Constant Craving

CONSTANT CRAVING CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Mad Queen of Plotbunnies, Ted and Kristen and Lucas are threatening to decorate Dodo for Yule...hide the mistletoe! yre:yre: okay, I think I have 'em broke in... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get huge muse-kissies for archiving. HUGE ones... Readers/Reviewers: The horror...the horror...I found the platypi trenched in down by the bayou, building tunnels like the VC. I had to warn the ducks. They didn't take kindly....27th Airborne Division, armed and ready to attack... PS-I had intended this chapter to be fairly smutty, but it looks like 46 is the smutfest... LOL.


Kitty stared forlornly in the mirror. "It's not so bad..." Jean soothed.
"I have a bald spot!" Kitty moaned. Katja and Erika's face appeared over her shoulders, framing Jean.
"You really can't tell," Katja offered, eyeing the poorly hidden patch dubiously.
Erika frowned. "Maybe if you wore the ponytail lower..."
"I have a bald spot!" she moaned again, letting her head fall forward and hit the dresser. "Ow."
"Beast had to shave that little bit to put your stitches in," Jean explained for the third time in an hour. Kitty had to have three stitches all told and the painkiller she had taken made her oversleep. As it was, Tabby was pacing the hallway under Logan's watchful eye as Jean and the Wagner girls tried to soothe Kitty's vanity.
"It's awful!" Kitty said bitterly.
Katja sighed. "Better missing some hair than have a cracked skull, ja? Imagine the headache from that one..." She came into view in the crowded mirror. "Maybe a braid," she offered.
Jean brightened. "Plaits...like a Pollyanna thing." She set to work immediately.
"Pollyanna? Ugh!" Kitty wrinkled her nose, wincing a little as Jean tugged on a sensitive spot.
"Kurt'll get a thrill off of it...guys love that whole school girl thing..." Jean explained around a ponytail holder clenched between her teeth.
Anja raised her eyebrow in a fair imitation of an incredulous Kurt. "Really? I need to remember that...Katja, did I pack that plaid skirt?"
Erika elbowed her. Ignoring her sister's stuck-out tongue, she said to Kitty "See? You can't even see the patch!"
Jean stepped back and smiled. "If I do say so myself, that looks pretty damned good!"
Kitty finally smiled, twisting and turning to admire the braids. "Wow-you can't see it at all!" She pushed herself to her feet and hugged Jean tightly. "Thank you!" She pulled away and hugged each of the Wagners in turn. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Smile still on her face, she bounced from the room to meet Tabby in the hall.
"You know," Katja said after a moment, "she really takes her hair seriously..."
Jean chuckled. "I think it was more pent up nerves from having to deal with Tabby today than missing hair..."
Erika sighed. "I don't know...I'd be pretty mad if I had to have part of my head shaved."
Jean smirked. "How about all of it? I think I have an electric razor around here somewhere!"
Erika shrieked in mock terror and dashed from the room, leaving Jean laughing mirthfully. Anja smirked and said, "You sure you're an only child? You'd make a great older sister..."
Katja grinned. "Ja...you should give lessons!" With an eye to the time, she sat at Kitty's vanity. "Kurt wants to go flying in the Blackbird...is that a fast plane?"
Jean smiled. "You don't know the half of it..."

