Chapter Three
The last week had gone by fairly smoothly, Remy had to admit. School was easy, the kid's were mostly avoiding him by now although he had caught the one boy, Roberto he thought his name was, watching him more than once. He had not seen much of Jean-Luc, which was always a plus. It was hard finding a job but his mother told him not to worry about it, he was too young, he should be worrying about school.
He walked into the house announcing his arrival as he usually did, not surprised when he didn't get an answer. His mother often stayed late at work and he couldn't blame her. Walking into the living room, he was surprised to see Jean-Luc sprawled over the couch, looking like he had just woken up.
"Good t' see y' finally decided t' grace us wit' y' presence," Remy sneered at the man. Jean-Luc hauled himself to his feet and glared at Remy.
"Y' shouldn't be talking back t' y' father like that, boy," Jean-Luc replied angrily. Remy snorted but didn't want to provoke Jean-Luc further so he turned to the kitchen. "What are y' making for supper, boy?"
"Not makin' anyt'ing. I got other stuff t' do tonight." Remy headed for the stairs, hoping to spend the rest of the evening in his room.
"Where's your mother?"
"Dunno. Working," Remy replied shortly without turning to look at Jean-Luc. He felt a harsh hand snatch him by the shoulder and wrench him around. He had a moment to look into Jean-Luc's insane eyes before Jean-Luc backhanded him across the mouth so that he fell back against the wall behind him. He glared back at Jean-Luc, fingering his now split lip before trying to move away.
"Y' look at me when I'm talkin' t' y'!" Jean-Luc nearly shouted. "Y' should learn t' respect your father!" He had Remy by the shirt collar now, screaming into his face.
"Fuck y'!" Remy wanted nothing more than to hit Jean-Luc back, to give Jean-Luc a taste of his own medicine so to speak. But the last time he had struck out at Jean-Luc, the man had beaten his mother instead. He couldn't take the chance that it would happen again.
He was forced back against the wall again when Jean-Luc struck out at him with a clenched fist, hitting him in the eye and darkening the bruise that was already there. Remy cursed at the pain and slid down the wall.
"I'll be a back in a couple of hours an' I will expect something t' eat," Jean-Luc demanded. When Remy didn't answer he kicked him in the side.
"Oui…" Remy managed to gasp out, grasping at his side. Jean-Luc turned and left, leaving Remy curled on his side in the hall.
Remy waited for the pain to subside before pushing himself to his feet and half staggering into the kitchen. He grabbed a towel, dampening it with cool water and pressing it to his split lip. He went back into the hallway and gazed into the mirror there. He gingerly fingered around his eye, sucking in breath at the sting. It was already beginning to bruise and by tomorrow it would be dark and spread over his cheekbone as well. He sighed angrily, wondering once again why he even bothered staying. His mother would never leave, maybe he should just go. He couldn't leave her though, couldn't let her deal with this alone. He shuffled back to the kitchen to start dinner when he heard a knocking on the door. He ignored it. Whoever it was would go away soon enough. He gathered the things he would need and five minutes later the knock sounded again. He gritted his teeth, who would be coming here anyway? The knocking came again, more of a pounding this time however. Remy tossed down the knife he had been holding and stomped over to the door, flinging it open.
"What de hell do y' want?!" he shouted at the surprised boy on his doorstep. He blinked as he registered who the boy was.
"To talk," Roberto said. He was actually starting to enjoy himself a little as he was obviously starting to piss Remy off. His amusement faded to shock when he noticed the red on black eyes, glowing lightly in anger. He gasped out loud when he saw the dark, angry looking bruise over Remy's right eye. That hadn't been there the last time he had seen Remy earlier at school and he would have been able to notice even with the glasses. What had happened?
Remy mistook the intake of breath as fright and he realized that he had forgotten his glasses. "Merde!" He snapped his eyes shut and slammed the door. How could he have been so stupid as to forget his glasses? He leaned back against the door and squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring the pain the action caused. He was surprised when he heard a soft tapping on the door.
"Remy?"
What did Roberto want? Probably to tell him what a freak he was or to add to the bruises that he had already acquired that night. He tried to ignore the persistent knocking.
"Remy, please open the door? I just want to talk," Roberto tried to reason. He let out a relieved breath when the door cracked open an inch. Remy looked him over suspiciously. "Can I come in?" Another suspicious look and Remy opened the door fully to allow Roberto entrance as he walked back towards the kitchen. Roberto followed him, taking in the house.
"How did y' find me?" Remy had thought he had made it pretty clear to Roberto that he didn't want him around. Once back in the kitchen, Remy continued to prepare dinner.
"I followed you," Roberto replied smugly. Remy looked at him in shock.
"What are y' my stalker now?" Remy didn't understand why Roberto had not yet shown any fear or tried to hurt him.
"No, but we really do need to talk."
