Disclaimer: I don't own. I have a low amount of money since the windshield accident. I wouldn't recommend sueing. Tara and the currently unpresent Nanaki are property of Takamo while Julius and the currently unpresent Natasha belong to another friend, Fallen Angel Hell's Gate(until she changes it again). I own all others that are unrecognizable.
xxDragonxxxChildxx: There will be some Rogue/Remy in it but not romantically. I don't think of them as love relationship evolved in evolution; it's more friends with a common past of being hurt. Remy will talk her through several things and continue to stalk her on occassion but that's about the extent of their relationship-friendship.
Anything but Ordinary3: Tara would never go out with Piotr. He has three characteristics that would freak her out- he's big, he's Russian, and he goes all metally. You got any other options for me? You know how I love your reviews or is it hate? I guess you know the answer. You really like Julius and Angel together? I always knew you were crazy.
The Counselor's Office feat. Jean Grey
"One of your teachers brought it to my attention that you often come to class..." Jean stopped speaking to check the paper she now held. She looked up again. "...heavily bruised or injured. Are you in an abusive relationship, Angel?"
She just blinked and playing with the stapler. "What's an abusive relationship, Fred?" she asked, taking up the first word she could think of that rhymed with the redhead's hair color.
"Does your significant other, the person you currently go out with, ever hit you? Hard or with the intent to hurt?"
Angel nodded. "Yep."
"And you've never reported this, Angel? Did he threaten you?" Jean asked, placing one hand over the younger girl's that rested on the table. She patted it reassuringly despite Angel's blank expression.
"Why would I report it?" she asked, moving Jean's hand away from her own. She wiped her hand on the leg of her jeans and bent one leg up, propping it on the other; she placed the hem of her jeans between the stapler ends and pressed down. "Nanaki knows, though she doesn't approve. Damien knows and tells us not to leave too bad of a mark on each other."
"Us...?"
"I hit him back or sometimes, I hit first." She shrugged, stapling the hem a few more times then dropping it. She peeled off a long strip of scotch tape and began taping the laces of her shoes onto the brown part, pushing on them to keep them in place. "Stay."
Jean looked stricken. "I...uh, I think I'd like to speak with your parents, Angel."
Angel laughed, dropping the stapler then shook her head. "That won't work. I don't know where they are, Jean."
"You don't know where your parents are...?"
"No. I've lived with my aunt and uncle since I was a kid. My parents are memories," she explained but there was an empty void of emotion present within her words. "Can I go now?"
"I'd like you and Julius to come to a meeting this afternoon. There's quite a few of your classmates that will be along for the duration of these meetings." She held out a bright yellow flyer with black writing then smiled.
Angel crumpled the paper into a ball and walked out of the office, slinging her bag over one shoulder and exiting the office with a slam of the door. Several things fell off the small desk and rolled onto the floor.
How am I supposed to deal with this? They're both abusive and seem to not see the problem with it. At least two of their teachers are aware of the behavior but view it as harmless. I think it's time to free up some space in our program this afternoon. Scott!
She waited until he answered to continue. We're getting two new people in our relationship counseling program.
That's fine, Jean. Would you stop talking to me during my test? The professor's already glaring at me like he wants to melt me like Amara does to rocks.
Sorry!
Don't pull that annoyed, Miss Perfect tone with me, Jean Grey.
.......
Relationship Counseling Meeting #1 3:30 p.m.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm sure you're all well aware of why you're here, but if anyone's not then I'll give you an explanation before we start. Our plan is to help each of you sort out the problems in your relationships..."
Scott stared out the window through his girlfriend's speech. He'd heard it the first tweleve times she'd practiced in front of the mirror and him; it had lost interest after the first seven times. He couldn't figure out why she was suddenly concerned with the welfare of other couples but for her sake, he would fake through the entire session.
Jean cleared her throat then looked around the circle of students, obviously, trying to think of where to go next. "Why don't we all tell each other our names?" she asked with the quiet voice of someone talking to a room full of alcoholics or little kids. Her gaze went to Scott and he nodded, attempting to assure her that everything was okay.
"Rogue."
"Remy Lebeau."
"Angel Blade."
"Julius Augustus Kanteon."
"Kitty Pryde."
"Lance Alvers."
"Natasha Creed."
"Rahne."
"Ray."
