Carne Vale

CARNE VALE CHAPTER TWO (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, I'm sending Billy and Joaquin over with kibble for Calliope. Tell Ted to leave the light on for 'em. InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are groovy and sparkly for archiving! :) Readers/Reviewers: Yes, the Tabby and Pietro thing will be continued here. As will Kitty's reinstatement as a full time student. And the Killer Kitties (tm) seem to be in stealth mode... That's unsettling.

"Wow." Jubilee stared at the ornate ceiling, the fleur de lis and gilded molding speaking of an earlier time when gentility ruled the south, no matter how poor the person. "Wow," she repeated as Remy came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and looking up at the same ceiling.
" 'Sold, chere...older 'n you'd imagine..." Remy kissed the crown of her head and moved past her, smirking at his friends as they stared agog at the massive antebellum mansion around them. "We only a short walk from de Quartier Francais.1"
Kitty found her voice, though she did not look up from examining the detailed miniatures on the sideboard in the parlor, opening off the grand hall, "Where are we now?"
"We in de Garden Distri'c. Dis be ol' money, as you call it. All dese houses, if dey not historic, dey sit on history isself."
Rogue sighed happily, settling into a horse-hair cushioned chair covered in rose velvet. "Lemme tell ya, it's nice to hear a Southern accent again! And people who know what ice tea is _supposed _ to taste like2!"
Remy snorted. "Tell me 'bout it! An' food wid actual flavor to it!"
Lance raised his eyebrows. "Just because we don't drown our food in spices up north..."
Remy rolled his eyes. "Wait'll you try gumbo file. You change yo' mind 'bout yo' food..."
Kurt was smiling at anyone and everyone who would look his way. Between the sugary pralines at the airport and the extremely fatty crawfish pie, he was full and content, the excitement of the forthcoming parade that night adding to the buzz her was feeling. "So where do we sleep?"
"And how on earth did you get us into this place?" Jubilee murmured, finally breaking her gaze from the ceiling and drifting towards an arrangement of daguerreotypes on the wall outside the parlor, each one of a man in a Civil War-era uniform save for a newer looking one of a fair-haired woman in wide panniers and petticoats. The picture looked as if it were recent, despite the old-fashioned trappings, like the type one could have done at a midway or amusement park. "And who's this?"
"I answer in order, eh? I show you where yo' rooms are in a moment, dis house belong to someone who owe me a favor o' sorts an' dat be no one you need ta worry 'bout." Remy took Jubilee by the hand and moved towards the stairs only to be confronted with a solid wall of Logan. "Excusez-moi," Remy murmured, stepping to one side as if to go around the other man.
"Just a sec, bub-The Professor said no co-ed rooms, got it? I don't care what all you get up to on your own time, but no sleeping in the same rooms."
"Why not?" Amara burst out before she could stop herself, her red face belying her embarrassment.
"Because Chuck said so. And I don't wanna hear bedsprings goin' while we're here...and you _know _ I can hear them." Logan assessed them all with a cold stare before nodded and stepping aside for Remy to lead all the teenagers upstairs. _On deaf ears... _He trudged up the stairs after them and paused as he caught a faint whiff of a floral perfume unlike that of any of the Institute residents. It was old, heavy with roses but not cloying, even to his super-senses. He had not smelled it downstairs but it grew stronger as they moved down the hall, Remy assigning rooms in groups of three and four.
"Dese ol' houses, dey be big mais short on bed space, eh? Cause it easier ta cool un ou deux big room den los' a tiny ones," he explained to Amara as she made a noise of protest at having to share a room with Kitty, Jubilee, Rogue and Amara. "Logan, you get yo' own room, d'accord?"
"Fine by me, Gumbo," Logan murmured, drawn to a small oil painting in an oval frame. It was the same girl depicted in the daguerreotype downstairs, her face blandly beautiful but he could tell that was the effect of the painting, that in real life, she would have been truly stunning. _This one looks kinda new, too. _ In fact, he noted, there was the barest waft of the scent of paint and gesso3, not strong enough to indicate creation in the recent past, but not the dusty, faintly moldy scent of a truly old painting. Remy had moved off down the hall with the guys, leaving Logan contemplating the painting with the excited chatter of the girls one room over. There were four doors in the hall, three on the wall opposite Logan and one several yards down on the same side. He could hear the males being installed in the furthest room down, the last one on the left, the girls in the first on the left and the huge, empty one in between declared itself a bathroom, strangely modern in this old fashioned house. The closed door nearest him presentn nen nearly irresistible lure for Logan. He casually approached it, his hand on the ornate glass knob when Remy's hand descended on his wrist, startling Logan only because it was such a forward gesture.
