DISCLAIMER: Pryde and Wisdom, the X-men and Excalibur all are trademarks of Marvel Comics. DV8 all are trademarks of Image Comics. John Constantine and other Hellblazer-related characters all are trademarks of DC/Vertigo Comics. 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 profits from these characters. But this story is copyright to me.

WARNING:
THERE IS EXPLICIT SEX IN THIS SECTION. I marked this clearly in the individual section 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.

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

Part 2 Plans for the Day

Scott Summers and Jean Grey-Summers entered the kitchen of the Westchester mansion, expecting to be late, and to be ragged by the others for being late. They'd both overslept, and Scott was having a wonderful time pointing out to his usually equally conscientious wife that she'd been the one to telekinetically silence the alarm clock that morning at its first ring.

After they'd finally gotten up, Jean had ignored Scott's lame jokes and hustled him off to the mansion. While Excalibur was visiting, the usual cooking roster had been put by the wayside temporarily, all the better cooks drafted for repeat duty and all the more bizarre chefs relegated down to cleanup detail. Thus, even though she'd helped with breakfast the previous day and contributed to the picnic dinner as well, Jean was due to help cook breakfast again this morning.

She heaved a sign of relief when they found the kitchen still sparsely populated. Ororo and Betsy were there already, working on cutting up and setting out fresh fruit, omelet fixings and a selection of cereals and fruit juices. There was no sign yet of Rogue and Logan, the others who were supposed to help.

Scott was ordered to start coffee. Bishop and Gambit hadn't shown yet, which didn't matter since both were on dishwasher duty together with Angel and Iceman. There was a general feeling that better a few broken dishes and glasses than a general epidemic of upset stomachs behind those particular assignments. Warren was busy setting out plates and utensils under Betsy's stern eye, while Bobby Drake was also still unaccounted for.

None of X-Force were in evidence yet either, tending to maintain a slightly deviant schedule while staying in the mansion to avoid even worse overcrowding. Rahne and Douglock were both in the kitchen, their offers of help politely declined, while the rest of the visitors had not yet surfaced either.

Jean looked around the kitchen in surprise. Although they hadn't left a big mess behind the evening before, there had been numerous small debris from the picnic preparations which by mutual agreement had been left for final clean-up the next day. But the kitchen was absolutely spotless, cleaner than Jean could remember it being in a long time.

As she looked around in bemusement, wondering if she really was misremembering the state they'd left the kitchen in the previous evening, Jean caught Betsy watching her. Then she felt the mental equivalent of a delicate knock on her mind and Psylocke sent her a mental image of the elegant and fastidious Storm, up at the crack of dawn, dressed in her oldest and rattiest clothes, rubber gloves and a plastic apron, down in the kitchen furiously scrubbing the countertops and table and floor with an organic cleanser made by mixing pine oil and vinegar with hot water. Jean stared at Betsy incredulously, and got a confirming nod back from the purple-haired telepath.

Cyclops felt his wife's sudden disturbance and glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow in enquiry. "Ororo may not be accepting Kitty and Pete quite as fully as she promised to, last evening," Jean sent him mentally, adding the image of the regal Storm apparently disinfecting the kitchen of all traces of Kitty's and Pete's aborted extracurricular recreation the night before. Scott frowned in concern. As he glanced over at Ororo, wondering if they needed to talk to her again, he caught a further thought from Jean. "Let's wait and see what happens. We all know Ororo can be pretty finicky at the best of times. Maybe it's just something she needed to get out of her system, in private, or maybe it's something she would have done regardless of who'd been caught fooling around in the kitchen. She said she'd accept them, let's wait and see what happens today..."

Before either of them could pursue the matter further, a breathless Rogue came stumbling in, followed by Logan sauntering in with his arm around a slightly sheepish Kurt. Rogue was having trouble stifling her chuckles as she'd been listening to Logan mercilessly grilling his old buddy for details about life and love on Muir Island.

Normally, Kitty would be up early, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and eager for a new day. But, this morning, even she slept later than usual. Despite that, she was still ready to get up long before Pete was willing to contemplate that daunting prospect.

Wisdom hadn't slept well at all after they'd returned to bed, and he was still tossing around restlessly in a light doze. Woken up by feeling Kitty moving, he looked over to see her easing her way up off of the bed. He rolled over suddenly to pin her under him, growling "An' just where d' you think you're goin', Pryde?"

"Pete, it's after nine. C'mon, let me go and get up, we're going to be late for breakfast." But Kitty didn't phase out of his grasp. They went through this routine, with variations, every morning, Kitty being an early riser and Pete very definitely the opposite. She waited to see how the details would play out this time.

"I don't want to get up," Pete started predictably. "An' I don't want you to get up, I want you to stay here with me..." He was holding her down, his hands pinning her arms to the bed, letting his weight rest on her hips and legs, while he enhanced his argument by nuzzling his face into her hair right beneath her ear, nipping at the lobe and running his tongue around inside the delicate folds.

"We'll be late for breakfast," Kitty repeated, but Wisdom knew he'd won this morning just as soon as he heard that special little catch in her voice. "We never did get that snack last night, we got... interrupted, instead. Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, I ain't forgot we got interrupted, I ain't gonna forget that for a long time..." Pete started out sourly complaining, but his sense of triumphant satisfaction at her instant response to his advances was too great for him to keep his bad mood for long. Instead, a smug leer spread across his face as he continued, "An' you're right, Pryde, I am hungry for wot I got cheated out of last night..."

This morning's variation was becoming more and more clear to Kitty, who deliberately misunderstood his clear implication, responding pertly, "That's what I said, we need to get up or we'll miss breakfast."

"No gettin' up, no breakfast, an' especially no kitchen with your friends there." Pete said firmly. "An' food ain't what I'm hungry for." He slid down a bit to suckle at her breasts, first one side and then the other, feeling her squirm and arch up to meet his lips and tongue.

"You can't avoid either the X-men or the kitchen forever, you know," Kitty laughed at him, a breathless laugh, as he deliberately went about exploiting all her sensitivities which he'd come to know so well.

"I can avoid everythin' except you right now." Wisdom was enjoying playing the game out, even with the inevitable outcome not in any doubt. "So let's just stay here."

"We should get up for breakfast," Kitty insisted half-heartedly, still keeping up her devil's advocate role. "If we don't show up, Pete, everybody will think we're ashamed of last night, and I'm not." Wisdom watched the sudden rosy blush spreading from her face down to the tops of her breasts, suggesting she wasn't quite as comfortable about facing her friends again as she claimed. "After that, we can see what happens later, maybe get some time to be by ourselves..." But reminders of last night's embarrassment couldn't overcome surrender to this morning's temptation, as she became more and more aroused at her lover's practiced caresses.

Pete left off sucking on her erect nipples to kiss the soft valley between her perfect little breasts, the rough stubble on his chin tickling her as always. Kitty had to strain to hear his mumbling, as his words were muffled against her skin. "I tol' you, we're staying right here. I ain't dumb, an' I don't need to be hit over the head to learn me lesson. No more o' this spur-o'-th'-moment bollocks, anywhere, anytime... As long as we're here, no shaggin' except with closed an' locked doors between us an' the mad mutant hordes, 'til we get back home, where we're safe..."