"Rahne, Ray, you two are not a couple nor are either of you in need of relationship counseling. Please exit through the door there." She motioned with one arm toward the door before settling her gaze upon Natasha. The two exited the door, mumbling something about 'unfair treatment to under classmen'. "Is something wrong with Jax...?"
She shrugged. "He didn't want to come; I didn't make him."
There was something like laughter from Julius before Angel's elbow connected with his ribs, silencing him. Scott glanced over at the two but earned only innocent smiles from them both without noticing that one of her arms was now twisted behind her back and pinned.
He also noticed Remy's arm had gone around Rogue and was resting on the back of her chair. She allowed it a moment then reached behind her, without looking, and twisted his hand back, shoving it off of her chair. There was a quiet snarl of,"Don't touch me, swamp rat."
Jean looked alarmed and quickly intervened. "Why don't we start with how each of you couples met? Rogue, why don't you tell us how you and Remy met?" she asked, trying to draw the other girl out of her shell and earning a skeptical look.
"The X-Men had a mission with tha brotherhood to take down a new group of mutants, including tha swamp rat over there. He decided to play a nice game of hypnotizin' a member of the enemy and handin' them a charged card. He then gave a smirk and left me holdin' a charged card that almost blew off my hand." She frowned, glaring over at him. "Ah haven't gotten rid of 'im since. Does somebody else wan' him?"
"You poor, poor girl," Angel said with a shake of her head. Her expression was genuinely pitying toward Rogue.
"Remy be a prize!"
"Don't kid yahself, swamp rat."
"Lance, how did you and Kitty meet?" Jean asked as an interruption to the bickering among them. It worked like a charm when both shut up.
Scott noticed that Lance just shrugged then mumbled something about,"I hit on the good girl until she decided to give me a try. We've only broken up once since."
"Do you have anything better for us, Kitty?"
"No, Jean. Lance and I, like, don't even, like, need this course. Our relationship's, like, great....except when he tries to, like, hurt me or my teammates."
"What?! I'm part of the brotherhood and you're an X-man! It's my job to hurt you bunch of do-gooders!"
"Whatever, Lance. Our relationship should, like, be more important than that..."
"That's enough!" Scott silenced the two with a single look then glanced over at Julius and Angel. He noticed one of her arms was behind her back along with one of Julius' that was holding onto hers; there was hardly any pain registering on her face. "Julius, let go of her arm," he said then waited for his orders to be followed before continuing. "Now, how did the two of you meet?"
"In sixth grade. I tranferred to a school in the states that year and she was in my homeroom class; I commented that she looked like a girl because of the dress she wore and she broke my nose. She was cold hearted and mean then, too," Julius said, rubbing his nose as though the memory hurt.
"I am not cold hearted!"
"You're not? You didn't cry at the ending to Old Yeller."
"What's that prove? Ah didn't cry either," Rogue jumped in after shoving Remy's arm off of her again. She glared at him.
"Neither did you, Julius Augustus Kanteon!"
"No one here is cold hearted. We'll move onto our last couple and see how they're doing. Natasha. Natasha? Natasha!"
Natasha's head shot up from staring out one widow at a squirrel bouncing around in a tree. She blinked for a moment then smiled, leaning back in her chair. "Did you need something...?"
"How did you and Jax meet?"
She laughed. "His two closest friends were dating my best friends. I got stuck with him and he grew on me. End of story."
Jean clapped her hands, smiling brightly. "Those are lovely stories of how you each met. It's sweet to know you all remember them. What problems do you have in your relationships? I'd like us to get everything out in the open then Scott and I can help you work through your problems."
Scott just stared. If she was any more cliched...
Scott!
Sorry.
Remy stood, glancing once at his so-called love. "The femme has a problem wit' Remy's obvious interest in her. Remy's chere doesn' t'ink he's sincere about caring about her..."
"It's not that. Ah don't lahke ya like that and ya're stalkin' me!"
"Selective walking."
"Stalkin'."
"Selective walking!"
"Stalkin'!"
"Selective wal-"
"That's enough!" Scott glowered at them both, earning a faster reaction from Rogue, who sat down and crossed one leg over the other, glaring in pure hatred at him. Remy reacted slower but sat down, charging and uncharging a card that he'd pulled from somewhere. Scott didn't think he wanted to know where it had come from or look to find out.
