A/N: The rundown for this chapter is the same as before: SCOTT is in Jean; JEAN is in Rogue; ROGUE is in Scott; KITTY is in Evan; EVAN is in Lance; LANCE is in Kurt; KURT is in Toad; TOAD is in Kitty. However, only Lance, Toad, Kurt, and Evan are in this chapter, so don't worry about the others for the moment, okay? :-)



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Chapter 6: "Tears And Loathing At The X-Mansion"



"Got any sixes?"

"Go fish. Got any nines?"

"Go fish. Got a life?"

"Go - Hey, wait a minute!" Evan glared at Toad. "That wasn't funny!"

"I thought it was."

"Well I didn't!"

"All right, that's enough." Logan reached over the back of the couch and grabbed Toad by the ear. Playing cards spilled to the floor as he hauled him to his feet and pulled him over to a sofa on the other side of the room. Logan looked at Lance and jerked his thumb toward the sofa. "You too."

"But I'm not doing anything!" Lance protested. "I'm just sitting here, minding my own business!"

"So sit over there and mind your own business."

Lance grumbled but got up and joined Toad on the sofa.

"Yo, this ain't fair," Toad muttered, then raised his voice. "Didja ever stop to think that maybe it's this segregation of the Brotherhood an' the X-geeks that keeps us from understandin each other?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "Can it, Tolensky."

"What is it with these guys?" Toad complained. "They won't listen to us, even when we have a legitimate point!"

"Maybe that's because you've never had a legitimate point before, Toad," Evan called.

"Yeah? Why don'tcha come over here an' say that?"

"Nobody's going over anywhere," Logan growled. He pointed at Evan and Kurt. "You two stay right there, and you two -" he indicated Lance and Toad "- stay over there, and I don't want to hear another peep out of any of you!"

The boys were quiet for about ten seconds, just long enough for Logan to relax. Then,

"Peep," Toad peeped. "Peep! Peep!"

"Peep!" Lance joined in.

"Oh, that's mature." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You're one to talk," Lance shot back.

"Shut up, all of you!" Logan shouted. There was a loud metallic ching as his claws sprang out.

"Okay, okay. Calm down." Lance slid down on the couch and wiggled around, trying to find a comfortable position for the tail.

"Stop that squirming!" Logan snapped. "Sit still!"

Lance froze in place. Logan continued to glare at him for a moment, then started back to his chair. As soon as his back was turned, Lance smiled wickedly and grabbed a pillow off the couch. He took aim and fired the pillow at Logan. It smacked into the back of his head with a soft thump.

He spun around. "All right, which one of you did that?"

Both boys whistled innocently.

He turned to glare at Kurt and Evan. "Which one of them did that?"

"You're asking us?" Kurt asked.

Logan sighed. "Nevermind." He chose a chair and sat in a position where he could keep an eye on all four boys. Checking the clock, he sighed again. It had only been half an hour since Xavier and Ororo left with the other kids. He didn't expect them to return for at least another hour. Which meant he was stuck here until they did, with at least two of the teenagers trying to drive him insane. He was beginning to think it was about time for him to split the mansion for a while and take off on a little road-trip.

The four boys remained silent for all of sixty seconds. During that time, Lance's attention was occupied with staring at Toad. When Toad noticed the look he was giving him, he scooted away and plopped a pillow down between them. "What're you starin at, yo? Those ain't my eyes!"

Lance felt heat rush to his cheeks. "That's not what I was looking at!" he hissed. "Keep your voice down!"

"That is so what you were lookin at!" Toad picked up the pillow and hugged it to his chest. "Pervert."

"Well, what do you care? It's not like they're yours."

"I feel so used, yo." Toad stopped and considered Lance's words. A smile spread over his face. "Hey, you're right. They're not mine." He let the pillow drop and pulled the neck of Kitty's shirt out, trying to see down it.

Across the room, Kurt noticed what was going on. He jumped up and shouted, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?!"

Toad immediately let go of the shirt collar. "Nuthin."

"Well knock it off!"

Logan also jumped to his feet. Pointing at Kurt, he said, "You sit down." He turned and glared at Toad. "And if I catch you doing anything like that again, I'll tie your hands behind your back."

"And I'm telling Kitty what you were doing," Kurt said.

"So? She's already threatened to kill me. What else can she do, yo?"

"You don't know Kitty." Oh, well, Kurt thought. At least Kitty seemed to have forgotten her anger toward him. It had all been transferred to Toad, especially after the incident with her parents. Before she'd left the mansion, she'd stopped in the study doorway long enough to shoot a murderous glare at Toad. Kurt was glad somebody other than himself had managed to incur Kitty's wrath.

All in all, it was not a going to be a good day for Toad.

While Kurt and Evan sat on their couch and kept their eyes suspiciously trained across the room, Toad scooted a little closer to Lance. "Hey, Lance," he whispered.

"What?"

"Well, I was thinkin. I can walk through walls now, and you could be somewhere else just by thinkin about it, right?"

"So?"

"So what're we still doin here, yo? Let's ditch this place! It ain't like they could stop us from leavin!"

