From robbie: Thanks to O and ScruffyLovin for keeping up with us. We're kinda totally loving all the fluff, and it's only going to keep going. Because we love fluff. And we love this fic. And we can't stop, won't stop. And also, yes, Kurt HAS to be a pirate. But… CC is excited about this one ;)
From CC: And now. NOW we get into my crackship - HA! Yes. Get on this EVERYONE. Noh and Jubes. Pass it on! Seriously. I've decided this is the only way. Thanks for the reviews, O and Scruffy - yes. Kurt is predictable. Sadly. But not too sadly because - pirate Elf. Come on. It's beautiful. I like the fluff almost as much as the next girl, but … action makes me happy. So. We'll hit a little of everything bit by bit.
Chapter 10: The Other Other Hawkeye
"Okay, wait. There's just one more detail I gotta add to yours," Kate said. She and Jubilee were helping each other with their costumes for the Halloween party, and Kate's phone was on the table next to them as she waited for one last confirmation that Warbird was indeed still in space and not anywhere near the party before she'd let Noh-Varr within a hundred yards of the mansion. DJ or not, she'd send him right back if she thought there was going to be that kind of trouble.
With a little flourish, Kate pulled out a purple scarf. It wasn't quite as perfect as the one she'd found at the festival a few weeks back, but it was perfect for a debut, anyway, and she arranged it just so over Jubilee's exposed shoulders with a wide grin. "There. I'm bringing back the scarf look," she said with a little nod.
Jubilee took the opportunity to finish Kate's 'costume' as she texted her friends, fixing Kate's hair into curly-bottomed pigtails. She arranged the pink sunglasses and popped the collar on the yellow trench coat before she cleared her throat and held up three different flavors of bubble gum. "So. Original, Strawberry, or Grape?"
"Oh, I'll save grape for when people start to figure out what we're up to. Purple bubbles might give me away," Kate said, snatching an original piece. She popped the gum in her mouth and blew a bubble, giggling after it popped as she looked over Jubilee, who fit the purple jumpsuit perfectly and even had her hip cocked to one side and a little confident smirk on as she tossed her flat iron-straightened hair over her shoulder. With purple aviators to complete the look, the two of them really could have passed for each other to even those that knew them best — until you looked closer, of course.
"This is the best costume idea ever," Jubilee said as the two of them looked themselves over in the full length mirror.
Kate nodded her agreement with a little bounce to her step. "We are pros at masquerades. Clearly," she teased, then spun around once with her arms outstretched. "How terrified do you think Kurt would be if I just ran over and kissed him hard like this?"
"Oooooh, if you're going to do that, I'm going to need to be ready with the camera. He'll take a hug — but a kiss?" Jubilee cackled gleefully as she rubbed her hands together.
"Make sure the lighting is right. I want to capture the deep purple he turns when it happens," Kate said, practically tenting her fingers.
"Yes. Yes, excellent," Jubilee agreed as she cocked her hip to one side and peeked over the purple aviators. "I love this plan."
"We're evil geniuses, my friend," Kate agreed as she held the door open for Jubilee, pocketing her cell phone. "DJ's on the way to get the party started," she informed her.
"Should we change cell cases too? Just - to start with," Jubilee asked as she glanced over at Kate. "For those that pay attention to detail."
"Ooh, this is true. I've got a little flock of hawkeyes that might spoil the surprise," Kate said with a quiet laugh before she pulled the purple case with silver stars off for Jubilee's glittery liquid waterfall case filled with yellow glitter and pink stars. "I mean, they're not up to my level, but they try so very hard."
"Well — there are some staff members that have refused to participate in the costumes? So it won't be too far of a stretch for us to be like this down there," Jubilee said before she shook her head ruefully. "I tried. Really, I did."
"And we all appreciate your efforts," Kate said, smiling. "I'm just excited to see what Billy and Teddy are this year. They promised to swing by, and they always have matching set costumes. It's unbearably cute."
"Oooooh, fun!" she giggled out. "I love couples costumes."
"Next year, maybe I'll find some blue paint and pointy ears," Kate teased.
"You know if you really wanted to go all out, I'm pretty sure I know a mutant or two that can bend reality ... probabilities …. You could totally BE a little blue elf for the night."
"If I ever go all out on that front, I've got a reality-bender on speed dial. Number Two," Kate countered.
"And we have his mother in the system. She's easy enough to work with," Jubilee replied. "And she is really good about teasing Kurt."
Kate just grinned and shrugged lightly. "We'll see where we are a year from now. For now? Let's go blow some people's minds with our epic costume skills." With that, the two of them just started their triumphant strut down the halls.
