Inspired by an interesting observation from tumblr's littlealiengirl. This was originally going to be a rather short ficlet, but then it snowballed into something larger.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I don't make any money by publishing this. This is purely for entertainment.
Mistletoe Mischief
The Xavier Institute celebrated Christmas a full week and a half ahead of the actual calendar date to accommodate for students leaving during the winter holiday break. Even those who didn't personally celebrate the holiday participated in the gift exchange portion of the festivities. For the girls, it was an excuse to converge on the mall in search of the best deals on the best gifts. For the boys, it marked a mad dash to buy last-minute gifts for their friends and family members.
The opportunity to get a member of the opposite sex to notice them through use of mistletoe presented itself as well. While the girls had no doubt that Tabitha had probably hung a sprig over every doorway and light fixture in the old Brotherhood house, none of them were willing to do so. Granted, Tabitha probably did it to watch the Brotherhood boys try to talk their way out of kissing each other, but that was beside the point. The girls of the Xavier Institute didn't want to stoop to such low standards for attracting male attention. The boys had no such reservations.
Bobby had already gotten in trouble for trying to cover the entire ceiling of the common room in the stuff. He decided that freezing the plants to the ceiling would be a brilliant idea; the girls, and everyone else walking through the common room, failed to share that opinion. Especially not when the ice melted and dripped all over the furniture. Logan threw a mop and bucket at him and told him to clean it up. The boy hadn't been brave enough for a re-try.
Learning from his fellow mutant's failure, Roberto hung up one sprig inside the kitchen and waited around for someone to walk under it. When the first person to fall for it wound up being Jamie, the Brazilian teen cursed his poor luck. Jamie looked equally put-out by the idea of going through with tradition, and that 'hot spot' soon vanished.
Tonight, though, was the night of the big Christmas party. Kid-friendly beverages flowed freely as the kids snacked on appetizers and swapped gifts. A relaxed, cozy atmosphere permeated the building.
Kurt took advantage of his housemates' unguardedness to try his luck with the mistletoe. He'd found a fresh sprig, and though he wasn't all that fond of the plant's smell, he figured that if he used it right, he might get a kiss from Kitty. He'd had a crush on her since he moved into the mansion and although the Jewish girl was currently seeing Lance Alvers, Kurt didn't think she'd resist giving a holiday smooch to her best friend.
As with any 'best laid plans' in the school Xavier founded, this one detoured south right out of the gate.
Jubilee had spent most of the fall semester admiring the older girl from afar, and feeling terrible for having such feelings toward another girl. Her parents would be so ashamed if they found out! So she played it cool, became Bobby's confidant and loyal sidekick, and pushed her feelings for Kitty to the back of her mind. Why was she focused on the slim brunette when there was so much male eye-candy around the school? She was almost positive that none of her teammates saw her as dating material, though. They saw her as one of the guys, and most of the time that sat well with her. But sometimes a girl needs a bit of action, which her small crush on Bobby wasn't getting her.
At the party, she took the seat closest to Kitty on the couch and handed out the small gifts she'd bought for the other girls. Nothing as elaborate or expensive as Jean's necklaces, but gift enough to let her housemates know she appreciated them.
Her seat gave her an excellent spot to watch the others mill about. She saw Rogue give Scott a nice-looking sweater for Christmas, and Jean's glaring response. Seriously, how did Scott not see that the Goth girl had a major crush on him? Then again, the male portion of this school acted more oblivious than most guys she'd met.
She noticed Kurt sneaking up behind Kitty, something grasped in his furry hands. She giggled as the blue-furred boy carefully held a sprig of mistletoe over the oblivious brunette's head and slowly inched it downward. Eventually, Kitty glanced upward and noticed. "Kurt! Would you, like, knock it off?"
"It's the Christmas spirit!"
"I'm Jewish."
"Hannukah spirit, then!" the German boy tried again. "Come on, Kitty, just a little peck." He moved the hand with the mistletoe in order to make a "little bit" gesture with the other, haphazardly leaving the plant in between Kitty and Jubilee.
Jubilee could barely believe her luck. She had the perfect opportunity to make a (small and probably meaningless) move on her schoolgirl crush. But should she take it? She glanced at her distracted housemate again and decided that yes, she should. Before she could talk herself out of it, she leaned over and gave the brunette a kiss.
