Jubilation “Jubilee” Lee sauntered into the study area currently occupied by one Ms. Kitty Pryde, making her presence known by unceremoniously dumping her books onto the desk and depositing herself into a chair across from Kitty with a muted thud. “Ugh, am I the only one that feels an intense need to bathe after Frosty’s class?” huffed Jubilation “Jubilee” Lee, throwing her hands up in exasperation after suffering through yet another Biology II lecture given by the aforementioned Emma Frost.
“C’mon Jubes, she can’t be all that bad,” offered Kitty, smirking at her friend’s entrance complete with drama queen-esque flourish.
“That’s easy for you to say Pryde, you don’t have to put up with her and her yuck-factor.”
“Yuck-factor?” Kitty sometimes teased Jubilee about how she had a knack for practically formulating her own language and jokingly termed it “Jubilese” and this was a prime example of yet another new one.
“That’s right oh Phasing One, yuck-factor. She’s got this look about her like she’s taken one too many trips around the block with one too many drunken sailors,” Jubilee commented twirling a finger around in the air, “I mean I could get herpes or something just breathing the same air, plus she struts around this joint like she owns it, especially when Storm’s not around. I’m telling you if I were Storm I’d clock her.”
“Hmm, violent much Jubes?” Waiting for Jubilee and Peter so they could begin their cram session for their finals, Kitty welcomed a bit of distraction since her brain was nearing spontaneous combustion with all the studying she’d already been doing. Even though she loved learning about new things and ideas and found that it came pretty easy to her, a girl needed a break every now and again.
“Hey it’s my happy thought, fetch me some fairy dust and watch me fly.”
“Sorry I’m fresh out, although we both know Storm probably wouldn’t do that to Frosty,” Kitty shot back absently tapping her pencil on her Ancient Civilizations book.
“Maybe not in front of us, then again that’s why I said if I were Storm.” Jubilee gestured to Kitty by raising her hands up, spreading her fingers wide, and bobbing them up and down in Kitty’s face. “Read between the lines Smarty-Pants, between the lines.”
Kitty flipped her off feigning insult but she had to laugh at Jubilee’s mini tirade. Even though she did not have Emma Frost as a teacher, upon her first meeting with “Frosty” she felt that something was off about her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something about Emma just rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was because she seemed to have this uppity I’m-too-good-for-the-room and by-the-way-my-shit-doesn’t-stink quality to her or because she just didn’t seem like she even wanted to be there as if being at the Institute was a colossal waste of time. If it was, why the hell was she even here? The general student body got along with the rest of the adults for the most part and then there was the monkey wrench known as Emma Frost.
“Hey, do you remember when we had Dr. Grey for Genetics I?” Jubilee asked interrupting Kitty’s musings.
Thinking back with a smile on what she would’ve termed “the good ol’ days” or the “pre-Frosty invasion era”, Kitty replied “Are you kidding me? I still remember that in-class project where we had to make those models of DNA strands using gum drops and those little candy straws.”
“Yeah, that was great,” Jubilee said with a grin.
“It must’ve been, considering you ate our project,” Kitty recalled with mock annoyance trying to hide her amusement, “we had a perfect model too.”
“Hey I was hungry, besides Dr. Grey thought it was hilarious and she didn’t flunk us for it because she was cool like that. Try something like that with Frosty and it would be off with our heads,” Jubilee added running a finger across her throat imitating a cutting motion.
Truth be told both Kitty and Jubilee missed Jean, Scott, and Professor Xavier a great deal. Even after a year a feeling that something was missing still loomed in the air. They didn’t need to vocalize that to each other because they already knew how the other felt. Every now and again one of them would bring up fond memories about them. Jean was one of their favorite teachers along with Storm and some of the others because Jean wouldn’t make any of the students feel stupid no matter what question they asked and she was always available if anybody had a problem. The same sentiment was felt for both Scott and the Professor as well.
There was a beat of silence between the duo until Peter entered the room, a notebook and his Ancient Civilizations book carried in one large hand. “Sorry I’m late Katya, I was held up in the Danger Room with Wolverine, he was even more hardcore today if that’s possible.” He made himself comfortable as he settled his broad frame into the seat next to Kitty.
“It’s okay, I had some live entertainment.” Peter chuckled at Kitty’s reference to Jubilee knowing how “spirited” she tended to be.
Noticing the slight flush in Kitty’s cheeks at Peter’s presence, Jubilee decided to exact a small form of revenge after her friend’s little remark. On the other hand, she didn’t think it was revenge per se just more like speeding things along and Jubilee was always happy to help. Leaning forward, head innocently cocked slightly, chin resting on folded hands with her elbows on the desk, she began her attack. “What’s shakin’ tall, dark, ‘n massive? Kit-Kat here was just raving about how you look in your Xmen uniform.” Peter raised a curious eyebrow at that while Kitty shot her a look that told her to shut up or bear the wrath of God. Of course being Jubilee, that action only encouraged her further. “Mmmhhm that’s right and what was it that you said? Something about how ol’ Petey here’s in possession of godly thighs powerful enough to choke a mighty grizzly bear?”
If only they were upstairs then Kitty would at least be able to phase herself to the ground floor and away from all this. Sure she liked Peter, who wouldn’t? On the outside he seemed pretty intimidating just by sheer size alone. However, as Kitty got to know him more and more she found he was nice, sweet albeit a bit shy, very intelligent, and probably knew more about art than she thought any male ever could. Then there was her baser self that shouted *I’d rob the U.S. Mint if it meant I’d have an endless supply of quarters to bounce off that ass!* or something equally if not more shallow but unerringly true. Yet she wasn’t quite ready to disclose those details to him yet, particularly in front of the captive audience comprised of the one-woman broadcasting service known as Jubilee. Instead she decided to change the subject and fast. “Aaaanyway, Operation: Cram for Storm’s Final is officially in session, seeing as it’s my last year as a student I’d kinda like to pass.”
