Chapter 10
Weekend Madness Pt. 2 and Week day Chaos
On Sunday morning, Mystique woke Talia up sometime after 7 a.m.
"Time to wake up, Talia." said Mystique, as she opened the curtains in Talia's room, letting in the bright sun light.
Talia whimpered and quickly pulled the covers over her head, "Mmmm What time is it?"
"It's almost 7:30." she walked over to Talia's bed and shook her shoulder a bit, "Come on. Up. Up. Up."
"Nugh!" she threw the covers off of her, her hair was standing up in a big mess, "What's so important that you feel the need to wake me up so early in the morning? Someone had better be dying. If it's Pietro, I call dibs on his stereo."
"Nobody is dying, Talia. I want you up to go into town with me."
"To do what?"
"I need to pay some bills, do a bit of shopping here and there, also I would like for you to have brunch with me."
"It's Sunday, Mystique. The post office isn't open today and most of the shops are closed or are closing early."
"Which is why I am waking you up so early. Now hurry up and get dressed."
"No." she grabbed the covers again and pulled them back over her.
Mystique grabbed the covers and yanked them back off, "I said get up!"
"Why me?" she yanked the covers back, "Why don't you take somebody else?"
"Because I want a girls company today. One that I can tolerate and is not a delinquent like the boys in this house!"
"Hey!" yelled Pietro's voice from out in the hallway.
"Then take Wanda."
"She's too busy studying to come along."
"Then dress Pietro up like a girl and make him go. He's pretty enough to pull off the cross dressing thing."
"What?" Pietro zipped in and was about to attack Talia, but Mystique caught him around the waist, "You take that back, you little wart!"
"Make me, jail bait!"
"Come here, so I can strangle you!"
"You two, knock it off! Now!" she threw Pietro back out into the hallway and slammed the door on him.
"I'm gonna get you, Toad!"
"Kinda hard to do that when you got a door blocking your way, Pietro!"
"Talia! Enough!"
"But-"
"Ha!"
"Pietro, if you're not gone by the time I open this door-"
"Alright! Alright! I'm leaving. Sheesh!"
Mystique waited for the sounds of his foot steps fading away before she continued with Talia, "Alright then. Talia, please get up and get dressed. You're coming with me and that's that."
"But-" Mystique shot her a dark look and she groaned in defeat, "Fine! But I'm not going to enjoy it."
"Oh, I think you will." she opened the door and out a step out, "Once you are dress, come down stairs for a quick bite to eat, and then we will leave."
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah." Talia got up and walked over to her closet. She picked out a white blouse and a pair of black slacks with matching dress shoes. She brushed her hair and applied a light bit of make up, and then she went downstairs to the kitchen, "Will this outfit do, Mystique?"
Mystique looked her up and down, "Hmmm You look like you're going out for a job interview."
"Well, I don't feel like wearing a dress today and these are the only pants that I have."
"I suppose we'll just have to change that. Go back upstairs, dear, and I shall bring you something else to wear."
Talia groaned in frustration and stomped back up the stairs.
"Keep giving me that attitude today and you can kiss that slumber party good-bye, young lady."
Talia nearly screamed at the top of her lungs, but she kept her cool, and calmly walked the rest of the way up the stairs. When she reached the top, she found Pietro standing by her door, leaning against the wall, and smirking.
"What are you smiling about, Silver?"
"You."
She rolled her eyes, "That's not what I meant, Pietro!"
"My, my. Such an aweful attitude for a proper young lady to have. I take it that you're not a morning person, hm?"
"You know very well that I hate being woken up before 10 on the weekends."
"True. But then, I really don't give a damn about your sleeping schedule."
"Then what's this all about?"
"Just plain curiousity." she arched an eyebrow at him, "I'm wondering how long it'll be before you snap from all of this princess girly shit and ruin Mystique's little project."
"Say what now?"
"You heard me. Everyone knows why Mystique's treating you so nice. She's looking for a replacement for her own two kids, so that she can play pretend house with, and not feel so guilty or so lonely."
"I don't have time for this." she started to head into her room, but Pietro blocked her way with his arm.
"You know I'm right. I can tell by your eyes that you know."
"So, what if you're right. Why should I care that I'm only being used? If it keeps me from getting smacked around and yelled at all the time, I'll continue giving her what she wants."
"Even if it means that you don't go back to being a boy again?" she opened her mouth to say something, but the words would not come out. He smirked at his victory, "I think that you do care, Toad. And the fact that you don't fight Mystique on this at all shows everyone how desperate you really are."
"Desperate for what?"
"For a mother to love you. For acceptance. For a better life than the shitty one you've been having to live." Talia glared up into his eyes as he spoke those words, "You do realize, that once you turn back... You're going to lose all of this. Mystique won't want you. You'll just be her punching back again for when you fuck up on missions and when she fails to impress my father. You'll lose all of your new friends. Duncan will go back to bullying you and the X-Men... Well. I don't think have to explain any further. They'll only remember Talia, not you being Talia. What will you do then, hm?"
"Stop it, Pietro." she hissed.
"You know I'm right, Toad."
"Just shut up! I don't want to hear anymore of this."
"Hmph Okay then, Toad. I'll stop. I'll just walk away in silence and let you continue playing make believe with Mystique and everyone else." he stepped away from her, he backed away slowly, and held his hands out in a mocking jesture, "Just, remember. When shit hits the fan... Remember, I did try to warn you. So when you break down, because you've gotten so use to everyone playing nicey nice with you... Don't come crying to any of us."
