Pretending

Schan: Aw, thank you! I hope the Todd in this chapter is still good! [:
MiDemoni: Oh, oh, oh! You totally have won me over by mentioning Good Omens. ;; TOTALLY ONE OF MY FAVOURITE BOOKS EVER. You make me lol so hard and I'm glad that Scott has that effect on you-- it's what we were trying to do. While still trying to keep him IC and appealing to Kurt. But unfortunatly, it'll be a long while until Scott gets what he deserves. And I'm sure it'll stay unedited until you or someone else wants to attempt to edit this monster. xD So if you ever have time, you're more than welcome to take a crack at it (plus, I haven't found anything wrong with your English).

Mm, I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR REVIEWING. [: + I had so much fun writing Tabby.

--

Kurt walked down the school hall, trying to balance a bunch of books and notebooks in his arms as he stopped at his locker. He frowned a little even though he had gotten used to it by now and shifted his load to his sling-wrapped arm, to open his locker.

He curled his tail tighter against his leg-- something easier than his waist-- as he felt others pass by close to him. His tail was still sore and weak, but at least it could move now. He pushed his books into his locker and took out another couple of books. He un-shouldered his bag and stuffed them in after closing his locker and twirling the lock again.

Scott headed down the corridor, smiling as he saw Kurt near his locker. He reached out, around Kurt, his arm brushing the smaller boy's side as he took his bag before Scott spoke softly into his ear, "I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever." He smiled, shouldering Kurt's bag easily. "Hey, how are you?"

Kurt jumped slightly at the contact. He glanced up before a smile broke out on his face, accompanied by a heavy blush. "Hey; I'm good. Especially now. And you?"

"All the better for seeing you." Scott groaned, running a hand back through his hair. "Just finished evil English, hence the quote. Read it and thought of you," He mumbled, blushing as he realized how cheesy that sounded. "Uh, wanna go grab something to eat or are you good for now?"

His blush spread a little, but his grin widened. "When do I not want something to eat?" he asked, joking. "Gut Bomb?" There was no way in hell he was letting Sabretooth’s attack keep him away from his favourite fast food joint.

Scott tried very hard not to look startled. "Good point." He smiled, shaking his head. "I wish they'd rename that place already." His hand slipped in Kurt's and he squeezed it gently, leading the way through the crowds that moved around them.

Kurt laughed, squeezing his hand back and followed him. "It would ruin its character if they changed it."

Scott couldn't help but laugh as they broke into the outside world.

"Change it's character? Kurt, if they painted it lime green and stuck inflatable dinghy's to it, the character would be the same." He smiled down at the other boy. "If you were a restaurant, you'd be Gut Bomb," he said fondly.

Kurt snorted through his laughter and repeated, "'Dinghy'?" He shook his head, still smiling. "Well, thank you. I suppose."

Scott stuck his tongue out at him, blushing a little. "It was the first thing that sprang to mind, okay?" He mumbled, unlocking his car and throwing Kurt's bags into the back before turning to face him with a bit of a grin, reaching out to brush back a stray strand of Kurt's hair. "It was a compliment, believe it or not," He said, mock solemnly.

He laughed again, but softer. "Oh, I'm sure," he said in the same tone, his eyes sparkling a little in mirth. He smiled and caught his hand again. "I know," he said, more seriously.

"Kurt, I..." Scott trailed off, looking down into the twinkling eyes and wishing he could remember some of the poetry he'd just been forced to read. There was a flash of red in the corner of his eye and he just knew Jean was watching them. He didn't turn to look, never once taking his eyes from Kurt's as he raised his free hand, his thumb lightly tracing the shape of Kurt’s lower lip.

Kurt blinked, his smile falling off his face just a bit. "Hm?" His eyes turned a little curious and confused, flickering over his face.

Scott looked into those eyes for a second before moving to quickly kiss Kurt, moving his hand to tangle gently in the other boy's hair, his other went to the small of Kurt's back, pressing them together as he kissed Kurt gently, carefully massaging his lips with his own, praying that he wasn't frightening the other boy.

A small sound escaped Kurt and he froze, fighting internally with himself. He trembled a little as his mind flashed back, but he pushed those images away with the thought of 'this is Scott' and closed his eyes. He brought his free (shaking) hand up behind Scott's arm and clutched at his shoulder, finally kissing back.

