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The Perk [Friday afternoon]

Irene felt just slightly on the other side of "like death," so today she actually dragged herself out of bed, took a shower, and managed to put on clothes that weren't pajamas. And with that done, she saw little reason why she shouldn't leave her flat and at least attempt to get some work done.

It was Sparkle's day at the shop, so she wasn't worried about that in the slightest -- the boy was eccentric, but seemed competent. No, instead she gathered up her notes and her laptop and headed to the Perk, where she would be far more motivated to research things for class over tea -- her apartment held the promise of Top Model on her DVR, even if her own kettle was slightly more convenient.

She tucked herself into a corner, feeling a little exposed in just (designer, please) jeans and a sweater, her hair down and makeup minimal. But on the other hand, she also didn't quite feel well enough to care -- she didn't feel quite herself, so it made sense that she shouldn't look quite herself.

And when she took her first sip of tea and discovered that, against her objections, it was somehow pumpkin-spicy, she decided she didn't care enough about that do to anything about it, either. Bleh, effort.

[open post is open, though warning in advance that I have a friend in town and will force SP on you after 6:30 EST!]

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The problem with getting coffee late yesterday was that Kitty was up late, and therefore was tired today. So back to get coffee it was, because that's how cycles worked.

"This is a new look for you," she said, coming over with her drink.

"It felt like a lot of effort to actually do my hair and such today," Irene admitted with a little smile. "I'm shocked you recognized me."

It was not that dramatic, Irene, come on.

"You're still Irene, just a casual Irene," Kitty smiled. "It's a good look, anyway."

"Thank you," Irene said, and actually did a little bow. "How've you been? I'm getting over a cold, so don't venture too terribly close, dear."

Hence the whole casual thing.

Kitty wished she could look like that when she had a cold. "You're fine," she said, taking a seat. "I'm good. Always busy. Catching up after vacation while working in two states? Not recommended. How about you? Cold aside."

Irene winced. "I'm boring, cold aside. Hired someone, recovering from being a man, et cetera. Where else are you working?"

Because that sounded like a terrible commute.

"I portal over to my old school in New York once a week to play guidance counselor and stuff," she said. "On their tab, thank god."

"Don't they have someone a touch more local to do that?" Irene suggested gently.

"It's a little more than just guidance counseling, so they wanted me specifically," she admitted. "But they've been asking me to come back for like a year and I'm finally in the headspace to say yes."

"Well, that's flattering, at least," Irene said, a little less concerned now. "Is it more than guidance in the sense that it's to do with your -- you know?" She mimed putting her hand through the table, helpfully.

"Yep. I mean, it's a school for mutants, so there's that," Kitty said. "But I sort of do stuff on the side with that now."

"A whole school?" Irene looked surprised at that, and then caught herself. "Well, that's not so different from here, is it? I've got kids in my class who bloody time-travel."

Besides, that wasn't as interesting as the other thing Kitty had said. "On the side how?" Because Irene could totally imagine about a billion ways to use Kitty's powers for personal gain. Most of them were not exactly ethical.

That was exactly why the bad guys liked Kitty so much! "Sooo you know how my world has superheroes and all?"

Irene was, generally, sharper than the average tack, and thus took a moment to process where this was going before raising her brows expectantly. "...really? Do you wear a cape?"

"Noooo. That'd just get in the way. It's just a bodysuit type thing," she said. "...I'm amazed I've never had a cape, actually."

Had she? She'd had a lot of costumes.

"So let me get this straight -- you teach here, you run the bar here, you're a guidance counselor-thingie at your previous school, and you superhero about in your spare time?" Irene ticked all those off on her fingers, giving Kitty an incredulous look. "Kitty, when do you sleep? I thought I used to be busy."

"It's actually getting a lot easier now that I'm used to a schedule," Kitty told her, sipping her coffee. "But if anyone changes anything on me I might cry. The costume thing is't something I need to do all the time, I can do Caritas office work when I'm at Xavier's, I've worked it out. What had you so busy?"

"Still," Irene said, actually sort of gently chiding because burning out was no fun for anyone. "Take a vacation that's not building houses in the frozen cold when you get a chance?"

She sipped her own tea, thoughtful for a moment, then lifted a brow. "I was self-employed, and quite good at it, but I don't want to shock you too bad. Are you thoroughly braced?"

She just didn't want a spit-take or anything. Hatter'd had a laughing fit when she'd told him.

Uh oh, but Kitty nodded. "Totally braced."

Irene lifted her cup again, smiling over the rim before taking a sip. "I was a dominatrix. Very high-end, so I was usually running from London to Paris to wherever, depending on where the client was."

And there, now two people here knew the most notorious thing about her former life.

Kitty stared at her. "Wait, seriously? Like with the..."

That was a whipping motion she was making, which she only knew how to do because of Illinois Smith.

Irene nodded, grinning. "And the stilettos, and the paddles, and the so on. Not," she clarified, "a prostitute, mind. It was just domination and pain, not sex inherently. But yes."

"Okay the stuff from Dite's makes way more sense now," she said. "And that was a really busy job?"

Well, now she was all interested.

"Mostly because of the travel," Irene admitted, "and being available for clients. But I also had my own stuff on the side, and that kept me plenty busy, too. When one's self-employed in that sort of business, one has to put certain precautions in place, particularly as a woman, if that makes sense. So arranging my security was a large portion of it."

Even if she hadn't been the nicest about how she arranged it, always.

"Okay, that sounds like way more work than I would have thought," Kitty admitted. "Not that I'd really thought much about it before..."

"No? Not high on your list of possible career options?" Irene teased lightly, waggling her brows a touch. "You might have a knack for it. Most of it's just being bossy and beautiful at the same time."

That was a good way to get Kitty to blush! "I don't think I'd be very good at that whole thing," she said. "And I think that might not go over so well with a certain boyfriend..."

"It's difficult," Irene acknowledged, "maintaining relationships in my line of work. Though I'd imagine it's difficult when one's a superhero, too."

Just guessing, based on movies and all.

"You get some unique problems popping up sometimes," Kitty admitted. Having once had a boyfriend get like pheromone-brainwashed into cheating on her, having once gotten possessed and trying to ninja-kill another boyfriend, etc. etc. etc. "I think this relationship can stand up to it, though."

"Good," Irene said, and she meant it. "You two are adorable together, and the world is always in need of more adorableness. He's good with the whole...superheroing thing, though?"

It was amazing how quickly that had just become part of her vocabulary.

"Yep. He's known about it almost as long as we've known each other," Kitty said. Aww, they were adorable, that made her happy. "He's not a huge fan of me putting myself in danger, but he knows I can handle myself."

"Understandably," Irene agreed. "I'm not a huge fan of you putting yourself in danger, but of course you've got it handled. You've been doing it a long time, I take it?"

"Eight years, off and on. I was retired when I got to Fandom, but I kept getting dragged back into stuff until I officially came back," Kitty explained. "Once a superhero, always a superhero, I guess."

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The Perk [Friday afternoon]

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