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Natalia Dyer for Rogue Magazine, 2017

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So bad did she want to tell him to not discount his dreams but she actually understood where he was coming from. She remembered how badly she wanted to professionally pursue dance. She told her parents, it didn’t go well but she was determined to convince them it was a good investment and so researched schools only to find she would have to sell her soul to afford that education—well her parents would. She couldn’t even imagine Lance’s position. “You’re very good. You play really well. I can see you performing for much bigger venues than diners.”

“And well, you don’t need school to continue to pursue music.” She certainly didn’t need school to continue to pursue dance. Shadowcat plopped down on his bed and laid back, enjoying its fresh blankets. “I totally love Rogue! It’s just, so crowded sometimes and our little quirks get on each others nerves.” Kitty shrugged. “Like, for example, she does not use headphones. I don’t think she knows they exist! One time I gave her a pair because I was studying but she listened to the music so loud, I could still hear it.”

Kitty lifted herself back up to sit on the edge of his bed. “Plus with no roommate you can practice your music and you won’t have someone like me, complaining about how loud it is.” She grinned.

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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Kitty did not like that conclusion of his—the way it made her seem: privileged and clueless. Instantly, she felt the need to become defensive but fought it back because..as much as she hated to acknowledge it, he was right and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to be—privileged that is, not clueless. “Maybe..something with computers. I’m really good with them.” She shrugged, feeling that she owed it to take the subject of her academics more seriously.

“What would you like to do, Lance? Like, if you could do anything, what would it be?” They had never really talked about it before. His future or hers either. Theirs perhaps? She blushed a bit at her girlish secret musing whilst he opened the door. “Yeah, It could use a bit more of your personality.” Kitty admitted as she entered behind him.

“Cool! You got a room all to yourself!” Kitty beamed as she noticed the singular bed. “I would kill for the privacy around here.”

Lance chewed the inside of his lip and shrugged, looking genuinely unsure of how to answer. “I… dunno. Never even thought about it.” he confessed while looking around the room. “I guess I’d say music, but art school is like setting your money on fire.”

Lance shrugged. He’d only ever shared a bedroom once or twice briefly while in foster care, and had otherwise always had his own room. He wasn’t sure how bad it was to share a room with someone else, but with how many complaints he heard from other kids, he figured it was torture. “What’s so bad about Rogue? Aren’t you guys are best friends or something?”

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Kitty did not like that conclusion of his—the way it made her seem: privileged and clueless. Instantly, she felt the need to become defensive but fought it back because..as much as she hated to acknowledge it, he was right and it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to be—privileged that is, not clueless. “Maybe..something with computers. I’m really good with them.” She shrugged, feeling that she owed it to take the subject of her academics more seriously.

“What would you like to do, Lance? Like, if you could do anything, what would it be?” They had never really talked about it before. His future or hers either. Theirs perhaps? She blushed a bit at her girlish secret musing whilst he opened the door. “Yeah, It could use a bit more of your personality.” Kitty admitted as she entered behind him.

“Cool! You got a room all to yourself!” Kitty beamed as she noticed the singular bed. “I would kill for the privacy around here.”

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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“I could be doing better things with that ‘book stuff’ “, she used air quotes, “Yeah, I’ll go. I think my parents would totally die of simultaneous hernias if I didn’t go.” Kitty laughed and rolled her eyes. Of course, she totally wanted to go of her own volition also but sometimes wondered if that was selfish of her. If it would be better to just stick around the Institute and help out with the cause.

“I have no idea.” She answered his question with a bit of fear in her tone. “There are so many choices and you know me, I like too many subjects and I can never pick a favorite. But! Good news! I don’t have to pick one for real until the end of my sophomore year!”

“I think it’s the one all the way at the end.” She nodded in the direction of the second to last door by the hallway end.

“So, in other words,” Lance glanced over to her, “You’re gonna throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.” A method Lance could only see people as well-off as Kitty or any of the Xavier kids doing. But at least they were going to college and aiming for careers. “Better than flying blind like me, I guess.”

He stopped by the second to last door, as Kitty had mentioned, spotting the number on the door. “Well… let’s see if this thing works.” He pulled the key card out of his pocket, sliding it into the card reader on the door knob. “Like some fancy hotel.” When the light on the reader turned green, he felt the lock disengage and opened the door.