Jean cleared her throat then took one of his hands, patting it slightly. "It's okay, honey. Scott and I met when we both became students at Xavier's Institute and also Bayville. We were just friends then we fell in love," she amended, gazing adoringly up at him.
Natasha made gagging noises then coughed. "Hairball."
This earned snorts of laughter from the others who weren't looking at their relationship counselors in total shock or as if they would be sick at any moment. Even Remy looked nauseated by the much too affectionate gesture; he turned away to feign interest in a computer screen.
"How pleasant for you two." Lance stood, shoving his chair back. "I'm out of here. This thing's starting to rot my brain. I'll see you later, Kitty."
"Okay." Kitty stood and gave him a hug, kissing him on the cheek before he walked out. She returned to her chair, blushing as if she'd just remembered the others were in the room with them. "...Sorry..."
"Public displays of affection are good, Kitty, unless they're gone about...inappropriately." Jean's attention settled on Natasha who simply looked back, unblinking but smirking. "It's good for you to allow your significant other to know you care. Why don't each of you try offering your significant other a compliment?"
"At least you showed up to something."
"For once, you're not complaining about my behavior."
"Very good, Angel, Julius." Jean's smiled at the two.
"Ya wouldn't smell half bad if ya'd got rid of that bucket of cologne ya bathe in."
"Wit'out da gothic make-up you'd no longer look like tha undead."
"Not exactly good compliments, but it's a start, Rogue, Remy." Scott nodded at their choice of words.
"Jax isn't here."
"Lance isn't here, either."
Thanks for small miracles. Something's finally going right for me, but how long could it possibly last? he wondered, tapping the fingers of his free hand against the table top. It was a blatant gesture of bordem and very little patience.
Jean barely glanced at him except to shake her head in disapproval then pick up her nearby clipboard. It was made of dark wood and covered in white outlined pink or red hearts and these funny looking squiggly line things. There were sheets of paper of every color, including hot pink stored in the notebook along with a bright orange pen that was covered in large flowers.
"I'd like each of you to try out a date with someone else and let us all know how things turn out. We're going to set a few ground rules first, okay?" She waited until there were mumbles of agreement or nods before continuing with her rules. "The rules are as follows:
1. No ditching your assigned date or hooking up with anyone present in the group.
2. Alcohol is forbidden unless you're of legal age; which none of you are, not even Scott and myself.
3. There is NO SEX."
"Where's the fun in that?!" Julius asked before a handful of brightly colored paper balls hit him in the chest. He looked over to find the other female members of the group, including Angel and Jean glaring at him.
Jean frowned. "No sex. Now for your pairings..."
Sex? These kids aren't even out of high school and their minds are easy to figure out. I think spending some time apart will be good for all those concerned.
"Angel will spend the night with Jax, taking a picnic and a walk in the park. His refusal to show up has earned him this." Dead silence met this announcement except for Julius' fish gaping mouth. "Julius and Kitty will go to the movie theater; a mistake was in pairings made but I suspect you two will enjoy yourselves." The two looked at each other then Kitty shuddered, moving closer to Rogue. "Lance will go on a date with Tabitha to a different movie theater. Rogue, you will have a candle lit dinner with Landon Keller on the roof." Rogue's mouth gaped like a dead fish while Remy just frowned. "Remy's date for the evening will be Wanda and they will go to a resteraunt of her choice."
"Ah, de ot'er creepy chick...." There was the sound of a smack. "Don' hit me, chere."
"Don't make fun of her. Ah happen to lahke Wanda."
"Anot'er walkin' corpse."
Jean continued over their arguement. "Natasha, you will have a date with Todd Tolensky to the resteraunt of your choice," she said, ignoring the other girl's shriek of outrage and the beginning to sprout claws. "In order to keep ourselves on level with you, Scott and I will also be going on dates. I will be going on a date with the woodshop teacher, Damien and Scott will be having a date with Jubilee....we ran out of date options," she added when the others looked at her, strangely.
Dead silence reigned for a moment before they all began to talk at once, announcing their annoyance or disagreement over their date options.
Scott whistled to get their attention.
Jean spoke once they were all listening. "Our meeting for the day is dismissed. You are all free to go. I'd prefer if you would all go home and start planning for your dates. They will be tonight."
"What?!"