Kitty froze in place. She hadn't realized that Kurt's mistletoe arm had wandered that far over or that Jubilee would take advantage of the opportunity. "J-Jubilee?" She stuttered as the Asian-American girl blushed profusely and ducked away. The entire room turned to stare at them. "What was that about?"
"It's tradition?" The smaller teen squeaked, much to her embarrassment. God, she knew this was a mistake. Why was she always getting into these situations? "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"
"No, it's okay." Kitty rushed to assure her. The poor kid was embarrassed enough without her adding to it. "You just caught me by surprise."
"Really?" She didn't want to hope—that way lay nothing but disappointment—but couldn't seem to stop herself.
"Yeah. I mean, that's what mistletoe's for, right?" She did not think about how soft Jubilee's lips felt on hers. She didn't need thoughts like that. She had a boyfriend who adored her. Even though he could be a bit of a blockhead at times, he was sweet and responsible. Yeah, Jubes was kinda cute for a girl…but she wasn't Lance. "Not like it's a life-changing commitment."
"Exactly." She was sad it wasn't going to be the start of something more, but at least she could now say she knew what the feeling of her crush's lips on hers felt like. "Don't read anything into it, please. I just…well, how was I supposed to pass that chance up?"
"Yeah. I get it." Kitty smiled nervously. How was she supposed to not read anything into that kiss?
"Aww. How come she gets to kiss you and I don't?" Kurt pouted.
"Because I'm faster and slightly more devious?" Jubilee suggested. The girl next to her sighed.
"Fine, but keep it on the cheek, Fuzzy. I don't want to have to explain any awkward photos to Lance later."
"Deal." The demonic-looking mutant grinned, giving her a chaste peck on the cheek. While he still wasn't Alvers' biggest fan, he thought Kitty was a good influence on the Brotherhood leader. The poor guy needed all the 'good' he could get, and unlike Scott, Kurt derived no satisfaction from trying to sabotage somebody else's relationship. Really, why their "fearless leader" thought his current course of action would endear him to any of his teammates was beyond Kurt's understanding. "There! Was that really so terrible?"
"Not really, but I've had better." Kitty responded. "Why don't you go bug Scott for a while? Preferably with that mistletoe." Maybe they'd finally get Rogue to stop making goo-goo eyes at him and actually do something. Rogue had one of those thin, sheer scarves on tonight, Kitty noticed; the Southern girl could kiss him through that and not risk knocking him out.
"Your wish is my command!" He bowed low before teleporting away with the mistletoe. She grinned, knowing he probably had the same idea she did. He was like the twin brother she never had, once she stopped being terrified of his appearance and actually started talking to him. In short order, a surprised yelp sounded from Scott's general direction.
"Uhg, can you believe that?" Jean frowned, watching the exchange going on behind Kitty's back. The brunette didn't need to look behind her to guess that Rogue had taken advantage of Kurt's help.
"Yeah, actually, I can." Kitty stared at the older girl. "She's been mooning over him for months. It's about time she got up the guts to do something other than stare at his ass. Besides, you're dating Duncan, grid-iron star, misogynist and notorious school bully. You don't get to complain about who Scott dates."
"She's right." Jubilee chimed in. "If you really liked Scott, you'd have broken up with the idiot and asked him out already."
"It's not that simple." Jean huffed. Amara nodded her support, eying the other two girls with no small amount of disdain.
Kitty sighed. Amara's hero-worship/crush on Jean was the worst kept secret in the institute. She didn't know how Jean overlooked it. "Maybe it isn't now. You've been dating the same guy for longer than I've been here and other girls are finally starting to see Scott for something other than the guy who wears sunglasses indoors. But it wasn't so complicated last year, before they noticed. Before she noticed. You have no one to blame for this situation but yourself, Jean."
"How can you say that?" Amara demanded, looking more incensed than Jean did at the accusations.
"Easily, thank you very much. This drama has been going on for far too long." Entirely too freaking long, in Kitty's opinion. She loved a little bit of drama as much as the next girl, but this was getting downright pathetic.
"I don't think she's doing it just to make you jealous." Jubilee murmured, jerking her head in Rogue's direction. "I mean, she's not all that nice to most of us new kids, and I know you two don't get along, but I really don't think she's that petty." Abrasive and sarcastic? Sure. But petty? Not something she generally associated with the Southern Goth.
"I know." The redhead sighed. "That's what makes it so difficult." She and Rogue might snipe at each other sometimes, but it wasn't just for the hell of it. They came from two different worlds and had two very different philosophies regarding how to deal with other people.
