Devourer of Sins

DEVOURER OF SINS CHAPTER FIFTEEN (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, Ted tells me he's planning something for New Year's...Hide the kiddos and critters...lol. InterNutter (I'm crossing my fingers for your site), TC (yours too) and Maxwell Pink (yours seems to be doing fine...lol), you're all super sparkley and wonderful for archiving. Readers/Reviewers: I'm a little nervous...I don't have a reflection anymore and I woke up this morning in the bayou, paddling with webbed toes... And I swear I hear maniacal quacking late at night! But, I have a good feeling that the Killer Kitties (tm) will be back before long and save us all!


"What's that?"
"Mistletoe."
"Er..."
"Oh, lighten up, St John," Bobby sighed, dangling the parasitic plant over his erstwhile boyfriend's head. "It's not like we're the Institute's best-kept secret or anything!"
St John shifted his weight from one foot to the other, chewing his lower lip nervously. "It's not that....it's just...well, no one knows-knows."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Bobby stepped closer, never lowering the hand holding the mistletoe above St John's head. "Short of coming out and yelling it from the roof, everyone knows we're together..."
"But what if someone _sees _ ?" he whispered.
"Fuck 'em!" Bobby whispered back, closing the distance and kissing St John firmly on the lips, softening as the other teenager relaxed and melted against him. He finally dropped the small branch and wrapped his arms around St John's waist, begging entry into his mouth with his tongue.
As St John sighed and accepted the advance, a voice thick with a Cajun accent broke the spell. "Dat, chere, is what I call a kiss!"
"Hush, Gumbo...Sorry, guys...we're just going!" Jubilee did not look a bit embarrassed but rather amused, smiling cheekily at the couple before pulling on Remy's hand. "We'll find our own mistletoe..."
"Here, use ours!" Bobby said, tossing Remy the sprig. "We don't need it, do we?" he smiled at his boyfriend and took his hand. "I'll kiss St John without any weird mojo..."
"Bobby!" St John flushed brightly. "I'm sorry..." hid tid to Jubilee and Remy.
"Pour quoi?" Remy shrugged. "If it ain't you two, it's us ou Kurt an' Kitty, ou Jamie an' Rahne...I swain1, dis place got aphrodisiacs in de water!"
"It's the season," Jubilee sighed. "The lights, the trees, the vaguely phallic candles...I'm technically Buddhist and it even gets to me!"
St John snickered, feeling a little better about getting caught kissing his boyfriend. "In that case...I'll leave you to it!" He let Bobby tug him away and they disappeared up the stairs, leaving a grinning Remy and Jubilee in their wake.
"I don't care what anyone says...I think they're cute..." Jubilee took the mistletoe from Remy and twirled it between her thumb and forefinger. "They're one of those couples you just _know _ is gonna make it..."
"Oh?" Remy said, casually leaning against the post at the base of the stares. "How you tell?"
"You just...can..." Jubilee shrugged. "Like Kurt and Kitty. It just fits..."
"What 'bout us?" Remy asked, pulling her to him and tilting her chin to make her look at him.
Jubilee turned a pleasant shade of pink. "Er...do we have to talk about this now?" She pulled out of his grasp and turned, circling the tree as if it were the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. Picking at a random needle, she said, "I don't think this is the time to discuss the future..."
"When is, then?" he sighed, following her slowly around the massive fir. don'don't know..." she paused and turned to face him, worrying her lower lip. "Just...not now."
"Jubilee, I always be tinkin' bout de future wid you...you not tink 'bout it wid me?" He sounded so sad that Jubilee nearly cried.
"I wouldn't say that, Remy! It's just scary. I mean, we're practically kids and no matter how much I love you, I can't tell you today that I'll be with you in twenty years..."
"I kin," he said quietly. "I kin tell ya dat I beyo syo side all our lives if you let me..."
"Remy," Jubilee tittered nervously. "Don't...please...now!now!" She turned her face from his intense gaze, sticking the mistletoe behind her ear for want of something to do with her hands.
"Fine, cherie, but soon, eh?" he said softly, closing the distance between them. She tensed as his hands came to rest on her shoulder, but instead of the passionate kiss she was expecting and dreading, he dipped his head to kiss her beneath her ear. "Mistletoe," aid aid quietly, a small smile on his face.
"Oh!" she breathed before backing away, eyes wide. She dashed up the stairs two at a time without looking back.
"Merde,"2 he said to no one in particular.
"What's up, yo?"
Todd dropped from somewhere in the vicinity of the chandelier, landing in a crouch at Remy's feet before straightening. "How long you been here?" Remy snapped, faintly embarrassed.
"Long enough, man..." Todd did not smirk as Remy expected him to. Instehe lhe looked as miserable as Remy felt. "I was hidin' from Rogue...she's on the warpath."
