The sun hadn't come up yet when I woke up this morning, as usual. What was unusual was that I was not alone. Kioni's quiet knock echoed through my room, so low that I was pretty sure if I wasn't a mutant I wouldn't have heard it. She always decided to visit before 5 in the morning, but not for the usual, fun reasons that women normally sneak in a man's room for. She wanted to plot. Don't get me wrong, this was fun too, but honestly, being someones fake boyfriend is all the stress of a relationship without physical gratification.

And if there's anything I am all about, it's physical gratification.

But I sucked it up, because if this worked, I might be getting some soon. Or at least eventually. Either way works. But I hope it's soon. A man's got needs you know.

I opened the door and she swept in, her robe billowing slightly behind her. She always showed up in her pajamas and let me tell you, in a warm environment with no air conditioning, pajamas don't consist of much fabric. Which honestly, was not helping my needs. Her robe was a weak excuse for a cover up; it was thin and everything, and I mean everything was clearly outlined. It was like having a Christmas present sitting on your bed and not being able to unwrap it.

Damn her. She had to know what she was doing.

I fired back of course, forgoing wearing a shirt, because I always have to have the upper hand. It's a big part of who I am. That and six-pack abs. Or at least, I think it is. It might not have been, but I decided last week that I should add that to my personality traits. There are some minor advantages to being amnesic. Picking out personality traits is one of them.

I pried myself away from my thoughts in time to listen to what Kioni was saying. She had flounced in my room, sat herself on my bed and was now adjusting her robe slightly. I noticed immediately that her hair had changed; it was in small, intricate braids that twisted back from her forehead in a swirly pattern. I had to admit that it looked nice. It looked great in fact, but I'm guessing it had taken a lot of time to get it that way. And seeing as her fiance was supposed to be showing up later on today, I guessed it was for his benefit.

I didn't like that at all. That was a hella lot of work for a man you didn't want to marry. I was going to have to mess those braids up a little bit. I had an idea as to how.

"He should be here in the evening," Kioni was saying.

"No hello?" I asked, mainly to get a rise out of her, but slightly, and secretly, offended. "Always right to business with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Good morning, Wade," she said pointedly.

"Good morning," I gave her a huge smile. "Nice hair. And how are you feeling today?"

"I'd be feeling much better if I knew I wasn't going to be traded like a goat." I snickered.

"You're much prettier than a goat. Goats are smelly. Personally, I'd rather have you." I gave her what could almost be a leer. I had a theory about her, see, and I enjoyed testing it as much as I could. She shuffled uncomfortably and scooted a little further from me. Hmmm...

"Anyway, how are we going to pull this off?" She changed the subject completely, still not looking at me.

"How about something obvious?" I suggested, letting my thoughts run even further away with me. "For instance, I'm pretty sure making out in front of him might get the point across." I accompanied my words with a lovely mental image. She scooted even farther back.

"Too obvious. We could just get caught holding hands or something..." She picked a spot on the wall and was staring at it intently.

"That's not going to do it," I closed the distance between us. "It's not drastic enough." She tried to move back, but I grasped her wrist. "And also, we never discussed what was in it for me."

She looked nervous."What are you talking about?"

"No one does a favor for nothing. Especially not me. So again, what do I get if I help you with this?" I leaned forward. I knew how intimidating I was when I invaded people's space. I could bully anyone into almost anything. She was no exception.

"How about I help you get back your memory?" she tried to keep her voice calm, but it wavered ever so slightly.

"And how are you going to do that?" I grinned at her. "Do you read minds or something?"

She looked panicked for a moment, but recovered. "I have ways," she said mysteriously.

"What if I don't want my memory back? What if I want something more tangible?" She looked baffled; her eyes opened wide in shock. Then her expression hardened.

