A Birthday for Beast

By Riordan

For once, all seemed right with the world and the forces of the legendary X-Men were not needed to save the day. So, for that night, they would celebrate. After all, it was a certain someone's birthday.

The whole day long, Hank McCoy had the sneaking suspicion that something was going on behind his back. And, being himself, he was right, but he couldn't say exactly what. For hours people were creeping around, dashing from one room to another with an armful of something pink and flowing. He could stand a little suspense, but...pink?

Beast sat crouched on the edge of his armchair, trying to read a book that he hadn't been able to touch for weeks. For the time being, he had very little to do and no one was interrupting. After a while he'd closed his door to muffle the sounds to scampering feet scurrying past with questionable loads. Yet, thanks to his heightened senses, he could still hear them.

After some time, he'd given up on his reading and listened to the noises outside his room. Beast had learned the footstep patterns of his fellow X-Men and had a good idea of who was doing what outside. He speculated. Jean would be heading up all operations and wouldn't leave the kitchen. Yes, the kitchen was a prime location for directing and orchestrating. She would be there with Scott and a few of the others. The guys would be the ones sent on the errands, save a few of the younger generation. He was sure that the quick, light steps outside were Jubilee's. Bobby and Gambit had been by plenty of times, carrying something. From the sounds of it, it was unwieldy and large. Couldn't have been too heavy, from the speed of the their pace, but then again the X-Men weren't pushovers. A careless haste caused one of these things to hit the floor, sending out a sound that was distinctly wooden. What on earth would they be doing with that?

The suspicious sounds built and built until he could hardly stand to not know what was going on. After so much, he went to the door and even laid his hand on the knob when a voice came from the other side.

"Hey, brainless!" it whispered loudly. "Do ya wanna get busted by the Professor?"

"Brainless yourself," was the reply. Definitely Jubilee. "He won't even miss 'em for a good hour or so."

Beast began to worry. This sounded bad.

"Come on, let's go."

The mutant stared at the door, trying to make up his mind. There was something fishy about all of this and he'd had just enough. Within seconds he was outside and striding down the hall towards the dining room. The scamper of feet had been going in that general direction. He pushed through the door and just about died of a heart attack.

Streamers of all colors blotted out the ceiling, confetti spilled off of furniture, and meanwhile the entire student body of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters shouted and cheered. The thing that caught his eye the most was the pink garlands of...something...looped around the chairs. From the back came Jean, followed by some of her cohorts.

"Happy birthday, Dr. McCoy," she said, beaming her bright smile.

"I must say," he told her, "I'm completely taken by surprise."

Professor Xavier rolled an approach aided by Scott. "Happy birthday, Hank," he said.

"Thank you." Beast looked around with mock displeasure. "Did you have a hand in any of this?"

"Oh no. This is Jean's doing. I merely lent them the use of my chairs."

The two men looked around at the mass around them, who couldn't help but enjoy themselves. After the students had calmed down enough, they sat down at the tables for cake. All eyes went to the kitchen doors expectantly and a hush fell. Then, without warning, Colossus burst through the doors, followed by Rogue and Gambit carrying one of the biggest cakes the school had ever seen. A train of Bobby, Jubilee, Scott, and Kurt fell in behind with the plates and utensils. The cake-bearers placed their feat in front of Beast, stepping back to catch his reaction.

"This is incredible," he said breathlessly, taking in the artwork of icing swirled on the sides and the full inscription of 'happy birthday Dr. Hank McCoy' written on the top of the round white cake. "Thank you very much. It's quite spectacular."

Gambit jumped as if he suddenly remembered something. "Hold that jest one second," he said, leaning forward towards the cake. He closed his fingers over the unlit candles one at a time until they glowed with light red energy. "Thas more like it, huh."

Jean put in, "We let these two do the cooking. There's nothing like Southern baking, so I hear."

"You don't have to tell me that, Jean," Beast told her, smiling around at his host of friends.

A stir rumbled the table and Jubilee said it loud enough for the other end of the table to hear. "Blow out the candles already!"

"All right, all right," Beast said, trying to calm down the ecstatic energy of the students. "Let's see here..."

Author's Note: I do not own anything related to X-Men. I believe Marvel does. I hope you enjoy this first installment. I've mixed a dash of the movies with the original comics for something that's a little different. And there you have it...