disclaimer: All recognizable characters are owned by Marvel, except Jenny who is MINE! (though I have been known to share if you ask nicely.) I expect to make no money off this fic. Dammit.
Human and the Demon
by Dizi
Chapter 7
Wiping her eyes with a tissue, Jenny tried to remain calm, but looking into the sympathetic faces surrounding her she wasn't sure if she could. "I don't know what to do." her fingers twisted the tissue. "I've never been in a situation like this before. Kurt's the only one I ever really even dated."
"Ah know what Ah'd do," Rogue muttered. "Ah'd toss him out in tha snow for ah start."
"I have always found comfort in the company of other women at the end of a relationship." Ororo said soothingly. "Know we are here for you."
"Ice cream." Jean announced. "Whenever Scott and I have an argument, I eat lots of ice cream."
"I really appreciate the help but... that just doesn't sound like it's enough." Jenny's voice was despondent. "I really don't think ice cream and girl talk is going to make me feel better."
Waving a hand in the air and shrugging, Betsy casually stated, "I tend to get blotto, myself, but I don't know if-"
"That's what I did when Pete and I broke-up." Kitty interrupted, grateful someone else had mentioned it.
"I thought Pete was here. When were you dating?" Jenny frowned in confusion. "And when did you break-up?"
"Um, different Pete." Kitty sighed. "I really miss him."
"Ah've got some bourbon," Rogue offered, "and Ah bet we all have a little something stashed away. Not ta mention, we stocked the rec room and kitchen with beer just a few days ago."
"I am not sure this would be a good idea." Ororo said disapprovingly.
"Why not?" Betsy raised a brow, "We're all adults, the men do it all the time."
"Not all of them-" Ororo tried to continue.
"It sounds like fun." Jean interrupted. "How long has it been since we let loose like that? C'mon 'Ro, you're the one who went out partying one night and came back with a mohawk. We're not even going to leave the mansion."
"I... Jenny?" Ororo asked uncertainly.
"I could go for a drink," Jenny gave a half smile. "Let's get some music and make it a party."
"I have some good drinking music, and we can make it a slumber-party." Kitty suggested enthusiatically.
"I'll kick the men out of the rec room." Jean volunteered.
"Yeah, no men allowed." Rogue said firmly.
"Except Charles." Jenny inserted.
There was silence.
"Why Charles?" Betsy asked, after considering and being unable to figure it out, and the other women nodded.
There was a gleam in Jenny's eyes, "Because he's got the best liquor and I don't like beer. Unless Rogue has a heck of a lot of bourbon, we're gonna need more."
"Yer gonna do what?" Logan demanded.
"We're getting Jenny drunk." Rogue said calmly, searching through the refrigerator. "Ah didn't stuttah the first few times Ah said it."
"That ain't a good idea."
"Why not? She's hurtin' and she said she want's to."
"It's just ain't." He said stubbornly.
"Well then, you be the one to tell her, sugar, cause Ah intend to get drunk mahself." Rogue straightened with her arms full of beer. "She's not Jubilee, Jenny's an adult. We're all adults, and we're gonna get drunk with our adult friend whose heart is broken. What would you suggest she do?"
They both turned as Jenny walked in, "Hey, Rogue, you need some help? Jean has the ice-cream and she's putting it out the window to keep it good and cold. Please tell me you found something besides beer."
"Found ya a bottle of Southern Comfort to go with the bourbon." Rogue winked.
Logan knew he was going to lose. He knew it, but had to try anyway. "Darlin', I don't think it's a good idea fer ya to drink this stuff. Don't ya think-"
"Why?" Jenny interrupted. "Is it bad?" She opened the bottle and took a big swallow, relishing the burn as it went down.
Logan stared at her and shook his head.
"Seems fine to me. Be better mixed with Coke." Jenny met his eyes. "I'm twenty-one and I work in a bar, Logan. Get over it." She walked out with the bottle in her hands.
Rogue laughed. "Don't even start with Kitty," she advised. "Even Storm's gonna have some fun. So stay out of it."