"Since when do you think of Muir as home, Pete?" Kitty caught that little slip, even while getting aroused by the steady shower of kisses. "Or are you missing Moira and her coffee already?"

"Your lot tried to poison me with a perishin' good imitation of that Scots witch's brew at breakfast yesterday, which is another soddin' good reason to stay here..." Wisdom started out grinning at the memory, but then continued more seriously, "...and home is wherever you are, Pryde, you know that..."

That put a temporary halt to their sparring, as Pete covered his own embarrassment at accidentally expressing such a sentimental thought by leaning down to kiss Kitty deeply. She, in turn, responded eagerly, feeling those few touching words piercing the depths of her soul.

The kitchen door burst open again and Hank McCoy came bounding in, heading automatically for the coffeepot and then coming to an abrupt halt when he realized the coffee wasn't done and waiting for him. Just as Beast looked around the kitchen quizzically, finally noting the small attendance and the lack of already-prepared food, the door swung open again slowly, and Bobby Drake poked his head in. He made a great pantomime of searching the kitchen carefully from his safe vantage point, then sidled into the room and quite ostentatiously began opening cabinet doors and bending to peer inside. Then he glanced under the kitchen table, opened the refrigerator door suddenly, and snuck up to the pantry door and yanked it open, all in dead silence.

While Jean and Rogue, Kurt, Logan and Betsy, and even Scott smiled at his performance, Hank gazed at his longtime best friend in perplexity. After waiting for someone else to say something, Beast finally cleared his throat and enquired mildly, "Is there a particular item for which you are searching, my favorite perambulating freezer-box? For a moment, I had an intriguing image of you attempting to establish meaningful communication with your kindred spirit the refrigerator, but I fail to comprehend the common denominator of your seemingly random search pattern. I would have anticipated that our unaccountably belated sustenance would appear atop the counters, not within the cabinets. Or are you perchance searching for our missing teammates, as unaccountably delayed as our breakfast?"

"Shh, I'm just trying to make sure the X-men's own contribution to the Playboy Channel aren't gonna come tumbling down on us if I get up to get some sugar or a spoon or something." Betsy and Jean and Rogue all giggled at Bobby's comment, and Scott's frown of disapproval looked very much like a wry smile of amusement before he got his face back under control. Warren just looked sour and Nightcrawler's grin seemed vaguely embarrassed. Storm glared at Iceman, who smirked back unrepentantly.

"I fail to see the logical connection between my inquiry and your response, which appears even more of a nonsequitur than your typical dialogue." Hank glanced around the kitchen, noting the varying looks of amusement and disapproval with perplexity. "Is there some noteworthy occurrence of which I remain unaware which would elucidate the rather peculiar behavior I appear to be encountering this morning? And which, even further, may explain why a typically suitable and generous supply of comestibles are not prepared and awaiting to sate my long-postponed appetite?"

"I think most people are sleeping in a bit today," Scott said with a perfectly straight face. "So, were you working in your lab late last night? Until now, maybe?"

Beast gave a slightly guilty nod, expecting a lecture from Cyclops or Jean or Rogue about the need for adequate and regular rest periods, and was surprised when Rogue ignored his work habits and took up the tale. "Well, sugah, didn' 'cha hear th' smoke detector in th' kitchen goin' off really late, like way after midnight?"

Hank nodded again, in growing understanding. "Yes, I heard a faint sound and keying into the mansion's household computer system I was able to determine that it was, in fact, the kitchen smoke detector. But there were no accompanying signs of significant heat or fire and the alarm cut off almost immediately, so I saw no reason to interrupt my researches to investigate the matter further. Am I to hypothesize that the alarm awoke people, their disrupted slumber leading naturally to delayed arising this morning? Should I have investigated further? What triggered the alarm?"

"Kitty and Pete did," Betsy replied, with a wicked grin. Bobby and Rogue were starting to chuckle at the memory, and Jean and Scott, Kurt and Logan, were all hiding smiles themselves. "We all rushed to the kitchen, and found them there in... somewhat of a state of dishabille... To be more precise, Henry, and I know precision is dear to your scientist's mind and heart, we found him quite nude and her wearing just his shirt, both trying frantically to put out the fire..."

Bobby's laughter was getting noticeably louder, and spreading quickly to most of the others present, although Storm and Angel remained unamused. Hank sputtered, "But... just what could the ruffianly but inexplicably attractive Mr. Wisdom conceivably have been doing to our nubile young Shadowcat with his insufficiently analyzed and characterized hot knives that would set off the smoke detector? Of course, I realize there would be absolutely no credible possibility that he could hurt her if she stayed intangible, but one would hypothesize that she could not be of very much satisfaction to him in that untouchable state..." Anything else Beast may have planned to say was lost in gales of laughter, Iceman's the loudest of course, but Logan's guffaws a close second with Rogue and Betsy and Jean not far behind as even Cyclops tried to stifle his growing chuckles, unsuccessfully, as Hank's curiosity wilted under Storm's glare.

"They apparently... became distracted while preparing a late-night snack, and the food burned." Jean was laughing hard enough she couldn't speak, she just sent Hank the thought. "I don't think they were doing anything exotic with powers until Pete got mad and used his hot knives to silence the smoke detector but, if you can come with any interesting possibilities, I'm sure they would be quite willing to experiment..."

"I cannot easily conceive of either an appropriate experimental scenario or how to correctly define and structure adequate controls for any potential test series that might not prove significantly embarrassing both to the designated participants as well as to the impartial observer required by the scientific method." Nevertheless, Hank sounded quite intrigued by this new challenge to his expertise.

"Well, I didn't think Kitty's new acquisition acted very embarrassed last night. He seemed more irritated at not being able to return to the business at hand than anything else," Jean smiled.

"Embarrassin' is all in the mind, Jeannie." Logan grinned back. "Ya missed th' time ol' Chuck got himself rescued by the Morlocks after bein' attacked by a mob, an' Cal returned him t' the mansion all duded up punk- rock-style. Didn't turn a hair on his chrome dome, Charley didn't, at all th' jokes an' th' laughs, even when Sam recited him th' same lecture Chuck had just given Sam awhile back, just before a date with Lila Cheney, about needin' ta maintain certain standards in dress."

Rogue and Kurt joined in Logan's laughter, remembering the incident. Rogue continued with the story, "Yeah, we were in th' danger room playin' tag, an' Fuzzy Elf an' Logan an' Kitty were creamin' Sam's team real good, 'specially since Peter kept getting himself tagged by mistake..." Her amused drawl trailed away, as had been happening more and more whenever Peter Rasputin's name came up in conversation, then strengthened as she went on, "An' Wolvie's right 'bout it dependin'... Ah mind when Pipeline sent us t' Genosha, Logan an' me, all our duds got left b'hind, an' we was so busy fightin' th' Magistrates that it didn' bother me none 't all..."

