Carne Vale

CARNE VALE CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, much happiness to the increasing health! And you have no idea how much ass you kick for beta-ing while sick! InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink make me feel sooooooo happy for archiving! Readers/Reviewers: This story is kinda near over but not really, but I'm gearing up for another-which mutants would you like to see in addition to the ones already in the stories I write? So far, Cannonball is going to make an appearance...*g * And Happy Ostara to everyone (yeah, I'm a few days late on it, but I just got back from an Ostara get-together so I'm all spring-y.) And I love you people for reading and reviewing. The ducks are in awe of my affection for you. In fact, don't tell them, but I like y'all better than them-y'all haven't parked Panzers on my lawn.

Mystique hated Bayville with a passion heretofore unknown to humankind. She hated it with all the cells in her body, all the breath in her lungs, all the thoughts in her head. With every beat of her heart, she hated Bayville. And it could all be summed up into one focal point, one rather unassuming house in the middle of the block with a rickety gate and a broken cement walk way. She pushed the sign labeling the boardinghouse with her finger, cringing when it hit the ground with a dry thump, splintering with its age and rot. _I hope Magneto dies soon. If he does, I won't have to find him and kill him... _ She walked to the door with a purposeful stride, noting with a sneer that a slap-dash job had been done in repairing it. For almost a week, Mystique had been observing, waiting for the time to come in and make her move. She could hear Blob moving around upstairs, the floorboards groaning with his weight, and Pietro was in the kitchen, judging by the smells and sounds coming from the room. _Twit could burn sushi. _ Mystique did not care to examine the motives for her hatred of the boy, rather just accepted that she would have to deal with it, be the adult, and use him until he was wrung out and served no other purpose but to hold down papers on someone's desk. She eyed the stairs with some disdain and sighed. She was loathe to stay in the dilapidated house but to do otherwise while in Bayville would arouse Magneto's suspicion, and she was not quite ready to take him on just then. "Pietro," she yelled, damning any attempt at being ladylike or sounding mature.
A gray blur resolved itself into the wan teenager, looking as if he had been rode hard and put up wet. "Mystique!" he said sharply, surprised to see her. He was trembling but not, she suspected, from fear of her. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to be with Magneto, to plan, to..."
"Shut up, Pietro. I'm back to get this sorry excuse for the Brotherhood back in some semblance of order. Magneto is no concern of yours-if you are so worried about your father, go find him yourself. I'm sure Wanda will be more than happy to help,' she snarled.
Pietro blinked like a startled rabbit. "No...I don't want to talk to Wanda, even to find him."
"Then quit asking questions and take my things up to my old room. And it had better be in decent condition when I return," she said with a firm tone, turning her back on the teenager before he could form a response. "And for God's sake-stop looking at me like that. I'm not a ghost!"
"You may as well be," he muttered, though not quietly enough to escape notice.
"What did you say?" she hissed, not even turning around.
"I said..." he cleared his throat, "you may as well be! You drift in and out without so much as a fuck you...half the time we're not even sure if we're really Brotherhood anymore, if Magneto disbanded the whole thing and you just never bothered to tell us!"
Mystique took a deep, calming breath. "I'm not going to kill you because you can be of use for my future plans. But consider this your only warning-I am the de facto leader while Magneto is gone, no matter how deserving you think you are of the position by the mere fact of your DNA. Secondly, the Brotherhood in Bayville is down to you and Blob. What the hell kind of force is that? We've lost most of our group to the _others _ and if you're going to turn tail, do it before I get back. I swear, Pietro, if you disappoint me, I will have your hide for a rug!" The door slammed behind her in a satisfying manner as she strode out into the early evening twilight. The slam of the car door gave her further satisfaction as she started the car, roaring into the purpling light of the evening and heading towards the tony area of town, where the houses were new and the money was even newer.

Principal Kelly's house was lit up like Christmas, every window glowing yellow-gold, ae ree red car swung onto the street, drawing to a halt behind a line of several other later model vehicles, all obviously intended for Edward Kelly's home. had had been watching for the arrival of this woman, almost as eagerly as a puppy waiting for its master, throwing open the door almost before the last chime of the bell sounded. "Ann! So good to see you!"
"Edward," she said smoothing, shaking his hand with a minimum of contact before gliding into the foyer. "Where are we all meeting?"
"Oh," he said, flustered by her cool demeanor, "in the study, just to the left here..." He ushered Ann McMillan into the richly appoinroomroom, far too well decorated for a principal's salary. "This is Ned Matthews, his wife Deirdre, Superintendent James Chalmers..." he droned on, introducing the members of the school board. "Unfortunately, we have one missing person-Professor Charles Xavier was unable to attend this evening. He heads a...boardinghouse of sorts, and there is some emergency there." In truth, he had not been invited but Edward Kelly was not about to tell the representative from the Department of Education that.
"Hmmm. Well, then." Ann McMillan, blonde Amazon that she was, peered over the crowd with a disdainful eyer ser sneer evident. "I understand that the problem lies with the students of Xavier Institute...I feel that we need to postpone this meeting until he is available."