"God, would you stop with the pity-party?" Kitty groaned. "Like, the only one joining you is Amara."
"Then why did you even bring it up?" Jean asked.
"Because somebody had to be the voice of reason, Rahne's abandoned your sinking drama ship to play with Jamie, and Jubilee's only here to watch us argue while eating a bowl of popcorn." The Jewish girl replied.
"Darn, I knew I forgot something when I sat down over here." Jubilee snapped her fingers in mock irritation. Popcorn would make watching this intervention a lot more worthwhile. "Will popcorn balls work as a substitute?"
"Provided Kurt hasn't eaten all of them, sure. Why not?" Kitty grinned.
"Hanging out with Avalanche has brought out all of your worst personality traits." Jean huffed. Kitty hadn't been nearly this outspoken or rebellious before she started dating that Alvers boy.
"Hanging out with Lance reminded me that I don't have to be a goody two-shoes to be accepted." He had a first name. Why couldn't anyone besides Rogue use it, for God's sake? "I'm acting out because you guys are acting like idiots and I refuse to be sold on this whole 'us versus them' mentality. You don't even know them!"
"They don't seem that bad to me." Jubilee piped up. Amara shot her a look that questioned her sanity, so she elaborated. "Tolensky has a body odor problem and Quicksilver's a jerk, but the others seem pretty okay. At least they haven't picked on us for being the new kids or other reasons." She glared at Jean. During her first week at Bayville High, Duncan called her derogatory synonym for 'Asian' he knew. He then bragged about it to the whole school, only to have Jean dump a glass of water over his head when she found out about it. Pietro aggravated her and occasionally stole her pencils or notebooks, but he didn't make racist comments.
"And this is why every mutant in Bayville can't stand Duncan." Even the Brotherhood hated him. Lance told him point blank that if he ever caught Matthews hassling Toad again, he'd sic Fred on him. Matthews might be dumb, but he didn't have a death wish, and refrained from physically assaulting Toad since the encounter. "Why did you even start going out with him, Jean?"
"He can be sweet and charming when he wants to be." Or maybe to get what he wants, Jean amended. She wasn't blind to the bullying, or the possessive way he treated her, but he was the most popular guy in school. He sometimes did sweet-ish things for her, even if his conversation skills were horrid. Besides, Scott was now officially off the market, and he'd been the only other guy she wanted to date.
"So can that friend of Scott's. You know? The one all those technical schools tried to recruit at the science fair last semester." Jubilee offered. She didn't know the kid's name, but he was attractive and smart and didn't beat people up for a good time. He would make a good rebound guy for Jean.
"Who, Paul?" Jean scrunched her face up. Tall, blonde, all-American boy, Paul? Paul the geek?
"Yeah, Paul. He's pretty okay. You should totally see if he's interested." Kitty remarked. Jean pouted. "Hey, nothing to lose by trying, right? Just…wait a few weeks after you dump the jock to talk to him, or it'll get ugly quick." Unless Paul was some kind of secret black-belt, she doubted he could defend against a pissed-off Duncan.
Jean nodded, not expecting anything less from Duncan. "I'll think about it." She didn't really think anything more than thinking would come of this, but the answer should at least get Kitty off her back for a while.
"Good." Kitty nodded, grinning smugly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need a punch refill." Not giving anyone a chance to protest, she walked through the couch and away to the snack table.
"And I'll take that as my cue to go make sure the guys liked their gifts." Jubilee excused herself, sliding off the couch before not running over to the couch the boys claimed as theirs.
Jean sighed, slumping against the back of her seat. Amara shot her a curious look.
"You're just going to let them say that stuff to you?" Jean was always right, wasn't she? That's why she was Scott's second on the main team, or so she thought. Shouldn't she stand up for herself more?
"Yes. I am." The redhead closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "In fact, someone probably should have told me some of those things years ago." Oh, she was still upset and more than a little jealous, but she intended to handle this like a mature person should. "Here's some free advice, Amara: the first time a guy does something to make you uncomfortable, walk away from him. Don't stick it out and try to change him, or you'll be stuck in a rut." And damn was she ever in a rut…
"Okay." Amara wasn't entirely sure what to make of that, but anything Jean offered she would take.
"Good." The older girl took a deep breath and put on a gentle smile. "Now, what's Nova Roma like this time of year?"