Scott smiled into the kiss a moment before getting lost in the kiss, a tiny rational part of his mind - that wasn't buzzing with fear or wonder or near panic - was analyzing it. The kiss was a little firmer than a girls, and a little, er, fuzzier. Scott swiped his tongue questioningly against Kurt’s lower lip, wondering if it was too soon.

Kurt gripped his shoulder a little tighter-- probably leaving a forming bruise-- and automatically parted his lips. He shyly snaked out his own tongue, brushing it against Scott's.

Scott unintentionally made a soft little noise at Kurt's timid move, using his tongue to encourage the other boy's exploration, the hand on the small of Kurt's back rubbing circles unconsciously, brushing against the invisible base of his tail accidentally before Scott pulled away for breath.

"Um... Er, hi," He said softly, blushing brightly and grinning hesitantly.

Kurt shuddered at the touch, gasping softly as he pulled away. He opened his eyes, blushing. "Uh, y-yeah..." he muttered through just slightly swollen lips, slowly coming back to himself. "Hi," he ended, grinning back.

"Um, mind letting some circulation back to my shoulder, please?" Scott asked quietly, although his own grip on Kurt wasn't diminishing any time soon. Slowly he became aware of the gasps, whispers and giggles of students who still filtered out of the high school. "Um, maybe we should get going?" He suggested without letting go.

His blush deepened and he let go of his shoulder with an apologetic smile. The blush spread as he glanced around-- catching Tabby yelling out a wolf whistle while Kitty and Bobby just stared open-mouthed-- and just nodded, edging away from Scott just enough to climb into the car.

Scott glared at Tabby, flicking her a very well known gesture involving not a lot of fingers before sliding into the car and starting it up. He looked at Kurt and grinned, barely resisting the urge to laugh. "So... Gut Bomb, right?" He asked in an unsteady voice.

Kurt nodded again. "Uh... Ja," he said with a smile, his mind still trying to completely catch up with him.

Scott pulled off sharply, still grinning like a maniac and dodging through the after school traffic like a pro. The grin slowly started to fade as he thought of the reactions of the others. Other than Tabby, that had been pretty much expected.

"Oh lord," He sighed, looking for a space to park. He just knew he'd have to answer a lot of questions at some point. He glanced at Kurt. "Um, sorry if I, er, pounced back there..." He mumbled, blushing a little. "Are you okay?"

Kurt looked over at him, worried at the sigh, but then smiled and shook his head, leaning over and kissing him quickly. "I'm fine. Thank you," he said, then smiled wider and got out once the car was parked.

Scott rolled his eyes skyward, unable to get rid of the grin as he locked the car door, slipping his hand into Kurt's as they headed towards the fast food joint. "I have a small request. Please, please don't kiss me while I'm driving again." He half grinned, holding the door open. "You're very distracting after all," He murmured.

Kurt laughed and squeezed his hand quickly before letting go and slipping through the door. "If you insist," he said, teasing.

"Oh, but I do," Scott said, feeling quite at liberty to let his gaze wander a little lower than usual as Kurt walked on ahead. "Want me to pay for this or do you wanna?" He asked as he walked on behind, his head tilted slightly to one side.

Kurt shook his head, glancing back with a smile still on his face. "Let me pay this time," he said as he took out his wallet before glancing up at the menu.

Right at the moment when Kurt glanced back with a smile, that was when Scott wished he had a camera. "Can we go halves?" He asked, "Just so I don't feel guilty?" He smirked. "Don't make me do the Logan pout in order to get my own way," He teased.

He stuck out his tongue, looking back at him. "Nope-- no can do. You've paid too many times before, so now it's my turn."

"You're such a bully," Scott said, trying out the pout. "Pleeease?" He asked, the pout giving way to a grin at thinking about how ridiculous he probably looked. "Look, why don't we -" He faultered as he looked up, the door of the place swinging open as someone walked in.

"I think God hates me," He murmured, standing upright and any pretence of humor vanishing as Todd, Lance, Kitty and Tabby walked in.

