"What the hell happened to you? And why is your fur white?!"

Kurt grinned sheepishly and held an ice-pack on the enormous black eye he was currently sporting, along with many more minor injuries."You know how Rogue sets up a horror movie night whenever the teachers are out of town?"

Scott scratched his chin. "Yeah, but..."

"She was sick this time. She left me in charge, told me to pick the movie. I thought I'd rent The Descent, since I know the only people here who've seen it are the two of us, Rogue, and Jean."

"That explains those constant blood-curdling screams last night! Jesus Christ, Kurt, you didn't let Jamie and Rahne watch, did you?"

"I thought they could-"

"They're 13, Kurt, and you let them watch that particular horror flick?!"

"I screwed up-"

"Jean and I had a nice make-out session ruined by the constant terrified screaming!"

"Ah, scheisse. Sorry."

"Yeah, I'm not too happy. You still haven't explained why you're white...or why you look like you've just been through a gang beating."

"Since I've seen it a couple times, I thought I'd play a little prank."

Growing comprehension dawned on Scott's face. "Please tell me you didn't do what I think you did."

"Yeah. Slipped out, dunked myself in flour, crawled back into the room on the ceiling near the last quarter while everyone was focused on the screen, and..."

"And?"

"Dropped into the middle of them, grinning like a madman. It was glorious. The Brotherhood probably heard the screaming across town."

Author's note: Those of you who've seen The Descent but haven't quite gotten the picture yet, take a minute to imagine Kurt, dead-white from the flour, and sporting a big ol' toothy grin. In a dark room, I'd say that would look a lot like the monsters. Now imagine that dropping straight down from the ceiling at you.

Scott winced at the memory of the noise. "To say nothing of the people right here at ground zero."

"I'm sorry! It was glorious...until they recovered enough to get pissed off. Then they did this to me."

Scott leaned in and studied the thoroughly battered and bruised fuzzy elf. "Let's see... Minor burns from a bunch of sources... Plasma. Lava. Electrical. Plasma again." He paused, looked at Kurt. "Was Tabitha there too, or was Jubilee just extra-pissed?"

"Tabitha."

"Mmm." Scott resumed his litany of injuries. "Lots of bruises. Ligature mark on your neck." He looked at Kurt again.

"Kitty tried to strangle me with the hairband for her ponytail."

The team leader grimaced. "Yeesh. And you've got claw and teeth marks on your tail. Didn't I say you shouldn't have let Rahne watch?"

Kurt spluttered. "I know that now!"

"You should have known better, period."

"Any chance you can punish them for overreacting? It was just a harmless prank."

"Kurt, you literally dropped on a bunch of people watching a horror flick. And you did it while imitating the toothy albino freaks that are the villains of the piece." Scott paused to let the effect of his words sink in. "Did you honestly think they weren't gonna clobber you?