Dean Kesseli
Location: OMEN Facility - Outside -> Quinjet
Damon still didn't say anything, just content to hold Ayita and breathe for a moment. He knew that Richard was likely to come and kill him, but he didn't care. He could have lost Ayita today. Nina and someone from the Brotherhood had died, that much he knew - and from the conversation, it seemed a speedster had perished as well. (What was it with speedsters dying on their missions, lately? He was getting a bit worried for their Pietro when it came to their next mission. First Oshea, then Future Pietro...Who was next?)
Dean, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow at Sara.
"Hey, don't objectify me!" he protested, having been called a Ken Doll.
"It's 2020! When are we going to learn that calling people Ken Doll doesn't do any good?" He then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"...I'm joking, by the way." His stomach growled again and he was wondering how many Big Macs it was humanly possible for a person to consume. He then headed onto the quinjet with the others, sitting down and coughing slightly.
"...Someone has to have money on them or something, right? I don't know how much I have on me..."
Guin Stark
Location: OMEN Facility - Outside -> Quinjet
Although this was the first Guin had heard of Pietro's desire for any sort of pet - and she couldn't help but feel a bit like Wanda had finally found a way to cause Pietro to focus on something other than her - she was a bit surprised that Beth insulted his choice of name. And the even more shocking thing was that Pietro didn't smack her upside the head for that. He tended to have violent reactions at times - not that he had ever hit her outside of sparring or anything, but sometimes, he did that to other people.
"I am going to need at least five venti cappuccinos," Guin said softly, looking at Lance and Pietro tiredly. She usually wasn't much of a coffee person but she felt like a walking corpse.
"And then I want to sleep until I'm dead." She really hoped that Xavier would suddenly become competent when it came to dealing with the aftermath of all of this.
"...That much caffeine isn't the best Guina..." Pietro said, shaking his head.
Guin let out an exhausted and drained yawn.
"I know I made a big fuss over how I could walk, but honestly, I just want to curl into a ball right now..." She was trying not to think about how Muscles was dead. They had changed the future - or at least, she hoped that they had. But her nerves were frayed and her hands were still shaking. What if the future merely corrected itself, in one way or another?
"...I think most people are tired..." She glanced up at her boyfriend and sighed. Men could be idiots sometimes.
"Forget I said anything." "Guina, what's wrong?" "Nothing, I just wanted you to hold me and you didn't seem to care," Guin answered. She then realized she could focus on little problems in her life, in a way to slightly drive out the haunting image of Muscles' corpse. She was cold and tired, as well as positively starving. She'd only had a single Twinkie to eat that day. Her head was starting to pound slightly, meaning she was dehydrated -
fucking fantastic. And of course, her hands were shaking from anxiety and shock over seeing Muscles riddled with bullets.
"...You told me you didn't want me to though.. So I put you down..." "...Yeah well now I want you to..." Guin mumbled.
"...Okay..." Pietro said, pulling her into his arms, being careful of the turtle.
Guin stared at the turtle and could've sworn it was glaring at her.
"...I think he hates me..." she mumbled sleepily.
"Nope, he doesn't." "I love you," Guin mumbled, gripping onto him tightly as her hands started to shake again. It helped to ride out the waves of anxiety a little bit. But she was still pretty certain the turtle was giving her a death glare.
"I love you too..."
Ayita Dykrin and Guin Stark
Date: June 10, 2020
When you get an order, your choices are to obey or get eaten. Or at least that was how packs worked in the North Ayita reasoned. Yet with family it was obey or challenge Richard. The latter was not an easy thing to do despite the fact she was he beloved little sister. Usually a quiet snarl and pointed refusal to do it would get him to look for another choice, but not this time. It had been a spat that had gone on for a solid two hours before Ayita had given in. Stubborn though she was, Richard had the bit between his teeth and was not going to let the matter go.