"But it did bother you that time you and Allison were fighting over Longshot, and you crashed through the wall while Peter was painting me." Betsy reminded Rogue with a wicked smile, trying to bring Colossus back into the conversation naturally at a telepathic prompt from Jean.

Rogue got the same mental prod from Jean, to try to treat Peter just as one of the group, as in the past. "Seein' ya in th' buff in all your glory, even with Petey Pureheart, wasn't what freaked me, Bets, it was y'all catchin' me makin' a silly idiot o' myself feudin' with Dazz that embarrassed th' livin' daylights outta me." Rogue and Betsy both smiled at the recollection of Longshot's seemingly magical ability to get all the ladies mooning over him.

"I would not equate the Professor needing to borrow and wear somewhat inappropriate clothing, or Rogue and Wolverine having to fight unclothed, or Betsy posing for Peter, with the activities apparently interrupted in this room last night." The temporarily-powerless Storm had been away in Africa during the first incident mentioned, so it didn't bring back any pleasant memories for her, and any mention of Callisto tended to upset her just as much as slighting references to Rasputin or approving mentions of Wisdom. Ororo had also been the only X-woman to be apparently immune to Longshot's appeal, and had seldom joined in the others' high-spirited hijinks, in Australia or elsewhere.

"Since when does a bit o' skin bother ya so much, 'Ro?" Logan asked. "Seems t' me, I remember when we all first came t'gether here, you went skinny dippin' in th' pool an' couldn't understand why ya needed ta bother with whatcha called 'a few brief scraps o' fabric'... an' ya blew off Emma's White Queen getup awful fast when ya chased her mind out o' ya an' got back inta your own body, ya sure seemed a whole bunch happier buck naked back then than wearin' her sexy duds..."

"And you didn't seem to mind all the skin on display at Hotbods after the first few moments, Ororo," Betsy added snidely. "Dazzler tipping that stripper to dance with you was certainly money well spent..." The dignified and regal Storm obviously didn't like being reminded of those past incidents, frowning around at both the reminiscent smiles and the hooting laughter from Beast and Iceman, as Betsy continued relentlessly, "and I seem to recall one time you interrupted my bubble bath, by landing in the tub with me..." The chuckles were all growing into guffaws by now.

"So, how 'bout ya, fuzzy?" Rogue was tactfully trying to turn attention away from Ororo. "Anythin' int'restin' ya wanna share with th' group? C'mon, 'fess up, now..."

"I am torn between several equally embarrassing memories," Kurt was grinning widely, white fangs gleaning against blue fur as his golden eyes sparkled with humor. "Perhaps the time Kitty and Lockheed and I intruded upon Colonel Fury and his Contessa Valentina in precisely the same state in which we found Kitty and Herr Wisdom last night..." He had to raise his voice to continue, to be heard above the laughs that image conjured, "...or the time Illyana accidentally conjured the Well in the Center of Time, and I fell in, and was accused of being the Great Boggie, then worshipped as the Big Daddy of all the Bamfs, then had to fight Dark Bamf with the help of big and little Lockheed and Pirate Kitty and Mean..." with a meaningful look at the grinning Wolverine, which inspired fresh gales of laughter. "And Kitty and Illyana kept trying to recover me, and one time they managed to recover only my costume, leaving me behind to face Jinjav Sabree in a most embarrassing condition..."

As the mirth gradually subsided again, Kurt looked at Logan. "And your embarrassing moment, mein freund?"

"Dunno fer sure, fuzzy elf," Logan replied with a smirk. "Mebbe th' time I took ya up t' Canada with me when I was tryin' ta make peace with Mac an' Heather, an' Snowbird spooked ya an' ya climbed up me like a tree an' I ended up wearin' ya like a turban..." Kurt grimaced appreciatively at how neatly Logan had turned his effort to pass on the limelight right back at him, as Logan concluded to an appreciative audience. "But ya know, I kinda liked th' time when BoomBoom dropped a coupl'a her time bombs down Drake's shorts, after the joker king iced up th' bathroom fer her." Bobby sputtered a wordless protest in turn, as everybody else laughed.

After a few moments, Wisdom raised his head again and looked down at Kitty's flushed face. "So, it's settled, then? We stay here an' forget breakfast for now?"

"You're just so sure you can convince me to do that?" Kitty asked, although his mouth trailing even more kisses down her neck and chest was making a pretty good job of it.

"Wot, you want I should make you stay?" When he lifted his head, she could see that Pete had a devilish glint in his deep blue eyes that sent a shiver of anticipation down Kitty's spine.

"And how are you going to do that?" She challenged him, intrigued by the new twist to their familiar routine.

"I'll show you..." he grinned back, "...if you promise to wait here for me for just a minute..." At her skeptical look, his grin got wider, just before he put on a pathetic begging expression. "Please, Kitty..."

He knew she couldn't resist that unprecedented plea, and he got up leaving her lying on the bed. Bending over to root around in the pile of discarded clothes on the floor by the bed, Wisdom grabbed the tie Kitty had been using as a belt the night before, muttering a curse as he barely avoided a swipe of Lockheed's claws as Kitty's dragon growled wordlessly at him from his sleeping nest in yesterday's dirty clothes, then walked over to their bags to get another identical tie from his clothes stash.

He came back to the bed and was pleased to see that Kitty hadn't moved, but was indeed still lying there waiting for him. Pete smiled to himself. He'd known her curiosity would insist she find out what he had in mind. Wisdom stood there for a moment, looking down appreciatively at the view, smiling as Kitty shifted her body subtly in unspoken invitation. Then he carefully lowered himself onto her in the exact same position as before, holding her hips and legs down with his weight as he reached up to begin knotting one of the ties around her right wrist.

As he wrapped the other end of the tie around the headboard, Kitty asked him, "Are you kidding, Pete? You know I can phase out of that in a fraction of a second."

While he tied her other arm up above her head the same way, Wisdom nodded. "Yeah, I know that, love. 'Course you can do that, anytime. But that would spoil the game, an' I was kinda hoping you'd want to play along with me here..."

"You mean, like pretend?" As soon as he'd started knotting the first tie around her wrist, careful to tighten it enough that she could feel some pressure but not so tight as to pinch or cut off her circulation, Kitty began to feel some of that same tingling sense of anticipation and debilitating flood of arousal she'd felt the day before when Pete had collared her with his belt. "Even though it can't be for real?"

"It should never be for real, love, it should always be just a game." Pete replied, in a more serious tone, which then lightened up again as he grinned down at her. "It's just, with your powers, it's even more obvious it's naught but a game. So, you want to play, or not?"

The day after their return from the Dream Nails base, after their first night together, he'd found out to his immense gratification that Kitty's sexual curiosity was as strong as her curiosity in other, more intellectual arenas. Now, as he'd hoped and expected, she smiled back at him as she relaxed on the bed with her arms still tied up over her head. "I always like to learn new things, and I've enjoyed everything else you've ever shown me, so I guess I'll play along with you, for now..."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Pete had shifted himself slightly to one side, where he began kissing and licking and nipping his way up the velvety soft skin on the underside of her right arm, feeling her twitch at the combination of the warm wetness of his mouth and the unavoidable tickling from the surrounding stubble.

