A day in the life of the Acolytes and the Brotherhood
A sort of sequel to 'B Word' and Part 1 of the 'Playing House' series.
My story, their characters, 'Nuff said!
Male Bonding
"I can't believe this!"
It was another quiet Sunday in the Brotherhood House and as usual Raven was already on a roll, slamming the refrigerator door and opening and closing the cabinets with enough force to shake the kitchen walls.
"Uh-Oh Toad, what did you do now?"
"Me?! Why ya'll always think it was me, yo?"
"Da. Could be Pyro." Piotr said.
"Don't look at me…"
"Cuz it usually is, homme." Gambit said.
"She hates me, man."
Since moving into the Brotherhood House the Acolytes had to have made adjustments and it was still taking some getting used to. Toad's slime, Freddy's non-stop eating, and Pietro's snoring were all at the top of the list but they could live with those.
They didn't like it but it was what they had to do.
One thing they weren't expecting was Mystique. Or Raven as she was known.
Magneto's Girl Friday and Sabretooth's on-again off-again girlfriend was especially a problem.
None of them had ever been around women that much except for their mothers or what they saw on TV.
And Raven was nothing like that.
Being motherly or the next June Cleaver she was not.
Now, they literally couldn't take a piss without her knowing.
Or keep the lid up without fear of World War 3.
It was this Sunday morning that the Brotherhood and the Acolytes watched, too afraid to move and so terrified to breath that they sat immobile around the kitchen table.
"We can NOT be out of milk already!" Raven yelled slamming another cabinet door and heading to the fridge.
"Ummm…" Freddy said an oversize spoonful of cereal halfway to his mouth.
All around the table everyone looked down, their eyes pointedly not looking at where Mystique was opening and closing doors.
"And where the Hell is my low fat soy vanilla hazelnut coffee creamer?!" She said looking in the refrigerator again.
"We ran out of milk."
"Goddammit Vic!"
"What?" Sabretooth shrugged. "The kids had cereal. What was I supposed to do?"
"For the love of…." Raven said rolling her eyes and rubbing her hair. It was more or less a habit of hers but sometimes that was all she could do to keep from screaming.
"Oh no, not again…" Pietro whispered half standing and waiting to make a break for it.
They all knew the signs and they all waited for it. The eye roll and the hair rubbing was just the beginning. She was getting ready to blow and they knew it.
They just didn't expect it so soon.
When Raven went on a rant, no one was safe.
"Looks ta me like someone's bin slacking off on da job." Gambit grumbled looking directly at Sabretooth angrily.
"Me?!" He choked.
It couldn't be him.
He'd been more than willing to do his part when they'd moved in here.
Nirvana, almost.
Heaven as a matter of fact.
Every man's dream.
At least for him.
Why just last night…
"That's it!" Raven interrupted.
"And there she goes." Pyro mumbled joining Pietro.
"I'm not kidding here!" She said.
"Tink dat be our cue."
"For real, yo!"
"I'm out of here."
"Right behind you, dude."
Now was the time to make a break for it and they all crept towards the door. No one ever wanted to be around when Raven got in one of her 'moods'.
"And where do you think you're going?"
Automatically they all froze in place too afraid to do anything else.
"Me?" They all asked pointing at each other.
"Who do you think I'm talking to?" She asked tapping her foot.
The longer it took them the harder she tapped.
"Sweet Jesus! How dumb can you get?" She sighed, annoyed at their blank faces.
Truth be told it could have been any one of them depending on her mood so no one made a move.
"Vic!"
Almost as if it were simultaneous the Brotherhood and the Acolytes breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ha Ha!" Pietro laughed pointing almost bent over at the waist.
Actually he was laughing because at least it wasn't him.
In fact they were all glad it wasn't them.
"Me?" Sabretooth said almost wishing she hadn't said his name.
"Sucks to be you!" Pyro whispered.
"Yeah, better you'n me, yo!"
"The force be with you." Freddy said slapping a sympathetic hand on his arm on his way out.
"Aces 'N Eights, homme. Aces 'N Eights." Gambit replied mentioning the infamous 'dead-man's hand of Wild Bill Hickock.
"Da. Um, what they said." Piotr said.
He didn't really want to be involved but a part of him actually felt sorry Sabretooth, murdering bloodthirsty psychopathic bastard that he was.
He had to deal with Mystique.
"Well what are you waiting for? Get out!" She yelled pointing her blue fingers towards the door.
Not that she had to tell them twice but it almost looked like the Fall of Saigon as they scrambled and pushed each other out the door in their attempt to escape Mystique and her wrath.
"Now come on, Raven…." They heard Sabretooth say.
In fact, that was all they heard of Sabretooth's voice as the kitchen door slammed shut, effectively blocking them from listening to anything else except raised voices.
Behind the door they could hear the argument escalating with mostly Raven's shouts drowning out whatever it was Sabretooth was saying.
