Constant Craving

CONSTANT CRAVING CHAPTER EIGHT
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather is seven kinds of wonderful for betaing. Really. I mean it. :) If it weren't for her, Kurt's German would be Babblefish bad and he'd sound like he had issues or something... well, more than he already does. Poor kid. InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink get their own legions of naked servants because they are lovely archivists. (I can say that because I'm Queen of the Universe...) Vampyre gets another lap dance from 2-D... Readers/Reviewers: Bob the Malevolent Goldfish requests and requires that I inform you of his demands, but I say he can do it himself if he ever gets off the Planet de Agua. The only real threat at the moment is E.Vil the Cat...

Dinner was tense, to say the least. Couples avoided each other's eyes, dishes clanked in near silence, the occasional cough or throat clearing made the entire table of teenagers jump. Frustration was so think, Logan thought, you could cut it wi kni knife. "So," he said loudly, making everyone jump, "anything exciting happen today?"
"Nothing!" Rogue growled, spearing a piece of potato on her knife tip. "Not one damned thing!"
Todd, his hair still wet from a very long, very cold shower, snapped, "Well, not for lack of trying!" He swallowed the last of his tea and pushed his chair back from the table. "I'm off to town, yo. Lance, you comin' with me?"
Lance, picking at his food with a forlorn expression on his face, looked askance at Todd. "Huh?"
"He say, homme, day he goin' ta town...you goin'?" Remy patted the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "I go if'n you need comp'ny."
Todd looked momentarily surprised. Remy LeBeau, the epitome of cool to the mutants of Bayville, offered to go hang out with him! "Uh, sure...whatever!" Did that sound dorky?
Lance shoveled a dinner roll into his mouth and scraped his chair back. "I'm in."
"How nice," Scott said conversationally. "Brotherhood night out on the town."
"Asshole," Rogue muttered under her breath and earned a hard glare from both Logan and Jean. "What?"
"Scott, that was uncalled for," Storm intoned. "Apologize."
"No," Lance put in. "He doesn't have to. He can't help that he's a dick!"
"Fuck you, Alvers!" Scott was on his feet and lunging for Lance when Jean stopped him, holding him still mid-leap.
"Leave the table, Scott. If you're going to act like a kid, I'll treat you like one." Logan glared at the table. "Anyone else gonna throw a temper tantrum?"
"No, Logan..." "Nein..." "Nuh-uh..."
"Good. Jean, let 'em down. Scott, go to your room. We'll talk discipline later."
Lance, Todd and Remy exchanged assessing glances as Scott forced his way past them, face almost as red as his glasses. Lance finally said, "Anyone else coming?" _Amara, Amara, Amara... _
Amara glanced at Kitty who made a small "no" gesture near her side. "I have to wash my hair," the Nova Roman said dully.
"Me, too..." Kitty said.
"Me, too..." Jean elbowed Rahne in the ribs.
"Um, yeah. Ditto. I think we all have to wash our hair."
Logan raised his eyebrow as the females at the table, save Storm, nodded and murmured agreements. "You know," Kitty said brightly, "all you guys seem to be free...why don't you make it a boys' night out? Get to know each other..."
"Fat chance, KitKat1..." Lance said with barely disguised contempt. "We wouldn't want to make your friends lower themselves to our level..."
"C'mon, mes amis," Remy said, studiously ignoring Jubilee's glare. "Whatever nightlife Bayville have be waitin'..."
"Well," Logan said after a moment. "That was weird."
"Kitty," Kurt said authoritatively, "there is no way on Earth we will hang out with the Brotherhood."
"Not until they see things your way?" Jubilee suggested dryly.
"Babe, you're being narrow minded," Kitty's tone brooked no argument. She pushed away from the table and said directly to Logan. "May I be excused? I'm tired."
Logan looked at her for a long moment, knowing something was up but knowing that if he asked what it was, he'd only get the runaround. "Sure, Half-Pint. Clear your plate."
"Yes, sir." Kitty dutifully gathered no only her plate but Lance, Todd and Remy's plates as well. Kurt stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Kurt, when you're ready to...be adult...I'll be in my room."
