A/N: Okay, I’m sooooooo wired on caffeine now that I had to have something to do. So what did I do? I decided to be wonky (not that that word actually fits in the sentence... I just wanted to use it) and just post this without talking to my beta readers *g*. Why did I do this instead of something else? Uh... because it’s 2 in the morning and I feel like it, so :P! Yeah... and all that.... Um, anyway, this chapter took me a total of one day to write, so it’s overall quality may not be the best. Hell, this chapter pretty much serves no purpose anyway, it’s just to clear up some things in Chap2 and satisfy my insane muse...
If there was one thing Pietro had learned during his time with the Brotherhood, it was that grocery shopping with John was a lot easier than doing it with the others. With Freddy, it was particularly difficult because the guy wanted virtually everything in the place, excluding healthy “rabbit food”, of course. Lance went nuts for coffee-- all brands and flavors were fair game-- and chips, along with other junk. Todd was a little more responsible when it came to food than the others, but he was a sugar fiend, and Pietro wasn’t in the mood to buy all sorts of sweets that he wasn’t allowed to eat-- the temptation was too terrible for him. Besides, being in the same car as the guy made Pietro fear for his very life. Wanda had about the same taste in food as he did, but she was the polar opposite of Fred when it came to shopping; junk food was simply out of the question. Shopping with John was usually easiest for Pietro, since the guy was all for healthy stuff, but didn’t protest like Wanda did when Pietro loaded up the cart with chips, sodas, and other calorie loaded food for the rest of the Brotherhood.
Plus, John liked to speed while driving (and, unlike Todd’s driving, it didn’t result in Pietro nearly getting killed), so it made him all the more Pietro’s choice for shopping partner.
“Think we need this?”
“How many calories?”
“Uh...” Pietro checked the back of the box and searched the nutrition facts. “300 per serving.”
“Perfect. Freddy’ll love it,” he replied, snatching the box from Pietro and tossing it into the cart.
“Hey, you think we should do something special for Christmas?”
“Hm? Like what?”
“I don’t know. But, you know, you guys missed it last year, and Thanksgiving this year--”
“Thanksgiving? What a crock of a holiday.”
Pietro remembered who he was talking to and laughed. “Right. You don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Well, do you think we should do something special for Christmas dinner? I mean, I have some money saved up for extra food, since I know Mystique wouldn’t loan us any for something like that...”
“Yeah, I’m up for it. Christmas here blows, anyway, so it’ll be fun to do something different.”
“Blows? Why’re you saying that?”
“Snow. I hate snow, ‘specially around Christmas. Christmas isn’t supposed to be snowy, it’s supposed to be nice and warm and... and... not cold!” John explained fervently as he dropped some potato chips for Lance into the cart.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot you come from that whacko hemisphere,” Pietro joked.
“Whacko? I’ll take that as a compliment. Anyway, it’s not for another month, so why’re you askin’ now?”
“Just wanted to know ahead of time. Think you can help me cook? Wanda’s already volunteered,” Pietro hinted, knowing full-well that the blonde would agree to it if Wanda was doing it.
“Sure, why not.”
“Excellent. Should we get a Christmas tree this year? Well, one of the not-crap variety, anyway.”
“I’m not payin’ for one.”
“Hmph,” Pietro pouted as they made their way down the aisle. “You’re the only one of us with actual money, though!”
“Yeah, right! My parents stopped sending me cash when I turned nineteen.”
“But you get money for your book,” Pietro pointed out.
“Huh. Well, yeah, but not a lot. It’s not exactly a best-seller, you know. Why’re you making such a big deal about Christmas this year, anyway?”
“Because, it’ll be our first time to spend it together, like a family. Last year it was just me, sis, and Todd. This year it’ll be all of us. The original Brotherhood, anyway, not those other losers you guys picked up.”