The first person they found was Bobby — in the kitchen with Logan, who was determined to ignore the group of partygoers as he plunked down two cases of beer for Bobby to chill for him before he disappeared to the lower levels with Henry for the night.
The old Spiderman costume that Bobby had commandeered just barely fit him, and he had the mask up over his face as he complained about the way that it felt. "How the heck can he handle this stupid thing on his face?" he complained. "It itches and - smells. Ugh."
Kate jumped up to sit on the counter and popped a bubble. "Didn't you wash that thing before you borrowed it, silly?" she asked in a giggling tone that sounded very much like Jubilee.
He glanced up and did a bit of a double take before he leaned toward her with a look of disbelief. "Oh man. That … that is just …. Okay. You two win. I don't even need to look at anyone else's outfits. That is just spooky."
The two girls high-fived each other and turned the force of a double grin his way. "I think you mean awesome," Kate corrected him, cackling.
"Oh yeah, that's totally what I mean," he replied with a broad grin. "And for the record? I did wash this stupid thing — like four times. I think he gave it to me because it was so … shot."
"Sounds like a Spidey thing to do," Jubilee laughed. "What's he going as, anyway?"
"J. Jonah Jameson," Bobby said with a laugh. "He's been calling everyone a menace for the past hour. Shouting and wiggling his fake mustache. It's pretty funny."
"How long do you think before he loses his voice?" Kate laughed.
"No telling. He's alternating between outraged shouts and under his breath grumbling. It's glorious."
"We're clearly missing the show," Jubilee said and grabbed Kate's hand. "Aren't you going to at least laugh at Spidey, Wolvie?" she shot Logan's way.
"I do that every day, darlin'," he replied before he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Try not to bring the house down." He took a few steps toward the hall, then paused and backtracked to do the same to Kate. "Good luck. You should fool all of 'em."
"Good thing the two super sniffers are sitting out the party and can't blow our cover," she agreed with a smirk.
"Wouldn't blow it anyhow," Logan said with a smirk. "It's too good of a switch." With that, he headed off down the hall, a case of beer in each hand.
Kate beamed at Logan's retreating back and then turned to Jubilee. "C'mon. I have an Elf to kiss and turn purple. And then there will be so much dancing."
"I hope your DJ's up to snuff. I miss raves," she said with a sparkling grin.
"If he wasn't coming as Ziggy Stardust?" Kate said with a little smirk. "He'd be shirtless. I gotta take you to a party with him DJ'ing sometime. He's hilarious."
"Oh, please," she said with a grin. "You should see my rave outfit. It's ah-may-zing."
"He's gonna be in Jersey next Saturday night. We are so taking a girls' night to go party," Kate agreed.
"Yes!" She squealed before she wrapped Kate up in a hug. "Oh that — I have always wanted to hug myself."
Kate giggled. "And I'm just sitting here laughing at how hilarious I am excited," she shot back. "You've got the bounce and everything. This will be — oh man. I love it so much."
Jubilee shimmied just a bit and linked arms with her. "Then let's go in and blow them all away."
By the time the two girls arrived, the music had already started, and the entire mansion — minus a few party poopers downstairs with beer — was in full swing. Storm was absolutely stunning in the full Hathor getup — the Egyptian goddess of love — and was teasing Kitty, who had some of the best zombie makeup on, to match Peter Quill's. Kate saw a few of the kids dressed as various Avengers or X-Men, too — and had to giggle when she recognized one little Hawkeye as the girl she'd helped rescue in Canada who stole her gloves.
"Shall we go say hi to the DJ? Request a song and put on a little fireworks show?" Kate asked.
"Yes, please — that sounds like fun," Jubilee agreed.
The two of them, still linked at the arms, made their way over to Noh, whose costume came complete with the lightning bolt and who was grinning at both of them like he was having the time of his life. "I had to rush the setup when you wouldn't let me in until the last minute," he told Jubilee, shaking his head at her as he only half looked up from the records he was sifting through. "But lucky for you, this place has amazing acoustics."
"Well we've never had any complaints before," she said with a grin. "Can I make a request before you get too wrapped up in your playlist?"
Noh looked up from the records and just grinned. "Anything you want," he told her.
"Do you have any Daft Punk?"
Noh looked surprised as he paused in sifting through the records. "Well, yes, but — that's not usually what you…" He tipped his head at the pair of them and, as he finally looked closer, the understanding dawned, and he broke into a long laugh. "Where are my manners? I should introduce myself to Kate's doppelganger," he said as he extended his hand. "I'm Noh-Varr."
"Clearly you're confused," Jubilee said. "I was here first." She stuck her tongue out at Kate before she took his hand. "Jubilee."
"Well, Jubilee, I shall play your Daft Punk — and then I'd like to request a dance so I can get to know you better without making any further assumptions," he said with a little grin before he turned back to his records.
"I'm going to hold you to it, mister," she called out over her shoulder as she bopped off.
"Careful, Jubes," Kate said with a little smirk. "He's a flirt, and he's an idiot, and he's my ex."
"I have been a vampire for ten years," Jubliee said, waving her hand at Kate. "Believe me, I know how to play." She laughed a little bit. "I even made Bobby wet his pants when I flirted with him."
"Just doing my girfriend duty," Kate said with a laugh to match. "He's so fun, but he's so flighty. Be warned."
"I'm kinda flighty a bit myself right now," Jubilee admitted. "So we'll just play it by ear. I could use some fun."
"He could too," Kate said with a smile, glancing toward the grinning DJ. "He might be an idiot, but I still love him to pieces. Don't break him."
"You do, huh?" Jubilee said, giving Kate a one-raised-eyebrow look over her own sunglasses.
"Oh, not that way," Kate said quickly, shaking her head with both hands up in front of her. "Not anymore. No — no, no. I just meant — you know. Like I love Billy or Cassie or you?"
"You have not played tonsil hockey with me," Jubilee said.
"Or with Billy or Cassie," Kate said firmly. "That's the point. Totally different thing here."
"Okay, gotcha," Jubilee said, nodding thoughtfully before she broke out into a huge grin and threw her arm over Kate's shoulders. "Don't worry — I won't use my massively awesome skills to break your friend."
Kate grinned. "No — but you should use your massively awesome skills to help me pretend to put on a sparkler show."
"That — I can do," she said. "You have a place picked out?" She let Kate take the lead as she slipped behind her.
"There's a spot just behind the punch bowl where they wouldn't even see you in the window reflection," Kate said, then paused and had to smirk. "And not just because you have one of those now. I figured the angles on this one the old-fashioned Hawkeye way."
"Oh, that is hilarious! A vampire joke! Ha!" Jubilee chuckled as she shook her head. "Though it would have been a lot funnier before Reed and Hank fixed me."
"Well, we weren't best friends back then," Kate teased. "You were still trying to decide if I ranked on Logan's cell phone."
"Terrible shame too," Jubilee said. "Which, doesn't matter anymore now that I upgraded his phone and it's all voice activated." She ducked down as Kate put her hands behind her back before Jubilee threaded her arms through the loops Kate made. "Ready when you are, Jubilation."
"Give it a whirl, Katherine," was the giggled response a heartbeat before Jubilee let loose a beautiful shower of sparks and explosions over the center of the dancefloor.
"I used to do this for money when I was a kid," she admitted over Kate's shoulder.
"So you were always the life of the party," Kate said, smiling.
"Born that way," Jubilee replied with a giggle. "Can't help it."
As the last shower of sparks filled the room to raucous cheers, little purplish-blue puffs of smoke began to appear around the room before a much larger puff appeared on top of the chandelier, where Kurt and his bamfs had all but surrounded the entire population of the party — dressed to the nines as pirates, the whole group. The bamfs had little bandannas and eye patches, tiny swords and huge belt buckles. Some of them even had little pirate boots as they growled at everyone around them. Kurt had gone all out and had a full pirate captain ensemble, complete with a detailed velvet jacket and open-chested white muslin shirt, his tricot hat dipped down partway over his eyes — and one bamf perched on his shoulder dressed as a parrot who kept screeching out 'bamf'.
Kurt looked around the room with a wicked grin before he did a backflip off the chandelier and bamfed just before he would have hit the ground — only to reappear next to 'Kate'.
He seized her up by the waist as he announced to his little audience, "Avast, me loyal crew — I have found the prize jewel!" He tipped his hat with a little wink. "And I'll be relieving this little soiree of their valuables now," he added as he swept her up off her feet.
Jubilee squeaked as Kurt picked her up and gave Kate a clear look of 'Help'.
Kate was laughing as she pointed a finger at Kurt and tried very hard to stay in 'Jubilee' character. "Oh no. You have to fight me for my dance buddy," she said as she put one hand on her hip and waggled her finger.
"I'll take that challenge," he said with a laugh as he set Jubilee down and spun her behind him.
Kate just beamed broadly before she took a running leap and flung her arms around Kurt's neck. At first he just laughed to return the hug, but then when Kate pressed her lips to his and just started to kiss him passionately, he was entirely caught off-guard and very, very confused as he pulled back away from her and just ... tried to figure out what had just happened.