He'd just pulled his weight up to press a kiss into the palm of her hand, which he'd tied facing upward and which she'd kept held open in mute invitation, enjoying the feathery touch of her fingers stroking his face in return, when he heard her mutter, "It's not fair, though..."

Wisdom reared back to stare at her in consternation, but he saw only laughter in her sparkling brown eyes. "What's not fair, love?"

Kitty smiled up at him impishly, even as her body strained upward trying to restore more contact between them, feeling herself held back by his ties on her wrists, and finding herself aroused by that constraint. "It's not fair I'm on the bottom again, and you're running the show again. You promised, Pete, you promised me yesterday I'd get my turn..."

"An' you did, yesterday afternoon, when we was cleanin' up after you shoved me into the pool," Pete grinned back. "But, yeah, I remember, I did promise you that... So, tell you what, love, you indulge me this time, an' we'll do whatever you want next time." Kitty nodded happily without any further argument and, shifting his weight to her left and dropping his head to repeat his attentions on her other arm, Pete missed the dangerous gleam in her eye as she suddenly decided exactly what she'd do to him when it came to be her turn. And, given their average behavior, that time would come quite soon.

As he reached her left palm to kiss it also, while trying to decide what next, Wisdom heard a low growl he knew he hadn't made, and glanced up to find himself nose to nose with Lockheed, glaring at him from a perch on the headboard right on the knotted tie holding Kitty's left arm. Pete's irritation boiled over and he grabbed the little dragon tightly, yelling "Ow, you rotten purple rat," as he rolled off Kitty and the bed to head for the door.

Kitty called out, "Be careful... Lockheed, Pete, don't fight..." as she craned her neck awkwardly to see what was happening. "What're you doing?"

"I'm sick t' death o' everybody spyin' on us all the bloody time, even this soddin' little plonker," Pete tossed back at her over his shoulder as he carried the struggling Lockheed away. "I don't want 'im tellin' tales on us like that silly little twit yesterday morning an' besides, the stupid git just bit me bleedin' finger..."

As Kitty dissolved in giggles, he yanked open the door to the hallway and threw the little dragon out. Unfortunately, Bishop was just passing by on his way to breakfast, and got an eyeful of a skinny and naked Wisdom right before an irritated Lockheed thumped him right in the face. Bishop heard the door slam and the lock turn just as he automatically reached up to grab the flailing Lockheed, who promptly bit him also, before launching himself up off the big black man to fly away down the hall.

"Pete, you know Lockheed can't talk," Kitty got out through her laughter, as Wisdom returned to the bed. "I swear, I don't know why you keep pretending he can..." The rest of her comment was lost as Pete dropped back down on her to kiss her deeply.

She lost her train of thought as he bent to lick and nip and kiss her neck and chest above her breasts and her belly below, not touching her breasts directly yet, even as he mumbled, "Yes, he can, an' I'm goin' to prove it t' you, some day..." But neither of them felt much like pursuing further conversation right now. Both the bondage and their horseplay had aroused them to fever pitch, and there was an unspoken mutual agreement to get back to other kinds of games they played with each other.

Pete smiled as Kitty tried to wriggle around to get her breasts under his mouth, unable to use her hands to just pull his head where she wanted him, and then he laughed at her wordless cry of complaint when he slid all the way down the bed to sit at her feet. He took one of her feet in his hands and began rubbing it, the sole and the arch and playing with her toes, before tickling her, which made her cry out and phase her foot out of his grasp in surprise. Wisdom laughed up at her, "That's cheatin', love," then it was his turn to jump when he felt her other foot running sensuously up and down his back.

Pushing on her legs to arrange them as he wanted, bent with her feet on the bed and knees up and apart, Pete began working his way up her right leg, kissing and nibbling at the inside of her leg as his hand kneaded and caressed the outside. He started at her ankle and got up to her knee, then turned to do the same on her left side.

Kitty was moaning already, quietly, biting at her lip as she thrust her hips up off the bed toward Wisdom, pulling at his ties holding her arms as she tried to shift her body downward on the bed to get nearer him. She expected him to move upward now, to reach her thighs or her breasts, and was surprised to hear him tell her to turn over. She couldn't, for a moment, since she'd moved enough to pull the ties taut, until he put his hands around her waist and helped her shift upwards and roll over. Her arms were crossed under her now, with less slack in the ties in this position, and she was held more firmly, but Pete had measured carefully and Kitty wasn't unduly strained in her restraints.

After he'd made sure she was comfortable, as comfortable as she could be in her current state of frustrated arousal, Pete massaged her shoulders and the back of her neck, pushing her hair up out of the way, kissing and nipping at her skin wherever his hands weren't, working his way downward and throwing in quite a few long licks the length of her back that made her shiver and moan more loudly, as she squirmed under him, her buttocks rubbing against his erection enticingly.

Wisdom stopped at her waist and lifted himself up to sit at her feet again. Hearing Kitty's muffled cry of "Pete, come back here..." in protest at the sudden loss of contact, he chuckled as he watched her squirm around trying to spot him over her shoulder, explaining "Sorry, love, but it's your own fault. You wrigglin' your bum around like that was goin' t' set me off, an' I don't want us to be done too quickly..."

He couldn't resist tickling the soles of her feet again, grunting as he got kicked for his efforts, chuckling as he heard Kitty mumble "Well, you're the one told me not to phase..." Getting serious again, Pete ran a gentle hand along one of her legs, murmuring, "Ok, love, no more ticklin', relax..." When Kitty lay mostly still again, except for her frequent and involuntary squirming, he bent to nibble and suck his way up the back of her legs, first one side and then the other. He didn't stop at her knees as before, but kept going higher, this time stopping just below her pert buttocks which he then smacked lightly as he said, "Don't just lay there, Pryde, turn over again..."

His hands on her waist helped her roll over again, where he could enjoy the sight of her flushed face. As he hovered above her, propped up on one elbow while running a hand over her breasts lightly, Kitty arched upward into his touch, her weight on her shoulders and hips since she'd raised her legs to wrap around him, begging softly "Please, Pete..."

He never could resist her pleading, so he bent down to kiss her mouth for a good long moment, before lowering his head to nip and suck at the rock-hard nipples. Kitty sighed at first, his lips and teeth and tongue soothing the aching need in her breasts much better than rubbing them against the bedlinen had, but she soon started gasping and twisting her hips against him, another part of her body demanding satisfaction.

Heeding her frantic pleas, Wisdom slid down between her wide-spread legs. Pausing to spend a few moments nibbling and licking at her inner thighs, his mouth finally reached her center and provided the stimulation she was so desperately ready for. Kitty exploded as soon as his tongue probed between her lower lips to touch her pleasure center, and he had to hold her bucking hips firmly to keep her in position for him to continue his attentions until he felt her body go lax in release.

