A Lovers Feud
By: Alex Destine
Chapter 12
"We have to find Lance yo! It's his neck that is hanging here." Todd grabbed Kurt by the arm so they would teleport back to Freddy, but someone else had other ideas.
"What are you boys doing here?" came the sweet southern accent.
"AAH!… God, Rogue, don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack." Kurt immediately remembered they were supposed to be hiding and lowered his voice.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her back.
"Scott made me come… he's all freaked out about Pietro and Kitty, it's all a little too much for him I suppose… umm, hey Todd." Rogue hadn't expected to see her former teammate here.
Todd mumbled something under his breath as an answer.
"What?" neither Rogue nor Kurt seemed to understand though.
"I said 'hi' yo!" Todd felt a little out of place right now. He was surrounded by two X-men and he had nowhere to hide… not that he needed to hide, it's just that was his nature. The enemy became too much, run and hide… it worked against bullies.
It was different now though… he felt overwhelmed by the X-men but he didn't wish to leave just yet. He wanted to hang around Rogue… the way he used to (although not to her enjoyment) back when she belonged to the Brotherhood.
Just then he remembered the conversation he had with Kurt the day they found out about the (now infamous) 'Pietro-Kitty couple'. Why on Earth were they talking about couples again? … Still, Kurt had mentioned Scott and Jean to be 'made for each other', he supposed that was right. Then he mentioned the Lance-Rogue pairing… yep, also perfect. Too perfect. Disgustingly perfect…
~~ As if she would ever look at you twice Todd … heck, you're lucky if she looks at you once. ~~ Todd refused to believe that guys like him never got the girl… but reality sometimes hit a little too hard.
"Todd?… Todd!" came a semi-concerned southern accent.
"What?" how long had he been tuning out the world?
"You looked upset about something… you alright?" Rogue supposed it was all right to be nice to a Brotherhood member since they weren't exactly fighting right now… besides; she used to hang around with the guy.
"Yeah, yeah… I… I gotta go yo… have to find Lance and talk to him." Todd wished he could stay… but he knew what happened whenever he stayed somewhere for too long… 'Eww, it's the Toad. You're hanging out with the Toad?' it never failed.
"Good idea… I'll teleport you. Umm, where is he?" Kurt noticed Todd's different mood, it seemed he now had another situation to look into. Unfortunately for him, this one would have to wait.
"Um?… oh, right… Lance works at the mall. But I don't know which store."
"Right, so let's pick up Fred now and go… are you sure you're alright?" Kurt gently placed a hand on the young mutant's shoulder but Todd quickly brushed it away.
"Of course I'm alright yo! Let's go… umm, later Rogue." He said as they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Later…" Rogue sighed as she headed back to her team.
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"Do you see anything?" Evan was dimly aware that he was becoming as impatient as Pietro.
"Evan, if you ask one more time I'm going to send you flying back to the Institute." Jean's usual patience was running low these past few days with both Scott and Evan running around like maniacs. Usually she could talk some reason into Scott, but it wasn't working this time.
"Scott… I sense both Kitty's and Pietro's presence in that room so can't we just leave them alone? They're not doing anything wrong." Jean wanted to go home so bad.
"Jean, come on… you know we can't have those two together like this. It's all probably a trap made by Mystique, I'm sure of it." Scott was making a few wrong connections right now.
His reasoning for being against the whole 'Pietro-Kitty' pairing was this: he couldn't stand Quicksilver for too long. But lucky for him the young speed demon's attention was always caught by either Evan or (as the case is now) Kitty. However, following Quicksilver, there came another Brotherhood member he could not stand… unfortunately for Scott this one had his eye set on him. Lance Alvers.
The way Scott was thinking right now made him believe that if Kitty and Pietro stayed together they would see more of the white-haired boy and as a result, more of Lance. Scott couldn't deal with Lance in huge amounts.
"You guys still here?" Rogue made her way toward her teammates who were still standing in the hallway.
"Well, the door is locked Rogue, what would you have us do? Have Scott smash it with his optic laser?" Evan was leaning against some lockers as he waited for the signal from Scott to go and destroy Pietro… (Evan just wanted some action right now).
"Well no genius… but the other door is open you know…" Rogue could see by their faces that they did not know.
