Grapes of Wrath
Title: Grapes of Wrath
Author:
cameroncrazed
Rating: G
Characters: ensemble, Sylar/Claire
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. None of the characters are mine. I also don't own the Nobel prizes.
Author's note: I mean no disrespect to the actual Nobel prizes. Enjoy!
Grapes of Wrath
After years of knowing each other, fighting with each other, and fighting beside each other, the so-called Heroes were as close as family. Were family, in some cases. Hiro had insisted, at first against everyone else’s refusals, that they have weekly get togethers. They needed to be able to instinctively know what the others were thinking, had to trust each other, and had to be able to work with each other. What better way than with game nights or movie nights? With much whining, he’d forced them to sit around Nathan’s overly large dining room table and play poker. The next week found everyone sitting there again without any prompting from Hiro.
As the years had dragged on, others had joined the group. Niki finally allowed her son to join the adults. Claire returned from college, and was immediately ensconced at the poker table in between her father and her uncle. After multiple fights, Mohinder relented to Matt, and Molly joined the group. A few years later, Claire’s husband joined the group, in addition to Heidi and Angela.
Besides the new additions, the group quickly expanded their repertoire from poker and action movies to include a variety of board games, other card games, and general revelry. They couldn’t imagine being at any other Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, or Fourth of July party.
The award-winning idea for this party had come from Molly. She had been fascinated by the Nobel Prizes, and had insisted that their little group award prizes as well. Thus, the first annual Walker Prizes were held. Gathered in the large family room in the Petrellis’ mansion, couples sat together on couches, children sat on pillows on the floor, and the room was filled with laughter and love.
Ando took center stage, and struggled to keep a straight face as he introduced himself and the impetus for the Prizes to his captivated crowd.
“For the first prize of the evening, we had quite a difficult decision to make. Two men, both highly involved in the medical field deserve this prize. The committee…” Ando had to pause as Hiro jumped to his feet and waved to the others. “As I was saying, the committee felt that it was in the best interest of the integrity of the prize to only award it to one. After careful thought, the first annual Walker Prize in Medicine goes to Peter! As the first recipient of the prizes tonight, I want to tell you exactly what you’ve won - two dollars and a bar of chocolate. Treasure them always.”
Everyone started laughing as Peter accepted his prizes, and a grape exploded between his eyes.
“Now, you stop that!” Claire’s voice clearly rang out. “I know you too don’t like each other, but there will be no more fruit fights. Am I clear on this?” The tone of her voice left no room for dissention. “Besides, these are my grapes - hands off, Mr. Grabby Hands!”
Nathan nudged his wife, and whispered in her ear, “She’s picked that tone up from you.” Heidi couldn’t stop the resulting giggle.
“Ahem.” Ando glared all the offenders. “If we may continue. Next, we have the prize for Physics. Again, it was a hard decision. The man who defies gravity and flies, or the man who can bend space and time to his will?” Hiro again waved to the rest of the crowd. Ando glared at him. “Nathan, you’ve won the prize. Mostly due to the fact that I don’t want this ham to have to give an acceptance speech.”
Hiro flicked one of his potato chips at Ando in response. He immediately looked back towards Claire. “Sorry, Miss Claire. I’ll behave better in the future?” He gave her a brilliant smile. She still growled at him.
Mohinder, Matt, and Niki were not going to be happy with the next prize. Ando knew this, so he forced Peter to be the one to announce the Chemistry prize. If nothing else, he had super-healing, he could deal with unhappy parents.
Peter briefly rolled his eyes, like he couldn’t believe what he had to put up with, but that didn’t stop him from saying “For the Chemistry prize, we decided to award the prize to the couple with the most chemistry, that have been caught by the most people, and in general, have no clue about what’s considered appropriate public displays of affection. Micah and Molly, could you please come accept your award?”
Molly blushed and hid her face against her boyfriend’s shoulder.
Sylar again flicked a grape at Peter. “You didn’t give us that award just because you don’t like me!” Another grape hit Peter.
Peter smirked. “Members of the committee have the prerogative to choose whomever they feel best fits the description of the prize. And yes, you’re right, I don’t like you.” He used his telekinesis to cause a grape to hurl itself at Sylar.
“You boys had better stop this, right now!” Claire was sick of playing referee between her uncle and her husband. “I want my grapes!”
