"I Tried"
Furor Paxx (VulgateOfEarth@hotmail.com)
Chapter 8- Revelation
"I dumped Duncan. He was pressuring me too much." She said softly, searching his face for something.
"Well, he's Duncan after all. You better hurry or you'll miss your ride." Scott said, amazed to admit that he honestly didn't care about Jean or Duncan.
"Scott, if somewhere in all this is a cry to me of-"
"Jean. You're reading too far into it. I'm over it, really. I've got another girl on my mind."
"O- oh." Jean said, a bit taken aback.
Scott smiled. "Yeah. Kitty met her. She's a stripper we picked up at the mall. Nice if you handle her right." Behind him, Lance and Todd started coughing while Pietro and Kurt just dropped to the ground laughing.
"She's real handy around the house too." Freddy added, innocent as ever. "You shoulda been here when Scott first turned her on-"
"I think they're waiting on you, Jean. Bye." Scott scuffed the dirt with his shoes, determined not to laugh until the last of the X-Men were gone.
Evan. Poor Evan... he just looked at Kurt as though he would cry and turned away. That took the mirth out of everyone, even Pietro who usually took great glee from Evan's sadness. Well, until SOMEONE who they all had forgotten about exclaimed from the house...
"Wow! A Decker! Man, you must get excellent rotation from those, and those pumps, whew, I'm hot to try 'er already! May I?" There was a murmur that couldn't quite be heard from outside before the voice started again. "Hey Scott! Is it okay if I try her on? I promise to use the plastic!"
The tires on the car squealed as Logan sped away with the last of the X-Men.
Finally.
Jean could feel them laughing all the way from the Institute. Boy, did she cry.
"Promise to use the plastic? You guys are terrible."
"Aw, Wanda. We were just... you know. Being guys."
Pietro snorted at that. Wanda would have killed anyone else who said something like that, but dear little Kaysin emerged unscathed. It was getting sickening to be in the same room as the two of them.
"That guy is a bad influence on your sister, 'Tro." Todd said as he made a face at the door. They were in the kitchen and the only thing separating them from the two lovesick teens was a door.
"I'll say. Can you believe this? Making me cook like I'm a... a..."
"Cook?"
"Yes. What does it look like I'm doing?"
"No I mean, like you're a cook. But I mean, she did say you took classes and all."
"Back then I wanted to be a chef. That was a long time ago. I hate cooking now."
"Yeah, well. I like cooking. The cook gets to taste everything first. As in, all the best cookies somehow never make it far from the oven. Hint hint."
"Well. That is a major plus."
"And you get to experiment and recruit tastetesters if you're afraid of what you made."
"Kurt and Freddy."
"Yep. And not only that," Todd looked at Pietro from the corner of his eye and hid a smug grin. "They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach..."
"... You may have a point there..."
"Well, gotta go. Summer reading and all. You know." Todd hopped out of the kitchen, pausing in the TV room to tell Wanda that, yes, he had convinced Pietro to cook dinner and no, he wasn't going to poison them all. Then he hopped into the living room to gather the rest of Pietro's CDs and return them to his room. He was surpised to see Scott there tapping keys on the dusty old piano.
"Yo." He said brightly, though not as much so as Kaysin. "You play piano?"
Scott looked up, a bit off guard. "Actually, I used to play the clarinet. I was just thinking about pianos, that's all."
"I hate the piano. Too many afternoons of being forced to practice. You think about pianos often?"
"No. I was just wondering who here would play a piano. None of you seem to be piano players."
"You'd be surprised. None of us looks much like what we really are. Geniuses, that is." Todd preened as much a a frog-like person could (seeing as they have no feathers...)
"Geniuses, huh... so why are you all in substandard classes?"
"Pietro's not. And bein' a genius is more about how fast and well you pick up on things, rather than how well you follow rules and take tests. Did you know that Freddy plays the flute? He learned by watching all these dumb little TV shows with the orchestras. Then he taught Lance and Lance taught Pietro and Pietro taught me. Lance started with the violin. Can you imagine? He's not really so rough looking when he wants to be, either. I've seen him dress up to play at some old lady's birthday. She had cancer or something."
