Disclaimer: Don't own the X-men. Only that creative in fanfic… and in bed.
Author's Note: I am extremely sorry that this took so long to post. It didn't help that I have a little writer's block.AND fanfic HAD to crap up on me, as most of you know. (I would have had this up a WEEK ago!)So, as a sincere apology whoever gives me their email address with their review for this chapter will get a special sneak preview of an important scene coming up. I'm sorry, but you aren't getting a sneak preview if all you leave is your email address.
Another Author's Note: For chapter 11, I meant for it to be in order. Like when the first scene was in the middle of the night. Next was when people were first waking up, after that they've been up for a few min. (except Kitty) Then it was breakfast, John's scene was after that, at the same time as John's scene, Piotr was doing the dishes. After that came Piotr and Kitty's scene in the middle of the afternoon, and finally Rogue's scene at night. I'm sorry it doesn't really seem to be in order when you read it, but that was sort of what I was aiming for.
REVIEW RESPONSES!
bored247 - Thanks. I can't help being hard on myself, can anyone? I'm so glad you liked the pendant. I was like, is that too out of character? Since I couldn't think of random stuff to post, I decided to post part of Piotr's surprise.
Cat2fat900 - Lol. Who would EVER think of you as psycho:D. I hope your laptop gets fixed soon! If my laptop ever broke I'd break down and cry until it's fixed again. Not my baby!
Chica De Los Ojos Cafe- Thanks. It's kinda hard not to beat yourself up you know?
shadowcatfan89 - Here's Part one of Piotr's surprise. I hope you like it. I wasn't so sure about it.
Crash Slayer - Lol. I'm glad you didn't find massive errors. It really annoys me when I make mistakes like that. By the way, what exactly is fluff? I'm a bit confused about that.
Rogue238 - It's fine how long you take. I mean, you made the effort to review, thanks.
sunspotmisery - hmmm, I'm going to try and work on that. I got your review after I had already finished Part one of Piotr's surprise. After Piotr's surprise I'm thinking of taking the gang to a club and having a dance contest or something.
Remylover and FluidDegree thanks for reviewing!
Last Time:
Wanda gasped. She turned to John. "Thank you," she whispered. She threw herself into his arms and started to cry into his shirt.
"You're welcome luv," he said. He kissed the top of her head and started to rock her.
"I love you too," said Wanda as she kissed him.
(-strawberrie-)
Piotr gently lifted her and carefully put her on the bed.
"Ready?" he asked.
Kitty nodded vigorously as Piotr lowered his head and their lips met.
(-strawberrie-)
"Y're welcome," said Remy. He brought his head down and they engaged in a passionate kiss.
While still lip locked, Remy picked Rogue and deposited her on the bed, falling onto it after her.
Chapter 12- Piotr's Surprise Part I
Kitty woke up a little early and went to the kitchen to meet Rogue and Wanda for a secret meeting they had planned.
"Hey guys," said Kitty as she went to get herself some orange juice.
"Is everything ready?" asked Kitty.
"Yup," said Wanda. "All his paintings and drawings have been safely taken, the gallery's filled."
"Great," said Kitty. "Thanks for helping me out guys."
"No problem," said Rogue. "So, when are we preparing for the second part of his surprise?"
"We'll leave early," said Kitty.
"Cool," said Wanda.
"I'm so nervous," said Kitty.
"Don't be," said Wanda. "He's gonna love his surprise."
(-strawberrie-)
Piotr nodded, his face unusually pale. He was talking on the phone before breakfast. They were all in the kitchen getting ready to eat.
"Da, da I understand," he said. He nodded some more.
"Okay," he said. "Sure, just find something, please." He hung up the phone and collapsed into the nearest chair.
"What's wrong?" asked Kitty.
"My pieces of artwork," he said.
"What about it?" asked Wanda.
"They're gone," said Piotr.
"What?" asked Rogue and Remy simultaneously.
