DISCLAIMER:
Excalibur and the X-Men are trademarks of Marvel Comics; Jenny (Sparks) belongs to DC/Wildstorm, while John Constantine belongs to DC/Vertigo. This story is an unauthorized work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copyright to me.

WARNING:
THERE IS EXPLICIT SEX IN THIS STORY. I marked this clearly in the header. The sex is graphic, but all loving and consensual (and not that much worse than a typical romance novel). If reading sex scenes like that would offend you, please don't read this.

NOTES:
This is a semi-sequel to "Consenting Adults," continuing Betsy's story.

For continuity freaks, this story takes place within my series some time after the 'Visit' to the X-men trilogy, sometime near the end of the 'Mysteries' subset (of which the Pryde&Wisdom/X-Files story is the first), and before any of the 'Rites and Wrongs' trilogy. More specifically, it occurs soon after the events of "The Simple Joys of Childhood".

BACKGROUND EXPLANATION:
I started this series soon after Excalibur #92 (Pete vs Pete), and have made no effort to keep this within more recent Marvel continuity. In particular, I am ignoring the whole Onslaught/Dark Xavier mess, and Dark Beast, also. Xavier in this story may be dark, but it's his own fault; I don't accept Onslaught as an excuse for Xavier to act like a jerk. I'm treating Logan as basically normal, I just don't feel up to writing feral Wolverine. I'm also ignoring Betsy and the Crimson Whatever. And I've also ignored a lot of little things Ellis has done with Pryde and Wisdom since then, not because I don't accept them (I revere Ellis as gospel), but because it would involve too much minor revision.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I'd like to thank Tina for inspiring this, and Lisa, Tina, Mark, Jac, Jon, Kathleen and the Apprentice for all their comments and suggestions.

MISCELLANEOUS:
This is one story in a series of loosely-plotted stories entitled "Idylls of the Cat" that are mostly Pryde and Wisdom, and the others' reaction to Kitty's new relationship. Most of the stories in the series are not action or adventure, they're mainly sex and/or conversations, like this one. Other stories in the series so far include

• The Day After the Night Before (Pryde&Wisdom)
• Vigil (Excalibur)
• Vigilance (Excalibur)
• Pulling their Fat out of the Fire (Excalibur/Hellblazer)
• Time Goes By (Excalibur)
• Bearing Tidings of Joy (Excalibur/Storm)
• You Can't Go Home Again (Excalibur/X-men)
• Close Encounters of the Lethal Kind (Excalibur/X-men/DV8/Hellblazer)
• Skeletons in the Closet of Memories (Excalibur/X-men)
• Warning: Good Habits May Be Hazardous to Your Love Life (Excalibur)
• What God Has Joined Together (Pryde&Wisdom/X-Files)
• Drugs, Spies and Videotape (Pryde&Wisdom/Puck/Rocky&Bullwinkle)
• Gehenna (Pryde&Wisdom/Logan)
• Strawberry Shortcake (Pryde&Wisdom)
• Getting the Chair (Pryde&Wisdom)
• Turning the Tables (Pryde&Wisdom)
• All Nice and Gift-Wrapped (Pryde&Wisdom)
• Some Enchanted Evening (Kurt/Amanda)
• Consenting Adults (Betsy/Logan/Jubilee)
• A Slice of Life, with Demon Garnish (Pryde&Wisdom/Hellblazer)
• Dark Reflections (Excalibur/Black Air)
• The Shadow of A Starless Night (X-men/Excalibur)
• The Glow of a Starlit Dawn (Pryde&Wisdom)
• The Glare of High Noon (Excalibur)
• Misplaced Pryde (Hellfire Club/X-Men/Hellions/New Mutants/Black Air/Excalibur)
• With Friends Like These... (Pryde&Wisdom/Gen-X/X-Men)
• Sheol (Kitty Pryde)
• Siberia (Peter Rasputin)
• SysOps (Pryde&Wisdom)

These stories can all be found on my own Fonts of Wisdom webpage at http://home.att.net/~lubakmetyk/, on the Idylls of the Cat page.

If you want to comment, send email to <luba@lubakmetyk.net>