A/N: sorry for the delay in updates! here's a new chapter that I've been sitting on for a while now.

also, user ~Shejams asked what "Salad Days" meant! It's an English idiom that refers to "the innocent days of youth."

The Boys Discover That Kendall Makes A Very Good Cupid (Part 2 of 4)
The open honesty in Kendall's eyes made it hard for Scott to hide anything.

"So what's on your plate today, Mr. Summers?"

Scott looked up from where he stood by the full-length mirror. He was buttoning the collar of his polo shirt - and was only mildly surprised when the top one glowed a faint pink and promptly undid itself after he'd done it up. He shot the redhead stretched out on the bed behind him an amused smile, one she returned easily. She was always telling him that he needed to dress a bit more casually.

"Well, Ms. Grey," he began, "It so happens that my morning docket's been cleared, since Hank and Forge say the Danger Room won't be up and running til this afternoon at the earliest..." There had been a minor incident during a session the previous evening. Two of the new recruits had energy projection powers of similar natures, and the tempers to match. Individually, the skillsets were impressive. Pit against each other irresponsibly, they caused some kind of chain reaction of short circuits, shutting down the Danger Room in short order. Nothing their resident tech geniuses couldn't fix in a jiffy, but after years of false alarms and accidents, both had become a bit anal about running diagnostics twice, three times in succession. Just to be sure.

Jean's smile brightened and her eyes gleamed. "Oh, well! Considering I don't have anything to do til late either, maybe we could..." Scott could feel the second button of his shirt fiddle slightly. He chuckled, lifting a hand to still it.

"Sorry, Red," he gave her an apologetic grin. "While you decided to sleep in today, a certain someone beat you to reserving my morning during breakfast."

Jean mocked a hurt frown, sitting up. The strap of her nightgown slipped a few inches down her shoulder, though Scott had a feeling that had less to do with gravity and more to do with a gentle nudge of TK. "... Tell them you changed plans?"

Scott held up his hands. "Honest, if it were anyone else, I'd take you up on that offer. But I'm not sure I could have breaking a five year old's heart hanging on my conscience, y'know?"

Like flipping a switch, Jean's mood instantly shifted as she sat up, her nightdress miraculously righting itself in the process. Her smile warmed with pleasant surprise and curiosity. "Oh? What's she got you doing this time?"

"A drive down to the Danvers-Rogers' house," he replied, shaking his head. "Storm was supposed to bring her, but Sam was begging her to help him out with the fliers' class today. She said she'd have loved to, but Kendall needed a ride... And seeing as I didn't have anything to do, I offered to drive Kendall down for her." Scott shrugged. He left out the part where the little girl jumped and squealed like a, well, like a little girl at him. Kendall loved riding in her Uncle Scott's shiny red car.

Jean caught a flash of the memory anyway. She smiled fondly, suddenly overcome by an emotion she couldn't quite name just then. "You're so good with kids."

"Yeah?" Scott rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly under the surprise of the compliment. "I don't know. I like Kendall and all, but..."

Jean gave him an amused smile as she rose from bed. "And Kendall's not a kid, is that it?"

"Well, she is, but - she's different. Storm and Logan, they're practically family." Jean smiled further at that - family. Yes, exactly!, she wanted to say. But Scott continued, "Kendall's... different. Kids in general are kind of - they entail a lot of work and attention, you know? "

Jean frowned, and for some reason she seemed to hear alarm bells ringing in her head. "So, you don't like kids?"

"What? No, I didn't say that." Scott ran a hand through his hair in an effort to smooth it down. Were those alarm bells echoing in his head, or was he just imagining things? He gestured vaguely. "I like kids. In small doses, I guess. They're - they have a lot of energy..."

Jean said nothing, giving him a brief look. She didn't seem mad, but Scott just knew that he'd touched a nerve. She turned away from him, heading into their private bathroom to change out of her nightgown. He moved to follow her in, but he'd paused just long enough for her to shut the door behind her. Scott sighed as he stood by the door, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose wearily. What a way to start the day. Why is she so worked up over this?

"I'm worked up over this?" came her voice through the door. Scott blinked, and a second later Jean came out fully dressed. A record, he thought in surprise. He must have been thinking pretty loudly, because while she wasn't necessarily mad earlier, she was definitely mad now. Not one to give into temper tantrums, Jean simply glared at him before breezing past Scott and to their bedroom door.

She left the door open this time (Jean didn't like publicly broadcasting her temper that way if she could help it), and Scott followed her out. "Come on Jean, what did I say?"

"If you don't know, then there's no use telling you."

Scott let out a frustrated breath as he followed her down the stairs. Of course he didn't know. Their psychic rapport was stronger than ever, but that didn't mean they knew each other's exact thoughts, twenty-four-seven. And she was the mindreader between the two of them, so naturally-

"That's not an excuse!" Jean huffed, picking up her pace and disappearing into the hall that would take her to the kitchen. Scott was left by the main staircase with the distinct impression that he was missing something.

Behind him, someone cleared their throat. Scott turned around in surprise, only to find Ororo and her little clone only a few feet away. Ororo was smiling at him, a mix of concerned and amused. In contrast, Kendall, holding her mother's hand, was bouncing in place.