That, was how she found herself in the strange room humans called a 'range' shooting at horrible depicted targets. Like it would help them get better. Though she admitted it worked, Richard was proof of that. But to Ayita the harsh life of live or die was not so simple a thing. Especially when she was riled. '
Get done with this and you can go roost and watch Damon.' She thought absently to herself, keeping the thought tightly shielding in her own mind. She enjoyed the Host's company. He didn't need to talk all the time, and there were... benefits to being around him. While she wasn't certain what it was that stirred, she did enjoy it. It was like the wind just after a storm, or the depths of the sea on a crisp day.
'You have a job, Huntress. Do it.' Amber eyes fixed across the room and the table that sat between them. Which held two bows and matching sets of different arrows. From handmade- by yours truely-, to those you'd buy. Though she felt the latter was... weaker in some aspects. If you made them, you knew more and could shape them to your need. Patiently she stood as resilient as stone in front of the door.
"This wasn't my idea." She growled lowly, looking a little irritated at the way Guin was looking at her.
"Just do us both a favor and try, or we're going to find ourselves up North with nothing but a knife." While she wouldn't put it past Richard to do that, she knew if it came down to push and tug (Or was it pull and shove?) she'd get the Stark proficient at the bow. Shut up the Adder for once.
She didn't want to be here either. She had been at this range before, with her Uncle Clint and her Aunt Nat. She learned how to use a pistol here, but it was now configured for a different sort of projectile. She had put on her training clothes and it helped that her hair was short enough that it didn't need to be tucked back. Guin had one an archer's glove on her right hand and a guard pad on her left arm - both of them insisted on by her Uncle Clint.
"No need to be a bitch to me," Guin mumbled.
"Then will you please stop looking at me like that." Ayita stated quietly, stalking forward to take up her own bow from the table. Looking at Guin's arm-guards Ayita looked at her own bare arm with a slight wrinkle in her brow.
"Take up the bow, and an arrow." Pulling one of her slender hunting arrows from a quiver she put it two the string while gripping two broad heads with her teeth. Mentally she was capable of sending, a boon when your mouth was full of weaponry. Drawing the arrow back she breifly sighted down the shaft a bit longer so Guin could absorb her stance before loosing the bolt.
"Notch, pull as far back as you can, and sight." The thin head pierced deeply into one of the targets right into the heart.
"Look hard at your target. See the heart, lungs, stomach. Know the bones you will hit that could cause a problem for the arrow. Hitting a rib will wound rather than kill. A chest bone will do the same. Look within and pick the target." The shifter advised mentally brushing her mind against Guins though it was a light touch.
"...I'm not looking at you any special way, that's just my face..." Guin's hands were shaking as grabbed the bow and arrow, yet it only started once Ayita started to talk about vital organs. If she was able to separate the act from violence and bloodshed, she was fine - yet the mention of causing pain and death...even if needed...Guin shook her head and put the bow down.
"I can't do this. I...I feel sick. Period cramps. I need to go nap." Ayita studied Guin and laid a hand against the other woman's forehead.
"You are not feverish." The huntress stated softly, removing the arrows from her mouth and setting them on the table with her bow.
"And I smelled no blood on you when I tracked you down. You only started shaking when I talked about sighting... And the vitals." Ayita was keen, but her mind was still slow to the ways of humans at times.
"Memories?" She whispered with a understanding look in her amber eyes. Was this why Richard had sent her? To rid Guin of these hauntings through working her? Idiot brother.
"Yeah well it's my birth control - no blood but all of the cramps," Guin said. She knew that she was shaking from anxiety - her father had gotten PTSD after his brush with death in New York. It was a genetic disposition to it after periods of great stress. To be honest, it was a wonder that this was the first time it was showing its head. Guin should have been a nervous wreck several other times in her life.
Ayita shrugs, withdrawing her hand.
"Pick up your bow and deal with it. In the wild if I did not kill, I did not eat. If I was wounded I still needed to hunt." She tried not to think of those monthly times and the first days she spent curled up hoping nothing would smell her and that she had enough food. Amber eyes watched Guin patiently.
"You're not the only one." "If I don't kill, then I just ask JARVIS to have someone bring me food and it comes within ten minutes," Guin said, making a point. She shook her head slightly. Ayita didn't seem to get this. But she wasn't going to touch that bow and arrow. She couldn't bring herself to do that - especially given that the topic of conversation was...
killing.
