A/N: Takes place after "Mindbender." Please R&R
Disclaimer: Don't own any of these characters. So there.
"This is the day, boys and girl. You can mark the date - April 12 -- as the one in which Pietro Maximoff found his perfect mate." The white-haired teen, flanked by his Brotherhood housemates, strutted into Bayville High with an excited expression on his handsome face. "Yup I can feel it . . . I can ~smell~ love in the air."
"You're smelling mildew, and today's the 10th, idiot." Lance Alvers, looking less than enthused, shuffled tiredly down the hall, barely able to keep his eyes open. "And I still think what you're doing is stupid--"
"Yeah, Speedy. I mean, I know everyone wants your hot body," Tabitha Smith said, poking him playfully. "But there's got to be a better way than ~this~ of finding your true love."
"Yeah, yo. Why don't you just put names in a hat?" Todd Tolensky asked. "You'd have better luck with that than what you're doing now."
"Which you've been trying for a week." This came from Fred Dukes, who was lagging a little behind the group munching an apple. "With ~no~ luck."
"And you've pissed us all off with your whining," Lance rejoined. "So quit it, and just ask her out, already."
"Or ask ~him~ out," Todd added.
"I still can't get over the "him" part," Tabby whispered to Todd. "I mean, if Speedy's gonna swing both ways, can't he have better taste?"
"I will not ask ~anybody~ out until they've passed the test," Pietro said as they approached their lockers. "Not even . . . those two. If either of them is my true love, then I'll know before the day is out."
"What if both of 'em pass?" Todd asked, leaning against Pietro's locker. "Then what do you do?"
Pietro halted in the process of collecting his books. "Hmmm . . . that would be . . . interesting. I wouldn't mind having both." He smiled at the thought. "But it won't happen. Though I'm more than enough man for many, I'm fated to love only one."
"And who told you that? Mr. Carnival-Psychic Guy?" Tabby smirked, slamming her locker shut. She laughed loud when Pietro nodded. "You say you're quick on the ball, Speedy, but this time, looks like someone hit you in the head with one. Anyone could see that guy was phony. Even the freaky lines on his face were drawn with cheap lipstick."
"Ha." Pietro stiffened as snickers rose around him. "Laugh if you want . . . but I'm telling you: going to see Mesmero was like . . . a revelation." His face softened a little at the memory. "It was incredible . . . I looked at him, and I just got this feeling. It's hard to explain . . . it was just . . . wow." Pietro shifted under the dubious stares of Lance, Todd and Tabitha. "You would have had to have been there."
"Freddy, ~you~ were there," Tabby said, turning to the giant blond. "Did you feel any connection with the freaky psychic guy?"
"He was ~not~ a psychic! He was a mind-reader!" Pietro said in an indignant voice. "Biiiiig difference!"
"Well, excuuuuse me." Tabby rolled her eyes. "Freddy, Did you feel any ~connection~ with the freaky mind-reading guy?"
"I thought he was some kinda hypnotist," Todd said, puzzled. "I mean it would kind of make sense-"
"Psychic, hypnotist, mind-reader, swindler . . .What-EVER he was." The young blonde girl shrugged. "Well, Freddy?"
"Actually, I did sorta feel something," Fred answered, scrunching his face into a thoughtful expression. "It ~was~ weird. I looked into his eyes for awhile, and I felt like . . . like . . ."
"Yeah?" Todd prodded as they all stared at the large teen. "Like what?"
"Like . . . like going out and stealing stuff that would enable him to bring a new and all-powerful mutant to our dimension that would catastrophically affect the lives of everyone on Earth."
There was a minute of silence in which the only sound that could be heard was Fred eating the rest of his apple. After a moment, the immovable mutant noticed the slack-jawed stares of his friends.
"What?" he asked, with a shrug. "It's true. That's how it felt. But then I ate a chili dog, and the feeling passed. No big deal."
