Carne Vale

CARNE VALE CHAPTER THIRTEEN (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, there seems to be a smallish, winged reptile in my closet...is Joris missing or did a cousin of his get misplaced? Joaquin wandered off to have a drink, so the box was unguarded when I wrote this... InterNutter, TC MaxwMaxwell Pink are sparkle bunnies for archiving (that's a good thing). Readers/Reviewers: The Killer Kitties (tm) apparently have diagrams...this can't be good. And those who review, I love you. Honestly. I am restarting the commune. ;) Those who didn't review, I love you anyway. :)

Tabby was a little stunned. She had no idea babies needed so much _stuff _. "Why do they have shoes? Babies can't walk!" She turned the tiny pair of sneakers over in her hands to look at the bottoms. "How much?" she cried in surprise, seeing the price tag.
Jean took the shoes from the girl and replaced them on the rack. "Right now, we're more concerned with the bare necessities. You need maternity clothes and we need to get some stuff into layaway so you'll have it when the baby gets here. You decide on cloth or disposable diapers?"
Kitty made a gagging noise and Tabby nodded, agreeing. "Disposable. No way in Hell am I gonna want to clean those things! Throw 'em out and get rid of 'em!"
Jean sighed. "Fine, Tabby one, environment zero..." The three girls were wending their way through the one store in Bayville that sold maternity clothes that did not look as if they came straight out of the fifties and sixties. "Thank God," Jean sighed, seeing the rack of tops. "Not one huge floppy bow in sight."
"Tell me about it," Tabby complained. "Just cause I'm knocked up doesn't mean I want to look like a clown. May as well stick a huge scarlet letter on me..."
Kitty felt her brows creep up in surprise. "You've read _The Scarlet Letter _? I'm impressed."
Tabby snorted. "I are literut1!" she drawled. "Oooooh...sparkles!" She was off, drawn to a distant rack by a glittery black top.
Kitty sighed wearily. "The new apartment won't be ready until Saturday, the leasing office said. They're debugging it after the last guy...he had a pet tarantula that got out and lost its egg sac somewhere."
"Fumigating, not debugging," Jean muttered, flipping through the rack looking for less expensive clothes for Tabby. "That girl has expensive tastes."
"I know its fumigating...debugging just sounds cuter. And tell me about it! I was helping her go through her clothes, finding stuff that still fit, and I swear, not one off-brand in the entire room! I don't even want to _think _ about how she got it all!"
"It's best that we don't," Jean said with a hint of sarcasm. "Kitty, this stuff is so expensive! Even the simple, plain stuff...can't she just wear really big versions of normal clothes? What size is she anyway?"
Tabby had reappeared, hauling an armload of tops and pants. "A two. On a heavy day. I'm up to a four or six now, thanks to this brat."
Kitty cleared her throat and said, a bit reluctantly, "This stuff is really pricey, even by my standards..."
"You noticed that, too, huh?" Tabby said, distracted by someone or something outside the store. They were in Bayville Mall and it was quickly becoming crowded. The schools in the area were out for the week due to what was being called an emergency teachers' caucus2 and teenagers were seeking out the one place in Bayville that did not pertain to school, the history of apple cider making3 or tourists seeking charming places to stay in upstate New York. Tabby sighed and, in an uncharacteristic show of restraint, she shoved the clothes in her arms onto the nearest rack. "Okay. I'll get a pair or two of those godawful jeans and two maternity bras. What's that weird flap for anyway?"
Kitty nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
Jean added, "The flap opens so you can nurse when the time comes...We'll worry about getting pads later.4 Probably when we start looking at breast pumps..."
"Breast pumps?" Tabby yelped as Jean lead her to the register.