"Why?" Remy was becoming frustrated. Why did Roberto think that they had anything to talk about? Why wasn't he running? He hadn't even said anything about Remy's eyes. He turned to Roberto with a perplexed look
"What happened to your eye?" Roberto blurted out. He knew it wasn't his business but something was telling him that this was wrong. He had seen a man leave the house before he had come up to the door and could tell that he was furious just by looking at him.
"A fight." Remy's eyes turned stubborn and Roberto knew that he would not be able to get anymore out of Remy on that subject. If he tried Remy would kick him out and he still had to get to the point of his visit. "What did you want to talk about?" Remy was getting impatient.
Roberto decided he would just come out and say it. He was no good at friends so he would just tell Remy about the Xavier Institute. The red eyes had been a surprise but they didn't bother him and, now that he knew for sure that Remy was a mutant, he may as well tell him what was going on.
"The fact that we're both mutants." Tact was not a word in Roberto's vocabulary. Remy blinked once, and then twice, opened his mouth as if to say something then promptly shut it again. He shook his head as if to clear it.
"What?" he finally settled on.
Roberto had to stifle a laugh at Remy's clueless look. "You're a mutant, right?"
"Oui…"
"Well so I am. Do you follow so far?" All he received for an answer was a glare. "I go to a school for mutants; there are lots of us living there. One of the teachers is a telepath; he found you and asked me to ask you if you would join us."
"So y' want me t' move into dis school-"
"It's more like a mansion but yeah."
"Okay, mansion for mutants. Why?"
"It's a place where you would be accepted and learn how to control your powers."
Remy's interest sparked. How he would love to control his powers and right then he wanted nothing more than to take Roberto up on his offer. But… he couldn't leave his mother and knew that she would not come with him. He couldn't go with Roberto and shook his head sadly.
"I can't."
Roberto could see in Remy's eyes that he wanted to come. Remy had said that he couldn't come, not I don't want to; I can't. "Why can't you come?"
"Jus' can'." He could see the suspicion in Roberto's eyes and knew that Roberto was getting to close to the truth. "Y' should go, I gotta get dinner ready." He began ushering Roberto towards the door, ignoring the protests. When they got to the door Roberto turned to face Remy.
"You don't have to make a decision right away. Think about it for a bit. " Roberto was beginning to think there was more to Remy than he knew, something didn't feel right about this and he didn't want to leave Remy here alone for some reason. He still hadn't figured out the new bruises on
Remy's face.
Remy looked down at Roberto's now almost pleading face and sighed inwardly."I'll t'ink about it, mais don' expect me t' change my answer."
Roberto couldn't ask for anything more and reluctantly walked away from the old house, heading towards mansion. He needed to talk with the Professor about this.
#
As soon as Roberto had left, Remy headed back to the kitchen to finish with the chicken he had started. He tried to ignore the tears that were clinging to his eyelashes. There was no point in crying over something that could not be helped.
But, to be able to control his powers… He wouldn't have to live with the fear that he might inadvertently hurt someone or himself. Beyond that, he craved to be accepted, to not have to live his life in fear of being discovered. Roberto was offering him that chance and he wanted so badly to take it.
Damn his father for ruining yet another opportunity in his life! Damn his mother for allowing it! Maybe he should leave. If she so foolishly refused to go with him then that was her problem. Let her deal with Jean-Luc!
He did not notice when his anger started to take on the familiar crimson signature of his kinetic charge snaking out around the knife that he held. It wasn't until the knife was glowing bright crimson that Remy took notice and, with a muffled curse, turned and threw it out the open window and into the back yard, the following explosion creating a crater in the ground.
He stared at the smoking crater in shock and despair. The tears finally slipped silently down his face. He didn't even jump when comforting hands touched his shoulders, just turned gratefully into his mother's arms and let her hold him.
#
Once again Roberto found himself outside the door to the Professor's office, raising his hand to knock against the wood.
"Come in, Roberto," the Professor called before he had the chance. Roberto did so, taking a seat in his usual chair.
"I talked with Remy and he's a mutant but he said that he couldn't come here," Roberto quickly said.
"We cannot force people to come here. If he is happier at home then we cannot do anything. It is his choice," the Professor stated calmly. He was slightly surprised by the concern that was showing on Roberto's face.
"I don't think it is his choice. He wants to come. I saw the look in his eyes and for a moment I thought that he was going to say yes but he didn't. He looked so, I dunno, sad I guess. And there were bruises on his face. Something just seems wrong." Roberto didn't know how to explain this to the Professor. He just knew that something was not right.
"It is not our place to become involved if he does not want us to."
"But what if-"
Xavier cut him off. "Why don't you see if he will come here for training purposes only? He can come a few times a week to work on his powers but still return home after the session."
Roberto's face seemed to light up. "That's great, Professor! I'll ask him tomorrow." Roberto got up to leave but turned to look at the Professor before exiting the office. "Thanks Professor." The Professor smiled at him as he turned and ran out of the office. Roberto was worried about Remy and Xavier was glad for it. Roberto needed to get close to someone. He had friends here but had never really connected with any of them. Perhaps he could somehow connect with Remy.