"And now you tell us!" Scott was making his way to the door when Rogue stopped him.
"Scott wait… there's nothing to do there right now. Pietro and Kitty are part of the cast for the school's play and the show begins this Friday. I met with Kurt and Todd and they were going to meet up with Lance. That's all the excitement you missed. We should all go home now Scott… there's nothing to do here." Rogue looked at Jean for support, but the redhead was way ahead of her.
Jean took Scott by his other arm and leaded him back to the parking lot so they could go home.
"Rogue's right Scott… let's just go home." She felt like she was talking to some old senile person.
"But we can't just leave like this!" Evan still wanted action, but that remark only earned him evil looks from the girls.
"No… I most speak with Lance. Where is he?" Scott had come to the conclusion that he couldn't do this alone. A joining with the enemy was essential for their common good.
"Scott… let it go, alright… I'm tired and both Rogue and I want to go home." Jean was going crazy too, but she wasn't going to say that.
"I'm not going to do anything, I promise… just tell me where he is." Scott smiled looking like a perfect angel.
"Well… Todd said he worked at the mall but he wasn't sure where." Rogue was getting tired of all of this.
"Alright, so we're making a quick stop at the mall before we go home… it'll be quick I promise. Let's go."
Evan followed although not as enthusiastic since there wasn't going to be any Pietro killing, Jean tried her best not to scream while Rogue started to pull on her hair in frustration.
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"Thank you Ma'am and have a nice day." Lance smiled the way he was supposed to at the customer, but inside he wished he could break the entire place down.
~~ Stupid hyperactive kids! They have more energy then Pietro… and that's even before I give them their candy. ~~ he tried to imagine how Pietro was as a child… definitely any babysitters' worst nightmare.
He still had a couple of hours left on his shift so it was a good thing he had mastered the Art of Patience. Being the oldest in the Brotherhood had allowed him to learn just how many times he could count to ten and not try to kill someone.
For example, once Todd had decided to make a massive collection of every battery in the entire household. (don't ask him why.) Needless to say Todd's new hobby became a problem when Lance wanted to listen to his radio. He remembered he had to count till 50 before going into Todd's room and demanding his batteries back.
"But I need them!" Todd had answered with the pleading childish voice he only used with the other members of the Brotherhood… he wouldn't be caught dead sounding like that around school.
"So do I!" Lance answered back.
"Go borrow Pietro's radio, he's not using it."
"Why don't you go borrow Pietro's batteries?"
"Are you kidding, yo?! He'd kill me." Pietro had very effectively marked his territory. Anyone who touched anything that belonged to the white haired boy ended up being nagged to death… not a pretty sight if you know what Pietro Maximoff can do.
"Oh, but I wouldn't kill you?" Lance didn't nag like Pietro… Lance punched! And hard!
"Of course not."
"And why not?"
"Cause… you're Big Brother Lance." Todd had a big winning smile.
'Big Brother Lance'… little did he know that was going to be his role for a very long time.
"I'm going out to take a walk… and when I come back I want my radio in working condition or else you're going to wish you had taken Pietro's batteries." And with that Lance left Todd's room while throwing the door hard… so in fact it had taken him to count up to 50 plus a nice long walk before he cooled down.
But his record was improving thanks to Pietro and his never-ending wake of terror around the house. One time Pietro had decided to dye Freddy's Mohawk in rainbow colors while he slept, Lance needed all his strength not to laugh at 'Freddy the Clown' as Todd so eloquently pointed out.
The task of finding a way to calm Freddy down was left to 'Big Brother Lance' while Pietro kept running around the living room humming stupid circus songs and telling stupid jokes. Todd was having fun though.
Oh yes… Lance Alvers knew patience… thank God for that since he would need all of it today.
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Finally, after what seemed like forever, rehearsals were over and Pietro was now heading toward his home. He wouldn't have minded staying with Kitty for a while longer but he knew it was late and she had to get going because, unlike his easy-going get-home-before-seven rule (made by Lance), she had to report to a big guy who had pointy knifes coming out of his knuckles.
He was now in front of his house but when he went to turn the handle he noticed the door was still locked.
~~ What the…? ~~ he tried the door again but no luck. ~~ The guys don't lock the door once they're home. ~~
After some time searching through his backpack for his house keys he opened the door and went inside.