"Don't ya think she should talk ta the elf?" Logan demanded.
"It was suggested, but both Jenny and Kitty said Kurt said loud and clear he didn't want to see Jenny." Rogue started for the door. "So he's not. Keep out of the rec room, its women only."
"Where's all the women?" Bobby asked the men getting ready to play poker.
"They are engaging in a feminine bonding ritual in which we humble male specimen are not allowed to witness." Hank solemnly informed him.
Bobby looked to Remy.
"De femmes getting drunk." Remy translated.
"Really?" Bobby's eyes gleamed. "So what are they doing? Can't be just drinking."
"We're not sure." Scott said. "No men allowed. Not even husbands."
"How 'bout we just take a peek..." Bobby started for the door.
"Non, don' want to do dat." Remy warned. "Roguey, she get mean when Remy try. She say Jenny upset and de women gon' help her."
"So why's Jenny upset?"
"She an' Kurt ain't gettin' along so good right now." Logan said with a growl. "So instead a them tellin' her ta talk ta him, they're gettin' her drunk."
"There's something wrong with this picture when Wolverine is advising people to talk to each other to fix their problems." Bobby grinned.
"And we are going to leave them alone and play poker." Scott warned quickly before Logan could reply with more than a growl to prevent bloodshed.
"Because..." Bobby looked at them expectantly.
"Because dey meaner den we are," Remy said, "more powerful den we are, and dey drinkin' too. Not a good combination to go against, comprendez?"
"I see your point."
The door opened and Charles came in with a small smile. "Due to the activities planned for the night and to the current weather, we will be allowing smoking in the rec room and the kitchen." he announced. "Oh, and count me in for the poker game, if someone will share their beer."
Logan grunted, "Since when do ya drink beer?"
"That would be since someone just talked me out of my scotch." Charles said dryly. "It might be wise to hide anything alcoholic you might have."
"Too late. Rogue, she was already here." Remy rolled his eyes. "She left us some, not much doh."
Slowly, Jenny opened the door to the kitchen where the majority of the men had gathered for the manly game of poker. She did it slowly for two reasons. First so she could see who all was in there, and second because she was just starting to get a little bit... happy. She didn't want to fall over after making an issue of being old enough to drink.
Gesturing for Kitty to go for more ice cream while she started her own mission, Jenny moved toward the table trying to look innocent, sweet, pitiful, and needy all at once. She was pretty good at it and had used it in the past with good results. Logan being the one to seemingly be immune, but that was okay because Remy was another matter entirely. It didn't take long.
"Dere somet'ing you need, chere?" Remy didn't look up from his cards.
She smiled brilliantly and whispered in his ear.
"Non."
Her face fell and she whispered in his ear again.
"Non."
"Reeemmmmyyyyy!" she begged.
"Non, chere, you quit."
"Remy, this is serious drinking. Serious drinking needs cigarettes. I work in a bar, I know these things." Jenny informed him seriously before begging again. "C'mon, Remy, I'm gonna share."
"Jenny! You weren't supposed to tell!" Kitty called.
"It's okay, I know Jean smokes when she drinks." Scott said.
"Um, yeah, sure, Jean. Her's were stale and didn't last long." Jenny muttered. "Please, Remy?" and she tried 'the look' again.
Remy sighed. "You know where dey are?"
"Yep, used to put your clothes away, remember?" Jenny beamed at him.
"Got a carton. Don't take dem all, hear?"
Jenny gave him a quick hug. "Thanks, Remy! There's a couple people seriously niccing in there."
"Jenny!" Kitty called again clearly exasperated, her hands full of ice cream.
"What?" She demanded on her way out. "You think they won't figure it out? Hell, they've probably been watching with the security cameras again."
"They do that?" Kitty's voice was incredulous.
"Yeah, it used to bug me, I just know Logan and Bish laugh at me in there." Their voices drifted down the hall but was still clear in the kitchen.
The men all exchanged looks and there was a chorus of "I fold!" before they all started running for the security room.
"Is it me or is is really hot in here?" Kitty asked reaching for another beer.
