"Put the tape in! Put the tape in!" Meggan expressed.
"Moira! Sit still!" I complained. My calm and still hand kept the eye shadow still but her fluttering eyelids kept me from drawing any sort of a strait line.
"Kitty," Moira complained, "I’ve never had this done before......."
"You what?!" I uttered, astounded. "All the more reason you should stand still! We’re gonna go all out with this one!" I grinned and began to plot out things we could do with her. "You know what, Meggan, maybe you should take over now. I think you’ll be better at this than I will. She’s got all the basic stuff on, foundation, lipstick."
Meggan looked up from were she was rewinding the tape and reluctantly walked over. "Will you put the tape in? I just adore this movie!" she inquired.
I walked over to the VCR and took over Meggan’s vigilance while she began to work on Moira. I glanced over at Rahne and smiled at her. She was quietly observing Moira’s slow transformation. She seemed happy. Eventually, we’ll completely draw her out of that shell of hers. Her relationship with Douglock seemed to be helping in her transformation. I waved to for her to sit next me. She walked over, smiling. "So, Rahne, tell me, how are things?"
"Just great, Kitty," Rahne answered. "I’m quite glad that Douglock has fit in here. And ye and that Wisdom fellow seem to be getting along well, too." Her eyes glinted when she teased me. I grinned.
"Yes, well, Douglock is a welcome addition into our lives and our team, as are you!," I enthused. "Even though it took me a long time to adjust to his.....personality." Rahne smiled reassuringly when she saw my uncomfortable feelings towards Douglock and my confusion with him and the late Doug Ramsey.
"I agree, Kitty, and I can understand yuir confusion," Rahne comforted. "But what about Wisdom?"
"Yes, Kitty, tell us some more about Pete," Meggan encouraged.
"Yes, Kitty, tell us about some of the times you spend all day with him in bed!" Moira joked.
"Lady Moira!" Rahne blurted, astonished, but then giving into the laughter when she saw me giggling and Meggan laughing.
"Well, I’ll get onto that stuff later," I assured them, deftly dodging the subject. "But, seriously, though, Pete is the nicest guy. He does some of the sweetest things. Like the other day he waited for two hours for me to come back to my room just so he could surprise me there with some roses. He scared me, though, and he fell to the ground and through me when I phased!" I giggled. "But he’s so kind and caring to me, and so worried about my feelings and problems."
"He’s really a great guy once you break through the rough exterior," Moira voiced. We all turned to her, surprised. The jovial rivalry between the two had basically expelled them both from saying anything less than derogatory about each other, but apparently a momentary truce was in order, or at least for the past couple of seconds there was.
It was Rahne’s turn to speak up. "I agree, Lady Moira. He really is. But what about Brian and you Meggan. I never really understood why he left."
Meggan’s face saddened a little while she continued to work on Moira. "Well, he left for certain reasons," Meggan began, concentrating on Moira’s face. "He was tired of the super hero business and wanted to find something else. But he wasn’t sure what, so, he’s off to find it. But he’s promised to visit, and, well, and....." Meggan’s face sunk as she broke concentration and dropped the utensil she was using on Moira. Moira’s face lit up with concern while I ran over to Meggan.
"Meggan?" I said, offering my arms for her. She reached into my embrace, and began to cry while I pat her on the back and hug her reassuringly. "Now, what’s the matter?" I pulled her back so I could look at her face to face.
"Well, it’s just, well......" Meggan stuttered. "I don’t know what’s going to happen to us. What if he doesn’t come back, or just goes farther away? Is this just the beginning of the end? What about tomorrow? I don’t know what to do......"
"Meggan," I spoke up, "don’t you ever worry about that. Brian loves you more than anyone else in this world. I’m sure that won’t happen. If he lived on a different planet, he would still love you. Remember when he was lost in the time stream? He loved you throughout that......."
"Don’t worry about it, lass," Moira comforted. "Kitty’s right! Brian’s always going to be there for you."
"So you better stop crying," I ordered. "Or else we’ll all start crying, too!" I wiped away tears from my eyes. Meggan giggled and began to smile.
"I’m sorry," she apologized.
"Don’t be silly! Anytime!" I hugged her to confirm my promise. "Now, weren’t we about to begin watching a movie? I’ll go get the popcorn made, and I’m sure Rahne will help you with the make-up!" I walked out of the room, smiling and waving good bye.
I phased through the floor and reached downstairs, near the kitchen. On my way I heard some voices and loud voices. I stopped to listen closer.
"Query, What does ‘whupass’ mean?" Douglock asked.
"It’s what we’re going to be doing to ye, mate, if ya don’t pay attention to me!" Pete bragged. After the sounds of a soccer ball being passed, (oh, no, wait, in Europe it’s football, isn’t it?) Peter spoke up.
"Good work, Comrade!" Peter complimented and then there was a swoosh of a net that insinuated a goal had been scored. The sound of a high-five followed.
"All right! Good work, Comrade Russian!" Pete exasperated, breathing heavily. "Looks like we’re winning, Kurt. 4 to 3!""Yes, well, not for long," Kurt bragged. I smiled and continued my way down towards the kitchen. Putting the popcorn in the microwave, I pulled out a bowl and some butter and salt. I was glad Kurt had followed up on his soccer idea, it was a good way for Pete and Peter start a friendship with each other. Peter still feels awkward after the....incident. And Pete is still scared to death that Peter will attack him again. Not that I blame him. Sometimes I seen Peter so differently, especially with all that bottled up rage he holds inside of him. Sometimes Peter just can’t handle things. Who knows how long he’ll be with Excalibur? Who knows what will happen with Peter next?