"Hello!" No one answered. "Hey Todd! Freddy!… HONEY I'M HOME!" finally he realized he was completely alone in the house.
~~ Where the heck is everyone? ~~ he knew Lance was not going to be home for a while, but he expected to see Freddy watching TV or Todd listening to music up in his room. Instead he was greeted by no one and he found himself incredibly lonely… and bored.
~~ There's got to be something to do here… ~~ he looked around and came to the conclusion that he didn't want to watch TV, he didn't want to eat anything and he didn't want to listen to music.
~~ What else is there for a young teenage boy to do!? ~~ then suddenly, he spotted the phone!
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"Like hello!" Kitty phased through the door of the Institute and immediately dropped her backpack like the ton of bricks that it actually was.
"Hello Kitty, how was school today?" Storm came to greet the young girl.
"Like awful, I'm like full of homework and stuff. It's like the teachers don't want us to breath or something…. So like, where is everyone?" By now Kurt would've usually come to tell her the latest joke or Scott would be telling her to do her homework early so she could practice in the Danger Room, but today… nothing.
"Jean communicated telepathically with the Professor and said they'd be back later." Storm didn't mention what they were doing exactly.
"Oh like ok, guess I'm on my own for now." Just as Kitty was heading toward her room to start on the never ending amount of homework the phone rang and Storm left to answer it.
~~ Ok, so they're all out. Like, no big deal that they didn't tell me… They better not be doing anything fun like on the mall or something! ~~
She knew she had to start doing her homework but she had no mind left for it. She kept thinking about Pietro and how cute he was. He was very sweet and nice to her but she needed some more time alone with him. Lately, with everyone else knowing what was going on, they had no chance of talking the way they usually did. She was starting to miss that.
"Kitty… are you alright?" Storm had come back into the room. When had that happened?
"Oh? … Oh! Yeah, yeah, like totally. I'm fine." She smiled sweetly at the older woman.
"You have a phone call." Said the white-haired woman as she walked up to Kitty with the cordless phone.
"Like, who is it?" Kitty wasn't expecting anyone to be calling her.
"Well… he said he was a classmate and needed some notes. My guess is it's Pietro." Kitty immediately took the phone and giving Storm a little smile phased through the wall and ran up to her room.
Storm was slightly amused that Pietro thought he could fool her. She had practically seen the boy grow, after all she visited her sister often and always kept an eye on Evan and his friends. She thought it was too bad the young sophomore was not a part of that group anymore.
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"Pietro?" Kitty jumped down on her bed bouncing a bit as she talked on the phone.
"Hello there beautiful!… Hey, how you know it was me?"
"You like, really thought you could fool Storm?" she smiled a bit.
"Damn! I forgot she's Evan's aunt…. Anyway, what ya doing?"
"Nothing, how about you?" she was now happily twirling her hair.
"I miss you, how about you come over for a while?" Pietro was starting to get too jumpy.
"You're bored, aren't you? What about Todd and Fred?"
"They're not home, and I'm not bored I just missed you." Pietro only wished she could see the sad face he was making, then she'd agree for sure.
"Well… like, I don't know."
"Tell ya what, meet me at the gates of the Institute and we'll walk around for a while."
"Fine… but not for too long, ok?" Kitty was excitingly twisting the end of her hair around her fingertips.
"Ok, for as long as you wish." Pietro was excitingly jumping on the couch.
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"Jean are you sure you can't pinpoint his exact location?" Scott needed to find the leader of the Brotherhood and have a serious talk with him. Unfortunately, aside from Evan, the other members of his team weren't being too helpful.
"Scott, I'm tired ok… he's in that general direction. Take it up from there." At least thanks to Jean they wouldn't have to search the entire mall.
"Alright, Rouge, you and Evan check on the second floor while Jean and I look on the first."
"I ain't helping you on this crazy man-hunt Scott… I'm going window-shopping, meet you guys back at the car." And with that Rogue was walked away from her group of demented friends.
At least if she wasn't going home she was having a little fun. What exactly did Scott wish to talk about with Lance anyway? She thought those two couldn't stand each other. In her opinion Scott just needed to accept the fact that Kitty and Pietro liked each other, after all Lance had. To her surprise the other senior seemed to be way more understanding and mature about the whole situation.
