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Innocent Of Evil	By : KMac Category: X-Men - Animated Series (all) > General Views: 2974 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution, or any of the characters from it. I make no money from from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
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Tete-A- Tete

Jerrin was younger, eleven or so as he defined it, and Mom
was giving him one of those little �talks� she liked so much. �Be careful if you ever get involved with
someone single-gendered. Most of their societies
discriminate against what we are on general principles.� Ancient heartbreak darkened her quicksilver
eyes momentarily. �Not that it can�t
work out,� she said, leaning her dark head against her mate�s golden mane,
smiling as he kissed her neck.

�It takes a lot of determination to make a relationship
with a Qard,� Dad said. �I was a human
male until my thirties, and it wasn�t easy, to say the least. I felt like I was giving up everything it
meant to be a man, or even a human being, to be with her.� He took her hand in his, and looked fully
into his son�s eyes. �But I have never
regretted it.�

Jerrin sat up. After
a few false starts, Mom had found her happy ending, and by doing so, had saved
her race. But would his own present
story end well, or just be another sad anecdote to bore his kids with? He sighed.
Well, that wasn�t up to him, was it?
It was up to Kurt, and right now Jerrin could feel his friend�s
discomfort from here.

He stretched and got dressed. The long sleep had done him good. The bites were healing, and his lower aches and pains were much
better. Now, if he could only get his
unruly heart to settle down� He
followed his empathy to the kitchen, and poured himself some coffee. �Good morning, Kurt.�

Yellow eyes glanced up at him from a troubled face. �Good morning, Jerrin.� Kurt kept digging into his cereal. That smelled good. He�d had too many skipped meals along with the lack of
sleep. They ate in silence, broken only
when the others came into the kitchen, and tiptoed around them as if they were
land mines.

Scott and Jean retreated to the rec-room with their food and
Jerrin looked at his companion. �If I
said �boo� to one of them, do you think they�d scream and run away, or just
faint?�

�Heh.� Finally the
kid lightened up a little.

�Any idea of where we can have our little chat?� Jerrin
said. �I really don�t want an audience,
because most of it isn�t anyone else�s business.�

�Outside, in the woods.
I know some good spots for privacy.�

Jerrin sat at the base of a broad tree, just below Kurt, who
perched on a low branch, his tail swinging fitfully. �Please, show me your shoulders.
I remember hurting you.�

Jerrin shrugged, and took off his shirt. Some of the bites were yellowed bruises,
others were marked by shiny new skin, but the worst of them were represented by
small scabs where his skin had been pieced by Kurt�s fangs. All three kinds were thickly placed,
overlapping at spots, and ran from just under his ears down to his arms on both
sides. Kurt landed beside him and
traced his finger over the signs of his violence. �I didn�t know I tortured you.
I�m so sorry.�

Jerrin shivered at the touch, his heartbeat speeding
up. �It wasn�t torture. It was a little excessive, maybe, but I
didn�t really mind.�

The thick finger brushed over a loose scab, and it flaked
off, revealing oddly lavender skin beneath.
Kurt drew his hand away, �You didn�t mind? I drew blood! I attacked
you.�

Their eyes met.
�These are passion bites, Kurt. Every
one is the evidence of� you claiming me.
You weren�t exactly yourself, and your teeth are sharp. But you didn�t mean to harm me. If you had really wanted to hurt me, you
could have just as easily have ripped my throat out.� Jerrin�s mouth quirked in an almost-smile. �I remember some intense moments where I bit
you back, actually.� He displayed his
own teeth. They weren�t as wickedly
pointed as Kurt�s but were still sharper than the human normal.

Kurt rubbed his own shoulders. �I do remember some welts under my fur when I woke up.�

�If you look back, you�ll see things weren�t quite as
one-sided as you might now believe. I
responded to your advances, rough as they were. Once I accepted what was happening, I actually enjoyed it, for
the most part.�

Kurt made a face.
�Jerrin, enjoying pain is sick, or just pathetic. I can�t decide which.�

�Probably a little of both.
But it didn�t hurt all the time.
The only thing I truly regret is, that while I enjoyed what happened, it
wasn�t something you were choosing...
Even as it happened, I knew that it was against your true nature, and
that it would wind up troubling you. In
your right mind, I wouldn�t be the one you would chose to be with.� He pulled up a handful of grass and started
shredding the blades.