BAYVILLE HIGH GYM 5:00 p.m.
Nanaki Creed was not in the mood to be bothered. She had come into the gym to work on her fighting and think about how to approach Damien about his bribery to students. It hadn't gone the way she'd planned especially when she recieved unexpected company.
"Do you always attack everything so viciously, Creed?" Logan asked, coming in and leaning against one wall to watch her.
"Not everything, just the things that bother me. Do you need something?" she demanded, stopping with her fist just short of hitting the bag in front of her. She turned to face him and removed her fingerless glove from one hand, wiping the palm on her jeans.
He shrugged. "Does rudeness run in your family?"
"Yes, Logan. Every Creed ever born is rude and vicious. You've figured out my life story." Nanaki brought her hands together in front of her and clapped. She pulled her other glove off and wiped her hand, glaring at him. "Now leave me alone."
"You dream too much, Creed. I'm supposed to keep an eye on these new students but I'm also keep an eye on you. What relationship are you to Sabretooth or Victor Creed? And don't deny that you have a relationship to him."
Who said I'd deny it?
Humor him, Nanaki. I'm sure that you two will talk everything out and he'll come to understand things. Professor Xavier's voice filled her head, but she didn't respond.
"Fine. He's my uncle; his brother was my father but my parents weren't there when I was a kid. The other Creed kid, Natasha, is my cousin. He's her father. I disowned him about nine years back; the facts to it aren't important, so don't ask," she finished, beginning to put her gloves back on and redoing the snap.
Logan smirked and walked over to stand in front of her. "Disowned him? I don't think it's that easy, Creed."
"You'd be suprised..."
"How did you disown him nine years back? You would have been what...eight, maybe nine?" He caught her wrist before she could hit the punching bag again and held it, roughly and without any sign of letting go.
Nanaki pulled away with no result except his grip tightening. "How old do you think I am?" she asked, smirking at her silent victory. He was about to get quite a shock.
"Seventeen, maybe eighteen. I doubt you're any older..."
"I'm twenty-seven, Logan. Let go of my wrist," she commanded with a sharp yank and a glare up at his face. She was already beginning to dislike the furry gym teacher with his aggressive personality and pentition for snapping at her students. "I don't like people touching me."
"You don't look older then seventeen. Why?" Logan's grip gentled a little but he didn't release her.
A slow smile spread across her face and her eyes turned red. "I'll show you," she said before releasing her metal blades and jamming them into his arm that held her wrist. She gave a hard jerk, tearing the skin seconds before he broke the contact by slamming her against the wall and pinning her there. "You asked, dear boy."
"If I wasn't already aware that you had a problem, I'd kill, or at least, hurt you very badly, Creed. Stop fighting me before I do hurt you."
"Or we hurt you, right?" Her smile dropped as she waited for him to do anything; her blades had gone into her hands, but she made no move to force him away from her.
"Creed, stop playing games!"
"It's not a game and Nanaki can't come out right now." 'Nanaki's' breathe didn't change neither did she shrink away when three of his blades against her neck. She smiled a moment longer then it dropped at the same moment when her eyes went back to green; she actually looked a little freaked, a little, at their contact. "Logan..."
"Mr. Logan, is something wrong?" Kitty's voice broke their shared confrontation and he pulled back, pushing his blades in and turning away.
"It's nothing, half-pint. Creed and I were just talking."
"I needed to talk to you," she said, frowning at her favorite teacher and often times protector. She looked down at her shoes as a blush spread across her face. "It's not that important if you're busy..."
"Creed and I are through. What do you need to talk about?" Logan asked without an apology of any sort for his previous actions before walking over to the teenager. His arm had already healed itself by the time he reached her.
"Why me?" Nanaki groaned, slumping back against the wall. She wasn't used to anyone bothering her especially since no one at Ripley trusted her except their headmaster, Damien, and the kids she'd known for years, especially Angel and Tara. The two could be a burden but were usually all that kept her sane and Celesta at bay. "Didn't I suffer enough in the orphanage and with Uncle Vic? I've suffered enough! Why can't I just be left alone with myself?"
You're not alone, Nanaki. You have me.
I don't want to talk, not to you.
And this is hurting me in what way?