"Dere be nothin' in dere but misr'y, Logan," Remy said low and soft, his eyes blazing with challenge.
Logan narrowed his gaze. "Sure, Cajun. Sure..." He released the knob, making a mental note to check out the room later, which he knew Remy was well aware of. "Where you puttin' me?"

"What? I can't hear you!" Kitty cried over the din of Rue Carondelet. "Ow!" A coconut-shaped piece of plastic4 hit her square on the shoulder. "That wasn't nice!"
"I say, " Remy practically shouted, bending low to Kitty's ear, "watch for dat float. Dey trow de coconuts."
"Ah. Thanks for the tip," Kitty shouted back, rubbing her shoulders. "Um, Remy, might wanna rein Jubes in..." The Asian girl was standing on the very edge of the curb, her superb balance keeping her from falling, and flashing her breasts to some people on the balcony, a shower of brightly colored plastic bead necklaces falling in response.
"C'est Mardi Gras, Kitty...dats what people do here," Remy shrugged prosaically, though Kitty noticed he did move towards Jubilee.
Kurt's voice bubbled to her ear. "Katzchen, we're about to head back...the parade is almost over. Where are Remy, Jubilee and Logan?"
"Logan said not to wait for him! He'd meet us at the house! Remy's defending Jubilee's honor or something..." Kitty wrapped both her arms around one of Kurt's in an effort to keep from being jostled. Kurt was nervous-several times, people had brushed against him and he expected an outcry, but none had come. It had been Rogue that pointed out pretty much everyone was drunk beyond belief and most likely, those that brushed against him did not notice the fur or care. Kurt was still half-afraid he would be caught out, though, despite his half-sister's assurances. "You okay, babe?" Kitty's voice broke into his reverie.
"Ja, just tired! And full!"
"You? Full? It's a sign of the end times!" she laughed as Remy wound his way through the pressing crowd with Jubilee in tow. "Ready?"
"Oui...Jubilee found free Hurricane so she not quite steady, ya know?" As he spoke, he heaved Jubilee onto his b "W "We all set?" After a headcount to make sure all mutants were present and accounted for, Remy led the line back towards the Garden District, the sounds of the Quarter still audible but not deafening as they passed through the ancient iron gate that marked off 'their' house from the others.
Something, Kitty knew, was wrong. She could tell as soon as Remy stepped onto the porch to fish the key out of his pocket. He stiffened and lowered Jubilee to the ground, propping her against Kurt as he unlocked the door. "What is it?" Kitty asked softly.
"Shhh...silence, s'il vous plait," Remy said tersely. They filed in slowly, all aware the atmosphere had changed from carefree and jovial to tense and maybe even dangerous.
Scott edged forward, Jean close behind him, and flanked Remy. The Cajun shot them annoyed glances but sighed and motioned for them all to spread out. "What're we looking for?" Rahne murmured, close to Kurt's ear.
"I guess we'll know when we find it," he replied, shutting off his holo and blending into the darkness. Kurt moved parallel to Kitty, long habit keeping him within close proximity to the woman he loved. All over the mansion, he could hear near-silent footsteps treading old floorboards, doors opening and closing until finally, Remy's voice floated down the stairs.
"Whatever it be, it gone now..." His steps changed from soundless to a heavier tread as he came down the stairs, the other mutants coming back into the foyer. "Prolly nothin'...Nawlins make me jumpy sometime," he said without apology.
Jubilee raised a drunken brow. "You from here, Gumbo...why you get nervous?"
"Eh, long story, dull story...Les all hit de hay, oui? It two am..." Remy gave a jaw-cracking yawn and turned his back on his friends, trundling up the stairs seemingly oblivious to the sea of confused gazes on his back.
"Remy never goes to bed before dawn," Jubilee murmured, well versed in the Cajun's sleeping habits. "Insomnia..."