Jubilee burst into laughter behind them, totally on the floor, holding her stomach as she tried to keep at least partway upright. "Oh my God, the look on your face! Oh man! I wish Wolvie had seen this!"
Kurt looked between the two of them as the understanding dawned and he broke into a little, almost self-conscious laugh before this time he swept the real Kate up as he'd done to Jubilee before. "My congratulations on your superior costume skills, ladies," he said before he teleported away with Kate to the middle of the dance floor.
Kate was still giggling as he set her down. "Your face… so purple," she said between giggles, unable to contain herself.
"That was cruel," he replied with a laugh, still a bit purple across his cheekbones. "You two should not be allowed to spend time alone."
"We can't help that we're so amazing. Clearly the only reason this teamup hasn't happened sooner is the world just wasn't ready," Kate countered, trailing the tips of her fingers over the light purple blush before she kissed him. "But you've totally blown our cover, my dear Elf."
"I'm not even a little bit sorry," he replied before he kissed her and then pulled her into a spin on the dance floor. "Would it be too forward to take you for a dance before I pull you out of this soiree and make you pay for your wildly successful deception?"
"I suppose a dance or three wouldn't hurt," she teased.
He smiled her way before leaning in for another kiss, just taking her around the dance floor in wide, sweeping turns until—
"KATE!" Tommy Shepherd ran over to pull on her arm. "You — sneaky so and so. I would totally not have recognized you except for your date. Hi, Nightcrawler, by the way. Nice digs."
"Welcome to our home," Kurt replied, looking up from Kate with a polite smile. "It's not usually this … festive."
"It's sweet." Tommy looked around the place with a huge grin before he pulled on Kate's arm again. "C'mon. You gotta say hi to Billy and Teddy," he told her.
Kurt just grinned at his antics before he twirled her to Tommy and bowed deeply. "Thank you for the dance, frauline," he said, winking at Kate before he disappeared in a pouf of smoke to leave her to her friend.
He didn't get very far before two more of her friends caught up to him, though. "You're still treating her right, aren't you, Nightcrawler?" said a big, grinning blonde who was dressed as Prince Charming. The slight, dark-haired boy next to him, Eric from the Little Mermaid, was grinning wide and unable to match the big-brother glare on Teddy's face.
"Na sicher," Kurt replied with a crooked smile. "I wouldn't dream of mistreating her in any way." He looked the two of them up and down. "Are you enjoying the party she pulled together?"
"I love it," Billy said with a wide grin. "You've really got the place all decked out."
"It's kind of amazing," Teddy agreed, looking around the room. "Must be awesome to live here."
"Most of the time, yes," Kurt admitted with a little laugh before he removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair. "I take it this is fairly normal for your little group? The extravagant parties?"
"When we were running in space? Oh yeah." Billy grinned a little bit. "We went to an alternate dimension Dazzler party once that took us days to recover from."
"But nothing like this," Teddy said. "I mean. This is the X-Mansion. At Halloween!" The two boys grinned at each other. "So cool."
Kurt returned the smile and replaced his hat before he looked past them at the party that was just starting to get underway properly. "Would you like a look around? I could show you the highlights," he offered, only breaking into a wider smile when he could see the pure delight in their expressions at the idea.
"Yes please," Teddy said, grinning. The two boys looked almost exactly like excited students on a field trip — Kurt had seen that look many times before on kids at the school, and it was simply charming to watch them light up.
Kurt nodded and put on his best showmanship as he swept his arm out to lead them through the place, starting with the most obvious directly around them and then leading them through the vast halls, gesturing here and there to the more significant rooms — like Charles' old office.
The little bamfs joined in the tour enthusiastically and were sure to try to make sure the boys saw the sights that they felt were most important, sometimes even seizing one of them with both hands on either side of their faces to properly point them — usually at some small and insignificant detail that, unless you were a bamf and knew that those curtains were the first ones they destroyed when they moved into the mansion, made very little sense.
Finally, after the bamfs had been sure to show the boys the window they'd broken playing baseball yesterday, Kurt turned to ask if they'd like to see the blackbird sub-level.
"Would we!" they said, practically in unison.
Kurt grinned broadly before he stepped up to them, laid a hand on each of their shoulders, and teleported them to the hangar. "And to your immediate left is our little jet," he said as soon as the smoke had cleared a bit to reveal that they were standing under its wing.
"Little," Teddy repeated under his breath to Billy, who was grinning wide.
"Kate doesn't do the teleporting justice. That is… that's a whole new sensation," Billy said, shaking his head as Teddy looked over the jet. "I like my method better."
