And now some happy pointless fluffy fun. Gotta love it.
Dinnertime and Bedtime at the Delgato House
"Why are you here?" Shipwreck grumbled as he started getting the food ready.
"Hawk thought that Cover Girl could use some help," Low Light explained. "Surprise, Surprise. He was right."
"Well pull up a chair and grab some chow," Shipwreck told him. "DINNER! COME AND GET IT!"
Low Light reluctantly joined the dinner table. The kids were already tucking into the food before it was even put on their plates. "ALL RIGHT YOU ANIMALS LISTEN UP!" He shouted. That stopped them. "Look the first thing we should do is teach some of you some table manners. That means no eating before everyone else has sat down or at least shown up to the table!"
"Oh I get it," Wanda said. "So that way everyone gets an equal chance at getting the food. Sounds fair."
"Whatever," Low Light sighed. "Now to clear up any confusion, there will be no talking while your mouth is full, no swearing at the dinner table…I mean it Shipwreck! And no throwing food!"
Suddenly Low Light was hit in the face with some applesauce. "BAGA! WHEEE!" Claudius giggled.
"No," Shipwreck told him. "We don't do that any more." He got hit in the face with the applesauce. "I don't think he gets that rule."
"Good thing you were wearing goggles," Pietro told Low Light.
"Oh forget it," Low Light grumbled. "Just serve the food."
"AWWWK!" Polly sang out. "SERVE THE NUTS! SERVE THE NUTS!"
Everyone started to eat. "This is great!" Pietro remarked. "I never had chili this good!"
"Whatever you do don't give any to the baby again!" Althea told Shipwreck.
"Don't worry," Shipwreck sighed. "I won't. Boy was that was a nightmare. I have never seen such a mess in my entire life. I never thought a human being could make such a mess. I mean when you consider how tiny his system is it's amazing how much sh…"
"NOT AT THE TABLE!" Cover Girl snapped.
"Really?" Pietro's ears perked up. "I remember this party I went to and I put all these laxatives in the punch. You should have seen the results! The entire football team nearly exploded! I never saw a toilet overflow…"
"Pietro!" Cover Girl snapped.
"We're trying to eat here moron!" Daria snapped.
"You gotta tell me more about that!" Shipwreck told Pietro. "I've always hated jocks with a passion! I remember this one night, this cheerleader dumped me for this football player. So what I did was I put some cow manure in his car. I put it everywhere! His exhaust pipe, under the seat…"
"Okay, I have officially lost my appetite," Quinn groaned.
"Oh god," Cover Girl groaned. "Two of them in the same house!"
"This is going to be soooo much fun," Low Light sighed.
"So are we going to start training tomorrow?" Wanda asked.
"Sort of," Shipwreck explained.
"The plan is to ease you kids into it," Cover Girl told them. "Since your systems are still recovering from de-tox. Here's how it will go. You wake up at 6 am…."
"Six in the morning?" Pietro yelped.
"No six in the afternoon," Shipwreck wisecracked. "Look I have to get up at five so don't come crying to me! Not to mention I'm on round the clock call for the kid here." He pointed to Claudius.
"As I was saying," Cover Girl continued. "You will have breakfast and do some exercises. Althea and the others will go to training. The two of you will start your therapy sessions, both psychiatric and physical. It involves weights and will help you two get your bodies back in shape."
"But I feel fine," Wanda said.
"That's because you haven't done anything for the past week," Cover Girl told her. "Remember, those drugs did a number on your systems. You'd be surprised how much damage to the body they can do."
"Tell me about it," Pietro sighed. "When I ran off I could barely run a few miles without collapsing. I couldn't even move! I've never been that weak!"
"After lunch you two will go to be tutored with the rest of the kids," Low Light told them. "School is from 12:30 to 4pm. You can see Toad and Blob there as well."
"I'll show you where it is," Althea told them. "We then get to do some fun stuff for an hour, like an art class or some games until dinner."
"Tomorrow I'd like you two to come back and show you what chores you'll be expected to do," Shipwreck told them.
"We have to do chores?" Wanda asked, surprised. "Like what?"
"Well in addition to keeping your rooms clean we operate on a rotating schedule," Shipwreck told her. "We take turns polishing, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms, doing the laundry, ironing. Of course with so many people here we have to do these things nearly every day to keep things clean."
"Tell me about it," Brittany grumbled.
"And if you misbehave you could end up doing extra chores as part of your punishment," Althea grinned at the Triplets. "Right girls?"
"Shut up!" Daria snapped.
"Sounds fair," Pietro shrugged. "Hey, it beats getting hit."
"You would say that Mr. I Can Clean A Room in a Quarter Second!" Wanda snapped.
"Actually it's two to five seconds depending on the room," Pietro corrected her. "Besides, I'm more of a neat freak than you are, so it's really not a problem for me."
"You weren't exactly Mr. Clean at the Brotherhood House!" Wanda told him.
"Hey that place was a dump long before I moved in!" Pietro snapped. "I mean even I can't work miracles!"