"I'm ignoring all of you," Pietro said, scooping up his backpack. "He said that he knew that I was looking for my ~other~ half -- my soul mate -- and that the only way I could find him or her was to weed out the contenders using the criteria I have set on my "internal must-have list." There have been quite a few who have had some of the things on the list, and, of course, the "two" have measured up in almost ~every~ way . . . but no one has passed that ~final~ test . . . that last hurdle. But someone will." He smiled dreamily. "I know it."
"How many things you got on that must-have list of yours?" Tabby asked, sidling up to the speedster. "Just out of curiosity."
"Hundreds." Pietro answered, unblinking.
"Mm hm. And out of ~curiosity,~ how many of them do ~I~ fit?" Her voice was a smoky purr near his ear.
The silvery boy considered a moment. "I'd say . . . fifty or sixty."
"Fifty or sixty. Out of hundreds." Tabitha wilted a little. "Oh."
"That's pretty good, yo," Todd said. "~I~ only had six."
"Six?" Tabby glanced at him sideways. "Do I even want to know what they were?"
"Well, it would've been five, but I had to account for the tongue," Pietro said with a lascivious grin.
"Ewwww! Speedy! I did not need to know that!" She buried her hands in her short hair. "Now I've got images of you and Todd and his tongue and . . . ewww!"
"Not ~my~ fault what goes inside that little head of yours, Tabs." Pietro tapped her forehead. "And don't knock my list. . . it's helped me to separate the wheat from the chaff, the peaches from the pits, and now, I have all my potential candidates narrowed down to a very manageable 30." Saying this, he whipped out a sheet of paper. "All of whom I will see sometime during the course of the day. I'll be able to test them all . . . and one of them will emerge victorious with the prize -- my heart and undying devotion."
"Hey . . . none of ~our~ names are on this list!" Tabby exclaimed in dismay, scanning the paper over Pietro's shoulder. She glanced around and saw murderous glares aimed her way by Todd, Lance and Fred. "Well, it would be nice to have ~some~ acknowledgement . . . we ~live~ with him, for god's sake, and put up with his stupidity. We've gotta love him to do that."
"Well . . . no. Sorry. None of you made the cut. Lance came the closest - he had 75 of my listed criteria -" He smiled winningly at the dark-haired boy, getting a scowl in reply. "It's just as well . . . I don't particularly think it's a good idea to date the people you work with."
"Except we don't work together," Todd said.
"We don't work at ~all.~" Fred scratched his head in confusion. "You sure you got the right list?"
"Geez . . . this thing is full of members of the Geek Squad," Tabby said, continuing to peruse the list. "Jean . . . Rogue . . . Shades . . . Kitty?! Wait -- no ~way~ Ditzy Pryde got more points than I did!"
Lance's head snapped up, and he advanced dangerously toward the speedy mutant. "No Kitty," he growled low, a slight tremor punctuating his words.
"Heh-heh. Now Lance, she fits a lot of the criteria . . . and, um . . ." Pietro gulped audibly as the ground began to shake noticeably. "But she won't pass the final test . . . I'm sure of it."
"I'm sure of it, too," Lance said, still glaring at his friend. "'Cause my fist will pass through your ~face~ first. NO Kitty. Got me?"
"Fine. Pryde goes." Pietro crossed the name out and scribbled something beside it. "Dani Larter will thank you, Lance. ~She~ was number 31 . . . just missed the cut. Now she takes Kitty's place on the roster."
"Risty? Risty Wilde's on here?" Tabitha nearly choked as she reached the end of the list. "You put some freaky chick with purple hair and no fashion sense on there before ~me~?"
"I like the accent," Pietro said with a sigh. "And there's just something very dangerous about her that's very sexy . . ."
"My ass," Tabitha grumbled. "Nobody does excitement like Tabitha Smith." And as if to prove her point, the girl created a very small energy bomb, slyly rolling it among a group of cheerleaders standing in the middle of the crowded hall. The quintet placed their hands over their ears in a practiced motion as the tiny bomb detonated with a loud bang, showering sparks among the shrieking girls.
