Disclaimers and Acknowledgements:

Xavier and the cast of X-men do not belong to me. They are the sole property of the Marvel Corporation. Thusly, I am using them without permission but only for entertainment and am making no money from this.

This is also a birthday fic for Andraste, who, since she had been lamenting the lack of nice Xavier, I decided to write this for.

Be warned, if you like your Xavier dark and evil, this is not the fic for you.

Thanks also go to Rossi for betaing this for me. However, I added the first paragraph on after she'd betaed, so all mistakes are of course, mea culpa.

Charles Francis Xavier viewed his companion with raised eyebrow. It wasn't as if this was the first time they'd had to do this and the continued protests were beginning to become vexing.

Especially considering the fact that he really needed that hand and saying that it would be an inconvenience to have it flayed of all skin would be understating the severity of the moment.

He pondered again how he'd been conned into cat-sitting "Fluffy".

It had all started innocently of course. Logan had needed someone to look after his kitten, Fluffy. The name had been chosen by Jubilee, who had given Wolverine the kitten as a Christmas gift.

The kitten, after a time of adjustment, had taken to launching itself at Scott on his way out of the Danger Room in the morning. Scott was convinced that Logan put the small, yet incredibly vicious, ball of fluff up to it.

It was for this reason that neither Scott nor Jean could take care of Fluffy. Jubilee was away at school and because of the "Incident in the Rec Room" Warren could not look after the kitten.

"The Incident" had started innocently enough. Picture now, if you will, a bright idyllic summers day. Bach wafts gently from a nearby open window. As we drift into the room beyond, we find an occupant, lolled languidly on an overstuffed divan. His wings twitching slightly in time with the music, he seems at peace.

Drift back a little ways now and watch a hunter in motion, creeping gently forward, one paw placed in front of the other in calculated movement. Eyes locked on the twitch, twitch, twitchtwitchtwitch of wings in constant dance to the beat of Bach.

Angel blinked for a second when he felt the tearing pain in his wings. It wasn't that it was a foreign sensation, only that here was not a place he thought he would be feeling it. He looked down and blinked at the small bundle of blue-grey fur firmly attached to the bottom of his wing. He flicked it, wincing as the cat dug in harder. Reaching down he tried to pry the cat away, only to have it squirm its way further up his wing.

Later...

Betsy slid to the ground, choking softly as the tears rolled down her cheeks. In the middle of the room Warren made fast circles, desperately trying to gain hold of the kitten now firmly entrenched between his wings. Betsy felt guilty but the sight was simply too much. It was either laugh or explode. After that, the mere sight of the kitten was enough to send Warren fast in the opposite direction.

Understandably, it was at this stage that Xavier was chosen to look after the cat. Of course, he wasn't told until after they'd all left.

It seemed to go fairly well at first, he didn't bother the cat and the cat didn't bother him. It was late into the day, just after lunchtime when he noticed the eyes upon him. It wasn't physical but the feeling of eyes, the knowledge of regard. He paused a moment in his perusal of the day's paper and pondered this regard. It wasn't human. Turning, he noticed the cat. It blinked at him, blue eyes lazy.

Xavier raised an eyebrow, the cat yawned in response. Opening moves having been made, the opponents sized each other up. After a moment, Fluffy padded up to him and jumped up into his lap. Xavier smiled and turned back to his paper.

Much later...

Storm knocked softly on Professor Xavier's door, slowly opening it when she received no response. She blinked at the sight that met her. Fluffy lay sprawled in Xavier's lap, paws in the air, as he slept. The Professor's head was leant against his chest, book dangling from a slack hand. It would appear that the cat-sitting assignment had been a success. Storm would have to suggest to Logan that he leave Fluffy at home more often.