"What happen'?" Remy dropped to sit on the bottom step and Todd joined him. "You slime her one too many time?"3
"Nah..." Todd shrugged and kicked at the ground idly. "She thinks I'm messin' round with Rahne...at least that's what Rahne told me."
"Are ya?" Remy's raised eyebrow told Todd that he would be the first to kick his ass if it were true.
"No! Never!" Todd looked so angry that Remy believed his denial. "We're just friends now, ya know...Guess it's the whole anthropomorphic thing..."
Remy snorted. "Someone give you a thesaurus, pal?"
"Shaddup. I know big words, you know." Todd hunched over his knees and glared at the ground. "It's just that while we were in D.C., we kind of...I dunno...bonded. She's a great girl and that's it. I'm so in love with Rogue it's not even funny," he sighed.
"Rogue jus' jealous, ya know..." Remy was tempted to pae yoe younger mutant on the back but refrained. "I take it as a compliment..."
"What? She doesn't trust me so I should be flattered?" Todd said sharply.
"Non....be sbe so 'fraid anudder gal take you 'way from her cause she be tinkin' you worth stealin'...she be tinkin' dat if tings be switched 'round an' you were wit Rahne 'stead a her, she try to take ya from Rahne..."
"How do you know that?" Todd said, slanting odd-colored eyes at the Cajun.
"Homme, I got _years _ o'experience...trus' me here..."
Todd smirked. "So what do I do now? She's hiding out in her room and won't talk to me..."
"Go see her, homme. Jus' talk ta her...she be reasonable." Remy damned himself for a liar as Todd nodded resolutely and stood, preparing to march up the stairs. "Todd, " he called after him, pausing for a moment to consider his words. "Jus....jus stay outta arreacreach, eh?"
"Will do." Todd nodded again and marched up the stairs, mumbling to himself under his breath.
Remy sighed and rested his head against the railing of the stairs. Lance's feet hove into view as the Cajun stared at the tile floor. "What's with you?"
"Women. Dey be crazy..."
"I hear ya..." Lance leaneainsainst the railing to brace the armload of pine branches he was carrying to Amara's room and sighed. "What the Hell is up with all the girls lately? Amara's all secretive and bossy, Rahne growled at me-really growled!-when I saw her outside, Rogue is sulking, Jean is chewing ice like there's no tomorrow4 and Kitty's all...weird."
"Weird?" Remy asked idly, picking up on Lance's concern.
"She's all....I don't know. Not like herself." Lance hefted the branches again and grimaced. "I'd better get these up to Amara before she gets all bitchy again..."
"Meow!" Remy called after him, earning as much of a rude gesture as Lance could give him with his arms full of tree bits.
_I am not whipped _ , Lance grumbled to himself as he lumbered down the hallway towards Amara's distant room. _I'm just a good boyfriend...or a sex toy. Whatever I am to her this week... _ "Amara!" he snapped. "Open up
Th
The door was pulled open slowly and Lance blinked at the light change. She had pulled her curtains closed and lit myriad beeswax candles, bathing the room in a golden glow. "Is it snowing out?" Amara asked by way of greeting, turning away from him to make space of the branches around the room.
"It was earlier. Probably will later," he said, grunting as he balanced, then dropped the armful of pine. "Why?"
"If it wasn't, I was going to go outside for this..." Amara had a bright expression, her eyes glittering in the glowing light. Lance caught his breath as he looked at her; she looked like she did not have a care in the world, like she was open to everything Life had to give her and welcoming it with open arms. "What are you staring at?" she said, cocking her head to one side. "Toga gaping?" she asked, patting her garment. She was shy about wearing traditional Nova Roman dress in front of anyone, really, but Lance was not going to let her shut him out of Saturnalia. _I suppose he would have seen it sooner or later... _
"You look...whoa." He took a few steps towards her then stopped. "I'm afraid to touch you."
"Why?" she asked, voice sharp with suspicion. "Do you think I look stupid? I'll tell you something, Lance Alvers..."
"Stop, stop!" he said, throwing up his hands to stave off her forthcoming outcry against him. "You don't look stupid...I just haven't seen you like this before..." He took another step towards her, licking his lips. "You're beautiful."
Amara flushed a dull bronze under her olive-toned skin. "You're late."
"Huh?"
"The sun's going down...we have to hurry." She pretended to ignore his comment and hurriedly arranged the last of the branches around the statuette of Saturn, the e ofe of honor among her other figures. "Now, come here and take this..." Lance sighed and took the censer from her hands. "Just do what I do..."
