𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐓 (X-Men ~ Peter Maximoff)

A Spring Step

Spring was a beautiful time – the grass regained its green pigment, flowers started to show off their colourful petals, animals were born under the clear blue sky and the days grew longer and warmer. The air seemed to weigh less than it had done in the previous months, the faint scent of pollen drifting effortlessly in a cool breeze.

Weeks of work at the record store seemed to fly by, the by-product of being completely swarmed with jobs that needed to be done. With the new season beginning, flocks of people entered the store in search for new music to replace the old records they had tossed out or donated during their spring cleans, which meant that every hour or so Jennifer was forced to open a new box of records to replace the ones that had been taken from the shelves.

Saturdays were by far the busiest day of the week, though Jennifer had never experienced the full scale of it, her shift ending at noon. Originally she had worked every available hour there was for optimum money, but with school and the ever growing pile of homework she had decided to change her shifts about, now working five hours after school and on a Saturday morning. Luckily, Will had found someone to work the weekend – Rosie, a freshman girl looking for work experience. She seemed like a nice enough person but Jennifer hadn't really gotten the chance to speak to her much, their shifts only overlapping ever so slightly.

On this particular Saturday in the middle of March, two plumbers had been in the store for hours – not buying anything but instead trying to fix the radiators that refused to turn off. The issue had started yesterday, and Will had originally believed that the new timer system had slipped up and that they would turn off. Oh, how wrong he had been. Now, the store was a sauna, and their only counter-measure was having every single door and window wide open, but the breeze hardly budged the air.

The heat didn't stop customers from coming in though, in fact only one or two people commented on it, their compulsive need to shop overpowering the extreme temperatures. Will had seen this turn of events as an opportunity to wear his matching Hawaiian shirt and shorts, much to everyone's distain.

Nevertheless, it seemed that Jennifer was the only one who was struggling with the high temperature – the result of living in Scotland for sixteen years. Every ten minutes or so she had to go outside to cool off, which was definitely hindering her work progress. And to make matters worse, Rosie was yet to arrive for her shift that had officially started twenty minutes ago.

Feeling another wave of heat hit her, Jennifer dropped her head in shame as she felt her feet begin to pull her towards the door. This was not how she imagined her day going. Halfway to the door, she bumped into something, or more accurately, someone.

As a result of the collision, Jennifer stumbled back, the extra weight of her wing tucked away in her back pulling her towards the floor as she went. Thankfully, she didn't fall. Her hand was latched onto someone else's. Recovering from her panic, Jennifer's eyes made their way up the strangers' hand, and when they reached their face, Jennifer saw that the person wasn't anybody.

It was Peter.

He pulled her up carefully. "Hey, are you alright?"

Jennifer could tell that he wanted to say something else instead, but she didn't ask. Too focused on finding her footing. "Yeah, thank you."

Looking up at Peter, she noticed just how close they were standing to each other, and the coolness in her hand suggested Peter was still holding it. It seemed like Peter realised this too, both of them taking a sub-step back and averting their gaze at the same time.

"Sorry," Jennifer spoke, remembering what had landed them in that situation. Peter slightly titled his head to the side in confusion. "For bumping into you," she explained, gaining a nod from him. "So... what brings you here?"