O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Disclaimer O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
X-Men Evolution and it's Characters do not belong to me. I'm writing this for pure fun and selfish reasons; those being that I want to see all my crack ships do very very naughty things ;)
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O AN O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Why are the months going by so fast? I'm going to catch up to my own writing schedule pretty soon XD Anyhoo...
Thank you so much: Clamchick (You are so cute! Thank you so much for being excited about the updates XD I'm loving your theories but shall remain quiet about whether you're right or wrong. Keep brainstorming tho! Love your thoughts on it! Thanks so much for your support and here's the next chapter!), MisdirectionSmoothie and RogueQueen69 for reviewing! You guys are amazing!
Here is the next chapter! Thanks for patiently waiting and I'm dedicating it to you Clamchick! Haha, thanks for your eagerness. It's a great compliment :) Enjoy
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Chapter 6 O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Pietro walked through the door that led to the Hg Lounge from Scarlet Ink. His mind preoccupied with hopes that Luna wouldn't be too much of a handful. She was quiet and shy at first sight but once that girl got comfortable she got comfortable. He cringed at the thought of the mess she had caused earlier in his dad's office.
After a few seconds of walking through the back he found himself on the stage, it wasn't until he was at the center that he realized that everyone had gathered at the dance floor instead. He jumped off and promptly made his way towards the large group nodding his head at a few people he recognized. His father was already speaking and didn't bother acknowledging that he had just arrived. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, he had already spoken to him about the changes he was planning to make for the clubs big summer event.
His sapphire orbs scanned the room as his father kept going over the changes all the founders of the bands had agreed on.
On one corner of the oddly shaped circle was a pale man. His dark eyes stayed on his father, lips in a straight line as he listened. Behind him on the left was a platinum blonde young woman who was eyeing him. He ignored her and looked to the pink haired man besides her. It seemed Vertigo and Gorgeous George were representing the Nasty Boys today. To the right of the pale man there was another woman. Pietro found himself frowning at the dark brown hair individual, there was a look of disdain on Malice's expression that he didn't like.
Across from them was a bald headed man in a wheelchair surrounded by a short hairy man and a woman with white white hair. He also saw a face he wasn't expecting to see representing the X-men and made it known as he perked an eyebrow at his step sister.
Some feet away from them was a lone woman wearing an eye patch. Besides from her with a lot of space in between was a well dressed dark skinned businessman. His suit was white with gold trimming, but he supposed he shouldn't be surprised by the detail. En Sabah Nur always enjoyed making a fashion statement. Across from them was the last pair, a man dressed in complete black with a blond woman cladded in white interlocking their arms together..
His father was towards the center of the circle, a hairy blonde man was at his right and having a glaring completion with the X-men's Wolverine. On the left were Remy and John who hardly seemed to be paying attention, probably already knowing the details of the meeting as well.
His focus went away from the other groups when the person he had stopped next to begin to speak. He looked at the dark red hair of his step mother as she questioned one of his fathers conditions and felt Lance Alvers shift beside him.
Once he saw Anna's mouth part he knew this was going to be good. When the two women butted heads they butted heads. It didn't help that they were related and had similar attitudes.
"You do know that the way Nocturnal Madness was promoted was as a band competition right? Now you're telling us that part of the event is canceled and instead you want us to mash up and play nice with each other? Who's lame idea was this."
Pietro smirked, they both knew who's idea this had been, but there was a reason they all considered her the black sheep of the family. She wasn't afraid to push buttons.
"Rogue," Ororo Monroe whispered in a childling manner.
He couldn't see Raven's face but could imagine the way her eyes would be narrowing at her favorite child.
His father cleared his throat and took a step forward. "Competition makes for good sport, I think everyone in this room knows that but the Acolytes are riding high from their success this past year and the fact that I have some here willing to participate would be beneficial for you all. There is no better publicity than free publicity, right? Or do any of you disagree with that?"
Everyone stayed silent, "Great, Pietro here will go over more of the details since once again we're using this venue," he stepped back blending in with his group after the statement.
"Thanks," Pietro remarked and stepped forward from his spot so everyone could see him. "Well the building is usually closed from Eight to Five weekdays and after Three on Sunday's. I'd be happy to allow rehearsals at those times, I just ask you give me enough notice. As far as how we're going to be deciding on the collaborations we believe drawing would be the fairest way. The leaders can decide whether they will be entering the participants as a group or as individuals," he glanced at Professor Xavier who nodded in acknowledgment, "From there it's just pulling it together and seeing what people come up with. As Eric said, it's pretty much free publicity with the Acolytes joining us for the summer so we hope you all still decide to participate. I'd be happy to answer any questions . Time slots for the shows will be discussed as we get closer to the date and we have an idea of what it is we're doing" there were nods by multiple leaders. Pietro nodded in return and took a step back to his place and let his father go forward once again.
"That ends our meeting for today but please don't rush out, we've had lunch catered with Küchenchef Wagner
and would love to have you join us. Please help yourselves."
After the words the oddly shaped circle broke off. Some people went towards the buffet table while others went into their own groups. Raven left to join his father leaving him and Lance alone but they were soon accompanied by John and Remy.
"Well that was interesting," John's thick accent cent cut through the silence.
Remy smirked, "There someone that didn't find it interesting at all," his eyes went to where his dual colored hair step sister stood, hands crossed in front of her chest as her mouth moved at a rapid pace as she spoke to her boss.
He seemed annoyed as well but his white haired wife seemed to be easing them over.
