Carne Vale

CARNE VALE CHAPTER FORTY ONE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, I think Dodo is having an affair with a mermaid, which I don't even want to picture... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are special in a good way for archiving. :) Readers/Reviewers: I'm hiding from the Killer Kitties (tm) and their Killer Minions(tm) . They say I'm damaging the black kitty's attempts at wooing Rei...Oy.

"Dude," Todd said in an awed whisper, "we're dating _cheerleaders _..."
Lance nodded absently as he watched the ragtag group of mutant girls beiriveriven through Storm's improvised drills, moves gleaned from watching game tapes courtesy of Bayville High's football coach who seemed to quite enjoy focusing on the sideline action as well as several tapes borrowed from the outgoing girls themselves of practices and performances, given grudgingly to Jean when she exerted a small bit of mental influence on them. They did not look happy, the newest additions to Bayville's cheer squad. In fact, Lance noticed, he had seen more pleasant expressions in mug shots. Todd was tugging his arm again and he snapped, "What?"
_"Cheerleaders! _" Todd knew it was quite possibly the most chauvinistic thing he could be happy about at that moment, but he could not help the thrills that ran down his spine at the idea that he, Todd Tolensky, Toad, a freak of the first order according to most people he met, was dating not just a very attractive girl, but one who happened to be a _cheerleader. _
"Shhh! If they hear us up here, I don't even want to _think _ what they'd do to us!" Jamie hissed. He was more afraid of Storm than any of the girls, but he did not want to risk any of their ire if only to save his own skin.
Lance rolled his eyes. "They can't see us. They're too busy glaring at Storm to look up here." The Danger Room was the site of the first cheerleading practice for the Mutant Squad, as they had taken to calling themselves, much to the annoyance of Storm and Logan. Beast merely rolled his eyes at the appellation and murmured something about Cecilia wanting to take notes on mutant interaction with activities typically reserved for nonenhanced humans. The woman was actually sitting on one of the benches running the length of the room, taking notes into a voice recorder and scribbling on a clipboard. "What the Hell is so interesting about cheerleaders?" he muttered.
Jamie snickered. "Even I can figure that out, man!"
"Shut up! That's not what I mean..." Lance kicked Jamie's ankle and groaned to himself as one Jamie became two. "Damn."
"Eh. More of me to love..." the younger teenager said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Think we can trust Bobby and St John?"
Todd nodded. "They ain't gonna turn us in and they'll let us know if anyone's coming."
*_Bamf. _ * "What are you guys looking at?"
"Almost anyone," Todd amended, his heart rate slowly returning to normal.
Lance was more relaxed, whether it was just his nature or the joint he had smoked beforehand, even he himself was not sure. "So you came up from the basement, Phantom."1
"Ja," Kurt said, somewhat more tired than he would have liked. School had been Hell that day, playing catch up on the classes he had missed and trying to maneuver with the sling on one arm and his other arm laden with books more wearing than he would have expected. "Is Kitty in there?"
"Yeah," Jamie said, the other one popping out of existence as hoke,oke, "third on the left, next to Amara."
"I can see," Kurt said, joining his friends at the window. "What are they doing?"
"I don't know, but I'm gonna see if Rogue'll do it naked later."
"Ew. She's my sister!" Kurt said, elbowing Todd.
"You're in a better mood," Lance observed. "What happened? Finally get some?"
Kurt scowled. "Klappe, pervert. I've just done some thinking and need to talk to Kitty." After a momentary pause in which the four males appreciated the view before them, especially the jiggling parts, Kurt cleared his throat and said, "Was she sick or something today? She wasn't in her room this morning when I stopped by and I think she's avoiding me."
"She told Rogue that she's staying out of your way until Easter." Todd was distracted by Storm's shiny white leotard, he was not ashamed to admit, and wondered how on Earth Logan was able to keep his hands off her for days at a time.
"Does everyone know what goes on in my life?" Kurt groaned, still staring at a certain brunette, scowling her way through a tumbling pass that ended badly. "I really need to explain sommersaults to her again..."
"Dude, they can fight their way out of the Danger Room unscathed, they can eat Kitty's cooking and live, but they can't do those flippy things..." Todd was a combination of amused and amazed.
Jamie frowned, defensive on behalf of his girlfriend who seemed to handle some of the tumbling better than the others but still looked rough around the edges. "It's not like this is a life or death thing, ya know? The gymnastic crud we do is strictly lifesaving, not pretty."
"Kitty's good with the martial arts...that should help somewhat, shouldn't it?" Kurt asked, distracted from his mildly tortured reverie by a yelp from Kitty, her landing sending a jolt of pain to her nose. "I guess not..."
"Kitty stayed home because of the rumor thing. She was all mopey and told Logan she had cramps so he let her stay home. Girl stuff grosses him out, I think," Lance said, cutting a glance to Kurt before returning his attention to Amara's livid visage.
Kurt growled softly, thinking of the things he would like to do to Duncan Matthews, and said, "Why didn't any of you guys do something to stop the talk?"
"Dude," Todd said, glaring, "We didn't hear about it until today. Whoever's spreading this shit is being real selective about who they tell."
Jamie bounced on his toes. "Hey, they're done!"
Kurt, still frowning as seemed to be his usual expression that month, said, "Tomorrow, we put a stop to it, got it?" He did not give them time to respond before he ported to the Danger Room, appearing in the midst of a dispersing group of haggard-looking girls. "Katzchen, we need to talk!"
"Kurt!" she yelped, dodging a thrown water bottle intended for Kurt. "What are you doing here? We're practicing!"
Storm said smoothly, "Actually, we're done...he can tap dance naked on the rafters for all I care now..."
"Thanks for that mental picture," Rahne grumbled, following Rogue and Amara from the room, joined by Storm.
Kitty put several arm-lengths between herself and Kurt. She was uneasy being near him, fearful that any accidental contact would send him spiraling into shame. "I've got to shower and go to bed...I've got lots of work to do tomorrow to make up for missing today and part of yesterday..."
"Liebes, listen to me..." Kurt did not approach her but held out his hands, palms-up, in a gesture of supplication. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. And I mean a lot...make-my-brain-hurt a lot...I'm not helping myself by doing this Lenten sacrifice this way. I'm hurting us. Not just me, understand...us. I'm overcompensating."
"For?" Kitty found herself stepping closer, her vision making Kurt seem blurred around the edges, her reasoning for the proximity being that she just wanted to see him more clearly.
"For being in love with you."
"Fuzzy," she said after a startled silence, "making sense you're not..."
"Hear me out. I had a long talk with someone last night and they got me thinking. They made more sense than Father Dominic did and I think it was because they were seeing this through unbiased eyes."
"Logan," Kitty said flatly.
"Um...would you be mad if I said it was?"
"Depends...keep talking." She noticed that she was even closer than a moment before, twisting her towel in nervousness as Kurt gazed down at her, making her feel at once small and large, like his world consisted solely of her for those few minutes. She found it to be unnerving.
Kurt sighed, trying to find the words so that Kitty would understand. "I've been hurting myself, making myself feel guilt where there should be none, because I love you. I wanted to make so sure that what we have is beyond the physical that I didn't realize that the physical is an expression of the ephemeral."
Kitty could not help the grin that stole across her features. "Glad you can use that word-a-day calendar I gave you."
"Be nice." Kurt took a tentative step towards her and said as normally as he could, "Katzchen, I want to go back to how we were before Ash Wednesday."
Kitty felt her heart thud once and a rush of warmth to her nether regions as her pulse raced. She stared at Kurt's begging expression, his hopeful eyes and the quirk of his lips that could almost be a smile but was not quite there. She stood on her toes and kissed him, lacing her fingers behind his neck to pull him closer, tasting his lower lip with her tongue, begging entry and receiving it as he groaned slightly, bending to meet her as the kiss seemed to go on forever. She pulled away reluctantly, closing her eyes as she licked her lips, tasting his toothpaste and him on her. "No," she said after an interminable moment.
"Was?" Kurt nearly stumbled with the force of her one word.
"I can't let you do that, Kurt. You gave up lovemaking for Lent because it's a sacrifice and I'm not going to make you break your promise."
"Don't be stubborn, Liebes! I made the decision after careful consideration and..."
"Let me finish. We can still do stuff, but no sex. I know that's not quite what you wanted and not really what you had planned after talking to the priest, but Kurt..." She shook her head helplessly. "I can't begin to tell you how awful I'd feel if you did this."
"Katzchen, it's okay!"
"It won't be so bad...twenty days...we can kiss and makeout and stuff...just no sex." She offered a smile as she said, "You'll be happier in the end when you make it to Easter without breaking your promise."
Kurt watched her go with the feeling of a headache growing behind his eyes. "Damn it!" he said to no one in particular, porting to his own room before he gave in to the urge to go to hers.
Cecilia Reyes, largely forgotten, stifled a smile as she spoke into her recorder. "Noted...teenaged mutants have just as many relationship issues as non-mutants. In fact," she added, making a note on her clipboard, "these seem to be more interesting."

