Between a Rock and a Hard Shell

[hellfire_empath]

Two turtles down, two more to go. Brooke was beginning to get convinced that Pete wasn't going to show up until she'd had a go with each of the turtles.

The first time, there had been the horrible failure of a pizza. The second time had gone considerably better, if somewhat cryptic.

Third time was the charm, right? At least, Brooke hoped it was. Rachel was going to kill her if she didn't follow through with this, and the last thing that Brooke wanted was to be incinerated by whatever spark of the Phoenix it was that Rachel possessed.

So, here Brooke was, this time armed with a picnic basket - really, food was the only way that Brooke could figure out a way to connect with a teenage mutant - and a smile on her face.

Once more, she knocked on Pete's door and waited. 

Comments

[hellfire_empath]

Part of a crew. She had to be part of a crew.

What was this, 1995? Was she suddenly a castmember of Clueless?

She shook her head and handed a sandwich to Porthos.

"Let me guess. My reputation preceded me and I've terrified the turjeezus out of him?"

[fourshelled]

Porthos shrugged. "Not sure, but mutants freak him out."

He took the sandwich and glanced at the mansion. "Also, high school. Everybody chatters. So mutants in school? Scary times two."

He took a bite out of the sandwich. He gave her a tasty thumbs up as he chewed.

[hellfire_empath]

"Of course they do," Brooke sighed. A mutant terrified of his own self.

Rachel was really giving Brooke the hard stuff to deal with.

Being scared of school, okay, Brooke could understand that. She was pretty much a terror herself.

But being afraid of who you were? That was something she couldn't connect with.

"That has to be rough on the poor guy's psyche."

[fourshelled]

The turtle ate his sandwich. He paused between bites.

"Not sure, but you swim to the same wave everyone else here goes to. He surfs a different one."

He shrugged and finished up his sandwich. "What's being a mutant cost you?"

[hellfire_empath]

Brooke looked down at her lap at that. She wasn't detectably a mutant. There were no physical mutations on her. Even when she used her powers, there were no obvious signs about her person that anything was happening. No glowing eyes, no aura of power, no wind effect coming from seemingly nowhere. She'd learned an old phrase for what she was back in history class.

Passing.

Brooke could pass for a baseline human.

Pete, conceivably, couldn't, much in the way that neither Hank McCoy nor Kurt Wagner were able to. Even Colossus was able to hide his mutation when he wanted to.

Pete couldn't even control his yet.

Brooke closed her eyes. Yes, she'd had some issues. A mother who wanted to live her dreams through Brooke. A father who she hadn't known had existed until recently, and who still managed to be mostly absent. No real friends until Stephanie Shaw had come into her life.

But none of that probably compared to what Peter went through. None of it could.

"Point taken and noted."

[fourshelled]

He grabbed his cherry limeade and took a big sip.

"He's got some serious pucker factor. Me? It's all good. The glass axe don't hang over my head. Don't let it get you down, wahine. Just use it to forecast which wave to rip."

[hellfire_empath]

"I'm not down? I'm just..." Brooke paused and took a sip of the cherry limeade. "Confused? Concerned. Rachel's worried about Pete, and to be completely honest? I'm starting to understand why. I don't know him personally either, but I get it." She nodded, then, and slid over some of the hummingbird cupcakes. "But I'm a patient enough woman."

[fourshelled]

He snagged one of the cupcakes. He eyed it to make sure there were no iridescent wings sticking out of it. When it looked clear of actual humming bird. He took a bite.

He nodded and then swallowed. "For sure. Little dude's stuck inside the rinse cycle."

[hellfire_empath]

"Well, I've got some dryer sheets on hand for when he's ready to tumble dry," Brooke said wryly. "Lavender-scented and everything."