"They're gone," repeated Piotr. "That was Logan on the phone. He was checking our house just to make sure no one had taken anything and found all my paintings, all my drawings, missing."
"All of them?" asked John dubiously.
Piotr nodded. "Yeah," he said. "All of them."
"Poor Piotr," said Kitty. She put her arms around him and tried to soothe him.
"Dat b' horrible mon ami," said Remy.
"What's being done about it?" said Wanda.
"Logan's trying to search for a scent," said Piotr. "But the trail already went cold. I fear my paintings are gone forever my friends." He silently got up and went into his room.
The rest of them looked at each other worriedly.
"When does the gallery open?" asked Rogue.
Kitty looked at the clock. "Nine," she said. "We have two hours."
"It hurts, hurting Piotr like this," said John.
"Yeah, mais it b' wort' it in de end for him," said Remy.
"Are you sure you'll be able to convince him to come?" asked Wanda.
"Hopefully," said Kitty. "If not I'll phase him there."
She sighed. "I'd better go cheer him up a little," she said. She got up and walked to their room.
(-strawberrie-)
Kitty, unsure of what to do when she got to their room, knocked on the door.
"Piotr?" she asked as she entered. Piotr sat on the bed, staring into space.
"Piotr?" Kitty repeated.
Piotr's head slowly turned so that their eyes came in contact. For a second Kitty was terrified. There was no recognition of her in his eyes. Gradually, he began to recognize her and look at her normally.
"Hey," he said.
"How you holding up?" she asked. She walked over to their bed and crawled into his lap. She turned so that she could wrap her arms around him. His arms went around her too. Kitty put her head on his broad chest.
"Not well," said Piotr.
"Hmmm," said Kitty, waiting for him to let it out.
"I mean, everything," said Piotr. "All my drawings, all my paintings. Nothing was spared. Not even the drawings of you and the rest of us. Why would anyone want to take my artwork?"
"Because they were blinded by their beauty?" said Kitty. "You know how Remy is when he sees something he likes, all of a sudden it's in his pocket."
"I'm serious Katya," he said.
"Hmmm," she said. She lifted her head and captured his lips with hers. Engaging in a passionate lip lock Kitty's hands went to the hem of his T-shirt. She grabbed it and started to lift it when Piotr gently pushed her away and broke the kiss.
Kitty looked at him quizzically.
"I'm sorry Katya," said Piotr. "I'm just not in the mood." He got up and walked over to the window. He stared out of it moodily.
Kitty raised her eyebrows. 'Wow, he's really bummed,' she thought. She looked at the clock, surprised to see it was 8:30.
She got up, walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know what you need?" she asked. "To take a walk. Get some fresh air, clear your mind. We can take our rental car to town and walk around."
"I don't know Katya," said Piotr.
"Come on," said Kitty. She gave him puppy dog eyes and stuck her bottom lip out a bit. "Just do it for me, please?"
Piotr looked down at her and wished he hadn't.
"Fine," he said.
"Yay!" said Kitty. "Just let me get ready like, really quick."
Piotr sighed and looked out the window again, knowing it would take Kitty awhile.
"Done," said Kitty a couple minutes later.
"That quick?" asked Piotr puzzled.
"Yeah," said Kitty. "I just like, needed to change my shirt. Let's go!"
Kitty grabbed Piotr's hand and they walked out, pausing to get the keys to their rental car.
"We're like, going to town guys," Kitty screamed into the house. "We'll see you later."
"M'kay petite," said Remy as Kitty and Piotr left.
"What tahme is it?" asked Rogue. She, Remy, John and Wanda were sitting in the living room, waiting to leave.
"8:45," said Wanda. "We'd better go. Ready?"
Rogue checked herself in the mirror. She was wearing a black spaghetti strap tank top and nice black pants. She had on a light, lace jacket making her outfit semi-formal like the rest of theirs.
