The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER CHAPTER EIGHT (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, we're gonna have to talk Ted out of his funk...he's sure you're going for the older type. Billy is all out of tissues, too... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are super shiny and groovy for archiving. Readers/Reviewers: I love you. Really. In fact, I'm making you all Valentines right now out of paper lace doilies and glitter. :)

Kitty did not know what time Kurt came in, though she had tried to stay up and see him. Sometime after three thirty in the morning, she fell asleep in the rec room, curled into a corner of the couch with one of Storm's afghans for cover. Jean found her there at seven as she herself passed through the room for breakfast after her usual morning jog. "Hey, Kit," she said softly, shaking her with chilled fingers, cold despite her gloves worn against the frigid New York weather. "Kitty...you're going to get a crick in your neck sleeping like that...want to get up?"
"Not really," she murmured after a moment, covering a yawn with her hand and stretching her legs painfully. "What time is it?"
"Just now seven in the morning...what're you doing down here?" Jean stripped her jacket and hat off as she stepped back to give Kitty room to rise. "Fall asleep watching a movie?"
"No...I was waiting for Kurt." Kitty folded the afghan somewhat sheepishly, refusing to meet Jean's gaze. "He went out to see Amanda pretty late last night. I think she had some problem with her dad or something..."
Jean did not have to be psychic to know Kitty was worried and nervous. "I wouldn't worry, Kit. He probably just ported in so he wouldn't wake anyone up..."
Kitty quirked her mouth in a mockery of a smile. "I guess..." She finally looked up at Jean and sighed. "It's just hard not to think things sometimes, you know..."
"Yeah, honey, I know...Come on. I'm going to make some breakfast. Want something?" Jean smiled encouragingly at her friend and turned to the kitchen, aware of the waves of depression coming off the girl. "French toast? Cereal? Yogurt?"
"Coffee." Kitty took the canister of instant coffee from the cupboard rather than use Logan's highly protected dark roast or Remy's horribly strong chicory in the Café Du Monde container1
"Ew, Kitty...I think that thing is older than the Professor...where did you find it?" Jean wrinkled her nose at the aged can of instant brew.
"Scott got it sometime around Halloween when he was on that study bender and broke the coffee maker... It's not so old!" She added half the recommended amount of water to make it strong and took a long draught. "You're right. Ew. Needs something..."
"Sugar?" Jean shoved the bowl at her.
"No...where's the fake stuff? Sugar is bad for you..."
"And that stuff isn't?" Jean took a bite of her toast and passed Kitty the blue box of artificial sweetener. "I thought you hated coffee."
Kitty made a noncommittal noise and added copious amounts of sweetener. In truth, she had read somewhere that caffeine cuts the appetite2 and decided today was as good a day as any to try that theory out. "So, you and Scott have plans for Valentine's Day?"
Jean raised a brow at the change of subject. "Not yet...we'll probably just go to the dance at school. Maybe go to dinnerore ore or something. What about you and Kurt? He's probably got something extravagant planned, huh?" tty tty laughed weakly. "Probably..." With a grimace, she drained the cup of fake coffee and went to prepare another. "He hasn't said anything."
Jean stood and put her plate in the sink. "Ah, he wants to surprise you, then, huh?" She nudged Kitty with her hip. "What about you? You going to do anything for him?"
"Um...I don't want to talk about it." Kitty downed the rest of her drink and rinsed the cup out, darting from the room ahead of Jean, feeling the redhead's eyes boring into the back of her neck the whole way. She hurried to her room to change clothes, putting on her track pants and an old t-shirt before heading to the Danger Room at a fast clip. The red light over the door was lit brightly, making her draw up short. _Damn it...who's in here at this hour? _ The doors hissed open and gave her the answer. "Remy. What're you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep..." He smiled lazily at her, intimating just what had kept him awake all night. "Jubilee in bed," he added, confirming Kitty's ideas as to his nocturnal activities.
"Thanks for that mental picture...are you done?" Kitty shouldered past him without a backwards glance, making Remy frown in concern.
"Actually, I jus' takin' a break...wanna partner?" He followed her back in and stood back along the wall as Kitty stretched, her face bearing the most ferocious scowl he had ever seen on a girl.
"Whatever...just don't get all whiney if I hurt you..." Kitty did not look at him as she called out, "Pryde/Logan sim forty two, overlay with random sound effects. Start in ten." She cracked her shoulders one last time and finally turned to Remy. "Ready?"
"Sure, I gue." ." He raised his brows above the edge of his dark glasses as the Danger Room shifted, becoming a dock, replete with the sound of sea gulls and the rumble of ship engines. He noticed it was realistic, as far as the sims went, in that it did not offer numerous outcroppings and overhangs conveniently placed for acrobatics. "How long we...Hey!" Kitty had disappeared from sight as he spoke, only to let him know of her presence when she kicked him on the rear, sendinm spm sprawling.
"C'mon, Gumbo...get moving!" Kitty sounded grimly determined as she crouched, waiting for him to move. Remy shook his head in amusement and twirled his bo staff. "Oh, gonna threaten the little girl with the big stick?"
"Mos' gals be likin' my big stick," he shot back, levering onto one of the few platforms available, disguised as a gangplank.
"Typical male," she said, ducking behind what appeared to be a stack of crates. "Always concerned with his sti.gir.girls really don't care you know."
"You gonna tell me it all in how I use it?" he chuckled, dropping behind her and tagging her with the end of his staff. Kitty slid into phase without a second thought, whirling to face him. He was a little disconcerted by the sight of the staff vanishing into Kitty's ribs as if she were run through, but he gamely persisted. "Gotcha las'."3
"Wanna bet?" Kitty pressed forward , the staff sliding through her body. Remy felt his eyes go wide but he stood his ground. Kitty merely grinned and phased through him, as well, making him gasp at the nearly electric sensation of it. "That," she said from behind him, with a solid slap to his head, "was gross."
"Why you do it, den?" He said, sweeping low to knock her feet out from under her but finding her already dodging away.
"Why do anyg? Jg? Just when you think you're okay and things are going fine," she paused as the random sound effects track sent out the noise of an explosion, "they go all to Hell."
Remy sent a charged card flying at her as she swung out of the way on a chain suspended from one of the "ships," "Kitty, dis be 'bout Kurt?"
She stumbled on the same platform Remy had dropped from, narrowly missing being hit by the Ace of Spades. "What on Earth makes you think that?"
"Remy not stupid, chere. Remy see de look on yo' face las' night when Kurt say he go meet Amanda. Dis Cajun know jealousy when he see it..."
Kitty growled at him, making him laugh at what was obviously Logan's stamp on her training. "Maybe I was just worried about him being out so late!"
"Mebbe," he answered easily as she swung down and landed with a soft thud, launching into a spinning heel kick, "ou mebbe you be worried dat Amanda got charms you don'."
If Remy was looking for a powerful response, he got one. She cried out in a mix of embarrassment and anger, her kick missing it's intended target but her fist hitting home. Remy staggered back at the impact, part of him surprised that such a small girl could cause so much pain. "I," punch, "am," kick, "not," elbow, "jealous," knee to the stomach, "of," another punch, "Amanda Sefton!" Her final back fist to the chin was halted by Remy's larger hand.
"You done?" He did not seem to be in pain but rather agitated. "I don' mind bein' use as a punchin' bag fo' ya, but I wanna know why..."
Kitty sighed. "Sim all stop." She was silent until the Danger Room reverted to it's usual bland silver and white interior. "Okay, I'm a little jealous."
"Vraiment?4 Tell Remy somethin' he don' know..."
"Look, you wanted to know...are you gonna listen or are you gonna make fun of me?" Her eyes shone brightly with tears and she hated herself for it.
With a sigh, Remy let go of her hand and nodded in the direction of one of the low benches beneath the control room window. "C'mon..tell Remy all 'bout it..."