"Not everyone is going to be happy but at the end they don't have to sign up either, I guess we'll see how it goes. You guys wanna grab something to eat?" He asked and waited for the answer before heading over to the buffet table himself ignoring the stares of some of the others.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Wanda looked over to her giggling niece. She had arrived back to the parlor to find the blond girl coloring. As soon as Luna had spotted her she had jumped off the stool she was on giving Laura a tiny heart attack but she had made a perfect landing before running to her. Pietro had messaged her, letting her know that Luna was at the shop and that it was imperative for her to buy her something to keep her occupied while he was in the meeting. So of course she had stopped by the store and bought her a game.
A game she was now playing with her short, bad tempered, employee and friend. After watching them for a bit she turned to find Jubilee walking into the sterilization room. She took a subtle glance at the appointment book to see that both Laura and herself were about to have a client show up, which meant Jubilee was going to have to watch Luna if Pietro didn't come back from his meeting.
'Fuck' she thought to herself and started to go towards the storage room to make sure the petite Asian would be ok with those plans. Before she made it far though she heard footsteps coming from the hall. She turned towards it hoping to see her idiot twin but was instead surprised with a more welcoming face.
"Hey, I didn't know you were going to that meeting."
"Yeah, Jean and Scott couldn't get out of work to make it so Logan took me along, but now I really wished he hadn't."
Wanda smirked at her step sister, "Why? You've been looking forward to this for a while."
"Yeah, when I thought it was going to be a completion not a collaboration."
Laura looked up at the words, "What do you mean?"
"What it sounds like, we're not competing, we're working together with other groups."
"Which ones?"
Anna shrugged, "There's going to be a drawing to decide who's working with who."
"How is that going to work with us though?"
Anna's features twisted in a way that told both girls she didn't want to say but after a few seconds she responded with, "I'm pretty sure you and I got put in as individuals. Tabitha, Kitty, Rahne and Dani are probably going in as a group."
"So for sure you and I will have to be paired up with who knows who?" Laura asked, looking annoyed.
"Like the Nasty Boys?" Wanda asked adding fuel to the fire knowing both girls were not fawn of a certain platinum blond.
"Mhmm..."
"Fu...n," Laura answered, catching the blue eyes watching them. "When are they doing the drawings?"
"I think they said a week."
"Did it look líke Pietro was wrapping things up?" Wanda asked, changing the conversation.
"I wasn't paying attention to him so I have no idea. Why?"
"I have a client coming in soon," she answered and her head tilted to Luna.
"Oh, I Can take her if you need me too."
"Aren't you going back to work?"
Anna shrugged, "Yes but Wolverine won't mind. Plus Moon Moon likes learning about cars don't you?" Anna asked, turning to the little girl.
"Aunty, don't call me that."
"What? why? You don't mind at home, who are you trying to impress here?" she asked and looked around.
The little girl turned red and glanced at their brown haired friend shyly.
"Oh god, she's in love with you too," Wanda remarked dryly, making both her friends and niece turn red.
"W-T-H are you talking about?" Laura spelled out looking more annoyed than before.
Anna smirked but before Wanda could answer there was a burst of noise coming from the back hallway. They all turned and watched three figures come out pushing and shoving each other, three different laughters were the cause of all the sudden commotion.
The small smile some of the girls had immediately disappeared as the grinning men made their way to them.
"I'll talk to you guys later, I have to get my shit ready..."
"Ohhhh aunty Wand Wand..."
"I'll put a dollar in your swear jar," she immediately responded and hurried away from the counter as the orange haired male reached it. His blue eyes followed her until they disappeared before sighing and looking at the little girl in front of him.
"What's up brat?"
"Uncle John!" The little girl flew over the counter and into the orange haired males arm.
There was a chuckle behind them, "At least someone is happy to see you mon ami..."
Blue eyes turned and glared at the auburn haired Cajun.
"I have to get ready too," Laura mumbled and turned to see Jubilee was heading back to the front.
"Hey..." Pietro called to her when she started walking away prompting her to stop and look over her shoulder, "Thanks."
She's nodded at him but when she spoke her words weren't directed at him, "Bye Luna."
The little girl smiled shyly yet again and waved while putting her little head at the crook of John's neck.
Anna watched her go before looking at the three males who now had their attention on her. Her emerald orbs rolled, "I'm out too before stupidity rubs off on me."
"Ohhhh..."
"Stupid isn't a bad word Luna," Anna murmured, waved to Jubilee and headed for the door. To her misfortune the boys followed. Once the four adults were outside she gave them one last look.
"Bye moon moon, I'll see you back at the house," the little girl stuck her tongue out at her making Anna return the gesture. She didn't miss the look from the tallest boy in the group, dark eyes drifting to her tongue. She then turned to walk down the street towards the auto shop.
"Rude, we don't get good byes?" Pietro yelled out to her.
"I'd wave bye to you with my finger but there's a child present."
"What are you going to do if you end up with one of us for Nocturnal Madness."
"Die," was the answer as she got far away enough that they couldn't interact anymore.
Pietro smirked and turned to the other two males. "Any plans today?"
Both shook their heads. "Wanna go with us to the park."
"The park! Yay! Let's go to the park!" Cried out the excited little girl.
Remy shrugged while John nodded, the little girl in his arms still bouncing excitedly in his arms. Before long the four made their way towards where Pietro had parked his car.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Roberto took a big bite of his breakfast sandwich. His eyes glancing over to the dark skinned beauty who had barely touched the egg whites and fruit he had ordered for her.
After chewing his mouth-full he cleared his throat, "So what did you think?"
Amara had been playing around with her fruits, her fork stabbing at the delicate food but never lifting it to her moth. She looked up after his question and smiled, "It actually wasn't as scary as I thought it would be."
