The Talk

TITLE: The Talk

AUTHOR: Jos Mous

DISCLAIMER: Not owning anyone, not making a profit.

UNIVERSE: X-Men Evolution

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Rogue/Kitty

NOTE: Next instalment in this ongoing series where the plot still doesn’t thicken. Much.

It wasn’t a matter of now or never and Jean thought this was a bit of a pity. If it had been a now or never kind of affair, she wouldn’t have any choice. She would have to go through the door in front of her right now. Unfortunately, she didn’t have to, giving her plenty of time to stop, think and, above all, worry.

She didn’t have to do it right at this very moment, but she would have to do it eventually and, preferably, before she could no longer recognise all those thoughts of naked girls writhing in ecstasy as not her own.

Jean took a deep breath, firmly grasped the door handle and opened the door. With just one rather small step she was standing in the shared bedroom of Rogue and Kitty. Kitty was lying in her bed, face turned away from the door. Rogue was sitting in a chair next to the bed, leafing lazily through a comic. A bowl, which had probably contained chicken soup at some point, was standing empty and forgotten on the nightstand.

Jean cleared her throat rather noisily. Rogue looked up, not quite glaring, put a finger on her lips, nodded towards Kitty, then stood up and walked over to Jean. Or, to be more precise, the hallway behind her.

Before long, Jean was standing in the hallway again, the door to the bedroom once again closed. Rogue was now leaning against it, her arms crossed in front of her chest, and still not looking entirely hostile at Jean.

“So, how is she?” Jean asked.

“Fever’s dropped a bit,” Rogue answered. “She still gets delirious from time to time, though.”

“You know, maybe if she phased and took a step forward, the virus would be left hanging in the air,” Jean said.

“We tried. Didn’t work. That flu is pretty persistent.”

“Well, you just be sure you don’t catch it as well.”

“I’ll try,” said Rogue curtly. “Now what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to know how Kitty was doing.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m the King of Germany. Now what do you want?”

“You know, I don’t think Germany has…”

“Jean.”

Jean sighed. “OK then, look, you and Kitty, you’re… well… friends…”

“Yeah…?”

“You know… friends,” Jean said, gesturing helplessly with her hands.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Rogue said, while her already unfriendly stance became a tad more aggressive.

“Look, do you… sort of… sleep together. Intimately like.” Jean flinched back, expecting to get slapped in the face any second now. Instead, Rogue just smiled.

“How can we? I’m me, remember?”

“Well… yes, but…”

“But we do have sex, yes.”

“Ah,” said Jean.

For a moment, she felt relieved. Mostly because if Rogue and Kitty had not been having sex, all those mental images that suggested quite emphatically that they did would have been Jean’s and that would have been far more worrying.

“Now then, mind telling me how you discovered this?” Rogue asked, in a tone of voice that suggested to Jean that her immediate future would include a comatose state if Rogue didn’t like the answer.

“Well… I don’t think… I mean… I didn’t mean… look, you two… scream,” Jean finished lamely.

Rogue arced an eyebrow. “Scream?”

“You know, when you,” Jean helplessly started gesturing again. It’s quite hard to make obscene gestures when trying not to make them. “When you… have this, you know, moment, you let out a very loud mental scream kind of thing,” she said. “And… I can’t help but overhear, you know.”

“Ah,” said Rogue, her face going from aggressive to non-committal. “Makes sense I guess. Anything else you want to say or was that it?”

“Well, I want you to know that I’m… OK… with you two and that I won’t breathe a word to any of the others if you don’t want to…”

“That’s nice. I asked if there was anything else, though. Is there? Cuz I have a sick girlfriend I’d like to get back to.”

Jean started blushing. “Just that I’d… you know… appreciate it if you two didn’t have… intimacy… when I’m nearby.”

“Why not?” Rogue asked. “Because of our screams or something?”

Jean nodded. “I just don’t like to… you know… frequently think about girls who’re sort of with each other and who’re… in a certain state of mind.”

“Makes you uncomfortable, does it?” Rogue said. There was a hint of sympathy in her voice.

“Yeah,” said Jean. “In a way.”

“What way?” Rogue asked, smirking slightly.

Jean blushed. “Uhm…”

“Never mind,” Rogue said. “Fine, I’ll restrain myself if it makes you happy. Better now?”

Jean nodded gratefully.

“OK then,” said Rogue. “That was it, was it?”

“Yeah,” said Jean. “So… I’ll just go now and do… something.”

Rogue nodded. “You do that,” she said and then went back into the bedroom.

Kitty was awake again. It was hard to see. Her eyes were so puffed up and teary that it almost looked they were still shut. She was facing the door when Rogue walked in again.

“Hey,” said Rogue.

“Hi,” whispered Kitty.

“Want some more soup or something,” Rogue said, as she sat down on the chair next to Kitty’s bed.

“No,” said Kitty. “Where’d you go?”

“Jean wanted to talk to me about something.”

“About what?”

“Nothing important,” said Rogue.

“Just our luck, huh?” said Kitty, reaching out to touch Rogue’s shoulder.

“What’s that then?” Rogue said, having missed the logical connection that Kitty’s feverish brain had presented.

“Me getting sick right the day after we…” Kitty smiled and blushed even more. “You know.”

Rogue smiled too, albeit for a different reason. “Yeah. Real shame,” she said.