"You're not even a mutant. You're a beast. A mindless animal." Ayita stated softly, her amber eyes staring dead at Guin and they were filled with myriad of pain and regret.
"Her name was Wonderland. I ripped her throat out because I lost control of the instincts, but I wanted to rip her throat out. I tasted her blood and I watched her life leave her." Ayita set another arrow the bow and drew it back.
"It's been... a while, but I still see her." Ayita's shot still hit the man's head, but it was just off enough to draw a frustrated huff from the shifter.
"I survive." Guin remembered seeing Wonderland's body after that mission finished. Ayita had done a number on the illusion casting mutant - but even now, Guin still respected Ayita for what she had done. Wonderland needed to be put down and Ayita saw that. She made a choice that few on the team would have the stomach to do.
"Over thirty people died because of my actions," Guin said.
"Some of them were innocent - just caught up in OMEN - they had families...kids who wonder why their mom or dad will never come home...and that was because of me..." Ayita nodded sadly.
"I tried not to kill mothers with young or young when I was living in the wilds. I know they weren't people but when you... when you share their skin? It leaves an imprint on you." A hand lifted to run a finger over her notched ear.
"People have probably told you the whole spiel, but... Thank you. For doing it. If you hadn't I would have possibly lost Allison, Brother and..." She shrugged with a sigh.
"It's crap against what you had to do, but it counts for me that I'm still breathing and so is my family. I saw Richard get shot in the chest, so trust me when I say that." "...Though let's be real here, if Richard died the Devil would send him right back to Earth since knowing your brother, he'd flirt with Satan until that happened." Ayita winced slightly.
"He'd bring the Devil back with him." She murmured to cover the flinch at the memory of Richard's supposed corspe.
"...Richard's going to be fine, Ayita. He's too irritatingly stubborn to die. And he really cares about you." "That's the problem." Ayita growls slightly as she hits the target right in the balls.
"Will you just pick up the damn bow and start learning to shoot?" Her eyes looked like a wild cats and her ears were a tad pink.
Guin shook her head. She knew that she probably should have done what Ayita asked - but she had already made up her mind. She couldn't do this - not today at the very least.
"No. Thank you for wanting to help me learn this but...no. I can't do this today." Ayita sighed with annoyance.
"I told him as much." She admits with reluctance.
"But you should learn. The bow, I mean. Look. I don't.... Teaching. I don't teach humans. I can teach animals. But I can try. To teach you I mean." Pacing slightly Ayita sighs.
"And if you want... I'll listen. It's... Nothing will be repeated. I don't... Human gossip confuses me. Humans confuse me." Ayita grumbles lowly pressing a hand to her forehead. Her mental image conveying in clearer words her willingness to teach and listen to Guin if she wanted. Ayita was never much of a talker and Guin had hit a sore spot with Richard's near death.
Guin never really liked people invading her mental space - she sometimes didn't even want Pietro jumping around in there. It had caused some tension with Xavier, with Guin having to be quite clear with him to
stay the fuck out of her head if he wanted to still have a spine. But she knew that Ayita was just trying to help - and so she begrudgingly tolerated the mental intrusion.
"Thanks Ayita...I appreciate it...I'll figure out how to use a bow at some point, just not today. I'd rather go play Town of Salem. You know. Ease myself back in with some virtual violence...Or maybe Candy Crush might be safer." The shifter blinked in obvious confusion.
"How is crushing candy fun?" "It's mindless entertainment that gives you a reward," Guin explained with a shrug.
"It can help calm people down - but can also be addictive..." "Crushing... candy..." Ayita had a look of sheer bewilderment.
"Is it not better to eat?" When you could eat something is was far better than destroying it. She had seen people stick cakes and pies in each other faces. A ridiculous bit of human nonsense. But crushing candy? The fearsome wild woman looked at Guin like she was speaking in another language. Which in a way, Guin was.
Guin nodded.
"Yes, but it's a game - the candy isn't real. It's virtual - just pixels on a screen." "Ah." Ayita notes with a still puzzled expression that slowly clears.
"Sounds like the ocean with how addictive it is. Time slows in a way, or ceases, and you seem to be able to remain there forever." Waving a hand the woman shakes her head with a wistful look twinged with sadness.
"You were going, and I would not want to keep you from that feeling." "...Honestly, I might go see if Pietro wants to have sex," Guin then added with a shrug.
"It's a good stress reliever sometimes. If you're looking for things that can let time slow down and let you dwell in a feeling, you might want to try it one day." Ayita looks a bit stunned as if she discovered something new she had never thought of. A sly look entering her amber eyes.
"Is it?" She croons with a chuckle. The woman sliding by Guin with a un-Ayita like smirk playing about her lips.
"How... interesting." She slips down the hall bow slung over he back and arrows on her hip.
Guin raised an eyebrow, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out a few condoms - both female and male - and tossed them to Ayita.
"Ask for consent and use protection first!" Guin shouted. She felt a lot of tension in her body from all of these emotions and sent a mental prod to a certain speedster to be in her room and ready within the next few minutes. It'd be nice to not have to think about things.
Both are caught deftly and studied by Ayita with a raised brow as she studies Guin.
"Assumptions, girl." The shifter huffs before slipping from view. Though she did take the supplies with her.
Marygold Isley and Guin Stark
Date: June 20, 2020
Mary was sitting on a chair in the Theater room at Stark Tower. Since the mansion was still gone, they were stuck at the Tower until it was finished being rebuilt. She was planning on watching a movie with Guin, just the two of them, to help them talk about everything that had happened, and hopefully mend their friendship in some way. They were going to watch the Princess Diaries and she was waiting for Guin.
The doors to the home theater swung open, announcing Guin's arrival as she came in with a big bowl of popcorn and two sodas. She had a slightly distracted look, as if she was hearing something that no one else could - but that was likely her speedster boyfriend pestering her mentally. She put the bowl down on the table and then placed the drinks next to it, sitting down and putting her hands in the pockets of her coat a bit defensively. She loved the movie - but she was dreading this.
"...Hey there Guin... Ready to start the movie or whatever?" she asked, managing to give Guin a small smile.
Guin had the faraway look again for a moment before she shook her head slightly.
"Sorry, yeah, let's get our Mia on." She nodded her head, before she hit play on the movie, not sure what exactly to even say to Guin. Guin kept her hands in her pockets as she looked forward at the screen, humming along a bit to the introductory scene music. Every now and then she'd seem to zone out as she got another telepathic message from her beau.
"...So, how is Pietro doing?" Mary asked.
"...Well, he replaced me with a turtle, so there's that." Mary nodded, hesitating for a moment. There was so much that she wanted to talk to Guin about, everything that had happened with OMEN, and she had had her own slight mental breakdown from everything, but she didn't know what to say. Or more of how to word her thoughts to not sound strange or anything.
"If you have something to say to me, spit it out..." "...I'm sorry... For everything that had happened... It was my fault the group ended up at that facility... My fault that Nina was killed... My fault that you had to kill people... The entire situation was my fault... All because I freaked out and broke down because of the stress and all of the yelling..." Guin was silent for a moment, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She took a breath, looking straight ahead at the screen as the movie continued to play.
"...Don't apologize for Nina dying, that bitch deserved it...A-a-and it was my choice to kill those people...N-n-no one forced me to." "...Yeah, but if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been put in that situation to begin with..." "Mare...I know that we share the entire being a mutant thing, but that's not the only target on my back," Guin said softly. She had been kidnapped multiple times in her life because of who her father was - either because of his deeds or his net worth. Her Uncle Obadiah had paid for her father to be murdered and attempted to kill her as well, in order to gain control of Stark Industries.
"I would've had to take a life at some point...Maybe because my dad's an Avenger and has pissed off a lot of people in the world...Maybe because I'm queer...Maybe because of some random cosmic joke..." "...I generally try to avoid it whenever possible... But I know that in the line of work we do, it will come up eventually... I just feel bad for everything that had happened... If I hadn't been so stupid, or hadn't let my emotions get the better of me... Maybe things would have gone differently..." She nodded slightly, trying to focus on the movie but she really couldn't anymore - as fascinating as the problems of Princess Mia were, they weren't real.
