ADORE ↠ b. barnes [III]

eighteen

WHAT DID THE LEFT EYE say to the right eye?"

"Jordan."

"No. He said: between us, something smells."

"Ha ha."

"What is a witch's favorite subject in school?"

"No one cares."

"Spelling."

"No offense, man. But your jokes su-"

"Are brilliant? Clever? Fantastic?" Jordan smirked at Pietro, who was holding a pillow on his face as he lied down on the ground.

Allura, Nadenka, Lana and Jordan were sitting in a circle with crossed legs, in the middle was a small box with cards on it— currently, a blue two.

Nadenka was watching the two in amusement as she held her UNO card in her hand; Pietro had already won so he was being attacked by Jordan's awful joke attempts.

"You should concentrate on your game instead of those jokes. You've got more cards, than Lana celebrity crushes." Nadenka spoke to the younger boy, Lana throwing the pillow next to her to the red head's face.

"Rude! I don't even have that many!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

"True. And you didn't grow up with her. Imagine that, twelve years of hearing his blue eyes this, and his green eyes that." Jordan mocked her, waving his hands as he spoke.

"I do not sound like that!"

"You kinda do, though." Allura joined in, her green eyes locking with Lana's as she turned to glare at her.

"No." They all sent her a look of disbelief and she rolled her eyes with a huff. "Alright, maybe. But even then, you don't have nearly as many cards for that comparison to make sense." Nadenka shrugged, placing her last card as she smirked at the others who groaned.

"Ah, victory. Suits me like a ring to a finger." Pietro snorted at this, removing the pillow from his face and placing it on his stomach, his black hair messy from it being against the carpet.

"Victory was mine, prinţesă. You're a magnificent second place, though." Princess. Nadenka sent him a small grin before leaning back and placing her head on the pillow. Pietro's hands immediately went to play with her hair and he shivered as he remembered how awful things had been when they were trying to give Nadenka her powers back.

He had almost lost her. Multiple times.

Out in space, her body had been too weak, without her abilities, her Jupiterian genetics mixed with her human ones were becoming lethal with everyday that went by. He could see the light fading in her eyes, and the color leaving her skin.

He never once saw hopelessness in her gaze, he saw some nostalgia when she discovered that if she were fully Jupiterian, she would be one of the five percent that could fly and go through atmospheres— but he could see extreme pain and disappointment and that hurt him just as much.

Her hair began falling, she coughed blood, and her and various machines became one in order to keep breathing... to keep living.

So, he allowed himself to look at her with a small smile, to admire her presence and be grateful that she didn't disappear with the rest.

And that, obviously, did not go unnoticed by Allura, who couldn't believe those two had met when Nadenka was "sixteen" and he was eighteen— since Pietro hadn't been in contact with Steve while she was growing up.