A Very Marvel Thanksgiving

[mendndefend]

Growing up, Thanksgiving in the McNeil household had always been a grand affair. With ten mouths to feed - more, in fact, on the few occasions the Twoyoungmens had joined them, not to mention whatever extended family had made their way out west on any given year - Heather had assisted in the preparation of the traditional dinner since she’d been

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[heatedrod]

Johnny was of the opinion that nobody should really spend the holiday season alone, but his own convictions only just barely got him out of his hut and over to the dinner Heather was throwing. (A Canadian throwing an American Thanksgiving dinner was a little strange, but he wasn't going to complain.)

He'd never spent a single Thanksgiving without Sue. No matter what they did, who they were with or where they were in life, they spent the day together and had dinner if they weren't off saving the world/galaxy/universe. Being surrounded by people he knew but not the one person he wanted drove every single point he'd been poring over since the fight with Rogue home. Keeping up appearances was easy, but Johnny wasn't up to the general merriment everyone else seemed to be feeling.

At least there was food.

[getemtiger]

Mary Jane was hesitant, at first, to approach Johnny. Even if she didn't have any idea what he thought about the whole breakup thing, he was Peter's best friend, and that really said a lot. Still, it was Thanksgiving, and he was there, and she would never know anything until she found out.

"Hey," she said as she walked up, her smile not quite up to par, though not for any lack of effort. She just couldn't get her heart in it, not here, not now. "Happy Thanksgiving."

[heatedrod]

"Happy Thanksgiving, kid," Johnny replied, looking about as excited to be around as Mary Jane did. He pulled her against his side in a one-armed hug, other hand holding his drink away. "How you feeling?"

He knew everything from Pete's side, but hadn't really gotten the chance to talk to Mary Jane about it. Not that he would now, of all places, but it was good to see her make an effort. At least he didn't feel so bad about his own mood now.

[getemtiger]

Mary Jane was admittedly relieved by the way he reacted, though she tried her best not to show it. There was no sense in making things potentially more awkward than they were already bound to be. Mostly, she just wanted to get through this without any unnecessary drama; knowing this crowd, that would be unlikely, but it remained true all the same.

"I've been better," she admitted, a little sheepish, because the way she saw it, there was no way for him not to know what had happened. Even though she was the one who'd left, it hadn't exactly been easy. "Keeping myself busy, though, helping get this together and all. How about you?"

[heatedrod]

"Doing alright," Johnny replied, about as honest he was going to get. Just because he had problems on Thanksgiving didn't mean he was going to dump anything on Mary Jane when she had a bunch of her own. "Little surprised the Canadian's the one throwing all this, but I'm good."

[getemtiger]

"Well, someone had to," Mary Jane said with a shrug, managing a smile, albeit self-deprecating. Not too long ago, it was the kind of thing she would have done, put together a whole Thanksgiving like this. She had a feeling he would understand why she hadn't. "And it wasn't without help from some of us Americans."

[heatedrod]

"Then I'm thankful for all you Americans," Johnny said, managing to dredge up a genuine smile for that much, at least. "And the Canadians, I guess."

[getemtiger]

"As you should be," Mary Jane replied, half-teasing, her own expression mirroring his before she could even realize it. She was pretty sure it was the closest to happy she'd looked in over a week. "Getting all this together wasn't easy, you know."

[heatedrod]

"You want me to heap on the praise, Red?" Johnny said, taking half a step back so he could give Mary Jane a proper look. "Cause last I heard, this was a gracious holiday. Or something."

Maybe that was Christmas.

[getemtiger]

"No, that's alright," Mary Jane replied with what was very nearly a laugh, but fell a little short. It was close enough, though, that she didn't think it would be noticeable. The fact of the matter was, just his talking to her was probably gracious enough. She just wasn't going to risk saying so. "If you want to start heaping some food on a plate, though, I can come with you."

[heatedrod]

Johnny gave the food table a quick scan, checking to see if Pete was there. He wasn't picking sides or anything as trivial as that; as far as Johnny was concerned, he was just looking to minimize any awkwardness that might crop up.

Or let Pete and Mary Jane do the awkwardness themselves without him getting caught in the middle.

"Yeah, food, I can so do right now."

[getemtiger]

Mary Jane smiled, though it was just a little force, then gestured with her head in the direction of the table with the food laid out on it. She wasn't stupid enough to know this wouldn't be at least a little awkward, but she had a feeling it would be even more so if she said anything about what had happened. Unsure though she may have been, she'd told Peter that she would come back. She didn't think they'd reached the point that they would have to split up friends.

"It's all great, trust me," she assured him, as lightly as she was able. "I'm not as good a cook as the others, but it definitely all came out good."

[heatedrod]

"Not a single doubt in my mind about that," Johnny said, smiling at Mary Jane. "So, Wolvie really hunted the...bird...down himself?"

Johnny had paid just enough attention at first only to know they definitely weren't eating turkey.

[getemtiger]

"That he did," Mary Jane confirmed, nodding. "Which should maybe surprise me, but it really doesn't. He's kind of a useful guy to have around."

It was entirely possible that she was biased, given that he had made the hut she spent most nights in. If not for that, her chances of being found would've been a whole lot greater.

[un_gloved]

"Storm," Rogue said quietly, coming up at his elbow although with a healthy amount of distance between them, arms crossed and face pretty impassive.

"Got a minute?"

[heatedrod]

"Yeah," Johnny said, after a long moment of not looking at Rogue as he thought it over. As long as she wasn't going to ask him to apologize or anything as ridiculous, he was fine.

He'd felt a little bad about the whole incident about two minutes after he'd walked away, anyway.