"I'm a little partial to it myself," Teddy said with a grin and a wink as Billy caught up to him to look over the blackbird.
"Everyone prefers their own flavor," Kurt said, shaking his head, before he opened the hatch to let them step in and take a look around. "I'm not sure what else you'd like to see down here, really. To appreciate the Danger Room, I'd imagine you'd need your uniforms — not your costumes — and some time that I'm sure you'd rather spend with your friends than fighting imaginary bad guys. Perhaps next time?"
"Oh for sure," Billy agreed quickly, all but bouncing in place.
"Other than the jet, the only thing I can show the two of you at this point would be the labs - and that isn't going to be much fun any day of the week, let alone while Henry and Logan are hiding there to avoid the crowd." Kurt shrugged. "Unless you have suggestions?"
"Oh, we wouldn't want to intrude any more," Billy said quickly.
"Yeah, you've been real great just to show us around. I'm sure we're just ... wide-eyed kids to you," Teddy said.
"Nonsense," Kurt said with a frown, dismissing the idea in an instant. Their wide-eyed excitement was charming, not childish. "Any friend of Kate's is a friend of mine," he added before he paused, smiled softly, and just had to chuckle. "But, honestly, after the little trick Kate and Jubilee played, I think I could use a drink." The bamfs giggled delightedly at the admission, sure that this meant they were going to get to play with their favorite whiskey-sharing Wolverine.
"She's horrible sometimes," Billy agreed, nodding sagely. "She likes to pretend she's the most mature out of all of us, but she is not."
Kurt couldn't help but smirk at that before he turned to face the two boys. "Well, you have your choice — you can wait here, as long as you don't touch any buttons or levers ... or go with me to the lab, where I know there is cold beer."
"What do you think?" Billy asked Teddy, his eyes sparkling.
"I think we should go along with Kate's boyfriend and make sure he doesn't get in trouble," was the half-chuckled response.
"Wunderbar," Kurt said with a grin before teleporting them to the lab, where Logan and Hank were no longer playing cards and were instead throwing poker chips at each other as each called the other a cheater. At the pouf of brimstone, though, both of them paused and glanced over at the three newcomers.
Logan waited half a beat before he reached down and whipped a beer to Kurt. "The girls get to you yet?" he asked as the bamfs teleported over to steal some beer for themselves as well.
Kurt had to grin — of course Logan would know about that before he did. "It's a very convincing switch, but when Kate kissed me, it was impossible not to know which was which," he replied, as the parrot bamf on his shoulder cackled with an impish, obviously teasing grin.
Logan chuckled at that before he looked to the two kids with Kurt and gave them both a raised eyebrow. "How old are you?"
"I think he just asked us for ID, Teddy," Billy said with a laugh.
"You look twelve," Logan replied.
"Add another decade there, Wolverine," Teddy said, grinning — as both boys were obviously still on a high from their Nightcrawler-guided tour.
Logan nodded once and reached down again to whip a can to each of them with a muttered 'think fast' before he asked, "You three here for a minute, or are you just raiding the stash and heading off?"
"Just one round for me, I think," Kurt admitted as he sat down next to his old friend. "The boys wanted a look around, so I thought I'd try to play host." He looked over to the two of them and waved them over. "Grab a seat; this won't take long."
"What's the game?" Teddy asked, seemingly the only one of the two boys who wasn't completely unable to speak with excitement.
"Five card draw," Logan replied. "Just poker chips tonight. Want in?"
The two boys shared a look that was equal parts excitement and surprise. "Yes!"
Logan and Hank shared a little smirk before Hank shuffled the cards and dealt the hand to the little group.
….
Meanwhile, upstairs at the actual party, Kate was being terrible. She had stolen a few of Kurt's bamfs who hadn't gone with Kurt for the tour and was using them to harangue America - and they were loving every second of the chance to cause trouble. They would simply bamf into America's path, inches from her face, any time she looked like she might try to do something. Any move toward the punch bowl, or toward the dance floor, or… anything was met with a little cackle and a bamf in the face, as Kate just looked on gleefully.
"You're horrible," America accused her when one of the bamfs got between her and a pretty blonde she'd been about to chat up.
"You're an easy target," Kate countered with a grin as the offending bamf immediately teleported over to her to get his hair ruffled and his tummy tickled for his good work.
America put her hands on her hips but had a hard time coming up with anything to say when two of Kate's bamfs just started to copy her every movement, hands on the hips, finger raised — it was hard to be angry when they were taking all the mickey out of her. "This isn't over, Princess," she threatened at last, and the bamfs fell apart giggling.