Tabby grinned and turned to the other three. "See? I told you that they'd be here," she said, then moved over to Kurt, a bounce in her step. "Hey, Blue-- you two put on quite a show outside," she said, with a wink.

Kurt blushed, feeling extremely awkward. "Um..." His gaze flickered over to the others, landing on Todd before quickly moving to Kitty-- who was huffing with her arms crossed.

"Why didn't you, like, tell me?!" she yelled. "Now I really do owe Tabitha money," she added in a grumble as she fished through her purse.

Kurt blinked, looking between the two girls. "You... bet?"

Tabitha had enough decency to look shamed before shrugging. "Yeah-- I always figured you weren't so stiff. But Miss Kitty-Cat here didn't want to believe it-- what with you fawning over her months before."

Kurt's blush just deepened, not knowing what to say.

"You bet on this?" Scott asked, looking over the top of Tabby’s head to where Kitty was, his expression becoming hard and unforgiving. Shifting a little he stood forward and slightly in front of Kurt, unconsciously shielding him from the others. "Leave him alone, Tabby," He snapped those his gaze darted over to a rather sulky looking Toad.

Todd watched the whole thing play out, nose wrinkling at all of their behavior as he sat on the edge of a vacant table, arms folded as he stared almost defiantly at Kurt, leaning a little to see around Scott's bulk trying to read the German's expression.

Kitty blushed, handing the money over to Tabby. "Hey! Like, I didn't know, okay?"

Tabby grabbed the money, counting it quickly before pocketing it. "Besides," she added. "It wasn't anything about him getting together with someone. Just, you know... gay." She shrugged a little then moved around Scott to look at Kurt. "You're not mad, right Blue?"

Kurt sighed and shook his head. "No. I should've expected something like this from you, Tabitha," he said as he reached out and put a hand on Scott's arm to calm him down.

Scott glanced at Kurt. "No one should expect behavior like that, like this from so called friends," He said, looking pointedly at Kitty and Boom Boom.

Todd raised an eyebrow, sitting back. "This comin from a serial user," He smirked nastily making Scott blush. "Oh, by the way... Has anyone seen Sandra 'round lately?"

"Shut up Toad," Scott snapped.

Kitty glanced away, frowning, while Tabby just stared back defiantly. Kitty glanced over at Toad, confused. "I thought she moved back to... wherever she was from. Besides, like, what does she have to do with anything?"

Kurt looked at Todd, expression somewhere between a glare and pleading.

"Well One Eye’s hand was practically down her panties when she first arrived is all," Todd said, shrugging one shoulder and looking away, unable to keep up the pretence of hatred under Kurt's gaze. "Seems a sudden change, yo," He added in a voice much softer than he'd intended.

Scott’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses and he slipped his hand into Kurt's. "I made my choice," He said firmly before looking down at Kurt. "Want to get it to take out or still want to stick around here?" He asked softly.

Kurt stared at Todd for a couple seconds, his insides churning, before looking back up at Scott. He curled his fingers around Scott's hand, shrugging a little. "Take out, I guess," he mumbled.

Kitty had lost interest momentarily and turned to Lance, starting to talk with him again.

Tabby glanced between Toad and Kurt, a troubled expression on her face.

"And I get to pay half right?" Scott said with a bit of a smile, firmly turning his back on the others.

Todd glared at Tabby, praying that the hurt and anger he felt wasn't showing on his face too much. "What're you lookin at?" He snapped at her.

Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes. "Fine, whatever," he said, not wanting to argue now.

Tabby held up her hands in a pacifying gesture. "Nothing, nothing..." she said, but a smile crept onto her face. Without another word, she headed out of Gut Bomb.

Scott winced a little at the tone of Kurt’s voice, letting the other boy's hand go, placing his order and throwing the money on the side, leaning back as he waited.

Todd watched Tabby leave with half lidded eyes, part of him starting to worry at the smile on her face but he didn't want to leave. Not just yet; not with Kurt still here.

Kurt did the same for himself, grabbing Scott's hand again in apology.

Scott squeezed it, smiling a little before grabbing the bag of food, almost before the guy at the till put it down and tugging Kurt towards the door, watching Todd watch Kurt. "Got a problem, Toad?" Scott snapped, really in the mood for a fight.