"Don't worry." she said in a dark, but sad voice, "I won't."
Pietro chuckled and turned around just in time to see Mystique walking up the stairs, "Good-morning, Mystique. How are you this lovely morning?"
"What are you up to, Pietro?" she eyed his suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing. Just in a really good mood this morning. See you guys later." he cheerfully walked down the stairs and out the front door.
Mystique shook her head and walked over to Talia, handing her some clothes that she had pulled from the drier, "Here. These are some of Wanda's clothes. You can wear them, until we can get you something more casual. Talia? Is somthing wrong, dear?"
"No... Nothings wrong, Mystique." she took the clothes, keeping her eyes down.
"Did Pietro say something to upset you? If he has I'll-"
"No, ma'am... I'm just still a bit tired and cranky is all. I'll be fine once I get something to eat and move around a bit more."
Mystique eyed her a while longer, "Are you sure, Talia?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Mystique sighed and caressed the young girl's cheek softly, "Alright, dear. Go ahead and change. I'll be waiting for you in the living room, once you've finished your breakfast."
Talia went back into her room and Mystique went down into the living room. A few minutes later, Talia came down wearing Wanda's red sleeveless top and a pair of her black pants. She went to the kitchen and quickly ate her breakfast. She and Mystique then left the house for town. The first stop was the post office.
"I know it's closed, but I like dropping my payments off a little early. That way I won't have to worry about them last minute and get charged a late fee because I didn't make it on time."
"Ah. So... Where are we going after this?"
"Well." Mystique looked at the time on her dash board, "It looks like it's still a little early to hit up the mall, so we'll go ahead and run my other errons till then."
Mystique took her to some fancy little stores that were in the more popular areas of Bayville. She was apparently ordering new furniture for the house, some nice decorations, and make an appointment with her normal carpenter to fix the damage that had been done to it over a period of time.
"Why are you buying so many nice things?"
"Because I'm tired of coming home to a house that looks like something out of hobo alley."
"You do realize that even though you're getting all of this stuff, the guys are ultimately going to trash it in the end, right?"
"If they do, then I'll make them pay me every penny for what they have ruined." she stopped in front of a vase that was marked ten thousand dollars, "Hmmm"
"Please, tell me that you're not thinking of buying that!"
"Why not? It's quaint and lovely."
"And quite expensive. Not to be nosey, Mystique, but where on earth do you get the money to buy this kind of stuff?"
"Stocks, investments, and years upon years of savings. It helps when your life span is expanded to an unusally high number."
"Is that all?"
Mystique smirked and leaned in close so that she could whisper into Talia's ear, "Well, doing a few high paying hit jobs here and there helps to keep me and my bank account pretty happy as well."
Talia gulped, "Y-You're joking right?"
"What do you think?" an evil glint flashed in her eyes and a sadist smile pulled at the corner of her mouth.
"You are one scarey lady."
"And don't you forget that." Mystique straighted up and turned back to the vase, "Hm I think that I may pass on the vase today. It's a little too gaudy for my tastes anyways."
"Why don't you decorate the house with some cool stuff? Like skulls, axes, swords, and stuff?"
"Because I don't want my house to have anymore holes in it than it already does. Do you honestly want to leave sharp throwing objects lying around for Pietro to play with? He might just get bored and tie you to a spinning table, so he could throw axes at you blind folded."
"You do have a point."
"Come. Let's go look at some kitchen utensiles."
Talia followed Mystique into the kitchen ware ilse and to her surprise, they bumped into Duncan and his mother.
"Tal! Hey." Duncan waved, "Good-morning."
Talia left Mystique's side and eagerly jogged up to her friend, "Good-morning, Duncan. I didn't expect to run into you today."
"Me neither, but my mom made me come. How about you?"
"Same here. My mother woke me up around 7 this morning, because she wanted company on her outing today."
"Ooh, that's rough. At least my mom let me sleep in till 9."
"Lucky!"
Mystique and Duncan's mom walked over to join them.
"Who's you're friend, Talia?"
"This is my friend Duncan, mother. He was the nice boy that invited me over to the beach part a few days ago."
"Oh?" she smirked at Duncan, "You didn't tell me he was so handsome."
"Mother!"
Duncan's mother stepped up to his side, eyeing Talia and Mystique, "Do you know these people, Duncan?"
"This is Talia and I'm guessing the young lady with her is her mother." he chuckled, "Mom, you remember the new girl I was telling you about, right? Well, this is her."
Duncan's mother held out her hand and shook both Talia and Mystique's hands, "My name is Mary Matthews. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. My Duncan has told me many things about you."
"Good things I hope. My name is Beatrice." said Mystique.
"Yes. Though how he described her, I could hardly believe my ears. I haven't seen many children around Bayville, whom have manners and respect for their elders. I almost thought that my Duncan had invented an imaginary friend."
"Mom!"
"Oh, hush, dear." she lightly slapped his arm, "I'm just having a bit of fun. Mothers' are allowed to tease their own children every now and then."
He groaned and rubbed his hand down this face, "If you're going to tease me, can you at least do it behind my back? That way I can still picture you as a sweet mom instead of a she-devil."
"You've been hanging around your father too much." she put her hand on her hip and glared at him, making him wince.
"Sorry, mom."
Mary smirked and looked over at Mystique, "I would love to get to know you better. Why don't we let our children walk around the store, so we can talk girl to girl. Who knows, some of your Talia's manners will rub off onto my son."