"Scary? Why would you think it was scary?"
"I don't know, I think there's always a bit of nervousness when it comes to trying out something new, but it was actually a lot of fun. I think Rahne helped with some of that."
"Oh yeah, she's really awesome like that."
"Yeah...so knowing that, I guess I wonder why you're not together?"
"Oh she told you about that?" He shrugged and leaned into the chair he was sitting in letting his eyes wander to their surroundings. He had chosen a cute little diner near the gym with outdoor seating. At the moment they were on the patio surrounded by green trees and the sun rays shining in their skin. "It was more of a puppy crush and it was a long time ago. Pretty much first year of high school so you know, it was never going to work."
"You don't believe in high school sweethearts?"
"Not really. I'm not so sure our minds can really process such an important feeling at that age and the people that almost made me believe in it didn't make it either so you can see where my skepticism comes from."
Amara thought back to when she was over at their apartment a few days ago. A moment on the front porch with Anna giving a little more information that maybe others wouldn't like being out there. She found herself not being able to resist her curiosity, "Wanda and the orange haired guy from the Acolytes?" Roberto gave a soft smile at the question but didn't verbally answer. "What happened?" she pressed.
"I really don't know," he responded, "I can only assume that long distance relationships are hard. Knowing your boyfriend is surrounded with crazy fangirls is probably difficult. I'm sure there's a lot of factors some of us might never know, all I know is she came back from going to see one of the shows and a month later she started covering up that tattoo on her forearm."
They sat quietly for a few minutes before he cleared her throat and leaned forward, "Moving on, tell me more about you."
"Me?!" She gave a giggle, "All we did was talk about me at your place! Isn't it my turn to find out things about you?"
"I said some stuff about me!" He defended.
"The only thing you told me was that you were from Brazil and you only said it after I told you I was too."
"Oh..."
"Yeah," she remarked and took a small bite out of the egg white.
"Well, I have tattoos."
Her eyes darted to the sun tattoo on his neck, they lingered there eyeing the rest of his throat. "You don't say," she answered, sounding unamused.
"Not just this one," he replied in the same tone. "If I hadn't told you I was from Brazil you would have known when you saw..." he lifted his foot in a graceful way that told anyone watching he was agile and rested it on their table making sure not to hit any plates. He then grabbed the ends of his loose pants and pulled upwards to expose his shins, and a good portion of thigh, "this," he finished his statement.
Amara's eyes widened as she looked at the image of the back of Jesus Christ's hands open wide towards a beautiful city and landscape . "You're from Rio..." she deduced, examining the Cristo Redentor*.
"Born and raised. Till elementary anyway."
"It looks really good," she answered following the dark lines of his ink.
"It's pretty new, Ray did it for me about six months ago. All of them are less than two years old," he admitted and proceeded to move his foot off the table to lift one of his sleeves to his shoulder. Multiple faces stared at her. The first was a falcon head with a cobra hat, a big yellow circle embedded inside of it. The second face was a face and bust of a young man. It faced to the east, a halo of light surrounding his head and an archery bow in hand. The third was a Native man, a war bonnet on his head, the feathers ranging in many beautiful colors. The last was a female, she was beautiful, the way she was drawn was almost as if she was consumed by fire.
He pointed at each different one, "Ra, Apollo, Guaraci and Sol ". His lips parted to add on but to his surprise she interrupted him.
"Sun gods," her eyes glanced back at his neck.
He smiled at her, "They are. You know your mythologies."
"Somewhat, the first two will be obvious to anyone who paid attention in school. I don't know the third one at all but Sol means Sun in portugese."
"Guaraci is the Sun god in Guarani mythology."
"So you really like the sun," it was supposed to be a question but came out as more of a question and he treated it as such by not adding more to it until she gave him a pointed look.
He shrugged, "I like to tan," he joked but the answer made her conclude that whatever the deeper meaning to the tattoo's was would remain a secret.
"So when's the last time you've been there?" She asked, changing the topic but not doing a good job at it as he looked at her with confusion.
"The tattoo parlor? Yesterday, I did a closing shift."
Her answer surprised and intrigued him especially since It wasn't a verbal reply. His hand went to rub his shin, the blow she had given him hadn't been hard but it was an impulse reaction to act as if he was in pain.
"Home."
"This is my home," he answered making her roll her eyes.
"Ok then, you're old home."
He studied her carefully before looking away, "I went back after I graduated high school."
"Oh?" She waited for him to elaborate. He didn't.
"What about you?" He asked, turning the topic back to her.
She frowned but answered anyway, "I haven't been in ages." She admitted.
"You're not missing anything," he answered vaguely. They stayed quiet for a few minutes after that until he broke the silence, "So should I be expecting you back next week or..."
She smiled at that, "Yeah, I think you will. It's different but I like it. I can't promise you that my form will improve by then."
He looked thoughtful at that, "Maybe I can help with that. You up for a little one on one?"
"That's an extra cost right? I don't know if my parents would be up..."
"Don't be silly, I'm not trying to sell it. I'll do it on my own time."
She looked surprised at the offer and she turned to look him in the eyes. She felt her cheeks warm up at the intense stare and shifted her weight in her seat as he waited for an answer.
Her eyes disconnected from his and she looked over his broad shoulders. Her thoughts went to how he had looked earlier punching and kicking the air as his class watched on. Her insides started to tingle and she was sure it had nothing to do with hunger. Realizing that she was staring she looked downwards at her unfinished plate.
"Yeah that would be great," her voice mumbled out the answer.