“Oh, wait!” Jubilee stood up abruptly causing her friends to startle a bit at her sudden movement, “Don’t start without me, I’ll go get us some snacks.”
That left Peter and Kitty all by themselves thanks to Jubilee’s trek to the kitchen. Why the hell all of sudden was Kitty nervous? It wasn’t as if she’d never hung out with Peter by herself before. *Reign it in, Pryde.* She had to think about something to talk about to ease her tension and pass the time until Jubilee came back no doubt with an armload of brightly colored, sugary/salty snacks.
“So how about that Danger Room, huh?” Peter just smiled at her knowing full well what she was trying to do. He figured he’d indulge her and let her off the hook, at least until a more opportune moment.
It was the end of the day, homework was collected, and classes were dismissed for the day. However the day seemed far from over for Ororo as she still had papers to grade and a final exam to prepare for her students. The fact that she had to use a considerable amount of effort to keep her eyes from closing at certain points during the day didn’t exactly help matters either. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she thought to herself, *That is the absolute last time I stay up that late…at least on a school night anyway.* Then again a bout of insomnia was not the only culprit behind her sleep deprivation.
As much as she almost didn’t really want to think about it, that kiss with Logan essentially blasted any chance she had of getting to sleep. It was nice she had to admit…okay it was better than nice. At certain points during the day, her mind drifted back to that moment. She remembered the warmth of his body, how it seemed to envelope her as well as how solid he felt beneath her fingers. She wondered what had gotten into him to kiss her or better still what possessed her to pull him closer. The more she thought about it, the more she came up empty. *Get a grip, it’s not like you’ve never kissed someone before.* That much was true, but that someone was never Logan. Besides in her mind she knew that for Logan, Jean was the end-all, be-all of female existence. They’d talk about her every now and again although she wouldn’t get too terribly personal, as it seemed to be a still healing wound she didn’t want to pick at only to bear witness as it bled. She recalled how fiercely he defended and fought for her upon her return. Sure she’d experienced a few and far between pangs of the green-eyed monster, but it was nothing she really paid attention to because it wasn’t a situation she thought she had business getting in the middle of. Now did it make her a bad person? Not necessarily, she was only human. Did that make her a bad friend to Jean and Scott? She questioned that herself a million and a half times over.
Ororo sighed audibly, “Oh, there’s so much to do, so much to do, and not enough hours in the day,” she said aloud to no one in particular. Maybe she was reading way too much into what happened, but she realized she’d have to have a conversation with Logan about it sometime. Kiss or no kiss, as far as she and Logan went, just friends, they were just good ol’ friends and teammates. *Sure, I can take that and fertilize the entire grassy expanse of the mansion grounds.*
Danger Room sessions were over for the day. Logan was by himself in the men’s changing room, hands braced on either side of the sink, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He spent a considerable portion of the day painstakingly berating himself for seemingly not being able to rid himself of thoughts of Ororo and the previous night. His frustrated mood spilled over into the Danger Room sessions because at one point he thought maybe he had pushed the students too hard today…..just maybe.
“Fuck,” he muttered to himself. “What the hell is your damn problem, bub? It’s only ‘Ro, it jus’ happened, it’s over, end o’ story.” Here he was, the mighty Wolverine acting like some pansy assed kid who’d never been kissed before. Through his musings he came to the realization that it wasn’t kissing Ororo that bothered him because he’d do it again. It was the odd way it made him feel that he couldn’t quite put a name to and he wasn’t sure that he even wanted to. Between sessions, his mind would wander and there were moments when he recalled the feel of her with an almost frighteningly intense fury that was beyond even him. It was also during those moments where brief thoughts of Jean would flash in his mind as well.
His last words to Jean were that he loved her, and he did. She was one of the few besides Marie that seemed to give two shits about him. He remembered when Jean first woke up in the med lab as well as when they were pawing at each other like there was no tomorrow. As good as it should’ve been, somehow it just…..it just felt off, almost wrong. Of course it wasn’t really Jean at the time what with that whole Phoenix mess. However when all was said and done, her heart was well and truly with Scott as much as he ignored that fact most of the time. Jean would never love him like that and he knew it, he figured he’d just revel in the few fleeting moments that they had shared before everything went to Hell. *Ignorance is bliss, eh?* “Grrr,” he let a low growl slip from him thinking that he was losing it for sure if he was being chastised by his own conscience.
The question that remained now was what was the deal with ‘Ro? What exactly had changed? Why didn’t she stop him? Why didn’t he stop himself? Why the hell was he reading so damn much into what happened? It was never this complicated when it came to Jean. *Well ‘Ro ain’t Jean asshole. ‘Ro doesn’t coddle you like yer an idiot, she has the balls ta get in yer face and give it to ya straight whether you like it or not, when ya think ya have her figured out, ya realize ya have no clue. ….. oh, and she’s fuckin’ gorgeous in that exotic kind o’ way….. *
He swore for the billionth time that day, gripping the edges of the sink so tightly that if he applied any more pressure it would surely give beneath his palms. If his conscience spontaneously materialized in front of him, he’d stab it.
*Yeah keep wishin’ fer it, might do ya some good ta kick yer own ass.*
Logan pushed himself away from the sink with an aggravated grunt. Shaking his head vigorously he rumbled, “This is stupid.” His brain was going a mile a minute with his thoughts scattered into a jumbled, barely coherent tangle. Both man and beast were thoroughly confused and they realized that they didn’t like it. Not. One. Damn. Bit. He stalked off deciding that he had to go find Ororo. He had to talk to her and he had to talk to her now.
