Independence Day

Disclaimer....


Kurt hadn’t paid any particular attention to what Kitty had been wearing earlier, but when she stepped from behind the frosted-over freezer he took notice. It was a good thing she hadn’t looked him in the face just then or she would have known exactly what was going through his head. She’d said something, but he was beyond forming coherent thoughts as she walked around him.

Starting at her feet, he memorized every piece of flesh visible. Never had he seen her in something so...skimpy. He also had never seen her let her hair down or go without make-up as she was now. God, then his eyes snagged on her chest and he had to concentrate on breathing. Her breasts were practically screaming to escape the worn fabric covering them, and he had a very difficult time taking his eyes off her hardened nipples. When she bent to inspect a lower shelf he finally had to force himself to turn away before things got out of hand. Sticking his head the nearest freezer was starting to sound like a good idea. Thankfully Scott coming out of the restroom just then caught his attention. His friend looked around, nodded at Logan who was fiddling with the coffee machine, then slowly made his way back out to the car, rubbing his temples as he went.

“Guess he’s pretty tired, huh?” Kitty said from beside him. He jumped slightly since he hadn’t heard her approach. “Well, let’s hurry up and get this stuff paid for and get out of here. I can’t wait till we get home so I can shower.”

He nodded, keeping his mind and eyes firmly on her face. They pilled their hoard of food on the counted and just as quickly snatched it back as soon as Logan had paid for it. Kurt had one sandwich scarfed down and was opening the second when they got back into the car. Scott was already snoring softly in the passenger seat, and it was obvious that nothing shy of a hurricane was going to wake him.

The highway was dark, save for the convertible’s headlights and the stars overhead. It was considerably cooler now the sun had set, and once again Kitty wished she’d dressed better. Scott was still snoring, unbothered by the radio Logan was blaring. The man’s cigar gave off a dull glow, and his hand thumped the steering wheel in tune with the music. Kitty hated to bother him, so she suffered on in silence. She glanced over at Kurt, expecting him to be asleep as well, but instead he was staring absently at the road ahead. He’d finished his last sandwich long ago and his hand was still curled around the empty pop bottle. His indigo mane was blown back away from his face, and she studied his profile. Frowning, she realized he was still using his holowatch. She hardly ever got the chance to see him in his true anymore since he’d taken to using it ever since the safety of the mansion had been shattered.

She shivered violently, and wished enviously for his warm fur, then an idea struck her; since she wasn’t going to be sprouting a lovely coat anytime soon, he would just have to share his. She took the empty bottle from his hand and scooted over to his side, snuggling up against him. He jumped a little, then looked down at her smirked.

“Ah, is the little Katzchen cold?” he teased, then rubbed his warm hand over her arm and shoulder comfortingly. She nodded ruefully against his chest.

A few moments later she worked up her courage. “You can turn that off now, ya’ know? No one’s going to see you out here.” When he didn’t respond she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her, and she sat up slightly to look at him. He was staring down at the mechanism on his wrist warily. So he had heard.

“Here, let me?” She said softly, and slowly reached out. She felt around till she found the little button with her finger, but paused before pressing it to look up at his face. He was gazing down at her with an odd expression, but made no move to stop her. Their eyes met, and she held his gaze as she pressed the button and watched in mute fascination as the “human” image of him melted. She was now staring into glowing yellow eyes.

“Much better,” she whispered, her throat suddenly tight, and lowered her head back down to the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Her fingers were going numb from the cold, so she reached and tucked her hand into his. He closed his three fingers over her tiny hand and brought it up to rest over his heart. “He has to be the sweetest guy,” she thought. “Good manners, good sense of humor...no perverse thoughts like all the other guys.” He was so unsure about himself, though. She herself had contributed to that uncertainty when she first met him, but now she wondered how she had even imagined him as being scary or unattractive. He’d finally filled out in the chest and shoulders and caught up with the other guys in height, even passing a few of the ones who’d teased him, much to their chagrin. His figure was all long, lean muscle and velvet soft feline grace. He looked so wild and exotic with his glowing eyes and sharp white fangs. A wild jungle cat is what he reminded her of, especially when his tail was twitching out behind him reflecting whatever mood he was in. She had never had a friend as loyal and supportive as him. With him she could be herself and not have to worry about him passing judgement.

Despite being snuggled up this close to him, she was still freezing. The wind was going right through her threadbare clothes, and the frayed strings on her shorts were tickling her icy legs. As much as she fought it, she could not suppress the shivering once it started. Hopefully Kurt wouldn’t notice.