The bedroom was modestly decorated, with only one bed, one dresser, one desk, and an office chair. It wasn’t as large as the rooms meant for two, but had a large window to with a view of the courtyard make up for it. The walls were painted a muted green, and the floor was hardwood, with a large rug under the bed. Lance looked around, nodding his head. "Beats sleeping in my car, for sure.”

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“I could be doing better things with that ‘book stuff’ “, she used air quotes, “Yeah, I’ll go. I think my parents would totally die of simultaneous hernias if I didn’t go.” Kitty laughed and rolled her eyes. Of course, she totally wanted to go of her own volition also but sometimes wondered if that was selfish of her. If it would be better to just stick around the Institute and help out with the cause.

“I have no idea.” She answered his question with a bit of fear in her tone. “There are so many choices and you know me, I like too many subjects and I can never pick a favorite. But! Good news! I don’t have to pick one for real until the end of my sophomore year!”

“I think it’s the one all the way at the end.” She nodded in the direction of the second to last door by the hallway end.

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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Kitty was shocked with the sudden change in Lance. Letting go of his wrist she stood behind for a few seconds to collect herself. Clearly he didn’t want to talk about it. Don’t press it. Don’t argue. He just got back. He’s here now.

The atmosphere was so good and I just had to go ahead and ruin it! She chided herself after catching up to Lance, keeping her hands as close to her own body as possible as she suddenly became hyper aware of the mood.

“Mhm! Last year.” She answered, languidly following a bit behind him as he counted the rooms. “Looking forward to get out of that place.” Her mind was still fixated on his earlier reaction and what it could actually mean. “I feel like it’s taking up too much of my time that could be spent doing better things.”

Lance felt just a little relief when she responded to him. Well, at least she was leaving it alone, as guilty as it made Lance feel to scare her off of a topic. He kept his eyes on the doors, but smiled and laughed quietly. “Doing better things? I thought you loved all that book stuff. You always had a thousand classes to go to. Kinda like Red that way.” ‘Red’, of course being his nickname for Jean Grey.

“I heard she’s off at college too. Probably already smart enough to get a doctorate or… whatever.” He honestly had no idea how college worked. “You’re gonna go to college right? Thought about what major yet?”

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Kitty was shocked with the sudden change in Lance. Letting go of his wrist she stood behind for a few seconds to collect herself. Clearly he didn’t want to talk about it. Don’t press it. Don’t argue. He just got back. He’s here now.

The atmosphere was so good and I just had to go ahead and ruin it! She chided herself after catching up to Lance, keeping her hands as close to her own body as possible as she suddenly became hyper aware of the mood.

“Mhm! Last year.” She answered, languidly following a bit behind him as he counted the rooms. “Looking forward to get out of that place.” Her mind was still fixated on his earlier reaction and what it could actually mean. “I feel like it’s taking up too much of my time that could be spent doing better things.” 

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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It was no secret that the last time Lance tried to join the X-men team that it ended rather…poorly. Scott was a real jerk and a half. “Scott’s a total jerk, sometimes.” She said with a huff and stepped out of the elevator to join him in walking. Admitting that was easy as she was angry with Scott for weeks after, for not allowing Lance to actually be apart of the team. “Also, not everyone here is an X-man. There are tons of students who aren’t apart of the team but are still apart of the Xavier institute.”

“The one thing we all got in common isn’t that we’re all X-men it’s that we are all here to learn how to control our mutations.” When he stopped, she stopped too, lacing her hands behind her back. Kitty’s easy-going expression dropped to one of concern while listening to his admission which was suddenly halted. Nothing but what? “L-Lance, wait up!” Shadowcat reached out for his arm, grabbing at his wrist gently. “Nothing but what?” She asked, brows furrowing to give away her unease. What happened while you were gone?

Lance stopped when he felt her hand hold his wrist. He looked at her, face complex and cryptic. Thinking it over tensely, he swallowed to clear his throat. “… Nothing but hurt.” he said  plainly, putting a very emphasized period on the topic. He turned back and kept walking. He wanted to make it plenty clear that it wasn’t open for discussion. Shouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place, dumbass…

He looked at the doors, trying to find his room number. “Thirteen… Fourteen…” he looked down the hall, counting ahead in his mind. “Still goin’ to Bayville High, right?” he asked in an attempt to guide to conversation.

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It was no secret that the last time Lance tried to join the X-men team that it ended rather…poorly. Scott was a real jerk and a half. “Scott’s a total jerk, sometimes.” She said with a huff and stepped out of the elevator to join him in walking. Admitting that was easy as she was angry with Scott for weeks after, for not allowing Lance to actually be apart of the team. “Also, not everyone here is an X-man. There are tons of students who aren’t apart of the team but are still apart of the Xavier institute.”