Amara walked him through the short ceremony honoring Saturn, Lance not understanding most of it because she spoke in her native dialect. As such, he had the opportunity to let his mind wander. _I wonder what that toga's made of...If I touch it, will she freak? It's all shiny...and she smells good. _ He took a small step forward and inhaled surreptitiously. Amara looked up at him expectantly as he did so. "What?" he said, voice an octave higher than he would have liked. "I mean...what?"
"I just wanted to know if you wanted your gift." She frowned and peered at him. "Were you even paying attention to me?"
"Of course I was, Princess...This incense is making me a little buzzed, though," he said, grabbing the first excuse that came to mind.
"Ah," she said, taking the censer from him. "That's because it has damiana in it. It's a mild soporific and makes you see all sorts of pretty things if you smoke it."
"Noted." He managed a smile at her and continued, "Yeah, I'd like my gift...so long as you don't mind waiting until Christmas for yours..." _Note to self, got to go to town tomorrow! _
Amara's grin became decidedly feral. "It's tradition for servants to be given their freedom today. Just for the duration of the festival, but it's still freedom..."
He had an idea where she was going but had to ask. "Do you mean..."
"Yes." She sauntered past him and leaned casually against the bed, the folds of her toga opening to reveal one smooth leg. "I'm yours to do with as you will...anything you want..." Amara's smile became slightly tentative as she said, "Tonight, I'll be submissive and you'll be dominant..."
"Whoa." Lance was not sure what the appropriate words were and, for some reason, his grandmother's voice piped into his mind, telling him not to forget the thank you note for the gift. "Shut it, grandma," he hissed.
"Pardon me?"
"Er..." He approached her quickly and took her by the arms, pulling her to his chest. "Nothing...nothing at all..." He kissed her then, his body responding instantly to her nearness. Amara seemed to be suffering the same situation because she pressed against him before she broke the kiss. "What's wrong?" he asked softly at her downcast eyes.
"Sorry...forgot for a moment that you're in charge. I can't do anything unless you make me..." She turned wide eyes to meet his. "What do you want me to do?"
Lance's mind flooded with a thousand fantasies, some tame and some so X-rated that it would make John Holmes5 blush. Finally, he chose one and smiled inwardly. "Take off your...thing...toga..." Amara stepped away without question and began the long process of unwrapping her traditional garment, yards of fabric piling at her feet in a gauzy white lump.nce nce settled against the bedpost as she exposed more and more of her body to him, waiting until she was naked before he red oed out and pulled her close again. Kissing her deeply, he turned so that she was against the bed and he was pressing her downward until she lay on her back, her stifled mewls picking away at his reserve. "Where are your handcuffs again?"

Kitty stared into the faintly glowing dust in the box. She could see Amara and Lance clearly and was remotely inatinated that people her age knew about and would do such things. Lance had fastened Amara's arms and legs to the bed, rendering her mostly immobile. He had one of her beeswax tapers in his hand and was dripping wax onto her stomach and breasts, following each hot, burning drop with a kiss on adjacent flesh. Kitty wondered why Amara did not seem to be in pain and actually rather seemed to like it, judging by the sounds coming from the girl. _This is bizarre _ , Kitty thought.
_*Yes * _ , the voice said,_* it's against purity. They have to be punished, too. *_
Kitty closed her eyes against the image the box was showing her. It was too personal, her rational mind screamed. Lance and Amara trusted each other, which was the only reason why she was letting him do that to her.
_*No * _ , the voice said, _ *there does not have to be trust, child. Merely lust and r aw desire, abominations against the human condition. * _
Kitty snapped the lid closed, hoping it would drown out the voice. _I won't do what you tell me, you know...I know better. You're just... something that's wrong with me. Like that whole Shiva thing...6 You're some sort of amalgam of guilt. I'm Jewish-we're supposed to have tons of it, if the stereotypes are true. _
There was a sound like the ocean rushing away from the shore before a large wave and Kitty jumped, startled, before she realized the noise was in her head. The voice came back, roaring. _*Do not defy me, whelp! I can destroy you! You cannot be apart from Micapetlacalli7 without suffering for it, so you cannot be apart from me. I can make you wish you were dead. Don't push me! _*
Kitty cried out sharply and shoved the box under her pillow, curling into a fetal position and bawling. _ It's true, it's true...God help me, it's true..._


1 I have no idea why, but some people down here say "I swain" instead of "I swear". Another reason people not from here think we're nuts...lol.
2 It's time to learn a new word, kids. Merde is shit in French. Go forth, tell the others...
3 Yeah, I know I left the s off...for some reason, Cajun and Creole speakers tend to do that when they speak.
4 Some say chewing ice is a sign of sexual frustration. Wahoo.
5 Porn star. I think he's dead...I'm not really up to snuff (no pun) with the Porn world...
6 Shameless self promotion...Go read it if you haven't yet...but why would you be reading this if you hadn't , eh?
7 Aztec. Means Box of Death. More on that later...