A/N- Wow, it's been over a month... I'm so, so sorry, I just needed to take a little break. But I'm back now! And you'll all (maybe) be happy to know that my police man husband came to the rescue with the mean ol' ebay seller. The jerk is still able to SELL on ebay, which is infuriating, but if he ever harasses me again, he will be charged. Because that's how I do.
Anyways, please leave a nice review to keep me in the writing mood! Thanks guys!
"September must be a slow wedding season." Pyro commented, kicking his feet up on the lavish cream coloured couch in the centre of the bridal salon, watching as Kitty restocked the selection of white satin shoes. She let out a short breath and cast him a glance from over her shoulder,
"Feet off the couch." She hissed, before turning back to her menial task.
"I mean, I always thought that the fall would be a great time for a wedding, y'know? All the leaves changing colours on the trees and what not. Seems like it'd make for some nice pictures." He continued, propping his hands behind his head as he leaned back into the plush upholstery, "But you haven't had a single customer in this place all flippin' day."
"They're probably avoiding you." Kitty muttered, "Get your feet off the couch."
"I guess I just wonder why they needed a new sales lady, when they ain't even makin' any sales."
"Brides don't normally shop for their dresses a month before the wedding. September is slow thanks to school." A tall woman came to a stop in the large archway separating the showroom from the front foyer, her raven hair was swept in a sleek pony tail at the base of her head, and her brown eyes settled on Kitty irritably, "If you insist on bringing your boyfriend to work with you, tell him to keep his feet off the furniture."
Kitty's eyes darted up to the woman in the archway and she forced a smile, "Oh, he's not my boyfriend."
Pyro sat upright, dropping his feet off the couch quickly and gave her a winning smile, "That's right, I'm as single as they come, Sheila."
The woman crossed her arms and frowned, "My name is Melody."
"Ooo, I like that. It rolls off the tongue... Melody." He purred her name with a wink, which caused her to turn back to Kitty expectantly.
"I'm really sorry about him... I'm working on getting my license, I swear." She insisted, watching as her new coworker cast one final glance at Pyro before turning around and disappearing into the stock room. "I swear to God Pyro, if you get me fired from this job after one week."
"Are you kiddin' me? She won't fire you because of me, she loves havin' me around." Pyro scoffed, settling back into the couch.
"You're completely delusional." Kitty rolled her eyes.
"Didn't you see the way she was eyein' up the merch?" He asked, gesturing to his body with a grin, "She's warm for my form. She wants to-"
The front door jingled announcing the arrival of a customer, bringing the raven haired Melody back from the stockroom with a much friendlier countenance. "Hi there!" She greeted the customer with a bubbly grin, "Dress shopping today?"
"Oh! Me? No. Haha... no. Lord no." The familiar voice nabbed Kitty's attention, and she looked up at Rogue from the stacked shoe boxes, "I'm looking for Kitty."
"Hey!" Kitty interrupted, jumping to her feet and brushing her knees off swiftly, "This is my customer. She's my customer." She lied quickly, "She's shopping for veils..."
"Yes." Rogue nodded, going along with Kitty's lie, "Veils."
"Oh! Okay well..." Melody shot Kitty an uneasy look, her smile wavering ever so slightly, "Let me know if you need my assistance."
"Right this way Miss... Raven...claw..." Kitty trailed off, leading Rogue back into the showroom.
"It's Darkholm. Genius." Rogue rolled her eyes, looking around the showroom and stopping on Pyro, "What the hell is he doing here?"
"This one here is a cathedral length veil Miss. Dinklage!" Kitty said loudly as she pulled a veil off the rack to present to Rogue, before lowering her voice a notch, "He thinks he can pick up desperate bridesmaids."
"The only problem is that it's like a ghost town in this place." Pyro snorted.
"Which is the only reason why you've been allowed to hang around all week." Kitty retorted, slipping the veil into Rogue's hair and ignoring her uncomfortable grimace. "It really depends on your style of gown Miss Dinglehopper!"
"Right, well... I haven't seen you much this past week." Rogue started, adjusting the veil in her hair idly as she spoke, "I wanted to invite you guys to dinner."