The party was set to go as long as anyone wanted to keep dancing, but their DJ had stopped taking requests for a moment and put the songs on a playlist so he could slip over to where Jubilee was with a sly grin. "Can I have this dance?" he asked with a little bow.
"If you can keep up," she countered with a smile.
He gestured around the party with a wide grin. "This is what I do for a living, Jubilee," he countered. "You have to keep up with me."
She laughed delightedly. "We'll see about that, mister. I've been a superhero since I was fourteen. There isn't anyone yet that's managed to match me. But," she said after a little spin. "You're welcome to try."
"You may have me there. I was much younger when I learned to fight, but it was not until I was past my teenage years that I discovered this world's music." He grinned widely at her as he followed her onto the dance floor. "I come from a universe of transcendental peace, but no tight harmony groups."
"That's a shame — about losing your utopia," she replied before she leaned forward with a troublemaking sparkle to her gaze. "But I'm really more for a driving beat any day."
"As long as you can dance to it." He just grinned even wider. "You wouldn't be the first to tell me my tastes are out of date."
"I didn't say that," she replied with a little shake of her head. "That stuff is great for slow dances and walks on the beach — little cruise in a convertible at sunset. Very romantic."
"Then maybe you'll show me your favorite songs sometime," he suggested, the grin still firmly in place as he watched her. "For the non-rave situations, that is."
"You're on, mister," she countered before she pulled him further onto the floor by the waist. "But right now? We dance."
He laughed and let her lead, just enjoying the time with someone who loved music and partying like he did. She was singing along loudly to every single song — and it likely didn't escape her notice that he'd thrown in a few more Daft Punk songs in the playlist just for her.
The two of them danced their hearts out right in the center of the dance floor until Noh let out a little sigh. "And that's the last song I have queued up. I'll have to put up another few so we can keep dancing," he said as another song started up.
"You know where to find me," she replied with a broad smile.
"Then your dance card isn't full? That surprises me," he teased.
"I don't plan ahead that far," she admitted with a shrug that turned into a shimmy.
He grinned, paused in his dancing, and took her by the waist into a spin that became a dip. "Can you plan five minutes ahead for me to return and finish this dance?" he asked, his face just inches from hers.
"Maybe if you ask really nicely," she replied.
He didn't hesitate to kiss her right there on the dance floor, and when he pulled her back to her feet, he said, "Pretty please."
"With sugar on top?"
"And a maraschino cherry," he said, laughing now.
"Alright, sugar, see you in a few."
He grinned and waved at her before he bounced off to go queue up some more songs — and she definitely noticed that the songs he was picking were more to her tastes, with more of a driving beat and in the style of songs he'd noticed she danced to with more energy. He was grinning her way for a second, headphones over his ears, before he just set to work looking through the rest of his records — momentarily distracted by a few students who had song requests as well.
Kate, meanwhile, was across the dance floor and still laughing at America when Kurt bamfed in nearby with a pair of very buzzed Young Avengers. "I believe they belong to you," Kurt said to Kate. "They aren't much for holding their liquor. Yet. Lucky for them they have a mentor that has offered to help them in that area."
Kate burst into laughter when she saw the state of her friends. "They barely ever drink — how did you…?" She couldn't finish the question because she was laughing too hard at her friends giggling at each other.
"Logan just threw them a beer," Kurt shrugged. "As if they couldn't say no."
"Drinking, Kate," Billy said with a wide smile, "with Wolverine."
"Alright, no magic for you until you stop looking like that," Kate said, laughing and shaking her finger at her friend.
"What about for me?" Teddy asked with a sloppy sideways grin.
"Ask your fiance," Kate said, rolling her eyes. "But Tommy's driving. I'm sure the terror will wake you both up fast."
America was chuckling with her arms crossed over her chest as she came to watch their two buzzed and giggling friends as well. "Mean," she said under her breath.
"Oh, they'll be fine. Teddy will stop being drunk soon — different metabolism," Kate said, waving her hand.
"If you think they're too drunk, I'm sure we can put them up for the night," Kurt offered, one eye on the young men who were excitedly catching America up on what they'd seen on their tour as a few of the bamfs watched them with careful expressions as they were clearly a bit concerned that the young men might fall over.
"They'd never leave," Kate said. "Besides, they were due at the Avengers' party at some point tonight, and I know Carol was looking forward to seeing their costumes."
"Yes, Henry and Logan mentioned that there was something going on there," Kurt said with a nod. "But they're too busy trying to best each other with 'The Professor's Cat'. When we left, the cat was being loquacious."
"I'm kind of sad I missed that," Kate said, smirking.