�You�re cute, you know.
That was the first thought I had when I saw you. I was leaving Bayville before my attraction
got the best of me and I hit on you. I
liked you too much to want to put you through that. I know that there are lots of things about Qards that are a pain
to deal with, and the gender thing is just the tip of the iceberg.� He brushed off his hands.

Kurt frowned, looking off into the trees. �Do you have romantic feelings for me, as
you defined them?�

�Yes.� The simple
affirmative was so hard to say. So many
other thoughts kept trying to come out, but he owed Kurt some straight answers.

�You can see us� being together?� Kurt�s eyes were wary, but curious.

�Kurt, I truly care for you, despite everything that
happened. I think I may even� no, I
won�t say it. You�re under enough
pressure. As far as being together,
it�s not impossible, it�s only difficult.
My Dad was born human. He chose
to leave all that behind him to become a Qard.
That�s the only reason I exist, because Qards and Humans aren�t fertile
together.�

�But, do you want it to happen? For us to be together?�
Was the kid trying to pass the buck back to him?

�It doesn�t really matter what I want, Kurt. My whole life runs on different rhythms than
yours. I can�t even make a long-term
stay as a friend without my having to deal with some serious bullshit in
schedule juggling. If I stay here, as
anything more than that, like in a relationship, then you will be caught up in
the middle. Most of the compromising
would have to be on you, and that�s not fair.�
Tears threatened, but he fought them.
�It can�t be up to me.
It�s not my life that would be turned upside down. Yours is the only decision that
matters. But� we�re both young. We can each try to work it out, or to find
someone else.� His voice choked up on
the last few words. He turned his head
away, losing the fight against the tears.

�Jerrin�� Kurt
stroked the dampness on Jerrin�s face, watching him shiver again. �You�re cold. Put your shirt back on.�
Jerrin wasn�t so certain that cold was the cause, but he put the garment
on anyway*. Kurt squeezed in close to
him, wrapping an arm around Jerrin�s waist, and accepting an answering hold
across his shoulders. �You�ve been
expecting this all along, haven�t you?�

Jerrin could only nod in return.

* * *

Kurt comforted his crying friend, and wondered. From the beginning, Jerrin had tried to
protect Kurt from himself, only to find that he couldn�t protect himself from
Kurt. And for all the thoughtless
violence of their couplings, he still harbored a crush for Kurt that he fully
expected never to be requited. But
below the friendship and confusion was a sense of responsibility that Kurt
couldn�t just ignore. When it really came
down to it, he was the reason Jerrin was in such pain.

He was trying hard to process all the things that Jerrin had
told him. He was an alien, Kurt could
deal with that. The intersexual stuff
was still surprising, although an incredible amount of the puzzle that was his
friend had been filled in by the knowledge.
He�d looked the word up last night and was almost sorry he had. And now this� His dad was born a human? The man in that family photo was a Qard,
with the ears, the twelve fingers, and all the other characteristics. About the only thing that marked him as
different from of the other three�s slightly greater androgyny was the trimmed
full beard, and a broader, more muscular build.

Just for fun, he wondered what would such a change do to him. Would he take on Qard characteristics, or be
able to disguise himself as Jerrin did?
And just how did Jerrin disguise himself? Of course, being a Qard meant Changing� He had a humorous image of Jerrin�s �Dad� as a bearded
woman� Then there was this thing about
schedules. From Jerrin�s reactions, it
was a real barrier� if he was seriously considering the possibility of Jerrin�s
offer, which he didn�t know if he was.
�What did you mean about schedules?�

�Huh? Oh� we have longer lives.
Like Tolkien Elves, kind of longer.
When we�re young, the rule of thumb is to multiply our developmental age
by three. In Terran calendar years� I�m
actually fifty one.� Kurt drew in a
sharp breath, and Jerrin hurried to explain.
�It�s not what you think. It takes
three calendar years for me to physically mature as a human would in one
year. So, imagine being four years old
for three years straight. Or seven, or
thirteen, or whatever.�

Kurt thought back. �You sounded so much more mature sometimes.�

�Physically, and emotionally, I�m a
teen� just like you. Can�t you tell
from the all the drama?� He gave a
shaky laugh. �But that�s a lot of years
to fill up. We�re encouraged to get
some college degrees after we finish secondary school.�

��Some� college degrees?� Did he really want to know? �How many?�

Jerrin gave a little smile. �Six.
I have two Masters and four Bachelors, plus intensive studies in several
other subjects, like music, and a dabbling in many others.�

