Eloi

Eloi Chapter Nineteen

Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE ™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta… *kicks USPS harder
* InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink, Dracena
and Greywolf are loverly and wondermous for archiving/hosting.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Jstyle='mso-spacerun:yes'> ProPhile: I had something witty to put here
but I forgot it. Hmmm… Morgan: *glomp
* Readers/Reviewers: Sidebar—plagiarists
blow used ass. That aside…style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Megahuge thanks for reading/reviewing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

Remy
frowned and opened one eye as Jubilee sighed in Kurt’s wake.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Chere, don’ be class=SpellE>puttin’ all blame on me, eh?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I ain’t been forcin’
dis on you…”

“Not now,
Remy, please,” she groaned, flopping down on the Queen Anne chair near the oak
desk, starting guiltily as the old furniture creaked beneath her slight weight.
“Let’s just get this over with so we can
go back to our happy little lives of working off punishment in chores.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She stuck her legs out straight in front of
her, then let the weight of her boots drag them downwards. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I don’t know why I let you talk me into
sneaking back in. That was stupid.”

He did not
transmit his annoyance on his features or in his voice, but he was certainly
irritated. And he knew Jubilee knew it,
too, by the way she shifted away from him subtly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “A good thief,” he said quietly, “don’t
betray thoughts avec actions.”

“Pardon?”
She folded her arms over her chest and raised a brow at him, seemingly daring
him to continue to criticize her.

“You weren’t
needin’ much talkin’ to,
were ya?” he asked, changing tack yet again.
“You was ready to come ‘long avec moi.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He leaned forward, smiling slightly, and
added in a low, almost caressing tone, “You ain’t ready to do ‘way with me
entirely, chere.”

Jubilee
counted as far as three mentally before she gave up.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There was no way she was going to let that
go, she thought. “Remy Etienne class=SpellE>LeBeau, you’re a pig.
No, wait, that’s an insult to the entire porcine family!”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She stood, her hands clenched into fists at
her sides, color rising in her cheeks as she stared down at him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You think I’m just gonna follow you around
and giggle and fuck you when you turn on the charm?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Uh uh, buddy!”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She started to storm from the room,
remembered the Professor’s orders to stay put, and stopped, fuming outwardly
and inwardly. “I tried, you know?” she
finally said, closing her eyes rather than look at his intent crimson
gaze. “I love you, and that’s not gonna
change any time soon, so far as I can tell, but I can’t do this, Remy.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I don’t know how else to say it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I just can’t fucking do this.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’m not a kid, I’m not some class=SpellE>airheaded twit who’s okay with you running off at the drop
of a hat. I can’t stand being cut out of
things. I don’t want to be joined at the
hip but…you know… some consideration would be nice!”

Remy stood,
stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The silence stretched between them painfully,
making Jubilee shift from one foot to the other without realizing it, seeking
to break the nearly hypnotic sound of Remy’s soft breathing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Finally, he spoke again.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Jubilation, I try, too, ya know?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I try understandin’
why you say you love me mais you don’t class=SpellE>wanna be wit me… I try figurin’
out why you act dis way when you say you all grown up…
Mais peut-etrestyle='mso-footnote-id:ftn1' href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">class=MsoFootnoteReference>class=MsoFootnoteReference>[1] y’all
do somethin’ different in Los
Angeles, eh?
Folks I know, folks I come up wit…dey don’ cut
off loved ones. When dey
gonna act all grown up, ain’t no fits and sulks, ya know?”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He raked his fingers through his hair,
setting it askew from it’s previously neat fashion. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “C’est class=SpellE>une folle, ne?”style='mso-footnote-id:ftn2' href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title="">class=MsoFootnoteReference>class=MsoFootnoteReference>[2]

She blew
out a breath, trying not to let her temper get the better of her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I’m so tired, Remy” she finally sighed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “We’ve been having the same argument for
weeks. I can’t find another way to say ‘I’m
not breaking up with you, I just need space!’ and you can’t understand it, no
matter how many ways it’s said. We’re
beating a dead horse.”

Remy was
saved from responding, a tart and cutting phrase already on the tip of his
tongue, by the study door swinging open.
He turned to face the Professor only to find his housemates trailing in.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Slowly, the majority of the students still at
the Institute for the summer filed in, pushing him back against the bookshelf
by force of their number. Jubilee
ensconced herself between Kitty and Amara, not looking over at him even
once. He remembered, almost bitterly,
how even a few months ago she would have tried to make sure they were near each
other, at least near enough for their ‘looks’ and ‘gestures’, things to goad
and tease each other in boring meetings.
Finally, the door closed and Remy switched his attention, no small feat,
to the front of the room. Logan,
Beast, Professor Xavier, and Storm stood in a small half circle behind the
Professor’s desk, their faces neutral. “class=SpellE>Qu’est-ce que c’est?”style='mso-footnote-id:ftn3' href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title="">class=MsoFootnoteReference>class=MsoFootnoteReference>[3],
not hearing the concern in his own voice.
“Some bomb threat ‘gain?”

“No,”
Professor Xavier said quietly. Any
chattering in the room stopped. His tone
was grave, frightening almost. “In the
short time it’s been since the threat at the Institute was…resolved…I have received
information that several other mutant-occupied housing situations have been…attacked.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The Boardinghouse was vandalized, Magneto’s
home upstate was…bombed. No one was
harmed but considerable damage was done.” He paused, style='mso-spacerun:yes'> his raised brow daring someone to comment in
the positive for that. “And Frost Manor
was attacked. It seems that it was an
inside job…the Danger Room was..” he paused, closing his eyes briefly.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>

Storm
cleared her throat softly, taking up where he left off.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Initial indications show that the damage is
repairable but… Paige Guthrie is gravely injured.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> A ripple of shock and horror moved through
the room like a wave. Kitty’s hand flew to her mouth and she burst into tears
without warning. “She is not dead… just
seriously injured. Emma informed us that
she tried to…husk…into organic steel, but was not fast enough.”

Professor
Xavier laid a hand on Storm’s arm and said gently, “They’re moving her to Saint
Dymphna’s href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title="">style='mso-special-character:footnote'>class=MsoFootnoteReference>[4]hospital
in Shoreside.
One of my friends runs it and they…understand…”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He nodded to Logan,
signaling him to his part.

“Everyone’s
dismissed except the older students…you know who you are.”

Jubilee
leaned against Kitty as the younger students filed out, sniffling back her own
tears. “Wow…this is just so fucked
up. Who’d do this to us?”

Mark,
silent until this point, leaned close. “Friends
of Humanity,” he whispered, slipping a piece of paper onto her lap.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Keep it quiet for now.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The time will come.”