Rogue walked a bit more enjoying the peace and quiet for a change until she became painfully aware of a very disturbing fact… she was bored.
The mall wasn't her scene, these sort of places were left for people like Kitty who 'like, totally dug it! You know?'.
She walked around for a while looking into store after store that were filled with cutesy girly type of clothes that she just didn't buy. She was going to be so mad at Scott next time she saw him… well, she was going to try to be mad at him!…. maybe…
Rogue sat down next to a very over populated toy store and listened in on all the children who were just begging for this toy or that toy because if they didn't have it they'd die!
~~ Children!… why waste money on toys when the real good stuff is… ~~
"CANDY!" Rogue looked up to see this adorable little boy pulling his mother over to the little candy store. She figured she might as well follow them since she was in the mood for some sugar.
The little boy looked at all the different types of candy that were on display… so young and so many decisions. Finally the boy pointed at some gummy bears.
"I want a full bag of those!" demanded the little boy
"Now sweetie, those will give you cavities…" the mother tried her best… it wasn't enough.
"Ma'am, everything in here will give you cavities." Answered back the young man who was working right now… wait a minute, Rogue knew that voice.
"What did you say young man?"
"I said, everything in here will give you the capacity to appreciate good candy ma'am. This is the best spot for sweets in the entire mall." He couldn't believe he'd said that out loud.
~~ Oh my God!… is that…. Lance! ~~ Rogue couldn't believe she had found him.
~~ And what a dainty apron he has too. ~~ Boy was he in for a teasing.
After the enormous bag of gummy bears had been filled and sold Lance took in a deep breath before encountering his next customer.
"Hello, what can I get you? …. oh shit."
"Nice to see you too sunshine." She was having fun already.
"Tell me you want some candy so I may give it to you and go." How could this be happening to him?
"I don't believe it… Lance, you look adorable in that apron." Rogue couldn't get over that.
"Go away."
"No way."
"I'll pay you."
"It would never be enough."
~~ Out of all the people on Earth to find me working here, why did it have to be you Rogue?! ~~ Lance knew he was never going to live it down… but at least she could keep the secret.
"Ok… fine. I work at 'Little Washu's Candy Factory', let's see how many jokes you can come up with now." Lance was ready for anything, anything at all she said he could take it! Problem was… she wasn't saying anything… she just started laughing.
Lance just stared at her for a while. Boy was he feeling stupid, not to mention a little embarrassed since everyone walking by was giving them odd looks.
"You know, some people actually do say the joke out loud before they start laughing…"
"I'm sorry… it's… it's that apron!" Rogue was clutching her sides in laughter.
"Ok…. It's not my favorite part of my uniform I guess."
"You just look so cute."
"I get it…. I'm a walking joke." Lance would just have to get used to that fact.
"Basically." Why didn't Rogue ever have her camera when she needed it?
"Just please… please, don't go around telling people. I'm not working here for the fun of it, I just needed the extra money."
"But how much money could this little store make?" Rogue was trying to control her laughing down to giggles.
"Oh believe me… you have no idea how much money a parent would pay to control those little monsters for a while." And little monsters indeed they were.
"Alright… I believe you." Rogue knew she shouldn't be laughing at poor Lance, but it was just impossible not to when you pictured big 'tough guy' Lance Alvers wearing… that cute little apron.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Rogue was clutching her sides again.
"That's it, I've died and gone to hell." Why couldn't his shift be over?
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Kitty couldn't believe she was now sitting on the Brotherhood's living room. Well, the new, arranged Brotherhood living room since both Pietro and herself had kept busy moving furniture around. She thought the new positions were more comfortable and she was rather pleased with herself.
"So like, how long is that going to take you? Are you sure I can't help you in there?" Kitty yelled at the general direction of the kitchen where Pietro had insisted on making them a snack.
"I'm sure! Stay away!… Freddy had already pillaged the fridge so it'll take me a little while longer to find something edible." It took Pietro some effort to find some food inside that fridge of theirs but in the end he came out victorious.
"I knew I'd find something." Proclaimed Pietro rather proudly.
"But of course." Kitty just loved to pretend she was feeding his ego. For his part, the white-haired boy simply raised an eyebrow at Pryde as he set the snacks down.