"I just want them to leave me alone. Celesta, Uncle Vic, the brotherhood, Logan, and anyone else who wants to heal me. Why can't I just be left alone?" Nanaki slammed her fist into the white brick wall behind her, barely registering the pain beyond a muttered sentence fragment that was incoherent. "I hate him."
xxDragonxxxChildxx: There will be some Rogue/Remy in it but not romantically. I don't think of them as love relationship evolved in evolution; it's more friends with a common past of being hurt. Remy will talk her through several things and continue to stalk her on occassion but that's about the extent of their relationship-friendship.
Anything but Ordinary3: Tara would never go out with Piotr. He has three characteristics that would freak her out- he's big, he's Russian, and he goes all metally. You got any other options for me? You know how I love your reviews or is it hate? I guess you know the answer. You really like Julius and Angel together? I always knew you were crazy.
The Counselor's Office feat. Jean Grey
"One of your teachers brought it to my attention that you often come to class..." Jean stopped speaking to check the paper she now held. She looked up again. "...heavily bruised or injured. Are you in an abusive relationship, Angel?"
She just blinked and playing with the stapler. "What's an abusive relationship, Fred?" she asked, taking up the first word she could think of that rhymed with the redhead's hair color.
"Does your significant other, the person you currently go out with, ever hit you? Hard or with the intent to hurt?"
Angel nodded. "Yep."
"And you've never reported this, Angel? Did he threaten you?" Jean asked, placing one hand over the younger girl's that rested on the table. She patted it reassuringly despite Angel's blank expression.
"Why would I report it?" she asked, moving Jean's hand away from her own. She wiped her hand on the leg of her jeans and bent one leg up, propping it on the other; she placed the hem of her jeans between the stapler ends and pressed down. "Nanaki knows, though she doesn't approve. Damien knows and tells us not to leave too bad of a mark on each other."
"Us...?"
"I hit him back or sometimes, I hit first." She shrugged, stapling the hem a few more times then dropping it. She peeled off a long strip of scotch tape and began taping the laces of her shoes onto the brown part, pushing on them to keep them in place. "Stay."
Jean looked stricken. "I...uh, I think I'd like to speak with your parents, Angel."
Angel laughed, dropping the stapler then shook her head. "That won't work. I don't know where they are, Jean."
"You don't know where your parents are...?"
"No. I've lived with my aunt and uncle since I was a kid. My parents are memories," she explained but there was an empty void of emotion present within her words. "Can I go now?"
"I'd like you and Julius to come to a meeting this afternoon. There's quite a few of your classmates that will be along for the duration of these meetings." She held out a bright yellow flyer with black writing then smiled.
Angel crumpled the paper into a ball and walked out of the office, slinging her bag over one shoulder and exiting the office with a slam of the door. Several things fell off the small desk and rolled onto the floor.
How am I supposed to deal with this? They're both abusive and seem to not see the problem with it. At least two of their teachers are aware of the behavior but view it as harmless. I think it's time to free up some space in our program this afternoon. Scott!
She waited until he answered to continue. We're getting two new people in our relationship counseling program.
That's fine, Jean. Would you stop talking to me during my test? The professor's already glaring at me like he wants to melt me like Amara does to rocks.
Sorry!
Don't pull that annoyed, Miss Perfect tone with me, Jean Grey.
.......
Relationship Counseling Meeting #1 3:30 p.m.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm sure you're all well aware of why you're here, but if anyone's not then I'll give you an explanation before we start. Our plan is to help each of you sort out the problems in your relationships..."
Scott stared out the window through his girlfriend's speech. He'd heard it the first tweleve times she'd practiced in front of the mirror and him; it had lost interest after the first seven times. He couldn't figure out why she was suddenly concerned with the welfare of other couples but for her sake, he would fake through the entire session.
Jean cleared her throat then looked around the circle of students, obviously, trying to think of where to go next. "Why don't we all tell each other our names?" she asked with the quiet voice of someone talking to a room full of alcoholics or little kids. Her gaze went to Scott and he nodded, attempting to assure her that everything was okay.
"Rogue."
"Remy Lebeau."
"Angel Blade."
"Julius Augustus Kanteon."
"Kitty Pryde."
"Lance Alvers."
"Natasha Creed."
"Rahne."
"Ray."
"Rahne, Ray, you two are not a couple nor are either of you in need of relationship counseling. Please exit through the door there." She motioned with one arm toward the door before settling her gaze upon Natasha. The two exited the door, mumbling something about 'unfair treatment to under classmen'. "Is something wrong with Jax...?"
