Author's Notes: Another short chapter! I can't get this out of my head- it had to be written! Hopefully more to come soon!
FERITY: (fehr-ih-tee) - (noun) - 1.) The state of being wild or untamed. 2.) Savegery; Ferocity.
The refrigerator was cool against his bare back as he stood, leaned against it, one arm bent behind his neck, the other across his belly, holding a bottle of soda she had found for him. He crossed his legs at the ankle, relaxing. She was perched on the edge of the island counter-top, absently twisting an auburn ringlet around one finger, watching the slab of ham in the skillet in front of her sizzle. The smell of baking biscuits wafted through the room, and the familiarity of the routine- even in foreign surroundings- soothed the nerves of both ferals.
In her moses basket on the table of the breakfast nook, Sari let out a soft snore, gathering her father's attention. Victor set the soda down on the counter beside Zoe, then walked up to his sleeping daughter. With gentle hands, he lifted her up into his arms, cradling her against his bare chest. The cub let out a soft sigh, stretching out like a kitten. He cupped his hand behind her head while she laid along his arm, holding her so her stomach was flat against his chest, and let her arm and leg dangle beneath her.
"She looks like a cat in a tree." mused Zoe, sliding off the counter-top to turn the sizzling piece of ham with a fork. She peeked into the oven to check on her biscuits, then pulled a carton of eggs from the fridge. "How many eggs do you want, my love?"
"Six or so." he answered, returning to his position against the cold fridge, carefully tickling Sari's bare feet and watching her squirm to move away from his fingers. Zosia watched him with a snort of amusement, cracking eggs into a mixing bowl.
In a matter of minutes, fresh biscuits were pulled from the oven, fried ham-steak steamed beneath a mountain of cheese and scrambled eggs, and the two ferals were cuddled up in the breakfast nook to eat their meal together. Sari was laid back in the basket to continue her slumber, and Zosia took up residence in Victor's lap.
"Schmeckt es dir?" Zoe purred. Not terribly hungry, she gave up her fork to curl up against his chest. (Is it good?)
"Ja. Just like always." he answered, planting a kiss on her temple. In short order, he finished his meal, and watched his mate jump up and put all the dishes in the sink for washing.
With her arms elbow-deep in suds and a toothpick chewed between his fangs, the pair of ferals fell into a comfortable silence in the sleeping mansion. Sari napped under her father's watchful eyes while her mother cleaned the plate and frying pan. The relaxing quiet, the soft sound of a pan being scrubbed, the smell of a good breakfast still heavy in the air, seemed to transport them out of New York. For a few peaceful moments, it was as if they were sitting back in their old kitchen in Canada, waiting for Mystique or Warts or Eric to walk in and begin their day.
So when Jean walked in a few seconds later, it took a handful of seconds for it to process. Victor noticed her first, and his half-surprised, half-amused grunt drew Zoe's attention.
"What in the-?!" Jean's eyes were wide for a few seconds. The grogginess was gone from her now, as her heart pumped a nice shot of adrenaline through her body. "How in the-?"
"Jean?" Zoe dropped the skillet and rag back in the sink, wiping her hands on the dishtowel on the counter-top. "You're up early."
"Yeah- I was thirsty." said the redheaded telekine, crossing her arms under her bust. "When did you get here?" she asked Victor.
"Couple hours ago." he returned coolly, resting his arms on the tabletop.
"We thought you would be back in Canada by now."
"Hnt." He grunted non-commitaly taking another swig of his warming soda.
"Are you going to stay here long?" Jean asked stoicly, moving to the cupboard for a mug.
"Just until it gets dark again." Zosia answered for him, settling the clean pan on the rack to dry. He grunted again, agreement. "... Is Scott asleep?"
Jean smirked in amusement, filling her mug with water and sticking it in the microwave to warm. "He's quite asleep, actually." She glanced at the handsome clock on the wall above the nook. "But I'd take the back staircase if I were you; he usually gets up around five-thirty, and it's ten-til now."
"Alright." said the redheaded feral. "We're just finishing up anyway."
"...Zosia... Zoe..."
There was a gentle tickling just beneath the skin behind her ears, just enough to rouse her to consciousness. A lazy hand rubbed the skin there, but it didn't ease the feeling.
"Zoe... Wake up." Charles's gentle voice rang behind her eyes. "Zoe..."
The redheaded feral sighed, stretching out on her side of the bed. "Yes, professor?" she murmured aloud, hazily checking on Sari asleep beside her. Victor was so deeply out that he was purring, one arm wrapped protectively around their cub.
"Can you sneak away for a few minutes?"
Becoming more awake, Zoe yawned, looking at the clock on the wall. "Can? Yes... Want to? No." she half-groaned, but forced herself to roll out of bed.
"I have something to show you."
The feral grabbed a pair of black track pants and a green t-shirt from her closet and quickly yanked them on. She checked on her mate and cub one last time, then quietly slipped from the room. The stairs were taken in twos as the feral hurried her way to the professor's office on the ground floor. The door was open for her to breeze inside. "Yes?" she asked, no hint of impatience in her voice.
Charles chuckled softly, crossing his arms on his desktop. "Sleep well?"
Zoe quirked an eyebrow at him. "Depends on your definition of well." she returned with a smile.
"I suppose." he said, good-natured. "This will be a short and to-the-point little meeting then, so that you can return to your family upstairs." When the feral only nodded, a curious scowl on her face, he gestured to an opened cardboard box on the side table. Two identical boxes sat, unopened, beneath it.
Zoe's scowl lightened as she reached into the opened box and pulled out a white and green textbook. The front of the book was designed with a picture of the German flag and a group of blonde-haired and blue-eyed highschool students posed, smiling, in a line. "Introduction to German" was in bold, black letters across the front. The feral's expression turned quizzical. "You... you were serious?" she asked quietly. "You really want me to teach?"
"Yes." Charles gently took the book from the feral's hands, opening it to the table of contents. "I very much believe that not only will the students be interested in learning a new language, but that you would be just the right person to teach it."
"I'm destined to be here for at least a while longer." Zoe looked amused. "I suppose I may as well do something to earn my keep, so to speak." She pulled another book from the box. "When do I start?"
"Your mate will be leaving this afternoon?" The professor drummed his fingers on the page opened before him. "I think it should only take a day or two after for you to read over the book and the lesson plan."
"...I've never really taught anyone anything before." The feral's expression became pensive.
"Oh?" Charles smirked. "I think that both Marie and Ororo would say otherwise. They certainly didn't speak much French before you came along."
"...Dodo, l'enfant do, l'enfant dormira bien vite... dodo, l'enfant do, l'enfant dormira bientôt..."
Victor squinted open his eyes in the brightly lit room. Sunlight was streaming in from the open miniblinds beside the bed, bathing the entire room in a soft, buttery yellow glow. The light was warm on his bare skin where it touched him, raising goosebumps along the skin that it didn't. Zoe's down comforter kept him warm from the waist down, and he was comfortably sunk into the down pillows he rested on.
"...Tout le monde est sage, dans le voisinage... Il est l'heure d'aller dormir, le sommeil va bientôt venir..."
He turned his head towards the source of the sound. Across the room, Zoe sat in her rocking chair, Sari held cradled in her lap. The feral mother sang softly to her cub, and the baby smiled, listened, and then made her own soft cooing sounds back.
"...Dodo, l'enfant do, l'enfant dormira bien vite... dodo, l'enfant do, l'enfant dormira bientôt..."
"Where'd you learn that one?" Victor's voice was gravelly with sleep.
Zoe turned her eyes to him, a gentle smile playing on her lips. "Hmm?"
"Never heard you sing that one before." he half-heartedly shrugged, then stretched his arms out over his head, popping his shoulders.
"Oh." Zoe shrugged back at him, pulling Sari up to her shoulder. "I don't know. It just seems to pop into my head when I rock her sometimes."
He grunted, watching her. "What time is it?"
"About five."
"Have you slept at all?"
"A few hours this morning." She broke into a full smile, reaching out to pull her German text from the desk beside her chair. "I've been reading."
"Oh, I see." Victor lifted the blanket at his waist in invitation, "Come back to bed, woman." Zoe chuckled, setting the book down before slipping into bed beside her mate, their cub sandwiched and comfortable between them. Victor pulled them in close, pulling the blanket up to their shoulders and squeezing his family against him. Sari cooed at him behind her thumb knuckle. "Now, go to sleep- both of you- while I'm still here."
"Yes, sir." said Zoe, playfully, letting her eyes slide closed.
