Deacon: Thank you for the compliment. Yeah, I realize that he came off a little gary stu-ish in the beginning. Expect more fights in which Kyle gets his butt whooped.
AN: Who here can guess what's up with Kyle and the itching feelings in his head? And no, it's not telepathy.
Chapter 24: Revising the Plan... This Could Get Complicated
It was the day after their night on the town, and the X-Men had been gathered together in the Rec Room. Professor Xavier rolled into the room, and began to speak.
"X-Men, I would like you to greet your new teammate." With that pronouncement, Lance walked through the door in an X-Men uniform. His particular variation bore sleeves that stopped about three-quarters of the way down the forearms, and had a pair of heavy-looking boots. His hands were encased in a pair of gloves, and a pair of belts across his waist formed a squat X at the buckle."
The reactions from the X-Men were varied; Kitty's immediate reaction was to give her boyfriend a hybrid tackle/hug, and squeeze hard. Scott and Jean began to protest, while Evan, Kurt and Rogue gave less... agressive signs of approval.
Lance managed to untangle himself from his girlfriend, and walked over to Scott.
"Look, last time I tried this, thing happened. I'm willing to put the past behind us, and try again... are you?" He offered Scott his hand.
There was a tense moment, in which all the X-Men wondered whether Scott would take the hand or not. Finally, Scott put his own hand in Lances. "Sure."
A quiet "YES!" rang out from the doorway, and, when the X-Men turned, they saw that Jubilee, Rahne, and Amara were peering around the doorframe.
An hour latter, Kitty and Lance were sitting on a couch in the rec room. Actually, Lance leaning against the arm of the couch, and Kitty was lying against his chest.
"So," Began Kitty, "do you think we should try to talk to them today?"
Lance looked down at his girlfriend, and the sight of her shook the thought of what they were talking about from his mind as surely as he could shake the earth. Lance quickly rallied himself, knowing what a mistake it was to sound like he wasn't paying attention.
"The sooner we get them together, the sooner they'll stop flirting every ten minutes. I swear they're worse than Mr. Military and Queen Jean were."
Kitty giggled as she leaned against her boyfriend, "Okay then, I'll go talk to Amara. I think she's in her room."
"Any clue where Kyle is?"
"Try the library. That kid reads almost as much as Jean."
With that, the two matchmakers... er... the matchmaker and her boyfriend, went off to 'gather intelligence' to revise their strategies.
Kitty walked into Amara and Tabby's room to find that both girls were sitting on their beds, apparently gossiping.
Great, Tabby's here, that'll make things difficult, unless...
"Tabby, can I talk to you for a second?"
The blond bomber twisted her upper torso to look at Kitty.
"Alone."
Tabby tilted her head to the side, then nodded, told Amara she'd be right back, and then left the room.
"What's up Kit? I
was trying to milk 'Mar for info... money."
Kitty looked at Tabby, having caught her slip of the tongue.
"Are you trying to hook her up with Kyle?"
Tabby's face took on a look of innocence.
"Would I do that?"
"Yes."
"Okay, but it isn't just me, the entire team is in on it."
Kitty grinned, "Me and Lance are trying too."
Tabby smirked, "I thought that you wouldn't be able to
resist."
Kitty smiled, "Nope... Shall we, oh, say, join forces?"
Tabby's smile turned to an evil grin, "Why not?"
The two mutant matchmakers turned around, and walked into the room.
When Lance reached the library, he found Bobby leaving the room.
"What's up snow cone?"
Bobby looked at Lance for a second. "We're trying to get Kyle and 'Mar together, but that guy is harder to interrogate than he looks."
Lance grinned, "Watch the master."
He walked past Bobby, and sat down in the chair across from Kyle.
"Hey, Kyle, now that we're officially on the same side, I've got a question for you."
The blind mutant looked in Lance's direction, and, placing a bookmark in his page, closed the book.
"Yes?"
"What's up between you and that flame girl? You two flirt constantly. Heck, you make Mr. Stick-up-my-but and Ms. Perfect look tame."
"Nothing is 'up' between me and Amara."
"Oh really... I think that you have the hot's for her."
Kyle shook his head, catching the pun. "And if I do? She is a princess Lance. I am a blind mutant who is most noteworthy ability is being able to take out five full-grown humans in ten seconds."
Lance shook his head, "What if she wasn't a princess."
Kyle's face shifted slightly, "Then I would probably have
asked her out long ago... As it stands, she is a princess, I am a pauper, and
there is nothing that will change that."
Kyle then picked up his book, and started to read again.
Lance smirked. That's all I needed to know.
As Lance left the room, an itching feeling in the back of Kyle's mind told him that Lance was quite satisfied with himself.
As Amara watched Tabby and Kitty enter the room, she had the distinct feeling that something was up.
Tabby settled herself on her bed, and Kitty settled in a desk chair.
"Sooooo..." Tabby said, "What were we talking about... Oh yeah, Kyle. That guy's muscles... Whew! Spicy!" Tabby began to fan herself
Amara looked at her blond friend, she distinctly remembered them talking about what they had been doing last night.
"What do think, Kitty?"
Kitty turned to look at Tabby, "I'm sorta biased, but he's not really my type. I prefer the rugged ones."
"Like Lance."
"Yep. Hey, 'Mar, what do you think?"
She looked back and forth between the valley-girl computer whiz and the blond kleptomaniac for several seconds. Finally, she registered the question.
"OH! I think... I think...."
"Yeah... you think... what?" Prodded Tabby.
"I don't know what I think. I mean, every time I see him, every time I think of him, I remember the party the Professor threw."
Kitty's eyes widened slightly, and she looked over at Tabby, her face asking a question. What happened at the party? Tabby threw Kitty a slight shrug.
"What happened?" Asked Kitty, her tone gentle.
"Well, remember that last song?"
Kitty nodded, "Yeah, go on."
"Well, at the end, we sorta, kinda..."
"Kinda what?" asked Tabby.
"Kinda... kissed."
Kitty squealed; she couldn't help it. She thought that something had happened that would make this difficult.
"And every time I even think of him, I remember that kiss, and the feel of his hands, so gentle, and his body." Amara's eyes went out of focus, obviously going back to relive the moment again.
Snapping herself out of it, she sighed. "The problem is, I'm a princess... my father would never accept a normal person to marry me... forget a blind man. Plus, I can't tell if he likes me or not... I mean, there's that kiss, but then, he seems so... distant some times. I just don't know."
Kitty smiled, she had the info she needed, now to make her exit. Looking at her watch, she gasped.
"Is that the time? I've got to go! I needed to talk to Dr. McCoy!" Winking conspiratorially at Tabby, she left the room, walking through the door on her way out.
She did have to go, actually, but to meet Lance, not Dr. McCoy. The two rendezvoused in kitchen.
"Well?" Kitty asked.
"Well, his problem is, and I quote, 'she is a princess, I am a pauper.'"
Kitty giggled, she loved listening to Lance imitate people.
"How about you Kitty-Kat?"
"Well, she has that problem, plus her dad won't ever accept him... That, and she's not sure if he likes her." Kitty shook her head, "This is going to be harder than I thought... Luckily, we've got help."
Lance put a finger under Kitty's chin. "Who?"
"The New Mutants are trying to get them together as well."
He grinned, "That's good, they see them more than us... more opportunities."
Kitty's face lit up... "I've got an idea."