Kelly felt a swell of panic and batted Ned Matthews' hand away from his arm as he stood and made a placating gesture to the woman. "Why don't you have a seat and let us explain our side of things to you and maybe you can meet with Xavier later..."
The blonde woman paused, the painfully long silence stretching nerves to the breaking point, before she nodded curtly. "You have fifteen minutes. Don't waste my time..." She settled in to what was obviously Kelly's chair-a leather wingback with metal studs outlining it-behind the desk and folder her hands, obviously waiting. The assembled school board members exchanged nervous looks before Kelly stood, launching into an onerous speech about the evils of the Institute and how the students intermingling with "regular ed" students were causing problems. Files were brought out and passed to Ann McMillan who made a show of reviewing them and murmuring. After fifteen minutes were up, she stood and raised her hand, gesturing for quiet. "I'll take all you told me under advisement...Principal Kelly, may I speak with you please? I have a meeting with my supervisor this evening when I leave here in reference to our little talk just now but I'd like to run some things by you first..."
Kelly found himself worried-this woman's grip was so tight, he was sure that he would have bruises in the morning. "So, you'll consider our proposal?"
She spun him to face her before the front door, her eyes glinting with a nearly inhuman light. "I'm making you an offer, Edward. I'll take care of your Institute students mingling with the norms on the condition you resign your position."
"What?" he squawked, louder than he had expected. "You can't be serious," he hissed after a moment.
"Perfectly. My...supervisor...feels that you have exceeded your usefulness as principal." Leaning in, her breath smelling faintly of mint and coffee, she said quietly, as if confiding a great secret, "His exact worere ere that you would serve much better as a _public _ official, like a councilman or state representative...Being Principal is too...small...for you!"
"Too small?" he asked, the bonfire of his vanity1 being stoked.
"Mmmm," the woman continued, sliding her arm around his shoulder and speaking in low, secret tones. "I can tell you for a fact that a city council position is opening in Bayville for the next election...Just think, Edward Kelly-City Councilman. From there, it's only a small step to Senator and then..."
"Then?"
"Who knows?" she said coyly. "You'll be given a handsome retirempackpackage should you choose to leave of your own free will rather than be removed by legal action...And impeccable letters of reference from my supervisor, enough to ensure your quality should you choose to run for council."
Kelly nodded hurriedly, hearing his guests emerging from the study. "I'll call you tomorrow with my answer."
"I'll call you instead..." she said softly, favoring him with a vixen-like glance. "Wait for me." She walked quickly but calmly to her car, feeling his oily gaze on her even as she started the engine. Ann McMillan swung the car onto the main road through Bayville, but Mystique pulled it into the driveway of the Boardinghouse.


"I am stuck on Band Aids, cause Band Aids' stuck on me! I am stuck on Band Aids cause germs won't stick on me!"2 Kitty splashed her hands in the tub, somewhat regretting the warm water. It was combining with the relaxing effects of her pain pill to make her very, in Jubilee-terminology, floopy.3 She stared hard at her toes, pink from the heated water and getting just a little wrinkled, and said aloud, "If I try to get up, I'm going to fall right on my ass. Splat." She punctuated her words with a slap of her hands on the water, sending a small wave onto the floor to spread across the green rug. The only bathtub was in the community bathroom upstairs and she had taken dibs on it as soon as she felt functional after that morning's round of painkillerscesscessitated by Jubilee's kiss. She bent her knees experiementally and tried to push up, only to find herself sliding down into the water. "Eep!" Kitty locked her knees and stopped herself from going under. _I hate being short sometimes...Okay. I can't get up on my own. I'm naked. Storm's not here-she went shopping with Jean and Amara. I don't know where Rahne is...Damn it. You think this is funny, don't you God? _ Kitty knew with great certainty that if she called for him, Kurt would hear her. His room was only a door down and across the hall from the bathroom she was in and he was the one person who she did not mind seeing her naked. _He'll get over it...But how can he help me if his arm's broken? _ The thoughts crossed her mind even as she called out, "Kurt! Come here! I need you!"
Kurt had ported into the bathroom even before Kitty finished calling for him. Something in her tone had bespoke her state of mind and he knew that she was not trying to seduce him or even playing a joke to get his goat Rather, she sounded stressed and a little nervous. "What's wrong, Schatz?" he asked, somewhat surprised that she was laid out in the tub. He had expected her to be having trouble getting dressed, dizzy from the painkillers, or worse-on the floor, hurt from a fall.
'I can't get up! I'm too floopy!"
"Floopy?" Kiurt bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Floopy?"
"Are you going to help me out or not?" she said grumpily, too afraid to move her legs for fear of sliding furthing into the water. "I'm getting tired here..."
Kurt smiled rakishly at her. "I don't know...I kind of like the view..."
"That does it...Logan!" she called, knowing full and well that he had gone into town to get a few beers and scare the locals.
"Nein, nein!" Kurt panicked, knowing that the older man would kill him if he came in and caught Kitty naked with him. "Here, give me your hand!"