Kitty paused for a moment before pulling the veil off and giving her head a shake, "I don't think that's a good idea, Rogue."
"Everyone really wants to officially meet Remy. You know... as my... boyfriend," She rolled her eyes and watched as Kitty returned the veil to the rack, "He's being a real good sport about it, but I know that you guys being there would help take off some of the strain."
Kitty pulled a tiara out of the display case and came back to a stop in front of Rogue, "I don't think I'm ready-"
"Of course you are!" Rogue said enthusiastically, "You can show 'em all how great you're doing! That'd really stick it to them, you know? You've got this great job now, and..."
Kitty raised an eyebrow expectantly, waiting for Rogue to try and continue.
"I've already invited Piotr and he's agreed to come."
Kitty let out a long suffering sigh and stuffed the tiara onto Rogue's head with more force than necessary, "Wow Miss. Banana Hammock, you look great in that tiara!"
Rogue's mouth pulled into a frown and she let out a breath, "Banana Hammock? Really?"
"Well, I'm in." Pyro announced suddenly from the couch, "I've always wanted to know what the inside of that mansion looks like."
"It's not like the Playboy Mansion, Pyro." Kitty said irritably, "Everyone is fully clothed."
Pyro pouted, quietly muttering, "I knew that..."
"Alright listen, I'll go on one condition." Kitty held up her index finger and narrowed her eyes, "You buy that tiara."
Rogue let out a laugh and shook her head, "You're kidding me right? What the hell am I gunna do with a tiara?"
"I don't care, do tiara Tuesdays or something. What I do care about is the fact that I'm still on probation here, I haven't had a real customer in three days, and if I don't sell something fast, I'm probably gunna get fired. Again."
Rogue scanned the showroom quickly with a frown, "Alright fine."
"And if you want me to come, you'll clean my room." Pyro crossed his arms and stuck his nose up in the air.
"No I won't." Rogue said from over her shoulder as she followed Kitty to the cash register. She pulled her wallet out of her slate grey purse and waited as Kitty rang the tiara into the cash register and when the final price popped up on the display, Rogue nearly choked, "$200?!" She grabbed the headpiece out of Kitty's hands and checked the price tag for herself, "Are you sure there's not an extra zero on there by mistake?!"
"Well what did you expect?!" Kitty asked with her hands on her hips.
"Are these at least real diamonds?!" Rogue's wide eyes looked back up at Kitty and Pyro chuckled lightly from behind her on the couch.
"Real diamonds?" Pyro scoffed from the couch, "Oh Rogue, you're so cute."
"$200 for that many diamonds?" Kitty and Pyro chuckled together, "I'd buy myself the whole display!"
Rogue rolled her eyes irritably and ripped her credit card out of her wallet, "You had so better not try to back out of this dinner."
"Relax, I'll be there." Kitty reassured Rogue as she boxed the crystal tiara up carefully, "Maybe you could wear this, hmm?"
Rogue narrowed her eyes and snatched the box out of Kitty's hands, "Seven o'clock, Sunday. Don't be late. And bring dessert."
"Bring dessert?!" Kitty called out after her as she headed for the exit, "That wasn't part of the deal!" She cleared her throat when Melody returned from the back room and offered Rogue an exaggerated wave, "Have a wonderful day Mrs... Doubtfire!"
The door jingled as it swung open and Rogue turned to give her a tight smile, before letting the door shut behind her. Melody turned to Kitty with a wide grin, "You made a sale?"
"She bought a tiara." Kitty said smugly.
"Wow! That's pretty impressive! I gotta tell you, when I saw that girl come in with her combat boots... I really didn't picture her as the tiara type, but you managed to talk her into it? Way to go!"
"I helped." Pyro said, suddenly appearing at the front counter with the two women, a seductive grin playing across his lips.
Melody cleared her throat and turned back to Kitty, "Why don't you take off early? You've been doing really well, you deserve a little..." She glanced at Pyro quickly before giving Kitty a tight smile, "Break."
Kitty nodded, rounding the counter and grabbing Pyro's arm as she walked by, "That sounds great, Melody. I'll see you tomorrow!"