“Hey, some of them aren’t total losers. Phantazia, for one-- she’s a real sweet girl, and... uh... okay, most of them are losers,” John admitted with a shrug. “But, hey, at least they aren’t X-Men.”
“I guess,” Pietro acknowledged, reluctant to agree to the fact that the rest of the Brotherhood outside of Bayville weren’t complete losers. “Oh, speaking of which, they got another new recruit.”
“Really?” John asked flatly.
“Yeah. You’ll love him,” Pietro returned with a grin, then smacked himself on the forehead. “Ah, I almost forgot some stuff! You go to the cereal aisle, I’ll meet up with you there, okay?”
“Um... sure, okay.” As Pietro ran off (slowly, so as to not draw a lot of attention), John strolled along the rows of food and found his way to the cereal aisle. “Okay, what do we need? Todd likes Lucky Charms, so...” He snatched a box of the marshmallow-endowed cereal and dropped it into the cart. “Fred likes... anything.” He then grabbed five boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, hoping it was enough cereal to last them at least a week, then decided that it wasn’t and threw in four more. “And-- hey, Trix!”
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the aisle, a teenage guy with a mop of light brown hair pushed his own cart towards the fruity cereal exclaiming, “Hey, Trix!”
Shopping carts collided as the two reached for the same box featuring the same smiling cartoon rabbit.
“Ah-- um, sorry,” they both apologized in unison.
John backed off a bit and allowed the kid to grab his cereal. “Um, sorry ‘bout that.”
“Hey, no problem,” the guy returned, tossing a box of Trix at John. “Cool accent. Where in Australia are you from?”
“Sydney,” St. John answered with a half-smile. He offered his hand and the two shook in greeting. “My name’s John-- well, St. John, but nobody really calls me that, anyway.”
“I’m Bobby and everybody calls me that,” the boy replied with a grin. “I’m kind of new to Bayville-- never seen you around before.”
“Oh, well I’ve been in and out of town for a while now.” Committing crimes, fighting the X-Men... you know, doin’ guy stuff, he thought dryly.
“And I see that you really like Cinnamon Toast Crunch,” Bobby noted with amusement.
John looked down at the somewhat liberal quantity of cereal and said, with a hint of embarrassment, “Those aren’t for me. Um, I’m shopping for my ‘family’, and my... uh... ‘brother’ likes to eat a lot, so I thought I’d just stock up on food and--”
“No need to explain, man,” Bobby cut in with a chuckle. “Hey, this may sound kind of weird, but... well, I don’t really have many friends outside of the people I live with, so I was wondering if-- maybe-- you wanted to go out for coffee-- or something-- sometime.”
“Sure! That sounds like--”
“What the hell?!”
“When did he get back?!”
“Oh no, that means, like, Lance and the Blob are back, too!”
“--fun,” John finished with an annoyed sigh. He glanced at the X-Men (well, Evan, Kitty, and Scott, anyway) in irritation as they paraded into the aisle, returning his irked look with glares of their own. “What the hell do you want?”
“Bobby, what are you doing talking to this guy?” Summers hissed in an a lowered voice as he pulled the younger teen away from Allerdyce’s general range with the assumption that the pyrokinetic had some dastardly plan up his sleeve. “He’s part of the Brotherhood.”
“Huh?! No way...”
“Like, he’s Lance Alvers’ best buddy, or something! I thought we warned you about him!”
“Yeah,” Evan supplied as Bobby still maintained a rather blank look on his face. “Remember? Pyro?”
“Oh, him! Really? John seems like such a nice guy--”
“I am a nice guy,” John said, flashing a perky grin that made Scott want to punch him. So much for making a new friend.
“Just get out of here before I spike you, man,” Evan threatened in a low growl. Despite the fact that the little dork had grown into a rather tall, somewhat muscular guy thanks to athletics (Talk about a growth spurt. Oh well, he’s still the same old loser.), John just gave him a funny look and laughed off the threat.