"To be honest, this isn't even the line of work I want to be in...I'm just...doing things to kill time," Guin admitted. She still didn't know what she wanted to be when she grew up and she was already twenty.
"Plus, everyone is dumb sometimes...It's okay that you were an idiot." "Yeah... guess that would make sense for you... I've been doing this sort of thing for so long, I can't imagine doing anything else... And you know... Want to hear how many times Cyclops was an idiot... But he'd never admit it... So many times, even Jean couldn't get the guy to admit that he was wrong..." Guin rolled her eyes slightly.
"He's a guy. They're all dumbasses." She then fell silent again, thinking about Muscles and her eyes watered. She closed them tightly, trying to stop the tears but only succeeded in now picturing Muscles' death. She could imagine it perfectly, the bullets piercing his body. He never got to return home to his wife and kids.
"Yeah," she said with a slight laugh, before she noticed Guin's eyes watering. It wasn't too hard to guess what was going through her head,
"...It's my fault he died Guin... I'd understand if you hated me for it..." She took a shaky breath.
"Unless you pulled the trigger, it's not your fault," Guin mumbled, before she couldn't help it anymore and she started to cry, hugging her knees to her chest. She had been pretty emotional since everything with O.M.E.N. and had been trying to repress her emotions.
Mary felt really bad, and she leaned over and gave Guin a hug. Sure, she herself had been wanting to break down in tears a lot, but she had managed to stay strong through it. Now she was being there for her friend when she needed her. Guin hesitated slightly, tensing up a bit as Mary hugged her, but she didn't shove her away as she kept crying.
"I-I loved him, Mare..." she admitted, feeling small.
"...I understand that Guin, I really do... But just think... Because we changed the future, he didn't actually get killed by OMEN, we changed how his life went, so he never had to time travel to change everything in the first place..." "...No one can understand it, Mare," Guin said quietly. It wasn't just that Pietro's thoughts were now bleeding into her head. She was a bit worried that if they weren't careful, they'd end up with a hive mind. No, there was more to her sorrow than just that.
"You don't know what it's like to love two people so much...to want to be with them in every way...but they're the same person and th-then...then Muscles died...." "You'll meet Muscles again some day... I'm sure of it Guin... Pietro cares about you, a lot, and I seriously doubt that he's replaced you with that turtle of his..." she said with a smile. Guin stopped crying, but she didn't pull away from Mary's hug. Truthfully, she was a bit jealous of the turtle. Pietro loved it so much and spent so much time caring for Mr. Dibbles.
"Whatever..." "Guin... He cares, I'm sure of it... He's done a lot for you because he cares so much..." Ordinarily, Guin would've felt bad for making the conversation all about her problems.
"...What if I'm not enough for him?" "...I wouldn't be surprised if he thought that he wasn't enough for you... Or good enough or stuff like that..." Guin shook her head slightly at that.
"Sorry, we're supposed to watch a movie and I'm just talking about dumb stuff..." she mumbled. She then took another breath.
"I don't think I'm good enough for him...Maybe one day he'll get bored of me or...he'll have regrets..." "I don't think that'll ever happen Guin..." "What makes you say that?" "Considering everything he has done for you... You are his top priority... Hell, the guy went up against the one person he fears the most in the world, his father, for you. I don't think he'll ever leave you unless you want him to." Guin nodded slightly, drying her eyes. She glanced at the movie again, seeing that Mia was at the beach party and she rolled her eyes slightly.
"Ugh, I hate this part...She's such a dumbass here."
Pietro Maximoff and Guin Stark
Date: Prom Night! - July 14, 2020
It was the night of the prom for the students of Xavier's Institute and Guin was in her room at Stark Tower, her fingers dashing rapidly across a controller as she played a video game. She had been playing video games almost nonstop since O.M.E.N.'s fall, finding that they kept the dark thoughts away that otherwise prevented her from sleeping. She wasn't a high school student anyways, so she figured it'd be fine if she skipped prom altogether.
