35.
The Future
Chapter Theme Song: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston
"Oh, I wanna dance with somebody,
I wanna feel the heat with somebody,
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody,
With somebody who loves me!"
Phone in hand, headphones on, Nina stood in the hall singing and grooving to the music, her usual morning routine.
Nathan smiled as he watched her. He had been heading down to the kitchen for breakfast when he found her jamming out in the hall. He admired her confidence.
"Yeah, I wanna dance - oh, hi Nathan!" Nina stopped mid-lyric and mid-dance when she saw him standing there. "Sorry, am I in your way?"
"No, not at all. No worries."
"Singing and dancing always puts me in a good mood," she said, starting up her dance again.
"So I see."
"Maybe one of these days I'll get you to dance with me."
He chuckled. "Maybe."
"I'm serious, we'll be dancing together in no time!"
"Is that a challenge?"
She winked. "Maybe."
It had been several months since Nathan had arrived at the mansion and he was now all settled in. After much nagging, Wade had finally gotten him to join X-Force, something he was still uncertain about.
It was clear right from the beginning that he and Nina were sweet on each other, smitten from the very start, and now, as time passed, the two were constantly together, flirting madly.
The mansion pretty much emptied out on Friday nights. Many students went home for the weekend to visit family, while others went to the mall, movies, or downtown for a fun Friday night. Lots of the older students even arranged weekend camping trips.
The school was very quiet this particular Friday night when Nina made her way up to Nathan's room. She guessed he had locked himself away again and, she not having any plans herself, was going to suggest they do something together - dance maybe?
She knocked on his door and peeked inside when he called, "Come in."
"Hi, Nathan. It's me. Happy Friday! I was thinking – oh-" She broke off when she saw that he was shirtless. Very shirtless.
All ideas of what she could suggest they do – watch an old movie, go for a drive, go for a walk, dance – fled from her thoughts as her eyes roamed his bare half-human, half-robotic upper body. Wow. Really wow.
"Oh, hey Nina." By the looks of things, he had been working on his weapons, an array of parts and pieces spread out across his desk. "I thought you might have been busy tonight."
"Nope, no plans. I was actually coming to see if you were busy. Which I guess you are."
"Naw, just picking away at this." He was reaching for a hoodie.
"Are you embarrassed?" she asked, with such suddenness it surprised her as much as him. His body language had changed – he seemed more withdrawn, as though he were shying away from her. He had turned his back to her.
His hand paused in reaching for the piece of clothing. He sighed.
That was enough of an answer, and an obvious one at that. "Nathan, you have nothing to be embarrassed about," she assured him. Just look at you! She blushed at her own thoughts.
"Maybe not." He sighed again. "It's just, most people's mutations are internal, that is, you can't see them until they use them. Whereas mine's very visible."
"I understand." She reached out. "May I?"
"Yeah." He reached his arm towards her, hoping his want for contact between them was not too obvious.
The wonder and curiosity on her face was adorable as she approached him. Nathan felt his breath catch when she touched him, even when her fingertips barely brushed him. Her touch was light and warm and very near overpowering. It took every ounce of him to not reach out and hold her hand against his chest. He knew she could feel his heartbeat thundering.
She had seen the evolution of much technology over the years, over the decades, but this was something else. "Wow," she breathed. "You're – fascinating." She breathed the word. And she was completely serious.
He chuckled. "You're the first and only person to call me that."
"Well, I'm honoured. Truly." She moved her fingers to his arm. "So, you can feel this, right?"
"Yeah."
"This?" She reached up to the metal on his chest, curving around to the back of his neck.
"Yeah."
Her fingers lingered there a moment. Her voice was surprisingly steady when she spoke next. "And how about this?"
Next thing he knew, she was rising on her tip-toes and kissing him.
Her touch had been intoxicating, and now her kiss was that and so much more. It took a moment for his brain to register what was happening and when it did, he cupped her face in his hands and eagerly deepened the kiss.
One hand still on her cheek, his other arm went around her waist to hold her to him. Then it scooped her up to lift her into his arms. Her legs went around his waist.
He found himself staggering backward, falling down to sit on the edge of the bed, she now sitting in his lap, kneeling on the bed.
They broke the kiss, but their faces remained close. Nina noticed his mechanical eye seemed to glow brighter, but that may have just been her imagination.
"I'll take that as a yes," she said once they had caught their breath some.
He gave a deep, low chuckle and smiled. Then she realized that was it – his eye seemed brighter when he smiled. "Yes. That was smooth, Nova. Very smooth."
"It was, wasn't it?" She chuckled too and then they were kissing again.
"I love you," she whispered against his lips.
Nathan's heart jumped at her words and they caused him to draw back and look at her. He hadn't wanted to break their kiss, but had been so surprised. "What?"
"I love you."
"Really?"
"Yes..." Now she was looking at him, confused.
He breathed a heavy sigh and chuckled. "Well that's a relief."
"A relief?"
"Cause I love you too."
"And you were worried I didn't feel the same?"
"Didn't think you would love me back."
She scoffed and nearly snorted with laugher. "Nathan, I just called you fascinating! And I just kissed you, didn't I?"
Again, he chuckled. "Yes, yes you did."
Soon they were laying across his bed facing each other, legs entangled as they heatedly kissed, trying to press against each other more and more.
She began to remove her shirt – her own actions surprised her a little. Usually, she wouldn't move this quickly, but they had just taken a big step, and she felt ready.
"Nate-" She broke their kiss. "I'm – I'm nervous..."
"We don't have to continue."
"I know, but I want to. I want this with you. It's just – well, you know how unpredictable my powers can be. I don't want something bad to happen, or to hurt you by accident."
He looked down at his metal arm. "I don't want to hurt you either."
"I trust you."
"And I trust you."
"Okay."
"Okay."
They both chuckled, in agreement.
"I don't have any protection though," he said.
"I do."
"You do?"
"Yeah, Wade gave me a box of condoms."
"What the- why?"
She giggled at his obvious bewilderment. "It was around the time we started to become close. He gave them to me saying 'just in case'. I took it as a joke but kept them. Looks like he was prepared for this."
"Yeah. I might even have to thank him."
"Me too. I haven't had any use for them – until now. They're in my room."
"Then let's go." She giggled as he scooped her up in his arms and dashed down the hall to her room, where she went digging in her closet for the box of condoms she had shoved away, thinking she wouldn't have any use for them.
Well tonight, they would definitely make use of them.
Ooooo... ;) Haha! I'm so happy to finally be writing Nina and Nate happy together!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)