"I'm fine." Ororo said having already removed her robe leaving only her short lavender nightie.
"Me too." Jean had done the same and was also in her white knee length nighgown. "Have some more ice cream, it'll cool you off."
"Looks like this is turnin' inta a great slumbah party." Rogue giggled. "Too bad the guys are gonna miss it, huh?"
Taking off her robe, Kitty giggled too. "Jenny says they're probably watching in the security room."
On the couch where she'd been lounging, Betsy sat up with a gleam in her eye. "If they're going to watch, perhaps we should give them something to see."
Everyone grinned at her. "Just what did you have in mind?" Jenny asked.
The men had to fight their way into the little security room amid Bishop shouting for them to be careful not to break anything. Then they had to fight for positions around the various monitors, and who was going to control the camera to get the best view.
Until Bishop sighed, pushed them out of the way and typed in the commands to put the rec room on all the monitors. They didn't fight at all then. They were too busy watching the screens.
"Oh my..." Beast began in awe.
"...stars and garters." Bobby finished breathlessly.
"Yeah, what they said." Warren agreed.
"Remy t'ink he want to live in dis room." Remy snapped his fingers. "Wait, we need a video tape."
"No, we don't." Scott said.
"Yes! Yes, we do!" Bobby shouted. "I've got one somewhere. Gimme a minute."
"No, we don't." Scott repeated.
"Homme, dis need to be kept for... posterity, non?" Remy looked around the room and recieved nods of agreement.
Scott looked at Bishop and sighed. "They don't ever pay attention during meetings."
Rolling his eyes, Bishop informed them. "This is all computerized. It's automatically saved to the hard drive. We can pull it up anytime."
Remy licked his lips, "Den we can rewind, non?"
"Sure," Bishop shrugged, "but you really don't want to."
"Remy t'ink he do." was the firm reply.
"Okay, but all they were doing was talking, drinking, and eating ice cream." He gestured to the screen. "This is new."
'This' was the women in various stages of dress, or undress as the case may be. Rogue's t-shirt was tied just under her breasts in such a manner that it was obvious she wasn't wearing a bra and her short cut-offs were unfasted revealing her red panties. Kitty's sport bra and short tight pajama shorts were on a par with Jenny's, only she had boxers with the top rolled down to her hips and an unbuttoned overshirt which seemed to cover her scars and not much else. Jean and Ororo were in their nightgowns - Jean's barely covering her breasts and Ororo's barely covering her thong underwear - and Betsy in a baby blue teddy which barely covered anything.
They were all dancing, to "Push It" by Salt N' Peppa and looked like they might be a little... cold. Hips rolling, shoulder's shimmying, belly's undulating, backs arched, they were a sight for any man and all male eyes were locked onto the monitors.
"My," Charles said from the doorway, eyes riveted, "and it's not even my birthday."
"We need blizzards more often." Bobby said in awe.
"Shut up." Logan growled. "Some of us're busy."
Betsy went to take a bite of ice cream and it slipped off the spoon. She arched her neck as it ran down her throat. Her mouth made an 'o' as the ice cream made its way down her chest between her breast and she moved her shoulder's sensuously. Slowly, she picked up a napkin and went to slide off a strap off one shoulder to wipe it off...
The screens all went blank. The security room instantly became total chaos with shouts, growls and cries of pain. The music was still playing and they could hear the women laughing in the background but the monitors stayed blank. During the banging, cursing, and threats to take the equipment apart Bishop almost pulled his gun while trying to explain the interference was coming from the source and to leave his equipment alone.
"What a ruckus!" Rogue leaned against the doorway. "Everything alright in herah?"
Taking the keyboard out of Bobby's hands and giving it to Bishop, Scott stepped forward as the fearless leader he was. "Everything's fine. Just fine."
Jenny peeked around Rogue. "Oh." she sounded disappointed. "Maybe we should tell Betsy to try again? Aren't they supposed to suffer?"
"Guess so, Jenny." Rogue shook her head sadly. "Maybe then they'll learn not to spy on people."