Tabby glared. Kitty had a smudge of soot across her nose and sweat was dripping down her neck, but still the girl did not complain. She had a grim look of determination on her face, scrubbing at the scorch marks on the floor. "This whole martyr thing is your strong suit, isn't it?" Tabby snapped.
"Huh?" Kitty rocked back on her heels and let her sponge drop. "Martyr? Tabby, I'm just cleaning the floor."
"You and your little braids and tight shirt, humming away while you clean...you have this mansion wrapped around your little finger, don't you?" Tabby jabbed the paintbrush into the bucket of white paint Logan had procured, sending a slosh of the substance onto the dropcloth.
"Tabby, you're wrong...just because I get along with everyone doesn't mean I'm manipulating them somehow..." _Keep control Kitty...don't let her get the upper hand otherwise you'll never get her to listen. _ "Look, last night, I wanted to tell you something I think you might find interesting and quite feasible."
"Feasible? Using big words to prove how smart you are?" she snarled. "Look here, Kitty, you have everything-just live in your little snow globe of a world. I'm gonna live in the real world, something you know nothing about...soon as I'm done with all this shit for the Professor, I'm outta here."
"What about the baby?" Kitty asked quietly. She strained her ears for signs of the others but Logan was doing a good job of keeping them away from the rec room while the girls cleaned the mess.
Tabby froze. Her eyes sed fed fire as she hissed, "How the _fuck _ do you know about that? One of you freaks read me or something?"
"It's not important," Kitty said, her confidence rising to match Tabby's ir"Jus"Just know that I know. I also know that Pietro threatened to call the cops on your if you came back to the Boardinghouse. I know he wants you to have an abortion and you're willing to do it, but you don't have the money. I know that it's almost too late-you're almost three months into the pregnancy. I also know Pietro threatened you with more than the cops...I know you love him, or at least think you do..." Kitty moved forward on her knees, stopping just short of arm's reach from Tabby. "Want to know what else I think? I think you don't want an abortion at all. I think you want to have this kid. That's why you're waiting so long, that' why you just didn't go steal something big and sell it to get the money when you first found out."
Tabby felt like she was swimming through molasses. She had no idea how Kitty found most of the information out but she knew Lance and Todd told her some of it, at least the parts about Pietro. "You all played me, didn't you?" she asked numbly, almost too low for Kitty to hear. "You fucked with me, got me to talk...God, how stupid can I be?" She took a deep, shuddering breath and looked up at Kitty. "I'm a joke to you, aren't I? Tabby the Slut, this is the second time she's gotten knocup bup by a teammate..." Tears shone brightly in her eyes but her mouth was set in anger. "I'll tell you one thing, girly, there's no way I'm gonna be a joke to you. You're the joke, swanning around here like you're Queen of Sheba, the guys drooling all over you...they just want one thing from you and once they get it, they're gone. You're nothing but a piece of ass to these freaks."
Kitty felt her heart break. For the first time in her life, she felt honest pity for someone. She could not bring herself to lash out as she wanted to. Rather, she sighed and reached her hand out, stopping just short of Tabby's arm. Turning her hand palm-up, she said softly, "I'm sorry you think that...Kurt is thly mly man in my life, at least the way you're talking about. We love each other. Do you understand that? Lust and love...two different things here. He wouldn't abandon me if I were pregnant. He wouldn't threaten me, he wouldn't run like a scared child. Tabby, I may be a joke to you, but I'm lucky." Tabby turned her face away from Kitty but not before she sniffed dangerously, tears trickling over the edge of her eyelids. "Tabby, I know you hate me. Fine. Hate my guts until the end of time, but don't let your baby suffer because of it."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I want to help. Hold it-don't snap at me yet. Just listen. This afternoon, we can go into town and find you an apartment. The rent will be paid for a year and the bills will be taken care of. Don't ask how, just know that they will. The only catch is this: you have to either go back to school or get your GED1 and get regular check ups if you decide to keep the baby."
Tabby felt the words rise before she could stop them. "What if I keep the baby? Then what? How will I support it?"
"Well, if you don't have an abortion and don't give it up for adoption, I'll help you find a job to make ends meet after the year is up on the lease. Hell, I'll even babysit if you need me to..." Kitty was feeling reckless, throwing that lost offn ofn off the top of hea head.
The fight was gone from Tabby. She felt a sense of vertigo-all the answers to her midnight worries were being offered to her on a silver platter, by the girl she hated almost more than anything else on the planet. "Why?"
Kitty shrugged. "If I were in your shoes, I know I'd be scared and lost and I'd be desperate for help..." Shferefered a watery smile to Tabby, "Besides, my Yaya would kill me if she knew I couelp elp and didn't."
"Yaya?"
"Grandmother...so, will you at least think about it? If you don't want to go today, we can go tomorrow, early..."
Tabby sighed. "I'll think about it."
Kitty narrowed her eyes. "You can't run, you know...Logan won't let you off the grounds."
Tabby snorted. "Fine, fine...Where the Hell is the money for this coming from, anyway? I ain't gonna be a charity case for the X-Men..."
Kitty smiled fully then. "Just call it the Aikaterine Prydakos Fund for Wayward Girls."
"Who?'
"Forget it...you missed a spot on the wall." Kitty ducked her head to scrub at a black spot before her, feeling Tabby's eyes on her head for a long time before the sound of the paintbrush on the wall began again.

