CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
A Paternal Interlude
AN: This is one of the 'fragments' I wrote that I was able to tie in.
And what happened to "Risika Kissu Seto" and "Catchfire"? I miss your guys reviews. (sniffs and gives wounded kitty eyes)
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The deer and the bear had been skinned, cut, and dressed. The meat had been cooked and almost all of it was now gone, considering how Logan had had the Professor round up the kids in the cafeteria to eat (of course, Victor had made sure his mate had a good selection and ate it all while Logan took care of Rogue. How the runt hadn't figured out that Rogue was his mate was a complete mystery to the older feral.) and Logan had brought food to Jonsey in the quiet of his room.
Victor and Logan had taken turns prowling around the cafeteria, making sure the cubs were eating enough, getting enough water, and settling any little squabbles quickly and effectively.
Now, Victor lay in the large bed in the room that had been 'assigned' to him and his mate, keeping her warm and quiet and asleep in his arms, then…..
…..the scent of salt water…..
The scent jerked Victor out of his light sleep. Quickly, he looked down at the frail in his arms, but her scent was calm and content, fast asleep with no tears, just the way she should be.
He let out a soft, annoyed and confused growl. Then where was that scent coming from?
Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep until his curiousity was satisfied, Victor carefully untangled his arms from around his mate, moving his great bulk with amazing precision and padding on bare feet, silent as a panther to the bedroom door.
With one last check on his mate, he stepped out into the hallway.
The scent of tears grew thicker and now he could hear a quiet whimpering…..a cub.
Usually, he hated the sound of a cubs crying with a passion; the sound would bring up memories best left undisturbed; memories of his father with a knife, ready to pull of his claws one by one. 'I'll fix you, Victor, I'll fix you good.' But this time the sound brought out protective instincts which, he was finding, he had a lot of.
He followed the scents and sounds starting up "The Purr" as his mate called it, going around a corner where a small, blue-skinned mutant cub was curled up in a ball.
On a double-take, he realized it was the little reptilian cub who had run into him a few days ago; Roddy.
He knelt down infront of the cub, letting his purr and pheromones start to calm the young mutant.
"What's wrong, cub?" he asked gruffly.
The kid just sniffed and looked up at him with big slitted eyes watering, then burst into another flood of tears.
Victor grunted in annoyance. Well, THIS wasn't working. Jimmy was better with dealing with tears than he was.
He snorted, he had raised the runt, he was SABRETOOTH, he could figure this out. He mentally shrugged. He'd do what had served him so well in all his life (except perhaps the Brotherhood) he followed his instincts.
Still purring, he reached out and gathered the small, blue-skinned cub into his arms, holding him close against his chest.
There was no scent of predators or danger so he stood and simply began walking back to the room he shared with his mate; they would be having another little addition to their bed tonight.
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She knew the instant Victor had left the bed…..well, her BODY knew, her mind took a little bit more time on the catch-up. The warm, strong arms, the body that curled around her like a cocoon were gone.
Cassie sat up wearily in the dark, rubbing at her eyes and fumbling for her glasses, not yet turning on the light.
She heard him before any other of her senses picked him up, as well as the sound of a soft whimpering.
"Don't turn on the lights, frail." Victors rumbling voice came through his purr. "Cub had a night horse."
"A night horse….." she echoed, confused, then giggled. "You mean a nightmare."
"Mare's a horse, innit?" Victor grumbled, sitting down on the bed with the softly whimpering cub. He watched with night-vision as his mate crawled over on her hands and knees, fumbling on the bed. He reached out one hand to steady her then guided her hand to the cub in his lap.
"Oh, sweetheart."
The tenderness in her voice both pleased and touched him. She would be a good mother to their cubs.
"What happened, honey? Did you have a bad dream?"
The cub hiccupped then responded. "I-I w-woke up and I wasn' in my room anymore."
Victor increased his purr. "Easy, cub, yer safe."
Cassie pressed her lips together, thinking. "Do you sleep-walk, hon?"
The kid hiccupped. "Wh-what?"
"I guess that's neither here nor there at the moment," she muttered to herself. She reached out and began to rub soothing circles on the little ones back. "You're fine, sweetie, it's okay."
Victor stretched himself out on the bed, pulling Cassie down with him, spooning around her form protectively. Then he looked to the little mutant. "Come on, cub."
Smiling softly, Cassie held her arms out in the dark and her smile grew when little Roddy climbed into them.
Sabretooth increased his purr, his mate and the cub held safely in the circle of his arms. THIS was how it was supposed to be.