"If I move," she said tiredly, "I'll slip..."
Kurt frowned. "Oh. I thought you were just being silly but now I see...Ah!" He sat on the edge of the tub and wrapped his tail around her upper arm. He knew it would make him feel awful because of his current state, but he ported Kitty into her room.
She found herself on the bed, sprawled soaking wet and crookedly across the comforter. Kurt made a low noise of queasiness and fell next to her, curled into a slightly fetal position with his eyes tightly closed. "Kurt, oh my God! Next time just go get Amara or something!"
"Next time?" he groaned. "I'll just leave you there if you do that again!"
Kitty sighed and leaned forward to press her forehead to his. "No you wouldn't."
"I wouldn't," he agreed. "But I'll be sick just the same."
"Here," she said, getting up woozily and rummaging through her dresser drawer for her secret stash. "Have a cupcake or three."
Kurt took the box of snack cakes from her gratefully and proceeded to wolf them down at an astonishing rate. "Danke, Katzchen!"
"It'll keep me from eating them," she sighed., tying the sash to her robe tightly before crawling back onto the bed. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he said around a mouthful of junk food.
Kitty was feeling languid despite her worry for Kurt and found that her semi-drugged state made her more prone to easy arousal. _Be good, girl. Don't think such things about him, especially when he's feeling bad. You have twenty-three more days to go through before you can be with him like that again, no matter what he says about deciding to relieve his tension on his own time. _ However, despite her self-chastisement, she found her fingers drifting over the open neck of her robe, tracing a path down the exposed skin and toying witr ner necklace. "Feeling better?" she asked after he had finished the box.
"A little...I really need to sleep, rest so I can heal."
"Kurt..." Kitty pushed on his knee with her toes when he would stand, making him stop and look at her askance. "Did you mean what you said earlier? That you're going to...you know?"
"Huh? Er...ja. But not a lot. Just when things get nearly unbearable," he said, mumbling in embarrassment.
"Well, I may do it a lot." _So long as I'm all dopey...this is fun stuff... _ Kitty did not even notice her nose throbbing in mild pain as she let her robe fall open, revealing a breast to Kurt's startled eyes. "Is that okay with you?"
"Uh...." Kurt forced himself to swallow.
"Especially when I think of how you look at me when I'm naked," she said quietly, letting her garment fall open entirely, her body exposed, still wet from the tub and slightly pink from the heat and her growing arousal. "Or how you touch me," she added, demonstrating her words by circling her rosy nipple with a feather-light touch, drawing a shudder through her entire body as Kurt made a strangled noise at her feet. She was still feeling like her entire body was pure liquid warmth as she trailed her fingers down her stomach, sighing as goosebumps rose on her pale flesh. "I love how you touch me," she sighed. "Like there's no one else in the world and you make me feel beautiful." She jumped a little as she felt his hand clamp on her ankle but did not stop the progress of her fingers. His hands run up her legs as she found the damp curls between her thighs, toying with the velvet heat that was growing ever stronger by the second. "I should stop," she said on a breath as she pressed against her need with her fingers.
Kurt made a sound like he was trying to speak but could not find words, cleared his throat and said, "Not on my account..." The bed dipped slightly as he moved to lay along her length, his good arm sliding around her waist to clutch her tightly as he whispered fiercely, "Kleine Hexe,4 you thought I didn't know about last night, didn't you?" His voice was rough but held a teasing tone. He tensed and bit his lip against his own need as Kitty found her entrance and began a slow, heavy rhythm that made her shudder and sigh, pressing against him as if she could not get close enough. "I know what happened...I thought it was all a wonderful dream of the things we would do when Lent is over, but I realized this morning that it was real."
"H...how?"
"When I got to my room after...the incident...I could still smell you on me." He pressed against her hip, seeking a modicum of relief from his painful arousal. Kitty's breathing was coming in short gasps as she began to rock her hips against her thrusting fingers as he murmured, "I thought I was still suffering-yes, suffering-the effects of the dream when I noticed that I could actually smell the scent of your arousal on me, that it wasn't just some remnant of my fantasy...I know I was in you, even if it was just my tail. I know you came for me, even if I did not for you." Taking a long breath, he said in a rush, "Come for me now, Katzchen? Please?"
Kitty cried out softly, muff the the sound by turning her face to press against Kurt's chest. He held her so tightly that he was sure he was crushing her but she still shivered in climax, whimpering against him as he fought the urge to tumble her there, thinking of anything and everything but the look on her face, the smell of her body and the sounds she was making. Kitty finally stopped shaking and her breathing slowed as she pulled her hand away, a vaguely wicked expression settling on her features. "Kurt," she said softly, pressing her dewy fingers to his lips, tracing her moisture across them, "I think I know what we can do until Easter."
1 It's a play and a book and a movie and I just always liked the phrase "Bonfire of the Vanities."
2 One variation of the Band Aid song they play over the commercials. Catchy damn thing, ain't it?
3 Actually from Friends...Phoebe says something is "floopy" and I like the word...
4 Little witch