Breakfast without milk

[Admin]

"There's no milk?"

Marie winced slightly at the question she knew would be coming as soon as the fridge was first opened. She had drank the last of the milk last night (there was only one glass left) and they hadn't had a chance to go to the store for days, because the single car was broken down. Now would be a pretty convienient time to have super powers again.

"There is some of that lactose-free soy milk left," she provided helpfully.

"Blech."

Shrugging, Marie reached past the girl at the fridge and grabbed the carton of Silk for herself; on cereal it didn't taste any different than regular milk in her opinion. They would have to walk into town, she supposed, and stock up on milk until they could get the car fixed. "Fieldtrip today," she announced jovially as she took her first bite.

But Marie wasn't feeling very jovial despite her best appearances. Bills were weighing most heavily on her mind, as well as some disconcerting news she had recieved in Storm's latest letter. It seemed mutants were showing up at an alarming rate in South America, and then dying off rather quickly. While they had no suspicions as to what might be happening, the X-woman wanted to warn Rogue to keep her eyes peeled for any new mutants or newely restored humans who might have information on it. She'd write to Storm later and reassure her that she hadn't, and probably wouldn't, hear anything about it way back in the lowcountry of Mississippi.

"Alright ya'll, finish eating quick and get ready, we're gonna wanna get home before noon." Noon heat was lethal in the summers here, and she didn't want the milk to go bad on the long walk back.

[Admin]

The walk to town was long, but moods were bright and the heat wasn't stifiling yet. Jokes and games were played the whole way there, Oralee Beacon starting one of her favorites. "What would you wish for?"

"A car," Rogue said practically. "Or a closer grocery store."

Lee nudged her with a shoulder and continued to smile, egging on the others to tell their wishes. "A bikini," one girl said and picked the shirt from her sweating skin. "A portable, battery-operated fan," someone else said as she waved a hand at her face in vain. "I second the bikini," one of the few males in the group said, "I think she'd look hot in it." The bikini-girl's face flushed redder than it already had been from the sun and the exercise and everyone laughed.

"You?" Rogue turned to the former wish-making mutant. "What would you wish for?"

"Boiled peanuts!" Lee exclaimed with a laugh. Boiled peanuts were a lowcountry specialty, and no matter how hot the day was it was a favorite with her. "And sweet tea."

"Sweet tea," Rogue agreed with a smile, "we'll grab some Lipton's at the store."

And almost as if someone had wished it there, the store loomed ahead over the tops of the spanish moss covered oaks.

[airlock]

Another person made their way towards the store as well.

Lars Anderssen was in town, staying in a 50-cents-short-of-cheapest-ever motel which was the singularly most depressing place he'd ever been forced to stay in, but funds were running low. The company wasn't far off the brink of bankruptcy and cuts had to be made.

Despite the dreariness of the motel, he was pleasantly enjoying his stroll in the warm Mississippi morning air, his eyes protected from last night's hangover by a pair of designer shades. He wore a olive sport jacket over a white shirt and a pair of fashionably faded jeans and he strolled with the confidence of one who knows that they look good with or without a hangover, and with the absolute minimum effort required in the morning.

Lars wasn't an arrogant man, but he knew that he turned a few heads as he walked down the street and he sort of liked that in a way. Nothing like a bit of attention to make you feel interesting and important, and nothing like a few admiring female glances to make you happy.

Not that Lars needed any help in that department, particularly; he was almost always effortlessly cheerful to start with.

He was heading directly towards the store, his attention on the scenery around him, taking it in, working out how it could be adapted for different styles of building...he was, after all, a civil engineer at heart.

[Admin]

Wish come true - there was a sweet tea stand in the parking lot of the grocery, wtih two little girls in pigtails running it while their mother's looked on from a bench nearby. The girls had wanted to be grown up, so they wouldn't let them stand right behind the booth with them, but the mother's were worried, so they didn't wander too far either.

"Oh yes!" Lee exclaimed as she caught sight of the mispelled banner advertising "Sweat Tee". "The cure must be wearing off," she joked and clapped her hands together in excitment.

"Only if they take credit cards," Rogue pointed out.

Lee's mouth snapped shut into a frown, surely someone had to have some cash on them? She asked around the small group, but those who did have jobs were saving up to eventually move out, and none had brought any cash. The same being true for Lee, she found herself completely sweet tea-less.

Unless she could find a quarter.

Hazel eyes travelled over the other poor town-residents who were making their way into the store, most of them with greasy hair and stained clothes. That was the problem with living way out in the boonies - it was full of poor hicks. Granted, Lee herself was now a poor hick too, but she never had to act that way. Landing on a well-dressed man who was obviously not a poor hick, Lee's eyes widdened and she grabbed Rogue's arm.