Kitty snorted. Jean had taken to organizing Tabby's maternity needs like a duck to water. While Kitty dealt with finding her housing and making sure Tabby got her GED and a job, Jean had put herself in charge of finding parenting classes for teen mothers, making sure Tabby had the supplies she would need, and loading the girl down with books and pamphlets on every single aspect of pregnancy, childbirth and maternity available. Kitty flipped through the rack before her idly, waiting for Jean and Tabby to pass by on the way out of the store. It was nearly eleven thirty and they had arranged to meet with Kurt, Scott, and Rogue at noon. _I hope they hurry it up...I want to hit Hot Topic5for new tights before we eat lunch. _ A scuffle at the front of the store made Kitty direct her attention to the register. Jean was looking around as if lost as the clerk gesticulated wildly and spoke in harsh tones to another employee. _Shit...this can't be good. Where's Tabby? _
"Kitty! Did Tabby go by you on the way out?" Jean asked in aggrieved accents as Kitty approached. "She was right here a minute ago!"
"That girl walked off with a hundred dollars of merchandise!" one of therkserks shouted.
Kitty frowned and shouted back, "She did not! I would've seen her if she left! Besides, wouldn't the alarms have gone off or something?"
The second employee, apparently the manager, said, "Well, yes..."
"She probably, like, went to go try something on or something..." Kitty shrugged.
Jean shook her head. "No, she was right next to me, then she was gone!" She snapped her fingers to show just how fasthapphappened. "And I didn't _hear _ a thing!" * _ Or pick up any sort of psychic activity _ *, she added to Kitty alone. *_She's not in the store...I can't get even a hint of Tabby's mind anywhere nearby. _ *
*_Insert your own joke here, Jean. _ * "Look," Kitty said out loud, "I'll pay for whatever it was you think she disappeared with and we'll call it even, okay?"* _I think we need to get everyone and meet up... _ *Kitty rifled through her wallet for her bankcard and noted Jean's slight nod, meant her her alone. The cashier rang up the missing purchases and wished the girls a falsely cheery good day, said to the girls' backs as they walked quickly, nearly running, from the store.

The others were already waiting in the food court, Kurt munching on a box of fries, when Jean and Kitty very nearly slid to a halt before the table. "So what's going on?" Kurt said, sipping his soda with studied calm. He found that the best way to avoid impure thoughts was to pretend Kidid did not exist. All morning, he had not looked directly at her nor had so much as brushed against her, always keeping someone else between them. So far, Kitty did not seem insulted or upset, merely resigned, if her sigh was anything to judge by when he did not sit next to her in the car.
Jean grabbed Scott's soda and took a long sip before speak. She relayed the incident in the store to the gathered teenagers, Kitty adding what little bit she knew, only to have Rogue leap to her feet and slam one fist down on the table. "Mystique!" she hissed.
"Rogue, please!" Jean groaned. "Tabby probably just walked off!" Kitty could tell, however, that the red head was making excuses.
Kitty nodded, but she did not wholeheartedly agree with her friend's words. "Tabby's the type to wander off if she gets bored or something."
Scott frowned, looking at Rogue quizzically. He had heard all about the Danger Room incident the night before and was a little surprised Beast had let Kitty come out shopping with them that morning. Something about Rogue's determination made him think, though. _She wouldn't swear on something like this unless she had a strong feeling it was true. _ "Right now, Jean, I'm leaning more towards Rogue's way of thinking. I'm not saying I agree it was Mystique, but Tabby didn't just wander off."
Kurt made a face of annoyance. "Look, it's not even noon yet. Let's wait until about a quarter after, time enough for her to get here like we arranged and if she doesn't show, then we worry."