Pete rested his head on her stomach, as he waited a few moments for her to recover, until he heard a low breathless giggle at his stubble tickling her as he nuzzled gently at her navel. Then he lifted himself to look up at Kitty's face. She smiled back at him dreamily as she stretched out as far as the ties allowed, murmuring "But what about you, Pete?" while she lifted a leg to run her foot along his back and hip gently.

"Don't worry about me, love, that's the next bit in me plan." Pete leered back at her. "Now, turn over again..." Still drained from her orgasm, Kitty needed his help again to turn back over onto her stomach, wondering muzzily what he had in mind. Then she felt his hands pushing her legs far apart, right before one hand began working between her legs to arouse her again while his other hand and his mouth roved over her small, firm buttocks.

Expecting him to tell her to turn over yet again when she felt his hands shift back to grasp her waist, Kitty instead heard Pete's ragged "Up, love, get up now..." as he pulled her up onto her elbows and knees. Then he drove into her from behind, easily, wet as she was, while he bent to nuzzle at her back as he brought his hands around to play with her breasts. She began coming again as soon as she felt him within her, and he drove to his own climax at the same time.

Kitty collapsed onto the bed in a heap with Pete atop her, mumbling his love into her ear as they both lay there gasping. It was several minutes before she felt Pete reaching up to fumble at the ties knotted around her wrists, and phased herself free, to turn over and wrap her arms around her lover as they cuddled together a while longer.

The kitchen was getting more crowded now, as Colossus and Gambit had come straggling in for breakfast. Rasputin began filling a plate with no more than a silent nod at the others already present but, having heard the laughter when he pushed the door open, Gambit asked, "W'at all de fun be 'bout, mes amis?"

Betsy controlled her giggles long enough to explain, "Inspired by last night's minor little debacle, we are all comparing and contrasting our most embarrassing moments, Remy." With a knowing smirk, she added, "And what particular incident would you like to contribute?"

Gambit instantly bowed toward Rogue with a flourish and a grin. "Hittin' dis mos' beautiful an' kind lady in de sweet face wit' a charged blueberry pie she spent hours makin' f'r me wit' her own li'l hands..."

"Ah tol' ya 'fore, Cajun, it was boysenberry." Rogue smacked LeBeau's bent head lightly amid fresh gales of laughter as she continued, "An' Ah woulda 'xpected Bella Donna showin' up outta th' blue like she did a few minutes later woulda been more embarrassin' f'r anyone with any couth."

Jumping in quickly to distract them both from yet another rerun of an old fight, Logan asked, "Ok, who wants t' go next? How 'bout you, Cyke? Any embarrassin' moments ya'd like t' share? Or are ya too blamed perfect t' ever mess up?"

As a surprised Summers gulped too much coffee and started coughing, Drake jumped in. "You mean, besides his mooning over Jeannie for ages and ages and ages before telling her how he felt?" Cyclops choked once again as Iceman's comment reminded him of some more recent incidents when he'd been mooning over Psylocke and Jean had caught him thinking of that other beautiful woman.

Then the normally straight-laced leader went into a veritable spasm of wheezing and gasping at the mental smack administered through their mental rapport by his wife, who Scott still wasn't sure had completely forgiven him. While Hank pounded on his old friend's back helpfully, staggering Cyclops physically as well as mentally, Gambit grinned, "Mebbe when Ah fin' y'r T'ree Stooges videos, mon brave?"

Amid more howls of laughter and several requests to borrow Scott's favorite viewing, Kurt turned to McCoy. "And you have not yet described your most embarrassing moment, mein freund."

Beast adopted a pensive posture quite reminiscent of Rodin's Thinker, perched on a clear portion of kitchen counterspace. "I find it difficult to choose between the zestful football game when the errant pigskin came to an unintended but otherwise perfect touchdown in the Professor's lap and Gambit and Angel and Jubilee and I were unable to stop our concerted rush in time to avoid a multi-body collision with our honored mentor, and the equally zestful baseball game with our young colleagues-in-training when Bishop and Banshee and I became entangled with the human playdough aptly entitled Skin..."

Warren had been listening from the sidelines for a long time, and finally joined in the spirit of the morning. "Definitely the football game, Hank... Remember the Professor presiding at Thanksgiving dinner later that day with his face all covered with bandaids?"

The kitchen door opened again, and Bishop came in. Everybody was already in a silly mood from the ongoing conversation, and the sight of Bishop quite seriously sucking on his right index finger set the crowd off again. Casting a disapproving look around, Bishop ended by glancing at Beast as he removed the finger to ask, "Would you perchance know, McCoy, if the bite of that small flying creature happens to be poisonous?"

A wave of laughter crested with several demands for an explanation, which Bishop was quite willing to satisfy. "I was proceeding normally through a quiet hallway, on my way here for a belated breakfast before getting back to my usual training schedule. Then, without any warning, our suspicious British visitor opened their door and unaccountably threw the irritated creature directly at me before slamming and locking the door, resulting in several combat injuries as I attempted to protect my face from attack by tooth and claw..." The rest of his tale was lost in riotous commotion, and those close enough noticed several fresh scratches on his arms and hands.

After a few moments, the din died down sufficiently for Betsy to ask, "Are they coming along to join us for breakfast?"

"Wisdom at least did not appear to be quite prepared for a public appearance in the near future, here or elsewhere, unless he normally makes a habit of appearing unclothed in public." Bishop sounded even more disapproving than his usual frowning self as he nursed his sore finger.

"Nah, he's just making a special effort for this visit." That provoked a new wave of laughter, as Logan traded grins with Kurt.

"Ok, that means they're gonna miss breakfast for sure," Iceman sighed, with a hint of jealousy in his tone. "How about that as an experiment, Hank -- how long two people can survive on love alone?"

"Y'know, sugah, it's kinda sweet how ya got so worried 'bout them missin' dinner yesterday, an' breakfast now." Rogue had a mischievous leer on her face. "But Kit's Pete sure seems t' care more 'bout gettin' some good lovin' in than 'bout stuffin' his face, which may explain why he's got th' gal an' ya don't..."

While a grinning Beast gave Rogue a careful high-five amid even more mirth, Ororo spoke up. "But he is correct. They certainly should not go hungry if they are late. I will wait for them and prepare them breakfast whenever they do finally arrive here." Seeing Jean and Scott, Logan and Kurt all looking at her skeptically, she adopted an expression of bland innocence. "I merely intend to take this opportunity to visit with them and extend my acquaintanceship with Mr. Wisdom while preparing a properly healthy meal, of which you all must admit he appears to be in some need."

Somehow doubting whether Ororo's offer was quite as sincere as she made it sound, Logan changed the subject. "So, Bish, we were comparin' embarrassin' moments. What's yours?"

Bishop had become distracted by Betsy wrapping a bandaid around his finger. As he stood mute in surprise at the question, Rogue glared at him and Gambit both. "Ah blame him f'r ruinin' my boysenberry pie jus' as much as Ah blame that slimy Cajun."

Rogue having brought up that incident several times in the past, Bishop automatically protested, "I was just an innocent bystander, Rogue, you must remember that. And I only laughed at you afterwards because Gambit instructed me to do so..."