�You could teach here if you
wanted.�

�And if they�d let me. But this is what I mean by schedules; in
twenty years, you�ll be pushing forty.
I�ll be almost twenty-five, and still considered a child by my people�s
standards. Twenty years after that, I
will be in my early thirties as a new adult, and you�ll be middle aged� It�s not a pretty ratio. When Mom was growing up, for every year she
spent living among humans, she spent two years� elsewhen, just to even out the
differential. But she wasn�t in a
relationship with anyone then. The implications
of that suck any way you figure it.�

�A long distance relationship, with
time being the barrier, instead of distance,� Kurt said. �Or if the partner goes with the Qard, then
the friends and family of the partner miss out on two-thirds of their lives.�

�You got it. It is the suck, period.� Jerrin looked down. �I didn�t say that to pressure you. Dad willingly gave up most of his human
ties. He was a grown man, a widower
with an only child that Mom was happy to adopt. He could just pack up and go, and so he did. I can�t ask that of you. You�re young, with years to go and a life to
lead before you�d have that kind of independence� and then there�s the
responsibilities you have to the X-Men.�

�Hypothetically speaking,
anyway.� Kurt had to agree, that really
did suck.

�I�m pretty sure that�s all it can
be, hypothetical.� The pain was back in
Jerrin�s voice, but he had the tears under control.

�What did he gain? What kind of life was worth that high a
price?�

�Longevity, first of all. Their marriage is many centuries old. Jo and I are just the youngest of their kids. I have full siblings who have
great-grandchildren. More importantly,
he has a never failing love, because they are tied together on every
conceivable level� emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. When they leave this life at some distant
point, it will be as they lived� together.
To me, that is what true love should be. Nothing less.�

�You have very high standards,� Kurt
said, �but I guess you learned from example.�

Jerrin sighed. �I have the time. I don�t have to settle for anything else.�

There was one more thing that Kurt
needed to know for now. Was the
attraction he remembered, the fierce passion, only because of the drugs, or
from something else, something that was uniquely Jerrin? �Jerrin.�
Silver eyes turned to him, and Kurt leaned forward before he lost his
nerve. The kiss caught Jerrin by
surprise, but he quickly warmed to it.
Kurt pressed his tongue forward, and his friend opened his mouth in response.

Electric sparkles whipped along
Kurt�s spine, from the warmth and the taste of the kiss. Jerrin moaned softly and that goaded his own
responses higher. Kurt didn�t stop
until he found himself clutching at Jerrin�s back, trying to pull him even closer. They leaned apart, and caught their breaths
in the aftermath. �Mein Gott.� Kurt had to adjust his trousers.

�Oh, wow.� So did Jerrin, apparently.

�Um. So. There is chemistry
between us.� He couldn�t stop
blushing. Kissing Amanda had never been
like that!

�That�s a damned thermonuclear
explosion, but I was already pretty sure of that. It�s, uh, nice to see the magic still works.� He took Kurt�s chin, and gently turned it to
face him. �So, here it is, flat
out. If you want me to go, I will. I�ll leave the planet, and I will never
return� not in your lifetime, if ever.
If you want me to stay, to be your friend� I can do that, I think. I may swap out a few years here and there,
because I�ll still be� looking for a mate.�

His silver eyes then turned molten
hot. �But if you want to make a go of
being together, I�ll find a way to make it work� to let you satisfy all your
responsibilities and still be with me.�
He let go, and gave him a quick buss on the lips. �The choice, like I said, is yours.�

Kurt leaned back for a while. �I need to think carefully about this, and
see what is right for me. It�s a lot to
decide, and I haven�t even called Amanda yet.
But please, stay in the meantime?�

Jerrin nodded, looking surprised
that Kurt was even considering it.

Kurt spoke softly. �I don�t know if I will give you the answer
you want. But please know this; I
wouldn�t want you to feel obliged to stay if it would break your heart. I would never want to cause you any more
pain than I already have.�

* A/N: Something about that line
brought this to mind� �I see you shiver, with antici�� (Say it!) �-pation. But maybe the rain, isn�t really to blame,
so I�ll remove�� (Your clothes!) ��the cause, but not the symptoms!� If you can�t place the quote, then shame on
you. It should be required viewing for
this fic: The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- 7
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- 9
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Innocent Of Evil