AN: In this chapter, Lance tries to be an adult. It works well with Pietro, but he reverts back to form when he's dealing with Kitty. Ah, Lance.
Thanks for reading!
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Chapter 14
Lance knocked on Pietro's door, unsure if his housemate was even at home. It was late on a Saturday night, he'd just taken Kitty home (and then taken a cold shower, which was starting to become a regular occurrence after their dates) and for all he knew, Pietro was out somewhere. Running a hand through his wet hair, he wondered idly if Pietro ever brought girls home. He really hoped he didn't have one in there now, because they really needed to talk.
"Who is it?"
"Me, Lance," he called back.
"Oh. What do you want?"
"Um, can I come in? People are asleep and I don't want to shout." He could almost hear Pietro's annoyed sigh through the door. It opened several seconds later to reveal him there, dressed in pajama pants and a Bayville High sweatshirt. Pietro waved him in and went to sit on his bed, opening the window to smoke.
Lance took a seat in the chair next to Pietro's desk, ignoring the piles of clothing. His room was only neat because of Kitty. "You know, your room is going to smell like an ashtray if you keep doing that."
"I have to have some sort of vice, Lance, come on," Pietro drawled, inhaling his cigarette and regarding Lance's wet hair with amusement. "Little Kitty-cat get you all worked up?"
"Shut the hell up," he muttered, reaching his hand out. "Give me one of those."
Pietro tossed him the pack of cigarettes and Lance took one, finding a lighter on Pietro's desk. It took him a few moments to light the cigarette—he was still a novice at this. He didn't really like it, but he figured the camaraderie of smoking might help the case for what he was about to propose.
"So what is it?" Pietro cocked his head at him, his eyes sharp. He looked unfriendly. Lance wondered if they'd ever have spoken to each other, if it weren't for the fact they were both mutants.
"We're about to run out of money," Lance said bluntly.
Pietro took another drag of his cigarette. "You sound like Wanda," he said, shrugging nonchalantly.
"Yeah, well, because she's right, dude." Lance raised the cigarette to his lips, but he didn't really inhale it very much. "We need to get jobs."
"Who does?" Pietro asked, staring at him. "Me?"
"All of us."
Pietro snorted. "Right. I'll just go work at Pac Sun at the mall," he muttered, shaking his head. "Come on, Lance. Jobs are for humans."
"Yeah? You sound like your dad," Lance snapped, annoyed.
Pietro smiled at that. "He's right, you know. We are better than them."
"Maybe we are, but I don't think the bill company cares. They just want money." Lance stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the desk with quick, jabbing movements.
Pietro stubbed out his own cigarette and flicked the butt out of the window. "Yeah, fine. I'll ask him for more money, then. Is that what this is about?"
"Dude, look. You live here, not with daddy. If you want to get money out of him, fine. But I don't think it's gonna be enough."
"Maybe not for you--"
"Let's play, what happens to us if we run out of money?" Lance interrupted, highly irritated. "You end up at Xavier's with your sister and two telepaths, not to mention a bunch of people who don't know your dad zapped your sister's memories away." At Pietro's scowl, he held his hand up. "The rest of us either make nice with the X-Men—that is, provided they'd even have us—or it's foster care until we graduate." He laughed mirthlessly. "I know you don't want to live at the Institute, and I sure as fuck don't want to end up back in foster care."
"So we have to find a way to get money."
Lance didn't care for the gleam in Pietro's pale eyes. "Yeah…dude, don't tell me you're going to rob a bank? No one ever gets away with that, you know."
"DB Cooper did," Pietro muttered.
"Who?"
"Never mind. Let's just…before we all drop off applications at the mall—though I'd die laughing to see my sister working at that pretzel place—just let me…just let me think about something for a little while." Pietro's voice was coaxing.
Lance sighed. "Dude, we don't have a little while—"
"Lance! You need to use your imagination," Pietro exclaimed, jumping up. His eyes were bright. "Two weeks. Give me two weeks! It would take that long to fill out job applications anyway, right?"
"I guess," Lance said slowly, weakening. He didn't want to get a job, really, either—when would he see Kitty?—but he knew from experience that Pietro wasn't the best at thinking through a plan.
Another way he's like his dad. Lance wisely kept that observation to himself.