It had been decided by the adult portion of the Institute that it was Movie Night, an effort to calm underlying tension by forcing all the teenagers to watch an endless series of films until they either ran screaming from the room in boredom or fell asleep without fighting. The rec room still smelled faintly of paint so Storm cracked the window open, stirring a breeze to help speed the process. "It's cold!" Jean said plaintively, scooting close to Scott.
He smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'll keep you warm..."
"Not too warm," Logan muttered. "We're sitting right behind you, you know..." His growl elicited a chuckle from Beast, seated to his left. "What? I ain't gonna stand for hanky panky in the common areas."
Beast merely grinned at him and let his eyes drift to Rogue, fidgeting anxiously in her seat. She was wedged between the arm of the couch and Todd, her neck and face the only skin showing. That morning, before the sun even rose, she had awakened him by pounding on his door. Her journal showed that she was exhibiting all the signs of ovulatind Bnd Beast told her that she would most likely be able to touch sometime in the next forty-eight hours, at her optimum fertility stage. Since then, she had been swathed from head to toe, eyeing Todd nervously. _She'll have to go trial and error...I'd better have the paddles ready. _ His heavy sigh drew a glance from Logan. "Just thinking what it was like to be their age," he explained.
Logan snorted. "I wouldn't know." A brief scuffle on the floor drew his attention. "Cut it out down there..."
"Sorry, Herr Logan-we're arranging!" Kurt said from beneath a pile of girls. He was radiating heat in the chilly room and his sisters were vying for space near him. Kitty was firmly tucked under one arm, Kurt's tail curled around her waist for extra security. Katja finally settled with her head on his stomach, Anja with her head on his shoulder and Erika somewhere between, a blanket over all their legs.
"Arrange quietly," Logan muttered, pressing play on the remote control.
Remy was sitting next to Todd, Jubilee curled so that her legs were across his lap and her back was against the arm of the couch. "Chere," he murmured once the movie was under way, "wanna come to my room tonight?"
Jubilee smiled, never taking her eyes from the screen. "Sure...we can do that..." she murmured. Remy's response was cut off by Jubilee shifting so that her feet were in his lap, her bare toes kneading his thigh. "We can do all sorts of things..." she said softly. Logan did not look over at her words so, feeling brave, she moved her feet again and pressed attention to a more sensitive area of Remy's anatomy. With slow, gentle movements, she made Remy stifle a groan as she popped the button on his jeans. _This _ , she thought, _is going to be a good night... _
Rahne rested her head on Jamie's shoulder where they were seated, squished together, in the wingback chair. Since their aborted lovemaking attempt the night before, they had been more touchy-feely than previously, neither missing a chance to brush against the other, to touch bare skin in some way. Now, Rahne sighed contentedly, pressed close to Jamie with his arms around her waist and his breath in her ear. Jubilee was shifting around in Remy's lap, the older mutant biting his lip as the Asian girl did _something _ , Rahne noted, with her feet. _Well, when in Rome... _ Turning her head just slightly, she captured Jamie's earlobe in her teeth. He stiffened beside her and she murmured "Quiet," before suckling gently on his ear. Jamie sucked on his lower lip and tightened his arms around Rahne's waist, his arousal pressing against the underside of her thigh where it rested across his lap. One eye on Logan and the other on the movie in case there were questions later, Rahne alternated suckling with nips and kisses, smiling to herself as Jamie's pulse increased against her ribs. I think tonight's the night after all...
Scott and Jean were, for all intents and purposes, fixated on the movie. Jean's mind, however, was nowhere near as fixated as her eyes. _*Scott...want to have some fun? _ *
_*What do you mean? _ * He hoped his thoughts did not sound as eager as he was sure his voice would.
Jean smiled. _*Just relax... _* When she felt him lowingeingering mental defenses, she began. Every single memory of anything vaguely erotic that Jean had ever experienced in her life was channeled into pure feeling, from a brush of velvet against her cheek when she was only twelve to her first kiss at fourteen and onward, all the way up to the previous night when she had lured Scott to her room with her telekinetic manipulations of his manhood. Jean let her eyes drift close as if in sleep, sending sensation but no images to Scott, feeling his breath hitch in his ribs as she sped up the pace of the projection, making sure that it was sent only to Scott. His hand tightened on hers and he hissed a breath softly between his teeth. _*Too much? _*
Scott shook his head. _*Not enough...I need you, Jean...this is great, but I need you. _*
Jean slowed the projection to a mere psychic trickle, enough to keep him aroused but not enough to set him completely off. _*Then later, you can have me... _*