“Hey, it’s a free country and I can be anywhere I bloody well want to be, Spikey. Besides, see the shopping cart? Food keeps us from starvin’ to death. You wouldn’t want your dear enemies dyin’ on ya.”
At that moment, before more bickering could take place, Pietro arrived, arms loaded down with ice cream and ice cream accessories. “Hey, John, what’s--”
“Dear God, how many flavors did you get?!” John exclaimed with widened eyes.
“I don’t know, actually. They’re for Lance and me, though, so nobody else gets any ‘till we’re done,” Pietro explained as he set the large load into the shopping cart. He then looked up at the X-Men and said smoothly, “Oh, the X-Geeks are here. Don’t you usually have somebody else do the shopping for you?”
“Well, we told Professor X that we’d do this month’s grocer--” Bobby started, but was hushed as a rather peeved Evan elbowed him in the side.
“Hm. Hey, John, this is that new guy I was telling you about.”
“I know,” John answered, smiling at Bobby and earning a confused look from the rest.
“That’s a freaky looking smile... You don’t have the hots for him, do you?” Pietro asked quite loudly.
“What?!” Flushed and flustered, John shook his head rapidly. “Come on, let’s go get fruits and vegetables and all that other healthy stuff and-- yeah-- bye!” he said and quickly bolted from the scene.
“Hey, wait up!” Pietro called, catching up to him easily. He observed the older boy for a moment, noting the agitated expression on his face, the way his knuckles turned white from clenching the handle of the cart a little too hard, then said in a taunting voice, “You liiiike him, don’t you?”
“Of course not! I’m straight; you know that, Wanda knows that, Lance knows that-- everybody knows that I’m straight!”
“You liiiike him.”
“I ‘liiiike’ your sister, jackass,” John muttered as he pushed Pietro somewhat playfully.
“Then why’d you run away when I asked if you had the hots for that loser Bobby?” Pietro challenged with a smirk.
“Because being around those soddin’ X-Freaks for too long makes me feel ill. End of discussion.”
“I didn’t know you swung that way.”
“I don’t! End. Of. Discussion.”
Pietro tried to stifle a laugh as they continued shopping, earning an angry look from his companion. He forced the giggles away and decided that it was best for his safety if he didn’t look at John for the rest of their little shopping trip. It’d probably tempt him to say things that were liable to get him injured (assuming, of course, that John could catch him).
And with that, the remainder of their time in the grocery store was relatively peaceful. What concerned Pietro now was the possibility of awkwardness and other bad feelings when it came time to pick Wanda up from school. [A/N: Okay, I hate throwing notes in the middle of my stories, but I just gotta say this: I just want this scene to end right now but I don’t know how to do it, damn it! So deal with this crappy scene... uh... ending!! Uh... read on.]
Still, as uncomfortable as he felt, he sat on the bleachers and watched his sister and her new friends fling their pompoms around and spout out cheers. Having convinced John to wait in the jeep with the food, he found himself very quickly growing bored. Of course, he knew he couldn’t keep poking fun at the guy for acting so neurotic about the Bobby situation. After all, he had no idea if John had a lighter on him or not, and he certainly didn’t want to get scorched by an angry pyromaniac.
“Pietro!” Wanda exclaimed, tossing her pompoms at her brother to get his attention.
“Huh?”
“Practice just ended, and you were just kind of sitting there with a blank look on your face instead of jumping up and running for the exit as you usually do.”
“Ohh, sorry,” he apologized with a small laugh.
“Hey, Pietro! Cindy and I were wondering if you wanted to go--” one of the cheerleaders-- Kristy, was it?-- started, but he interrupted with: “No, sorry. I, uh, have to talk to my sister alone, if that’s all right with you.”
“Sure!” she giggled, and she and her friends scampered away obediently.
“What do you want to talk about, Pietro?”
“Well, I don’t have a lot of time, ‘cause John’s waiting in the Wrangler--”
“Oh, he’s here?! Why’s he waiting outside, then?”