The microwave dinged and I stuck the butter in to melt it. I poured the popcorn out into the bowl. Well, I suppose Peter’s not in that bad of a situation, but I worry about him sometimes. Maybe this soccer game will help him and Pete get along better. Maybe.
When the butter was finished I poured it and lots of salt over the popcorn. Grinning, I grabbed it and a six pack of Root Beet and phased my way upstairs. "Food’s ready!" I phased my way into the floor of the room, and rematerialized in the middle of the room, setting the food on the table.
"So is Moira!" Meggan boasted. She turned Moira around. Moira was wearing one of Meggan’s dresses. It was Meggan’s typical green color, but it was sparkly and silky. It was open on the back and closed at the front, revealing some cleavage. The dress was very sexy and long, and opened at the legs. Moira’s auburn hair mixed with it well. Her makeup only complimented her appearance. Overall, she looked fantastic. I noticed that Rahne was missing.
"Well, that was quick! You look fantastic, Moira!" I grinned from tooth to tooth. She did look fantastic.
Rahne bounced in with a camera. "Got it!" she exulted, shooing Meggan away and making Moira pose for the camera. After taking the picture, she waved at us to join in, and took a picture with Moira, Meggan, and I smiling and with our arms around each other. "Now hold on." She pushed a button, set the camera down on top of the telly, and ran over, standing beneath us and posing. The camera flashed. "Could one of ye take one with just Lady Moira and I? I would like that a lot." Rahne glanced at Moira. "Ye look as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside, Lady Moira. Ye should do this more often."
"I know," Moira slightly agreed, "but I’m so busy in the lab......" To change the subject, I walked over to the camera and grabbed it.
"Smile for the camera!" I said. They grinned and I took three pictures of them like that. One for Rahne, one for Moira, and one for good luck. "Great!"
"Lady Moira, I worry about you," Rahne went on. "With the Legacy Virus and all, you should rest more. And spend more time with us." Moira frowned.
"I should do nae such thing, Rahne," Moira disagreed. "I need to work, for a cure, for others, for me...." Moira rose her hand above her eyes, which we tearing up. "And I do nae have much time...."
"Moira, Rahne is right though," Meggan added. "We all feel the same way, and we are all concerned." Moira looked around at us.
"Well," she began, "it’s nice to see ye so concerned, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. It’s hard, but I know I can do it." There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Rahne began to cry. "Oh, Rahne, do nae cry!"
"I can nae help it," Rahne cried. "I worry sometimes, and I wonder that maybe if’n ye hadn’t spend so much time with mutants, like me, ye would never have this accursed disease."
"Rahne," Moira held onto her hand and looked her strait in the face, "if being with ye means that I have tae get this accursed disease and die, that still would nae be enough to keep me away from ye. I love ye, Rahne, and nothing could keep us apart. But I assure ye, nothing ye did nor could have done could have given me this virus. Okay?" Rahne’s eyes shifted from the floor to that of her foster mother.
"Aye, Lady Moira," Rahne said. "Thank ye. But always remember I love ye, no matter what happens."
"We do, too, Moira," Meggan threw in. I felt a tear fall down my cheek and realized that I was not the only one crying. Meggan held a tissue to her cheek while Rahne and Moira were crying on each other’s shoulders, hugging each other.
"We do, Moira, and remember we’re always here for you for whatever you may need," I said. "Now what do you say that we finally pop that video in, huh?" I headed over to the VCR.
"Good idea, Kitty," Moira said, welcoming a change of topic. "That Harrison Ford is so.......fine." Moira burst into a fit of laughter at her use of the word that she overheard, and we began to laugh, too.
***
"Oh, no! The poor lad!" Moira cried out.
"Ahhh!" Rahne shouted.
"I know, this is so gross," Kitty interjected. "I hate it when he gets shot."
"I agree, it is sad," I commented. The atmosphere in the room had lightened considerably when the movie began, and now we were all sitting on the couch in different positions. Moira sat at the left edged with Rahne’s head in her lap and Rahne’s body in Kitty’s lap. I sat on the floor in front of Kitty and Kitty sat cross-legged. We passed the popcorn around and munched happily on it. Moira grabbed a handful and passed it onto Kitty.
"Och, this is so salty!" Moira complained.
"Yeah, Kitty, how much salt did you put into that?" I inquired.
"I dunno," she estimated. "A lot, I suppose. I’m a big salt person."
After that comment came a tremendous crash, followed by a yell which sounded like it came out of Douglock’s mouth. "Douglock!" Rahne shouted, immediately shifting into the transitional form. The power flickered off and we were immediately plunged into darkness. Rahne jumped off the couch, running to the door. Kitty phased through the couch. I grabbed Moira and we ran down the hallway. What could it be? Who is attacking us?
To be continued in Part 2: Pub Hopping
Comments would be more than appreciated- this is my first attempt at fanfic, and I would love some feedback. Please write to me at PhaserBob@Aol.com.