"Cool, we'll if you're done picking at your food cause apparently you're not going to finish it let's go."
"I had a big breakfast!" She defended herself and looked up feverishly to see him smirking at her.
"Come on," he remarked, getting up and leaving a set of bills on the table.
"Where?" She asked, getting up and opening her purse to take money out.
He closed it, "I got it. And there's this shake place nearby if you aren't in the mood for solids they have a really good protein shake..."
"I don't..."
"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. If I'm training you, you need to follow some of my directions," he cut her off, "And you need to replace that energy you put out in my class so let's go," and with that he dragged her away.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Wednesday O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Anna rotated her shoulders backwards as she made her way to the danger room. Mass text had been sent to the X-men group chat that Wolverine was keeping the gym open late for them if any of them were interested in going. Most of them were in pretty good shape and part of that was due to the fact that they did have memberships and trained with Logan, one on one at least once a month. The thing was that they hardly ever trained together due to their performing and work schedules so to help alleviate that and keep the camaraderie, he would set up random late meetings like this.
As she neared the door to the danger room she saw Laura outside stretching. Once she was close enough she greeted her and made her open the door and go inside, "Why are you out here?" she added.
Laura moved her body in a way that made something pop, "You'll see."
Anna gave her a look before half stepping into the room. She saw that a lot of the guys had already arrived and made to take a step inside but stopped when her eyes went to a corner. Her eyes landed on orange hair. He was standing tall, curling heavy weights towards his chest. Anna eyes John's arms, her mind momentarily thinking about Wanda's past obsession with the thickness of her ex's shoulder.
After the quick though her mind went to the real issue. John was hardly ever alone, and since he was no longer up her step-sisters ass that meant that...her eyes kept scanning the room...yup...there he was…
One, egotistical, auburn haired Cajun. Remy's back was to her, his body facing towards John but his attention not actually on him, something she could figure out due to the fact that there was a table set up beside them and Remy was placing and moving items on it. She recognized the black and red colors soon enough and before anyone would notice her she took a step back and closed the door behind her.
"What are they doing in there?"
"Training."
"Obviously, but why with us? I thought this type of thing was X-men only. Does Logan know?"
"Yup, you know Storm has a soft spot for him."
"Well she is married to him."
Laura rolled her eyes, "He's not the 'him' I was referring to. I'm guessing she vouched for him and there they are."
Anna groaned, "I didn't finish reading the whole message. What type of training are we doing tonight?"
Laura stood up to full height a grin on her face, "Sparring." Anna did not grin back making Laura laugh, "Come on," she remarked and grabbed her friend's arm, "I was just waiting for you since I don't think any of the girls are making it and didn't want to be in a room full of testosterone on my own." Anna dragged her feat but allowed her to take her inside, once they were in Laura turned back to her and whispered, "This is going to be fun…"
"Why's that?"
"Well we can kick their asses lyrically, now we can do it literally," she answered with confidence.
Anna's lips parted to reply but before she could her voice got stuck in her throat, dark eyes finding her. His lips curled upwards making her lips pursed together and her eyes roll, "Fine, lets fucking get this over with. I'll take Gambit."
"I don't think I'm surprised, with the way you guys act around each other I'm sure it's going to be fun giving him a good punch in the face."
"True, but i think i'd rather stay away from Pyro. I don't think Wanda would like it if i put any scars on that face."
"She hates him right now! It'll be fine…"
"..."
"I'll be fine right?" Laura asked as Anna walked away to the circle that was forming. "Right?" she pressed following her.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Thursday O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Roberto walked over to the front counter, ignoring the ache he felt on one of his calves. Anna had given him a good kick after her sparring match with Remy. It had ended in a drawl between them and he had been her next opponent, it was safe to say that he would avoid ever fighting her when she was in a bad mood.
He finally reached his destination and took a seat in the barstool that usually sat a petite Asian and turned to her figure. At the moment she was making sure the pool table was cleared. Earlier a couple had come in getting matching tattoos, while the female got her work done the man had squeezed in a few games but had left it a complete mess.
The brown eyed Brazilian boy watched Jubilee for a few minutes, hesitant to ask what he wanted to ask. After a few more seconds he finally gave in, "Hey Jubes..."
Jubilee rolled her eyes at the nickname. Roberto had heard Amara call her it once and had taken the liberty to use it as well. "Yeah?" She asked without turning to him.
"Does Amara ever eat?"
Jubilee dropped the ball she was holding, the sound of the blow echoed and she turned to stare at him, as did the other two tattooists in the area."What?" She asked skeptically. "Of course she eats. What kind of question is that?"
Roberto shrugged, "I've offered her food a few times and she never actually eats."
"Maybe she doesn't want to have you staring while she eats. Sounds kind of creepy that you're asking," Ray remarked going towards him to take a look at their appointment book.
"Yes, she eats. I would imagine she wouldn't be alive if she didn't. I mean I haven't had a chance to eat with her frequently the last few weeks because of my work schedule but yes, she eats," Jubilee answered as if it was a stupid question.
"She's probably just watching what she's eating because of her pageant thing, either that or maybe she actually likes you and is shy to eat around you," Laura commented putting all her stuff away getting ready for her lunch hour.
"Wait, what?" Roberto asked turning in the barstool to look at her.
"Yeah, surprising I know. I don't know why girls like you either, if only they knew what living with you was like."
"Shut up, that's not even what I meant, what pagent?"
The smirk on Laura's face disappeared and was replaced with a guilty expression before mouthing an "I'm sorry" to Jubilee.
"Don't worry about it," Jubilee responded, making him turn back to her.
"But..."