"Bulls-eye!" Tabby crowed as the still-screaming girls ran by them, plowing through the crowd. "So ~now~ what do you have to say?" she asked, turning triumphantly to Pietro.
Pietro thought for a moment. "I've always liked your style, Tabby, but I've got to give the people on my official list first crack at me. If none of them are successful, maybe I'll give you a shot."
"You're all heart . . .~Pietro,~" she snarled, watching him narrowly. His blue eyes widened a little.
"Not bad . . . not bad, at all. But . . . not right, Tabs. Not quite."
"What? What? That's how I've heard everybody else say it!" Tabby shot angry looks at a snickering Lance and Fred. "PEE-et-tro."
"Nope. You're drawing out the first syllable too long, and you're opening your mouth too much on the 'o.'" He shook his head. "Sorry. Looks like you are not my true love"
"And ~I~ think you're full of it," Tabitha said, eyes blazing, "with your ~stupid~ test."
"It's ~not~ stupid," he shot back. "Mesmero said that in my quest for the person of my dreams, I shouldn't have any doubts about them . . . and I have serious doubts about loving anybody who can't even pronounce my name right."
"But nobody can! It's too weird!" she yelled. "I mean, who names their kid Pietro?"
"Pee-ET-tro. Accent on the second syllable, and a little more roll on the r, please. You have a lazy tongue, Tabs." Pietro smirked. "Another quality I can't have in a mate."
"Lazy tongue?" Tabitha said, with a sneer. "Yeah, Speedy. You just keep thinking that." She turned on her heel then and strode in the direction of her homeroom, disappearing into a classroom seconds before another energy bomb detonated near Pietro's feet, sending the speedster hurtling into Lance.
"A sore loser." Pietro sighed, recovering his composure and ignoring the look of anger Lance shot him. "And she wonders why she's so far down the list."
"Hey, look." Todd jostled Pietro's elbow and pointed down the hallway. Pietro followed the boy's gaze and brightened immediately. Standing straight up, he saw the crowd in the hall part like a curtain at the approach of one of the two persons foremost in his affections. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders in dark, shiny waves, and her skin glowed like a bronze jewel. Her face wore a look of bored indifference, and she strode purposefully, almost angrily, toward her locker, staring straight ahead.
"Gorgeous. She is absolutely stunning," Pietro said, watching her remove a large, heavy book from her locker. "She could be the one for me."
But she's so obnoxious, yo." Todd grumbled. "Always with her nose in the air like she's smelling shit or something."
"She's cultured." Pietro's eyes wandered approvingly over her slender, curvy body. "And has incredible skills . . . of pronunciation."
"You're scaring me, yo."
"Hmmmm." Pietro wasn't listening. The cloudy-haired mutant stood staring at the lovely girl before him as if he wanted memorize every detail of her form - from the shiny, jet hair to the mahogany skin to her ramrod-straight posture. He sighed softly, wondering just the right way to approach the girl.
As if sensing she was being watched, the girl looked up and over at him, startling Pietro. Regarding him with a cool expression, she smiled slightly, inclining her head at him. She looked away then, seemingly engrossed in something in her book.
"She smiled at me! She smiled!" Pietro literally leaped into Fred's arms. "Ahhh . . . she loves me! She's the one! She's the one! Ah . . . she's the ONE!" Several students turned to stare at Pietro while he ranted, still cradled in Fred's arms. "And she'll be able to do it! I've heard her say it right before - Pee-ET-tro. ~With~ the 'r' roll."
"Well if you know she can say it, why not just, oh, I dunno, ask her out?" Lance asked with a roll of his eyes.