"I've noticed that. You seem to be just like that, why do you purposefully-"
"Don't you get it? We're the Brotherhood. We can't go around lookin' like respectable people. Then, when we wanted to do some undercover work, you'd know exactly who we were." When Scott merely looked at him as he was insane, Todd sighed and shook his head. "Look, we just... got picked up by the wrong people. We coulda' been X-Men. You have nothing we don't. We've been like what you see for so long that after a while we start believing all those people who say we're worthless and stuff. So when Magneto approached us, what could we say? Lookin' at you X-Men from a distance, all high and mighty... we stereotyped you as rich jerks from the beginning. Even though we looked like troublemakers, we were really just as much a bunch of do-gooders as you, we just didn't flaunt it. So when we finally figured out what Magneto was all about, we couldn't go anywhere else and we had been fighting you for so long... so we bullied people when Mystique and Magneto were around and then we went out at night and did little things to make up for it. We couldn't have people recognize us, so we acted like responsible and respectable people when we went out. Our looks are designed to make people dislike us so they don't realize the similarities between the Brotherhood of Mutants and the Brotherhood Volunteer group."
"Are you serious? That volunteer group was started by you guys?"
"Yeah. Then other people just started using our name."
"I don't believe it. Those guys didn't look like you at all."
"That's the point." Todd said, irritated that he had just explained everything to Scott and he still didn't get it.
"I mean... Even the hair color..."
"You know those hair sprays that last only until you wash 'em out?"
"Yeah."
"So don't be stupid."
"Hmm." Scott turned back to the piano and began pressing keys again. Todd was just on his way out when Lance came moping in.
"Kitty dumped you again?" Todd asked.
"Yeah. Doesn't want to be attached to a guy who has such bad taste in friends. Shoulda stuck up for Jean earlier. Jerk for defending jerks... that kinda stuff."
"Maybe Kitty'll join the Brotherhood. Then you won't have to worry about all that anymore."
"You forget. Kurt's here. That ain't gonna work, 'cause I know she still has a crush on him."
"You need to handle that. Maybe if you dump her, she'll stop making you look like an idiot."
"I doubt it. Why are you staring at me like that? Got a eye problem?"
Scott pressed another key on the piano and tried to imagine Lance playing the flute or violin. He wasn't getting far. "We only have two more floors to go. What will we do once we're done?"
"Find something else to do." Lance answered nastily. How could Summers worry about that now of all times?
"Do you play guitar?"
"What?" Lance looked at Scott as if he had lost a few good marbles.
"I just had an idea."
A/N
Yep. It's obvious what the idea is, but just to be spiteful I won't say it, so nyah. This chapter has a purpose. It'll take a while to actuate that purpose, but it's lurking in the back of my Skittles clouded mind. I'm gonna gain a hundred pounds before the summer is over, just wait. All that hard work I went through during the school year so I'd be fit for summer... Screw it. Who cares about that anyway?
Furor Paxx (VulgateOfEarth@hotmail.com)
Chapter 8- Revelation
"I dumped Duncan. He was pressuring me too much." She said softly, searching his face for something.
"Well, he's Duncan after all. You better hurry or you'll miss your ride." Scott said, amazed to admit that he honestly didn't care about Jean or Duncan.
"Scott, if somewhere in all this is a cry to me of-"
"Jean. You're reading too far into it. I'm over it, really. I've got another girl on my mind."
"O- oh." Jean said, a bit taken aback.
Scott smiled. "Yeah. Kitty met her. She's a stripper we picked up at the mall. Nice if you handle her right." Behind him, Lance and Todd started coughing while Pietro and Kurt just dropped to the ground laughing.
"She's real handy around the house too." Freddy added, innocent as ever. "You shoulda been here when Scott first turned her on-"
"I think they're waiting on you, Jean. Bye." Scott scuffed the dirt with his shoes, determined not to laugh until the last of the X-Men were gone.
Evan. Poor Evan... he just looked at Kurt as though he would cry and turned away. That took the mirth out of everyone, even Pietro who usually took great glee from Evan's sadness. Well, until SOMEONE who they all had forgotten about exclaimed from the house...
"Wow! A Decker! Man, you must get excellent rotation from those, and those pumps, whew, I'm hot to try 'er already! May I?" There was a murmur that couldn't quite be heard from outside before the voice started again. "Hey Scott! Is it okay if I try her on? I promise to use the plastic!"
The tires on the car squealed as Logan sped away with the last of the X-Men.
Finally.
Jean could feel them laughing all the way from the Institute. Boy, did she cry.
"Promise to use the plastic? You guys are terrible."
"Aw, Wanda. We were just... you know. Being guys."
Pietro snorted at that. Wanda would have killed anyone else who said something like that, but dear little Kaysin emerged unscathed. It was getting sickening to be in the same room as the two of them.
"That guy is a bad influence on your sister, 'Tro." Todd said as he made a face at the door. They were in the kitchen and the only thing separating them from the two lovesick teens was a door.
"I'll say. Can you believe this? Making me cook like I'm a... a..."
"Cook?"
"Yes. What does it look like I'm doing?"
"No I mean, like you're a cook. But I mean, she did say you took classes and all."
"Back then I wanted to be a chef. That was a long time ago. I hate cooking now."