"I don't know which ended up better, the living room or Todd's room." Pietro started to look around the place again.
"Like, are you sure Todd wont mind that we changed his room a bit?" Kitty didn't think the other freshman was going to appreciate the gesture.
"Are you kidding? He'll love it!" Of course, the evil smile on his face didn't make him too convincing.
They ate in silence for a while. Kitty was simply enjoying the quiet but it seemed Pietro was using this time to think hard on some things. After a few minutes, which dragged themselves rather slowly for someone with his power, Pietro finally looked up and into the ocean-blue eyes of Kitty. Whatever he was going to say died right there.
"Pietro?… Pietro?" Kitty placed her hand gently on his shoulder, which in turn brought him back to reality.
"What?… did you say something?" Pietro snapped himself back.
"You looked like you wanted to say something." She was waiting, watching him rather curiously and he knew it.
"No… no, it's nothing." He turned his gaze over at the floor finding his shoes rather interesting.
"Oh… well, I better be going. The Professor will get worried if I stay out too late." Kitty got up and walked toward the door with Pietro close on her heels.
"So like, we have to do this again. Furniture rearrangement turned out to be rather fun." She smiled up at him wondering how they ended up doing that to begin with.
"Yeah it was, although I had thought we'd just watch TV or something."
"Maybe next time like, we could go to the Institute?"
"Right, unfortunately I don't think that would work." He wanted so much to take a better look at that place. He had already been there when he had dropped that little message over for Kurt from Mystique. It was a huge place, but at the speed he was going he couldn't take a good look at it.
"Yeah, guess you're right… So, um… you're walking me home right?"
"Duh! As if I'd let you walk back by yourself." He rolled his eyes at her. She found that gesture to look so adorable on Pietro that she felt her hand moving upwards and grabbing one of his cheeks.
"You're like cute, you know?" Kitty immediately took her hand back feeling a little embarrassed and headed toward the door.
Pietro shook his head a bit and smiled. Funny how she thought he was the cute one when all he could think about was how beautiful she looked.
Of course he couldn't just let her walk out that door. He reached her before she had a chance to turn the knob and gently turned her around to face him. He placed one arm around her waist as his other hand moved slowly over her cheek.
"You're like cute, you know?" he said as he gently raised her chin a bit and slowly moved forward placing his lips on hers.
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"Scott, just face it… we're not going to find Lance today. Let's just get Rogue and go home." Jean has always been very patient with Scott, but today she just wasn't in the mood.
"Fine… let's go home." Scott was sure Lance, Pietro and the rest of the Brotherhood had some sort of evil plan to make his life a living hell.
"Besides man, can't you see him tomorrow at school?" Evan was getting a bit tired too.
"Right Evan, you mean when he's with the Blob, Toad and Quicksilver? You know they'll just start to fight."
"But you know we've got your back, right?" Evan needed some action, just one good fight against Pietro and he would be happy.
"Right Evan… right." Scott was beginning to get a little tired himself. "Alright Jean, where's Rogue so we may go on our way."
Jean tried to focus on the feisty brown haired girl but she was just too tired and the impending doom of a killer headache was forming in her head. Nevertheless, she sensed their friend in a spot not too far from where they were right now.
"I think she's over that way," Jean pointed down a long corridor of stores.
"Oh great… now we're Rogue hunting." Said Scott.
"Hey man, think of it this way, at least it's not Kitty the one we're looking for all over the mall." Evan had a point, if it had been Kitty she'd be on the other side of the mall in a heartbeat.
"Fine, let's go get her and…" Scott was interrupted by an excited Evan pulling on his arm.
"Hey man! Look! Let's go buy some of that candy!" Evan was still, after all, one of the youngest of the X-men.
"Candy? Evan we have to find Rogue so we can go home already." Jean would have used her powers to move something heavy to smack Evan with.
"It'll just be a sec!" and off he ran toward the candy stand.
"I guess we should follow him." Declared an exhausted Scott.
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"So you're not angry with me. I mean, I thought y'all hated me." Rogue was now inside the small candy store; Lance wouldn't get into trouble by letting her in since he was alone working today.
