Straight Up Typhoon – 8
Thanks for the reviews! You guys rawk, I'm glad the last chapter was well-received because I had fun with that one.
Oh, oh wait! The flame continues! XD I'm so sorry to muck up space with this, but this is priceless!
"ew you are still writing! i hate this i am never ging to read anyoff your stories ever again and it w as the truth! i friend did cry! don't ever make fun of that!1 make them stragiht or'lli convince my other 27 friends to stop reading you work seriously they all read y ou stories!and insted of horrici it is disqusting and just wrong stop it stop it stop it"
Oh no! Those poor imaginary 27 people who apparently read and are fans of all my other work despite most of it being slash as well! Hey, how come those 27 imaginary people haven't reviewed any of my other stories? I guess they weren't that big of fans. XD! Oh look, and they've even got a response for my other lovely reviewers:
"for you guys information i only get 10 minutes on the computer each day so i have to type fast and i did convince my friends not to read the story except for 2 people so hahahahahahahahahaha you are an idiot not only you morning hell everone who writes about me!"
Awesome! Aw, only ten minutes on the computer, and she uses all that time on me! How sweet. :D Seriously, this person doesn't even like this story and still she takes the time to hack out a review. Now that's commendable. So 'hulloits me', I love you. I mean my other reviews are helpful and sweet, but these ones are genuinely entertaining. Oh, and also, because of her, I'm taking the word 'wveryone' and using it as my own. XD That one just killed me!
"Toss me a soda!" Johnny whined.
"Get it yourself, kid." Ben growled once more, taking a drink of his own and sighing deeply.
"Well I can't believe this guy is still bothering you." Reed offered as he sat down on the couch, glancing at some wayward image on the television and shrugging his shoulders.
"Neither can I." Ben shook his head.
"You're closer, toss me a soda!"
"I'm really startin' to like the sound a'that restraining order. At least then I could bust the cops on his ass for stalkin' her. You shoulda seen the look on that little jerk's face, I was just itchin' to…"
"Don't worry so much about it, Ben." Reed said with a small chuckle. "You've been in a bad mood since you came home last night."
"Yeah, yeah, sorry." He grumbled in return. "You'd be sore too."
"I know you guys can hear me." Johnny pouted from his slumped position in a nearby lounge chair.
"Yeah, so do we. But don't ruin our fantasy." Ben replied, taking a drink.
"Then toss me a soda."
"Damnit, kid, you got a real problem." Ben picked up a can and winged it at him, which hit him hard near the shoulder and fell into his lap.
"Ow!"
"Whoa, take it easy, Ben." Reed held up a hand a little, glancing at Johnny.
Ben winced guiltily as he moved to sit on the longer couch next to Reed's. "Er, sorry Johnny boy. Don't know my own strength these days."
"Yeah, sure." Johnny scowled in returned, rubbing his bruised collar bone in a sulking manner.
"Man I'm beat." Ben said as he rested his feet up on the coffee table. "Anyone else get mobbed today?"
"I haven't been out today for just that reason." Reed offered.
"I found out that I can actually stop traffic." Johnny grinned broadly, holding his drink carefully away from him as he flinched and popped it open. It fizzed a little, but didn't explode.
"You get another ticket?" Ben asked in a skeptical tone.
"No." he snorted. "Hey, you know what I was thinkin'?"
"I try not to picture the things in your head." Ben dismissed.
"No, I was thinking we should get a pet."
"No." Reed and Ben answered together.
"Come on, why not?" Johnny tossed up one hand. "We could get a dog. Or a kitty-cat. Yeah, come on! Who hates a kitten?"
"No one." Ben agreed. "But then they grow up hackin' fur balls all over the place and everyone hates 'em."
"And they shed." Reed reminded.
"Fine." Johnny sighed. "A dog?"
"You can't even take care of yourself, and you wanna mutt, too?" Ben shook his head. "How 'bout a goldfish?"
"Aw, who wants a goldfish?" Johnny grunted. "What can you do with a fish?"
"A turtle?" Reed suggested.
"Reptiles are weird." Johnny leaned back, studying his soda can lazily.
"What do we need a pet for, anyway?" Ben protested. "We already got you."
"Oh ha ha."
"I'm serious. You're always makin' a mess on the rug, costin' us money, humpin' people's legs—"
"Hey you son of a—"
"Cool it, you two." Reed intervened. "Let's get through one night without tearing into each other. Johnny, I don't think we're really in a position to take care of any animals right now."