She had no such luck. He was moving now, making her lie down and then pushing her into the seat cushion as he stretched out beside her, effectively blocking the wind with his body. His arms were around her, crushing her to his chest, and she entwined her legs with his. She sighed contentedly as she was completely enveloped in his warmth. His chin was resting atop her head, and his tail was coiled loosely around her knee and partway down her calf, the pointy tip languidly tracing circles on her quickly warming skin. Never had she felt so peaceful in her life. Five hours didn’t seem like long enough. She smiled when a strand of his hair fell forward tickling her nose, and she snaked her hand up between their bodies to get it. The strand was thick and smooth, and she tugged it playfully before carefully tucking it behind his pointy ear.

The one thing she had missed the most about being away from her family was giving up simple physical contact. In a mansion full of insecure teenagers with limited control over potentially dangerous mutations, even the casualty of holding hands could be life-threatening, such as the case with Rogue. Kurt was really the only person that wasn’t afraid to be with anyone, well, except for the newbies, of course. But then again, none of the other older x-men liked to, either. All the runts were in a constant state of panic from either their own powers of their fellow students’. Most of them were pretty rude as well when they encountered others with appearance-altering mutations. She figured that was why many of them had taken to the solitude of their own rooms, and why Kurt had kept his holo up 24/7.

“All it takes is a little patience and an open mind,” She thought snugly. “Once you get used to the fact that yes, this is real, life becomes a little less complicated and much more enjoyable...and right now I’m living proof of that.” Although, thinking back on things, she wondered how Kurt could stand to forgive the rudeness she had shown him. She had apologized over and over, and she had hoped that their friendship had finally overcome that obstacle. However, he still kept a certain distance from her. Surely he wasn’t still embarrassed about his looks in front of her? She’d been snuggled up to watch movies with him before...and yet, she hadn’t been this overwhelmed by him. She wished she had Jean’s ability to read minds just then, but even without them she wasn’t about to let this opportunity go to waste.

Starting with his head, she began a thorough investigation of his body. His long hair was soft and smooth against her fingers, and she smiled when he tensed against her fingers. Almost she wanted to be embarrassed by what she was doing, but curiosity won out. Her hand went to the base of his skull, then to the bunched muscles of his back and shoulders, massaging them until he relaxed under here ministrations.

Next she moved down under his arms to the tight muscle of his chest and abs. Inching her body upwards she nuzzled her nose over his Adam’s apple and placed a ghost of a kiss against his throat. He hugger her more tightly to him and began running his own hand over her loose hair.

“Poor guy...he must have been starved for attention since I’ve been gone,” she thought sadly. None of the other kids wanted that sort of connection. Even when they were all packed together to watch movies, every measure was taken to ensure that no one so much as bumped elbows accidentally. She remembered one time in particular that she’d been so lonely and angry one movie night that, when no one would budge over to make room for her, she had just walked right over the tops of them—not even bothering to phase—and had plopped down onto Kurt’s lap and snuggled up against him to find a comfy position, all the while ignoring all the incredulous, slightly indignant, and disgruntled looks cast her way.

At first he had been really tense, but after realizing she was there to stay, he’d relaxed and settled against her, even wrapping an arm around her and resting his chin on her shoulder to watch the show. Every Friday night thereafter she had cozied up to him to watch TV, and pretty soon no one even batted an eyelash in their direction anymore. All week she’d feel sad and lonely and by the time Friday rolled around she practically tackled him when she found him in his favorite spot. He seemed to understand her need, but never commented about it. He even began going out of his way to be available to her, and they started holding hands in the lunch line and going to and from the library, and would have sat next to each other in class if seats hadn’t already been assigned. Some fellow students had noticed their new friendship and teased them at first, but it never seemed to bother the two, so eventually newer gossip and juicier relationships replaced them.

There were few things they didn’t share with each other, and he was always telling her some new joke of funny story or just doing something goofy to make her laugh. No matter how badly her day began, one look from him could make her feel like the most important person on the planet...just like he was doing at this very moment.

The intensity of his gaze was disarming, but she just smiled lazily and continued to run her hand up and down his side. All she could really see of his features were his glowing eyes as he blinked down at her and his pearly white teeth as he flashed his trademark Cheshire grin. Lack of sleep and the remaining vestiges of her medication were taking hold of her again, but there was one last thing she wanted to do before she gave into exhaustion. Placing her foot on his bent knee, she scooted herself up until she was eye-to-eye with him. They remained that way for a short time, with her tracing his cheek and jaw while he simply petted her hair. Then she leaned in and placed a quick, chaste kiss on his warm lips, yawned, then smiled sleepily. He returned her kiss on her forehead, then pulled her back down into the circle of his arms, sighing when she finally drifted off to sleep. She hadn’t seen the sad little smile on his face.