As Rogue sputtered in amused outrage, Bobby sniped, "Bet Mr. perfect Bishop won't admit to ever being embarrassed."

With a perfectly straight face, Bishop replied, "Very well, then, if you insist, I would say... the time I threw a snowball at you, Storm, and you buried me in an entire avalanche of snow in return." He glanced over at Ororo to see the hint of a reminiscent smile lightening her face.

"An' whit aboot ye, Peter?" Rahne asked timidly amid the renewed guffaws, hoping to bring the silent young Russian into the conversation.

As Colossus sat mute at the table, Cyclops tried to fill the awkward silence. "Well, I can remember lots of times our invulnerable friend's costume didn't survive attacks as well as he himself did, so he should sympathize with his teammates' condition last night..."

Logan tried to cover Scott's faux-pas, right before Betsy opened her mouth for the same reason. "Nope, Cyke, I reckon it woulda been back when Allison gussied him up all gorgeous with her makeup so Petey could go out drinkin' with us boys in his steel form... remember, Rogue, Betsy, when those dumb aliens invaded Australia?"

There was some forced laughter, until Storm interjected, "I would have said, when I found him and Kitty kissing in my attic long ago..."

Before the others could recover from that crass reminder, Peter stood up suddenly and said, "You are all in error. It was pouring my heart out to Kitty wondering if I'd made a mistake about Zsaji, and then discovering Kitty had slipped away without my knowledge and I'd bared my soul to one of Arcade's X-bots..." He turned and left the room, leaving a sobered crowd behind.

Cyclops set down his coffee and got up to follow, remembering they'd agreed at dinner the day before that they all needed to try to get Peter to open up and talk, and hoping this would be a good opportunity. But he was stopped by Jean's hand on his arm and by her thought, "Wait, Scott. Let me try first. I know we said we'd talk to him together, but he may feel we're ganging up on him. You can talk to him later, when we're out shopping. The mansion will be more peaceful then, and we may do better talking to him separately. At the very least, it'll give us two chances instead of just one." As Cyclops paused, and then nodded at his wife's suggestion, she smiled at him and said, "You can take the Professor's tray in to him in the meantime, and let him know I'm with Peter. I'll stay in touch with both of you, so you can see how it goes."

"Peter, please, wait." Jean called after the retreating Colossus, who thought about pretending he hadn't heard for just a moment but then realized the futility of such a ploy with a telepath of her power. He slowed down, reluctantly, until Jean caught up to him and drew him gently into an empty room nearby.

She pushed him down into a seat, and sat down herself facing him. "What's wrong, Peter? It's obvious to all of us that something is bothering you, something more than just all the terrible things you've gone through recently. Did something else happen after you left here, before you got to Muir?" Feeling his recoil, Jean pressed him further. "Or after you got to Muir? Kurt said you were shocked to find Kitty with someone else. Did something else happen after you got to Muir?"

"Nothing happened, Jean, no matter what you may have thought or heard. A minor misunderstanding, that was all..." But Jean didn't pay much attention to his words, as she watched him fidgeting nervously. Feeling her husband reach Xavier's office with the breakfast tray and hearing him fill the Professor in, she easily brought her teacher and mentor into her mind so he and Scott both could see and hear Colossus as she did, and sense her suggestion that they might want to question Kurt or Moira again, soon.

"I can't believe that, Peter." Jean stared at him intently, hoping the mere suggestion she might use her powers would cause him to reveal more, and not force her to make the difficult moral choice. But he was so open and vulnerable she couldn't help picking up vague impressions of rage and violence and darkness even before she decided to probe. "We haven't heard anything, from Moira or Kurt or Kitty or Pete. But I can't help worrying about you. I remember your thoughts, your anger and your hurt when Illyana was dying and you weren't with her. I thought you would kill Fitzroy, Peter, or anyone else who got in your way back then. You even attacked Archangel, remember? I tried to talk you down, so did Warren, and Bishop even, but you didn't want to listen to any of us. Right now, I can sense those same intense feelings bottled up inside you again."

"Are you surprised, Jean?" Rasputin's voice was bitter. "I should have been here for her, I should have stayed with her. Our parents had just been killed, and I'd promised Illyana I'd take care of her, I'd never let anything happen to her. And then I was not here, and the Professor did not let me know she was dying, and I returned to find her gone."

Even as Jean murmured "I know how hard losing family is, Peter. My sister Sarah was taken by the Phalanx, remember?" she couldn't help the strong feeling that there was something else, something more bothering Peter than all the losses and traumas that the X-men knew about.

Probing very lightly, she found the guilt she'd expected, but tied not only to Illyana dying at the mansion, but also to Illyana in Siberia, when the X-men had stopped there to allow Rasputin to visit his parents and sister, to allow him to tell them about finding and losing Mikhail in person. Jean hadn't been with that group but Scott had, and she sent him an insistent demand to open all his memories of that stopover to her, worried that Rasputin would sense a deeper probe of his own thoughts.

As she continued murmuring soothing platitudes to the moody young Russian, Jean picked through Cyclops' recollections with a speed born of long practice, stopping abruptly at a mental picture of Illyana trapped in a small chamber of some kind, screaming for help, as Peter turned away from her. "The government was going to genetically evolve her to be old enough to use her powers against the Soul Skinner," Scott sent in quick explanation. "And that was when Peter went off to get the other children of the town, when he realized Psylocke could use their innocence to defeat the Soul Skinner. But we stopped the process in time, and Illyana seemed just fine when we released her..."

Xavier had been following the rapid exchange of thoughts and memories and joined the mental conversation. "But she first became ill immediately afterward, when you brought her back here."

Cyclops caught the clear implication. "Could that process have been responsible for her contracting the Legacy virus?"

"We know so little about Legacy, even after all this time." Xavier's frustration at the continued lack of any progress was easy to read in his thoughts. "We don't know how it spreads, or why some mutants get it and others do not, even if in regular contact with those infected. It is not inconceivable that exposing Illyana to such a genetic evolution process could have caused or at the least contributed to her illness. I will ask Hank and Moira to investigate further..."

Jean had a more immediate, personal concern. "But, more importantly, could Peter think that process was responsible for her contracting Legacy, whether it was or not? So he might feel that he was responsible for her contracting Legacy, by not halting the process when he had the chance, but giving his priority to stopping the Soul Skinner first?"

"He never asked us about the possibility, at the time or since, so it probably has not occurred to him. Peter was quite distracted at the time, having just learned of his parents' death from the Soul Skinner making him relive their murderers' memories." Xavier sounded quite sure of himself, but Jean and Scott shared their doubts with each other through their link.

Bringing her full attention back to her body, Jean could easily tell that Colossus was lost in thoughts of his young sister, the final loss which had pushed him to reject Xavier and the X-men at her funeral. "We all know you're hurting, Peter, and we want to help." She reached out to lay a hand on his arm, which Rasputin shrugged off roughly, letting her feel his irritation at the others always assuring him they knew just what he was going through, as well as his conviction that none of them could understand the true depths of his suffering. But Jean persisted. "It's understandable you would want to turn to Kitty, since she's your last remaining link to Illyana and the old days. When I... came back, all I wanted was to recreate the original X-men, to have things back the way they used to be before everything went wrong..."