"You did _what _ ?" Scott felt his jaw drop at Kurt's words. "How the Hell could you let that happen?"
Kurt sniffed miserably. "It was really an accident! I swear! We both turned to say something at the same time and our lips kind of...brushed."
"What about the second time, then? That an accident, too?" Scott felt angry on behalf of Kitty, a fraternal protectiveness overriding his inclination to commiserate with Kurt.
"Ja...nein... I don't know!" he wailed, flinging himself face-down on Scott's bed. "_She _ kissed _me _ the second time, but I didn't stop her! And," he gulped brokenly, "Scott...I liked it!"
"Huh?" Scott closed his eyes tightly behind his glasses, feeling a monster of a headache coming on. "Did you let it go on?"
"Nein! I broke away...but Scott, I _liked _ it!"
Scott made a silencing motion with his hand and thought for a long moment. "Okay, here's the thing. The human body is weird. You can hate someone, not be attracted to 'em at all, but they can trigger stimuli all the same. I mean, Lance could even get you hot if he did the right thing."
Kurt made a face. "Well, I'm never having sex again...But you mean that?"
"Sure...I mean, we're hardwired as heterosexual males to have sexual responses to certain actions in order to propagate the species. Doesn't mean we act on 'em all the time, though."
Kurt nodded slowly. "I'd never cheat on Kitty just because I found a girl attractive..."
"Exactly...love makes you faithful, not blind." Scott stood and offered a hand to Kurt. "Kitty's a smart girl and very reasonable. I'm sure if you explain it all to her, she'll forgive you, if you need her to."
Kurt waved off his friend's hand and stood on his own. "I'm not sure about that...the thing is, she's a little jealous of Amanda."
"Why? Whatever you had with Amanda is _nothing _ compared to what you have with Kitty..." Scott frowned. "I mean, I've seen you with each of 'em, but with Kitty, you...Hell, I sound like such a pansy...you glow."
Kurt wilted a little. "Ja, I feel it when I'm with her." Another pained sigh and he said, "I just don't want her to hate me. I'd die then..."
Scott opened the door with a faint smile. "C'mon man, quit being so melodramatic. For all you know, she'll be totally cool with it. I mean, not like Fleetwood Mac5 cool with it, but you know, forgiving. She forgave Lance, and Tabby...she'll forgive you."
"Ja, I guess...but how do I _tell _ her that Amanda and I kissed?"
There was a sharp, strangled noise behind Scott and both males felt the blood drain from their faces. Stepping aside slowly, the taller of the two revealed Kitty, sweaty and disheveled, her eyes spilling over and her face red with fury. Remy stood a pace from her, his countenance black with anger.
"Katzchen!" Kurt cried out, but Kitty choked on a cry herself and ran down the hall to her room, not even slowing down as she passed through the door.
"Homme," Remy said softly, dangerously, "you gots a ton a' shit to explain..."

1 If you EVER go to New Orleans, go to Café du Monde and have the beneigts and coffee. OMG...that stuff is sooooooooooooo strong. They sell cans of it in stores but it just isn't the same...
2 Really, if you drink enough of it, it does.
3 Anyone else play that? It's annoying, really. Like the world's longest game of tag...
4 Truly/really?
5 They were a singing group (Stevie!!!) and a bit known for their swapping between partners.