&&; magic we made

“Wait what?” Pietro asked, “Sorry, I zoned out for a second. Were you talking to me?”

@marthaxpcppins

“Just warning you of the giant puddle that you’ve already walked through- let me guess, you’re just realising that your foot is now feeling rather wet.” Martha teased gently.

Gage let his eyes wandered down, looking over the other’s outfit, the mess of clothing that she now wore. However, it was obvious that it was more than a simple once over. It was clear he was checking her out, and he smirked. “May I ask what you do to get so messy on a regular basis?” he asked, turning to grab some napkins for her. He handed them to her casually. 

“Professional mud wrestler.” She managed to get out with a straight face, before dissolving into a light laughter moments later. “I’m a nanny, small children would rather throw food at me then eat, but then again they also like to cover me in paint, juice, putty and anything else that causes a mess.”

The school year was close to starting, which meant that Gage had a lot of meetings to attend for leadership and other, what he believed to be, unnecessary topics that were the same every year. He rarely could stay awake in them, which meant that he regularly stop at the local cafe to caffeinate himself strong enough to keep his eyes open. Coffee in hand, he walked through the door, only to knock into someone coming into the cafe, his coffee spilling on his black t-shirt, burning his skin. “Shit,” he cursed, picking his hands up, allowing the hot fabric to peel off his abdomen. He cursed again and looked up at the person, “You good?” he asked gruffly. 

Martha let out a noise when she collided with the other, feeling as the hot liquid hit her skin causing her to let out a small grumble, looking to her shirt she sighed at the small specks that landed there. “Sure, nothing I’m not used to. In fact coffee is better then what I’m used to- I apparently can’t even stay clean until I reach my job these days. Who knew.”

“Oh no! I’m truly not that great of a dancer…” Eve insisted, a blush growing on her face, as she attempted to pull back her hand, “I wouldn’t wanna embarrass you…”

“Well trust me when I say that it takes a lot to embarrass me and if it helps, I’m not a great dancer either. If anything it’s going to be stepping on feet left, right and centre. It’ll be fun, promise.”

“It is, isn’t it?” she chuckled slightly. “Do you have a favorite flavor?” Ophelia asked as they made their way towards a stand selling ice cream.

“Can I say all of them, because I don’t think there’s a flavour I’ve come across that I haven’t liked.” Martha commented, “But I am going to go controversial and say vanilla, only because it’s a classic.”

“I think I’m in the mood for an ice cream right about now,” Ophelia admitted, thinking aloud a little in the way she had spoken. “Would you be interested or is there something else you’ve got your eye on?”

@marthaxpcppins

“Well you know me and my sweet tooth, I’m never going to say no to ice cream. I mean, it is one of the best desserts and snacks out there. So I saw let’s do it.”

“Oh no! Shit!” Jazzy gasped as her flyers blew away from her booth in front of the store. She chose the wrong day for charity with such unpredictable gusts of wind. She looked up at the closest person as she tried to catch all the papers. “Wait! Could you catch that please?! I can’t let them fly away!”

Martha looked to the other and to the pieces of paper flying around, jumping up and catching the stray flyer that seemed to be coming her way. “You maybe should have done this inside-” She couldn’t help but commented, moving with the wind and trying her best to pick up as many pieces of scattered sheets as she good. “I think we may have lost a couple, but all in all most survived. Here- maybe put a rock on top of them.”

“Better than crayons.” she grinned at the other as she rubbed her forehead. “I used to babysit for a rich family in town and there bratty 3 year old would always throw crayons at my head.” a small sigh escaped her lips as she thought of where she was now. “I know a lot of teachers use fear to get the control they need in classrooms so no judgement from me.” she shrugged her shoulders as she thought about the peanut butter. “If only peanut butter was good for your skin, it would be a win win.”

“Oh I don’t know about that, at least crayons don’t get stuck in your hair for a week.” Martha commented before scrunching up her nose a little, “I’m not sure fear is the word that I’m going for, more like just a little bit of respect. And maybe it is, still, I’d rather it stay on their plates or in their mouths and not on me.”

“Or cinnamon! But that depends on the flavors I suppose,” Harvey said with a smile, “Probably a good idea. I don’t ever think something is perfect, it can always be improved. So I can’t let my ego get the best of me,” He paused and gestured for her to take what was in front of them, “Go for it.”

“I’ve come to learn that cinnamon is an acquired taste, me and some of the kids I look after made cinnamon cookies once, the faces they pulled when they bit into them. Well it was clear they were far from a fan.” She chuckled, though she happily ate them and made them a batch of chocolate chip instead. “Thanks- you know, I’m going to keep coming back to you if you keep letting me sample your creations.”

“You’re right. Absolutely,” Harvey said as he was adding it, “I think I might go for icing sugar first. It’s always a good topping,” He put some on top, “Try it now,” He said, holding the pastry out.”

“Sweeter too, but you’re right, it truly is the perfect topping to any cake or pastry. In doubt, use icing sugar.” She chuckled, taking the pastry from the other and biting into it. “That’s practically perfect- ... I mean I would say perfect but I don’t want to inflate your ego too much. Can I have the rest of this?”

“Sugar sounds like a good idea,” Harvey said as he reached for the jar of it, “Let me try that.”

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s good- it’s just a little tart. Sugar ought to sort that right out for you.”

“That’s quite alright, i promise to not hold it against you.” she joked. “Maybe not ethical but it’s necessary, how are they supposed to get function without sleep.” she offered the brunette a kind smile. “You were just tricking them into giving them the best chance at enjoying the next day.” she nodded her head as she started to convince herself. “If i was in your shoes i would of done the same thing.”

“They don’t, they just get grumpy and throw peanut butter at you the next morning.” Martha chuckled, though she often complained about how gruelling her job was, she wouldn’t change it for the world. “I think they saw it as a threat more then a trick, maybe that’ll give me a little more respect in their eyes though. Who knows.”

Anna chuckled. “I know that feeling— though not like you I’m sure,” she said, adding the latter of the sentence in after thought. “Guests aren’t quite the same as children” she admitted.

“That was a long time ago…” Benjamin spoke, sounding a little wistful as he recalled the memories with a smile on his lips. “Alright. Come on. Let’s get them comfortable and I’ll see whether we can settle them.” He agreed, moving to entertain the other child with the same enthusiasm he always seemed to have for everything he did but especially towards children.

“Maybe, but I believe you’ve still got it.” Martha commented, because she knew the other, even after a couple of beers in the pub he’d be spouting off stories and putting a bit more of a twist on them. “You are a life saver and I owe you one.” Martha all but beamed, raising on her tip toes to place a small kiss of thanks to his cheek before closing the door behind him and calling for the children to the living room for a special surprise.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Harvey said tasting the food, “Something is missing, I just can’t tell what it is.”

“Maybe just a tad more sugar-..” Martha commented as she chewed in thought. “No more than a spoonful though.”

Ben looked between the woman and the children for a moment, finally cracking with a slight sound of uneasiness before nodding his head. “I know… I’m surprised you have to ask me but what is it you want me to do?” He asked.

“You’re good at stories, I remember you were able to get me to sit down and listen when you told them to me when I was younger- I was hoping that it’d have the same effect on them.”