“The one thing we all got in common isn’t that we’re all X-men it’s that we are all here to learn how to control our mutations.” When he stopped, she stopped too, lacing her hands behind her back. Kitty’s easy-going expression dropped to one of concern while listening to his admission which was suddenly halted. Nothing but what? “L-Lance, wait up!” Shadowcat reached out for his arm, grabbing at his wrist gently. “Nothing but what?” She asked, brows furrowing to give away her unease. What happened while you were gone?

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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The choice of words was odd and at first lead Kitty to believe that he was making fun of her choice of sweater for him but, she knew better or well, she knew him better and so she didn’t need to wait for him to finish for clarification. “Nah. Not at all.” Though she was blushing at the though of receiving a gift that he had picked out for her. “Like, don’t worry about it.” Nervously, Kitty pushed a strand of hair behind her ear while regarding the floor of the elevator with her flushed face in hopes that he wouldn’t notice all too much.

Something was bothering her though, just a little. It was his quiet remarks and his lack of energy. Yeah, he was just hospitalized for some pretty serious injuries but he didn’t seem excited even to be out of the infirmary. It was that plus…she remembered how last time ended when he stayed at the institute. He was never comfortable here and it wasn’t like the team worked to make him feel comfortable the last time, especially Scott. “Hey,” Kitty started hesitantly as the elevator rose, “Scott’s like, away at college so..” she paused and changed track, “I mean, it won’t be like last time at all but like, I totally hope you don’t feel uncomfortable..I’d understand though.”

Damn. She’d caught on. He must have sucked at hiding it. Lance cleared his throat and shook his head after she finished speaking. “Nah, I mean…” he let out a small sigh and looked down at his feet. The elevator opened up, and Lance stepped out onto the solid ground, waiting for Kitty to join him in walking again before he’d continue. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be an X-Man. It’s not really my scene.” He stuffed his free hand in his pocket. “I dunno if me and Summers will ever get along. Shit, I dunno where the hell I’ll end up.”

He slowed his his steps, then stopped. “But I don’t want to leave you like I did six months ago. I…” He smirked and laughed it out to make it easier to say. “I don’t wanna run away again. It was a stupid thing to do. Brought me nothing but…” he quieted suddenly, shaking his head to dismiss it and turn for the hallway.

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The choice of words was odd and at first lead Kitty to believe that he was making fun of her choice of sweater for him but, she knew better or well, she knew him better and so she didn’t need to wait for him to finish for clarification. “Nah. Not at all.” Though she was blushing at the though of receiving a gift that he had picked out for her. “Like, don’t worry about it.” Nervously, Kitty pushed a strand of hair behind her ear while regarding the floor of the elevator with her flushed face in hopes that he wouldn’t notice all too much.

Something was bothering her though, just a little. It was his quiet remarks and his lack of energy. Yeah, he was just hospitalized for some pretty serious injuries but he didn’t seem excited even to be out of the infirmary. It was that plus…she remembered how last time ended when he stayed at the institute. He was never comfortable here and it wasn’t like the team worked to make him feel comfortable the last time, especially Scott. “Hey,” Kitty started hesitantly as the elevator rose, “Scott’s like, away at college so..” she paused and changed track, “I mean, it won’t be like last time at all but like, I totally hope you don’t feel uncomfortable..I’d understand though.”

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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Kitty blinked. “Do you think that’s what he came down here for?” She asked, looking at the card with a smile. Either way, she shrugged and tried to place where the room would be. Honestly, she didn’t spend much time in the boys wing of the institute—Kurt always came to her room. But if the room number was 22, it’d probably be at the end of the hall just as it was on the girls side.

“I haven’t been to that side of the institute much..but I think it’d be at the far end of the hall. Wanna walk over? We can like, check it out and set up your phone!” She looked up to Lance and gave him a cheesy grin.

Lance, now with the card in his hand, really began to feel the weight of commitment growing. He was staying here again, and the last time hadn’t ended well. The only thing that kept him calm enough to maintain his composure was the fact that last time had also brought him and Kitty closer. He heard the question, and Kitty’s grin fully got his attention.

He smiled a little again, nodding his head. “Sure. I’d get lost for sure otherwise.” He glanced back over his shoulder, taking one last look at the bed he’d been stuck in for the past two days. Relieved to be out of it, he turned back and walked through the doors.