Lance shifted, letting Amara rest against his chest more comfortably. She was sitting between his parted knees, her hands resting on his ankles as if she were bracing for something. "You comfortable?" he murmured.
"Mmmm."
Lance did not even look up at the movie. He was fixated on the back of her neck, the small scattering of freckles against her olive skin drawing his finger to touch them, trace the constellation with wanting reverence. "Amara," he whispered, "want to ditch?"
"Can't...Logan..." she said softly. Instead, she bowed her head forward, offering the expanse of sensitive skin to Lance's touch. She murmured appreciatively as he traced aimless patterns there with his forefinger, gasping when he leaned forward slightly to follow his finger with his tongue. Her hands tightened and Lance smirked. He loved it when Amara was dominating, but sometimes he liked the slow seduction, the control he could offer her in turn. Settling back, he gathered Amara's thick hair in his hands and pulled her head back gently. She tensed as if expecting pain but soon melted against his growing erection as he ran his fingers through her hair repeatedly, tugging and twisting in unconscious rhythm, luring her into arousal through his actions. "Lance," she whispered after a moment, "just so you know...I'm not wearing any underwear..."

"You can't ignore me forever," Logan said out of the side of his mouth.
"I'm not ignoring you. I'm thinking." Storm stabbed a needle into her cross stitch pattern savagely.
"About what?"
"As if you don't know..." She jabbed again, hissing as she drew blood.
"Let me see..."
"Don't touch me," she bit out. "Logan, I refuse to have this conversation here. You had your chance this morning but you never showed..."
"I had to supervise Kitty and Tabby..." _Don't make me beg... _
"Fine...that's acceptable. The fact remains though that this is neither the time or the place for such a discussion." Wary of Beast's proximity, she leaned towards Logan and whispered, "I'll talk to you later."
"Now."
"No."
" 'Ro..." he sighed. "Don't do this to me...don't make me beg you to listen. That'll only make me resent you in the end."
She folded her needlework and tucked it into the bag at her feet. With a deep breath, she turned to face Logan, one eye on the teenagers before her. "Logan, I love you. Plain and simple. I'm not asking for marriage, I'm not asking for children. I'm just asking you how you feel. You don't have to love me, just be honest with me." Rising to her feet, she said loudly enough for all to hear. "I have a headache. I'm off to bed."
Logan sighed bitterly as she left the room, damning the eternal mating dance that dragged him into this situation. Beast leaned over after a moment and said, "If I were you, I'd send her flowers. That always works..."
"She grows 'em...what does she need a bouquet for?" he sighed, not even bothering to deny the relationship.
"Just trust me on this one...flowers." Beast nodded authoritatively. "Flowers and jewelry, if you've really messed up."
"This," Logan growled, "is becoming a project."

Kitty ran her fingers over Kurt's tail one more time before he managed to grate out, "Katzchen, what are you doing?" His sisters were sound asleep on his chest and stomach so Kurt moderated his breathing, despite Kitty's rather interesting fingers.
"Did I tell you how much I liked that CD you made me?" she murmured. "I like it a lot..." she said, drawing one finger down the underside of his tail, tickling the spaded tip.
"I wouldn't keep doing that if I were you," he gasped. "It's driving me crazy!"
Kitty smiled, using both hands to caress him. "I know..." Kurt's soft groan made her grin even more broadly, his head thumping back against the coffee table. She lifted the end of his tail and drew it across her lips, blowing softly as she did so. Kurt's breathing deepened and Kitty backed off a little, not wanting to wake Kurt's sisters and draw attention to their situation in a most embarrassing way. He was making no effort to take his tail from her hands, however, so she continued her attentions, though not as vigorously as before. Slowly, she drew him down her neck to move over her breast, letting him feel her hardened nipple pressing through her t-shirt. Kurt's tail twitched in her hand and she bit back a sigh. She lightly ran her nails down the length again, making him cough to cover the rising moan in his throat. Kitty had brought the tip up to her lips again when a voice broke her reverie.
"Kitty?"
"AH!" Couples jerked apart, all looking either guilty or annoyed at Tabby standing in the doorway.
Kitty, her wits scattered all to Hell, managed to say "What?" without squeaking.
Tabby looked at her for a long moment, aware that all eyes in the room were on her. Finally, she said, "Yes."

1 For those of you who don't know what that is: Graduate Equivalency Diploma.