"Yeah," she said. They went out into the garage. Rogue and Remy got on Remy's motorcycle and Wanda and John got into the other convertible that they had rented.
"Let's go," said Remy as he and John tore out of the garage.
(-strawberrie-)
"So where do you want to go?" asked Piotr.
"Um," said Kitty. "I don't know. Let's just walk around a bit."
Piotr sighed. 'She probably has some shopping in mind,' he thought. 'I'm really not in the mood for this.'
They walked around for a couple of minutes before Kitty stopped.
"Close your eyes," she told Piotr.
"Why?" he asked.
"You'll see," said Kitty. Piotr obliged and Kitty took his hand and led him in front of an art gallery.
"Okay," said Kitty. "Open them."
Piotr opened his eyes and found himself in front of an art gallery.
"Who's artwork is in there?" he asked.
Kitty giggled. "Like, see for yourself," she said. She pointed to a sign that said, 'Never Before Seen Work of Piotr Rasputin.'
"Surprise," Kitty said.
"No way," he said.
Kitty giggled again. "Way," she said. She tugged on his hand. "Let's go in." Piotr followed dumbfounded.
Once he entered he looked around. There were a lot of people around mingling and looking at the artwork. Piotr looked around and saw all of his paintings and drawings framed and hanging on the walls, the titles and prices under them.
Kitty kissed him lightly on the lips.
"Surprised?" she asked.
"Of course," he said. He enveloped her in a giant hug.
"Need air," said Kitty.
"Sorry Katya," said Piotr as he released her.
"Is it okay that I like, put your work in like, a gallery?" asked Kitty nervously. "I mean I didn't like, consult you or anything and like, here I am putting your drawings and like, paintings up for sale."
"It's fine Katya," said Piotr reassuring her. "I've always wanted to put my art in a gallery, but I never found one. Thank you. For all of this."
"You know what the best part is?" she asked him. She moved so that she was talking into his ear.
"The best is yet to come," she said.
(-strawberrie-)
Piotr walked around, completely speechless at what Kitty had done for him. He and Kitty had split up after Kitty introduced him to the owner of the gallery.
'I can't believe it,' he thought. He spied Remy and Rogue leaning against a wall, Rouge in Remy's arms.
"Congratulations mon amie," said Remy. "You're first art gallery."
Rogue got out of Remy's hold and gave Piotr a hug. "Yeah, congrats," said Rogue.
"Thanks my friends," said Piotr. "Did you know?"
They nodded. "Logan knows too," said Rogue. "It was a huge set up."
Piotr shook his head. "Wow," he said.
Rogue and Remy grinned.
"Excuse me," said a woman as she approached the three of them. She looked to be around thirty-five. She was wearing a pale blue skirt suit with a light pink shirt under it. "Do you know where the artist of these paintings are?"
"That would be me," said Piotr. "I am Piotr Rasputin."
"Hello," said the lady. "My name is Jane Harstin. I'm interested in buying these pieces of artwork." She motioned to the drawings Piotr did of Bayville.
"They're beautiful and they'll look perfect in my living room," said Ms. Harstin. "What do I do to buy them?"
"Uh," said Piotr. He was absolutely unsure of what to do.
"You see that lady in the mango suit?" asked Kitty as she came up to Piotr, looping her arm through his. She had heard the question the Ms. Harstin had asked.
"Uh huh," said Ms. Harstin, looking at the owner of the gallery.
"Just tell her which pieces you want. She'll take care of everything," said Kitty flashing Ms. Harstin a smile.
"Thanks," said Ms. Harstin. She turned to Piotr. "Beautiful work Mr. Rasputin."
"Thank you," he said and she walked off.
Piotr turned to Kitty and was about to tell her something when the four of them heard arguing.
They walked into a room separate from the main room and saw Wanda glaring at a man in a blue dress shirt and dress pants. The man was glaring back at her while John tried to calm Wanda down.
"What's going on?" asked Piotr.
Wanda looked at him as he and the rest of them entered.