The room was silent as they walked back down the hall still talking in a sad disappointed tone.
When he was sure they were gone, Bobby asked. "Can we wait a few times before learning a lesson? I'm pretty sure I could get away with being dumb three or four times, despite the accounting degree."
Five hours, four packs of cigarettes, three twelve-packs of beer, two twelve packs of Coke, half a bottle of bourbon, quarter bottle of scotch, and a bottle of Southern Comfort later the women were all extremely... mellow.
Rogue, Kitty, and Jenny were lying on the floor. Betsy had crawled off to bed moments before, while Jean and Ororo were slumped together on the couch. Ororo actually drank more but Jean had turned out to be more fun. She'd been willing for everything and anything, even if they weren't going to actually do anything she'd made it plain she was willing. They'd just been too drunk to think of something.
Laying on her back and lifting her head to look around, Jenny asked, "Anyone got any cigarettes left?"
Kitty didn't bother to lift her head, too much effort. "Jean took mine. It was so sweet of him to share his cigarettes with us."
"Ah got about four Ah hid from Jean." Rogue rolled her eyes. "Who knew she turned inta a chain-smoker aftah a few shots of scotch?"
"Hand 'em over. I don't think he's gonna share again and if I want some later I better not have to ask him. Logan might share his cigars, but who wants them?" Jenny shuddered. "Oh, I forgot to ask. Are you and Remy together today?"
"Shugah, Ah'm too drunk to remembah details like that. He's got a cute butt, though, huh?"
"Oh yeah, he sure does." Jenny sighed and Kitty nodded agreement.
"You're supposed to pretend you don't notice." Rogue whined.
"Well, I'm too drunk to lie. It's not like I'm grabbing his ass, or anything. It's a compliment. Besides, Remy's eye-candy and he knows it."
"He really is, ya know, Rogue." Kitty sighed. "I miss Pete."
"He eye-candy too?" They'd heard this numerous times throughout the night.
"Not really, but he's got a rough charm. Kinda like Wolverine, but not as protective." Kitty frowned not knowing how to explain.
Rogue snorted, "Logan? He's only charming when he wants ta be."
"So's Pete, but when he tries..." Blinking at Jenny, Kitty changed the object of the subject. "So what about Kurt?"
"Hmmm?" Jenny blinked back, trying to focus.
"Eye-candy? Charm?" Rogue supplied.
"Yeah, he's awfully pretty and funny and thoughtful. He made me feel pretty..." Quickly she turned away from those thoughts. She'd done this to get away from them. "Kitty, you should call Pete. Maybe he misses you, too."
There was no answer and she realized Kitty had fallen asleep. "Shit. Rogue? You still awake?"
Waving one foot in the air to the rythym of the music, Rogue watched the swirl of color created by the motion and her toe nails. "Barely."
Slowly and carefully, Jenny sat up and crawled over to the end table. "I'm gonna put the ice-cream away."
"Okay." and she started singing while still waving her foot in the air.
Keeping hold of her drink, Jenny gathered up the remaining cartons of ice-cream, stumbled her way to the kitchen, and threw them haphazardly in the freezer. Her mind numb, she sat at the kitchen table, marveling that the men had actually cleaned it when they were done, and sipped her drink. She just couldn't seem to get up the energy to go to bed.
A thump on the table caused her to lift her wobbly head. She dragged her eyes open and closed a few times, trying to blink away the image before her. There seemed to be a small grey dragon in front of her. "Well, you're a cool helency- hacil- hascin- ... um, figment of my imagination."
He made a sound that might have been a negative response but she couldn't concentrate enough to make it out. Being careful not to fall out of the chair, Jenny reached out to pet it. "I've never imagined a dragon before. Isn't it supposed to be pink elephants? I've never imagined anything before really. While drunk anyway. I must be really creative cause you're cute."
Reaching for her glass, she wanted to finish the rest. A short burst of flame came from the dragon and he made a satisfied sound as she jerked her hand back. "That must be my subconscious telling me I've had enough. I wonder why it didn't say something sooner?" she mused, and they both blinked at each other. "I'm going to bed, little figment. Do you want to come?"
