Dansbury Fair Mall, Danbury, Connecticut

[Shadowcat]

Kitty smiled at Peter as he thanked her, and inside she was elated that she had been able to help him. Now...to those board shorts and flip flops she had been looking for. Kitty wandered deeper into the shop, still not seeing what she was aiming to purchase and was about to suggest getting something to eat when she felt some one bump into her. At first it was just a light push, but then she felt a hand grab, well, something she didn't want to be grabbed. She could feel her face heat up as anger and embarrassment stirred in her chest. Turning she confronted the culprit.

"Hey, whaddya think your doing there, buddy? You think you can just grab a girls butt anytime you see one you like?" She lifted her chin to glare at him since, (like everyone else) he was taller than her. The young man looked surprised to find that Kitty was not one to be pushed around, and grinned, making some comment about how he liked girls like her. This of course didn't help Kitty's mood towards him.

"Ya, so you think your all that huh? Well your not, and I wouldn't go out with you if you paid me." Her voice rose along with her temper and she knew that she should really shut up and leave. The young man looked insulted and Kitty regretted opening her mouth in the first place. His next words were quite mean and also loud. The words were like a slap in the face, being that for the first time in her life, she was called a slut. Now she felt like slapping him, but she held herself back. She couldn't think of anything else to say, and it must had been evident for the young man continued his traid, until Kitty found herself close to tears.

[Colossus]

After Kitty had decided to go deeper into the shop to do a bit of browsing, Peter had gone to look for some new trousers, and he chuckled to himself... He was one of the few who called them trousers, not pants, and more than once he'd had people ask him what trousers were, even though they'd be wearing them... He sighed, realising it wasn't as funny as it sounded, more silly than anything, but still... He generally bought the cargo type, as they were pretty tough and quite comfortable... He didn't think he'd ever wear the leather or silk that some of the others seemed so fond of, and besides, he was probably too clean cut to pull off the kind of biker look that wolverine did... And the silk, well, he thought it was a bit girly truth be told...

He'd been lost in his own thoughts for a few moments when he heard a bit of commotion down the back of the store... His head cocked, he saw Kitty (who's head barely came above the rack she was standing behind) arguing with a man who was a bit taller than her, but nowhere near having the same stature as Peter... Kitty had always had some fire in her, and that was one of the many things he'd admired about her, it was a strength that alot of women he had encountered had lacked...

Things quickly changed when he heard a certain word being uttered; The young man had uttered the word 'slut' at Kitty, and before he let his outrage get the better of him, he remembered a conversation he'd had many years ago...

He must have been about fifteen at the time, and he and his father, like they did every month, made the long trip to the city of Angarsk, a large industrial city where the farmers market had been held... While his father would get supplies for the next month and barter with the other land-owners, Peter would hang arond with some of the other kids that would accompany their parents to this grand city... One boy Peter had been close to was Oleg, who's father owned a farm not as far away as his own... He and Oleg in their younger years used to explore the abandoned factories, but nowadays they would sit back and admire the farmers daughters that would show up, deciding which one they liked best... Like any year they joked and laughed, but then Peter saw her... Natalya Romanov, the daughter of a wealthy factory owner in the city itself... Her father had been trying to expand into the farming business, so had made a point to visit this years market... She was as beautiful as a winter sunrise, and Peter was captivated by her...

Oleg had noticed him staring, and had given him a nudge... "Piotr, do not concern yourself with that one my friend, she is as the amerikhan's would say, a slut..."

Peter raised an eyebrow, new to the word... His parents hadnt invested in a television, and Peter had kept himself busy by reading, so he did not know much of American culture... "Slut?"

Oleg laughed, his sides almost splitting... "You do not know? Oh my," he said, interrupted by his own laughter... "Piotr, your father needs to buy a tv set, honestly..."

Peter did his best to laugh along, but he did know that for all the hard work he and his father put in, the land they lived on wasn't very bountiful like it was for some others, and they had to make do without a lot of modern comforts... Later, as he sat in the passenger seat, his father driving, he remembered what Oleg had said to him, and he again became confused...

"Father... What is a slut?"

His father looked at him shocked, and had to swerve when he realised they were slipping onto the opposite side of the busy road heading out of the city... "Where did you hear that word?"

Not eager to let his friend take the fall, Peter made up an excuse... "I heard one of the men at the market say it... His wife, he was talking about..."

His father thought for a moment, but then decided it was better that his son know all he needed to know, he was old enough now after all, and he did not want his son being caught out in the future... "Son... A slut is... Well, i suppose, the best way to describe it is a woman who does not respect herself as much as any proper woman should... They take many lovers, and do not honour the man they have promised themselves to... Do you understand?"

Peter nodded, indeed understanding, and he told himself that he would try to never end up with a woman like that...

Back in the present, when Peter had heard that word, and that memory had subsided, he had decided that no man would insult Katya that way... She was anything but a slut... He began making his way to the back of the shop where she was, and seconds before his arrival he saw that Kitty had been reduced to tiers by the man's taunting... He appraoched behind the man who was abusing her, and tapped him on the shoulder...

"Excuse me," he said passing him, letting the man see in full the russian behemoth that moved to Kitty's side, putting his arm around her protectively... "Katya my dear, is this man bothering you?" Peter spoke to kitty, but his gaze was fixed firmly on the man before him that had been just seconds ago taunting her...

[Shadowcat]

Kitty had to pause a moment as Peter made his way over. He looked quite upset and for a moment she thought he would do something rash, but instead he just moved by the guy. The words that came out of his mouth were, oddly wonderful, and she couldn't get past the part were he said, "my dear". Kitty looked over to where his arm, she couldn't believe it, had come to rest on her shoulder and inwardly smiled. Turning to look at the but-grabber, she raised her chin again, "I don't think he will be any longer..." She trailed off as the guy took her que and almost ran out of the store.

The tears that had started, now some what freely trailed down her cheeks and to Kitty's surprise she couldn't stop them. The words that had been said had hurt a whole lot more that she first believed. "Ouch..." She said to herself and tried to wipe away the eveidence that kept on making her face wet. "Thanks so much Peter, I-I didn't think he was going to shut up...." Darn it, now what was he going to do? She hadn't really cried like this in front of anyone and now to do it in front Peter? How embarrassing...

"Ah, sorry they just..." She paused, pulling her sleves down to use them to wipe the tears away, "Won't stop. Total girl moment..." She tried to make a joke of it, but she wasn't able to put the lightness in the tone of her voice to make it as such. "Um..." All she wanted now was, of all things, a hug. But how the hell to ask someone like Peter for a hug? It was more of a thing to ask Jubilee or some of the other girls at the Institute.

[Colossus]

"Ouch..."

"Thanks so much Peter, I-I didn't think he was going to shut up...."

"Ah, sorry they just..."

"Won't stop. Total girl moment..."

She was struggling to control the flow of tears, even he would have spotted that if she hadn't told him so... She had obviously been a little shaken by the cruel words of the now-absent ogler that had made himself scarce pretty quickly once he'd seen Peter and guessed he was accompanying Kitty... He felt for the girl, and he wondered how people could be so cruel to each other...

He'd seen it back home, but people had to be tough out of neccessity to survive, and while there were some heavy disagreements, there was always some sort of repsect... It was people like that guy who made him wonder how people could be so ungrateful for what they had in life...

"Um..."

She was obviously still haveing trouble, so he thought it best to comfort her... Initially hesitant, he didn't let that stop him as he used his arm that was around her to pull her into a hug, resting her head against his chest as he held her tightly...

"Shh, shh, it is alright..."