"Great, you're here," said Wanda. She turned to glare at the man. "This idiot can't read. He wants to buy the paintings in this room. When I kindly told him that they aren't for sale he acted like he had a stick the size of Scott's up his…"
"Ahem," said Rogue.
Wanda rolled her eyes. "And then he demanded to see the artist and all this stuff when it clearly says 'Not for sale' under the artwork here and I clearly told him the art's not for sale," she finished.
Piotr took a look around the room and was shocked to see the paintings he made of them. There were paintings of all six of them lounging while watching TV at the Acolyte's house, there were paintings of Rogue and Remy, of John and Wanda and paintings of Kitty.
"They are not for sale," Piotr admitted to the man. Wanda shot the guy a 'I told you so' look. "But which one do you want? Maybe I could help you out or something."
"That one," he said in a deep baritone voice. He pointed and Piotr's eyes followed his fingers and saw that he was pointing Piotr's favorite painting of Kitty.
He had drawn it one day when they had gone out to the beach. Kitty was sitting on her towel in the middle of the beach. You could see others around her on the beach and in the water. No one was recognizable though, they were just imaginary people drawn in for the purposes of background. Kitty was sitting with her arms around her knees and her head on her arms staring out into the distance. The sun was setting, making Kitty even more beautiful. As soon as he got back he locked himself into his room, wanting to paint the picture before he forgot the colors of Kitty's bathing suit, the setting sun and the water. Luckily, he captured it all.
"No," said Piotr quickly. Wanda gloated in the background with John's arm around her. "That one especially is not for sale."
"I'll give you ten-thousand dollars for it," the man said.
Remy whistled. "That's a lot, mon amie," he said, standing by Rogue.
"No," said Piotr.
"Fifteen thousand," said the man.
"Mr…" said Piotr.
"Kusabe," said the man. "Mr. Kusabe."
"Mr. Kusabe. I'm very sorry," said Piotr again. "As the signs say, these paintings are not for sale. As you can see, the focus of those paintings reside in this room."
Mr. Kusabe looked from one of the paintings to Remy and Rogue who were whispering in each other's ear. In the painting Rogue was curled up on Remy's couch in the Acolyte House. Remy had his arms around her and Rogue was holding a book and reading it aloud for both her and Remy's enjoyment.
He then looked at a painting of John and Wanda. They were both sitting on the porch in Magneto's old base. In the painting, John and Wanda were looking into each other's eyes. John had a rose made out of a flame that he was holding in his palm. The rose was in between their slightly smiling faces. Mr. Kusabe looked from the painting to John and Wanda who were smiling in each other's arms at him.
Mr. Kusabe looked at another picture, this one of Kitty soundly sleeping in the Institute. She was wearing a baby blue spaghetti-strap tank top, the rest of her clothes covered by her sheets. She had a slight smile on her peaceful face. He looked at Kitty who was standing beside Piotr, leaning her head on his shoulder and looking at Piotr with a smile.
Mr. Kusabe looked at Piotr. "I see that these paintings are very special. I can also see that the six of you are really close, just by these pictures," said Mr. Kusabe. He looked at the painting of Kitty. "But these are some of your best work. The amount of concentration and love you put into these paintings shows. I'd love to have one of them."
"I'm sorry," said Piotr. "They're too dear, and frankly, I don't want you with a picture of my girl." (1) Kitty grinned.
"But…" said Mr. Kusabe.
"Do I need to get security to get you out?" asked Wanda not too kindly. "Or will you leave of your own will? I said it's not for sale, he said it's not for sale so leave!"
Mr. Kusabe looked at her, about to say something, but decided not to. He nodded to each of them, and left the room.
"Did ya have ta be so rude?" Rogue asked Wanda.
"I'm sorry, but he rubbed me the wrong way," said Wanda.
John's face turned red with anger. "He what?" he said. "Excuse me." He tried to untangle himself from Wanda's arms to go after him.