"Now don't be obvious, but look at that!" She pointed, very obviously, toward Lars. "I bet he's got a quarter," she said with a laugh.

"I bet he's got more than one," Rogue smiled back in agreement.

"I'll be right back then," Lee said with a squeeze of Rogue's arm before letting go. "Two sweet tea's coming right up." Changing dirrection from the group, the blonde put a welcoming smile on her face and walked steadily over to the man, who was absolutely sizzling with hotness behind his sunglasses, and it had nothing to do with the angle of the morning sun.

A quick look down to check her own appearance, Lee decided that she didn't look bad, even if she didn't look like a million bucks. She had put on a pair of small, dark blue shorts and a cream colored tank top that brought out the highlights in her shoulder-length hair. Her flops were black with a stylized flower between her big and next toes. She reapplied her lipgloss as she walked, and by the time she reached him, she felt confident enough.

"Excuse me sir," she said, laying on the Charleston accent thick. It wasn't the rough country-drawl of the other residents of this part of Mississippi, but a more refined sound that screamed "southern charm". "I don't suppose you'd have a couple of quarters I could borrow, do you?"

[airlock]

Lars, who had been walking along in a little happy world of his own design, was startled when a voice crept into his consciousness.

The joy of hangovers for Lars was that when people addressed him directly, it often took him a moment or two to realise that he was actually being addressed. This time, it came as an exceptionally pleasant surprise to realise that he was being spoken to by a very attractive girl, young, but cute enough for him to push his sunglasses back up his head and deliver a very precise, very dazzling smile in the girl's direction.

"Excuse me sir, I don't suppose you'd have a couple of quarters I could borrow, do you?"

"Of course I do," he said, in a faintly accented voice. It was predominately American, but there was something else there, something faintly exotic, which only added to his allure. "But it's going to take a lot more than fifty cents for me to buy you a drink."

He laughed, warmly and fished the money out of his pocket. "What's it worth?" he teased good-naturedly. "I mean, a pretty lady comes up to me out of nowhere and asks for my money, that has to be worth something, right?"

[Admin]

Oooh, an accent? Charming. Lee almost turned to jello as he pushed his sunglasses up and turned on his bright smile. "I beg to differ sir, the drinks are only a quarter each," Lee winked and pointed to the sweet tea stand with a self-manicured nail. She took his arm and began to lead him over, "but you'd save my life if you bought me a sweet tea, and I'd have to say my life is worth quite a bit. I'd be forever indebted to you."

"Two sweet tea's please," Lee smiled down to one of the little girls who poured two cups, trying hard not to spill. Handing the first to Lars before taking a sip of her own, she smiled over the rim of the cup at him. "You have saved my parched soul. Thank you so much."

Rogue watched the whole procession from the safety of numbers, quickly realizing that Lee would not be bringing her back a sweet tea. But the restored human didn't have the balls to pull a stunt like that - just walking up to a stranger and asking him to buy her a drink. Even if the drink was only a quarter. Sighing, she walked into the cool, air conditioned building with the rest of the Restoreds and set about their grocery list.

[airlock]

"You have saved my parched soul. Thank you so much."

Lars laughed.

When Lars laughed, other people found themselves joining in. His laughter was so unaffected that it was infectious and filled with nothing but warmth. "Varsågod," he said. "You're welcome. I'm glad to have saved your soul."

He took a sip of his own tea, despite the fact that he was more of a coffee man and pulled his glasses back down over his eyes as his brain started reminding him that he was quite severely hungover and if he didn't get into the shop Pretty Damn Quick and buy some morning after remedies, he was going to Regret it. Not just regret, but Regret.

"Ursäkta, excuse me," he said, "but I have to go into the shop and buy some bits and pieces, if you don't mind? Will you and your parched soul be OK out here?" His smile melted into something a little more serious. "If you needed money just to buy a tea, let me at least buy you breakfast when I come out."

[Admin]

Lee laughed along with him, not able to help it. "I actually have to go buy a few bites and pieces too, so I'll join you. Not that I would sit twenty feet away from air conditioning if I had the choice anyways. And I have money, but its all plastic, and unfortunatly those little girls don't take credit." She smiled reassuringly at him, not wanting this man to think she was poor (oh god, she didn't look poor did she?!).