"Well, obviously when you left you weren't exactly on our list of favorite people… but I guess out of all them X-geeks you're the one I… I mean, we can stand the most." Lance was busy refilling some of the candy for display as he talked to Rogue.
"You mean, aside from Pietro. Since the way I hear it, he seems to be able to stand another 'X-geek' a little more then me." Rogue winked at Lance's flustered face.
"Right… Pietro. Still, I'm sure Summers most not be a happy camper with the news of those two. Bet he's making Kitty break up with Pietro any day now… I can't blame him, you know. It just wasn't meant to be."
"What are you talking about? Scott has tried but Kitty is standing firm. She ain't breaking up with him." Rogue watched as Lance turned around to stare at her with wide eyes unfortunately forgetting the various pieces of candy that were now dropping on the floor.
"Oh!…. great, just great!" Lance tried to pick them up.
"Here, let me help ya." Rogue started to pick up some candy as well but it was just too much.
"Wait here… I'll go get a broom." Lance left for the back of the store for a while and apparently left Rogue in charge of any new customers.
"Oh great, they have those pineapple and coconut candy!… Hey, excuse me! Could I get a small bag of those?" asked the voice of a new customer.
"Just a minute… I, … I'm kinda new here." Rogue was trying not to trip over the candy that was on the floor.
"Rogue?" she knew that voice, she looked up to see her teammate.
"Evan?" oh, Lance is so going to like this.
"Hey man, what are you doing over here?" Evan had apparently forgotten about his candy for now.
"Just doing a favor for a friend! Are we going home now? Cause I for one am tired of being here." Rogue hoped she could leave before Scott caught up.
"Hey Evan did you order already? … Rogue?" Both Scott and Jean were left with confused looks as they saw Rogue on the other side of 'Little Washu's Candy Factory'.
"Ok… we're going home now? It's about time that's all I'm saying!" Rogue jumped to the other side and tried to drag Evan with her.
"Rogue, what were you doing over there?" Jean was too tired to read her thoughts right now.
"Man, this stupid broom was behind the door all this time and I was looking for it like an idiot…. And shit again." Lance could live a normal life with the fact that only Rogue, Pietro and Kitty knew where he worked, but to add annoying Evan, good-looking but still annoying Jean and the mother load of annoyance Scott Summers was just too much.
"Alvers?" Scott was just starring at him.
"Ok…. Come on, say all the jokes you can think about, I don't care. Go on! I dare ya!"
"Umm… well,… hehehehehe.." Evan's laughing was cut short by a hard poke on the ribs thanks to Rogue.
"Ouch! Why you do that man?…. it's funny!"
"Be quiet porcupine!"
"Well Alvers, I… I wasn't expecting to run into you like this…. It's just that… well…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Scott was clutching his sides as he succumbed to the laughter. After a few moments of trying to remain serious Jean also joined in on the laughing.
This was just not a good day for Lance… definitely not a good day.
"Let me guess… is it the apron?" Lance simply wanted to know who was responsible for choosing these stupid aprons as part of the uniform.
"Well… yeah." Answered a 'still laughing' Jean.
"Ok, so if you guys aren't going to buy any candy I seriously recommend that you go. Now." Lance was loosing patience with these X-men… in fact, he never had much of it anyway.
"Wait… Lance…. I need to talk to you." Scott was trying to control his laughter, he had to be serious now, it was just a little hard to look at Alvers right now.
"I don't have time to talk to you Summers, so just take your little team of giggling idiots and go." Lance started to clean up the mess of candy on the floor.
"But you can't honestly tell me you're ok with Pietro dating Kitty, are you?" Scott had to get to the point before he started laughing again.
"Why would it bother him? Come on Scott, face it. You're the only one who's freaked out by those two." Rogue was sure thankful Lance had shown more acceptance for the couple.
"So you haven't talked her into dumping him yet? …….." Lance sighed and ran a hand down his messy long hair. "I leave one thing, just one thing up to you Summers and this is how you handle it?! Mystique is gonna have my neck if she knows about this!"
"Well, Kitty won't listen to me!" it's not like Scott hadn't tried everything he could think of. "What about you? I didn't see you talking to Pietro about it."
"I thought you would handle it! You seem to enjoy handling everything anyway!" How could this be happening to him?
~~ Damn it! I'm going to die… and they shall put on my tombstone 'the boy with the adorable apron'. ~~ Lance sometimes had weird musings.