Marie was a girl on a mission. With all the stealth she could muster, the teen carefully- quietly- stuck her head around the corner, silently taking roll of the group of unsuspecting students across the foyer in the rec room. John, Bobby, Wanda, Piotr, Kitty, Theresa, Paige... No sign of Jubilee.
"Finally." breathed the teen. With a touch of grace, the skunk-haired girl slunk along the dark paneled wall to the back staircase beside the kitchen. She took the stairs in sets of threes, up the three flights, her algebra book and homework clutched to her chest, and peaked down the hallway towards Ororo and Zoe's rooms.
"-Where are you going?-" Jean's voice whispered just behind Marie's eyes.
Marie clutched her hand over her now pounding heartbeat. "Oh mah gosh! Are ya tryin' ta give me a heart attack?" she whispered to thin air. "I thought we were done with our session? Why are you still in my head?"
"-Residual bond.-" Jean's voice paused. "-You should come back dowstairs, Marie.-"
The teen rolled her eyes, knowing that if Jean was still bouncing around in her head, that the redheaded professor would know she was doing so- but she didn't care. A streak of rebellion ran through her. "Out of my head, telekine!" said the teen, sprinting down the hallway to Zoe's closed door. She didn't bother to knock- Zoe had always told her to just come on in anyway- so Marie pushed it open, then slid it closed behind her.
The bedroom was dark but for the little light streaming in around the blinds on the window. Zoe was asleep on her bed, curled on her side beside Sari, who was wide awake. The cub was contentedly sucking her thumb knuckle, watching the light change on the ceiling as the fan gently swayed the blinds against the window. Marie smiled at the baby, shifting her homework under her arm as she walked to the edge of the bed.
"Hello, Sari." she said softly to the cub, gathering the baby's attention. "Did you have a fat nap? Hmm?" Sari grinned up at her around her knuckle, cooing like a dove. "Yeah, a nap puts me in a good mood, too, huh?" She reached down to run a satin-gloved hand along the curls atop the baby's head. The cub cooed again, giving her legs a good kick.
Victor used a soft, white hand towel to wipe the fog from the little bathroom's mirror with one hand; his other hand, laden with fluffy, white shaving cream, spread its soft film across his five-o'clock shadow. Outside would be dark in a few hours, and he wanted one last grooming in before he would have to begin the hike back to his hidden, stolen vehicle. He ran the blade of Zoe's pink razor down his cheek. He was only half paying attention to his refection in the mirror. The other half of his attention was on the other side of the closed bathroom door where he could just hear the quiet purr of his sleeping mate, and the soft sighing snore of their cub as they slept together on the bed.
It was surprising that the redhead hadn't so much as stirred when he slunk out of bed. Most nights all he had to do was shift his weight and she would wake up enough to make sure he was still there- perhaps because he used to sneak out to go on his contracts so that he didn't have to take her with him. Not that he would have minded the company, and she had gone with him many times, but he didn't want to advertise his one major weakness to the undesirables he always seemed to find himself working with.
She had been awake now for a night and two days, during which she had not only satisfied the needs of their cub, but the lecherous needs of her mate. Without the pregnant belly, she'd regained every last sinew of flexibility that Sari had stripped of her, and she'd been just as eager to show him as he had been to be shown. The way she could bend her legs and twist her spine...
The razor dug into his chin, bringing his thoughts back to the task at hand. A droop of blood welled up on his chin before his skin healed over. With a roll of his eyes, he rinsed the razor before continuing his shave. Within a few minutes his face was as smooth as Sari's backside. The last straggling bits of shaving cream were wiped away with the towel around his waist before tossing it into the clothes hamper behind him.
The feral gave himself one more once-over in the mirror before he would go looking for some clean boxers in his bag beside Zoe's bed. Out in the hallway, he heard feet running towards his mate's room, and the door quietly open and close. With his hand on the doorknob, Victor scowled. 'What the-?'
He heard her before he smelled her- that skunk-haired poison girl- murmuring soft words to his awakened cub. Her smell had been all over the room when he had arrived last night, just like the weather witch's had been. Another cub, he supposed. How many would Zoe adopt before she could leave this place with him?
Victor smirked. 'You picked the wrong door, girlie.' He pulled the bathroom door open. Marie met his eyes in the dim room, backed up a step with a loud, choked gasp, and dropped her books to the floor with a loud thud.
Cliff hanger! Love it! Please review!
~The Lady Mage