29. Show up
Sitting on the bank of the river behind the mansion, Miguel looked out over the water as Piotr hoisted Noi on his shoulders and flipped her into the air. The young girl let out a loud, laughing scream as she crashed into the water with her knees tucked against her chest, causing a large splash to cover those nearby. Once she came up for air and wiped her face clear or water, she gave a large smile and waived at Miguel.
"Miggle, don't you want to come in?" Noi asked as she bobbed in the water.
"No, Ah'm fine," he replied with a quick wave.
"He doesn't like the water too much, Noi," Kitty told the girl. "We learned that the hard way."
"Really? He didn't have any problem from what I saw," Justine said as she sunbathed on the shore next to Megan and Amara.
"What does she mean by that?" Kurt asked as he came out of the water, hand in hand with Amanda.
Miguel just sat there, not answering Kurt's inquiry, which Justine chose to answer for him. "We would meditate in the water for hours a day as Noi and her master taught us how to control our powers better. We would be up to our necks in the river and at times a good ten feet, at least, under the surface. Turns out, it was a great way to control fear."
"But he was, like, afraid of the water," Kitty pointed out. "He freaked out when Kurt dropped him in the pool last year."
"Afraid of the water?" Eric asked. "That's a child's fear."
Miguel snarled as he turned his head so the others wouldn't see his reaction. "It's not the water Ah was afraid of. It's not being able to breathe."
"Was? As in not anymore?"
"That's one way of putting it."
"Then how about a friendly race?" Standing from the water, Eric came back on shore and stood a few feet from Miguel. "I'll tell you what, since we got off on the wrong foot, how about we have this take place of that unfortunate incident in the Danger Room? You and I can swim out to; let's see, ah, that rock on the other side of the shore. We swim over there, get out, tag it, then swim back. First one to do so wins."
Miguel shook his head. "Ah don't have trunks."
"I'll get you some." Before Miguel could say anything, Kurt teleported out of there. A few seconds later, he popped back where he once was with a pair of red and black trunks. "Here you go."
"Come on," Eric said. "All of us guys can participate in our little contest."
"Count me out," Remy said. "Ah'd rather see this." He took a spot beside Marie and reached for a drink from a nearby cooler. "This should be interesting," he whispered to his Goth girlfriend.
"Tell me about it," Marie said. "Those two nearly killed each other and now Eric's acting like everything's Kosher 'tween them."
Letting Miguel change, although he didn't really want to go in the water or do anything involving the Italian mutant, the remaining guys assembled on the shore. As he came back out from the bush he changed behind, Eric, Piotr, and Kurt began to line up in their starting positions. Seeing him without a short on since coming back to the Mansion, Megan had to hide a blush when she saw his more defined muscles from his country hopping adventure. Preferring to stay away from Megan's boyfriend, Miguel stood next to the fuzzy blue mutant and let out a huff.
"Okay, first one to tag the rock and gets back, without using their powers, wins," Kitty told them as she stood in the water. "Um, wait, what's the prize?"
"Bragging rights!" Remy shouted.
"That works," Amanda stated as she tied her dark hair back.
"Okay, so, like," Kitty checked the four to make sure none tried to take an advantage, "ready, set, go!"
Taking off at the same time, the four men dove into the water and made their way to the other side as the girls and Remy, who was trying to take bets, cheered them on. Eric took off with a strong lead with Piotr close behind. Kurt tailed the two by less than a foot but Miguel was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't until they were less than a quarter of the distance away from the shore when his head popped above water to draw breath.
"Like, how did he do that?" Kitty asked a moment after Miguel's head became visible.
"He's a strong swimmer," Justine said as Noi cheered beside her.
Megan couldn't help but grin as she saw Eric and Miguel swim side by side. Eric was very athletic, evident in his Danger Room sessions, but Miguel was putting that to shame as he slowly gained the lead. Instead of cheering for one of the two, she kept names out of it and watched as the race continued.
It didn't take long for Eric to realize he was slowly losing his lead as he caught glimpses of someone coming up beside him. He didn't have time to see who it was as he was coming up on the shore and needed to quickly get to where the rock on the bank was. The moment he got out of the water, Miguel shot past him and ran at a full sprint to the target. Piotr was third followed by Kurt.
Watching the Mexican tag the rock by landing on it with his foot and using it to jump off, Eric picked up speed and grazed it with his fingertips just as Kurt, who had moved past the large Russian got there. With all four tagging the rock, they leapt back in the water with Miguel taking a strong lead. It was the same as when he took off with the mutant not coming up for a breath until he was a quarter of the way back. By this time, Kurt and Piotr were neck and neck with Eric a body length in front of them but was still a good distance from being near the lead.