Once they were in the elevator, on the way up to the ground floor, Lance quietly examined his sweater again, tugging the hem a little to look at the knit. “I’m gonna have to get ya back for this.” He pointed to the sweater, smirking at her. “Get you something.”

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currently practicing :) 

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#100daysofproductivity and #100studytips

STUDY TIP! TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR NOTES

Have you ever written notes so badly that you can’t stand to look at them? And it just bugs you each time you try to study from them… and then you get in such a bad mood about the subject in general. 

There’s one simple fixer for that. Just take pride in your notes. Don’t allow yourself to study from obnoxious average notes. It will most definitely put you in a better frame of mind at least, and decrease brain cloudiness.

Here’s some quick tips:

1. Write neatly. It’s kinda obvious. 

2. Have a proper system for note-taking. eg. Write in sections on the page (not left to the right); Use columns (like the Cornell Note-taking system); Use mind-maps and diagrams etc.

3. Use colour associations. Learning is so much easier when the page has colour and context. Try it. 

4. Make it look good. If it looks bad, seriously you don’t want to look at it for any length of time. If you think you don’t have great handwriting, then just try your best to make it better than your average.

5. Doodle for visual appeal and context. Notes without context creates confusion. So a doodle here and there that relates to the content, even if you’re not an illustrator from heaven, will make a difference. 

6. Finally, just love your notes. It just helps. 

Hope the study is going well!! 

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|| 160907 ||

Aww, U.S History was really fun today :)))

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Kitty blinked. “Do you think that’s what he came down here for?” She asked, looking at the card with a smile. Either way, she shrugged and tried to place where the room would be. Honestly, she didn’t spend much time in the boys wing of the institute—Kurt always came to her room. But if the room number was 22, it’d probably be at the end of the hall just as it was on the girls side.

“I haven’t been to that side of the institute much..but I think it’d be at the far end of the hall. Wanna walk over? We can like, check it out and set up your phone!” She looked up to Lance and gave him a cheesy grin.

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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“You can say thanks~” She teased with a saucy grin and already itching to peel the phone from its box and help him set it up. Instead, she played it cool—well as cool as she could. “I’m honored to present you with your first phone, then.”

This felt really good. It felt normal. It felt like he had never left and for that she was grateful, maybe it meant nothing between them had really changed? She was ready to focus on that good news instead of the uncertainty of his stay.

“Wait, what?” Shadowcat’s brows knit together in question. “You’re room? I-I didn’t know you were staying..I assumed—“ Her confusion melted into barely well-contained glee. “You’re staying!?” She repeated with a certain eagerness as she practically jumped into his arms. Long enough for a room.

Lance got surprised with the sudden hug, but hugged right back, a wide, silly smile on his face. He honestly wasn’t expecting her to be so happy about it, but it was nice to know. He said, “Hey, there’s no where else for me to be.” He rubbed her shoulder. He felt different. Strange and… and good. This was going to be different, but it’d be better. At least he could pray and pretend it would be better. He really had no idea, and that nagging part of his mind kept telling him to rely on previous experience.

He gestured for the doors, walking toward them while keeping one of his hands holding hers. When the doors opened automatically, an envelope that had been wedged between them fell to the floor. “What the–?” Lance looked down at it, spotting his name written in Hank’s cursive. He reached down and picked it up, blinking as he looked at it.

He only let go of Kitty’s hand to open it and pull out a plastic key card marked with “22-1F” and a note which read: “Welcome to the Institute! - Hank.”

He smirked and showed it to Kitty. “He told me he’d get me a ground level room.”

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Gene Kelly, in Motion, in Singin’ in the Rain

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“You can say thanks~” She teased with a saucy grin and already itching to peel the phone from its box and help him set it up. Instead, she played it cool—well as cool as she could. “I’m honored to present you with your first phone, then.”

This felt really good. It felt normal. It felt like he had never left and for that she was grateful, maybe it meant nothing between them had really changed? She was ready to focus on that good news instead of the uncertainty of his stay.

“Wait, what?” Shadowcat’s brows knit together in question. “You’re room? I-I didn’t know you were staying..I assumed—“ Her confusion melted into barely well-contained glee. “You’re staying!?” She repeated with a certain eagerness as she practically jumped into his arms. Long enough for a room.

[Kitty/Lance] Second Reunion

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Wow. She was super glad she decided to get him clothes. To think she was worried it would be a plain and boring gift. Smiling bright, she received her thank you kiss with eager pleasure.