"- Thank you again for doing this on such short notice, Scott." Ororo said as Kendall started chattering about how excited she was to see Sarah. "It means a lot."

"Don't worry about it. It's not a problem, really."

"I'm glad," Ororo smiled. Then she frowned slightly, pausing to glance toward the kitchen. "Is... everything alright with you and Jean?"

"... Something I said set her off, I think," Scott shrugged helplessly. "I'm not entirely sure what it was."

Ororo smiled sympathetically. "Would you like me to talk to her?"

Scott shook his head. "No, it's fine. You've got Sam's class to help out with. I'll do that when I get back."

"Uncle Scott! Let's go!" The purple backpack hanging on Kendall's shoulder bounced along with her. "¡Vámonos!"

Ororo frowned sharply. "- What do we say, Kendall?"

Scott watched as a look of thought, and then enlightenment crossed the little girl's features. "Oh. Let's go, please?"

Ororo nodded in approval, then bent down to kiss her daughter's hair and Kendall could press a kiss to her mother's cheek. She did it quickly and noisily before bouncing over to Scott, who just chuckled at her antics. He tucked one hand into the pocket of his jeans, offering the other to the girl. Kendall slipped her hand into his without a second thought.

"Behave for your Uncle Scott, alright?"

"Yes, mama!"

"And be good for your godfather." Ororo added sternly. Steve had a tendency to spoil his goddaughter, especially when Carol wasn't around to rein him in. Ororo knew she was currently off-world.

"Yes, mama!" She gave Ororo a final wave before they headed into the garage.

-x-

"Is Auntie Jeanie mad?"

Scott startled, glancing up at the rearview mirror to look at Kendall. Most of her chatter during the drive had to do with what she, Sarah and Franklin would be doing that day. Something about the present Sarah's Uncle Tony had given her for her birthday a week or so ago, but Scott hadn't really been paying attention. His thoughts were divided by the highway traffic and a redhead he'd left behind.

"Mad? What makes you think that, Kendall?"

Kendall shrugged, looking out the window as a bright green car streaked past them as they slowed to take an exit. It was going really fast. "Did her clock tick loud again?"

"What clock, Kendall?"

"Her biomagical clock! Auntie Kitty said it was really loud last time."

"Bio-what?"

"Biomagical clock!" she repeated, frowning as she struggled to pronounce the word. "Auntie Kitty and Auntie Jeannie and Rogue and me painted our faces last time. And then Auntie Kitty said her clock was ticking real loud."

Scott had heard about the now-infamous session the girls had had with the little girl. They'd managed to haul Rogue into things once Kitty let it slip that Kendall's Aunt Rogue used to wear much darker make-up and clothes than she wore now. As a result, Kendall demanded to see a live demonstration; failing that, she was shown photographs and eventually, the little get-together had turned into a small makeover extravaganza. Logan hadn't been sure how to react to seeing his baby girl all dolled up with bouncy curls and a light touch of make up.

He'd gotten all this information second-hand, however. Jean had never mentioned what they talked about, but it seemed that Kendall was only too happy to inform him herself.

"Uncle Scott?" Kendall was looking at him at the rearview mirror expectantly. He cleared his throat.

"... Did you mean biological, Kendall? A biological clock?"

He wasn't even sure he wanted to hear the answer to that - but the way her eyes lit up ("Yeah, that!") made him tighten his fingers on the wheel suddenly.

Man, no wonder Jean'd been ticked off at him.

"It's... complicated, kiddo," Scott finally relented, sighing when Kendall called out to him again in impatience. She frowned, and he hurried to elaborate: "It just means... Auntie Jeanie's been waiting for something for a while. And I didn't know that she wanted it so soon, but I guess I should have." He chuckled to himself quietly. Hindsight was 20/20 - everything she'd said earlier and for the past week or so made sense now.

"So..." Kendall's eyebrows furrowed as she frowned thoughtfully. "So you were gonna give a present to Auntie Jeanie?"

Scott smiled at her choice of words. "Something like that."

"Oh!" Kendall nodded as things were starting to make sense to her. "An' that's why Rogue said you have'ta put a ring on it before you fix her clock."

Thankfully, Scott had just pulled the car into park in front of the Danvers-Rogers townhouse, or else he would have done something dangerous with the wheel. "Kendall, what?"

"A ring! That's the present, right?" Kendall frowned, thoroughly confused. "Or is it the clock?"

-x-

In the end, Scott stopped by a florist and got her some hyacinths. It was not (yet) a ring, as he'd told Rogue when she asked him what the occasion was (more accurately, she'd asked him what he'd ruined this time), but perhaps, he thought as he made his way towards the labs where Jean sequestered herself with work when she was mad, it would be a ring sooner rather than later. And maybe then they'd get started on that ticking clock of hers.

Rogue had rolled her eyes, smirking as she headed off in the opposite direction. She had to find Kitty so they could change their bids on the current pool.

Might have'ta start a new pool too, she laughed to herself. Once upon a time, the thought of those two together had filled her with bitterness. But now she couldn't quite stop thinking of how nice it'd be if Kendall wouldn't need such a long commute when she wanted a playmate her age.