She shrugged. "He didn't want to come; I didn't make him."
There was something like laughter from Julius before Angel's elbow connected with his ribs, silencing him. Scott glanced over at the two but earned only innocent smiles from them both without noticing that one of her arms was now twisted behind her back and pinned.
He also noticed Remy's arm had gone around Rogue and was resting on the back of her chair. She allowed it a moment then reached behind her, without looking, and twisted his hand back, shoving it off of her chair. There was a quiet snarl of,"Don't touch me, swamp rat."
Jean looked alarmed and quickly intervened. "Why don't we start with how each of you couples met? Rogue, why don't you tell us how you and Remy met?" she asked, trying to draw the other girl out of her shell and earning a skeptical look.
"The X-Men had a mission with tha brotherhood to take down a new group of mutants, including tha swamp rat over there. He decided to play a nice game of hypnotizin' a member of the enemy and handin' them a charged card. He then gave a smirk and left me holdin' a charged card that almost blew off my hand." She frowned, glaring over at him. "Ah haven't gotten rid of 'im since. Does somebody else wan' him?"
"You poor, poor girl," Angel said with a shake of her head. Her expression was genuinely pitying toward Rogue.
"Remy be a prize!"
"Don't kid yahself, swamp rat."
"Lance, how did you and Kitty meet?" Jean asked as an interruption to the bickering among them. It worked like a charm when both shut up.
Scott noticed that Lance just shrugged then mumbled something about,"I hit on the good girl until she decided to give me a try. We've only broken up once since."
"Do you have anything better for us, Kitty?"
"No, Jean. Lance and I, like, don't even, like, need this course. Our relationship's, like, great....except when he tries to, like, hurt me or my teammates."
"What?! I'm part of the brotherhood and you're an X-man! It's my job to hurt you bunch of do-gooders!"
"Whatever, Lance. Our relationship should, like, be more important than that..."
"That's enough!" Scott silenced the two with a single look then glanced over at Julius and Angel. He noticed one of her arms was behind her back along with one of Julius' that was holding onto hers; there was hardly any pain registering on her face. "Julius, let go of her arm," he said then waited for his orders to be followed before continuing. "Now, how did the two of you meet?"
"In sixth grade. I tranferred to a school in the states that year and she was in my homeroom class; I commented that she looked like a girl because of the dress she wore and she broke my nose. She was cold hearted and mean then, too," Julius said, rubbing his nose as though the memory hurt.
"I am not cold hearted!"
"You're not? You didn't cry at the ending to Old Yeller."
"What's that prove? Ah didn't cry either," Rogue jumped in after shoving Remy's arm off of her again. She glared at him.
"Neither did you, Julius Augustus Kanteon!"
"No one here is cold hearted. We'll move onto our last couple and see how they're doing. Natasha. Natasha? Natasha!"
Natasha's head shot up from staring out one widow at a squirrel bouncing around in a tree. She blinked for a moment then smiled, leaning back in her chair. "Did you need something...?"
"How did you and Jax meet?"
She laughed. "His two closest friends were dating my best friends. I got stuck with him and he grew on me. End of story."
Jean clapped her hands, smiling brightly. "Those are lovely stories of how you each met. It's sweet to know you all remember them. What problems do you have in your relationships? I'd like us to get everything out in the open then Scott and I can help you work through your problems."
Scott just stared. If she was any more cliched...
Scott!
Sorry.
Remy stood, glancing once at his so-called love. "The femme has a problem wit' Remy's obvious interest in her. Remy's chere doesn' t'ink he's sincere about caring about her..."
"It's not that. Ah don't lahke ya like that and ya're stalkin' me!"
"Selective walking."
"Stalkin'."
"Selective walking!"
"Stalkin'!"
"Selective wal-"
"That's enough!" Scott glowered at them both, earning a faster reaction from Rogue, who sat down and crossed one leg over the other, glaring in pure hatred at him. Remy reacted slower but sat down, charging and uncharging a card that he'd pulled from somewhere. Scott didn't think he wanted to know where it had come from or look to find out.
Jean cleared her throat then took one of his hands, patting it slightly. "It's okay, honey. Scott and I met when we both became students at Xavier's Institute and also Bayville. We were just friends then we fell in love," she amended, gazing adoringly up at him.