"Depends," Todd replied, his gaze still on Kurt, almost questioning now.

Kurt held Scott's hand tightly in warning, but looked at Todd instead. He hesitated for less than a second, then said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you before, Todd." He wasn't sorry for anything else, though.

Todd’s lips parted slightly in shock, some of the tension around his eyes easing away before his eyes narrowed. "Hm, yeah, whatever..." He turned away, stealing Lance's drink while he was busy talking at Kitty. "Like I care what you do with One Eye anyway," He said, managing to dredge up a little of the old contempt to put into his voice before turning away.

Scott squeezed Kurt’s hand. "Come on, he's not worth apologizing for. He doesn't get it," He said softly.

Kurt looked away from Todd, still feeling a little guilty, and nodded. He started out the door, fighting the urge to look back at Todd. If he didn't want to listen, nothing could be done.

Todd watched Kurt until Lance slapped him up the back of his head. "You'd better not have drooled on that Toad or I'll kick your slimy ass."

Outside Scott unlocked the car and slid inside, putting the bag of food in the foot well on Kurt's side, careful to make sure he still had enough room for his feet. "Sorry," He murmured as they pulled out.

Kurt buckled himself in and looked over at Scott. He raised an eyebrow in question. "For what?"

"Loosing my temper," He replied shortly, "and not being able to think of the right things to say." He scowled at the road ahead of them. "They shouldn't talk about you like that," He murmured.

Kurt shrugged, a small smile appearing on his face again. "Tabby's just playing. You have to learn to take everything she says with a grain of salt."

Scott glanced at Kurt, seeing the smile and shook his head, letting out a deep breath. "You seem to take everything she does and says in stride." He glanced at him again, smiling a little. "Is it practice or are you a lot more patient than you seem?"

He laughed, relaxing more. "Probably a little of both. She really is a good friend, you know-- if not a little loose in the head." He smirked. "But who isn't, ja?"

"Well, as long as she looks after you," Scott said skeptically. "She seems very, uh, different. I wonder how her and Spyke get on," He mused as he pulled into the driveway. "I could have strangled Toad." He sighed, half smiling at the thought.

Kurt snorted, shaking his head. "Not well. They argue all the time." He frowned at Scott's next comment. "Scott, no. He's just being himself," he said, surprised at himself for defending him. "Besides, he did help me quite a few times."

"Being himself?" Scott asked incredulously as they parked, undoing his belt as he shook his head. "He nearly spilled the Sandra thing." He groaned, letting his head rest against the steering wheel for a moment. "...He's going to hold that over my head for the rest of my life, I just know it." He murmured before sitting back and looking at Kurt with a frown. "What help?"

Kurt blinked a few times, quirking an eyebrow. "He... made me feel better after we had that fight before... before Sabretooth. And, well... that," he said, meaning how Todd had been the one to find him.

Scott blushed and got out of the car silently, closing the door behind him before heading into the house. He turned and looked at Kurt a little sheepishly. "Want I should be... nicer to him?" He asked, trying not to look as if he'd just said something gross.

Kurt 'ported next to him with the food and smiled. "Yes, but not because I told you to." He quickly kissed his cheek before heading inside the house.

Scott smile grew into a grin as he reached up to touch the spot. "That's cheating!" He called after him. "There's no other reason I'd be nice to that slimy little... person," He said jogging to catch up with Kurt. "And are you sure you're alright to 'port now?" He asked worriedly.

Kurt rolled his eyes, pouting a little but didn't say anything to the first two comments. "I was fine 'porting a week ago. Besides," he added, "Mr. McCoy said it was okay a couple days ago, remember?"

Scott grumbled. "No pouting; that really is cheating," He accused unable to find anything really wrong with what Kurt was saying. "Besides, I was still bugging you about it a week ago, I'm bugging you about it now and I'll probably bug you randomly about it in the future. It's my job after all."

Kurt just grinned and handed Scott his food. "And if you do, I'll just have to find a way to shut you up," he said with a wink, teasing, before he 'ported up to his room with his own food.