"Guina?" Pietro called, knocking on the door before opening it. He knew that Guin didn't want to really go, but he was more or less determined to drag her anyway.
"I'm in a battle!" Guin called back. As the door opened, she shrunk away slightly from the light that spilled into the room. She was in pajamas and her hair stood up at odd angles. A blanket was wrapped around her and she used it like a vampire's cape to avoid the light. Yet despite this, her free hand continued to use the controller with relative ease, attempting to win at all costs.
"Come on, let's go, no more being a vampire...," he said, turning the light on in the room and walking over. The round of her game ended and Guin put her blanket over her head.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., kill the lights," she told the A.I. and the room went dark again, allowing her to peak out. She was seeing spots from the bit of light she caught and rubbed her eyes.
"I told you, I don't want to go..." Pietro rolled his eyes, before in a flash, the lights were back on, her game was turned off, and Guin was now in a dress, nice shoes, and her hair was brushed,
"You are going, now let's go," he said, dragging her out of the room.
Guin groaned, about to just reach out and switch with him to get out of this, but he was carefully positioning himself so she couldn't make skin contact - and Guin hadn't been able to manifest the ability without touch yet. Instead, she closed her eyes, still seeing spots in her vision.
"I don't feel well..." Guin mumbled, trying to convince him to put her down so she wouldn't have to go.
"I need to lie down..." "You are such a bad liar Guina, you are going whether you want to or not," he said, still dragging her along.
"Why? I don't want to go...You can go without me..." "Because, you need to have fun, away from video games, I think you'll survive for a couple of hours." Guin sulked slightly. She had been a drug addict once. Video games were her new quick fix.
"But I told some people I'd go on a raid with them and they're depending on me...It might even go on Mark's YouTube channel..." "I think they'll survive without you, so deal with it. You are going, and you are going to enjoy yourself, got it?" Guin shook her head, trying to kick off her shoes since Pietro was dragging her and she couldn't break his grip. She really didn't want to go see other people. Seeing all of them together at Stark Tower - it just reminded her of everything they had lost. It reminded her of the people she had killed - people who would never go home to their families again.
"I'm not going to enjoy prom Piet..." "Yes you will. I declare that you will whether you think you will or not!" "One, that's not how that works and two, you can take the turtle since you care about it more anyways..." Guin mumbled, having gotten the shoes off.
"That's not true... And I don't want to dance with anyone else but you..." Had she not been in such a gloomy mood, Guin would have completely melted, hearing him say that. Instead, she just wearily looked up at him. She wasn't getting a lot of sleep lately and there were dark circles under her eyes.
"I-I c-c-can't, Pietro..." she mumbled.
"I-I-I'd just think about Muscles and the people I killed..." "Then don't think about anything at all." "I can't just stop thinking..." "...How do you think I got this far in life? I just stopped thinking about what was going on around me... Do that... You'll be fine Guina, I know you will..." Guin shook her head.
"I-I can't stop thinking Pietro! Why do you think I'm always fidgeting - why I did drugs once...Why I've just been playing video games...Why I can't sleep...It never stops. And the more freaked out I get, the faster the thoughts get. Dad's the same way. There's no stopping it, no shutting it off - without substance abuse, anyways...." "Then calm down, and take a few deep breaths... It'll be okay..." She shook her head again, her thoughts racing. Images of Muscles dying were flashing through her mind, along with other horrific scenes of destruction - including Folly nearly killing herself with Guin's bomb. They just went faster and faster and Guin shook her head, pretty much the only thing she was capable of doing.
"I-I c-c-can't go to prom..." Pietro gave her a kiss, soothing her through their mental link, calming her as much as he could. He hoped that she would stay calm and not panic. It would be better for her in the long run if she did. Guin returned his kiss, the telepathic manipulation doing its job and calming her thoughts as the graphic images vanished - at least for now. It was lucky that they didn't end up switching from how agitated she had been when he kissed her.