Those gifts were just warm ups. The real one, he was reaching for now and it made her nervous. Suddenly she was worried if she was over-stepping her bounds in getting him this gift or if he would take it the wrong way or what. Maybe it was too much to give him? Or too much to come from her.. 

“I hope you like it!” She rushed that last statement in just before all the tissue paper was pulled away. “Don’t worry about the bill! The institute has one big plan so..Oh! It’s already programmed and everything..you’re number is in there! It’s charged too and I got the bigger one because well..you have big hands” She gestured to his hands like a dope as she rambled like, well, a dope.

If his smile was any indication, he didn’t find the gift to be imposing at all, in fact, it seemed like he was rather excited about it and it calmed kitty into a less erratic excitement. “Now we can talk wherever you go, if you feel you need to go.” She shrugged softly. “Well, that is once I give you my number.”

At first he wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. He was used to prank gifts from the Brotherhood, using fancy boxes to give a pack of cigarettes or something. But of course it wasn’t a prank. This was Kitty. Still, he was in disbelief as he looked the box over, pulling a package holding a phone case from the bag a few seconds afterward. “I… I don’t know what to say…” He knit his brow with a smile on his face. “I’ve never even had one’a these.”

He smirked toward her confidently. “I’m sure that’ll be soon. You’re gonna have to teach me how to use this thing anyway.” He put the phone and its case back in the bag, just to make it easier to carry. “Well, Hank said I can leave the infirmary. Wanna… Show me to my room?” He was sure they had already picked one for him. They were quick on that.

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She had already set up the entire room by the time he came by. The bed was made, with pillows set up against the wall, into a make-shift couch facing towards her desktop monitor that the two used frequently to stream movies. The Princess Bride however, was a movie that she had downloaded onto her hard drive since it was a rather watchable movie between the two—and was already set up to play.

“Coming~” She sang as she opened the door, immediately taking the popcorn bowl from his tail and tossing a few kernels into her mouth. “Are you ready for a rather inconceivable movie, Dread Pirate Wagner?” Dramatically, she waved him in and shut the door behind them, absolutely ready to push down todays events with an adventurous tale about true love.

[End.]

[Kitty /  Kurt] || Aftermath

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“Brown soup?” She looked at him like one would look at someone who just said something completely nuts. “It was soy sauce, Kurt! You said you wanted to give it some flavor!” She rolled her eyes playfully and scoffed. “Fine. Fine. We will avoid tofu.”

“It’s just..” Kitty bit her lip, trying to think of a way to word her thoughts without being way too melodramatic. “I know in the past like, you and Lance didn’t really get along but you helped him anyway, for me. Ya know?” She shrugged as she stood from the chair. “Also, I was a total jerk to you when I first moved here and you were so nice even though I definitely didn’t deserve it~” She spun on her heels to leave the room as fast as she could after saying something so mushy.

She waved her hand over her shoulder, “Have fun cleaning up the grass water!” Which, she wanted to add tasted a lot worse than ‘tofu sweat soup’.

Kitty’s words left him speechless. Brows raised slightly, Kurt watched her rush out of the kitchen with a final wave of her hand. “Huh? Grass water?” Glancing down at the mug in his hands, he understood, and wrinkled his nose at the remaining taste in his mouth. “Why would you want to drink this? To each their own, I guess,” he muttered to no one in particular. Kurt reached out to grab Kitty’s mug and carried both to the sink to pour out what tea was left.

After filling both of the mugs with water, he went to grab a bag of microwave popcorn to get started. That’d pop away while he cleaned up. Kurt’s spaded tail waved around in time with his button presses on the microwave, his excitement already starting to bubble up even though they’d done the very same thing about a hundred times–with the same movie, too. The faucet splashed a bit of water at him as he picked up the first mug. Cleaning them didn’t take very long, so the microwave continued humming away even after the water was turned off. There was just enough time for him to grab their favorite popcorn bowl and a couple of water bottles before the time ended. 

Popcorn popped and in the bowl, water secure, and everything cleaned up, Kurt ‘ported right to Shadowcat’s door. “Kitty ♪” he sang, holding the bowl with his tail so he could knock properly, “I come bearing food!” 

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Girls & Books 

I., IV. Léon François Comerre (French, 1850-1916)

II. Thomas Lawrence (English, 1769-1830)

III. Charles Edward Perugini (Italian/English, 1839-1918)