Sensing his capitulation, Pietro grinned. "There you go. Just let me put a few things together…we shouldn't have to go to school and work while those kids at Xavier's lay by the pool all the time, don't you think that's unfair?"
Lance did think it was unfair, but he shrugged. "Life isn't fair, is it?"
"Well, no, but we don't have to sit around and take it, do we?" Pietro was prowling around his room, which made Lance want to leave. He was tired, and dealing with his roommate was exhausting even when it wasn't two in the morning.
"Hey, earth to Pietro. We need money."
"I know! Lance, listen to me. We can't ask Toad and Blob to get jobs. Just imagine it for a second," Pietro urged him, arms crossed. "Think about Toad working at Subway in the mall. You think he'd last a second?"
"No, because he'd eat all the sandwiches," Lance responded, snorting despite his resolve.
"Exactly! And Blob? The first customer who complained, he'd toss him out a window. Can you imagine my sister working at Target? The minute she got pissed, the store would collapse."
"You're right, which is why it has to be us," Lance informed him.
"No, Lance. It means we need to find a way to make all the talents we have work for us. Everyone's talents, not just the fact you or I could work some shit job at the mall for minimum-freaking wage—you think we could live on that? Have you even done the math, Alvers? It's impossible."
Lance hated it when Pietro said something intelligent. "At least it's something--"
"Yeah, something that isn't good enough." Pietro's eyes snapped. "I'm sick of things not being good enough. We'll have to find a better way. We will find a better way. No matter what it takes."
Lance stood up, backing towards the door. All Pietro needed in that moment was a helmet. "Okay. Come up with something, and we'll talk about it—don't do anything dumb, okay? We can't afford to bail you out of jail."
Lance turned on his heel and left, shaking his head. He had no idea what scheme Pietro was going to come up with, but it would probably be dangerous. He'd probably go along with it, too.
Damn it.
ooooooooOOOOoooooooo
"Lance, is something the matter?"
He looked over at Kitty, who was lying next to him. They were at the park, enjoying one of the last nice days they'd likely have before winter came. Lance really could have cared less about that, but it had been Kitty's idea, so he'd gone along with it.
Plus, it was free. That was also a selling point.
He almost told her what the problem was, but he didn't. It wasn't just him—it was his entire house. The last thing he wanted was Kitty telling her goody-goody friends about their predicament. They'd organize a Brotherhood food drive or something, and then Pietro would go postal.
"No," he said, forcing himself to smile at her. It wasn't hard, really; she looked very pretty lying there next to him. "Why?"
"You just seem kind of…I don't know. Tense?" She rested a hand on his shoulder, and he did tense, but only because she touched him.
That's called, "I can't keep my hands off you" tense. "Yeah, well. You know. School and stuff. Plus, I live with crazy people."
"Yeah, well, so do I," Kitty murmured, her face creased in a frown. "You're not the only one with crazy roommates."
"Yours are driving you crazy, too?" He reached up and brushed her hair back, liking the soft feel of her skin beneath his fingers and the way she smiled in obvious pleasure at his caress.
"They all drive me crazy sometimes. Family, you know." She leaned back on her elbows, her bright blue eyes sparkling. "Rogue's not a bad roommate, but she's all weird lately."
"Maybe that's cause she's hanging out with Scarlet," Lance said, grinning as he leaned over her. "You know, doing whatever weird Goth kids do."
"You know, I had this theory that Rogue had a crush on one of your housemates," Kitty said, reaching up to brush his hair back, mimicking his earlier caress.
Lance stared at her. "Which one? Wanda?" He sounded briefly interested. "Really? Tell me all about that," he teased, grinning as she turned pink and hit his shoulder.
"No, not Wanda! I don't think Rogue swings that way. I meant Pietro."
Lance blinked at that. "That'd be dumb. He's not exactly a one-woman kind of guy," he said, his eyes drifting down to how nicely her sweater fit around her breasts.
She giggled. "Your roommate stories are always way dirtier than mine."
He looked back at her and grinned. "Yeah? You mean you and Rogue don't have pillow fights in lingerie?"
"Lance!" she shrieked, but she was giggling. "Late night cable television is lying to you."
"Oh? How do you know about late night cable television?" he asked, grinning wider as she blushed harder. He rolled over and pinned her beneath him. "Out with it, Pryde. Are you watching Cinemax late at night?"
