'Salesmen welcome, dog food is expensive'."

" Oh god stop no more no more!" She was laughing hard now, holding her side from laughing so hard. The bartender gave them a look from the other end of a bar. A look that said he thought they were crazy. Loika wobbled dangerously close to falling off of her chair as she laughed.

" At least me and the dog could take turns chasing the mailman. " She snickered. She pretended to get serious and put a hand on Kelly's shoulder. " I better start behaving or we both know what will happen...." She bit her lip with her abnormally long canines to keep from laughing again. " Peter might tie me out in the yard... or worse. Take me to the vet."

Kas figured he'd better quit before Loika injured herself from laughing too hard.
He smirked at her further puns on being 'put in the doghouse' as it were.
The vet was not a laughing matter for either of them. Uniform white walls and the smell of sanitizer were things that haunted both thier nightmares.

"Well I will be sure and tell no one of your liking for whiskey. Wouldn't want anyone to think you -were- misbehaving." He chuckled.
"It was really good talking to you.." Despite not entirely having wanted to in the beginning. Kas gave her a sincere smile. "I think you've helped me sort some things out in my head... and you know if you ever need anything, all you gotta do is ask."

((think we should close this one?))

Loika pulled her coat back on nodded. " Thanks for keeping the secret fellow lab rat. I still dont understand why Peter wont let me drink. " She walked with him towards the door. " It was good talkin to you too. We should do this more often. I'll get back to you about helping me with the thing." She said pointing to her neck. She gave him a final wave and headed out the door.


OOC: yea im finished if you are.