Mystique looked at her watch, "I suppose I have some free time." he reached into her purse and pulled out some money for Talia, "Here, sweety. There's a store next door that I think you and your friend would definately like. If you see anything you want and don't have enough, come back and find me. I'll give you a little extra."
"Thank you, mother." Talia put the money into her own purse and gently gave Mystique a hug, then she walked over to Duncan, "Would you like to go next door with me, Duncan?"
"You kidding me? I would be insane to say no." he offered his arm and let Talia take it, "Let's escape before they change their minds."
They giggled and scurried away, leaving their 'mothers' to talk amongst themselves.
Duncan looked back at the two, before they were out of sight, "For some reason, I'm starting to regret leaving those two alone with eachother."
Talia looked back as well and shrugged her shoulders, "I'd worry to, but I don't think my mother could do any worse to me than she did on Friday."
"What she do yesterday?"
"Showed some of my friends' naked baby pictures of me in a public ice cream parlor."
"Oh, God! I am so sorry. That's like the worst thing a mom can do to her own kid."
She giggled, "You think so, huh?"
"Why? What else did she do?"
"She tagged along with us for the entire evening."
"Oh, wow. That must have been awquard."
"It was. Trust me. But... In the end, she ended up being pretty cool. She was nice enough to pay for not just our ice cream but also take us out to a fancy Italian resturaunt too."
"Dang, that is pretty cool."
"Yeah."
They made their way outside and went next door, which happened to be a video game arcade. Talia's eyes widened with shock.
"She's acutally going to let me play in here?"
"Does that surprise you?"
"Uh... Yeah, actually. My mother normally doesn't let me do stuff that isn't lady like."
"Really? How come?"
"No clue."
"Have you ever played video games before?"
"Once or twice when she wasn't looking."
"Oh?" he chuckled, "And here I thought you a 100% momma's girl."
She glared up at him, "Don't make turn you into a replacement mole for the Whack-a-Mole game."
He held up his hands defensively, but kept his smile, "Sorry. I won't call you a momma's girl anymore." When her eyes softened, he took her by the hand, got them some tokens, and lead her over to a DDR machine.
"What on earth is that?" she honestly didn't know what the machine was.
"It's a Dance Dance Revolution game. You stand on that center plate there and watch the arrows go up on the screne. When they almost over lap the main arrows, you take you feet and step on the arrows on the floor. Sounds easy, right?"
"I guess." she studied the game a bit more, unsure of herself, "I don't think I'll be any good at this."
He gently pulled her up onto the game's platform and put a few tokens in, "It doesn't matter if you're good at it or not. It's all about just having fun."
"B-B-But what if I look like a dork?"
"Relax. I'll put the setting on easy for you. Once you get the feel of the game, you'll be a pro at it in no time."
"O-Okay."
Once he had hit start and they chose an avatar to represent them, the music began to blare, and bright colors flashed. Talia was enthralled. Duncan smiled and nudged her to get her ready. The first few times that they had played Talia was pretty bad at it, but Duncan kept on coaxing her, and encouraging her to play. After 2 more game plays, Talia finally had gotten the gist of the game, and was playing better. She smiled at him and thanked him for introducing her to the game. They played a few more times, until a small group of people started forming around them, with looks of impatience upon their faces.
"I think it's time to let someone else have a turn on this thing." Talia said as she stepped off of the platform.
"Yeah, I think you're right." Duncan followed her towards the consession stand and ordered them a couple of sodas, "I wonder how long my mom's going to keep your mom hostage."
"If it keeps me from having to go back into that store, then she can keep her all day."
"Yeah, no kidding." he turned his attention back the concessionier, "Hey, can I also get order of nachos and a couple of hot dogs, please?" the concessionier rolled his eyes and grumbled as he went to gather their order, "Jeeze, he acts as though I'm ordering an entire buffet."
"Give him a break. He's probably just annoyed because he has to work here on the weekend."
"I suppose, but he should know better. I mean, when you work a job like this, you should come to expect to have a wonkie work schedule. I bet ya 10 bucks 3 out of 10 workers here are teenagers who call in sick all the time because they either stay up all night playing Halo or they were out partying all night. He probably took this job, because he thought it was going to be a piece of cake, and wouldn't have to do much. He probably didn't take into consideration that this place would be a hoppin' with teenagers on the weekends."
"You sound like you have experience with this sort of thing." she leaned forward, eyeing him.
"My old man made me get a part time job for a while. He said he'd cut me off if I couldn't prove myself capable of making money without him. I took this very job when I was 16."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Once he said that I proved myself to him, I quit right away. This is a fun place, but the stress that comes with it is soooooo not worth it."
"If you don't mind my asking, where is your dad today? Is today just a mother son day?"
"My old man's spending time with his other family right now."
"Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"It's alright. " he patted her hand, "I don't mind talking about it. My parents divorced when I was 10. They got this joint custody thing on me, so every other week I go and live with one of them. They both live here in Bayville, so that helps. They're also very rich, which makes throwing parties a lot more easier. Mom's cool and all. Though she has a nasty habbit of wanting to out do all of the other mom's out there. My old man is kinda cool too, but he rarely has time for me. When I'm at his house I normally tend to stay in my room, unless my little sister comes pestering me."
"You have a sister?"
"Yeah. She's 12 and really nice. You kinda remind of her."
"That does not sound creepy in no way at all." she said sarcastically.