Logan was not sure if Kitty's comment was a double entendre or not, but he knew that Kurt was cut to the quick. "Elf," he muttered, leaning close as the others at the table finished their meals in relative silence, "Kitty's just upset. Give her some breathing room. She won't go off on ya..."
"Ja, I know, Herr Logan, but I just hate having her mad at me." Kurt pushed the last of his spinach around mournfully. "And I can't not feel the way I feel but she can't understand that!"
"Kid, I don't know what this fight is about, but I can tell it isn't just the two of you that's got a bee in their bonnets. Want to tell me what's going on?"
Kurt opened his mouth to respond but thought better of it. "Nein...I think we can figure this out." Kurt stared at his plate for a moment longer. "May I be excused?"
"Sure, Kid..." Kurt was followed by Jamie, trying to get Rahne's eye even as the girl paid extra close attention to her glass of tea. Jean, Rahne and Amara left as a group, heading, by the sound of things, to Kitty's room. Logan was left alone at the table with Storm, staring at the empty chairs. "Pardon my French, but that was some fucked up."
"Not quite how I would put it, but yes." Storm rose gracefully and removed her plate to the dishwasher. "I sense a great deal of tension in them tonight."
Logan snorted. "Of the sexual sort, you mean?"
"If you say..." Storm spread her hands eloquently. "I just know that the bonds between them all run deep and sometimes at odds with each other. For there to be a group-wide fight, something major is happening."
"The one that bothers me is Kurt and Kitty..."
"It's because of your special affection for the girl..." Storm twisted her hair into a knot at the nape of her neck, securing it with a band drawn from her pocket. She had not spoken of her comment to Logan of a few nights before but she felt it hanging in the air even as she stood before him, her face carefully bland.
"Kitty and Kurt, I hate to say, are meant for each other. Even at this age, you can tell. It's like their eyes have only seen each other since the beginning of time..." He coughed and busied himself with his own dishes, trailing off his words.
"Why, Logan, I never knew you were poetic..." Storm could not fight the grin that spread across her features.
"It's a virus." He inadvertently took a whiff of Storm as he passed by her to scrape the remains of his dinner into the disposal. What the...no fucking way! Taking a chance, he ventured, "The other day, you made a comment about hormones..."
"Ah." Never one to back down from a confrontation, Storm nodded her head, indicating he could continue without impunity.
"I was just wondering what that was all about." _How can she make me feel like I'm in trouble with the teacher just by giving me that look? _
Storm gazed steadily at Logan and spoke in a clear voice, showing that firm in her statement. "What I meant is that I find myself interested in you as more than an associate or friend. I find you attractive and interesting and, as a fully functioning adult woman, those interests manifest themselves in a sexual nature sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Logan said, biting back a shout of surprise.
"Sometimes." Storm nodded firmly. "That's all I meant."
Logan was never one to argue with instincts. He moved forward quickly, pinning Storm between his body and the counter. She did not fight it or even act nervous. Instead, he felt her hands come to rest on his chest as his own braced on the counter to either side of her. "So that's all, huh? That's quite a bit."
"Is it? I didn't notice..." S did did not shy away as so many women had, acting coy and girlish. Instead, she met his gaze directly, her eyes boring into his, making Logan want to be the first to look away but fight the urge to do so. "I noticed many other things, however."
"Such as?" He breathed deeply again and scented her arousal, stronger this time, but not the "fuck me now" scent he so often picked up off of women in bars and the like. It was more of a slow desire, something deeper than simple lust and a more heated promise than any quick fuck could offer.
"It's been a long time since you've dated, even casually. In fact," she said, tilting her head to one side, she said in a rolling tone, "it's been a long time since you've been with a woman, period."
" 'Ro, how do you know what I get up to when I go out?" Logan felt almost defensive of his reputation, but he knew that Storm held no illusions about his life and playing innocent would do nothing to help either one of them.
"I know you surely don't attend prayer meetings in your off hours..." She smirked at him sarcastically, prompting him to snort in laughter. "I'm asking anything of you, you know," she said seriously, breaking the lighthearted mood. "I'm just telling you what I feel."