"Lance," she gasped again, laughing harder, her hands resting on his shoulders. "You are horrible." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And how do you know so much about late-night cable television anyway, to know what channel to watch?"
"Hey, don't get mad at me. You're the one that brought it up." He kissed her because she looked so adorable and flustered, and she happily kissed him back, her hands on his shoulders tightening a little as he deepened the kiss.
They broke away eventually, not wanting to make out in a public place where anyone could wander by. They'd have to save that for later.
"I really don't think Rogue is dating Pietro. I don't think Pietro dates girls." He winced. "He doesn't even bring any of them home." He was lying on his back sideways, with his head resting on her stomach. It was very comfortable.
"Then how do you know he has any?" Kitty asked, playing with his hair. "Maybe he's just all talk."
Lance snorted. "Trust me, I know. You don't want to hear the details, believe me. But Pietro will hit on anything that moves, so if your roommate wants some no-strings-attached sex—"
She hit him on the top of his head. "Ugh. Mental image I don't need, and Rogue—well, her skin, you know?"
"I'm glad you don't have that problem," Lance said, grinning up at her.
She grinned back. "Me, too."
Lance settled back and relaxed under the slight brush of her fingers in his hair. "So, um…what are you going to do this summer?"
"Lance, it's October," Kitty said, tugging at his hair.
"I know, but do you go home or something?"
"I didn't last summer," she said, scratching his scalp briefly with her nails.
"Yeah, that'd be because of the mutant we had to take down," he reminded her, eyes sliding closed.
"I'll stay here. Probably get a job at the mall or something. Why?"
For some reason, that made him feel better. At least if whatever harebrained scheme Pietro came up with didn't work, they'd both be working somewhere for the summer. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. "Me too. I mean, with the working."
"Yeah, I mean, I gotta start saving up for college." Her voice became hesitant. "Are you—are you going to college?"
Lance tensed a little at that. "I—I don't know. I guess I just wanted to finish this year first and worry about it later."
"Deadlines and stuff are coming up, though," she said slowly. "If you want, I could—"
He sat up, suddenly wary of the direction the conversation was taking. He didn't want her to suddenly start thinking he wasn't good enough for her. "We should go. It's getting late."
"Lance—" she stood up as well, then sighed, brushing imaginary leaves off her back. "I didn't mean to make you mad."
He shrugged it off and pulled her towards him. "You didn't." He hugged her, momentarily distracted by the press of her body against his.
Though as they drove back into town, he found himself lost in thought, wondering what would happen. It would be okay next year, with her still at Bayville and him—doing whatever it was he was doing—but what about after that?
Would she still want to date him when she was in college, if he was working at the Bayville mall?
Probably not.
She'd meet some stupid smart boy, and that would be the end of it. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
Maybe Pietro's right. Maybe we shouldn't have jobs. I'll just have to find a way to get money, or do something impressive. So I can keep her.
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Tamara: Why thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying the story and I hope you continue to enjoy it :) Thanks so much for reading!
Miss Information: Hee! Thanks! I love playing with the Brotherhood House dynamics, because it just cracks me up that they live there with no adult supervision. How are they paying bills? Who's making dinner? How does Wanda even know HOW to cook? So I'm happy there's someone besides me who likes that kind of thing. Hee! And yes, Wanda and Rogue will have some interesting conversations in the future...thanks, as always, and also for the nice comments you've left me on the one-shots. I really appreciate it, thank you so much! And yeah, re-read Magnetic North. I love the whole idea that Xavier--that pimp daddy!--named is cat after Mystique, after dumping her for Emma. Ha! That's priceless, really.
Jdehn: Haha! I'm so glad there are other Magneto and Rogue fans out there. I figured I'd horrify everyone in Evo!fandom with it, so I'm glad a few people like it! I also hope you do enjoy the Charles and Jean, whenever the two of them actually get around to being inappropriate. Mwahaha! Thanks again and thanks for reading!
Nercia Genesis: Thanks! Wolverine isn't home at the moment, but he'll be back...
IvyZoe: You know, I was planning to put Pietor and Wanda together (because it's just so obvious!) but Wanda is determined to be normal, alas. Still, yes, I think Pietro has a bit of inappropriate sort of crush on her. Wanda's hot, who can blame Pietro? And will Pietro hit on Rogue in front of Magneto? We shall have to see...
RG Marie: Thank you! Glad you're still enjoying it, and thanks so much for reading!