"Well, Mystique doesn't know yet, we can still fix it." There was hope in Scott eyes… if they could see his eyes… he knew they still had a chance.
"Fine Summers… but whatever it is you've got in mind better work."
As Scott and Lance talked some more about their great plans Evan helped himself to some pineapple and coconut candy while Rogue kept muttering about how she would never again expect Lance Alvers to act mature. And Jean…. Well,… Jean kept laughing about the apron.
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"You know Freddy, we're never going to find Lance if you just have to stop at every fast food place you know!" By Todd's watch Kurt had teleported them inside the mall an hour ago and they were still looking for their friend.
"I was hungry… besides, how hard can it be to find the place? Just ask someone for 'John's Mighty Gun and Ammo store'." Fred kept eating some fries.
"Freddy… there is no such store. So my guess is that Lance works somewhere really embarrassing. Maybe one of those girly stores he'd always swear he'd never go into even if they paid him." Todd heard a soft 'poof' behind him and turned around to face Kurt. Amazingly he was beginning to get accustomed to the creepy feeling of not knowing when and where to expect the little Blue boy.
"Should you be using those powers of yours in public Blue boy? That aint healthy." Todd pointed to the overcrowded hallway of the mall.
"Well, as long as I'm careful." Kurt smiled sheepishly at Todd then began his report.
"I looked everywhere you told me, the women clothes stores, the under-ware sections, even perfumes and accessories… people were looking at me funny for being there and I think I'm allergic to some of those perfumes." Kurt looked up to see Freddy still eating the fries.
"When did he get fries? I thought he was eating chicken." Kurt pointed to the greasy objects.
"Yeah well… Freddy here just had to go and buy those. You want some?" that question earned him an evil glare from Fred.
"You mean there's some left?" Kurt was amazed the entire bag wasn't gone.
"Freddy, give me some fries." Todd extended his hand toward his friend.
"No!" Fred hugged the bag tighter.
"What? Freddy, who ended up paying for those fries?!" Todd wanted some fries and he wanted them now.
"It's not my fault I ran out of money!" Fred had actually brought some cash along… but it never lasted in his hands.
"Of course it's your fault, you had to buy all that food instead of waiting to get home. Now give me some fries!" This time Fred gave him the bag which Todd grabbed immediately and handed it over to Kurt.
"I don't think this is edible…" Kurt was not sure his stomach could put up with the type of food Fred usually ate.
"I don't blame you for your lack of enthusiasm. I just can't believe we haven't found Lance yet!" By now Todd knew it was close to the end of Lance's shift and he wouldn't be surprised if they ended up finding him back home.
"Well, at least you tried to find him… you know what you need? How about some…"
"CANDY!" Kurt and Todd both jumped a little out of Fred's outburst.
"Blob, you cannot possibly still be hungry?" Kurt had never known such a bottomless pit.
"Of course he's hungry… he's always hungry." Todd sighed as he realized he had better buy this last item of food for Freddy, otherwise he'd never hear the end of it. "Let's go buy some candy but it's the last thing we'll buy! Otherwise you'll be too heavy for Kurt to teleport."
"Actually, I don't have a problem with…"
"He'll BE TOO HEAVY to teleport!!!" Todd repeated while staring at Kurt.
"Right!…right, too heavy…" Kurt was only glad he didn't have to deal with the Brotherhood on an everyday basis.
Freddy made his way toward the Candy store faster than anything they'd ever seen. This was going to be, after all, his last food item before they called it quits and Blue Boy teleported them home. He'd be glad when they were back at the comfort of his own kitchen.
"Hey there, I want ten extra large bags of all that candy over there." Fred was generally gesturing toward all the different types of candy.
"Yeah, right. Make that anything we can buy with two bucks." Todd said as he and Kurt reached the store.
What happened next was a weird moment of complete silence. Lance looked at his two friends (plus one X-men) while the other three mutants looked at the 'missing and now found' Lance.
~~ Why am I not surprised?…. Should I have been surprised? Nope, not really… maybe, in order to save myself some time, I should make an announcement on the paper saying how I work here and motivate everyone to come look at my apron. WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF IT BEFORE!?!… ~~ Lance had a feeling that after today he would never again feel surprised about anything again.