Natasha made gagging noises then coughed. "Hairball."
This earned snorts of laughter from the others who weren't looking at their relationship counselors in total shock or as if they would be sick at any moment. Even Remy looked nauseated by the much too affectionate gesture; he turned away to feign interest in a computer screen.
"How pleasant for you two." Lance stood, shoving his chair back. "I'm out of here. This thing's starting to rot my brain. I'll see you later, Kitty."
"Okay." Kitty stood and gave him a hug, kissing him on the cheek before he walked out. She returned to her chair, blushing as if she'd just remembered the others were in the room with them. "...Sorry..."
"Public displays of affection are good, Kitty, unless they're gone about...inappropriately." Jean's attention settled on Natasha who simply looked back, unblinking but smirking. "It's good for you to allow your significant other to know you care. Why don't each of you try offering your significant other a compliment?"
"At least you showed up to something."
"For once, you're not complaining about my behavior."
"Very good, Angel, Julius." Jean's smiled at the two.
"Ya wouldn't smell half bad if ya'd got rid of that bucket of cologne ya bathe in."
"Wit'out da gothic make-up you'd no longer look like tha undead."
"Not exactly good compliments, but it's a start, Rogue, Remy." Scott nodded at their choice of words.
"Jax isn't here."
"Lance isn't here, either."
Thanks for small miracles. Something's finally going right for me, but how long could it possibly last? he wondered, tapping the fingers of his free hand against the table top. It was a blatant gesture of bordem and very little patience.
Jean barely glanced at him except to shake her head in disapproval then pick up her nearby clipboard. It was made of dark wood and covered in white outlined pink or red hearts and these funny looking squiggly line things. There were sheets of paper of every color, including hot pink stored in the notebook along with a bright orange pen that was covered in large flowers.
"I'd like each of you to try out a date with someone else and let us all know how things turn out. We're going to set a few ground rules first, okay?" She waited until there were mumbles of agreement or nods before continuing with her rules. "The rules are as follows:
1. No ditching your assigned date or hooking up with anyone present in the group.
2. Alcohol is forbidden unless you're of legal age; which none of you are, not even Scott and myself.
3. There is NO SEX."
"Where's the fun in that?!" Julius asked before a handful of brightly colored paper balls hit him in the chest. He looked over to find the other female members of the group, including Angel and Jean glaring at him.
Jean frowned. "No sex. Now for your pairings..."
Sex? These kids aren't even out of high school and their minds are easy to figure out. I think spending some time apart will be good for all those concerned.
"Angel will spend the night with Jax, taking a picnic and a walk in the park. His refusal to show up has earned him this." Dead silence met this announcement except for Julius' fish gaping mouth. "Julius and Kitty will go to the movie theater; a mistake was in pairings made but I suspect you two will enjoy yourselves." The two looked at each other then Kitty shuddered, moving closer to Rogue. "Lance will go on a date with Tabitha to a different movie theater. Rogue, you will have a candle lit dinner with Landon Keller on the roof." Rogue's mouth gaped like a dead fish while Remy just frowned. "Remy's date for the evening will be Wanda and they will go to a resteraunt of her choice."
"Ah, de ot'er creepy chick...." There was the sound of a smack. "Don' hit me, chere."
"Don't make fun of her. Ah happen to lahke Wanda."
"Anot'er walkin' corpse."
Jean continued over their arguement. "Natasha, you will have a date with Todd Tolensky to the resteraunt of your choice," she said, ignoring the other girl's shriek of outrage and the beginning to sprout claws. "In order to keep ourselves on level with you, Scott and I will also be going on dates. I will be going on a date with the woodshop teacher, Damien and Scott will be having a date with Jubilee....we ran out of date options," she added when the others looked at her, strangely.
Dead silence reigned for a moment before they all began to talk at once, announcing their annoyance or disagreement over their date options.
Scott whistled to get their attention.
Jean spoke once they were all listening. "Our meeting for the day is dismissed. You are all free to go. I'd prefer if you would all go home and start planning for your dates. They will be tonight."
"What?!"
BAYVILLE HIGH GYM 5:00 p.m.
Nanaki Creed was not in the mood to be bothered. She had come into the gym to work on her fighting and think about how to approach Damien about his bribery to students. It hadn't gone the way she'd planned especially when she recieved unexpected company.