"She said don't worry about it," Ray repeated and smacked his friend in the back of the head .
The action caused Roberto to bounce off the chair and go after the dual haired boy to try and hit him back limping as he went. They went towards the storage room. One to get away and the other just following to attack.
Laura watched them unamused, "My life at home, 24/7," she stated while shaking her head. Afterwards she turned back to Jubilee, "Sorry that it slipped, it seemed like Amara didn't even want to tell us and I just blabbed."
"It's ok. I'm not sure why she's so shy about it, I mean if anything it's a big honor to be picked as the prettiest or whatever right? Plus Roberto probably won't even bring it up."
"Yeah...probably," Laura repeated but something in her tone of voice didn't sound very convincing.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Friday O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Wanda yawned as she closed the front door to the house. It was oddly quiet for a Friday night, especially considering that it was a week that Luna was staying with them. That little girl always had energy and no it did not matter that it was ten pm. Her father and Raven spoiled her rotten, therefore as soon as she'd give them puppy-dog eyes they would allow her to stay up until midnight if she lasted that long.
She knew Pietro wouldn't be home. Friday and Saturday nights were always the busiest at the Hg Lounge and as it's owner those were the night's he had trouble getting off. Kurt was probably home but had to be up early the next morning to be at the Lounge. The calendar showed that Anna was up for a performance so she wasn't surprised she wasn't home. She didn't know whether it was funny or sad that they were all so deeply rooted in that building.
Another yawn escaped her and she took a moment to appreciate the quiet instead of wondering why it was. It had been a long day at Scarlet Ink. She had put in some overtime on a client who had come in as a walk in and requested what ended up being an eight hour tattoo session. The man had refused to do it in separate sessions stating that it was important to get it as soon as possible and that he had heard good things about them so he wanted it done. It helped that he offered to pay extra, so being the good pateron that she was she had Laura take her own appointment, thankfully that person didn't have a preference in artists and she sat her ass down for eight hours straight. That of course didn't end her day, but it was the resulting factor for her going straight home after her shift.
The only thing she wanted was to get some food and go straight to bed. She headed towards the kitchen and was surprised to see that the light was turned on, she was even more surprised when she saw who it was that was there.
"Hey, I thought you had X-doll duties tonight?"
"I gave my night to Tabitha to make up for the fact that she missed a few weeks ago."
"Oh, where is everyone at?"
"Sleeping. They took Luna to Chuck-E-Cheese and a movie and she knocked out so they went to bed too."
"Guess that explains the quiet," Wand stated and walked over to the fridge. It wasn't until she had rummaged through its contents and grabbed a string cheese that she noticed that Anna's eyes were narrowed as she looked at her phone. "What is it?"
"I need to die."
Wanda perked a brow and went to look over her shoulder, unwrapping her cheese as she went. Her eyes automatically found a name she wished she hadn't found so easily before scanning the rest of the list of names. It was the result for the collaborations.
"I thought you said that the drawings would be done next week."
"Everyone they were expecting to sign up already did so the heads picked the results last night and they were kind enough to send us the results. I got just it."
"Well, I guess you can always look on the bright side..."
"And what would that be?"
"If you guys can't decide on something in English you can always do French." The death glare that had been directed at the phone turned to the blue eyed, raven haired girl making her arms go up in the air. "I'm just saying..."
"Fuck..." Anna mumbled more to herself as her head went down and hit the counter top. While she mumbled an 'ow' Wanda took a moment to rescan the list, smirking at another familiar name and who they were paired with. She took a bite of the string cheese, this was definitely going to be an interesting show.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Saturday O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Wanda looked down at her watch before entering through the door that led both to Scarlet Ink and the Hg Lounge. Her shift wasn't starting for a few hours but she had to stop by her office to get a few forms her father wanted. She was supposed to have taken them home the night before but considering how tired she had been she had forgotten and now there she was sneaking into the building she co-owned. She was considering it sneaking because the main goal was not to be seen, if they saw her and if they needed supplies they would bombarde her with all the orders and her head was not in a workspace kind of place to put up with it.
She was expecting the trip to be a quick in and out but was surprised to see that the backdoor leading to the Lounge was open. She was even more surprised by the electronic melody that was flowing out of it. Deciding that she wanted to take a loot at the band rehearsing she made the turn towards the backstage area. A few minutes later she found herself facing the stage, somewhat hiding in the shadows and watched six of the members of the X-men get into position, her sapphire eyes staying focused on the girl of the group.
"Dedication to the ruin of the light within you…" with both hands Laura pointed to the center of her chest before spreading her arms wide and out, "Darkness all around." Her hands then went to the stand that was holding her microphone gently removing it from it's locked place. "It's so easy to let go of all the things that make you true, watch it all fall down."
As the chorus started the beat got harder and her eyes left Laura to look at the others with her. Roberto was at her left, his head bobbing up and down as he played his guitar, his feet making small movements making him travel around the stage. Ray was at the other side of her, his fingers pressing keys on his keyboard as his voice intermingled with hers.
"You bait me, I follow...And if this night feels hollow...Then drown me in sorrow...There will be no tomorrow…"
She looked back down at her watch and as she registered that none of them were in the shop her eyes narrowed and turned back to the stage.
The sound got a bit harder and as it did Laura did a small jump in place before bending down in a squat and looking around the empty room darkly, her brown straight hair swaying with her movements, "You pretend that you want somebody, I'll pretend that I need someone. You pretend you could love somebody, Just know you're not the only one."