"Okay now listen up," Shipwreck told them. "Now just because you ain't gonna get hit that doesn't mean you kids will have the run of the place! We ain't soft! In fact you might find this will be the hardest challenge of your lives! I'm gonna expect a lot out of you! And I want you to do your best and behave yourselves. Understand? If you think I'm a softie, ask my girls."
"Trust me," Althea said. "You really do not want to get on his bad side! So don't give him any grief, okay?"
"You're one to talk!" Shipwreck snapped. "You talk back to me all the time!"
"When you deserve it!" Althea told him. "Besides, I'm a lot more responsible than you are! Who do you think is always watching out for the kids? And in charge of the household schedule and making sure you don't do something stupid?"
"That's a full time job in itself," Cover Girl said.
"You gotta admit, she has a point," Low Light said.
"It's not like I go around lying and doing stuff behind your back!" Althea told him.
"That's the trouble!" Shipwreck snapped. "You are too damn honest!"
"Shipwreck!" Cover Girl groaned.
"Well she is!" Shipwreck snapped. "Imagine paying for a couple of grapes!"
"Oh you are still not hung up about that are you?" Althea groaned. "That was over a year ago! Get over it!"
"I was never so embarrassed in my life! All those people looking at me at the supermarket trying to figure out how much a handful of grapes cost!" Shipwreck snapped.
"Yeah a handful from a dozen or so bunches!" Althea snapped. "You were sampling food from all over the store like it was a buffet! It was embarrassing!"
"I was trying to find out how fresh they were!" Shipwreck snapped. "You have to do that to check the quality."
"Oh I see, and you were checking the quality of the chocolate syrup when you grabbed it off the shelf opened it up, squirted it on a banana and then put it back!" Althea said sarcastically. "And then you ate the banana while dunking it in some whipped cream!"
"You're supposed to be a ninja! You're supposed to be a little dishonest!" Shipwreck snapped. "Wait a minute, what about the spaceship you stole? Huh?"
"Spaceship?" Pietro asked.
"I didn't steal it," Althea explained. "I borrowed it. Besides I helped fix it and I figured it needed a test drive."
"With your boyfriend?" Shipwreck asked.
"He helped too," Althea snapped. "We were coming back."
"Yeah right after you nearly slammed the X-Jet into a mountain and panicked the entire Easter Seaboard!" Shipwreck snapped back.
"What? Wait a minute…" Pietro looked. "What did you do?"
"I'll tell you later," Althea sighed.
"This I gotta hear," Wanda said.
"I hate to break up this warm family moment," Low Light sighed. "But I think it's time we cleared the table and called it an early night. We have a lot to do tomorrow."
"He's right," Cover Girl said.
"Hey Low Light I just thought of something. Where are you going to sleep?" Althea asked. "There's no more room in the house!"
"Well you can move into my room," Shipwreck said. "And I could go into Cover Girl's room…"
Cover Girl drew out a knife and held it in front of Shipwreck's face. "Or not…"
"You are going to sleep with Low Light," She told him. "Someone needs to keep an eye on your hormones! Which are probably even worse than the kids! At least they have an excuse! Not to mention better control!"
"Oh no!" Low Light said. "I am not sleeping in the same room with him! No way! No how!"
************************************************************************
"I can't believe I am doing this!" Low Light grumbled as he lay in the bed.
"Now promise you'll be gentle?" Shipwreck cackled as he brushed his teeth.
"Do you want to wake up at all?" Low Light asked him.
"Relax," Shipwreck told him. "It's only for tonight. I'll round up a cot for you in the morning."
"Wonderful," Low Light groaned. "I should have slept on the couch."
"You can't," Shipwreck told him. "It's broken. Blob sat on it the other day."
"Even more wonderful," Low Light sighed. The sound of shrieking laugher came from down the hall. "What is going on with those two girls?"
"It's okay," Shipwreck waved. "I told them they could stay up a bit. Cover Girl is with them. They're going to have a little slumber party tonight. You know, gossip, play music, paint each other's toenails, try to cast spells and hexes on people. Girl stuff."
"You're letting them have a party?" Low Light blinked.
"Lighten up," Shipwreck told him. "Look you know the life Wanda's had. She deserves a little female bonding fun. It will do her some good. Make her feel more comfortable."
"Great," Low Light grumbled. "What about Pietro?"
"He needs a little down time," Shipwreck said. "But I plan on spending a little one on one time with him tomorrow. Male bonding stuff."
"Translation, you are going to show him the proper form for goofing off," Low Light groaned. "For once I am ready to hit the hay."
"Nightmares still bothering you huh?" Shipwreck asked.
"Yeah," Low Light grumbled.
"Good night Honey!" Shipwreck snickered as he got into bed.
"Don't honey me!" Low Light glared at him. "Just remember I have been trained in twenty different ways to kill a man! And four of them are not endorsed by the army for being too violent!"