“Because I told him to. Listen, Wanda, you have to tell him about--”
“No,” she answered flatly.
“No?! How the hell can you not tell him?!”
“It’s very easy, brother. I don’t utter one word about the situation and we all live happily ever after. Nobody’s telling him anything.”
“Somebody has to. You can’t just carry on an affair with Daniels and not tell John anything about it!”
“Why not?” she challenged, growing a little upset. “Who knows how many girls he slept with while away. Besides, what was I supposed to do while he was gone? Wait around like a lovesick puppy like you did for Lance? I have to go out and do things, you know!”
“And now he’s back, so you either break it off with him, or break it off with Daniels, but don’t play around with both of them. It’s not fair to either of them-- not that I care what’s fair for Daniels...”
“Well, Evan doesn’t seem to mind that I’m going out with Johnny while screwing him.”
“Well, I do. And so does Todd. You’re just lucky it hasn’t spread past us yet. I don’t know how long I can keep it a secret from Lance, though, and you know Lance will tell him.”
Wanda crossed her arms over her chest and huffed softly. “I know,” she confirmed with some disappointment and irritation. “Just give me some more time to decide who I want to be with, okay?”
“Fine. Hey, Wanda, can I ask you something?”
She nodded as she picked up her pompoms and backpack, then turned to him. “What do you want to know?”
“Why Evan, of all people? Why couldn’t you have picked, oh, I don’t know, that Cajun or something. He’s cute. Why’d you pick Evan Daniels to cheat on your boyfriend with? I would think of that as a step down, not an improvement.”
“Johnny’s too-- too passionate! Sometimes, romance and passion gets old and I want a plain, normal-- well, as close to normal as I can get-- boyfriend,” Wanda explained, feeling slightly embarrassed.
“So... you’re cheating on your passionate, romantic boyfriend because you want a boring, bad in bed guy?”
“I didn’t say Evan was bad in bed,” Wanda countered as she put on her coat.
“I know. I’m just assuming he is. Let me at least pretend that he is, Wanda, I don’t want to hear about how his performance in bed really is. Anyway, I think you need to get your head checked, sis. You want boredom?!”
“I want something different and new; Evan happens to be that. Even if different and new also means dull and kind of stupid... He has a good body, at least!”
“So you don’t really like Evan? Please tell me you don’t really like Evan.”
“Well--”
“Nevermind. That ‘well’ was enough for me. I don’t want to hear any more.”
“Come on, Pietro, let’s just drop this. You’ve been nagging me for two weeks now about the situation.”
“Well, somebody has to,” Pietro mumbled as they headed out the gym. “I really wouldn’t feel bad now if John and Iceboy started some little fling,” he added under his breath so she couldn’t hear him. He then giggled to himself, picturing how amusing it would be to see St. John “I’m not gay, I’m not gay!” Allerdyce with Bobby “Well, I can’t think of a nickname to go here” Drake. Kissing, taking a stroll through the park hand-in-hand, setting the X-Mansion on fire... Okay, Bobby probably wouldn’t approve of John doing that last part, but hey, this was Pietro’s fantasy, so he could think of anything he damn well wanted to!
“Pietro? What’s so funny?” Wanda questioned as they walked to the Wrangler and the very bored John.
“Nothing. Funny mental image,” Pietro replied, then looked at John and laughed even more.
“What is it this time?! This better not be about that X-Man!” John snapped, then looked at Wanda and hopped out of the jeep to greet her. “Hey, luv,” he smiled, pulling Wanda into a hug that was quickly followed up with a long kiss that left Pietro impatiently tapping his feet.
“Come on, people, the ice cream’s gonna melt before we get home!” Pietro complained loudly, trying to get their attention.
“In this sub-zero temperature? Yeah, right,” Wanda scoffed, but complied to Pietro’s whining by getting into the vehicle.