She swiftly dropped Pyro's wrist the second they were out on the sidewalk and he struggled to keep up with her brisk pace, "Crap, do you think she still thinks we're dating? I thought I made myself pretty clear-"
"She doesn't think we're dating, Pyro, she just wanted to be rid of you." Kitty rolled her eyes, "You've got to stop hanging around every single day."
Pyro sighed and dropped an arm over Kitty's shoulders, "Yeah... you're right. Maybe I'll come back in a month or so. You think October will be busier?"
"...Sure." Kitty muttered.
"Come on, why are you actin' so grumpy about it all of a sudden? You told me you liked me hangin' out."
"No I didn't."
"You told me with your eyes." Pyro explained, giving Kitty's shoulder a little squeeze, "Is this because of the dinner? Are you gunna start over reacting?"
"No." Kitty snapped irritably, "And it's not over reacting. This dinner is going to be terrible, Pyro. I don't understand why you were so willing to just go along, no questions asked."
"You kiddin' me? Free food."
"Everyone's going to be there, silently judging and pitying me-"
"Why because you live with us?"
"Yes." Kitty shoved Pyro's arm off of her shoulders and nodded, "Exactly."
They walked in silence for a few moments before Pyro frowned, "That was kinda mean."
Kitty let out a long breath and stopped to turn to Pyro, "Not just because I live with you guys. Because of everything. Look at my job, Pyro."
He let out a dry laugh, "Look at my job."
"I don't know what your job is." She rubbed her forehead with her fingertips.
"Let's just say, Johnny Thunder's got more reason to be ashamed than you." He slipped his arm around her shoulders again, pulling her back into a relaxed stroll, "You got nothin' to worry about. If anything, this little get together will show everyone just how great your doin'. You're like... Mary Tyler Moore."
Kitty knit her brow and slid her gaze back to Pyro, "What?"
"You're like Erin Brockovich." He continued thoughtfully, "You're like Oprah!"
"Alright now, let's not get carried away." She rolled her eyes, "I can't hold a job longer than 3 months, I live with three guys, I can't drive-"
"You just gotta learn to put a positive spin on it. New job? Expanding your horizon! Can't drive? Concerned about your carbon footprint or whatever. Live with three guys?" He grinned, "Well I think you can figure out where I'm going with that one."
"I just don't think I can handle them looking at me with that... look." She shook her head, "That, You lost your parents and you're spiraling out of control and I feel so sorry for you, look."
"Yeah, I hate that look." Pyro agreed.
"I left because of that look." Kitty continued, "I left because what they think is spiraling out of control, is really just me trying to... cope."
"It's not like you went Lindsay Lohan or anything."
"Everyone will be too distracted by Rogue and Gambit dating to care about me, right?" She looked at Pyro hopefully, and he gave her a firm nod,
"Are you kidding me?! They probably won't even notice the rest of us as there." He rolled his eyes, "And I doubt they're gunna have a problem with you living with us when Rogue's dating Remy. She kinda takes it up to the next level, ya know?"
Kitty nodded silently as they continued to walk down the sidewalk towards their apartment.
"And I mean, if you're worried about goin' home without a boyfriend... I'm willing to put on a nice show for them." He gave her a wink. "You know, if that'll help."
"It will not."
"I'm just sayin' you know, I'm a step up from Avalanche."
Kitty pressed her lips in a thin line and shot out a breath.
"Alright, I'm a step perpendicular, maybe."
"I think you mean parallel." Kitty said with a small smile, "Which still technically makes no sense."
Pyro scoffed, "Yeah well, what the hell do you know, you work in a bridal salon."
Kitty elbowed him squarely in the ribs causing him to yelp out in pain.
"So this Johnny Thunder..." She asked with a grin dancing across her lips, "Is he a DJ of some sort? A radio host? That would be pretty embarrassing."
He snorted pulling his arm off of her shoulders to poke the spot on his side she'd jabbed with her elbow. "You ain't gettin' anything else outta me."
"Heavy Metal with Johnny Thundah in the mornin' mates!" She said, using her best Australian accent.
"Oh Sheila, that was a horrible accent." Pyro shook his head firmly, "That's what you should be ashamed of, right there."