Bits and Pieces

Bits and Pieces Chapter Four (NC-17)

Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
WOMAN ALIVE™, Prophetic Muse, Hamster Witch and Uberbeta…style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Feeling better?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> InterNutter, TC, Maxwell Pink and Dracena are
loverly and wondermous for archiving/hosting. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> J
ProPhile: *gold star for class=SpellE>smutmuse-ness *style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Morgan: *hug *style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Readers/Reviewers: Hopefully it will all come
together soon if it hasn’t already….

“Long time
no see.” Kurt dropped from the banister
and landed lightly before Remy, his eyebrows raised in something akin to
surprise but more along the lines of resignation.

“Had
errands to run,” Remy replied, nodding politely.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He felt odd being in the house now.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He felt as if the walls themselves were
watching him, blaming him. He knew
Jubilee was in there somewhere and he had no idea what to say to her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> All of the days he had to think about the
words he would use, the ways he would explain to her, and all he could think of
was ‘Don’t hit the face.’ “Where
everyone get to?”

Kurt swept
an assessing gaze over the Cajun and decided to cut him some slack, despite his
own bad mood. Remy
looked haggard, an unusual state for him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had not shaved in days and his clothes
were travel-soiled. He smelled of stale
coffee, sweat and cologne with a strong tinge of cigarette smoke under it
all. Old cigarette smoke, Kurt
corrected. Remy had not smoked in a
while and that, he decided, was probably not helping his mood.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Some of them went into town for errands,
some are in the Danger Room, some are in Boston
with Emma…”

“Boston,”
Remy said sharply, his entire demeanor changing from travel worn to near
worry. “Who went off to Boston
wid Emma?”

Kurt sighed
and began ticking off the list on his fingers.
“Sean, Theresa, Jono, Paige, some of the new
students who’s parents want them far away from the
freakish happenings in Bayville…”

class=GramE>“C’est toute?”
Remy demanded. At Kurt’s blank
expression, he sighed. “That all?”

Kurt
nodded. “Emma’s getting the school up
and going there…” He paused then sighed.
“Kitty may go this week to help set up the computer systems and the
version of the Danger Room there. Emma
wants to try it herself first.”

Remy grunted
and moved past Kurt, heading up the stairs.
“Dere’s a bag on de front steps…”

class=GramE>“Ja?”

“Don’ class=GramE>touch it.” He smiled
faintly at Kurt’s snort of amusement and continued up the steps.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had not expected things to have changed in
the short amount of time he had been gone but it was like stepping on foreign
soil for the first time. He felt out of
place among the rooms and wondered if it was because of New
Orleans or because he knew that Jubilee would be angry
with him. He had spoken with the Professor
and Logan a few times in his absence and they knew,
they understood his reasons and what he had to do but Jubilee… He had left
badly, he knew, and he had let when she, when the whole group, needed him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He stopped outside her door and sighed,
pressing his fingers lightly to the wood of the door as if he could feel her
mood through the partition, draw it out of her before
he knocked.

“She’s not
in there.”

He turned
sharply, his coat flaring about his knees, to face Amara.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Quoi?”

class=GramE>“Jubilee. She’s not
in there. She’s down in the library with
Mark.” Amara tossed her long, dark hair
over her shoulder and smiled tightly. class=GramE>“Nice of you to show up now, when the danger has passed.”

“Amara,” he
said smoothly, his voice dark and rich and bespeaking old courtesies purely as
a reflex to keep himself from snapping at her, “dis
ain’t a good time, chere.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Mebbe in ‘bout an
hour or more, we can spar, oui?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Mais, class=SpellE>maintenant, non.”

Amara
shrugged, her smile becoming slightly more genuine.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “As you wish.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I serve the people,” she sketched a half bow,
her hand over her heart.

Remy
laughed. “Nice ta
see you finally found irony, chere.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He tousled her hair, purposefully annoying
her, before turning to skip down the stairs.
“She in de library, you say?” he called as he gained the steps.

“Yes,”
Amara replied, smoothing her hair with a frown firmly set on her features. style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “With Mark.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Again.”

Remy
paused. “De British
guy?”

“That would
be him, yes.” The Nova Roman moved to
the top of the steps and stood a few feet above Remy.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “She’s helping straighten the place as part
of her punishment for that food fight. I
still can’t get the ketchup stain off of my good white sweater.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Barbarians,” she added with a haughty sniff.

“Hmmm…”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He was tired and wanted nothing more than to
crawl into bed and sleep, then maybe wake up to Jubilee next to him, but at the
moment something was niggling the back of his mind,
like an itch he could not reach, and he knew he would not be able to sleep even
if he tried.

“She’s not
in the library,” Kurt said helpfully from the rec
room as Remy passed. Some video game was
blaring loudly and Kurt was reading as St John
and Bobby argued over who had really killed the princess and rescued the
troll.

“class=SpellE>Oui, je class=SpellE>sais…” He made it a few more feet
before Kurt’s words sank in.

Kurt looked
up as Remy paced backwards until he was in the rec
room doorway again. “She left.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Right after Mark, just a
minute ago. I think she might be
going into town…” He frowned himself
then. “She and Kitty had plans but…”
Closing his book he stood and activated his holo
watch. “If you want to go after her, I’ll
come with you. I need to get out.”

Remy
sighed, thinking. _She may or may not be
in town, _ he thought. _Well… I need
cigarettes. _style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Bien… I’ll
change shirts an’ we can take my motorcycle, d’accord?”

“You have a
motorcycle?” Kurt said, a bit uncertain.
“I can drive the stationwagon.”

“So can a
soccer mom,” Remy winked. “class=SpellE>Gimme ten minutes.”

Kurt felt
uneasy, his throat dry.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Okay,” he sighed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Ten minutes…”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He padded back into the rec
room as Remy turned away to head upstairs.
“St John, Bobby… either of
you ever ridden a motorcycle before?”

A/N Next up, Jean’s snit, Kitty makes a decision and Jubilee
has ice cream. Really more interesting
than it sounds.