"Let's go..." he said, leading her away. Guin reluctantly followed him, hearing the noise from the prom up ahead as it had started about half an hour ago. Her bare feet touched the cool ground of Stark Tower - halls that she had walked her entire life.
"It'll be okay Guina..." he said softly.
"...Just one dance and then we leave, okay?"~*~*~*~*~
A little while later, Pietro gave her a smile and took her hand, heading out to the dance area. Guin glanced at him, not really sure what kind of dance he wanted to do. She only really did modern dances - the type you'd see at parties. Pietro was a bit of a wild card when it came to dances. She then caught her father's gaze, realizing he had decided to chaperone.
"...Name a type of dance Guina... Just one... Though I tend to lean more towards the more traditional styles of dancing..." "I don't really know any traditional dances, Piet..." Guin admitted, though her mind got a sudden flash of Pietro trying to do the salsa and she laughed slightly, a small smile on her face.
"What are you laughing about?" "Oh, I just imagined you trying to do the salsa or something...You seem more like someone that would be into breakdancing than any formal dances really." "...I do know how to breakdance," he admitted, before he gave her a slight smile,
"However, I do also know how to salsa dance." Guin couldn't help but wonder who had taught Pietro all of those dances - she doubted it was Magneto. Maybe one of the Brotherhood members was really into dancing. Or she supposed he could have just watched YouTube videos.
"I don't know any dances so...I could just watch you dance, it'd be easier..." she said quietly, glancing down. She wasn't her normal confident spunky self.
"Nope, not happening, you are dancing whether or not you want to." "...Fine, the Chicken Dance then." "Yeah no, not happening, you couldn't pay me to do that one." She raised an eyebrow. Hadn't he just told her to pick a dance?
"Well I pick that one." "Nope, you can do that one all by yourself." "If I do it, can I go back to playing video games?" Guin asked him, crossing her arms slightly. She felt cold in the dress, but she wasn't going to admit it. The larger concern, in her mind, was the fact that she hated dresses.
"Hmmm... Maybe..." Guin then sighed, looking at him and she shook her head, before she headed for the exit. She had been avoiding glancing at the others. She didn't want to think about Ayita getting hurt by O.M.E.N agents; Allison getting put into a cell; Lance being dragged out of Stark Tower.
Muscles dying. Her eyes started to water again at that one. He died and in Guin's mind, it was her fault.
"...What's wrong?" he asked softly, giving her a hug and stopping her.
"...I told you, I can't stop thinking about all of the fucked up shit..." "It'll be okay Guina..." She took a breath, glancing around the room. Despite everything, people were dancing and laughing. Awkward pairings were starting to form as the song changed to be one that could be danced to as a couple. There was so much hope and Guin nodded slightly - she just wished Muscles could've been there to see it.
"...Okay..." Pietro smiled at her, before he took her hand and headed to the dance area.
"I don't know how to dance..." "Then I'll lead, don't worry." Guin nodded, looking at him.
"...Okay, but what kind of dance are we doing?" "...Just a simple slow dance, okay?" "Okay, I can do that, as long as you don't tease me for being short." "I won't Guina..." True by Spandau Ballet was playing and Guin took a breath, calming down slightly as she just looked at Pietro. She let him lead the slow dance as she put her arms around him, looking up at the tall speedster.
"I love you," Guin whispered. She practically had to stand on her toes to get a good look at him.
"I love you too Guina, more than you know..." he said, giving her a smile.
"Oh?" Guin asked him quietly, still letting him lead and although she was tempted to rest her head on his chest, she maintained eye contact with him. It reminded her of something someone else had said, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It eluded her.
Pietro nodded, just dancing with her slightly. He was used to most types of dances, so this sort of thing wasn't new to him.
"I do Guina... No matter what happens, okay?" She nodded a bit, trying not to overthink it. If she thought too much about it, she'd start to cry and she didn't want to cry in public any more than was needed. Her thoughts threatened to go back to all of the chaos and misery, and her grip on Pietro's shoulders tightened as her pulse quickened.
"...Don't you ever die, please." "I won't... I promise..."
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