Before Jean could continue, Colossus interrupted her. "I do not need Katya to remind me of Illyana. First, I would never forget my sister but, also, I am absolutely certain she will return one day." Jean stared at him incredulously, but Rasputin did not register her shocked expression as he went on, in a perfectly calm, level voice. "You died, Jean, several times, yet here you are, hale and hearty. We thought the Professor died, more than once, yet he is here now. Storm died, apparently, twice, but she is fine. Everyone thought the X-men died in Dallas, but we hadn't. We thought Cable died destroying Stryfe, but he returned. Even I seemed killed several times, but always survived. And I cannot even count all the villains we thought dead who return again and again like plagues of locusts. I killed Riptide, Jean, with my own hands down in the Morlock tunnels. Then I saw him standing in front of me, alive and well, some time later. Death is not an absolute for us, Jean, nor need it be for Illyana."

Jean couldn't refute any of Peter's examples, but she also could not seriously believe he actually thought the X-men somehow could count on resurrection. She had trouble coming up with words to challenge Colossus, however, because his attitude was so unexpected and surprising and because she was busy transmitting her view of the conversation to Cyclops and the Professor in Xavier's study, and trying to cope with their amazement as well as her own.

Peter ignored her, as he kept talking to himself in a musing way. "Do you remember, Jean, when we thought Mikhail had killed himself and the remaining Morlocks? You were the one who found me sitting alone in the kitchen in the middle of the night, after I'd called Illyana to tell her I wasn't coming, I wasn't bringing her the surprise I'd promised. You tried to comfort me then, and the irony is, it wasn't even necessary... Mikhail hadn't died after all. Although it might have been better if he had, from what Ororo told me of what he'd done to the Morlocks, once she finally got around to telling me he was alive after all..."

At Xavier's mental prompt, Jean interrupted Colossus, saying bluntly, "Illyana is dead, Peter. You saw her, you were at her funeral..." As he shook his head in silent rejection, she began speaking softly but firmly. "Illyana is dead, Peter, as is Thunderbird. They're dead and they're not coming back. Neither are Rusty Collins and Mariko Yashida and Candy Southern and Sharon Friedlander and your parents and my sister Sarah..." Her voice caught at that last name.

"Most of those you mention are merely humans, Jean. Of course they are not coming back." And Jean realized Colossus' time among the Acolytes might have affected him more than he or any of them realized, as she set herself to patiently attempt to convince him of the many errors in his confused thoughts.

After a brief rest, Kitty and Pete got up and took a quick shower together before getting dressed to go find a late breakfast. As they left the room, Lockheed came flying down from wherever he'd found to wait, to perch on Kitty's shoulder. He growled and leaned out to swipe at Wisdom's head with a small claw, but only ruffled Pete's already unruly hair.

Entering the kitchen, Kitty and Pete found it relatively quiet, since the earlier conversation had died away at Colossus' abrupt departure. But that didn't stay the case for long.

As Wisdom headed for the coffee pot without a word, Kitty started to prepare a hearty breakfast for her little dragon while replying to several rather pointed greetings with a cheerful, "Sorry we're so late, guys, we got a bit tied up this morning..." She noticed Logan staring fixedly at her hands and glanced down to see faint reddened marks around her wrists. Flushing, she looked back at him challengingly, then relaxed as he only raised an eyebrow at her in silent question. Logan in turn relaxed at her answering smile, seeing the glowing satisfaction in her eyes, then glanced over at Ororo with a frown and a small shake of his head, turning back to see Kitty nod in understanding.

Nobody noticed that little byplay as Rogue turned from loading the dishwasher to say with a wide grin, "We thought y'all might be hidin' out on us, Kit, Pete, after last night. Nice ta see y'all ain't too chicken t' come out an' face th' cheerin' audience..."

Wisdom had his nose buried in a mug full of coffee Betsy had handed him with a wicked little smile, so Kitty replied with a mischievous grin of her own, "Oh, it wasn't that bad. After all, I did still have a shirt on, which is a lot more than I had when Alistaire saw me naked one time. Now, that was a lot more embarrassing..."

"Wot?!" Wisdom choked out, spraying coffee over himself and his surroundings.

Wrapping her arms around him to hug him, Kitty laughed at the appalled look on his face. "Relax, dummy, it was just an accident, and Rachel was there too, and Alistaire just shut his eyes tight and blushed."

Pete set down his coffee to hug her back as he replied with a leer, "See, I told you he was a bleedin' plonker, not to appreciate the view." Letting her go again, he looked around the kitchen, ending with pointed glances at Betsy and Rogue. "But I'm starvin' 'ere... Wot's a bloke got to do, t' get fed around here? Beg? Ok, I'm beggin'..."

Just as he began getting suspicious at the innocent looks on Betsy's and Rogue's face, Ororo turned from the stove. "I was concerned that you might be sufficiently delayed to omit eating a healthy and nutritious breakfast, which would be an inauspicious start to the new day, so I have prepared a special repast consisting of a number of my favorite recipes."

"That sounds just wonderful, Ororo. I'm sure Pete and I will both enjoy it." Pushing Pete forward as he flinched back, Kitty smiled at Storm, welcoming her apparent change in attitude. Remembering Logan's unspoken warning, Kitty gushed on. "Why don't you sit next to Ororo, Pete? Then you two can start getting to know each other better." As he turned his head to scowl at her, she dropped her eyes to her wrists, then glanced back up at him to be sure he'd understood.

Wisdom saw the faint marks and realized why Kitty wanted him between her and Storm, and had to agree it was a good idea. He seated himself as directed with a silent groan, only to stare in shock at the plate Storm placed in front of him.

Storm had turned back to the counter, only to return and set two tall glasses of murky brownish fluid on the table as she continued speaking. "The juice is tropical ambrosia, my special blend of liquefied watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges, pineapple, apricots, plums, grapes and banana." Storm watched Wisdom poking tentatively at his breakfast with a fork, oblivious to the smirks and grins behind his back, while Kitty happily bit into Ororo's concoction. "The pita bread pockets are lightly toasted in a pan filled with cholesterol-free corn oil, after which I cut them open and cover them with a cauliflower salad that I consider to be superior to the more customary egg salad. The topping is shredded carrots and lettuce and chopped tomato mixed with buckwheat sprouts, sunflower seed sprouts, mung bean sprouts, red lentil sprouts and azuki bean sprouts added to the more mundane alfalfa sprouts, with grapefruit juice dressing to add some zest."

"Sprouts? Them those things what look like little maggots?" Pete stared at the plate in growing horror, ignoring Kitty's glare, Storm's frown, the choked laughter from their audience, and Brian and Meggan making a belated entrance.