"Comon in, I'll introduce you to my friend, Marie. Oh!" Lee covered her mouth dramitically with a hand before blushing and taking it away shyly. "I forgot that I was supposed to bring her a sweet tea as well. Would you mind sparing another quarter?" She looked up at him hopefully with a small smile playing at her lips.

[airlock]

She was cute to look at and sort of sweet, but her sudden exclamation made him visibly wince. His head was pounding more than he'd noticed. He was in severe danger of losing his cool.

"I forgot that I was supposed to bring her a sweet tea as well. Would you mind sparing another quarter?"

"Do I look like a bank? Here." He pulled out another quarter and grinned rather than smiled. Lars was a decent guy at heart. He could afford to be generous. He was reasonably well off, although he'd had to work hard - still worked hard for his cash. He was single, had little in the way of commitments, and enjoyed spending money on the finer things in life.

Like a twenty five cent cup of sweet tea.

His stomach roiled slightly as he remembered the desperate need for hangover remedy.

"I need to get buying," he said, his tone almost plaintive.

[Admin]

Oooh, crossed the line; Lee winced inside as she noticed the change. She took the coin from him with a reserved, but no less genuine, smile and thank him. "I'll see you inside then," she said casually enough, hoping that if she did see him inside he wouldn't be annoyed.

She drank her tea slowly, patiently waiting for the girls to pour her another plastic cup-full and letting the man get inside before slowly making her own way across the parking lot to the door. Oh! She hadn't even asked his name. That was a pity, but it wouldn't be the first time she'd let a handsome boy get away without finding out his name first. Besides, this was a small town - they'd probably run into each other again.

Fully rejuvinated by the time the automatic doors opened for her and let out the cool, refreshing air, Lee couldn't help but smile as she looked for her group. She spotted them without problem (they were a loud bunch) and handed over Marie's cup of sweet tea with a florish. "And I didn't even have to use any mutant powers," she smiled rougishly.

[airlock]

"I didn't even have to use any mutant powers..."

Somewhere, not a million miles away from where Lars was presently surveying the pharmaceutical offerings of this one horse town, someone said those words - and the voice seemed vaguely familiar.

He turned his head slightly, ignoring the rush of nausea this caused him. Was he in a shop with some mutants?

He moved a little closer. Yes, his instinct had been right: it was the girl he'd bought tea for outside. Obviously, if she had mutant powers, then it wasn't the ability to pull quarters out of thin air. He smiled, a genuine smile of warmth. He hadn't minded helping her out, after all, it was just that his stomach was really starting to desperately require a greasy fry up and half a gallon of Resolve.

Lars made a mental note to stay off the tequila in future.

He moved closer still, one ear on the conversation going on close to him.

[Admin]

Marie laughed at her friend's statement, "well that's good, since you don't have them anymore, and when you did have them you couldn't make them work to save your ass." She was joking of course, and the only response she got was a bright red tongue sticking out of Lee's mouth. That was the thanks she got for getting Marie a sweet tea? So be it, no more sweet tea.

Marie continued smiling as she sipped her tea and tried to calculate the approximate bill of the buggy that was currently growing heavier by the moment. "Cheetos? Can we buy generic please?"

"Everyone knows Cheetos are better than Cheesy Poofs," Lee threw back over her shoulder as she grabbed a few boxes of Cheezits to add to the cart. Marie grabbed a block of actual cheddar cheese and put it in her friend's hand with a raised eyebrow. Lee broke out laughing, "maybe I'm part french? I can't help that I like fake cheese flavor."

"Trust me, your not part french," Marie, who was part french, replied. "I'd make you eat brie if it weren't so damn expensive."

Still laughing, Lee started grabbing gallons of milk so they wouldn't run out this time. "How many, do you think?"

[airlock]

The words, "Well that's good, since you don't have them anymore, and when you did have them you couldn't make them work to save your ass." had a better, more immediate effect on Lars' self-inflicted condition than any amount of remedy could have achieved. He dropped all surreptitiousness and began to openly follow the little gaggle around the store. He stared from one to the other.

The girl he'd spoken to outside was probably one of the oldest there. One of them looked barely more than fifteen or sixteen years old.

They were Cured. Like he'd been.

Lars felt faintly odd, although that may have been the hangover.

He continued following them around, picking up the things they put back and dumping them in his basket. When the girl from outside stopped by the milk and started grabbing it by the bucket load and asked "How many, do you think?", Lars took his chance.

"As many as you need," he said, softly. "On me." He gave Lee and Marie his warmest smile that broked no argument. "I wouldn't mind having a chat with you. I - ah - I think I'm like you. Y'know."