They both laughed a bit, then he continued, "Okay, I'll admit it does sound a tad bit creepy, but hey, it's the truth. My sister doesn't attend any of the Bayville schools, my dad and step mom send her to one of those private all girl schools. She gets to come home on the weekends and during holidays from time to time. She may be way younger than me, but she gets me, and always tries to make me laugh. I think she's the only thing that keeps me sane when I go over to his place."
"Wow... You and your sister sound really close."
"Yeah, we are. She gets picked on a lot by the other girls at her school, even though she doesn't show it, I can tell she's hurting on the inside. I wish that my dad would let her attend Bayville, that way I can at least look after her,and protect her. She's a sweet kid with a big heart. It's just nobody ever really takes the time to get to know her."
Talia took all of what he said in, her heart pounded like crazy as she felt some form of conflicted emotions build up inside. After a bit, she finally got up the courage to ask him her question, "Duncan?"
"Yeah?"
"Um... Is the reason why you became friends with me is because you're looking for a replacement for your sister when she's not around?"
He blinked at her, taken back by her words, "Is that what you think?"
"How you described the sistuation with your sister and compared her to me... Who wouldn't think like that?"
"Ah..." he looked down at his hand, trying to think of the right words to say. He looked back up at her with a small smile on his face, "Heh I guess in some ways... Yes. You have some strong aspects about you that reminds me of my little sister. And how you are... It does makes me want to try and protect you, because you're so close, and I know I can."
She returned his smile, "You can't always be there to protect me, Duncan."
"I know. But I like to think that I can. Talia." he took her hand into his, "I like you, not just because you remind me of my sister. It's your personality and how you are that makes me like you. Like I said before. It's really rare to see girls' with manners these days."
Talia's heart melted at his words, but she kept her composer, and asked another question, "When you say you like me... In what way are you referring to?"
"I like you as a friend, Tal. No offense, but... You are a little young for me. I'm a senior and you're a freshman. Once I graduate, I'll be moving away for college and you'll be a sophmore in high school. I've seen too many girls get burned by their boyfriends that way and I wouldn't want you you to be added to that list. Do you get what I'm saying, Talia?"
She nodded her head, "Yes. I thank you for your honesty. It means a lot."
"No problem. I'm glad that you're straight forward and understanding. Other girls would just beat around the bush and expect guys to be mind readers."
"Well, I'm definately not like most girls."
He chuckled at her, then his eyes moved to the arcade's front doors, "Looks like our mom's are finally done with their girl talk."
Talia turned around to look at them, "Wow. I'm surprised that my mother hasn't killed your mother yet."
He snorted, "You honestly think you're mom would do that?"
"Let's just say. My mother thinks that she's always in the right and hates to be proven wrong."
"I think that's all moms, Tal."
"You would think that."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
Before Talia could answer him, Mystique and Mary approached them.
"Did you enjoy your time with your little friend, Duncan?" Mary asked.
"Yes, mom." he answered.
Mystique placed her hand upon Talia's shoulder, "You're all sweaty, poopsy. What have you been doing in here?"
"Duncan introduced me to a game called DDR. It's a kind of eye foot coordination game. It was really fun."
"Well, that does sound like something that would be fun, but still, playing something like that in public is very unlady like."
Duncan stood up slowly and bowed slightly, "Please, don't be angry with Talia, ma'am. I was the one who made her play the game. I just wanted her to have fun and try something new is all."
Mystique was still not pleased by the boy's words.
Mary however seemed to be a bit more understanding, "Well, see. No harm done. My son was simply trying to be a gentlemen and show your daughter a good time."
"Yes, well. Be that as it may, my daughter should have known better than to do something so improper."
"Mother. Please, don't do this! Not in front of all of these people."
Mystique took Talia's hand and pulled her up, "Come along, dear. We have much more shopping to do. You can see your friend again at school tomorrow."
Talia knew better than to argue with Mystique when she gets in one of her moods. Before Mystique could drag her away, Talia turned and mouthed, 'Sorry' to her friend, and then left with her.
Duncan turned to his own mother with a look of confusion upon his face, "Mom? What exactly happened between you and Talia's mother?"
"Oh, it was nothing dear. Beatrice and I simply had a dissagreement. That's all."
"It doesn't sound like that was all."
She waved his comment dismissavely, "Don't worry about it, sweetie. This is simply a matter between adults. You and Talia just continue being friends. Our little feud is not going to get in the way of your all's friendship."
Meanwhile, Mystique and Talia had reached Mystique's car, and we driving off towards the direction of the mall.
"What was that all about, Mystique?" Talia asked, still a little shocked by Mystique's strange behavior.
"Ooh! That woman! Oh-ho She had some nerve talking to me the way she did."
"Calm down, Mystique. What exactly did she say?"
"Never you mind, Talia. This is something that is simply between me and her."
"Mystique look out!" Talia screamed, as Mystique narrowly dodged an oncoming car, "What the hell, woman! Are you crazy? You nearly got us killed!"
"Shut up! You're alive aren't you?"
Talia winced at Mystique's tone and sat quietly, leaving her to her own thoughts, 'She sounds like her old self again. Not the pretend mother that she has been lately. Maybe Pietro's right about her. Maybe when all of this is done... I'm not going to matter to her anymore. I'm just going to go back to being her lacky that she can use and kick around whenever she pleases.' she wrung her hangs nervously and turned to look out the passenger side window, 'Why am I getting worked up over this? I told Pietro that I didn't care if she was only being nice to me because I'm a temperary replacement for her own kids. So why... Why is it that when I see some of her old self surfacing I get sad and really scared?'