"Do you always attack everything so viciously, Creed?" Logan asked, coming in and leaning against one wall to watch her.
"Not everything, just the things that bother me. Do you need something?" she demanded, stopping with her fist just short of hitting the bag in front of her. She turned to face him and removed her fingerless glove from one hand, wiping the palm on her jeans.
He shrugged. "Does rudeness run in your family?"
"Yes, Logan. Every Creed ever born is rude and vicious. You've figured out my life story." Nanaki brought her hands together in front of her and clapped. She pulled her other glove off and wiped her hand, glaring at him. "Now leave me alone."
"You dream too much, Creed. I'm supposed to keep an eye on these new students but I'm also keep an eye on you. What relationship are you to Sabretooth or Victor Creed? And don't deny that you have a relationship to him."
Who said I'd deny it?
Humor him, Nanaki. I'm sure that you two will talk everything out and he'll come to understand things. Professor Xavier's voice filled her head, but she didn't respond.
"Fine. He's my uncle; his brother was my father but my parents weren't there when I was a kid. The other Creed kid, Natasha, is my cousin. He's her father. I disowned him about nine years back; the facts to it aren't important, so don't ask," she finished, beginning to put her gloves back on and redoing the snap.
Logan smirked and walked over to stand in front of her. "Disowned him? I don't think it's that easy, Creed."
"You'd be suprised..."
"How did you disown him nine years back? You would have been what...eight, maybe nine?" He caught her wrist before she could hit the punching bag again and held it, roughly and without any sign of letting go.
Nanaki pulled away with no result except his grip tightening. "How old do you think I am?" she asked, smirking at her silent victory. He was about to get quite a shock.
"Seventeen, maybe eighteen. I doubt you're any older..."
"I'm twenty-seven, Logan. Let go of my wrist," she commanded with a sharp yank and a glare up at his face. She was already beginning to dislike the furry gym teacher with his aggressive personality and pentition for snapping at her students. "I don't like people touching me."
"You don't look older then seventeen. Why?" Logan's grip gentled a little but he didn't release her.
A slow smile spread across her face and her eyes turned red. "I'll show you," she said before releasing her metal blades and jamming them into his arm that held her wrist. She gave a hard jerk, tearing the skin seconds before he broke the contact by slamming her against the wall and pinning her there. "You asked, dear boy."
"If I wasn't already aware that you had a problem, I'd kill, or at least, hurt you very badly, Creed. Stop fighting me before I do hurt you."
"Or we hurt you, right?" Her smile dropped as she waited for him to do anything; her blades had gone into her hands, but she made no move to force him away from her.
"Creed, stop playing games!"
"It's not a game and Nanaki can't come out right now." 'Nanaki's' breathe didn't change neither did she shrink away when three of his blades against her neck. She smiled a moment longer then it dropped at the same moment when her eyes went back to green; she actually looked a little freaked, a little, at their contact. "Logan..."
"Mr. Logan, is something wrong?" Kitty's voice broke their shared confrontation and he pulled back, pushing his blades in and turning away.
"It's nothing, half-pint. Creed and I were just talking."
"I needed to talk to you," she said, frowning at her favorite teacher and often times protector. She looked down at her shoes as a blush spread across her face. "It's not that important if you're busy..."
"Creed and I are through. What do you need to talk about?" Logan asked without an apology of any sort for his previous actions before walking over to the teenager. His arm had already healed itself by the time he reached her.
"Why me?" Nanaki groaned, slumping back against the wall. She wasn't used to anyone bothering her especially since no one at Ripley trusted her except their headmaster, Damien, and the kids she'd known for years, especially Angel and Tara. The two could be a burden but were usually all that kept her sane and Celesta at bay. "Didn't I suffer enough in the orphanage and with Uncle Vic? I've suffered enough! Why can't I just be left alone with myself?"
You're not alone, Nanaki. You have me.
I don't want to talk, not to you.
And this is hurting me in what way?
"I just want them to leave me alone. Celesta, Uncle Vic, the brotherhood, Logan, and anyone else who wants to heal me. Why can't I just be left alone?" Nanaki slammed her fist into the white brick wall behind her, barely registering the pain beyond a muttered sentence fragment that was incoherent. "I hate him."