--

Todd shoved his hands deeper in his pockets, unconsciously scowling as he watched Lance and Freddy playing video games. Well, he was pretending to watch. His mind was busy replaying the scene in Gut Bomb when Kurt had apologized to him. Had Toad reacted the right way? Should he have said sorry back? But then again, he had been in front of the other Brotherhood members, he couldn't just start being nice to Kurt for no apparent reason in front of them... Right?

Tabby leaned against the outside of the Brotherhood boarding house, frowning to herself. She'd been thinking for the past couple of hours and decided to find out more. Turning around, she peered into one of the windows, rolling her eyes at seeing what Avalanche and Blob were doing. And they still call their rivals 'geeks'?

She smirked and rubbed her hands together, gathering energy into an explosive ball.

"Look out below," she whispered as she threw it through the window, landing next to the TV and exploding the next second. Quickly, she moved away from the wall, pretending to pick at her nails.

Todd saw the ball first, standing up quickly. "WATCH IT!" He yelled in warning, ducking behind the sofa just before the thing exploded. Peeking over the top he saw Freddy and Lance staring at what used to be the TV, blackened faces froze in shock before Lance shot upright.

"TABBY!" He yelled, running over to the window and leaning out as he scowled. "What the fuck was that for?"

She feigned shock. "Oh, you're home?" she asked, moving forward again and leering inside. "In that case, where's little Toddy? I thought I'd leave a note, but..."

Lance stumbled back with a sigh, letting her look easier through the window. "Toad, you are so paying for this," He growled out, the ground trembling just a little as he glared at Todd as he moved out from behind the sofa.

"Me? What did I do?" Todd asked.

"If it wasn't for you, she wouldn't have done that," Lance growled on his way out, roughly shouldering the smaller boy.

"Dick," Toad mumbled under his breath before turning to Tabby. "So? Whaddya want from me?" He asked.

Tabitha grinned widely and winked at Lance before grabbing Todd's wrist, pulling him out the window and dragging him along, not caring if he stumbled. She would've just as easily interrogated him there, but she figured he wouldn't say so much as a nice word with the other boys around.

Todd nearly fell flat on his face as he was dragged through the window, yanking his wrist from Tabby’s grip as she pulled him along. Jesus, when did she get so strong?

"What the hell is this about, yo? You don’t usually waste time on me," He snapped, irritated that his thoughts had been interrupted.

She stopped suddenly and turned to him, studying his face curiously. "I want to know," she said simply, narrowing her eyes calculatingly as her grip loosened.

Todd barely resisted the insane urge to laugh. "Well I dunno much about anythin'," He smirked. "But if you ask I can look it up in one of them book things," He said, playing the thick idiot card for all he was worth.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, stink-boy," she said, making another, though smaller, explosive. "You're gonna answer me or this, with others, is goin' down your pants. Got it?"

Todd backed away as much as he could with her holding his wrist, his free hand unconsciously going to the belt of his jeans, holding it close. "Er, waddya wanna know?" He squeaked nervously, eyes on the ball of energy.

Tabby smiled and let go of his wrist to sling that arm over his shoulder, starting to walk again and dragging him along. She threw the small ball over their heads, it landing and exploding a couple feet away from where they were. "Now... I know you know more about what's going on with Blue. Truthfully, I don't think I want to know what happened, or what's going on between him and Mister Control Freak. But I do want to know why you're getting up in his face. I mean, Lance and Pie-Pie aren't even throwing comments around. So what's up with you?"

Toad swallowed nervously, glancing over his shoulder - and her arm - at the explosion. "Uh, I've always been up in his face," He said, his voice just a little bit higher than usual. "I say something that ticks him off, he says something that ticks me off, we fight, life goes on and it all starts again, see?" He explained, fidgeting nervously before shoving his hands in his pockets, trying to shrug off her arm.

She shook her head, grip tightening. "If that's all it is, why doesn't he fight back? I mean, I know he's been through hell and back, but he's basically normal around everyone else. So spill Toad-- what's up with you? You a homophobe or something and hate him even more? D'you do something?"

"It's - I'm not - He's - look!" Toad wriggled and struggled against her grip as he started to blush. "Why do you care, god damn it! You never fuckin' did before," He snarled.

