It wasn't unusual for Lance to wake up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom. In retrospect, it probably had something to do with the habit he had developed early on in life of always downing a full glass of water before going to bed. He never had any idea as to exactly why he did this; but after performing the same routine over and over every single night, it had quickly become a habit he had never bothered to break.
On most of the nights Lance was roused from his sleep, he was the only one awake. He would be lying if he said he didn't like it that way; in the daytime, the Brotherhood house was nearly never silent, so the spare few moments of peace at night were almost surreal. Sometimes (though no way would he ever confess to it) Lance had even taken advantage of the tranquility to check in on his housemates while they slept.
Fred slept like a rock, and snored loud enough to wake the dead. Lance was amazed that anyone could manage to sleep through it; though Toad, who slept in the room just across the hall, didn't seem to have any problems, Todd slept as if he were melting into the bed; limbs splayed everywhere, covers wild and twisted around his small body. He, Lance has quickly discovered early on, would spring awake at the slightest sound- it had been a very awkward conversation trying to explain what Lance was doing leering over the younger boy's bed at three in the morning. It was necessary to be very quiet around him.
The Maximoff twins, as Lance learned, really did have more in common than blood alone. The both slept curled up on their sides, bringing to mind the image of a child much younger than they both were. Wanda was a fairly sound sleeper; she always had a faint crease to her brow, as if she was being haunted by her own memories even in her dreams. The thing about Pietro, on the other hand, was that he didn't sleep; he crashed. Once he was asleep, next to nothing- not even Freddy's snoring- could wake him.
That was the first sign that night that something was amiss; passing Pietro's bedroom in the middle of the night, after once again having been roused from his sleep, Lance was surprised to find that Pietro's door was wide open. The speedster's bed was empty.
Frowning, Lance fell silent- and that was when he heard the noises downstairs. His quest for the bathroom forgotten, Lance followed the sounds past Fred's door, and Todd's- which was also open and empty- and down the stairs. He stopped just outside the kitchen door; he could see a light on. Quietly, he concealed himself in the shadows.
"I don't care!" It was Pietro's voice that was whispering. "This is a distinctly bad idea!"
"Ha, yeah, coming from you." The second voice belonged to Toad. "That's rich, Quickie. Look, we do this tonight, then the X-Geeks find it in their hallway tomorrow morning. It's a done deal!"
"I don't even know if I can lift it, let alone run it wall the way there!" Pietro's voice, for once, sounded strained, uneasy. "Besides that- where did you even get a cow?"
Lance blinked.
Inside the room a third, more husky voice spoke up, eager to add it's input- "Mooooo!"
Shaking his head slightly, Lance started back up the stairs. It would be better, he decided, if he just didn't ask. Ever. After all, how else could he be expected to stay sane in this house?
AN: There. Lance and Todd. See? I'm not all about the Pietro here, folks (even though I totally am).
Anyway, sorry I haven't updated for a few days. Real life comes first, right? Long story short- I had kind of a nervous breakdown Thursday/Friday, and I had to go to the hospital, and I just got out yesterday- yeah, not fun. But I'm not slacking off on you guys! I'm back, I'm better, and I am ready to write!