M o t i v a t i o n

Chapter 2

Cretan wine was possibly the first wines that took Pietro forever to find. Not because it was rare, but because there were people out there that were bigger assholes than him and love to swap the wine with Kool-Aid. The wine was known to be sweet, but Pietro knew his Kool-Aid. He had managed to get four bottles of the stuff so he could use it in the food and save one bottle for himself. It wouldn't get him drunk, but it did taste good.

He wondered if Laura ever drank. He knew that because of her metabolism, it would be hard for her to get drunk, but he honestly wondered if she ever had the urge to test her powers like that. Still, he kept those thoughts to himself and passed her a glass, explaining that this was what he used for some of the deserts and that it was also an option for one of the drinks.

She was going for the natural makeup route, so there wasn't a big stain of purple or black on the wine glass. But when Laura licked her lips, Pietro found that the wine stained her lips. Pietro nearly bit his lip when Laura looked up at him, eyes wide with a hint of a grin, obviously pleased with the flavor of the wine and he had to look away, pulling up a smirk to hide any sign of discomfort and attraction and he told her to try the fried rice.

"It's spicy," she noted, before taking another bite into it.

"Yeah, the guys over here are a big fan of anything spicy," Pietro said with a smile, "though I guess Fred and Toad are big fans of food in general."

She continued to eat from the small bowl and Pietro smiled; apparently, she was a fan of the spicy foods as well.

"We're gonna eat soon," he told her, "so it's best to finish up and help me set the table."

Laura nodded, and continued to eat as Pietro started setting the table. There was enough food to feed a village, but the Brotherhood men (and Wanda) were big eaters. Though it was mostly a consequence of their powers than anything else. Pietro had to eat to keep his power going, as well as Toad. Fred was well known for being a big eater, though to be honest, Pietro didn't know if it was due to his powers, or if he really just loved food. Lance worked out – a lot – so he had to eat so his body could properly work without fail. Nobody knew about Wanda. If she ate because her powers exhausted her, if she ate because she loved food, if she ate because of her metabolism... honestly, not that many people knew. The secret to her figure was also a mystery as well.

The table was set and Pietro set out for working on the decorations. The guys were going to come out and hide the presents in one of the cabinets while Kitty continued to keep Lance distracted and Wanda was suppose to use her powers to set up the big surprise: the pool in the backyard. They were only lucky that it was such a warm January and that the guy who gave them the pool was allowing them to use it temporarily.

Were it anybody else, Pietro wouldn't have put in half the effort he was putting into this. But Wanda convinced him that this... all of this was for the whole Brotherhood. They were the definition of dysfunctional, but they were in fact, a family. And by celebrating Lance's birthday, they were finding a way to get together and bond. Pietro relented, simply because he didn't know how long Wanda was going to be like this. Mastermind's work wore off a while after Apocalypse happened; the guy both hated and feared Magneto and that had to have turned him into some type of passive-aggressive ass. Magneto had disappeared though, before she remembered and the biggest surprise was shown in the girl's patience. She vowed that she wasn't going to attack Magneto like she did in the past, she was going to wait. And when that day came, she also wanted Pietro to be there by her side.

It was almost three, Pietro noticed. He hoped that Wanda would come home soon.

And as if on cue, Pietro heard the door open and he heard Wanda's voice echo to the kitchen.

"...it should be okay, Rogue. I just don't know about those two..."

Apparently, Rogue was staying over for Lance's party. He glanced over at the large amount of food. It shouldn't be that much of a problem, they'll have the cake inside and he'll get help to bring the rest outside. Pietro looked over at Laura, who was leaning against the counter and staring out the window, probably lost in her thoughts. The sun's light seemed to halo around her and Pietro found himself smiling. Her dark hair looked brown in this light.

"Pietro."

He turned to address his sister, then froze, looking at the two men standing behind her. She seemed to follow his gaze and she turned her head to look at the guys as well. Pyro and Gambit.

"Yeah... they just followed us," she explained, "and Rogue wasn't willing to knock them out."

"Oh, I was willin'," Rogue corrected, "but the Professor would have lectured me for the longest time. I'd need a justified reason to do that."

"You could have lied," Pietro suggested, glaring at the Cajun when he smiled at him.

"You can't really lie to a telepath," came Laura from behind Pietro, "especially one that is considered the strongest one in the world."

Pietro looked at her, irritated, and she simply shrugged.

"We only hopin' to spend some quality time wit' you guys," came the Cajun's easy drawl, "y'know, let bygones be bygones."