Mystique grumbled and cussed under her breath till they were almost at the mall's location. She eventually calmed down by the time she had parked the car and got out.
"Well, it looks like it's about brunch time. Before we go into the mall, I want us to stop buy that cafe over there to have a bite to eat."
"Yes, Mystique."
They made their way over to the cafe across the street and let a waiter lead them to their table. Mystique had a cup of coffee and Talia had a cup of tea. The two of them shared some scones between one another and had a slice of apple pie. Niether one of them spoke, until it was time to go, and they continue the day's shopping. Like last time, Mystique had Talia try on many different types of clothes, mostly casual ones, and she picked out the ones that she thought was more appropriate. Talia did not complain, for fear that the old Mystique would come out again, and may set her wrath upon her since she was the only visable target nearby. They stayed in the mall until 5 p.m. closing time. After that, Mystique and her went shopping for groceries. Which was also done in silence.
Once they were home, Talia helped Mystique take all of the shopping bags into the house, and helped her put the groceries away. Talia started to go upstairs to her room with her own bags, but she stopped half way up when Mystique called to her.
"Talia."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Once you've put your things away, I would like to have a word with you in my room."
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No. Just come to my room when you are done." before Talia could say anything else, Mystique dissapeared back into the kitchen to put the last of the groceries away. After she was done, she went straight to her own room and waited patiently for Talia. A few minutes later, Talia came knocking on her door, "Come in, Talia."
Talia let herself in and slowly closed the door behind her. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, "What is it that you wished to speak with me about, ma'am?"
Mystique moved over to her dressed, pulled out her hair brush, and began brushing her hair, while staring at Talia through the reflection of the mirror, "I wish to speak to you about my son Kurt."
"Mystique I-"
Mystique shot Talia a warning look, which made her go immediately silent, "I understand that you are still having trouble adjusting to your new body, but are adapting to it at the same time. To hide your identity you've had to trade out your old friends' for new ones. And as usual, the X-Men feel the need to take it upon themselves to make friends and help anyone that they seem to think can't help themselves. I will not lie to you and tell you that I am happy about you're new friends. I will tell you that I am very cross with you for not telling me who you were making friends with from the beginning."
Talia held her hands together and lowered her eyes to the floor, "I'm sorry, ma'am."
"I know you are, dear. I can over look you keeping your friend's identities a secret from me, but there is one thing that I simply cannot tolerate." she set her brush down and finally turned around to face Talia, "I forbid you from forming an intimate relationship with my son. I've done enough damage to him as it is. I will not allow you to further that damage by leading him on and breaking his heart when you finally turn back into a boy. If you disobey me on this, then I will personally make your life a living hell until either you or I die first."
"Mystique... Kurt is my friend. I wouldn't dream of hurting him. I swear!"
"You say that now, but can honestly look me in the eye and tell me that you will fall through with what you say?"
Talia lifted her eyes from the carpet, it took every ounce of her strength not to look away from her mentor, "Yes."
Mystique stared coldly at her, but she seemed satisfied with the young girl's answer, "I'm glad we had this little discussion. You may leave now."
"Ma'am?"
"Yes, Talia?"
"Why did you wait till today to approach me about this? Why didn't you do it on the way home Friday or yesterday?"
"Because you were tired Friday and I was still very angry with you yesterday. I wanted to make sure I was calm enough to speak to you and not yell at you to point where you're ears start to bleed. Also... I wanted to make sure that I didn't say anything that I would regret later on. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Talia turned around and slowly walked out of the room, and into her own room. She closed her door, went straight for her bed, and laid down with her left arm draped over her eyes. She was tired mentally and emotionally, but she could not will herself to fall asleep. Everything that was bothering her was building up inside of her more and more, but she refused to let any of it out. She didn't want to fall into the roll of a girl and start crying because things were getting to hairy for her to handle. She looked over at her alarm clock, it was 7:30. She groaned and rolled over onto her right side, to see Pietro's face staring right at her. She let out a squeal and fell backwards off of her bed.
"Pietro!" she huffed as she pulled herself up, "Get the hell out!"
Pietro propped an elbow up on her bed and rested his head in his hand, "Awwww, but I came all the way over here to see how you were doing."
"I highly doubt that." she ran her hands down her outfit to try and smooth out the creases, "You never come to see me, unless you want to irratate me."
"Guilty. But can you blame me?"
"In many ways yes. Now, unless you have something significantly important to say, then I strongly suggest that you get the hell out of my room before I rearrange your pretty face."
"I take it you're a little sore at the fact that Mystique won't let you date her son?"
"What? How did you-"
"Oh, please. I'm the world's fastest mutant and can be quieter than a mouse if it suits me. When I heard Mystique say that she wanted a private conversation with you, I couldn't resist the temtation of a good gossip." he hopped up on Talia's bed and sat with his legs crossed, "So tell me. Do you like the little blue chia pet or what?"
"He and I are just friends, Pietro. Nothing more."
"Oh, really?" he interlocked his fingers and rested his chin on them, "According to Lance, you two were getting kinda friendly Friday night. You two would have probably gotten to at least second base if it werent for Mystique's little cock blocking move."