"Yeah, well. I like cooking. The cook gets to taste everything first. As in, all the best cookies somehow never make it far from the oven. Hint hint."
"Well. That is a major plus."
"And you get to experiment and recruit tastetesters if you're afraid of what you made."
"Kurt and Freddy."
"Yep. And not only that," Todd looked at Pietro from the corner of his eye and hid a smug grin. "They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach..."
"... You may have a point there..."
"Well, gotta go. Summer reading and all. You know." Todd hopped out of the kitchen, pausing in the TV room to tell Wanda that, yes, he had convinced Pietro to cook dinner and no, he wasn't going to poison them all. Then he hopped into the living room to gather the rest of Pietro's CDs and return them to his room. He was surpised to see Scott there tapping keys on the dusty old piano.
"Yo." He said brightly, though not as much so as Kaysin. "You play piano?"
Scott looked up, a bit off guard. "Actually, I used to play the clarinet. I was just thinking about pianos, that's all."
"I hate the piano. Too many afternoons of being forced to practice. You think about pianos often?"
"No. I was just wondering who here would play a piano. None of you seem to be piano players."
"You'd be surprised. None of us looks much like what we really are. Geniuses, that is." Todd preened as much a a frog-like person could (seeing as they have no feathers...)
"Geniuses, huh... so why are you all in substandard classes?"
"Pietro's not. And bein' a genius is more about how fast and well you pick up on things, rather than how well you follow rules and take tests. Did you know that Freddy plays the flute? He learned by watching all these dumb little TV shows with the orchestras. Then he taught Lance and Lance taught Pietro and Pietro taught me. Lance started with the violin. Can you imagine? He's not really so rough looking when he wants to be, either. I've seen him dress up to play at some old lady's birthday. She had cancer or something."
"I've noticed that. You seem to be just like that, why do you purposefully-"
"Don't you get it? We're the Brotherhood. We can't go around lookin' like respectable people. Then, when we wanted to do some undercover work, you'd know exactly who we were." When Scott merely looked at him as he was insane, Todd sighed and shook his head. "Look, we just... got picked up by the wrong people. We coulda' been X-Men. You have nothing we don't. We've been like what you see for so long that after a while we start believing all those people who say we're worthless and stuff. So when Magneto approached us, what could we say? Lookin' at you X-Men from a distance, all high and mighty... we stereotyped you as rich jerks from the beginning. Even though we looked like troublemakers, we were really just as much a bunch of do-gooders as you, we just didn't flaunt it. So when we finally figured out what Magneto was all about, we couldn't go anywhere else and we had been fighting you for so long... so we bullied people when Mystique and Magneto were around and then we went out at night and did little things to make up for it. We couldn't have people recognize us, so we acted like responsible and respectable people when we went out. Our looks are designed to make people dislike us so they don't realize the similarities between the Brotherhood of Mutants and the Brotherhood Volunteer group."
"Are you serious? That volunteer group was started by you guys?"
"Yeah. Then other people just started using our name."
"I don't believe it. Those guys didn't look like you at all."
"That's the point." Todd said, irritated that he had just explained everything to Scott and he still didn't get it.
"I mean... Even the hair color..."
"You know those hair sprays that last only until you wash 'em out?"
"Yeah."
"So don't be stupid."
"Hmm." Scott turned back to the piano and began pressing keys again. Todd was just on his way out when Lance came moping in.
"Kitty dumped you again?" Todd asked.
"Yeah. Doesn't want to be attached to a guy who has such bad taste in friends. Shoulda stuck up for Jean earlier. Jerk for defending jerks... that kinda stuff."
"Maybe Kitty'll join the Brotherhood. Then you won't have to worry about all that anymore."
"You forget. Kurt's here. That ain't gonna work, 'cause I know she still has a crush on him."
"You need to handle that. Maybe if you dump her, she'll stop making you look like an idiot."
"I doubt it. Why are you staring at me like that? Got a eye problem?"
Scott pressed another key on the piano and tried to imagine Lance playing the flute or violin. He wasn't getting far. "We only have two more floors to go. What will we do once we're done?"
"Find something else to do." Lance answered nastily. How could Summers worry about that now of all times?
"Do you play guitar?"
"What?" Lance looked at Scott as if he had lost a few good marbles.
"I just had an idea."
A/N
Yep. It's obvious what the idea is, but just to be spiteful I won't say it, so nyah. This chapter has a purpose. It'll take a while to actuate that purpose, but it's lurking in the back of my Skittles clouded mind. I'm gonna gain a hundred pounds before the summer is over, just wait. All that hard work I went through during the school year so I'd be fit for summer... Screw it. Who cares about that anyway?