"It's still going on," Kurt said. "Henry has a bigger range of big words, but Logan can't get drunk."
"So it's a pretty close contest," Kate surmised.
"It is — loquacious was Logan's word." Kurt was laughing. "Henry swore like crazy on that one."
"I bet." Kate giggled and looped an arm through Kurt's. "We can go laugh at them - or we can dance here — or we can take the bamfs to Clint's place and demand candy for everyone."
"You did promise that we could demand candy," Kurt said as he pulled her close and pushed the hot pink sunglasses down onto her nose. "Ready to go, knallkörper?" He laughed a bit at the name.
"Whenever you are, Engelchen," she replied with a very obvious and proud grin.
"Oh, you speak the language when you're flirting," Kurt said with a broad grin. "I'll have to teach you more." With that, he stole a quick kiss before he teleported them off to go bother Clint.
When they arrived outside Clint's door, Kate took just a second to adjust Kurt's pirate hat and kiss him out in the hallway, playing the tips of her fingers across the open-chested muslin shirt before she turned toward Clint's door — though Kurt wasn't quite finished.
"Du hast wunderschöne Augen," he whispered over her shoulder before he gently kissed her neck and pulled her closer from behind.
She giggled and bit her lower lip. "Oh, we're going to have to make this a short visit if you're going to start language lessons now," she whispered.
"Sei dann schnell," he replied quietly.
She reached down with one hand to grab his and knocked with the other. "Trick or treat!" she shouted before the door was even open, and a few seconds later, Clint, dressed to the nines in Ghostbuster gear, was at the door with a huge bowl of, as promised, full-sized candy bars.
He blinked at the two of them for a long second, staring at Kate's Jubilee getup, before he burst into laughter. "Oh man. That's amazing," he said, shaking his head before he handed out candy to the bamfs as well as the two of them, though he did make it a point to break the big bars in thirds for the little bamfs. "Nice parrot, Nightcrawler," he added, still laughing.
"He insisted on it," Kurt replied with a laugh before he gestured to Clint's costume. "Which one are you? Or are you the trainee?"
"Peter Venkman," Clint said with a wide grin. He looked around the hall for a second and then opened the door wider. "You're welcome to come in for a minute, just — don't let Deadpool in. He's still lurking somewhere, and I've managed to keep him out of the apartment so far… but if you hear the theme song playing, shut the door."
"He's still here?" Kate grinned. "Didn't he go home by now? I thought Halloween was his night to be Dad-Pool."
"As I understand it?" Clint let out a sigh. "She's all tucked in. Gave her a Snickers, and he left — and half an hour later? The theme song was back."
"Just half an hour?" Kurt teased. "Sounds like you got off easy. The few times he's come by the mansion, he only leaves after Logan takes his head off and dumps him somewhere."
"Well, he was probably making a few more rounds of trick-or-treating," Kate suggested. She slipped inside and started to play with Lucky, who, after he'd realized who she was, all but pounced on her and started to lick her face.
"Someone missed you," Clint said, chuckling.
"It's cuz he knows who the best Hawkeye is — isn't that right, Lucky?" Kate teased, ruffling Lucky by the ears.
"Smart dog," Kurt said with a laugh as he closed the door behind him.
"Heard you had a big party going up there tonight," Clint said as he pulled one of the bamfs away from the bowl of candy to keep the little guy from getting any more.
"Yes, all Kate's doing," Kurt said cheerfully. "But like half the city, we heard where the real candy was."
Clint grinned wide at that. "Yeah — I did it one year just because the neighbor kids didn't feel safe trick or treating outside the building, right? And now I'm stuck every year." He laughed and gave an easy shrug. "But hey — the kids can get out more now the tracksuits have mostly scrammed, but they still make sure to stop by."
"If those tracksuits of yours are religious, I can pay them a visit at three in the morning," Kurt offered with a sly smile. "Not everyone likes it when I speak German." He gave Kate a significant look as she just started to giggle at him over the top of Lucky's head.
"You know ... I don't really know? I think they might be… Russian or Eastern European, but that's about all I got," Clint admitted, rubbing the back of his neck before the doorbell rang again. "Hold on; that's probably some latecomers. Barney was going to bring the kids around at some point." But as soon as he opened the door, he immediately regretted it as Wade came bounding in, wearing the pilfered Cyclops uniform, pushing Clint aside and singing at the top of his lungs.
"Who you gonna call?" he shouted out.
"We can leave any time," Kurt said over Kate's shoulder as Wade continued in his singing. "Clint may be trapped, but thankfully, we are not."