"I respect that. More that you know." _Games make me sick...I am much too old for games... _
Storm nodded briefly. "Games are for children. We're old old for that sort of thing..."
Logan snorted again, this time in surprise. "You sure you aren't psychic?" At her raised eyebrow, he shook his head. He was still very aware of her body against his and her lack of nervousness, her absolute stillness. "You think I'm going to bite or something?"
She grinned briefly at the double meaning in Logan's words but answered seriously, "Why do you ask?"
"You're still. Like you're waiting for the tiger to pass by...afraid to move."
"Hardly afraid. I'm just observing." Storm let her hands slide down his chest to rest at his waist, cool eyes assessing him calmly. "Observing all sorts of things that you usually don't let people notice."
Now Logan felt an unfamiliar flutter of nerves. "Oh? Like what?"
"You missed a spot shaving this morning. Right here." She touched his chin with one finger. "One eye is slightly larger than the other. And that scar on your neck looks like Mickey Mouse."
"Excuse me?" he sputtered, taken aback. "Mickey Mouse?"
"What? Are you more surprised I know who that is or that you have a scar like that?"
"Lady, no part of me has any resemblance to a Disney character!" Logan tried to sneer but failed. It was strange, he thought. Here he was, practically holding one of his best friends in his arms but they were joking like nothing was unusual.
"Well, no part of you I can see, at any rate."
"Would you like to do a more complete check?" he asked roughly.
"Would you like me to?" she shot back without missing a beat.
Logan stared at her in mild surprise. "Sure, Storm...why not?"
"I can't think of a reason..."
Something gave Logan pause though, making him stop her even as she leaned closer. "This isn't like you...you aren't one to have a casual...thing."
"Honestly, Logan, you wouldn't know what I'm like. You never bothered to see." She did not sound hurt, merely like she was stating a fact.
"I'm sorry," he said humbly. "I guess sometimes we miss things that are right in front of us..."
"Don't apologize...just kiss me."
"I'm never one to refuse a lady..." Logan paused a hair's breadth from her mouth, checking for any signs of panic or doubt. Finding none, he did something he never usually did when kissing-he closed his eyes. He let the kiss happen rather than trying to control it, feeling a strange sensation of floating. Storm's mouth was soft and pliant beneath his, her lips moving like a prayer against his own Vespers. With a soft sigh against his mouth, Storm brought her arms around his neck and Logan felt, for the first time in forever, like he was innocent and unscathed by life.
As they simply kissed, moving against each other in a time honored dance, they were watched from the doorway. "Man," Bobby breathed. "Don't drink the water around here!"
"Don't worry...I don't think heterosexuality is catching..." St John nudged his boyfriend in the ribs. "C'mon...we can get water later..."
"But I'm dehydrated _now!" _
"Well, we can always hop in the shower...that should rehydrate you..."
"Not the way we shower..."

Kitty was close to tears. "I feel so bad!"
"It's okay," Jean soothed. "At least your boyfriend didn't get sent to his room without dinner..."
"This isn't working like I hoped!"
"These things take time, sweetie. Give it a few days..."
Kitty sniffed. "Kurt hates me."
"The day Kurt hates you is the day Satan ice skates to work."
"What if he goes back to Amanda?"
"Kitty, you don't have to worry about that! If he wanted Amanda, he wouldn't have volumes of poetry written to you. Okay, it's bad poetry, but it's his...And he wouldn't talk incessantly about you or moon over you or keep that ribbon from your ponytail..."
"The pink one?"
"Yep," Jean smirked, feeling a tad guilty for divulging one of Kurt's deep dark secrets-hoarding Kitty souvenirs-but seeing how it helped Kitty feel better, she did not dwell on it overmuch. _I'll apologize at the wedding. _
"I wondered what happened to it..." Kitty sighed and leaned against her friend. "You think they'll come around?"
'Well, you know what they say. All's fair in love and war... This counts as both."

1 I figure...they've known each other forever. He seems the sort to have a nickname for her and still use it after all they've been through.