Tabby looked down at him, raising an eyebrow in question. "Hey, Blue's my friend; of course I'm gonna care. I want to know if I have to go all Summers on you. Or..." she trailed off, eyes gleaming.

"Just drop it Tabby, alright?" He said, his tone almost desperate now. "It's nothin', it'll never be anythin', I'm just bein' a jerk, spent too long bein' near the X-Geeks, it's rubbin' off on me and don't talk to me about dickhead Summers," he said with a scowl.

Her other eyebrow shot up. "Now I know something's up. Obviously Scott's never been anything close to nice to you guys, but... why the sudden extra venom for him?"

"You don't wanna know," Toad said firmly. "Please, Tabby..." He sighed, looking at the other girl with narrowed eyes and wondering if he was doing the right thing as he spoke. "If I tell you, ya gotta swear not to tell another living soul, a'right?"

Tabitha smiled, brightening and straightening up. She held up her pointer, middle, and ring finger together. "Girl Scout's honor," she said. Oh, who cared if she was never a girl scout?

Todd couldn't get rid of a bit of a smirk, mental imagery of Tabby in a scout uniform running through his mind. "I..." His smile fell away and his gaze dropped to his shoes. It'd be the first time he'd said it out loud, he hadn't even really admitted it to himself. "I think I... I think I love him," He mumbled, hands fisting in his pockets as he waited for the expected laughter.

Tabby resisted the urge to let out a big whoop and just pulled Todd into a slightly awkward one-armed hug. "Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. I can see what you all see in him, but he's not my type. Otherwise I'd steal him back to our side." She let go of Todd finally. "I'm good for promises-- I won't tell anyone, but I think you should talk with him. At least be friends or... something." She shrugged. "It doesn't look like anyone would jeer at your for being gay either way, you know?" Her smile grew. "If it makes you feel any better, I'd be rooting for you, but they do seem happy now."

She paused. "Hey! I could set you up with someone if you want," she added, falling back to one of her favourite pastimes.

"I ain't gay!" Todd yelped, blushing brightly and resuming his squirming as she hugged him. "I don't like guys, just... that one." He scowled. "I don't wanna be set up with anyone, I just..."

He kicked at the floor. "Look there's no point in us bein' friends, I'll just want to kill him for goin' out with Summers every five minutes when he should be -" Todd cut himself off, biting his lower lip. "Just... forget I said anythin' alright? What would he want with me when he's got perfect asshole Summers?" He asked, trying to keep hold of the anger even as hurt began to creep in.

Tabby smiled softly, resisting the temptation to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey-- they won't last forever. You and I know it and I think Kurt does somewhere in that blue head of his. Just let it ride out and be there for him, hm? I'm sure he'd like all the friends he can get."

"Won't last forever? Yeah right," Toad mumbled. "Summers is perfect and Kurt's totally head over heels in love with him and I'm..." He forced a lazy grin, looking up at her. "I'm gonna get on with life and annoy the living shit out of the both of them as revenge," He said in his best impression of carefree tones.

Tabby put her hands on her hips and stared down at him with a frown. "You do anything to Blue and you'll have more than just me after your ass. Besides, if you be nice for once, maybe he'll realize Summer's not so perfect."

Toad was caught between grinning and backing away in fear. "Can't I just bug him like this much?" He asked hopefully, holding his thumb and index finger a tiny measure apart before letting his hand drop. "Besides, I have been nice to him; I was nice after -" He stopped himself. She didn't need to know about the Sabretooth attack. "I've been nice to him," He shrugged nonchalantly before sighing. "Don't worry, Tabby, I'll leave them alone," He said softly.

She quirked an eyebrow again. "Hey, I never said anything about leaving them alone. And I'm sure a day's worth of niceness won't exactly cut it, you know?"

"So what do you want me to do?" Toad snapped, kicking at the dirt a bit more vehemently than last time. "Send the guy flowers?" He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the idea.

She smirked and shook her head. "No, nothing like that. You don't even have to tell him you like him. Just be a friend. Show him you do care-- but not loud. You gotta win his love," she said, winking.

"Show him I care but not loud?" Toad asked in confusion. "What the fuck does that mean?" He waved his webbed hands for emphasis. "He's not gonna love me, Tabby, give it a rest," He sighed, turning away moodily, not wanting to believe in the hope she was offering him.