Peter continued as if nothing had happened. “Next, we have the prize for literature. This was another tough category, seeing how none of us are writers. That left us with few options. Boys,” and he motioned to Monty and Simon, “please accept this award for the astonishingly bad English papers that you’ve been turning in lately. Yes, we know all about your talent for complete and utter bull-sh…” He rethought his words at the sharp glances from Heidi, Angela, and Claire. “Your ability to stretch two sentences of work into five pages?” That choice of phrasing was accepted by the women.
He continued. “Next, for Economics, there was no choice. The Petrelli women have shown that they are clearly gods and the rest of us mere mortals when it comes to shopping. Thank you, ladies, for supporting the economy of New York.” Angela and Heidi accepted the award, since Claire couldn’t move from the couch easily. Without any arguments, the chocolate bar went to Claire and the older ladies shared the money. Claire was so enraptured with her chocolate that she didn’t notice yet another grape disappear from her snack bowl and fling itself at Peter.
“The final prize of the evening is important to us all. The first annual Walker Peace Prize. The committee was unanimous in its decision that the award should go to the individual who has shown the biggest commitment to achieving world peace. She’s placed herself firmly between danger and the rest of us. She’s used her brains, her heart, and her body to block the darkness from attacking us all. The weight of the world rests on her shoulders, for she alone stands against evil. My dearest, darling niece, will you please accept this award? Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our last award winner, Ms. Claire Bennet Petrelli Gray.”
Claire just stared at him. “I’m sorry, what? What exactly did I do to deserve this?”
“Me”. Sylar whispered low in her ear as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
She could barely control her anger as she realizes that her uncle had taken yet another dig at the man beside her. The others know that it’s dangerous to mess with her, especially since her hormones were all out of whack due to her pregnancy, and that Peter has probably just pushed her too far. They slowly slid off their couches, scooted from their spots on the floor, and in general, slipped away from standing anywhere near Peter. Their caution was rewarded when all the rest of the grapes in the bowl flung themselves at Peter in a declaration of all-out-war.
Peter just stood there, the grapes dripping from his bangs onto his face. One large smashed grape slid down his arm and landed on the floor with a plop.
Claire smirks at him. “You do realize this means war, don’t you? Sylar, baby, feel free to go ahead and have that food fight now. Nathan, Heidi, as long as Peter cleans the room afterwards, do you object?”
Nathan’s only response was to flick one of his own raisinettes at his daughter.
The award session of the first annual Walker Prizes ended in an all-out food fight, just like every other party they threw.
Author:
cameroncrazed
Rating: G
Characters: ensemble, Sylar/Claire
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. None of the characters are mine. I also don't own the Nobel prizes.
Author's note: I mean no disrespect to the actual Nobel prizes. Enjoy!
Grapes of Wrath
After years of knowing each other, fighting with each other, and fighting beside each other, the so-called Heroes were as close as family. Were family, in some cases. Hiro had insisted, at first against everyone else’s refusals, that they have weekly get togethers. They needed to be able to instinctively know what the others were thinking, had to trust each other, and had to be able to work with each other. What better way than with game nights or movie nights? With much whining, he’d forced them to sit around Nathan’s overly large dining room table and play poker. The next week found everyone sitting there again without any prompting from Hiro.
As the years had dragged on, others had joined the group. Niki finally allowed her son to join the adults. Claire returned from college, and was immediately ensconced at the poker table in between her father and her uncle. After multiple fights, Mohinder relented to Matt, and Molly joined the group. A few years later, Claire’s husband joined the group, in addition to Heidi and Angela.
Besides the new additions, the group quickly expanded their repertoire from poker and action movies to include a variety of board games, other card games, and general revelry. They couldn’t imagine being at any other Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, or Fourth of July party.
The award-winning idea for this party had come from Molly. She had been fascinated by the Nobel Prizes, and had insisted that their little group award prizes as well. Thus, the first annual Walker Prizes were held. Gathered in the large family room in the Petrellis’ mansion, couples sat together on couches, children sat on pillows on the floor, and the room was filled with laughter and love.
Ando took center stage, and struggled to keep a straight face as he introduced himself and the impetus for the Prizes to his captivated crowd.
“For the first prize of the evening, we had quite a difficult decision to make. Two men, both highly involved in the medical field deserve this prize. The committee…” Ando had to pause as Hiro jumped to his feet and waved to the others. “As I was saying, the committee felt that it was in the best interest of the integrity of the prize to only award it to one. After careful thought, the first annual Walker Prize in Medicine goes to Peter! As the first recipient of the prizes tonight, I want to tell you exactly what you’ve won - two dollars and a bar of chocolate. Treasure them always.”
Everyone started laughing as Peter accepted his prizes, and a grape exploded between his eyes.