Pietro looked at the rock-tumbler as if he'd grown three heads. "Because I have to be sure, you know. It never hurts to be sure." He jumped out of Fred's arms. "But, oh, I feel my heart singing! I have my angel! My love! Oh, I feel faint. Catch me, someone!" Pietro swooned and fell, but his three friends made no move to break his fall, and the speedster ended up on the floor.
"You're scaring me," Todd said again, backing away. "Hurry up and ask her already, yo. I don't know how much more of this weirdness I can take."
Pietro got to his feet in a flash, dusting himself off. "Yes, you're right." He snuck another glance at the girl. She was still at her locker. "It is time for me to make my -"
His voice died away as he saw a young man approach his dream girl. Tallish, blonde and handsome, the teen boy stopped in front of the girl, smiled at her, and began what seemed to be an animated discussion. Pietro's mouth dropped open. It was ~him~ -- the other who had top billing in his affections. The two individuals of his dreams were there together . . . talking.
"Guess that settles it," Fred said. "Now that you know you like ~her~ guess you won't be wanting ~him~ anymore."
Pietro gulped, watching the two interact. "I don't know about ~that~ Freddy. I don't know about that at all. He deserves a chance, too . . ."
Pietro's attention was divided between the dark-haired girl and the light-haired boy, a fluttery feeling beginning in the pit of his stomach. ~What to do . . . what to say? Who to talk to first?~ He stood rooted to the ground, paralyzed with indecision.
~*~
Amara Aquilla glanced over her shoulder to where Pietro was still standing. The white-haired mutant was still looking at her, though he now appeared to be in some form of shock. She could see his eyes darting back and forth between herself and her companion, and her eyes narrowed: She was a little peeved that she was no longer the sole focus of Pietro's attention.
"Hey," Amara said, poking her companion. "Look. Pietro is staring at us. What do you think his problem is?"
Evan Daniels looked over the girl's shoulder, eyes narrowing at the sight of his rival. "Who knows? Maximoff's always got something weird going." A frown creased the black mutant's forehead. "I wonder why he's waving that piece of paper around . . ."
TBC
Disclaimer: Don't own any of these characters. So there.
"This is the day, boys and girl. You can mark the date - April 12 -- as the one in which Pietro Maximoff found his perfect mate." The white-haired teen, flanked by his Brotherhood housemates, strutted into Bayville High with an excited expression on his handsome face. "Yup I can feel it . . . I can ~smell~ love in the air."
"You're smelling mildew, and today's the 10th, idiot." Lance Alvers, looking less than enthused, shuffled tiredly down the hall, barely able to keep his eyes open. "And I still think what you're doing is stupid--"
"Yeah, Speedy. I mean, I know everyone wants your hot body," Tabitha Smith said, poking him playfully. "But there's got to be a better way than ~this~ of finding your true love."
"Yeah, yo. Why don't you just put names in a hat?" Todd Tolensky asked. "You'd have better luck with that than what you're doing now."
"Which you've been trying for a week." This came from Fred Dukes, who was lagging a little behind the group munching an apple. "With ~no~ luck."
"And you've pissed us all off with your whining," Lance rejoined. "So quit it, and just ask her out, already."
"Or ask ~him~ out," Todd added.
"I still can't get over the "him" part," Tabby whispered to Todd. "I mean, if Speedy's gonna swing both ways, can't he have better taste?"
"I will not ask ~anybody~ out until they've passed the test," Pietro said as they approached their lockers. "Not even . . . those two. If either of them is my true love, then I'll know before the day is out."
"What if both of 'em pass?" Todd asked, leaning against Pietro's locker. "Then what do you do?"
Pietro halted in the process of collecting his books. "Hmmm . . . that would be . . . interesting. I wouldn't mind having both." He smiled at the thought. "But it won't happen. Though I'm more than enough man for many, I'm fated to love only one."
"And who told you that? Mr. Carnival-Psychic Guy?" Tabby smirked, slamming her locker shut. She laughed loud when Pietro nodded. "You say you're quick on the ball, Speedy, but this time, looks like someone hit you in the head with one. Anyone could see that guy was phony. Even the freaky lines on his face were drawn with cheap lipstick."