Picking up speed, Eric tried to catch up by using what energy he had left when they reached the midway point. The four swimmers could hear the cheers from the shore somewhat clearly, making them all increase their efforts. It was all for naught as the moment Eric got to shallow enough water to get to his feet; Miguel was already standing on the shore with Noi running up to him. Kurt and Piotr came out of the water at the same time with Kitty and Amanda running over to give them their congratulations.
"I knew you'd win," Noi said as she hugged Miguel.
"You swam nearly as fast as when those crocodiles were after you," Justine said as she made her way over to him.
"Crocodiles?" Marie asked.
"Ah was washing in the river in China before we met Noi, I was still bleeding from slicing mah hand on a sharp rock, crocs smelt the blood, came up from behind meh, and Ah high tailed it out of there," Miguel told her. "You never know how fast you can swim until something's trying to eat your ass."
As Marie and the others let out a laugh, Eric came up behind Miguel and cleared his throat. "Miguel," he said as he held out his hand. "You bested me and I admit defeat. You are a worthy opponent. I offer you my congratulations and maybe one day we could have another skirmish but on different terms than before."
Looking at Eric's outstretched hand, Miguel eyed him wearily and relented to shaking it. "Yeah, maybe one day. Good Race."
Standing behind the two, Megan could only smile and feel relieved the two seemed to be on somewhat friendly terms. She also felt glad Miguel had been more civil to Eric this time around. Noi sensed Megan's feelings as she stood nearby when she developed a quizzical look on her face as Eric drew near. Her expression didn't change until he moved away and didn't notice she was keeping a curious eye on him.
Later that evening, most of the mutants had caught a late training session with Logan, against their will, and had headed to the mountain range north of Bayville. Apparently they had to learn the hard way of what happens when they shake his beers right before he opens one. The rest were relaxing and trying to find ways to pass the time.
Sitting across from each other in the den, Miguel and Noi bounced a rubber ball back and forth. The red toy traveled from the chair the child sat in cross legged to the love seat Miguel lay on with his feet propped up on the arm rest. Justine occupied the couch and flipped through channels as she texted her girlfriend back in Bolivia.
"Why did you go into the water so easily?" Noi asked as she caught the ball and bounced it back.
"Nothing better to do," he answered as he returned the toy.
"Liar," Justine muttered, attracting a glare from Miguel. "He wanted to show Eric up."
"I wanted him to admit it," Noi told her. "I read everyone there and they wanted Miggle to win too."
"Everyone except Megan probably. I swear, that pompous idiot she's with needed to be taken down a peg. Can't stand perfect manners. Guy needs a flaw or two."
Miguel smirked at her words. It was good to know he wasn't the only one who didn't like the Italian.
"No, she wanted him to win too," Noi told her. "I could feel her wanting you to win the moment Eric challenged you."
With a questioning look, Miguel asked, "Are you sure?"
"Nearly everyone did, except him and the others until you got ahead of him. It was easy to read all of them, except for Eric."
"What made him different," Justine asked. "I thought you could read anyone you were close to."
"I don't know. It was like looking at a foggy glass window when I tried to read him. I don't like it."
"It may be his powers causing it," Miguel told her. "If he can create illusions of himself, it might affect you being able to read him."
At that moment, both Eric and Megan raced past the den to the living room, laughing and holding each other close as Miguel turned his head and sunk lower in his seat until they were gone. He let out a low growl as he bounced the ball back to Noi.
"Why don't you just tell her?" Noi asked. "I can always read it on you."
"I told you, it's not mah place," he answered. "Not anymore."
"But if you still lo-"
Having enough of the conversation, Miguel got up and left the den.
"Noi," Justine said. "It's a little more complicated than how you see it."
"But he should just tell her. It's easy."
"Noi, let me try to explain something to you. When there's someone you like, you want them to be happy. Miguel sees Megan happy with Eric and doesn't want to change that, so he keeps it to himself. Now if she were not happy with him, then he could tell her how he still feels about her."
"But I read her too. She still likes Miggle."
"There's a difference between like and love, Noi. That's something you'll find out about when you're older."
Out in the foyer, Miguel stomped towards the stairs when he heard Megan giggling. At first, her sounds made him smile, calm, and feel as if everything was going to be okay. Now, every one felt like another knife to the chest. As he ascended the stairs, he could see the winged girl and her boyfriend sitting side by side in front of the fireplace as they leaned against each other. He desperately wished he was where Eric sat right now.