Tabby blew out a long breath, starting to get frustrated. "He won't with that attitude, that's for sure. Come on," she said and ruffled his hair. "You gotta take risks. I'm sure you know that by now."

Toad slapped at her hand, ducking out of the way before flattening his ruffled hair. "Risks? If I do what I want Summers' fist will be down my throat and back up again before I have the chance to say anythin' in my defense. It's not an attitude, it's just the truth. Put it like this, toots," He gestured to himself, "if you could pick between this or Summers, what would you go for?"

Tabitha wrinkled her nose slightly. "Neither, thanks. No offense. After the past couple of months, though, you're easier to talk with. Scott just likes to expect the worst, though." She shrugged again. "But this isn't about me. Kurt's not like me."

"Er, this is a good thing," Toad said with a lazy grin, shrugging one shoulder. "Kurt ain't blind either," He murmured, taking one webbed hand out his pocket and looking at it. "He... He's better off bein' with someone who makes him happy, someone who's giving him just what he wants," He said firmly.

She heaved a sigh, even making it over dramatic. "Well, yeah. But who says that can't be you? And if you make another quip about how you look..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "If you think Fuzzy Blue is going to judge about looks, then maybe you are too hopeless."

Todd stuck his tongue out at her. "I wasn't makin' a quip - whatever that is - I was stating the obvious. I... dunno what to do..." He shrugged. "Be a friend? We've never been friends until -" He cut himself off sharply. "We've got nothing in common." He frowned a moment before looking up at her. "Why do you care, Tabby? Don't you like Fuzzbutt bein' with One Eye?"

Tabby laughed. "Nothing in common? Todd, you guys are almost mirror images of each other." Her smile fell a little. "I don't know. They're happy, I guess. And there would probably be less problems. But... something just doesn't sit right with me. Hm. Just woman's intuition."

"Mirror images?" Todd started to laugh, the edge of it just ever so slightly hysterical before he sobered as she continued to speak. "You sayin Kurt ain't happy?" He asked with narrowed eyes, his full attention and concentration now on Tabby.

She smiled a little. "He's happy, but I think he's confused; troubled, maybe. I think something else is going on, but neither of them may even know it. Really? I think it's all just puppy-love. Infatuation and nothing more. Everyone at some point falls for their best friend, you know. I think it's genuine, but serious? I don't know."

Toad considered her words carefully. "Everyone falls for their best friends?" He asked slowly before wrinkling his nose as Lance pranced into his mind. "Well if he's happy..." He murmured, uncertainty now tempering his voice.

She raised an eyebrow, curious at what the reaction was for but held back. "Again, he's always looking for good friends. And you'd be there if anything happened."

He blushed, feeling suddenly ashamed at his behavior towards Kurt and looked away from her. "Good friend..." He mumbled, frowning a little. "I suppose I'd better start by sayin' sorry." He sighed heavily, looking over at her. "He's the forgivin' type, right? He's an X-Geek, that means he has to be... right?" He asked, wondering what all this free advice was going to cost him.

Tabitha smirked. "Hey-- if he can still find it in his heart to care for Mystique of all people, I'm sure he'll forgive you for being an ass."

"I wasn't that much of an ass," Todd snapped almost automatically before looking at her with an almost shy smile. "Um, thanks Tabby," He mumbled, trying to garble it enough that she wouldn't hear.

She grinned and pulled him into another half hug, not caring if it was against his will again. "Just keep me updated if something happens-- I'm sure Scott's going to avoid me like the plague, so..."

"Avoid you?" Toad asked, wriggling in Tabby’s grip. "Why would anyone want to do that?"

Tabby laughed and let him go. "I don't know. I always make the situation more fun," she said, half-joking.

"By blowing up peoples TV's, right?" He teased, taking a risk and bumping her with his shoulder playfully. "And playin' miss-matchmaker-extraordinaire. I hate to ask who your next target is," He grumbled half heartedly running a hand back through his hair.

She bumped back and winked. "Hey-- you ever think of someone, come to me. I'll fix 'em up no problem."

Todd caught himself laughing, looking at her as he thought he was beginning to understand what Kurt saw in her as a friend.