#
Roberto quickly headed to his room, wanting the time to think alone. Hopefully no one would disturb him. Sitting by the window, he looked out over the back of the school grounds, watching some of the kids play basketball.
He had never been this worried about someone before and he didn't know if his worry was even founded. There could be nothing going on at all. Maybe Remy had just had a bad day and had gotten into a fight with some other kid like he said. His gut told him otherwise though.
Besides that, didn't he hate Remy? The guy was an anti-social prick, had made it clear that he didn't want anyone near him. At least that's what Roberto had thought but the Professor had told him to look past the mask and today's encounter had shown him at least some of the truth. Remy probably stayed away from people because of his eyes. He had to show Remy that not everybody was afraid of them. He certainly wasn't, he had seen much odder things living with the X-Men. Roberto actually thought that his eyes were rather captivating, beautiful even and… He stopped, what the heck was he thinking? He couldn't possibly be contemplating how gorgeous and intoxicating – God, stop that – Remy's eyes were.
He turned when the door opened, no one ever seemed to knock around this place, and none other than Bobby and Kurt came in. The two were almost always together now. They thought they were doing a good job of hiding their relationship but Roberto knew that everybody in the mansion had at least an inkling of what was going on between them. He tried to smile at them but it came up short. He could tell by the concerned glances they were giving him.
"What's up, sun-boy?" Bobby asked.
"It's nothing," Roberto dismissed.
"You shouldn't lie, man; you're way too bad at it." Roberto glared at him.
"Just worried about somebody is all." Bobby and Kurt both got huge eyes.
"You're worried about somebody? Holy crap! This is a first, who are you worried about?"
"Never mind," Roberto replied angrily.
"Come on, share with your friends," Bobby teased before Kurt hit him in the back of the head. "Ow, what was that for?"
"Could we try to be serious?" Kurt said vaguely irritated.
"Sheesh, no need to get violent." Bobby continued to rub the back of his head. Roberto shook his head but smiled at the boys' antics.
"I'm worried about Remy if you must know."
Kurt looked confused. "That new guy? Why?" They still didn't know that Remy was a mutant and Roberto didn't think that Remy would appreciate his telling everybody.
"Never mind, it's not important."
"It's okay to talk to us you know," Kurt said.
"Drop it, okay?" He was starting to get angry.
"Maybe we could help-" Roberto got angrily off the bed and stalked over to the door.
"I said forget about it. Can you guys not take a hint?" He slammed the door as he left. Bobby looked down at Kurt who was sitting on the bed.
"Look what you did," he said shaking his head in mock sadness. Kurt glared at him. "What?" Bobby said in all innocence. Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes before pulling Bobby onto the bed next to him.
"Do you even know the meaning of the word serious?" Kurt asked, although not all that seriously himself.
"I happen to be a very serious type of guy!" Bobby replied in mock outrage. Kurt raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
"You? And what, pray tell, are you ever serious about?"
Bobby leered at him, wrapping his arms Kurt's waist to pull him closer. "You," he replied huskily before claiming Kurt's lips in a bruising kiss leaving them both breathless by the time he pulled away. Kurt moaned at the loss of Bobby pressed against him and, grabbing Bobby by the collar, pulled him back.
"Stay," a whispered plea that Bobby couldn't resist and didn't want to. He pressed back into Kurt again, pushing him back on the bed, tongues twining and hands roaming. Kurt moaned when a hand slipped beneath his shirt and began tracing circles over his stomach and working up to his chest to tease the hard nipples there. Kurt groaned and arched up against Bobby, wanting greater contact. Kurt let his own hands slide down Bobby's back to cup his ass, squeezing gently and Bobby moaned his own pleasure, dropping his head to lavish Kurt's neck, loving the soft fur.
Kurt wrapped a leg around Bobby's waist, bringing them closer together and thrust up against Bobby, their erections grinding together through the denim of their pants causing waves of pleasure to flow over them so that Kurt did it again. Bobby thrust back and turned his attention back to Kurt's mouth, ravishing it.
Moans and harsh breathing filled the room, their minds on nothing but each other and the pleasure they were feeling, hoping vaguely that no one would open the door and walk in. With a harsh cry that was muffled by Bobby's mouth, Kurt came followed a moment later by Bobby. Kurt let his leg drop from around Bobby's waist but neither made any move to get up, just lay there letting their breathing get back to normal and coming down off the high.
After a moment, Bobby lifted his head to let his forehead rest on Kurt's. "Wow, I have never done anything like that with anybody," he said a little nervously. Kurt brushed his bangs back and kissed him lightly.
"Me neither. I'm glad that it was with you, though." There was sincerity in Kurt's tone and eyes and Bobby smiled before kissing him and rolling off of him.
"Me too."