"Like what? Money? Fine you can have whatever you like but-" I successfully cut her off by pulling her in and crushing her lips to mine. I held her there for a moment, laughing inwardly at how she went stock still for a second then began squirming. I was stronger though and held her in place. It wasn't really a kiss. My lips weren't moving and neither were hers, but I think I got my point across. I was distracted from my thoughts when I felt a sudden, searing pain.

She had bitten me. On the mouth of all places. I let her go, amused at the lengths she would go to not to kiss me. I had a sneaky suspicion that she was one of a few women who felt this way about my kisses. I was going to have to change that.

"Did you just bite me?" I asked, half laughing. "I'm not that bad of a kisser am I?" An iron-like taste filled my mouth and I wiped a drop of blood on the back of my hand. I was still smiling when I noticed that she was staring at me intently.

Shit. I knew in an instant that the cut on my lip was healing rapidly before her eyes. My secret was out.

"You're a mutant." It wasn't an accusation, but a statement of fact. There was no lying or sweet talking my way out of this one.

So I fired back with a statement of my own. "So are you." She surprised me by no denying it or looking incredulous.

"How do you know?" In lieu of an answer I thought a sudden, very dirty thought about how I'd like to rip her robe off. She flushed immediately.

"That's how." She nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer. "So what are you," I asked her, "a telepath? Do you read thoughts?"

"Desires." She said.

"Desires?" I repeated.

"Yes. I can sense people's desires. It's how I read a person. You can tell a lot about the character of a person judging by what they most desire. For instance, when you first came we let you stay because I couldn't sense anything negative. I still can't. You only wanted answers. But recently, your desires have...shifted." she blushed again as she said this.

"To what?" I egged her on.

"You know what." she snapped. I laughed.

"I knew you could sense it." I fell backward in mirth.

"So you were doing it on purpose?" she sounded relieved. I sat up again and leaned in.

"Doesn't mean I don't really want those things." I whispered in her ear. I felt her shiver and she stood up abruptly.

"So what can you do?" she asked me.

"So far? That I know of? Let's see..." I ticked them off on my fingers. "I can heal, run fast, have super human reflexes and enhanced senses. That's all I know of, for now." she looked impressed.

"You have all of that? My sister and I only have one each..."

"Wait, wait, wait." I stood up too. "Akina is a mutant too?"

"Shh," she put a finger to her lips. "It's a secret. No one is to know. If they did, it could cause many problems."

"Relax. No one is awake yet," I said impatiently. "I would have heard them."

She sighed. "Yes. Akina senses emotions. Between the two of us, we can figure out almost anything about anyone's character." I nodded; it made sense. It also explained why they let me stay. I had better keep my desires in check. "Which is why," she continued, "my offer still stands. We can try to help you piece together your past, if you help me now." she looked at me expectantly.

"Fair enough. But we need to get caught kissing" she opened her mouth, "And I'm not just saying that because you are really hot," I gave her a once over and paused. "We need to plant seeds of doubt, hang out a lot, whisper, I'll get caught leaving your room or something like that, and when we've got him suspenseful, I'll kiss you where he's sure to walk in. And that will be that."

Kioni looked like she was going to protest, but then thought about it. "That could work..." she mused.

"It will work. Give me some credit. I'm a genius." she looked skeptical.

"Alright. We will try it."

"We can practice kissing if you like. Biting me isn't going to convince this guy that we have something going on." She smacked me hard in the arm and I smirked.

"Never kiss me like that again. And please, I will keep your secret a secret if you will do me the same favor."

"Deal," I shook her hand. And she didn't have to worry. I would never kiss her like that again. The next time I laid one on her, she wasn't going to know what hit her. Being a good kisser is another of my talents. She got up to leave. Before she turned the knob I called out to her. "Oh and Kioni, anytime you need any other favors," I conjured up another priceless mental image involving the bed in my room for her benefit, "You know where to find me."

She made a disgusted sound in her throat and stormed out, but not before I saw her small smile.

It was going to be a while before messing with her like that got old.