"Will you relax! Man you are so uptight. Good night, Low Light," Shipwreck sighed as he settled in.
"AWK GOOD NIGHT BARNICLE BRAIN!" Polly squawked from his perch.
"Shut up bird!" Shipwreck snapped.
"You shut up!" Polly shot back.
"WHY DON'T YOU BOTH SHUT UP!" Low Light shouted.
"Don't worry," Shipwreck told him. "It's just a game we play to help Polly sleep. We should be done in an hour or so. Shut up bird!"
"Shut up!" Polly cackled.
"That's it! This is not going to work!" Low Light grabbed his pillow and a blanket.
"Where are you going?" Shipwreck called out.
"To the basement!" Low Light told him. He went down and found Pietro drawing something on the walls.
"What are you doing?" Pietro asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," Low Light told him. He found a sleeping bag in a corner of the basement. "Why are you drawing on the walls? What would Shipwreck say if he knew you were doing this?"
"He already knows. It was his idea."
"Why am I not shocked?" Low Light grumbled as he made his bed. "I'm sleeping with you tonight kid! Shipwreck is too weird. Incidentally why is he letting you draw on the walls?"
"He said that this placed lacked ambiance and he told me I could decorate it however I wanted," Pietro told him. "I figured I could use this time constructively. Fix up the place, make and hang a few curtains, do some reading, make some new clothes…"
"What about sleeping?"
"Thanks to my metabolism I don't need as much sleep as most humans," Pietro told him. "Just a few hours and I'm good to go."
" I thought I was good at staying awake," Low Light groaned. "Stupid nightmares made it a necessity for me."
"You have nightmares?" Pietro asked quietly.
Low Light grudgingly responded. "Yeah."
"Bad ones?"
Low Light nodded. Pietro played with his fingers. "Do they ever go away?"
"Let's just say it's something I deal with," Low Light sighed.
There was silence for a while. "You wanna talk about something else?" Pietro asked.
"Please do," Low Light sighed.
"You know you don't seem so bad," Pietro said. "I mean you do remind me a bit of Wolverine, but you don't seem as psychotic."
"Oh I am. I'm just better at hiding it."
"So what do you do?"
"I'm a marksman."
"Really?" Pietro's eyes went wide. "You mean you shoot people for a living?"
"Yes," Low Light said. "So don't try anything around me. Got it?"
"We're not supposed to get hit," Pietro said.
"Didn't say anything about hitting," Low Light told him. "Maiming maybe, but not hitting."
"You're bluffing!" Pietro blinked.
"Try me," Low Light looked at him. "Kid I have lived through hell and back. Trust me, I am not afraid of a little pain or dishing it out."
"Like our lives?" Pietro asked. His tone was slightly irritated.
"Well my father tried to kill me too if that's what you're asking!" Low Light snapped. "Sorry. Didn't mean it like that."
"I should be the one who's sorry," Pietro said softly. "Why?"
"Because he thought I was weak and he was ashamed of me," The words came out of Low Light's mouth before he could tell the kid it was none of his damned business. He saw Pietro's face and felt a pang of sympathy for the boy.
"I know how that feels," Pietro said.
"Look kid," Low Light sighed. "The point is he was wrong and so was your father. I don't really know why he hated me so much he wanted to kill me and to be honest I don't really care anymore. Sometimes you have to put your parents behind you as well as your past. You may be nuts kid, not to mention one of the biggest pain in the behinds I have ever met…but you're not weak and useless. Trust me. I can tell."
Pietro looked at him. "You guys really know what it's like don't you?" Pietro asked. "I mean, you don't just say stuff because it sounds right. Not like the X-Geeks. Most of them have no clue how hard it can be. I mean, you actually have been through a lot of it yourselves."
"Yeah well we've all had our share of pain. Comes with the territory," Low Light sighed. "Can we please talk about something else? I'm already depressed enough. If we continue more with this conversation I'll get suicidal!"
"Okay, if you could be any kind of lip gloss, what color would you be?"
"What?"
"I found that question in a Cosmo I read. I think I would be Passionberry Peach. But sometimes I think I'm more of a Romantic Red. What do you think?"
"I think I am starting to miss the nightmares about the rats," Low Light groaned.
"Well if neither of us can sleep we might as well do something constructive! Puppet time!" Pietro pulled out a small dog puppet.
"Where did you get that?" Low Light asked.
"I made it myself out of some old rags. Took me only a second to make them all."
"All? How many did you make?" Low Light gulped.
"Twenty seven," Pietro shrugged. "Come on! Let's put on a show!"
"Let's not and say this never happened!" Low Light got his things and nearly ran out of the basement. There was only one place left for Low Light to go and he went there.
"Move over kid!" Low Light stormed into the room, dragging a pillow and a sleeping bag. "I need to sleep in a room with someone sane! And you'll have to do!"
"Gaahhh?" Claudius looked at him funny from his crib.
"Tell me about it," Low Light grumbled as he settled in.
If you think you have it bad Low Light, wait until you see how Mystique is doing!