Pietro was very proud of himself. Inordinately so, in fact. He had finally figured out where Tabby was staying after staking out the only music store in Bayville, knowing she would be there sooner or later. It was insanely easy to follow her, he thought. She did not even turn around to see who was behind her as she strolled up the street to the grocery store where she had parked an ancient beater of a car with Canadian plates, Wanda's car, actually, but he did not know that yet. Tabby disappeared into the store and emerged with a paper bag full of groceries, shoving it into the backseat before she drove away. Pietro followed her with barely a bead of sweat to show for his effort, sticking to the ditches and trees to avoid being seen. She pulled into one of the more exclusive apartment complexes in town, one of two, truth be known, and was met by a girl bounding down the outside stairs. It took Pietro almost a minute to realize the other girl was none other than Wanda Maximoff, his own sister. _What the fuck... _
"Heon. on. Get the juice and stuff?" Wanda held the car door open for Tabby, who was bright red at the attention.
"Yeah, and some Oreos and diet soda."
"Caffeine free? You know you shouldn't be drinking caffeine..."
"Yes, yes...caffeine free." Tabby rolled her eyes and let Wanda kiss her on the cheek.
Pietro felt his blood pressure rise at the sight playing out before him. _That fucking whore! Both of them! Wanda's a fucking lez and she's taken up with Tabby! Fucking Hell! _ He winced as a bee, early for the season, committed suicide on his neck but did not cry out, now more intent than ever on waiting for the right moment to take what he had come for. Tabby said something in a hushed tone to Wanda, who smiled, something Pietro had not seen her do since she was a little girl. The blonde headed up the stairs, the slight swell of her stomach made obvious by her tight clothes, as Wanda reached into the back seat to get the groceries. Now or never, he thought, rushing forward silently. Wanda had not been his objective but he was forming a new plan, better than the one he was going to use Tabby for. Wanda would bring him even more notice from Magneto, more chances to prove himself. He brought the sock full of quarters down on the back of Wanda's neck, her gasp cut short as she hit the concrete, groceries spilling everywhere. _Man, she's gonna be so pissed that's all it took to knock her ass out... _
1 Vague Phantom of the Opera reference