“Now, you stop that!” Claire’s voice clearly rang out. “I know you too don’t like each other, but there will be no more fruit fights. Am I clear on this?” The tone of her voice left no room for dissention. “Besides, these are my grapes - hands off, Mr. Grabby Hands!”
Nathan nudged his wife, and whispered in her ear, “She’s picked that tone up from you.” Heidi couldn’t stop the resulting giggle.
“Ahem.” Ando glared all the offenders. “If we may continue. Next, we have the prize for Physics. Again, it was a hard decision. The man who defies gravity and flies, or the man who can bend space and time to his will?” Hiro again waved to the rest of the crowd. Ando glared at him. “Nathan, you’ve won the prize. Mostly due to the fact that I don’t want this ham to have to give an acceptance speech.”
Hiro flicked one of his potato chips at Ando in response. He immediately looked back towards Claire. “Sorry, Miss Claire. I’ll behave better in the future?” He gave her a brilliant smile. She still growled at him.
Mohinder, Matt, and Niki were not going to be happy with the next prize. Ando knew this, so he forced Peter to be the one to announce the Chemistry prize. If nothing else, he had super-healing, he could deal with unhappy parents.
Peter briefly rolled his eyes, like he couldn’t believe what he had to put up with, but that didn’t stop him from saying “For the Chemistry prize, we decided to award the prize to the couple with the most chemistry, that have been caught by the most people, and in general, have no clue about what’s considered appropriate public displays of affection. Micah and Molly, could you please come accept your award?”
Molly blushed and hid her face against her boyfriend’s shoulder.
Sylar again flicked a grape at Peter. “You didn’t give us that award just because you don’t like me!” Another grape hit Peter.
Peter smirked. “Members of the committee have the prerogative to choose whomever they feel best fits the description of the prize. And yes, you’re right, I don’t like you.” He used his telekinesis to cause a grape to hurl itself at Sylar.
“You boys had better stop this, right now!” Claire was sick of playing referee between her uncle and her husband. “I want my grapes!”
Peter continued as if nothing had happened. “Next, we have the prize for literature. This was another tough category, seeing how none of us are writers. That left us with few options. Boys,” and he motioned to Monty and Simon, “please accept this award for the astonishingly bad English papers that you’ve been turning in lately. Yes, we know all about your talent for complete and utter bull-sh…” He rethought his words at the sharp glances from Heidi, Angela, and Claire. “Your ability to stretch two sentences of work into five pages?” That choice of phrasing was accepted by the women.
He continued. “Next, for Economics, there was no choice. The Petrelli women have shown that they are clearly gods and the rest of us mere mortals when it comes to shopping. Thank you, ladies, for supporting the economy of New York.” Angela and Heidi accepted the award, since Claire couldn’t move from the couch easily. Without any arguments, the chocolate bar went to Claire and the older ladies shared the money. Claire was so enraptured with her chocolate that she didn’t notice yet another grape disappear from her snack bowl and fling itself at Peter.
“The final prize of the evening is important to us all. The first annual Walker Peace Prize. The committee was unanimous in its decision that the award should go to the individual who has shown the biggest commitment to achieving world peace. She’s placed herself firmly between danger and the rest of us. She’s used her brains, her heart, and her body to block the darkness from attacking us all. The weight of the world rests on her shoulders, for she alone stands against evil. My dearest, darling niece, will you please accept this award? Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our last award winner, Ms. Claire Bennet Petrelli Gray.”
Claire just stared at him. “I’m sorry, what? What exactly did I do to deserve this?”
“Me”. Sylar whispered low in her ear as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
She could barely control her anger as she realizes that her uncle had taken yet another dig at the man beside her. The others know that it’s dangerous to mess with her, especially since her hormones were all out of whack due to her pregnancy, and that Peter has probably just pushed her too far. They slowly slid off their couches, scooted from their spots on the floor, and in general, slipped away from standing anywhere near Peter. Their caution was rewarded when all the rest of the grapes in the bowl flung themselves at Peter in a declaration of all-out-war.
Peter just stood there, the grapes dripping from his bangs onto his face. One large smashed grape slid down his arm and landed on the floor with a plop.
Claire smirks at him. “You do realize this means war, don’t you? Sylar, baby, feel free to go ahead and have that food fight now. Nathan, Heidi, as long as Peter cleans the room afterwards, do you object?”
Nathan’s only response was to flick one of his own raisinettes at his daughter.
The award session of the first annual Walker Prizes ended in an all-out food fight, just like every other party they threw.