"Chill," said Wanda, holding on to his arm. "It's just an expression."
John turned to face her. "It better be," he said. Wanda laughed and kissed him lightly. That innocent kiss soon turned not so innocent and Wanda pulled back slowly.
"Um, guys, we'll be right back," she said.
Remy shook his head, knowing what they were leaving to do.
"Just like, don't get caught," said Kitty.
Wanda grinned. "Have we ever gotten caught?" she asked.
"Well…" the rest of them said.
"There was that time at the club…" said Kitty.
"That time petite?" said Remy. "Y' mean those times."
"Don't forget when we went to the movie theatre," said Piotr.
"Again, those times," said Remy.
They laughed. "Trah (try) extrah hard ta not get caught," said Rogue.
"Don't worry," said John as he and Wanda left.
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Nymphos," she said.
"Yahre one ta talk," said Rogue. Kitty blushed.
"Who says y' can talk t' chere?" said Remy as he slipped his arms around her waist.
"Did ah ever say ah wasn't a nympho?" Rogue said.
"Good point," said Remy.
"Do you guys want to like, take a lunch break?" said Kitty. "I'm hungry."
Rogue and Remy glanced at each other. "No," said Remy. "We're not hungry. We'll go later."
Kitty nodded. "Let's go Katya," said Piotr.
"Cool," said Kitty. She took Piotr's arm. "We'll see you guys later."
(-strawberrie-)
Lunch went without problems. When they came back they were surprised to find Wanda and John back.
"Told you we won't get caught," said Wanda. She, Rogue and Kitty were standing in a corner by the refreshments.
Rogue and Kitty laughed.
"Is it time to go?" asked Wanda.
Kitty looked at her watch, humorous a Christmas gift to her from Logan when she kept coming to danger room sessions late. It wasn't her actual present from him (a pink camera cell phone was) but she loved it anyway.
"Yeah," said Kitty. "Let's go."
The three of them approached the guys who were standing in the middle of the main room.
"We're like, going now," said Kitty. She kissed him on the cheek.
"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Piotr.
"No," said Kitty. "I prefer you don't, and this is like, your art show, you need to stay."
Piotr opened his mouth to protest when he was cut off by Remy.
"Trust Remy," said Remy. "It'd b' better if y' stay."
"Okay," he said and kissed Kitty again. John and Remy both kissed Wanda and Rogue and the girls left.
"Wait," said Kitty. Wanda and Kitty turned to her, amused. Kitty ran back to Piotr.
"Get like, a ride from John or something because I'm taking the car," she said.
"Okay Katya," said Piotr. "See you."
"K," said Kitty. "Bye."
(-no more strawberries-)
(1) I know that's a little out of character for Piotr, but I couldn't help adding that.
Arg! Finally! This chapter took like, two, three weeks? I've lost track of time.And then you had to add theWEEK it took me to upload this.Let me again say, I'm EXTREMELY sorry for the lateness. So, (I'll say this again) as a sincere apology whoever gives me their email address with their review for this chapter will get a special sneak preview of an important scene coming up. You aren't getting a sneak preview if all you leave is your email address in the review.
Okay, so for you people that are disappointed with Piotr's surprise, don't worry. As Kitty said, the best part's yet to come. Just in case what I'm thinkingisn't all that good, do you guys have any suggestions for what Kitty's going to do? I'll give you a hint to what I'm thinking of, it'll definitely involve the indoor pool that they have. If you guys suddenly get an idea, please tell me.
Hmm, that all? Oh yeah! For you people who will be receiving sneak previews of coming up chapters, the email address you will receive the preview from is NaijaStrawberrie (at) dreemz (dot) zzn (dot) com. Just in case you didn't know it was NaijaStrawberrie who made this story.
Piotr's Surprise Part II will be posted… arg, I have no idea. Hopefully soon.
Love Always! Stay Strawberrie!
REVIEW!