"Oooh!" she grabbed one of her heavy pillows and began repeatedly hitting him up side his head, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
"Ow! What the fuck? Oof! What the hell is in that thing?" he tried getting away, but because he had his legs crossed it made things a bit harder. He rolled himself off of the bed and crawled towards the door, as Talia continued to mercilessly attack him, "Ouch! Fuck! I'm leaving! Alright? Jeezus!" as soon as he was able to get to his feet, he was gone before she could raise her pillow over head.
She growled furiously and slammed her door back shut, making sure to lock it this time. She did not leave her room for the rest of the night. The only time she opened up her bedroom door was for when Fred had brought her a plate of food, with desert, and water. She took it greatfully from him and gave him a hug. He had heard her yelling at Pietro and when he saw how miserable she looked, he tried to talk to her about it. Unfortunately she wasn't in the mood to talk to him about it, so he left it at that.
When morning came, Talia awoke at 5:30, she got changed for shool, grabbed a quick bit to eat, and quickly left before any of the others woke up. After what happened yesterday, she did not feel like talking to anybody that lived in the boarding house, not even Fred. The air was slightly chilly, but it was tolerable. She made her way to the schools grounds to find that there were some students already there. She was very surprised to see Kitty waiting outside of the library without the rest of the X-Men accompanying her.
Talia approached her, "Kitty? What are you dong here so early?"
"Oh, hey, Talia!" Kitty walked up to her and hugged her, "I have a really big test this morning and I wanted to get here early enough to get into the library to look for more books' that might help. What about you?"
Talia shrugged her shoulders, "I don't want to be home right now."
"Oh? How come? Did something happen between you and your mom?"
"Something like that. Hey, Kitty?"
"Yeah?"
"Um... Nevermind."
"No. What? I want to know what it is you were going to say."
"I just... Oh, I don't know... I've sort of got a problem, but I really can't talk about it. And welll... I really want to, but... I'm just... Scared."
"Scared of what, Talia?"
"Scared that you won't want to be my friend anymore."
"I'll always be your friend, Talia." Kitty took Talia's hands into her own and held them, "You're really a cool person and really nice. I could never stop being friends with you."
Talia looked down at their hands and squeezed, "I just... I just really need to vent to someone that I can trust. I trust you and one other person, but... I can't really talk to him about this."
"Then I'll listen and support you in anyway that I can."
Talia's hands trembled in Kitty's own hands, "I'm sorry... I want to vent, but I just can't right now. I'm too scared."
Kitty pulled her into a caring hug and rubbed her back, "Hey. It's alright. There's no need to force youself. When you're ready to talk, I'll stop what I'm doing, and I'll listen. Even if I'm in the middle of a test, you can come get me. Okay?"
"Okay." Talia sniffed and hugged Kitty tightly, "Thank you. For being my friend."
"Hey, that's what friends are for." she pulled away, so that she could look Talia in the eyes, "I'm glad you consider me your friend and that you can trust me." Talia smiled warmly at her and noticed Kitty suddenly looking past her, "Oh, they finally opened the library. You want to come inside with me and keep me company till class time?"
"Sure."
Kitty and Talia stayed in the library, until it was time to go to their respective classes. Kitty's kind words had helped brighten her mood a bit. She was able to go to her classes without trouble, until fourth period came along. She like Kurt, mostly as a friend. But Mystique's words echoed in her head, making things slightly more difficult for her. Whether she had romantic feelings for him or not, Mystique's words and cold eyes were making things extremely aquard for her. Especially since she had biology with him and had to sit very close to him for their prodject. She tried to play off like there nothing was wrong and pretended to be having a good time, but Kurt knew better, and decided to wait till after class to speak with her.
Kurt quickly put his books away and jogged after her. She was walking past the janitorial closet when he had finally caught up with her.
"Talia! Vait up, please."
Talia stopped and turned around to face him, "Do you need something, Kurt?"
"I vant to talk to you. You've been acting very veird. I mean... You haven't been acting quite like yourself and I am vorried about you."
"I'm fine, Kurt. Really, I am. I'm just having a few issues that I'm not quite sure how to handle thats all."
Kurt shook his head, "I don't buy that, Talia. I know ve haven't know eachother for very long. But you and I and Kitty... Vell, ve've bonded very fast vith one another. As though ve've been friends for vhat seems like for forever. Ya know?"
She gave him a small smile, "Yes. I do know what you mean, Kurt. But... There are just somethings that I simply can't talk about."
"Vhy? Vhatever they are, they are hurting you. I vant to help you. I-"
"And I appriciate it. I really do. Just... Just trust me on this one. You cannot help me, because it's something that I need to do on my own."
He reached up and touched her cheek, as he searched her eyes, "If it's something that I have done-"
She blushed at his touch, "It's not what you have done, Kurt. It's what I have done."
"Vhat do you mean?"
"Kurt I-" her hand moved down his wrist and over his image inducer, not meaning to, she accidently turned it off, and revealed his true form.
"Oh, no!" Kurt tried to quickly change back before any of the other students saw him, but the button was stuck, and he wasn't able to fix it.
Talia thought quickly, she pulled him into the janitorial closet with her, shut the door, and locked it. She peeked out from behind the door's window blinds to see if anyone had noticed Kurt's drastic change.
"It doesn't look like anyone saw you." she said, "So you should be alright."
"You... You're not frightened?"
"Frightened of what?" she said, not really paying attention to him.
"Uh, hello. You saw me turn from a normal human into a blue fuzzy demon right in front of you."
"My mother's a shape shifter, so you being a fuzzy plushie doesn't bother me one bit."