A silver movement from the corner of her eyes caught her attention as Laura kept singing so she turned to find that she was not the only one studying the group's performance. Her brother's sapphire eyes were intently on the group, or if she was going to correct herself they were staring intensely at Laura as her voice got even softer than it already was.
"You don't want somebody. I don't need someone. You can't love somebody. You're the only one…"
After a few seconds of instrumental she and Ray went back to the chorus and almost as fast as it had started the performance ended.
"Nice," Pietro remarked, coming out from the side of the stage. "The sound is really good and you all seem to be in position. I don't think we have to change anything for tonight's show. You'll be in at ten."
Laura nodded, "Sounds like a plan," she answered and as his mouth opened to add something she walked away noticing their audience.
She reached Wanda seconds later, "Hey, what are you doing here? You're closing tonight right?"
"I had to get something from my office and noticed the open door," as she said the words her eyes went and narrowed on the dual haired tattooist.
Ray felt the glare, picked something up from the corner, jumped off the stage and started heading back towards the backstage exit shouting, "I'm going, I'm going."
Laura smirked and watched him go, "He wasn't here long. I asked him to come over real quick just because I wanted to make sure the positioning for tonight's performance was right, so if you want to get mad at anyone be mad at me."
"I guess if he didn't have a client it's fine," Wanda remarked while turning to look at her brother who was carrying a conversation with a few of the X-men, Roberto included.
"Anna was a little annoyed last night, I guess you guys got the results for the Nocturnal show..."
"Yeah."
"Sooo..." she began egging her on to continue, when she didn't she added, "who did you end up with?"
Laura rolled her, "Are you really acting like you don't know?"
"Just tell me already."
Laura turned her attention to the silver haired man on the stage. "No," she answered stubbornly.
It was Wanda's turn to roll her eyes in annoyance, "Well I don't hear you complaining so you must not think it's horrible."
"It's not," Laura agreed, "Your brother is good at what he does."
Both girls turned to study her brother for a bit, he must have felt the gaze because seconds later he turned to them and smiled. The action caused Laura to look away and Wanda gave her a disgruntled look.
"How are you even going to work with him though if you look away anytime he gives you attention?"
Laura ignored her, "Shouldn't you be leaving? If you stay any longer you might as well stay and work," she remarked while pushing her towards the door.
Wanda let her and started walking towards the door, "So bossy, good thing you guys aren't dating I don't think you'd be able to handle each other anyway."
"BYE!" Laura yelled at her urging her even more to leave. After watching the empty doorway Wanda had walked through for a bit she turned back to the stage. The guys were no longer on it but multiple other people were changing out equipment. Pietro was adjusting the height of the mic she had used, lifting it about a foot to his size. His lips went to it and his voice echoed around the room, repeating 'testing' a few times. She watched him closely, his breath hovering over the round sphere, the sphere she had been breathing over herself minutes prior.
Her lips parted and she exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and looked away as his head started to move in her direction. She shook her head, hoping that she would shake her thoughts out and headed towards the others, finding them next to the snack table.
As she went her own voice echoed inside her head, the words she had just said out loud to Wanda. It really wasn't going to be a horrible thing.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Jubilee walked out of the storage room when she heard sounds coming from outside the room. She found Ray in her seat at the front counter looking through the appointment book.
"You're next client won't be in for another thirty minutes," she remarked, making him glance over his shoulder at her. He perked a brow at the fact that she was wearing gloves. "I was sterilizing but wasn't expecting you back so soon so came to check out what the noise was," she answered the un-asked question.
"Wanda showed up and gave me that look she gives Roberto when he spends too much time talking to girls so I didn't risk staying longer," he responded before motioning her over to him, "Come here."
She took off the gloves tossing them in the nearest trash bin and went to him. Once she reached him she watched him go through his phone gallery. Once he found what he was looking for he made the video full screen and tipped it sideways so it would take up the whole screen.
"I heard you whining to Laura about the fact that you haven't seen her perform so I recorded our rehearsal."
"HEY! I was not whining, I was commenting."
"Well you were doing it loudly," he responded and both stayed quiet while the video played. When it was finished he turned to her to ask what she thought but the huge smile on her face seemed to tell him everything he wanted to know.
"Oh my god, that was super cool! You guys have such a unique sound! She sounds so sweet and innocent!"
"Don't tell her that," he remarked but the comment went unheard as she kept going off about how good it sounded and looked. He didn't make any more remarks, just watched her as kept rambling about how great it was. He even chose to ignore the small compliment she let out about how the keyboards seem to really go with him. All he could do was just watch the bubble of energy keep going, it wasn't until his appointment showed that he realized how much time they had wasted and oddly enough he also found himself surprised that he didn't mind hearing her go off for so long.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Sunday O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Emerald greens orbs watched the scene before her with a soft expression. It was so weird to grow up with the egoistic self proclaimed "God's gift to woman" Pietro Maximoff just to see him turn into the ball of mush he was at the moment as his nose bumped into his daughters in a sweet eskimo kiss.
At the moment he was saying his goodbyes, buckling her in her car seat, kissing her on the forehead and wishing her a good week until they met again. His ex, a beautiful long legged blonde walked over to him mumbled a few words and then got into the car and drove away. He watched the car until it turned the corner on the street and was no longer visible.
When he walked back into the house he found her in the same spot, eyes still looking out the window.
"Creeper," he teased before taking a seat on the couch opposite the one she was on.
She ignored him and instead said, "I need a favor."
His eyebrow rose at this, Anna never asked for favors. "What?"
"I need to change my partner for Nocturnal," Pietro's mouth parted but before he could say anything she added, "I know you have influence over it and you have some power to do it."