"I don't think he's too forgivin', mate," Pyro said, frown on his face. Pietro drew his attention to the Australian then looked over at Gambit again. Irritation soon turned to anger; he wanted them gone. Not just away from his home, but away from this earth. He ground his teeth to prevent him from running at the guys and knew he was close to shaking. A hand on his shoulder drew his attention away from the former Acolytes.

"It might not be a good time to be fighting," Laura said, the expression understanding. Her hand dropped and Pietro took a calming breath. He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair, frown still on his face. She was right though; it wasn't a good time to be fighting.

"There's two fold out tables in that closet over there," he said, gesturing at the mention closest with his eyes still closed, "if you wanna stay here, you're gonna have to help me out."

OoOoO

Everything was set up and all they were doing was waiting for the birthday boy. Kitty had taken a shower in the downstairs bathroom and was now outside, chatting with Rogue and Wanda. The guys were currently in the living room watching an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with Laura. Lance was upstairs taking a shower.

"I'm tellin' ya, this is what's gonna happen in the future," John exclaimed, eyes wide.

"That may be, but I honestly doubt that we'll be part of that future," Remy said, shaking his head. Pietro thought that this may have been a common conversation among the friends.

"We will be!"

"You believe that, homme," Remy relented, rolling his eyes.

John crossed his arms and pouted.

"It's true."

Laura tilted her head up and shifted her attention at the ceiling. She turned to find Pietro staring at her, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"He's about to come down," she informed the men.

"Well then," Pietro said, popping up, "let's get the girls inside so we can celebrate Rocky's birthday."

Laura went to get the girls and Fred pulled out the radio. Pietro turned off the tv and opted to stay in the living room to wait to retrieve Lance while the rest of the guys surveyed the rest of the area, making sure nothing looked gross or off. Lance came down, with that 'just-got-laid' smile on his face. Pietro locked eyes with his friend and grinned, both sharing a proud grin.

"Well, birthday boy, let's go in there." Pietro nodded his head to the dining room.

OoOoO

"Thanks guys," Lance said, a smile of genuine gratitude on his face, "I think this is just about the best birthday I ever celebrated."

He was wearing a new vest, thanks to Kitty and was holding his new helmet, which were gifts from Toad and Fred. Gambit offered to help with turn ups on his Jeep and Pyro offered to help clean it up, which after a moment of suspicion, Lance agreed. Aside from the whole meal, Pietro also promised not to listen in on his and Kitty's phone calls, a gift that made both Lance and Kitty happy. Wanda had gotten him a pack of electric cigarettes, she knew that he was trying to quit. It had been Gambit's suggestion; his brother had the electric cigs and they honestly worked wonders.

"Can we go out and eat now," came Toad, "as much as I love this touching moment, I really love food. In my stomach. Like now."

Wanda rolled her eyes at Toad but did lead the way out.

"Oh wow," Lance breathed, eyes landing on the table full of food.

"Oh damn," he whispered, when he caught sight of the pool.

Toad, entirely focused on that food, started leaping for it. He was intercepted by a hexbolt and was sent sailing into the side of the house.

"Don't be rude," she chided, giving him a full on glare.

"Oh snookums, I was gonna get some for you too."

Wanda rolled her eyes disgusted. She turned her gaze at Lance who was staring at a small bowl of pink stuff. He turned and looked at Kitty, who was surprised at the emotion bubbling at the surface, then he turned to look at Pietro, who for once, didn't have a cocky smirk on his face at the expression. He knew how much this meant to him and he wasn't going to be an ass about it this time.

"I hadn't had taramosalata in forever."

Not since your father left, Pietro silently agreed, I know. The others were taking plates and eating utensils, but none were even picking up food; they were all waiting for Lance to take the first bite. When he realized that, Lance immediately took a chip and dipped. And when Lance ate the chip, the festivities finally began.

A/N: Sorry for lack of accents. There there, I just have a serious problem with writing them. Don't ask why. I just do.

My bb Lance is Greek in the comics! Holy hell, man! I like to consider Lance and Pietro semi good friends, which is why he's doing all of this under the guise of his love of cooking (which will later come up again). That's why there are Greek dishes out there along with the Romanian ones. Lol me spending all this time talking about food. Obviously, I have a one track mind. Though I do have to say, I have tried Taramosalata. I can't even begin to describe how much I was weirded out when I first saw it. That shit was pink and creamy and they expected me to eat that. I'm sitting there like "is you crazy? I ain't eating that!" But seriously, that stuff is good. A lot of Greek food is good. My heart is with Southern, African (West & Central ftw), and French food. Okay now I'm done talking about food. Seriously. (Y'all need to try mousaka though. Best stuff ever) Do you guys have a favorite dish?