There were general murmurs of concern but the teenagers still drifted towards their assigned rooms, save for Kurt and Kitty, who hung back. The sounds of whispered good nights and the random kiss, some more wet and longer than others, faded as Kurt wrapped his arms around Kitty's waist. "Did you have a good time, Liebes?"
"My ears are ringing," she sighed. "It was great, though! I've never experienced anything like that before!"
Kurt purred in her ear. "I've heard you say _that _before!"
"Kurt!" she giggled, trying to squirm away, "we have no where to go! The parlor doesn't have a door on it and all the bed rooms are full up..." She did not put up much of a fight, tilting her head so that Kurt could leave a trail of tiny bites and kisses down her jaw line and neck, sucking a little harder, making her gasp and shudder as he marked her. "Well," she breathed as he moved back up her neck, "I'm sure we can figure something out..."
"That's my Katzchen, resourceful and smart on top of beautiful..." He smiled against her throat and she giggled again, swatting lightly at his arm. Kurt picked her up, holding her tight to his chest as he found the upper swell of her breasts with his tongue, laving and nibbling where the soft flesh pressed out of her top. Kitty made a mewl of excited pleasure and wrapped her legs around his waist, jumping just a little as his tail joined his hands in supporting her against his body. "There's...there's a room upstairs I don't think is being used...knowing our luck it's probably a closet."
Kurt came up for air, admiring his handiwork of tiny fang marks and small purple spots on her breasts. "Who cares?"
"Good point!" Kurt set Kitty on her feet and she took his hand, the dash up the stairs nearly silent. Kitty giggled breathlessly and pointed to the one door on the right side of the hallway. "See?"
"Ah, even if it is a closet, I think we'll make do!" He pressed himself against her, his arousal obvious and contagious. He led her down the few yards to the door and turned the knob. "Open," he grinned.
"Lead on, MacDuff," Kitty giggled again, her excitement bubbling over into giddiness. Kurt nudged her lightly, smirking at her mirth, and pushed the door open. The room flooded with electric light, momentarily blinding the duo and making Kurt hiss in surprise, stepping directly in front of Kitty and the open room. Kitty regained her senses first. She screamed, a startled, unsure scream, directly in Kurt's ear.
"Kitty!" he shouted, blinking, focusing on the room finally. Before him stood a woman, blonde and golden all over, eyes blazing, dressed in an old-fashioned dressing gown.
Footsteps thundered down the hall. "What is it, Half Pint?" Logan said, pushing into the room and drawing up short. "The fuck?"
Remy's terse voice cut through the fearful tension. "Belladonna Boudreaux..."
"Cher," the silky voice drifted over the sleep-adled mutants, "don' you mean Belladonna _LeBeau _?"
1 French Quarter. Old New Orleans is divided into Quarters-the French Quarter, the Spanish Quarter or District, the Garden District and then you get into the places like West Bank and Metarire, outlying areas still within Orleans Parish. Louisiana still follows Napoleonic law, unlike the rest of the United States, and is divided into Parishes rather than counties, townships or burroughs. Parishes have nothing to do with the Churches there (anymore) but are small areas akin to counties.
2 Maybe it's just me, but every time I've ordered ice tea outside the South, it never tastes right...I think y'all call it sweet tea elsewhere...I don't know for sure...
3 That crud you put on a canvas to make it smooth before you paint on it.
4 For those who don't know what goes on at Mardi Gras, there are Wild Indians (groups of Afrian-Americans whose association into the "tribes" dates back to slavery times when they fled their masters and led led with the Native Americans in the swamps. They honored the natives by dressing in ornate costumes (I mean REALLY ornate) and dancing in imitation of their hosts. The tribes have huge parades and used to end in street fights but now end in dance contests of sorts. That flag song (Iko Iko) is actually a Mardi Gras Indian song about these Wild Indian tribes and Iko Iko Inay means "Go fuck yourself" in Bombarra, the language of most of the slaves in the New Orleans area at the time of importation. Krewes are groups of people that have wonderfully gaudy and ornate floats where they dress up and throw beads and sometimes Zulu coconuts (which they are just supposed to toss but some of 'em really want to peg ya). Each Krewe has a different theme and a ball afterwards that's near impossible to get into unless you "know someone". Krewe of Orpheus is one of the most popular and runs a day or two before Mardi Gras itself. Mardi Gras celebrations start a week before the day in New Orleans. King cake and all.