[Admin]

"We don't need charity," Marie started, her pride winning out over her checkbook, but was cut off by the man's mention of being like them. "Ahhhh," she said slowly as the sentance dawned on her brain. "In that case, thank you. And we'd love to chat sometime."

"Indeed we would," Lee cut in with a smile, "I knew there was something about you. No Natural looks that good." She winked at him again and smiled, glad that he'd gotten over whatever she'd done to offend him outside. Marie shot her a glance that said "lay off it for a while, huh?" so Lee shut her mouth (for once) and smiled pleasantly at them.

"I think that's all of it," the older girl said as she riffled through the cart. They'd be lucky if they could carry all those gallons of milk home by themselves - they were lucky the Restored's from Xaviers had been trained well enough physically to have the strength to carry the milk gallons all the way back to Rogue's Place. Still feeling slightly bruised in the pride department, Rogue offered to go half on the groceries with Lars.

[airlock]

When Lars was confronted with the offer to go halves, he caved in slightly, not wanting to wound the girl's pride any more. He had quite a lot of that himself.

As they left the store, he hesitated. "Be right back," he said, with what could only be described as a sly grin. He dove back into the store and, a few short minutes later, returned with a carrier bag. "Hangover remedy," he said, ruefully. "The reason I came down here in the first place."

As well as the remedy, it turned out, he had two multipacks of Cheetos and a small block of Brie.

"I'm good at listening," he said, and it was a shade bashfully. "So - ah, hey - that conversation. Y'know. About what I may or may not...have been?"

[Admin]

"Oh my god," Lee squealed in delight at the Cheetos, "this man's a wish come true." Anticipating a look being thrown her way by Marie, she opened a box of cheetos and popped one in her mouth, smiling as she let them get down to buisness.

Marie smiled warmly at Lars after making sure with a look that Lee wouldn't interupt again. She recognized the beginning of what usually ended up as a long night talking with tea or coffee or whatever the other person's caffiene of choice may be. And the milk couldn't afford to sit out in what was very quickly becoming noon sun - they would have to talk quick or save it for another time.

"How about you walk with us?" Marie offered, "We're only a short ways down the road and when we get there we can talk more. Or, if you'd rather go sleep off your hangover I could meet you later?"

[airlock]

"How about you walk with us? "We're only a short ways down the road and when we get there we can talk more. Or, if you'd rather go sleep off your hangover I could meet you later?"

The man's face split into a grin. "I came out to buy something for my head and my stomach, and I find a gaggle of beauties offering to take me home. Is it possible to get any luckier? Hang on just a few moments."

He hauled a cellphone out of his jacket pocket. It was sleek and very small, a stylish brushed metal look to it. He pushed a few buttons and held it to his ear. "Oh, hi Annette, yes, it's Lars Anderssen. Listen, I ate something last night that didn't agree with me...going to stay in the motel today. Could you call Steve Harrison and tell him that I'm sorry, but the meeting will have to be postponed - I'll call him later." The man paused, listening to whatever 'Annette' had to tell him. "Tak, Annette, thank you. Ciao, ciao."

He hung up.

"Meetings," he said, a little bitterly. "The bane of my life."

[Admin]

(I typed up a whole post, and it took me so long because of work that it logged me out and I lost the entire thing. Teach me to play during work. I'll re-write it later :/)

[Admin]

(Trying again)

Marie had no intention of using Lar's for his money, but having a friend in high places never hurt anyone, and she was more than grateful for his generocity. And from the sound of things, he was pretty high up, and pretty generous.

Taking the momentary lull as he spoke on the phone to make sure Lee was currently occupied (she was, with her mouth full of cheetos and her eyes staring unabashedly at Lars), Marie waited patiently for him to hang up before smiling warmly. "Mr. Lars Anderssen? I'm Marie D'Ancanto, it's a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand, still a fairly new custom to her, and shook his.

"And I'm Lee," the blonde interjected with a smile, her mouthful of cheetos swiftly dealt with.

(god, they never sound as good the second time)

[airlock]

"Well, Miss D'Ancanto, and - Lee, it's very good to meet you." His smile was totally, utterly devastating and lit up his already handsome face spectacularly. He shook her hand warmly, the smile remaining on his face. He reached over to Lee's packet of Cheetos and snagged one out.

"I don't know about you young ladies," he said, looking up and down the street a little, "but the heat of the day is getting to me now. Not to mention that this Cheeto..." He held up the innocuous snack and surveyed it thoughtfully. "...represents the only thing I've had to eat since about nine last night. Can I carry anything for you?"

There seemed nothing at all odd, or creepy about the man's friendliness. He just seemed to be a nice guy.