Kitty and Jean settled in around the table, the former somewhat uneasily and the latter outwardly calm but radiating nervous energy. Absently, Kitty reached over and took a fry from the box in front of Kurt and swirled it in his puddle of ketchup before popping it in her mouth. Kurt watched the entire scene with rapt attention, petulantly wishing a silly wish that he were a fry at that moment. Thoughts of Tabby slid away as Kitty reached for another fry and he became transfixed on her fingers, how they moved, how pale they were and how they curved as she picked up the fried piece of potato. His eyes traveled up her hand to her wrists, the fine bones shifting as she moved her fingers to scoop up ketchup on the French fry. He sighed inwardly, let his gaze move up her bare arm, knowing what it would feel like if she moved just a little closer, slid her arm around his waist and leaned against him. Against his dint of will, Kurt found himself staring at Kitty's breasts, the rise and fall of her breathing nearly hypnotic to his suddenly contact-starved senses. Rogue said something he did not quite hear and Kitty snorted, making her breasts jiggle slightly, enough to make Kurt become uncomfortably aware of the warm tightening in his groin. Kitty leaned down to pick up something out of one of her bags and Kurt thought he could look away, but instead was reduced to licking his lips as he considered the small sliver of peachy pale flesh at her waist, where her shirt rode up as she bent, rummaging in the purchases. Kurt took a long breath and forced himself to remember it was Lent. _Do not think these thoughts...Pretend she's just a girl...Damn it! I can't! I know who she is. Kitty's not just some random girl! She's mine! She's my soul mate and it's horrible to not be able to even hold her hand! _ He realized with a small amount of horror that Kitty had sat up and was talking to him, smiling bemusedly. "I'm sorry...was?"
Kitty knew he had been staring. She could feel his eyes on her the entire time and was halfway tempted to ease him but knew it would be cruel. Fighting a giggle, she said slowly as if speaking to a simple child or a drunkard, "I was saying, I've been giving some thought to things we can do during Lent that won't, like compromise your promise and all that."
"Oh?" he squeaked, a sudden vision of things they would most certainly be doing Easter Sunday flashed through his mind. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Oh?" _There. Now I sound more like me, less like Mickey Mouse. _
Kitty nodded happily. "Yeah. I was thinking, okay, we're best friends, right?"
"Ja..." Kurt frowned at Scott who was suddenly overtaken by a snickering fit, listening to the exchange and seeing Kurt's reactions to Kitty's presence.
"Well, it's been a long time since we've just hung out. We can get to know each other again. In the non-Biblical sense, that is." She blushed and took a sip of Kurt's soda. He closed his eyes to avoid staring at her lips and thinking about what her using the straw reminded him of. "We can start tonight. Rent a movie, just sit and chill out, you know? Talk."
Kurt nodded dismally. "Ja, talk." _Where did I put my Rosary? Do I have time to go to Confession? _
Rogue stood up again, her arms crossed over her chest and looking very smug. "It's twenty past! Where's Tabby, huh?" she said to Jean.
Scott rose, too, slipping into Fearless Leader mode. "Fine. Jean, Rogue and I will comb the area for Tabby. Kurt, you and Kitty go back to the Institute and tell Beast what's going on. If we need to contact the Professor...well, Beast will be the one to make that decision."
Kurt felt his eyes go wide. "Why do we have to be the ones going back?" _I can't be alone with her! Too much temptation! _
Kitty frowned but put in, "I'll, like, hop the bus back and Kurt can help you guys."
"No," Scott said firmly. "No one goes out alone until we find Tabby. Kurt can teleport you both home and leave us the car. Kitty, you were there and know what happened. You have to tell Beast. Jean and Rogue are coming with me because, well, because Jean can use her powers to look and Rogue because I would not subject that bag of nerves on anyone just now!"
"Hey!" said bag of nerves cried.
"Oh, come on! You're nearly vibrating you're so hyper!" Scott snapped. "Is it a plan, Kurt?"
"Ja," Kurt sighed. "It's a plan. Come on, Katzchen. Let's go find somewhere...private...to port home."
"Wait a sec," Kitty muttered, grabbing Scott's jacket off the back of his chair and slipping the overlarge garment on. The sleeves hung down well past her fingertips and the jacket hid her body from view. "There. No looky no touchy."
There was sniggering as Kurt sighed. "It's a start," he sighed.

1 Yeah, I know I misspelled it.
2 Sing with me, Simpsons fans-"Caucus, caucus, caucus! Caucus, caucus, caucus!" Er...if you've seen the episode, you'd be laughing. If not, well...don't mind me...I'm going slowly insane.
3 Another Simpsons reference. If you recognize it, you get extra sparklies.
4 For those who have not been around nursing women or been one themselves, you put these pads inside the cups of the bra to absorb leakage.
5 Some like it, some deride it as poseur goth/punk. I can go either way. Lots-o-weird, nice stuff.