"Really? You're mother's mutant just like me?"
Suddenly their conversation finally began to sink in and Talia slapped her forehead realizing her mistake.
"Vhat is it?"
"I wasn't suppose to tell you that."
"Vhy? I think it's vonderful that you mother is just like me."
"Oh, you wouldn't be thinking that if you knew what I knew." she mumbled under her breath.
"Vhat?"
"I said my mother doesn't think it's as wonderful as you do. She likes to keep things a secret and as normal as possible, so that things don't get out of control. So, please don't tell anybody about her? If she finds out that I accently blabbed, she'll be very cross with me."
"Don't vorry. I von't tell anybody." he stepped closer her, tilting her chin up so that he could look her in the eyes, "You're secret is safe vith me."
Talia blushed several shades of red, she could feel the warmth of his breath breathing down upon her face, and how close his body was to hers. She panicked and tried to back away, but ended up stumbling backwards, she stepped into a mop bucket, and tripped. She let out a squeal that caught the attention of the students passing by the door and of the janitor who was coming towards the closet. Kurt quickly grabbed her and teleported them out of there and into the abandoned class room which use to be Forge's old science lab.
"Phew! That vas close! Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah. Ow!" she hissed when she tried to set her left foot down, "Oh, no... I think I twisted my ankle on that stupid mop bucket."
"That does pose a problem. Here." he scooped her up in his arms, carried her over to a nearby table, and set her down upon it, "I'll take a look at your foot. I'm pretty good vith this kind of stuff." he gently took her foot in his hands and move it around. He listened carefully to her hisses and moans and he examined the spots where her foot hurt the most very carefully, "It doesn't seem to be broken or twisted. Just badly sprained."
"What should I do?"
"Vell, you're going to have to stay off of it for a bit and put some ice on it to get the swelling to go down. But once it goes down it should be safe for you to valk around on it again. I vill go get you some ice. Be back in a few." he teleported out of the room, leaving her behind to wait for him. She sighed and looked around at her suroundings as she waited patiently for his return. He teleported in about five minutes, holding an ice pack that he had snuck out of the nurses office in his hands. "Here." he placed it upon Talia's ankel and held it, "This should help."
"Thank you." she stared down at his hand and her foot, "Kurt?"
"Yes?"
"Just a random question, but... Why do you live in a mansion with a professor instead of your own family?"
"Because my family vanted to send me to a place that they knew I vould be safe and that vould help me adapt to my mutation."
"Do you ever miss your family?"
"Yes. Very much. But I keep in touch vith them and vrite to them everyday. Sometimes on holidays I go back to Germany and get together vith them. Vhen I am there, they never stop hugging me, and telling me how much they love me."
"That sounds very nice."
"Yes. It is." he smiled.
"I appaulogize if I'm prying a bit. I just want to get to know a little better. Since we've became friends, I've learned much about you, and have gotten to know you more and more. But then, I realized that I haven't really heard you speak much about your parents' or where you originally come from."
"Ah. I see. Vell, it's sort of complicated. I have actually two sets of parents. The ones in Germany whom have raised me and the one who gave birth to me."
"Oh. So, you're adopted?"
"Yes, but I do know who my biological mother is. I've actually met her."
"What's she like?" she asked, pretending not to know.
"Vell... I don't know in all honesty. I'd like to get to know her better, but things are... complicated. An' from vhat I do know of her... Let's just say that they are not good things. An' because of those things it makes it even harder for me to vant to get to get close her."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Kurt."
"Ja, vell. The vay I see it. I should appriciate the things that I have now that are good and not dwell on the things that I regret and makes me sad. That's vhat I always try to tell my friends' back at the mansion vhen they are down in the dumps. Being sad all the of time is no vay to live." he lifted up the ice pack and examined her foot again, "It looks like the ice pack is doing the trick, do you vant to try and valk around now?"
Talia nodded and let Kurt help her down, she leaned on her foot this way and that way, "It still kind of hurts, but it seems okay. Thank you, Kurt."
"You are velcome. I'd do anything for my friends, especially you." he chuckled as he watched her turn several shades of red. "I can't go back to class, at least not until I can get my image inducer fixed. So, I'll have to teleport back to the mansion and have my guardian look at it. Vill you be alright going back to your classes on your own?"
"Yes. I believe so. Will you be coming back to school later?"
"Maybe. It depends on how stuck the button is."
"I'm really sorry about that."
"Don't vorry. I've done vorse to this thing. So I'm not surprised that it acts up from time to time." he gave her a quick hug, "Be same, Frauline." he then let her go and teleported back home.
Talia waited for his return for about 10 minutes, before she gave up and left for class. She had missed lunch, but she didn't mind. She knew that Fred would be making something good for dinner tonight. So she had something to look forward to.
The rest of the school day went by with ease. Her worries were still in her mind, but they were at the back where they couldn't pester her. Kurt had not returned back to school, but she knew where he was, so she didn't have to worry. Once school let out, she put her books away, and hurried home. Immediately going to kitchen, where she found Fred making some steaks and side dishes. She snickered to herself and attempted to sneak by him to steal a piece of food. He was looking the other way, reading his recipe book, and she decided to take that moment to snag a bit of potato salad.
Fred snatched her hand before she was even able to touch the dish, "Don't even think about it, Tal."
"Aw! How'd you know it was me?"
"Because one else here wears Channel no. 5 other than Mystique and you and Mystique ain't gonna be home till later tonight."