Pietro sighed and got into the back seat, next to the groceries. The two in front spent the car ride home cooing syrupy sweet “couply” phrases to each other. Sometimes-- well, not sometimes; it was more than sometimes-- Pietro found himself very thankful that he and Lance didn’t speak such sickeningly saccharine words to each other. Oh well, he could tolerate their happiness without throwing up as long as neither one of them used the word “pooky”.
Actually, he found himself a little disappointed with Wanda from listening to their displays of affection. It really was kind of stupid, the entire situation. How could she so effortlessly go from uttering the same loving words to Evan one minute, and then to John in the next? He knew that Wanda felt guilty about the situation with Daniels and Allerdyce, but the act she put on while around the others made him wonder things he knew he shouldn’t be thinking.
What if Lance has been cheating on me and I have no idea? Maybe I should ask John-- but, then, he might not say anything. Hell, Lance could be cheating on me with John for all I know! Maybe I could slip the question to Freddy ever so casually over food some time... He’d probably accidentally let me in on some info about Lance’s hopefully stagnant love-life over the past months.
I hope Lance doesn’t think I’m getting “old”... Maybe I should try something different and exciting today. Hm, I still have that stuff from when Todd teased me into going into that store... Yeah. With that and an ultra-seductive attitude, Lance’ll definitely be getting something new and exciting!
Stupid Lance. How dare he possibly cheat on me! Of all the nerve-- wait a minute... This is only hypothetical cheating, so why am I getting so worked up?! I want some ice cream. Hm. How many flavors did I get? I wonder if I could set John up with Bobby without having Wanda or the X-Geeks kill me... Of course, Lance might kill me if I try, and if he doesn’t, John might.
But it’d be so cute! he squealed mentally, then stopped himself. Pietro Maximoff did not think of things other than Lance (Especially when he has that little confused look on his face. Ah, Lance...) as “cute”, and Pietro Maximoff certainly did not “squeal”-- whether mentally or vocally! Squeak, possibly, but never squeal.
The car came to a stop in the driveway, and John got out to grab some bags, pausing as he noticed the odd, somewhat evil grin on Pietro’s face.
“What are you grinnin’ about now?” he asked in a slightly wary voice.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” Pietro answered slyly. He then looked at his watch and said, “You think Lance’ll be up yet?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Why?”
“I have some big plans for him.”
A/N: Pointlessness!! Woohoo!! Well, like I said, my insane muse was demanding some... stuff... so, the result was the grocery store scene. Hell, I never paid too much attention to Iceman before, so I have NO IDEA if I got his character down correctly (like I said in Chapter 2, I think, he wasn’t supposed to have a big role at all, but now he does because of my dumbass muse). *shrug* Of course, then again, Pyro’s my favorite character and even he’s not really in character in this story (or is he? I don’t have any pre-Legacy issues of him [but I will find some and no one can stop me!!!], and I know the virus affected his personality and made him go a little coo-coo at times >.<), soooo, blah! :D Hm, I’m still not sure where I’m going to take the Johnny/Bobby/Wanda/Evan subplot... oh well! It shouldn’t have any effect on the main events of the story!
Anyway, I apologize for the lack of Lance and the rest of the BH and the excessive Pyro in this chapter... I’m still feeling a little miffed and vindictive about a certain issue of “Cable” (yeah, yeah, kinda dumb of me since that certain evil issue came out some months ago... DAMN AVALANCHE!! He was being so freaking stupid and didn’t even react at all to-- uh... anyway!) and so I... uh... get my revenge by putting St. John in as many scenes as possible? O.o;; Erm, the next chapter’s going to be chock-full of Lance/Pietro fluff, and I think Todd’s going to get more scenes in some future chapter (if not Chap 4, then 5), so... yeah. Chapter 4’s almost done, and it’s rather... disturbing :D I think. Maybe. Okay, it doesn’t disturb me, but... ah heck, I’ll shut up now!