"Damn, that eager to work with Remy?" He joked but when she didn't say anything he sighed. "I actually don't think I can do much about it. Have you looked at the full list of collaborations?"
"No."
"We'll if you had, you would have noticed that Remy's not only doing a collaboration with you. He's also doing one with myself and with the Marauders. I think we're even squeezing him in with the Horseman. They're really pushing for him to play with as many bands as he can for the free publicity since the Acolytes are doing so well."
"So the drawings were rigged so that he could do that? That's even more of a reason to let me change it. You guys are just doing whatever you want."
"Not it wasn't rigged, well not all the way. Your name along with the other X-Dolls was put in a bag and a name was taken out. It was yours so it was a legit blind pull but to be honest Xavier and my father like the combo. The way you and Remy perform meshes well, it's a good thing for the X-men. If anything, take some solace in knowing you can go a little darker than what Xavier usually lets you."
"I don't want to."
"Look at the bright side or perform?"
"Both," she answered stubbornly.
He sighed again, "Well you can try them for a trade but honestly, in order for them to agree I think you'll have to trade with someone that will give them that same type of hype."
The way he said it told her there was something else to it, "You already have someone in mind, who is it?"
His thin lips curled upwards and his face turned to look at the family portrait that hung at the center of the room. Eric and Raven were at the far left, his arm around her waist. The four step siblings were sitting in front of them, the twins sitting closer to where Erick was while Anna and Kurt were closer to Raven, both girls sat in the middle and looked like they would rather be anywhere else.
She caught the clue quick enough, "There's no way."
He shrugged, "Equal trade. If you really want it, you'll have to prove it."
Before she could give a response the person in question walked in, "Hey, what are you guys up to?"
Anna turned to her, every negative opinion she had about performing the last year coming to mind. She closed her eyes and let her head go back so that it hit the couch cushion, "FUCK!"
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Wednesday O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Laura was busy cleaning up her station after a client when her extra sensitive senses picked up the intense gaze on her. It was a feeling she got often and when she would look up she'd meet sapphire eyes. As per usual her eyes went up and indeed met with sapphire orbs, surprisingly enough though it wasn't the ones she was expecting.
Laura looked down at herself trying to find what Wanda could be finding so interesting. After not finding anything about her outfit out of place she asked, "What?"
"Hmm, are you still not talking to anyone? I know you were on that dating app for a while but you haven't really talked to me about any guys."
"There's a few I'm messaging back and forth and they want to meet up but I'm not feeling it. Why?"
"Well I Have someone in mind that I think you'd really connect with but I don't know if you're up for a blind date."
"Really?" The raven haired girl nodded making the brunette look at her suspiciously. "Where was this guy hiding that you're barely bringing him up?"
"It's someone I know from school, and I don't know I just never really thought about it until very recently."
"Is he cute?"
Wanda rolled her eyes, "I don't know how to judge that ok? But every other girl at school would swoon at the thought of him so I would say the answer is yes." Laura pursed her lips as she thought about not. "If anything at least you get a free meal out of it," Wanda added.
"I guess that's true...when would you set it up for?"
Wanda shrugged, "I don't know, whenever you're not busy. I would think Sunday's afternoon would work the best for you no?"
"I am off from the gym that day, and I could just go home and get ready after my shift here...alright what the hell."
"Cool, I'll let him know to make sure that works for him and give you the deets..."
"Alright."
Wanda nodded and went into her own station to prepare the barriers for her next client.
Aftera few seconds of watching her Laura crossed her hands in front of her chest and her foot started tapping on the floor, one of the many signs of annoyance for her. "Are you going to show me a picture?"
"Sorry, he doesn't have social media but don't worry Sunday is just around the corner..." Wanda responded without hesitation. "Oh, I'll be back...forgot something in my office…" and with that she made her away from the shorter girl.
"Aren't you even going to give me a name?" Laura called after question went unanswered as the tapping of Laura's foot increased.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Anna sat on a small stool, her green eyes focused on the bike. It's owner had stated that it was failing to start up and had left them stranded multiple times in the course of the last week. Now that she had taken it apart it was easy to see why. They weren't keeping maintenance at all.
Her fingers went to her cheek in a pensive manner, dragging downwards to her chin, trying to decide the best course of action. The first one that came to mind was not returning the bike to its owner but that was not a good one.
At least Logan hadn't thought so the last time she had tried.
She was too busy with her thoughts to notice that someone had entered the garage and she was no longer alone until her hand left her face and went to rest on her knees instead.
"Nice beard."
She ignored the tingle down her spine as the accent made it obvious who it was and without turning to him grabbed a clean town from nearby to start wiping off the oil that had made its way on her face.
"What are you doing here?" She asked turning in the small stool to face him and feeling a sense of deja vu from the last time he was there. "Came to gloat?" she added on.
"Just passing through Cherie." Her eyes narrowed at the pet name and she turned to look around before settling her gaze on him. Knowing that there was no one around them already he just smirked at her. "No reason to gloat anyway, way I remember it, it came out to a drawl non?" he added.
She ignored the question, "Well can you keep on passing by? I have shit to do?"
His eyes left hers and turned to the bike before her, then unexpectedly he leaned forward. Her eyes widened and she moved back, the action almost causing her to fall off her stool. Without much effort he grabbed at her wrist helping her keep her balance as his head then passed beside her own head.
"It looks like the cylinders are corroded."
Anna tried to calm her racing heart as his voice pounded near her ear drum. "Obviously I thought the same," she answered and flipped around in the stool opposite of where he was to stare at the auto body of the bike.
"Why even fucken own it if you're not going to even take care of it?" she ranted, more to herself than him.