Brian scowled around at the chuckles and giggles, wondering if they were directed at him for some reason. Betsy quickly brought her brother and his fiancee up to date with a brief telepathic exchange, then called, "Ororo, would you come here for a moment? We need to begin planning our shopping trip, and Meggan may have a whole list of things she'd like to get." As Storm turned away to join Betsy and Meggan, Rogue quietly sidled up to the table, where she grabbed a double handful of health food off Pete's plate and dumped it in the trash, where Gambit considerately covered it with additional debris from the others' breakfasts, while Rogue snuck back to smear her hand in its food-stained glove across Pete's face.

Storm turned back at Pete's exclamation, which he choked off abruptly as Kitty kicked him under the table, to see his plate mostly empty and Wisdom wiping cauliflower salad and sprouts from his mouth. She frowned at this evidence of his uncouth table manners, but asked politely, "If you are so very hungry, I would be quite pleased to prepare you another serving?"

Wisdom exclaimed "No!" loudly, adding in a choked voice, "Thanks, your goddess-ship, but I'm all full up," as Kitty kicked him again.

Drake finally couldn't hold back any longer and exploded in howls of mirth, which set Hank and Remy and Kurt and Logan laughing more quietly. Betsy and Meggan and Rogue shared conspiratory looks, Warren and Brian traded sour glares, and Rahne shushed Douglock where they lurked off in a corner. At Storm's regal glare, Beast controlled himself long enough to attempt to divert her rising suspicions. "Our frigid friend was somewhat concerned about our visitors' frequently delayed and interrupted caloric intake, if you recall our earlier conversation. I believe he is simply pleased to have his worries so roundly refuted. And we are all pleased to hear our British colleague finally acknowledge your exalted position..."

"Are we almost ready to go?" Jean asked, as she came back into the kitchen, frowning over her odd conversation with Colossus but then smiling at Betsy's mental update and joining in the effort to distract Storm. "I'm really looking forward to this shopping trip. Ok, who's coming? Rogue, Betsy, Meggan, Ororo, Kitty, me, we'll obviously need the van... Would you like to come, too, Rahne?"

As a flustered Rahne declined, Ororo said, "Perhaps we should invite Mr. Wisdom to come along? I assume he and Kitty would prefer not to be separated for any significant length of time or distance." Pete choked again at that, but Kitty reached over to muffle him with her napkin over his mouth, while pretending to clean off any small bits of food left.

Most of the other women glared at Storm at this blatant offense to the shopping mystique, Jean saying "Scott may be the other half of my soul, but we're talking serious shopping here," Rogue grumbling "Ah guess nothing is sacred nomore," Betsy smirking "We were going shopping for lingerie, Ororo, or have you forgotten?" Meggan, however, looked around the group in puzzlement, not sure why such a nice friendly gesture on Storm's part should receive such a negative reaction.

Ororo looked back at the others with an innocent look on her face. "My simple invitation to the local shopping establishments in Salem Center was intended merely as a gesture of good will, a matter of simple courtesy rather than indicative of any desire or intent to infringe upon our normal behavior patterns engaging in such an expedition..."

She was interrupted by the kitchen door opening and Domino coming in. Cable's mysterious partner looked around the kitchen, considered the grins visible on some faces, the glares on others, and Kitty whispering to Wisdom at the table, and asked sardonically, "So what's going on here?"

Being slightly closer to Domino than the others, Jean took it upon herself to reply, "You missed a fun morning. First, we had a great time trading embarrassing moments, then Ororo made Kitty and Pete a special breakfast, and now she's just invited him along on the shopping trip we had planned for today." As Domino mulled over that extremely succinct update, peering at Storm suspiciously at this sudden change of heart about Wisdom, Jean asked politely, "Would you like to come shopping with us? I'm sorry, we should have thought to ask you last evening."

"Thanks, but I have other plans." Domino thought that Jean's offer sounded sincere, but she didn't usually mix well with the X-woman crowd. "And you can forget about taking that bloody Brit along, I have other plans for him, too. He'll be tied up in a workout with me in the danger room -- I want to see for myself just what lousy shape he's in now."

Seeing a look of relief pass across Pete's face at Domino's comment giving him a legitimate way of avoiding Storm's further overtures, even as he glanced down at Kitty's wrists with a conspiratorial grin, Kitty leaned over to murmur in his ear dulcetly, "Just you wait for it, Wisdom... Turnaround's fair play." Seeing the dangerous glint in his girlfriend's expressive brown eyes, Pete didn't know which woman's plans for him to worry about most.

Even though he secretly welcomed Domino's offer, Pete still blustered automatically. "I tol' you all before, I didn't come over 'ere to play silly buggers, especially not first thing in the bloody morning. I ain't dressin' up in no soddin' spandex skin suit an' makin' a bloody idiot o' meself for you lot's jollies..." He couldn't continue over the renewed howls of laughter at that unintentional reminder of the previous night's escapade.

Domino had no intention of allowing Wisdom to distract her from her plans. "Fine, if that's your only objection, you don't have to... Now, get your skinny butt in the danger room, trousers, spandex or buck naked, I don't give a damn. But I'll bet you're in such lousy shape, you lazy runt, I could whip your butt without even breaking a sweat."

Pete leered back, "You ain't the one I want whippin' me bum, Dom."

Kitty added, with a perfectly straight face but eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth, "Yeah, I thought that was my job." Then she felt Rogue grabbing her and pulling her up out of her chair and away from the table, as Betsy collected Meggan and Jean ushered Storm toward the door. Brian and Warren rushed to follow their womenfolk out, planning to implore them to limit their acquisitions, which occasionally threatened to leave no room to spare for their menfolk, leaving the other men still standing around the kitchen laughing yet again.

After the door had closed on the shopping contingent, Wisdom grinned up at Domino. "But you got to feed me first, Dom, or I'll be too bloody perishin' weak to make it interestin' for you. I can't keep my strength up on roots, twigs an' worms served up by the mother-in-law from hell."

With the ease of long practice, Domino again ignored his tempting line and simply said, "In your dreams I'm cooking for you, Wisdom."

"Hang on, I'll rustle ya some real grub." Logan offered. "For such a skinny runt, kid, you sure can pack it away. But I reckon I owe ya, for th' grins this mornin' an' last night if nothin' else..." As he moved to the refrigerator to collect up some more traditional breakfast ingredients for cooking, Wolverine went on, "Ya know, this might be a good time for that card game, later tonight. If we don't plan somethin' for ourselves, the ladies might come up with some even crazier plans for us."

"Fine by me," Pete said contentedly, watching Logan scramble eggs and throw sausages on the built-in grill, stifling a minor regret that he shouldn't doctor his coffee with Scotch before an encounter with Domino. "I need some extra money. How 'bout you, Dom? You in?"

As Domino simply nodded, Gambit added eagerly, "D'is a closed game, mes amis, or c'n anyone play?"

Seeing Logan, Wisdom and Domino all give welcoming nods, Iceman added, "In that case, Hank and I may be joining you also," as Beast simply grinned in anticipation.

Continued in Part 3 Fun and Games
Pete in the danger room, while Kitty goes shopping