Lance rolled his eyes. "Did you just now figure that out?"

"Yeah, well, it ain't too easy to think with all of them starin at me like that. 'Specially him." Toad cast a wary glance at Logan, then quickly looked away. "So if you're so smart an' figured it out before me an' everything, why're we still here? What, you wanna be an X-geek again?"

"Shut up." He cast his own glance over to Logan, who stared back evenly. He made sure to keep his voice pitched low. "I told you already, we're not leaving! I'm not gonna be stuck as Blue-Boy for the rest of my life, got it?"

"O-ka-ay!" Toad's voice broke on the last syllable, and he sniffled.

"What's wrong?"

"You're . . . you're just so mean sometimes!" Toad sniffled again.

"Are you crying?!" Lance exclaimed incredulously.

"No." Toad swiped at his eyes. The back of his hand came away glistening with tears.

Logan stood up. "What's going on over there?"

"From here, it looks like Lance made Toad cry," Evan informed him.

"My name is Todd!" Toad wailed. "You're all just so mean to me!"

"What did you say to him?" Logan demanded of Lance.

"Nothing!" Lance shrugged helplessly. "I mean, I wasn't talking to him any different than normal."

"That's the problem, yo!" Toad sniffled. "You're always so mean to me! You're so insensitive!"

Nobody knew quite how to react. Kurt and Evan were at once horrified and amused. Lance appeared mainly confused. Logan was obviously extremely uncomfortable. He finally picked up a box of Kleenex and walked over to the couch. He held the box out to Toad. "Here."

Toad grabbed a handful of tissue and began wiping his face. He blew his nose a couple times, then wadded up the tissues and handed them back to Logan. He offered a watery smile. "Thanks, yo."

"No problem," Logan said wryly. He tossed the tissues in the wastebasket and stared at his hand in disgust. Shaking his head, he tried to wipe his hand on his pants. "Now you wanna tell me what that was all about?"

"I dunno." Toad's lower lip trembled. "I just felt like cryin."

Lance snorted. "Since when? I've never seen you cry before."

"Well, I've never been a girl before, you insensitive pig! Now I know why Kitty doesn't wanna go out with you!"

Evan suddenly laughed. "Hey, guys, I think Toad's having PMS!"

"I am not! A girl can be emotional without it being that time of the month, yo!"

"Uh, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you're not really a girl, Toad," Kurt said.

"I am today. An' it's Todd."

Lance rolled his eyes. "Man, I can't wait for you to get back in your own body," he muttered.

"Well neither can I, you rock-tumbling jerk!" Toad burst into fresh tears.

"Oh, brother." Logan checked the clock again. The others still wouldn't be back for quite some time. "Thanks a lot, Chuck," he muttered to himself.

"This is too weird." Lance shifted uncomfortably. "C'mon, stop crying, Toad. You're creeping me out."

"I'm sorry I creep you out, okay? I know I'm creepy an' slimy an' I eat flies an' no one likes me, an' . . . an' . . ." His words dissolved into sobs. "I can't help it!"

"Hey, I didn't mean it like that!" Lance looked desperately around the room. "A little help here? Anyone?"

Kurt stood and walked over to their couch. "Yeah, c'mon, we like you, To - Todd. Right?" He looked over his shoulder at Evan.

"Uh, yeah, sure. I guess so."

Toad wiped his eyes. "You're just sayin that. You don't mean it."

"No, I mean it," Kurt insisted. "I'm really sorry about everything I said earlier. I was wrong. It's not so bad being you."

"Really?" Toad sniffled loudly.

"I don't believe it," Lance groaned. "This is ridiculous!"

"My feelings are not ridiculous!"

"That's not what I said! What's wrong with you, anyway?"

"Maybe you should apologize," Kurt suggested.

"What? I'm not gonna apologize! I didn't do anything to him!" Lance exclaimed.

Logan walked around the couch and clamped a hand down on Lance's shoulder. Leaning down, he squeezed his shoulder and growled into his ear, "If it'll get him to stop blubbering, just apologize already, Alvers."

"Oh, fine." Lance turned to Toad and sighed. "Hey, I'm sorry, okay? C'mon, will you please quit crying?"

Toad hiccuped and glared at him with wounded eyes. "You're not sorry. You're just sayin you are cuz Wolverine threatened you."

"No, I'm not. I really mean it." Lance reached out and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry I made you cry, Todd. There. Okay?"

Toad wiped his eyes on the sleeve of Kitty's shirt and smiled shakily. "Okay. Hey, how 'bout a hug, yo?"

"Huh?!"

Toad's lower lip began trembling again. Tears welled in his eyes. "Look, I just really need a hug right now, okay? Is that so bad?"

"Oh, you can't be seri -" Lance's word were cut off as Toad threw his arms around him and squeezed Lance tight.

Shaking his head, Logan walked over to his chair and sat down. He glanced at the clock yet again and pretended not to notice Lance's cries for help as Toad hugged the breath out of him.

It was going to be a long wait.





to be continued . . .