"We'll leave if he gets too obnoxious, but this is half the party," she laughed. "Hiya Wade!" she called out a little louder, adjusting her pink sunglasses back over her eyes as he turned to face her so that he could see the full effect of her costume.
"Oh. I love it!" Wade said as he bounced forward and wrapped her up in a hug only to hold her at arm's length by the shoulders. "We're both X-Men!"
"We are," she agreed as if she'd only just realized it. "You should see Jubes."
"Did she dress up as Hawkeye?" he asked delightedly. "I keep trying to do a Cyclops impression, but I just can't keep it up without laughing."
"You weren't born for the switch like we were," Kate said, grinning, before she leaned forward conspiratorially. "Kurt even fell for it for a few minutes."
Wade turned to Kurt with wide eyes before he clapped a hand over his mouth and whispered out through his fingers, "You didn't — you didn't get to second base with Wolvie's little firecracker, did you? I can only imagine that means a severed limb, even if you ARE his best friend."
"Oh don't worry. I wouldn't have let him," Kate said quickly. "Though he thought he was getting the stuffing kissed out of him by a firecracker when I ran in to save the fake Hawkeye."
"Any chance it might be on film? Just for me?" Wade asked with a smile. "Just me and the internet?"
"You'll have to ask my partner in crime. She was in charge of getting pictures, but she had also just been swept off her feet…" Kate shrugged.
Wade deflated the slightest bit, his shoulders sagging as he kicked at the ground. "Oh, well. If she got it, I don't know that she'd share with me. Likely just hog it all to herself."
"Maybe if you're really nice, someone might talk to her for you," Kate said with a little smirk. "But hey — we're turning Kurt purple again." She threaded her arm through Kurt's and laid her head on his shoulder. "Second best part of the night was when this pirate came swooping in with his band of little seafaring bamfs. They totally boarded us and commandeered the whole party."
Wade just stared at Kurt for a moment before he glanced around at the little bamfs, still in pirate gear, who were playing with Lucky or trying to sneak past Clint to get more candy. "You got the little poofballs to dress up with you?" he asked. "That — is freakin' genius!"
"He is rather amazing isn't he?" Kate said, smirking. She stood up on her toes to kiss Kurt on the cheek. "Very dashing."
"A regular dream boat," Wade agreed as he sidled up on the other side of Kurt.
"Can you just — can you not in my apartment?" Clint said, shaking his head as he snatched a Three Musketeers from a bamf thief before a second one snuck a Snickers while he was distracted.
"You're the one who opened the door without checking first," Kate teased. "He's your houseguest now."
"Does that mean I can stay the night?" Wade asked, the grin wide and obnoxiously obvious even behind the mask. "I get so lonely all by myself."
"No. No it doesn't." Clint crossed his arms and glared at both Kate and Wade before he just shook his head. "Halloween's just about over, guys. Go — have some apple wine or something."
"Riesling perhaps," Kurt said as he started to snake his tail around Kate's ankle and gave her an impish smile. "Which I may have a bottle of back home."
"And you did promise to steal me away and teach me German," Kate agreed.
"Auf Wiedersehen," Kurt said brightly to Clint and Wade. "You two have a nice evening."
"Not as nice as yours'll be," Clint said, smirking.
"Keep it up and I'll 'port back here with a bottle of champagne for the two of you," Kurt warned.
Clint raised both hands and took a step back. "Yeah, no thanks. You two have fun doing ... whatever it is you want to do."
"Toodles!" Kate called Wade's way, and after the traditional high-five, she and Kurt teleported back to the mansion, right back to the party, just to check in on how things were going before the slipped off for themselves.
"About time you two came back," America called out with a little smirk as she waved at the two of them with just her fingers. "I was having flashbacks." She jerked her head over her shoulder beyond the DJ table, where Noh-Varr was wrapped up with Jubilee in the corner in a passionate kiss. "She's taking the whole Hawkeye thing way too far."
Kate winced with one eye shut. "That's — that's really weird from the other side. I gotta make her at least put her hair in pig-tails or something."
"Don't approach," America teased. "You'll just make it weirder."
Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head, looking around the room. It was late enough that many of the party guests had either gone to other parties or gone home for the night, but most of the Young Avengers, as well as most of the teachers, were still having a blast. "If you don't like it, you can just leave," she pointed out, and America just rolled her eyes even harder at that.
"We should leave then," Kurt growled over her shoulder. "For other reasons entirely."
She turned slightly toward him to kiss his cheek and whisper, "Wunderbar," which only had him grinning wider.
He didn't take his eyes off her as he addressed America. "It was lovely to see you again," he said with a grin. "But I'm afraid there's a bottle of wine with our names on it."