"Ha." Pietro stiffened as snickers rose around him. "Laugh if you want . . . but I'm telling you: going to see Mesmero was like . . . a revelation." His face softened a little at the memory. "It was incredible . . . I looked at him, and I just got this feeling. It's hard to explain . . . it was just . . . wow." Pietro shifted under the dubious stares of Lance, Todd and Tabitha. "You would have had to have been there."
"Freddy, ~you~ were there," Tabby said, turning to the giant blond. "Did you feel any connection with the freaky psychic guy?"
"He was ~not~ a psychic! He was a mind-reader!" Pietro said in an indignant voice. "Biiiiig difference!"
"Well, excuuuuse me." Tabby rolled her eyes. "Freddy, Did you feel any ~connection~ with the freaky mind-reading guy?"
"I thought he was some kinda hypnotist," Todd said, puzzled. "I mean it would kind of make sense-"
"Psychic, hypnotist, mind-reader, swindler . . .What-EVER he was." The young blonde girl shrugged. "Well, Freddy?"
"Actually, I did sorta feel something," Fred answered, scrunching his face into a thoughtful expression. "It ~was~ weird. I looked into his eyes for awhile, and I felt like . . . like . . ."
"Yeah?" Todd prodded as they all stared at the large teen. "Like what?"
"Like . . . like going out and stealing stuff that would enable him to bring a new and all-powerful mutant to our dimension that would catastrophically affect the lives of everyone on Earth."
There was a minute of silence in which the only sound that could be heard was Fred eating the rest of his apple. After a moment, the immovable mutant noticed the slack-jawed stares of his friends.
"What?" he asked, with a shrug. "It's true. That's how it felt. But then I ate a chili dog, and the feeling passed. No big deal."
"I'm ignoring all of you," Pietro said, scooping up his backpack. "He said that he knew that I was looking for my ~other~ half -- my soul mate -- and that the only way I could find him or her was to weed out the contenders using the criteria I have set on my "internal must-have list." There have been quite a few who have had some of the things on the list, and, of course, the "two" have measured up in almost ~every~ way . . . but no one has passed that ~final~ test . . . that last hurdle. But someone will." He smiled dreamily. "I know it."
"How many things you got on that must-have list of yours?" Tabby asked, sidling up to the speedster. "Just out of curiosity."
"Hundreds." Pietro answered, unblinking.
"Mm hm. And out of ~curiosity,~ how many of them do ~I~ fit?" Her voice was a smoky purr near his ear.
The silvery boy considered a moment. "I'd say . . . fifty or sixty."
"Fifty or sixty. Out of hundreds." Tabitha wilted a little. "Oh."
"That's pretty good, yo," Todd said. "~I~ only had six."
"Six?" Tabby glanced at him sideways. "Do I even want to know what they were?"
"Well, it would've been five, but I had to account for the tongue," Pietro said with a lascivious grin.
"Ewwww! Speedy! I did not need to know that!" She buried her hands in her short hair. "Now I've got images of you and Todd and his tongue and . . . ewww!"
"Not ~my~ fault what goes inside that little head of yours, Tabs." Pietro tapped her forehead. "And don't knock my list. . . it's helped me to separate the wheat from the chaff, the peaches from the pits, and now, I have all my potential candidates narrowed down to a very manageable 30." Saying this, he whipped out a sheet of paper. "All of whom I will see sometime during the course of the day. I'll be able to test them all . . . and one of them will emerge victorious with the prize -- my heart and undying devotion."
"Hey . . . none of ~our~ names are on this list!" Tabby exclaimed in dismay, scanning the paper over Pietro's shoulder. She glanced around and saw murderous glares aimed her way by Todd, Lance and Fred. "Well, it would be nice to have ~some~ acknowledgement . . . we ~live~ with him, for god's sake, and put up with his stupidity. We've gotta love him to do that."