"It'll be fine, with your skills you can get it back into shape," he remarked, going back and straightening his form. Her mouth opened to argue but before she could go off on how she shouldn't have to, he added, "You get to do what you love and you'll get to charge a fortune for it. Sounds like a win/win to me."
Not finding a good response to fight with him she found herself crossing her hands in front of her chest. The action caused the curves of her mounds to swell and his brown orbs went to them, something she missed since she was facing away from him
"Again did you need something?"
"Hmm" the question broke him out of his trance and he moved away from her as a door nearby was heard opening. Her face turned to the side to see who had entered and met kind blue eyes as he asked, "Actually I came to see if you knew when you wanted to meet?"
She looked over her shoulder with narrowed eyes at the question, something he missed because he himself looked over to the newcomer as well. The smirk he had been directing at her turn into a sweet smile.
"STORMY! Just the person I wanted to see."
"Always the charmer," Ororo Munroe Howlett answered as she walked towards them with a clipboard in hand. "What's the real reason?" She asked, perking a brow and looking between them.
"It is reason number one. Who can stay away from your beauty?" He asked, making her give him a skeptical look. "And I owe you money," with the addition he took out a stack of folded dollar bills and stretched his hand out towards her.
"That sounds more accurate," she answered, taking the money with one had and stretching the one with the clipboard towards Anna.
"I also needed to talk to your Rogue. Seems we need to find some time to talk about the X-men/Acolytes collaboration."
"Oh that's right."
"Actually don't get too comfortable with the idea, there might be some changes..."
"What changes?"
Anna was surprised that both individuals spoke at the same time and cursed herself for mentioning it in front of one the X-men leads, especially considering that she hadn't even talked to Wanda.
She stood up, handed the clipboard back and grabbed a rag to clean her hands, "Just don't make any time to talk about anything right now alright," she answered while looking at the Cajun. She then turned to Ororo, "I'm going to go get a maintenance kit to use for this bike. Charge them double for it, it desperately needs it," and with that she left the small garage leaving through the door Ororo had come through.
"What changes?" Remy asked again after she was gone.
Ororo shrugged, "Anna marches to the beat of her own drum. It is why she has her name. Come, let's go inside so you can update me on your famous life."
"Come on Stormy you know me already, there's nothing new to tell."
"You've been traveling a lot and meeting new people. A girl hasn't swept you off your feet yet?" She asked walking away towards the door that led inside the shop.
He laughed at the question. "No, I'm the one stealing hearts not the other way around, but if you want to see something new I learned a cool card trick when we were in Vegas."
The white haired woman shook her head, "I guess some things never change."
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O Sunday O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Laura looked at the place Wanda had sent her to. This 'friend' of hers must have had money to be taking her to this place. She eyed herself in the window before entering the dim lit place. The hostess eyed her slowly, looking unimpressed.
"Hello, did you have a reservation?"
"Uh...I should..."
The lady didn't look convinced, "Last name?"
"Kinney."
"I don't have that."
'Damn it,' Laura thought to herself. Wanda had dodged any questions about this blind date including the guys name and description saying something about how sometimes surprises are nice, even though she knew Wanda herself didn't like surprises. She frowned as the words echoed in her mind before looking around. How was she supposed to find the reservation? She thought about it for a moment before shrugging, "Maximoff."
The hostess' eyes widened and she looked her over again, "Of course please follow me."
'Fucken Wanda...why would she put it under her own name.' She thought to herself as she followed the hostess. As they walked she looked around noticing that huge dividers were in between the booths making it hard to see the heads of the patrons and ensuring privacy. 'This guy must really be top notch...'
Her attention went back to the hostess who apparently had been racing her because she was a few tables ahead.
"You're party has arrived sir," she gave a slight bow of her head before looking at her, mentally urging her to hurry.
She sighed, already starting to feel annoyed at this place. As she got closer she saw a hint of silver and she felt her heart start hammering within her chest.
When she finally got to the table her hazel green eyes stared into familiar sapphire pools. Her lips parted and all she could say was, "That Bitch."
O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O TBC O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O
This isn't considered a cliff hanger is it? XD Poor Laura, anyhoo, another chapter completed! Did you guys like the mention of all the other groups? I liked writing those cameos hahah. Song Laura sings in this chapter is The Birthday Massacre's "No tomorrow."
Jubilay- A little MIA actually, but the bits where they were together seems like they're starting to get along better. Ray def seems like he's getting used to her presence anyway ;)
Amarto- Ohh la la...breakfast, one on one training...seems like interesting alone time is to come. Anyhoo seems like Roberto's obsessed with the sun, he is all tatted up but should be normal for a tattoo artist no?
Jonda- Pretty much MIA other than the fact that everyone else is mentioning them XD Ps. Love the idea of Luna being so found of John cause of course he would have been around her a lot ;)
Xietro- Bwahahaha...secret blind dinner date. Poor Laura, but I mean she was kind of checking him out on stage so it shouldn't be all bad right? Right? Ps. Pietro is a super cute daddy...dad...whatever you know what I'm saying!
Romy- A spar match that ended in a drawl. I wonder what position they ended up in that made her mad enough to give Roberto a good kick XD Poor guy. Really seems like Remy is invading all her personal spaces though doesn't it? I mean the only one left would be her home but...I mean... I'm sure he's not welcomed there... right? XD And now they have to work together too! Unless she gets out of it that is...well I guess we'll see.
Next up, a dinner date, some training, some more time at the Hg Lounge. Should be fun, see you then! Hope you all have a wonderful Easter and thanks so much for reading!
-UHW