Neutral Omens

Pepper grinned viciously. "Do you realize how terrible it woulda been if we'd a known this was here when we were kids?"

She stepped cautiously out onto the grass. "Feel kinda cheated, don't you?"

From:

"Oh, Pepper, Brian, you found it!" exclaimed Adam as he stepped out to join his friends, eyes shining happily. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

From:

There he was. Pepper took a deep, steadying breath as she felt things start to click back into place. Maybe Wensley would find them in a day or so, and then....

"Did you actually hear me call you, or did your superpowers let you know you were needed to play?" She ran to the center of the glade and flopped down on the grass, looking up at the dark patch of sky that was allowed in the absence of cluttering trees. "So how long were you plannin' on keepin' this from us?" she teased.

From:

Adam shrugged and smiled. "Dunno," he said, meaning that he just wasn't going to say.

"People've gotta find the neat stuff by adventurin'. How much cooler was it that you found it on your own rather than bein' shown?"

From:

"I thought it was cooler," Brian said loyally.

From:

Hmph. If Adam was going to be cryptic than she would be too. Not fair of him to keep them out so much if he was the one calling them back there. Pepper wasn't sure she'd completely forgiven him for it, even if it was just a 'suggestion' he'd given her.

She did like the fact that she had found it on her own, he was right about that. But Brian could tell him. Pepper didn't feel like giving in at the moment, and stayed silent.

From:

"S'quiet," Brian said, whispering unconciously. "Looks soft."

he flopped down in the groundcover with a sigh.

From:

Turning a brilliant smile on Brian, Adam sat beside him, one arm across his shoulders. "'m glad, Bri."

He was quiet for a moment, appreciating the view, then he patted the ground next to him in an invitation to Pepper to join them. Appropos of not much, he said, "Know what? I really missed you two."

From:

"I missed you guys, too," Brian said. Almost unnecessarily-- the flying tackles usually cued people in. Still, if he couldn't state the obvious, what good was he?

"Imagine if we'd found this place as kids? We could've played Pirates saving the Rainforest."

From:

Adam laughed. "With three milk crates as our pirate ship and Wensley bein' the evil developer wantin' to cut down the rainforest and build a shoppin' mall. I'd let you have the eyepatch this time, Brian, if I could have a hook hand and Pepper a wood leg."

From:

"Wicked!" Brian had often envied the eyepatch. He'd rarely got to be a fun pirate-- his costumrey attempts had mostly involved stealing his mum's scarves and tying them on his heaad.

From:

Brian had looked awfully funny with those flower printed pirate bandannas. That's probably why he never got the eyepatch.

Adam looked up. "C'mon, Pep, sit down. How would you stop the evil developer from cuttin' down the rainforest? Can you think of somethin' piratey?"

From:

Damn Them and their contagious... she sighed and took her place at Adam's right, sitting on his fingers to let him know that he wasn't completely in the clear yet.

"Well, pirates ain't much for protestin', so I'd reckon that our plan would require use of the long guns. Or we could keel-haul 'im." Then she recalled one memorable holiday when they'd put Dog in a dress and he'd chewed it off. "Or! We could find his lady love an' hold 'er for ransom!"

From:

"Who's Wensley's lady love gonna be then, if we three are pirates?" asked Adam, trying to look innocent. "Maybe the evil developer can just fall in love with one of the pirates and change his mind about cuttin' down the rainforest. That way we don't hafta hold anyone for ransom and can just focus on the keel-haulin'."

From:

Pepper snorted. "Well, you know how it goes, I ain't gonna be no one's lady love. 'Specially not Wensley's. An' you can't be it 'cause your the Captain, and the Captain can't be fallin' in love with developers 'cause they don't mix right."

She peered around Adam, where a still-sweating figure gleamed in the low light. "What 'bout you, Brian? You wanna be the lady love, so we can skip straight to the keel-haulin'?"

From:

Brian suddenly fell silent, looked away.

"...that's silly. The villain don't need a lady love."

From:

Brian was being awfully quiet, but Pepper had a habit of continuing to talk even when she knew she shouldn't, so she pressed him. "Sure he needs a lady love. That's the new thing, haven't you heard? Villian's got to have depth now, otherwise he's borin'. So he's gotta have a love, or a really nasty past where his dad beat 'em or somesuch."

She really didn't get what the big deal was. Wouldn't be the first time Brian had to be the girl.

From:

"It ain't gonna be me," Brian said shortly, and stood up.

Wensleydale and lady loves... maybe he'd devoted some thought to the subject. Not play, either.

Thing was, Wensley was likely to want one, eventually. Brian, on the other hand, would rather have a lordly love, and more than THAT, he'd rather have Wensleydale.

"Wensley's my friend."

From:

Pepper blinked confusedly. She wasn't used to Brian being snippy like that. She hoped that his time away hadn't turned him into a big man with PMS. She didn't think she could take any of the male portion of the Them having worse mood swings than her.

"Yeah, Wensley's my friend too, wanker," she exclaimed jovially. "That's not we're talkin' about, though. We're talkin' about pirates" She looked to Adam to back her up, to catch the expression on his face. Was there something she was missing? Did someone have a fight and she didn't know about it?

From:

"...right."

Brian frowned in concentration for a moment. And then another.

His face cleared. "I can't be his lady love if I'm bein' a pirate. So he'll have to have a tortured past, 'nstead."

From:

Adam glanced between Brian and Pepper, letting some interesting pieces drop into place.

"All right," he decreed. "Nothin' sayin' the lady love can't be a pirate, too, but Brian dun't hafta be the one if he dun't want. I don't wanna give Wens a tortured past, though. How 'bout he has a pet jaguar from the rainforest and the three pirates hold him for ransom?"

From:

"An' Dog can be the pet jaguar!" Pepper added excitedly. She was a little put out that he couldn't have a tortured past, but a jaguar was just as good really.

She looked up at Brian, hoping that was all right and he wasn't feeling morbid anymore. "How's that Brian? Think Wensley wants a pet jaguar?"

From:

"Yeah!" Brian liked the idea a lot better, and took to it with enthusiasm. "Named Bagheera or something."

From:

Pepper smiled. "Sure! Bagheera could work real good." She wondered if Brian had been reading the same books she had while they were away.

And because he was still standing, she crawled forward and tackled him, pulling his legs out from underneath him and sending him flying.

From: