Masochism

by Indigo

~Pheromones,~ thought Scott Summers blearily. ~It has to be pheromones. She's only seventeen or something.~

He tried to look away, and found Emma's ballroom was mirrored on all sides. No matter where he looked, her reflection met his gaze. Those eyes of blue, like oceanic sapphires. And that hair.

~Damn my weakness for redheads, anyway,~ Scott thought miserably, adjusting his ruby quartz glasses. ~And damn Sean for talking me into chaperoning this stupid *mixer*!~

Sean had insisted getting out of the mansion would be good for Scott, given that he was doing nothing but brooding, being morose, and generally getting on everyone's nerves since Jean had called to say she was going to Hong Kong to stop Logan's wedding to Viper. She had said, "I know you don't understand, Scott, but he nearly made this mistake 6 years ago -- and I can't let him make it now!"

Kitty had been the one to call and break him the news. "Uh, Scott?" she'd said with uncharacteristic hesitance.

"Kitty!" he'd responded at once, pleased to hear from her. "How are you?"

"Well," Kitty had stammered, "I'm good. But I've got some good news, and some bad news."

Scott had steeled himself. He could take bad news. Had he broken when he'd believed Jean dead? No. Had he broken when his old friend Warren had gone to work for Apocalypse? No. He could handle whatever Kitty had for him, he had been certain. "Shoot," he told her confidently.

"Um, well, Logan is not going to marry Viper," Kitty continued, voice carefully modulated.

"That's ... good news. I wasn't aware he and ...Viper ... were involved." Scott had brushed a hand through his dark hair, bewildered. But he listened. Kitty never said anything without a good reason. He was sure she was going to cut to the chase any second now.

"Long story," Kitty said, with a sigh. "but the thing is -- you know that part of the wedding where the official asks 'is there anyone here with just cause that these two should not be joined in marriage?'" Her words were mincing, as if she were speaking fragile soap bubbles instead of words.

"Yeah," Scott replied.

"Well, uhm, Scott? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Jean stopped the wedding. With: 'I love you, Logan, and *I* want to marry you instead.'" She paused, uncomfortably, and blurted out, "Needless to say Viper was a little pissed. But when the fight was over, Phoenix was left standing. Mr. and Mrs. Logan took off for parts unknown right after the ceremony. She says the papers for the divorce she got in Madripoor should be reaching you by messenger in the morning."

He shook off the memory and its accompanying urge to bawl like a four year old, then turned to the punch bowl.

"Dance, Mr. Summers?" asked Monet.

"Thank you, no," Scott said with a polite shake of his head and an uncomfortable tug at his bowtie. He hated formals.

Monet looked offended, but covered it well, nodding politely and gliding across the floor in her opulent gown to approach another student.

~Yes. Stay in your own age group,~ Scott thought, relieved. ~Spare me a heart attack.~

He reached for the punch bowl and found fingers reaching toward the ladle as his were.

With a startled, embarrassed yelp, he managed to salvage a smile. "A-Allow me." He lifted the crystal cup and offered it to the lady.

In silent response, she flashed him a smile that set his heart to fluttering, and generated an insistent sense of urgency ... lower. ~She's too young,~ he told himself, unable to look away.

She darted out her pink tongue to catch a drop of punch from the rim, then drank deeply. Scott watched the motion of her throat as she swallowed, then turned and headed for the biosphere at a brisk walk -- just short of a run. ~Jono can handle the chaperone duties for a while on his own.~

When he returned, it was nearly 1 am and the DJ was spinning last dance. Everett was cutting up the floor with some girl from Snow Valley. Paige was sleepily slow-dancing with a handsome boy Scott didn't know. Sam Guthrie, who also was chaperoning, looked on at his sister's activities with a mingling of disapproval and envy.

Warily, Scott glanced around the room. She was no longer in the ballroom. He was safe.

It was nearly 3 am before Scott was ready to climb the stairs to his guest room. He had helped the students clean up the ballroom, then sat up and chatted with Sean and Emma. Now he climbed the stairs, dreading the cold, lonely bed that would be far too big without his wife.

No. Not his wife.

Logan's wife.

The door opened noislessly; Scott expected nothing less in the home of Emma Frost. He undressed in the dark, knowing that there was no one waiting. Barefoot, he padded to the king size bed, pulled back the covers, and fastened the sleep-strap on his ruby-quartz bedtime visor.

Sighing, he felt the tears well up in his eyes. Resigned to another cold and lonely night, Scott slipped between the covers, naked.

Then, shocked, he felt a warm touch on his lips. "Wh-what?! Who?" he demanded in a whsper. But the finger pressed across his lips in the timeless, ancient sign for "Shhhh!" Scott licked his lips nervously, but fell silent. ~Do I taste blood?~

Gentle fingers explored his mouth, then, to his shock, a warm pair of lips found his, tongue curiously, tentatively entering his mouth.

~I definitely taste blood.~

Reaching frantically for the lamp, Scott flicked the lights on, and found her kneeling beside him in the bed, nude. Her red skin looked like it was glowing in the warm lamplight. Her blue eyes danced with amusement.

"Uhm, Penance ... you really should ... uhm ... that is ...get back to your own room."

"Don't Stand So Close to Me" by the Police flashed erratically through Scott's head.

[*don't want to.*] Penance signed with her sharp, articulate fingers. [*you don't want me to.*]

"Yes, I do!" Scott protested, voice squeaking, even as his body betrayed his lie.

Penance's eyes traveled southward along Scott's body and narrowed in a feline expression of amused triumph. [*no, you don't.*]

"You're too young...??" Scott said without much conviction at all.

[*Twenty-first birthday party last month.*]

Scott gulped, and then winced as her red skin brushed against his. The pain was -- exciting. He ignored the trickle of blood her razored flesh had caused as she moved to straddle him. "All right, then. I ... suppose I owe you a birthday present," he quipped lamely, reaching to turn the light back out.

Before the room got dark, Penance grinned widely and nodded her emphatic agreement, lifting his hands to her breasts.

"Ow," Scott said breathlessly, passionately...painfully.

"Ow." He winced.

"Oh, Penance...." He caught his breath.

"Yes...ow."

"Ow...."

"OWWWW!"

Elsewhere in the house, Jubilee awakened to the sound of a bloodcurdling scream. "What was that?"

[~You don't want to know,~] Emma Frost responded with laughter in her voice. [~Just make sure the first aid kits are all stocked, will you? Perhaps get Dr. Singh's pager number ready...~]

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