It didn't make any response just pushed the glass further away, so she picked him up and started stumbling her way to her room. "You're a heavy little figment, aren't you?"
Jenny was asleep before she fell onto the bed. She didn't see what happened to the figment and didn't even know when he left her.
The next morning, or early afternoon, Jenny entered the kitchen and joined the other women to find Hank passing out asprin, and moaned along with the others at every little noise Scott made as he cheerfully prepared breakfast.
Bobby came in whistling and was glared out of the room, while Logan, Warren, and Remy sat with amused smiles at each moan and flinch.
Jenny put her head down on the table and tried to block them all out, but she moaned and clutched her head at a loud thump on the table nearby. Opening bleery eyes, she looked for the source of the sound.
She blinked a couple times, then closed her eyes again and murmured, "That's alright, then. This is just a nightmare."
"How do you know that?" Jean whispered. "Maybe I'm having a nightmare too."
Slightly raising one hand, Jenny gestured. "The figment of my imagination is back."
Amused, Logan said loudly, ignoring the moans and groans, "What's back, darlin'?"
Warren arched a brow and Remy put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud.
Jenny gestured again, "The little dragon, the figment of my imagination." She winced at the sound of her own raised voice.
"That's Lockheed," Kitty whispered in a pain-filled voice, "he's real."
"Shit. That means I'm not going to wake up from this." Closing her eyes again, "Kitty?"
"Yeah?" was the whispered response.
"I don't like you."
"That's okay. I don't like you either."
"Long's we both know."
to be continued.
note:
B Oots- I already hinted at the reason, but you'll see next chapter.
Elizabeth Robbins- They're really going to need to work on communication, huh?
TricaLee- Not exactly cold feet (all that fur, you know) but you're close.
GothikStrawberry- You're close too. Next chapter!
S- Thank you! Hope you like this one.
Jinxeh- Eeewww! Do you have any idea what wet nasty pasta does to fur? Sorry for the boycott threat but did you really think I could go thru with it? (Sigh) I need better cliffhangers.
CaptainTish- I couldn't decide! Maybe 'Cinderella'? or 'Lady and the Tramp'? Well, you can let it be whichever you think would be right in your mind. Last time I was sick it was 'Atlantis'.
Irbis- Sometimes you have to suffer for love. Maybe its never been like that for anyone else (or not everyone else anyway) but I always seem to have something go wrong and one of us just isn't sure what it is. Jenny is now experiencing that.
afreddiefan- You cried? Really? I am so good. I did warn there would be ups and downs.
nanaroxu- See, I have barely seen you this week. I need it in writing! Kidding aside I'm glad you like it. And the whole first part of last chapter? I added that last week.
Hmm, I don't think the drunken slumber party helped Jenny much, do you? But I think it was a sort of a rite of passage. Something most of us have done, though probably not the slumber party, but most of us have gotten drunk because of a broken heart. This whole chapter was written thanks to Ellie. She suggested Jenny get drunk and I came up with the rest. See what can happen if you give suggestion when I ask for them? Just a little fun tucked into all the angst. But for those who didn't remember this was not Jenny's first time to get drunk. It was mentioned in a short story that she used to drink because of the pain when she was a teen after she was attacked. I believe it was in 'Sleepless' in "Jenny and the X-Men".
I had a family crisis and got distracted so I didn't finish chapter 18, but I hope to this weekend and maybe 19 too. We'll see how it goes. I really want to finish because there's a ROMY story I started that I want to get done. (I can hear my beta's cheering at that.)
The next short will be posted after chapter 9. I thank those who reviewed 'Picnic' and will answer those reviews then. The majority of the shorts will take place after this story ends I think. I seem to be coming up with more for after the end. But if anyone has any good suggestions, I'm willing to listen, but no promises.
Next chapter! Why did Kurt back off so far? How will Jenny deal with her heartbreak now? How are the others reacting to all this? It's coming Tuesday!
Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi