Carne Vale

CARNE VALE CHAPTER THREE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, Kristen and Luceem eem to be taunting Joris...I'd get the burn cream ready... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink make me giddy for archiving. :) Readers/Reviewers: The Killer Kitties (tm) are dressed in bonnets and mittens-though a bit against their will, I suspect-to infiltrate the platypi stronghold. Devious little kitties, they are...




"I never would've guessed Remy was married..." Kurt sighed. They had been relegated to the porch soon after the discovery of Belladonna in the small bedroom upstairs, Jubilee's seething anger palpable to all, making even Logan uneasy.
"_Is _ married, babe. They never got the marriage dissolved or whatever." Kitty yawned, her earlier ardor much cooled though, she noted from her position-laying against Kurt on the old porch swing, his legs around her as she stretched out-he was still bearing her quite a bit of interest.
"Still...I knew he was a little older than us, but old enough to get married?" Kurt stretched a little and tried to readjust himself surreptitiously, the pressure of Kitty lying against him growing slightly uncomfortable and a little embarrassing.
Logan's voice came from somewhere near the honeysuckle, not yet in bloom but profuse in foliage, "In some states, even Jamie's old enough to get married, Elf..." There was a pause as he sucked on his cigar. "Don't get any ideas, you two. I'd hate to have to kil. A. And I don't mean Half-Pint."
Kitty sighed wearily. "We're in love, not stupid. Just because we want to spend the rest of our lives together doesn't mean we're going to run off and get married or anything," she said as she turned the silver ring on her right forefinger, a gift from Kurt that, for all intents and purposes, was an engagement ring.1
Jean made a strangled noise from her position, sitting on the steps leading to the front door. "I don't know...getting engaged young doesn't mean you have to get _married _ young."
"What's the point, then?" Lance asked from the darkness of the yard. "Got a light, Amara?"
There was a brief flare as Amara's hand ignited then went out, followed by the tiny glow of the end of Lance's cigarette. Logan made a rumbling noise of disapproval but did not tell him to put it out. Amara remained silent on the marriage topic but said, "I don't know...I have to agree with Jubilee that it was unfair and rather cruel of him not to tell her about Belladonna."
There was a general murmur of agreement from most of the assembled, but Todd said, "It's his own damned fault for not getting it annulled when he ran off, yo."
"He didn't run off," a new voice said from open front door. "He had to leave." Belladonna LeBeau, nee Boudreaux, drifted onto the porch, the tension level rising palpably as soon as the others heard her. "He had to leave, he was forced out of the Guild and New Orleans itself. Dis be de first time he's been back in years2." She had the uncomfortable feeling of being visually flayed, the eyes of Remy's friends-his family now-piercing her in the darkness. Someone growled but she did not even want to consider who.
Kitty found her voice first. "Why was he forced out? He never talks about his life here. And why did he come back now?"
Belladonna sighed, pulling the neck of her dressing gown closed against the mild night chill. "I'm not gonna tell ya why he left-dat's for him ta decide on. I ask him ta come back, though." She took a few more steps onto the porch and regarded the group withalcualculating look. "I weren't expecting him to bring all y'all, though..."
Jamie's voice, thick with anger towards Remy for hurting his best friend, came fsomesomewhere in the vicinity of the iron gate. "We travel in packs, you know. Like wolves. Big, hairy, vicious wolves."
There was a brief snort and then a howl that made everyone jump, save for Logan. "Cute, Rahne, real cute... Belladonna, is it? Remy ain't real forthcoming with information here so you'd better get to talking."
"Or?" she asked coolly, coming even with Kurt and Kitty on the swing. A faint metallic sound and a spray of severed honeysuckle vine announced the appearance of Logan's claws. "I see...A threat. How quaint."
"Don't bullshit us, sister," Scott snarled, taking a turn for the Mickey Spilane,3 earning a bark of laughter from Logan and a sharp elbow in the ribs from Jean. "What Guild are you talking about? And why the Hell would Remy be kicked out of New Orleans?"
"He kill someone or something4?" Todd snorted.
Before Belladonna could respond, a tiny figure emerged from the shadows of the house and stopped, even with Kurt and Kitty. "I'm going home," Jubilee said thickly. "I can't stay here."
Logan responded first. "I can't let you go on your own, Kid..."
Kitty, Rogue and Jean said at once, "I'll go with you."
"Katzchen," Kurt said plaintively. "You can't just leave!"
Scott seemed to agree wholeheartedly. "Jean, we're in the middle of a trip here!"
Jubilee nodded glumly. "I can't ask you guys to just bail and come back to the Great White North when you're having so much fun downe. e. I'll call Storm and ask her to meet me at the airport in New York or something."
Logan sighed and glared at Belladonna, standing carefully neutral just inside the shadows where her face could not be clearly seen by most. "No, I'll get Professor Xavier to send her in the Blackbird. There's bound to be a private airport around here somewhere..."
"I can't stay here tonight," Jubilee said brokenly. She was smothered in short order by Jean, Kitty, Rogue and, surprisingly, Rahne. Jamie hovered around the outskirts of the group until her hand shot out and dragged him into the huddle.
Belladonna snorted. "Oh, come on, Jubilation. Don't be ridiculous! It's four in the morning..."
"Don't," Jubilee snapped, pushing away from her friends, "speak to me!" Belladonna did not budge as Jubilee narrowed the distance between them. "If I never hear your name again, it'll be too soon!" She spun on her heel and disappeared into the house, stomping up the stairs and then slamming the bedroom door.
Belladonna laughed a light, tinkling trill of a noise. "Well! She does not handle things well, does she?"
"Leave her 'lone, Bel," Remy sighed tiredly, emerging from the house. "She right...I shoulda tol' her much earlier." The Cajun's eyes glimmered in the moonlight, belying his sadness. "Bel, go back inside. I be dere ta talk in a moment."
She straightened as if to protest but a faint growl-whether it was from Logan or Rahne, no one was really sure other than those two-made her think better of it. "Fine. We settle dis tonight, Remy. You can't be found here when de Guild reconvenes." She swept into the house in cloud of silken robe and attar of roses.
There was a long pause before Jean said, "Bitch."
"Jean!" Kitty admonished, jerking her head towards Remy.
"No, petite, c'est d'accord. Whatever I felt for Bel, it long gone. Now, it all loose ends." He sighed and pressed his hand over his eyes for a moment. "I'm going to de hotel tonight..."
"Remy, it's Mardi Gras-there isn't a room to be had for miles around," Scott said with some concern.
"Where dere a Gold card, dere a way, mon ami," Remy laughed mirthlessly. "I be back in a few hours." He swept off the porch and through the yard, coat flapping behind him like some great, angry bird. The iron gate swung open with barely a sound and he was gone into the darkness.
Logan ground out his cigar with a sigh. "Okay. Bed. All of you."
Jamie, Rahne and Rogue trailed into the house, Lance and Todd grumbling, stomping out cigarette butts but following suite. Scott and Jean lingered with Kurt and Kitty, all wanting to talk to their chaperone. "You can't let him go off alone," Scott complained when the others were inside. "We're in New Orleans, for crying out loud! Sin city!"
"Scott, anyone ever tell you that you sound like an old woman?" Logan asked idly. "This is Remy's town. He'll be fine. And if he says he'll be back later, he'll be back later."
"I don't understand all that's going on," Kurt said quietly. "How could he not tell Jubilee he'd been married?"
"That's something we'll have to ask Remy, babe," Kitty sighed. "I'm tired. I want to sleep and God help me, I plan on shopping later. Maybe it'll cheer Jubilee up if we hit the French market or something."
Jean made a moue of consideration. "Maybe. Or maybe she'll go postal and blow the place sky-high in a fit of sparkly anger."
"Either way, should be an interesting day all around...Bed, now!" Logan said without much humor. Scott and Jean, hands twined as was becoming habit whenever they moved anywhere together, much to the disgust of some and romantic notions of others, went into the house and were engulfed in the darkness. Kurt made to follow but Logan's hand on his shoulder drew him up short. "You two," the older man said gruffly, "I know what you were up to earlier. A blind man could see those marks on Kitty's neck and...and stuff. And you two smell like a whore house on Sunday night."
"Logan!" Kitty cried, embarrassed. "We were just kissing!"
"Sure, Half Pint. Just make sure those kisses stay on the mouth and during daylight hours. If I catch you two in the act, you don't want to know what kind of trouble you'd be in..."
"Herr Logan," Kurt said with a idenidence he did not feel, "we can control ourselves!" He held Kitty's hand tightly and wondered, not for the first time that day, if Scott had been right.
"Sure, Elf...and I'm a big fluffy bunny. I may not remember being your age, but I know what's going through your mind, by damn, and I don't want to be raisin' kids while you're still a kid!"
Kitty was blushing so brightly that she was sure she was glowing in the dark. "Trust me, Logan, that's, like, so not going to happen any time soon!"
an nan nodded. "If it does, you're raisin' the kids as a single mom cause I'm killing the Elf." He held the door open and motioned for the couple to precede him.
Faint sobs could be heard issuing from one of the upstairs bedrooms and Kitty sighed. "I'd better go help the girls calm her down. Night, Logan. Love you, sweetie," she added, standing on her toes to kiss Kurt. It was a chaste kiss, compared to some of their others, but she twined her fingers in his hair and pressed lightly against the base of his tail at the same time. Kurt darted his tongue out and sampled her lower lip before a faint warning sound from Logan made him withdraw. "Night," Kitty whispered.
"Night, Schatz," Kurt sighed, watching her go up the stairs, carefully keeping his eyes on her ponytail and arms rather than following his natural inclination to watch her backside.
to bto bed, Elf. Worry about Remy later in the morning. I have a feeling this trip is gonna be cut short." Logan nodded curtly and trudged down the hall towards the old master bedroom situated in the rear of the house.
Kurt felt a headache coming on. Lack of sleep, overindulgence in food, and the stress of the homecoming had combined to make him one stressed out mutant. There was still faint crying and murmuring coming from the girls' room, and Belladonna's door was tightly shut. Kurt eased into the room he shared with the male mutants silently, careful not to wake the already-snoring Lance and Jamie. His night-keen eyes picked out Scott's bed near the window, the last in a row of single beds that dated from before Louisiana was even a state. Scott was awake, Kurt could tell by his restlessness, so he approached on silent feet, startling his friend when he said "Can I ask you something?"
"Shit!" Scott hissed, clutching a hand over his heart. "Scare me into an early grave, why don't you?"
"Sorry. Force of habit, I guess." Kurt say down on the edge of Scott's bed and picked at the nap of the quilt. "Well?"
"Ask away. I'm not getting to sleep anytime soon anyway..." Scott propped himself up on his elbows and waited.
Kurt wrinkled his brow, trying to phrase it in the best way possible. "Um, okay...here it goes. Do you really think Kitty and I have too much sex?"
Scott bit his lip to keep from laughing, forcing normalcy into his voice before speaking. "Well, first of all, there's not such t as as too much sex, at least not to my way of thinking, but if you want me to be honest, you do seem to have some impulse control issues."
"Impulse control issues? What the Hell does that mean?"
Scott sighed. "You two were going to sneak off tonight and do it, right? Even though you were probably gonna get caught, what with no place really to go and Logan lurking around...and how many times have you been caught or nearly caught? Or woken someone up? Or just been generally noisy? Or traumatized Jamie by making out on the couch and he walks in and freaks out?"
Kurt scowled. "Jamie can get over it. I know he and Rahne have done it a few times..."
"Dude, kid's still trying to figure out what's where and why...cut him some slack. Think about it, though...you two are the most sexual couple I've ever known, and that includes Remy and Jubilee."
"I can't help it, really. It's like whenever I'm near her, I want to touch her..." Kurt sighed. "I think I need a twelve step program."
Scott laughed softly, aware of the sleepy snufflings of Todd to his right. "Ask any of the guys in here if they feel the same way about their girlfriends and you'll get a yes..."
"Maybe I _am _ lacking in self control," Kurt said with a measure of surprise in his voice. "I don't want to reduce our relationship to sex! It's so much deeper than that! It's..."
"Whoa, nelly...it's late, Kurt. Or early. Depends on how you look at it. Anyhow, you don't have to tell me how much you care for Kitty or whatnot. If you think you're having too much sex, why don't you stop for a while? See what happens." Scott yawned, cracking his jaw in the process. "Guess I'm more tired than I thought..."
Kurt made a whimpering noise. "Give it up? All of it? You mean like kissing and touching, too?"
"Can you do that without it leading to sex or thinking of her while you...um...get yourself off?"
"Of course!"
"Honestly?"
"No..." Kurt knew that even a simple good night kiss would make him burn for her until he could somehow slake his desire, whether it be with Kitty or just thinking of her while he debased his shower. With a pained sigh, he said "I'll think on it."
"You do that...think on Belladonna first, though. She's got some weird mojo going on, if you ask me."
"Ja, ja, weird mojo," Kurt muttered, making his way to his bed. He worried his lower lip as he slid between the cool sheets and stared at the ceiling, the purpling dawn sky making the white color appear a pale blue. _I can't just stop sleeping with Kitty. She'll think I'm tired of her or something, especially after all that business with Amanda...but now that Kitty's back in school full time, she won't be likely to think I'm...what's that expression Rogue uses? Getting my needs met elsewhere. _ Kurt rolled onto his side and curled into a ball, a little ashamed that he was still aroused from earlier. _Kitty deserves better than to be pawed by some hormonal teenager. I need to figure out what to do, how to prove to myself I'm not some raging sex maniac... _ Kurt drifted off to sleep with strange thoughts of chastity belts and stop signs dancing behind his eyelids.


1 A story or ten back...the silver ring that has the Hebrew inscription "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" that Kitty wears on her right forefinger, a traditional position for the wedding ring in Jewish ceremonies. Most people who practice now will wear it on the left ring finger.
2 I'm sort of picking and choosing from the comicverse here, bending it to adapt to XME and the Foreververse...so if you're a die-hard continuity bunny for the cs, ss, sorry...
3 Wrote Mike Hammer novels...that whole film noir-LA in the 40's-LA Confidential thing....ahem. Yes. Rather.
4 Yeah, if you read the comics, you'd so get that right now...