Scattered Memories All Around *OTA*

[time_schizo]

Now that they were finally leaving Russia, Martini found he was almost reluctant to leave the snow. Sure, it left him leaving uncomfortably cold and wet, and he did have to wear far too many layers over his gorgeous body, but he had come to enjoy the icy terrain. The isolation provided by the frozen tundra was something he would be sure to miss.

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[un_move_able]

Fred was in his element helping with the heavy lifting, except when one of the duffle bags on the top of a pile he was holding fell backwards and onto his face. He could not get anywhere if he could not see, and he hands - scratch that, his arms - were full.

"Little help here...?" he said, standing still.

[time_schizo]

If Martini heard Fred, he didn't give any indication of it. He was clearly off in his own little world. Still, something of what Fred said seemed to seep through. He blinked a little, slowly turning to face where Fred was standing.

"Hm? Oh I would, if you were really here. But are you here, or there, or maybe elsewhere. I can't be sure, y'know."

[un_move_able]

Damn it, of course Martini would make things difficult... Fred tried to shake his head and get the bag out of his face, but it stubbornly remained.

"Come on, Martini, please??" he begged.

[time_schizo]

Still lost within the depths of his own mind, Martini took his sweet time and ambled over to where Fred stood, a large duffel bag blocking his face. Martini stood there, tapping a foot as he thought.

"Hmmm. Do you promise you're real?"

[un_move_able]

Great, Martini was lost in his own world. Duke had gotten a little more used to this, but at the moment he could have done without it.

"How about I kick yer ass and prove I'm real?"

Then in a more serious, nicer tone. "Purty please?? With rainbow sprinkles?"

[time_schizo]

The threat, rather than having any ill effect, instead made Martini grin happily. "Hey, you are really real!" He doubted something that wasn't would try and intimidate him like that.

He nodded. "Okey dokey." Martini reached up and removed the offending bag out of Fred's face. "All better?"

[un_move_able]

"No bull," he muttered. He let out a sigh of relief when the duffle bag was removed. He looked down at Martini's grinning face.

"Thank you. Last thing I needed was to knock into somethin' and droppin' everything. You ready for this big move?"

[time_schizo]

Martini's ears picked up Fred's muttered response. He frowned a little. "Sometimes people aren't always right here for me. And I was busy watching Them when gravity decided to plant a bag on your face."

"That would have been funny as hell, but I'm not that mean." He bounced back and forth on the heels of his feet, talking fast. "Traveling with this team is one of the perks. First Africa, then Russia, and now Japan. Seems like we're making a tour of the continents."

[un_move_able]

"That is a weird coincidence," Fred remarked in an agreeing tone. Martini's mutation could not be helped after all.

The tour statement made Fred hum in deliberation as he put down the heavy crates in front of a growing pile.

"It's like we're the Rollin' Stones. Only we don't get no cheerin' crowds."

[time_schizo]

Martini picked up the bag and began hauling it away, dumping it on top of the pile Fred had dropped. His cheerful nature couldn't seem to be dampened. "We're just gonna have to change that lack of loyal fans, Freddy. From what I've heard, Japan is one of the few countries that doesn't seem to think mutants are scum of the earth. And seeing how they adore sumo wrestlers, you'll have it made on both accounts."

[un_move_able]

Dukes pursed his lips at the sound of sumo wrestlers. Great. More attention paid to his body, even positive, made him feel incredibly uneasy.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that." He picked up another big crate of arsenal and brought it to the pile.

[time_schizo]

Martini took a seat on the crates, perching there like some over sized cockatoo. He cocked an eyebrow at Fred's assertion. Never being one for tact, he flat out asked the question rolling around in his brain.

"Oh really? Dukes, when was the last time you got laid?"

[un_move_able]

Fred let the next crate he was holding land on another with a rather loud bang. He looked up at his team mate. If looks could kill...

"A long time ago. That's the only answer you're gonna get, nothin' personal."

It was not a threat, simply a sign that Dukes did not want to talk about the subject of his love OR sex life whatsoever, even to people he got along with.

[time_schizo]

Martini hopped from one crate onto another, just far enough out of the reach of Fred's arms. He knew that in a contest of brute strength, Fred won, hands down. He made a mental note to track down Betsy after they got to Japan. She had offered to help train him, and with his constant foot in mouth syndrome, he sorely needed it.

Still, Mark clearly was not getting the signal that Fred wished the subject to be dropped. "Perhaps if you fixed that, you might be a more cheerful fellow." He cocked his head, staring at Fred with that peculiar gaze of his, where he looked not so much directly at a person, but around them. "But I think the problem lies more in your heart than in your head."

[un_move_able]

Fred should have figured that Martini would not get the message, even when being more direct than usual with him. And being reminded of the situation he was in bothered him like nothing else. As if he could simply ask someone on a date... already he had been rebuked by several women in this team who were already mutants.

"What's that s'posed to mean?" he asked, confused and hurt at the same time.

[time_schizo]

Martini sat there on the crate, rocking back and forth ever so slightly. Being in a constant state of movement seemed to be a natural state for the time-manipulating mutant.

Martini didn't look Fred in the eye, instead looking elsewhere. His mind was off in a pleasant haze, and he was altogether there in the present any longer. "It means that physical companionship is not all you need. She broke your heart something awful, and it grew back crooked."