Talia stuck out her lip and pouted, "Remind me next time not to let her pick out my perfume."
He let her hand go and chuckled, "If you're hungry, help yourself to some finger food that I set up on the platter of there. It's mostly vegetables and fruits, stuff I know that Pietro won't gobbled down right away."
"Thanks." she walked over to the table and began munching on some celeary.
Fred started chopping up some onions and let out a yell, "God dammit! Every fuckin' time!" he dropped the knife and began furiously rubbing his eyes.
Talia dropped the celeary stick and raced to his side, "What happened? Are you alright?"
"Yeah." he groaned, "Onions always tear me up and to make things worse, I just got some onion juice in my eye." he rubbed furiously at his eyes, "God this sucks!"
"Well, stop rubbing it, Freddy! You're only going to make it worse." she grabbed his arm, pulled him away from the counter, and made him sit down in one of the chairs, "Hold on a sec." she went a grabbed a wet wash cloth, then she returned to his side, and held it over his eyes, "I need you to hold still, Freddy. I'm going to try and wash the juice out." she tilted his head so that she could get a better aim and dribbed drops of water into his eyes. He blinked and groaned as the water made contact, but he kept still. "There. That's better." she cooed softly, pulling the cloth away from his eyes for a bit, "Any better?"
"Yeah. Much better."
She giggled and wiped some stray dropplets away from his cheeks, "You're eyes are still a bit red, but I think you should take a break from chopping onions though. I wouldn't know what to do if you accidently chopped off your finger because you couldn't see."
He smiled and grabbed her hand that was on his cheek, "I'm sure you'd figure somethin' out." he stared into her eyes with same dreamy mistified look from before and gently pulled her closer to him.
"Freddy? What are you-" Talia's heart raced and her cheeks glowed red the closer she came to his face.
They were almost touching noses, when they heard Pietro clearing his throat. Fred let go of Talia's hand and went back to work on the onions. She looked at him with utter confusion, then looked at Pietro, who was smirking at her with the same snideness as last night.
She arched an eyebrown and put her hand on her hip, "What?"
Pietro sauntered over to the platter and picked up a carrot, "Nothing." he took a bite and grinned, "Just looking forward to watching my new favorite soap opera is all."
"Since when do you watch soap operas?"
"Oh, just recently and let me tell ya. I can't wait to see what happens next." he laughed and took another bite.
"Whatever. Call me when dinner's ready, Freddy. I'll be up in my room." she shot Pietro one last glare before she dissapeared out of the kitchen.
Pietro watched her leave and waited for her to be out of ear shot before he turned his sights on Fred.
Fred had just finished chopping up the last of the onions, when he suddenly realized that Pietro was still in the room. He tried to ignore him, but Pietro's snide smile, and constant staring was finally getting on his nerves.
Fred turned around to face the boy and leaned against the counter with his hands gripping the edge, "Don't ya have somethin' else better to do other than irratatin' the hell outta me?"
"Nope." Pietro popped the last of the carrot into his mouth, "In fact. I could watch you all day."
"What the hell? You turnin' gay on me or somethin'?"
"No. But apparently you are."
"W-What?" Fred was flabbergasted by what came out of Pietro's mouth, "No way! I ain't no flamer!"
"Denial is not just a river in Egypt, my friend. I've seen the way you've been looking at Toad lately. I didn't think anything of it at first, until now."
"I don't know what you're talkin' about. You're just tryin' to rile me up like you always do to get a cheap laugh."
"Rile you up, yes. Cheap? No. No. More like priceless. I bet ya that if I hadn't showed up, you'd have stolen a kiss from the little wart."
"Don't call her that!"
"Oh, my. So defensive all of the sudden. Of course, I would be too if my best friend in the world were a guy, who was just recently turned into a girl through magic, making me start to fall for her, and then come to realize that she's looking at someone else other than me." Pietro smiled even more as Fred's face grew red with rage, "Ooooooh? I take it you didn't know about your little love rival? Oh, this is just too much!"
Fred gritted his teeth, his nostrels were flaring, and he was doing everything in his power not to kill Pietro, "Pietro. If you don't shut up right now... I'm gonna-"
"But if I did, you wouldn't get to know the name of your love competitor."
"I don't care!"
"Oh, but I think you do. Here. I'll give you a hint. He's blue, smells of sulfer, and is an X-Man."
There was sound of wood cracking and before Fred realized what he was doing, he had suddenly snapped off two chunks of the counter tops ledge.
"It looks like you've just proven me right." Pietro chuckled, "But, let's just say for theories sake, she doesn't fall for blue boy, and does fall for you. What are you going to do when she still wants to go back to being a guy again? Cause if I remember correctly... Toad himself is not gay and I doubt he'll want to continue a relationship with a guy that makes look like a prison bitch everyday. What will you do with yourself then, hm?"
Fred took several deep breaths to calm himself down, "I guess... I won't know until it happens. Till then... I ain't gonna worry about it."
Pietro cocked his head to the side, still smirking, "Alright then. I'll accept that answer." he turned around and started to walk away.
"Hey! You ain't gonna tell anybody about this are ya?"
"Naw. If I did, then the others' would try to interfer, and it wouldn't be my own personal soap opera anymore. I would rather keep quiet and watch to see where the stones lye. Oh, by the way. I want my steak medium-rare. Hold the spit and whatever nasty things you're thinking of putting on it." Pietro then left the room feeling victorious and leaving a heavy hearted Fred.