"Poor guy." Pyro said.
"Yeah, uh, yo, he's like, takin' one for the team, ya know?" Toad hopped.
Shouting always made him nervous for some reason like it was something he remembered from before.
"Somethin' like dat." Gambit said thinking.
Not that any one of them had ever had much of a normal upbringing except for Piotr, but this was more or less what they were all used to.
"Guess this was coming." Pyro said making designs in the floor with his shoe. If he concentrated he could make a circle of flame and he tried to think of that instead of the yelling.
"Yeah, guess so." Piotr agreed watching his feet.
"Think they have any pancakes left?" Freddy asked.
"Freddy!" Everyone said.
"I can't help it." He said his stomach growling automatically.
The sounds of shouting made him want to eat, absently thinking about when they would be finished so he could go back into the kitchen.
Just like it made Toad hop his eyes wide and watching the door just in case they came after him.
Or Pyro burn things, his toe moving faster and faster until the floor was glowing in a red smoldering circular ember.
"They'll be over it soon. They always do this." Piotr said brushing it off.
As one of the most level headed and functional members of their new home he tried to make it seem less than it was.
That was more or less his job.
BAM!
"…never asked for this…"
Silently they all stood still listening. Occasionally one of them would wander to the window or sit on the stairs their hands on their knees.
SMASH!
"….you want me to do…pull milk…"
At times it almost seemed like it would never end but they stayed waiting in the living room, afraid to stay and afraid to leave. So instead they sat and they waited.
CRASH!
"…not exactly a walk in…"
"Stop this you guys!" Pietro yelled his hands almost at his head.
When he stopped both the Brotherhood and Acolytes were staring at him.
Suddenly it was very quiet behind the kitchen door.
He never had the most loving or close of family relationships but even he could tell how the fighting was affecting them.
SLAM!
They heard.
It was all they could do to jump back before Sabretooth charged through the door. His face was red and his claws were out.
In fact, no one was even sure if he saw them at all.
"This is Bullsh.." He said rushing past them.
For a big guy he was surprisingly fast and he had almost reached his motorcycle before Pietro caught up with him and that was only because he was using his sonic speed to catch up.
"Hey! Vic! Wait!" He shouted.
"Yeah, yo, wait up!"
"What?!" Sabretooth snarled one foot on the kick start.
His eyes were red and his face flushed, his fangs showing prominently with saliva.
It didn't take them long to recognize that he was pissed.
Or why.
In fact, if they didn't know better they would have figured he would have gutted them all and tore all their ears off and wore them as a necklace as homage to his psychopathic gods.
He was in kill mode.
No one ever said Victor Creed was a nice guy.
"Where ya goin'?" Gambit said.
He didn't particularly like the man. In fact he couldn't stand him. So that made his words even more puzzling to him.
"Yeah, yo, you, like, coming back, yo?" Toad asked.
The more anxious and nervous he became the more he hopped, interjecting with 'yo's' and 'likes' and 'you knows'.
"Toad!" Pyro said elbowing him in the gut.
It was none of their business what he did. He didn't owe them anything and they didn't owe him anything. That was all there was to it.
What did they care?
For a moment Creed let the motorcycle's engine idle, its loud muffler coughing and spitting in between the words.
He couldn't say that he didn't hear them.
Even with the motorcycle.
His damn mutant hearing wouldn't allow it.
Reluctantly he killed the switch watching their eyes as they looked at him.
Toad stared at him bug-eyed and hopped around like a frog on meth while Pyro clicked and un-clicked his Zippo.
Behind them Piotr stood staring at him like a good soldier, his arms across his chest and Gambit next to him. Those two together would be more dangerous than even they knew. He wouldn't let them know.
Freddy was crying.
Shit. What the Hell was he crying about?
Him?
He had to do something about that. Toughen the kid up a bit.
Pietro wouldn't even look at him although with his sensitive eyesight and smell he could pick up on the kid's anxiety. He was trying to be the big man, his jaw set and staring off in the distance.
He almost snorted.
Creed could almost imagine Magneto doing the same thing some fifty years back.
Big man, indeed.
Watching them, he could see them studying his actions and it almost seemed like they were waiting for him, too.
They were waiting and watching to see if he was going to stay or if he was going to leave.
Kids were probably used to everyone leaving and were expecting it.
One thing he did know was that if he left now it would all be over. They wouldn't look at him like that again. Not if he returned.
Besides, real men didn't leave in the first place. He'd heard that somewhere before.
You make a commitment and you stick to it.
Well Hell, what was he supposed to do now?
Behind them he could see Raven standing in the glow of the doorway, her hand against the doorjamb and her hip resting on the frame.
Fuck.
Creed let the kickstand down and stood up letting his leg hitch over the motorcycle.
Slowly he walked back to the house.
The End