M o t i v a t i o n
Chapter 5
Pietro was bored. Kitty had fixed the cable when she was here but they only had basic cable and there was nothing good on at night. He was the only one awake right now and even though he made a living out of fucking around his roommates, Wanda came home all types of pissed and if she woke up to her brother again, Pietro was pretty sure Wanda would kill him.
So Pietro decided to take a walk.
He really didn't expect to run into Laura. But there she was, sitting at the park on the same bench that the pair had sat on that very day, staring blankly at the pond. He debated over whether to go to her or not. She seemed to be deep in thought. He was about to turn away when her voice called out to him.
"It would be a bit pointless to walk all the way here just so you can walk back."
Pietro turned then started walking towards her.
"It's only pointless if you return empty handed," he replied. He sat down next to her and smiled at the sight of her slight smile.
"You make a good argument."
They both sat out there in silence, letting the wind blow around them. Pietro was out here because he was restless, but he could tell that there was something on her mind. Her body was too tense.
"So," Pietro asked, "what brings you to these parts?"
"I couldn't sleep," Laura said. She looked like she was about to say something else but then kept quiet. Pietro's curiosity turned to concern.
"Why can't you sleep?"
She looked over at Pietro and there was a familiar haunted look on her face. It was a look that Pietro saw on his sister's face at times.
"Nightmares?"
Her eyebrows widened in surprise, before she looked away. Pietro decided to put his arm around her shoulder; she leaned into him like he expected. When his sister had nightmares, the only thing she really wanted was to have contact and to have him quiet. As he watched Laura close her eyes with a sigh, he was glad to know that this girl was just the same. Pietro lightly sat his chin on top of her head and waited for her to calm down.
OoOoO
Pietro and Laura greeted his sister with coffee and breakfast. Wanda wasn't awake enough to care about the addition to comment on it. Laura hadn't spoke once since they came home and Pietro wasn't the type to push in these types of situations.
Wanda sat across from Laura drinking coffee while Laura quietly watched. Pietro was sitting on one of the counters, watching both women.
Wanda was still wearing the clothes she wore from yesterday and her short air was flat on one side. But her eyes looked peaceful and her body was relaxed. If it weren't his sister, Pietro would have said that Wanda was radiating positive energy this morning. Laura was slumped over on the table, resting her head on her hands. She closed her eyes and her face had tranquil quality to it.
Pietro sat there just staring; the sun was starting to rise and little bits of light were reaching the kitchen and shining in through the window, creating a halo over both girl's bodies. Distantly, he was aware of the chirping birds and the thumping of the guys upstairs waking up. Pietro smiled. It was nice start to a hopefully good day.
More thumping was heard upstairs, leading towards the stairs and Pietro knew that it was Freddy coming down. He didn't get the chance to bug him or Toad about the two ladies from yesterday, but today was a new day.
Fred lumbered in, obviously not fully awake yet and nodded his head towards Pietro in greeting. Pietro smiled back and gestured to the pot of coffee and a biggest plate on the other counter. Fred smiled and went for his breakfast and coffee. He gave Laura a glance and raised his eyebrows at Pietro in question; Pietro mirrored the action in challenge. Fred shook his head then slipped out to watch TV and eat.
Next down was Lance, who had a pack of smokes in his hand.
"Hey," he grunted as he set them down on the counter and poured himself some coffee.
"Hey," Pietro greeted back.
Wanda let out a hum of acknowledgment while Laura opened her eyes to observe Lance. Lance took his cup and went out to the backyard. Pietro could see the top of Lance's head through the window. Wanda stood up and put her plate and cup into the sink and stalked out of the kitchen, muttering about how she needed a shower before Toad woke up. Laura looked over at Pietro and tilted her head. He hopped off of the counter and walked over to Laura.
"Do have anywhere to go today?"
Laura shook her head. Pietro frowned; still not talking.
"Well, you can chill in my room for now," he said, shrugging. He hoped she read between the lines on that one. He could go days without sleep, she couldn't.
"Yeah," she spoke for the first time, "if you don't mind."
Pietro smiled and held out his hand for her.
"Not at all."
OoOoO
He had went to take a shower when Laura laid back on the bed. He loved that bed; even when he couldn't sleep, he'd still rest on that bed, it was that soft. The covers seemed to eat Laura. When he came back, dressed and refreshed, Laura was on her side, still awake. The look in her eyes was a bit unfocused and her lips were drawn in a thin line.
"Hey," he said softly, hand brushing stray strands away from her face. He pretended not to notice her flinch.
Laura looked at Pietro; her blank mask was starting to break.
"It's okay," he whispered, reminded of the first nights when Wanda use to huddle herself into the corner. His sister couldn't tell the difference between her memories and what was happening right then. Pietro was sure that this was sort of what was happening to Laura.
He climbed onto the bed and set his back against the headboard and pulled her to him. It kind of bothered him to see how easily she let him manipulate her body like that. Wanda made sure that Pietro didn't move until she wanted him to.
"Do you want to talk about it," he inquired.
"No," she muttered, "and I don't want you to talk about this."
"I won't." Pietro nodded.
He rubbed soothing circles on her back until he heard her breathing even out. Laura was asleep now but Pietro still didn't leave. He wondered what exactly gave someone so tough like this nightmares like that.
A/N: Hi new readers and lurkers! Welcome to the party!
Do you see the luuuurrve starting to bloom? Yeah, neither do I. Whatever, they'll get there. (Though in my mind, they're already there and they have special little super powered babies that are annoying auntie Wanda right now.) I hope you guys don't mind the slower pace on this one. Things'll speed up next chapter.
And also, more advertisement for my other story "Strange Overtones". And also a big time advertisement to anon goddess's "Daughter of Destruction" (an epic story that needs more attention) and "Socially Awkward" (a really good one-shot that's based off of this story! Isn't that cool?).