The silence was still there for a few moments longer before it was broken by the expected reaction.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Lance simply looked at his 'friends' (he used the term loosely now) as they laughed to their hearts content.
"Yo man! You work here?!… and you… you wear that cute, little apron!?!?!" Todd couldn't believe it.
"It's always the apron isn't it… I hope you realized that I'm gonna take out my anger on the two of you." Lance just wanted a quiet moment… was that too much to ask?
"We'll have a small bag of chocolates!" Todd said quickly shoving the money on to Lance.
"What?"
"A small bag of chocolates… we're paying customers, you can't be mean to us if we're paying customers." This only saved them for a limited time.
"I will kill you when we get home." Said Lance as he started to fill the small bag. "And what is he doing with you?" he pointed at Kurt who had just now controlled his laughter.
"Well yo! He was helping us look for you. You're hard to find you know."
"Whatever. Kurt, go back to the Institute, Scott's worried about ya. My shift is almost over so I'm driving us home." Lance threw the small bag of chocolates over at Freddy who stopped laughing the minute the candy was being packed.
"Alright…. Man, you guys are very entertaining." Kurt had a very good time with these Brotherhood boys… imagine that.
"Yeah, we're freaking hilarious…" Lance pulled Kurt inside the store so the young X-man could teleport without any prying eyes. Once he was gone Lance turned to look at his own young teammate.
"What!?!" Todd asked as he was being watched.
"You mean to tell me you guys have been the entire day parading around the mall looking for me?"
"More like doing lines around the mall buying food for Freddy. But yeah, basically, why?"
"Where's Pietro?" Lance was getting a bad feeling as his eyes looked for the young sophomore.
"I dunno… home, I guess." Todd began to understand why Lance looked worried. "He has probably been home alone for a couple of hours… man Lance, we might not have a home to return to!"
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"I can jump higher then you!…. oh yeah! I bet I can beat you!… You know why, right? Cause I'm the best!" After seeing Kitty safely back to the Institute Pietro had been a little bored, but not anymore… at least not after he found his new friend.
The sound of a car parking outside the house was not lost on Pietro, he just didn't wish to end the little contest he had with his friend.
"I can jump higher and you know it!…. You're just jealous!" continued Pietro as he kept jumping.
"Pietro!… what are you doing?" Lance was standing right under the opened door as he took one quick look around the house. "And what happened to the furniture!?!?!"
"I'm jumping on the couch! What does it look like?…. don't you think the furniture looks better this way?" Pietro kept jumping.
"But WHY did you move it?" Lance needed some Tylenol.
"I… I was doing a dancing contest and they were in the way. Yeah, that's why!" Pietro kept jumping. No need to say he had a visitor.
"Hey yo… what reason you have for taking the shade off the lamp?" Todd asked as he placed the lampshade once again.
"AAAHH!!! You killed him!" Pietro immediately stopped jumping and ran toward the offensive lampshade.
"Killed who?" Todd was looking around him nervously thinking that maybe Pietro had brought home some small animal and he had stepped on him or something.
"You killed my friend… and we were just about to decide who could jump higher." Pietro took the lampshade off the lamp and sighed in relief.
"At least no permanent damage was done." Pietro went back to jump on the couch and it was then that Lance, Todd and Freddy noticed that Pietro's shadow was nicely portrayed against the living room's wall.
"Let me get this straight… you're damaging our couch by jumping on it cause you have a contest with your shadow?" Forget the Tylenol, Lance wanted to go to sleep.
"Well, he was here when nobody else was!" mocked Pietro as he stopped jumping and landed on the couch making a very loud and very unhealthy sound with the springs.
"Where were you guys? I've been here bored out of my mind waiting for you!" Pietro placed his hands on his hips as he waited for an answer from his friends. Unfortunately he wasn't going to get one since Lance was too busy drowning himself in aspirin, Fred was eating a bag of chocolates and Todd had already made his way to his room.
"AAH! Pietro! What you do to my room yo!?"
Oh yeah, Pietro had almost forgotten about that.
"Ok good night!" the young speed demon made his way to the safety of his room and locked the door. He had better get some sleep because tomorrow… well, tomorrow he had his work cut out for him.
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End chapter 12