"Well . . . no. Sorry. None of you made the cut. Lance came the closest - he had 75 of my listed criteria -" He smiled winningly at the dark-haired boy, getting a scowl in reply. "It's just as well . . . I don't particularly think it's a good idea to date the people you work with."
"Except we don't work together," Todd said.
"We don't work at ~all.~" Fred scratched his head in confusion. "You sure you got the right list?"
"Geez . . . this thing is full of members of the Geek Squad," Tabby said, continuing to peruse the list. "Jean . . . Rogue . . . Shades . . . Kitty?! Wait -- no ~way~ Ditzy Pryde got more points than I did!"
Lance's head snapped up, and he advanced dangerously toward the speedy mutant. "No Kitty," he growled low, a slight tremor punctuating his words.
"Heh-heh. Now Lance, she fits a lot of the criteria . . . and, um . . ." Pietro gulped audibly as the ground began to shake noticeably. "But she won't pass the final test . . . I'm sure of it."
"I'm sure of it, too," Lance said, still glaring at his friend. "'Cause my fist will pass through your ~face~ first. NO Kitty. Got me?"
"Fine. Pryde goes." Pietro crossed the name out and scribbled something beside it. "Dani Larter will thank you, Lance. ~She~ was number 31 . . . just missed the cut. Now she takes Kitty's place on the roster."
"Risty? Risty Wilde's on here?" Tabitha nearly choked as she reached the end of the list. "You put some freaky chick with purple hair and no fashion sense on there before ~me~?"
"I like the accent," Pietro said with a sigh. "And there's just something very dangerous about her that's very sexy . . ."
"My ass," Tabitha grumbled. "Nobody does excitement like Tabitha Smith." And as if to prove her point, the girl created a very small energy bomb, slyly rolling it among a group of cheerleaders standing in the middle of the crowded hall. The quintet placed their hands over their ears in a practiced motion as the tiny bomb detonated with a loud bang, showering sparks among the shrieking girls.
"Bulls-eye!" Tabby crowed as the still-screaming girls ran by them, plowing through the crowd. "So ~now~ what do you have to say?" she asked, turning triumphantly to Pietro.
Pietro thought for a moment. "I've always liked your style, Tabby, but I've got to give the people on my official list first crack at me. If none of them are successful, maybe I'll give you a shot."
"You're all heart . . .~Pietro,~" she snarled, watching him narrowly. His blue eyes widened a little.
"Not bad . . . not bad, at all. But . . . not right, Tabs. Not quite."
"What? What? That's how I've heard everybody else say it!" Tabby shot angry looks at a snickering Lance and Fred. "PEE-et-tro."
"Nope. You're drawing out the first syllable too long, and you're opening your mouth too much on the 'o.'" He shook his head. "Sorry. Looks like you are not my true love"
"And ~I~ think you're full of it," Tabitha said, eyes blazing, "with your ~stupid~ test."
"It's ~not~ stupid," he shot back. "Mesmero said that in my quest for the person of my dreams, I shouldn't have any doubts about them . . . and I have serious doubts about loving anybody who can't even pronounce my name right."
"But nobody can! It's too weird!" she yelled. "I mean, who names their kid Pietro?"
"Pee-ET-tro. Accent on the second syllable, and a little more roll on the r, please. You have a lazy tongue, Tabs." Pietro smirked. "Another quality I can't have in a mate."
"Lazy tongue?" Tabitha said, with a sneer. "Yeah, Speedy. You just keep thinking that." She turned on her heel then and strode in the direction of her homeroom, disappearing into a classroom seconds before another energy bomb detonated near Pietro's feet, sending the speedster hurtling into Lance.
"A sore loser." Pietro sighed, recovering his composure and ignoring the look of anger Lance shot him. "And she wonders why she's so far down the list."
