Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, zip. Blaze owns me.

Scene 04

After very quickly deciding that walking anywhere in this much rain was an act for madmen and ducks, Blaze and Tabitha decided on a drive instead. With the top up for once on Blaze's silver two-seater convertible sports car and music blaring out of the stereo, the two girls cruised Bayville for an hour. Eventually deciding that the siren's call of the mall was to alluring to resist, Blaze parked up badly as usual, and they ran through the rain to the shops. A couple of shoe sales, a record store and a handmade cosmetics stall later, the girls gave up. They collapsed on the low marble wall surrounding a twinkling fountain, feet aching sullenly at their misuse. For a few moments the girls sat in silence amongst their bags of purchases, before Tabby suddenly clutched her stomach.

"I'm starved! I think if I don't get something to eat and drink soon, I'm gonna explode," Boom Boom sounded deadly serious. "You wanna go get a muffin and a milkshake?"

"I could murder a latte," confessed Blaze. "But what are we going to pay with? You're even more broke than I am." The redhead tossed Tabitha a wallet containing little more than dust bunnies. Tabitha was slack-jawed in amazement.

"Hey, this is mine! You pick-pocketed me?"

"Just keeping my eye in," shrugged Blaze. "You never know when a little slight of hand might come in useful. We're still broke though."

"This sucks, there must be some way to blag a free drink round here…" mused Tabby. Leaning back on her arms, she let her eyes wander around the mall aimlessly. Abruptly her gaze stopped on a section of the upper walkway, just to the left of the girls. Tabby sniggered hilariously, making Blaze look up too. The redhead smiled wickedly, raising one arched eyebrow delicately.

"You know Tabs, I think there just might be…"

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A slender hand with blood red painted nails flicked through the rack of CDs impatiently. The plastic cases clacked angrily against each other, but still he didn't get the hint. Toad was following Wanda everywhere like a lost, well, toad. Handsome and charming as something a dog had coughed up, Toad hadn't realised that Wanda was utterly ignoring him in the hope he might go away. Instead he was just babbling at twice the speed to cover Wanda's silence.

"…So then Blob said, well I don't actually remember what he said, but my point is Babycakes…" Wanda rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth, abandoning the record store without a backwards glance. Toad followed her, still waffling away to himself. She could make him shut up of course, give him a hint so massive even he couldn't ignore that she wasn't interested. Yet the truth was she didn't want to hurt Toad, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. She just wanted him to leave her be.

"Um, Babycakes? I don't think that's really your colour…" Toad hinted. He peered meekly at the item of clothing Wanda had picked out from a rail in a clothes store. Wanda scowled at the offending floral print pink dress and thrust it back where it had come from. This was all Pietro's fault, he'd told Toad where Wanda was going when she'd left the Brotherhood house. Her brother had a lot to answer for. If she couldn't ask him to get rid of Toad, then whom could she turn to?

"Hi Toad," said a sultry voice behind the two Brotherhood members. "How's it going?" Toad and Wanda turned around to see a leggy blonde in blue jeans and a red blouse, stood with an equally leggy redhead in low cut stonewashed jeans and a black vest top that didn't quite meet in the middle. Tabitha smiled innocently, whilst Blaze pouted and fluttered her eyelashes at Toad. Wanda frowned, what were these two up to?

"Boom Boom, Blaze, what are you two doin' here yo?" Toad asked with a nervous laugh.

"Oh you know," Tabby sighed melodramatically. "Just two single girls trawling the mall, looking for hunks." She pinned Toad with an overly familiar look as Blaze piped up, "Strikes me that some girls don't know what they've got…" The fire elemental looked pointedly at Wanda, which Toad saw. Blaze then tipped Wanda a wink, which Toad missed. Wanda held her breath; these two might be onto something.

"Yeah, um Blaze aren't you dating Gambit?" Toad asked, trying to stay cool as the redhead approached him with her hips swaying. She circled behind him, drawing her hand gently along his upper arm, across his back and down the other arm, making Toad gulp.

"No," Blaze replied with a faux-wistful sigh. "I've been single since I got to Bayville, and its really starting to get to me, you know?" She met Toad's eyes again with a longing look. Finally the Brotherhood crony snapped, unable to take anymore.

"You X-Men are nuts, I'm outta here!" he yelped, taking a bounding leap and disappearing off in a waft of swamp-like stench. Blaze and Tabitha hooted with laughter, clutching one another's arms, almost in tears with the hilarity.

"Thank you," Wanda enthused, "I thought he'd never leave."

"No problem," Tabby grinned. "Hey Wanda, you wanna grab a soda or coffee or something?"

"Um, I guess," Wanda didn't sound enthusiastic.

"Cool, you're buying, and mine's a latte," chirruped Blaze, linking arms with the Brotherhood girl on one side as Tabby did the same on the other. Together they marched Wanda in the direction of the nearest coffee shop.

"Isn't this fraternising with the enemy, you two talking to me I mean?" Wanda asked, beset by confusion.

"Never stopped me before," replied Blaze. "What about you Tabs?"

"Nope," Tabby replied with a smile. "Not so far. Mine's a strawberry shake, oh and a double choc chip muffin, alright?"

"Sure," Wanda relented. "I guess after you got rid of Toad it's the least I can do."

"Don't say that," smiled Blaze. "I'll get ideas."