"Hey, look." Todd jostled Pietro's elbow and pointed down the hallway. Pietro followed the boy's gaze and brightened immediately. Standing straight up, he saw the crowd in the hall part like a curtain at the approach of one of the two persons foremost in his affections. Her hair tumbled around her shoulders in dark, shiny waves, and her skin glowed like a bronze jewel. Her face wore a look of bored indifference, and she strode purposefully, almost angrily, toward her locker, staring straight ahead.
"Gorgeous. She is absolutely stunning," Pietro said, watching her remove a large, heavy book from her locker. "She could be the one for me."
But she's so obnoxious, yo." Todd grumbled. "Always with her nose in the air like she's smelling shit or something."
"She's cultured." Pietro's eyes wandered approvingly over her slender, curvy body. "And has incredible skills . . . of pronunciation."
"You're scaring me, yo."
"Hmmmm." Pietro wasn't listening. The cloudy-haired mutant stood staring at the lovely girl before him as if he wanted memorize every detail of her form - from the shiny, jet hair to the mahogany skin to her ramrod-straight posture. He sighed softly, wondering just the right way to approach the girl.
As if sensing she was being watched, the girl looked up and over at him, startling Pietro. Regarding him with a cool expression, she smiled slightly, inclining her head at him. She looked away then, seemingly engrossed in something in her book.
"She smiled at me! She smiled!" Pietro literally leaped into Fred's arms. "Ahhh . . . she loves me! She's the one! She's the one! Ah . . . she's the ONE!" Several students turned to stare at Pietro while he ranted, still cradled in Fred's arms. "And she'll be able to do it! I've heard her say it right before - Pee-ET-tro. ~With~ the 'r' roll."
"Well if you know she can say it, why not just, oh, I dunno, ask her out?" Lance asked with a roll of his eyes.
Pietro looked at the rock-tumbler as if he'd grown three heads. "Because I have to be sure, you know. It never hurts to be sure." He jumped out of Fred's arms. "But, oh, I feel my heart singing! I have my angel! My love! Oh, I feel faint. Catch me, someone!" Pietro swooned and fell, but his three friends made no move to break his fall, and the speedster ended up on the floor.
"You're scaring me," Todd said again, backing away. "Hurry up and ask her already, yo. I don't know how much more of this weirdness I can take."
Pietro got to his feet in a flash, dusting himself off. "Yes, you're right." He snuck another glance at the girl. She was still at her locker. "It is time for me to make my -"
His voice died away as he saw a young man approach his dream girl. Tallish, blonde and handsome, the teen boy stopped in front of the girl, smiled at her, and began what seemed to be an animated discussion. Pietro's mouth dropped open. It was ~him~ -- the other who had top billing in his affections. The two individuals of his dreams were there together . . . talking.
"Guess that settles it," Fred said. "Now that you know you like ~her~ guess you won't be wanting ~him~ anymore."
Pietro gulped, watching the two interact. "I don't know about ~that~ Freddy. I don't know about that at all. He deserves a chance, too . . ."
Pietro's attention was divided between the dark-haired girl and the light-haired boy, a fluttery feeling beginning in the pit of his stomach. ~What to do . . . what to say? Who to talk to first?~ He stood rooted to the ground, paralyzed with indecision.
~*~
Amara Aquilla glanced over her shoulder to where Pietro was still standing. The white-haired mutant was still looking at her, though he now appeared to be in some form of shock. She could see his eyes darting back and forth between herself and her companion, and her eyes narrowed: She was a little peeved that she was no longer the sole focus of Pietro's attention.
"Hey," Amara said, poking her companion. "Look. Pietro is staring at us. What do you think his problem is?"
Evan Daniels looked over the girl's shoulder, eyes narrowing at the sight of his rival. "Who knows? Maximoff's always got something weird going." A frown creased the black mutant's forehead. "I wonder why he's waving that piece of paper around . . ."
TBC