"But I want one." Johnny argued, as though that explained it all.
"Sorry."
"Buy me one for Christmas."
"I don't think so."
"You guys are both boring." Johnny decided.
"That's us." Ben nodded with another large drink. "Hey, I'll bet the news is on." With that, he groped around for the remote, flipping channels.
"Thank you for proving my point." Johnny snapped.
"Erhm…hey guys…" came a soft, feminine voice from the entrance of the room, and they all paused in shock to see Sue standing before them.
Johnny instantly grew ten years worth of maturity, straightening up and becoming somber. Reed sank down against the couch as if her presence alone hurt him, despite him being at the opposite end of the room. She hadn't approached them since…it.
"Hey there Suzie." Ben greeted quickly after an uncomfortable silence, trying his best to seem casual. "What's up?"
"Uh, well nothing." She replied, rubbing one arm. "Just seeing what everyone is up to, that's all."
"Just watchin' T.V." Ben gestured. "You wanna join in?"
Johnny and Reed would have been exchanging a nervous glance had they the courage to look at one another while Sue was in the room.
"…No, I don't think…" she began.
"Come on, just sit down." Ben beckoned, moving over so that Sue could join him while maintaining a safe distance from her other two housemates—both for her protection and theirs. Alright, mostly theirs.
"Okay…" Sue cautiously edged closer and sat down on the couch, eyes traveling to the television awkwardly.
Reed attempted to swallow the lump in his throat, drawing his hands into his lap and rubbing them together slightly. This was the first time they had all been in the same room together since…it. He didn't know what to call it. He was teetering on his 'one night without tearing into each other' wish with waning hope.
The room was silent save for the soft sounds of the T.V. in front of them, Ben coughing every once in a while as if to pretend that they weren't all keeping purposefully quiet. As weird as it had been not speaking to each other these past few weeks, it was even more so to not do it while sitting in the same room. Part of the atmosphere was begging for an eruption while the other part did its best to prevent one.
"Aherm, uh, so," Ben began loudly before the silence had a chance to become maddening. "who's for pizza?"
"…Pizza sounds good." Johnny said quietly.
"Great. It's on me." Ben decided, picking up the phone.
"In that case, it sounds great." Johnny restated.
"Perfect. Alright, takin' orders, what do you want, Sue?" Ben waited, seeming satisfied at his attempts to lighten the mood.
"Well…Pepperoni?" she shrugged. "Johnny…maybe you want to split one with me?"
Johnny looked up, mouth partially opening and eyes searching the room like he thought he might catch a hidden camera. "…Y-yeah…er, of course, sure, Sis."
"Alright," Ben nodded happily, glancing between brother and sister in what could only be called triumph. "Reed?"
Reed was staring at the floor, trying to process what had just gone on. Sue and Johnny communicating? Granted, Johnny seemed just as surprised as he, but it had to be something at least.
"Uh, Reed? Hello?" Ben's voice demanded again.
"Huh? Oh, uh…Hawaiian…" he said just above a mutter, afraid of what the mere sound of his voice may introduce into the situation.
And, surprisingly, it did…nothing. No awful looks, no outbursts of rage, no sarcastic comments or flinches of terror. Reed had really fancied himself the catalyst in this whole mess, and thusly, he had been as quiet, careful, and downright scarce as he possibly could be. But perhaps he didn't have that much power after all. Maybe his imagination had exacerbated this disaster out of proportion. Maybe, just maybe, they all could be friends again after this. Sure. And oh God, Christmas. He had completely forgotten about Christmas until Johnny had brought it up a few minutes ago. What was that going to be like if they couldn't all get along? It was in just a few weeks, after all. Oi, holidays…
"Yeah, hello? I wanna order three pizzas. Large. Yeah. You got extra large?" Ben's voice registered in his mind numbly as he thought.
Well for once they would all have dinner together. And provided this went well…Well. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.
"In local news, are two of our own resident super heroes of the Fantastic Four involved in a gay love affair?"
Johnny sputtered and choked up a mouthful of Dr. Pepper into his lap, coughing loudly and heaving the carbonated liquid out of his lungs. Reed's jaw hit the floor.
"...What?" Sue looked on towards the television in mortification while Ben sat with the phone to his ear, eyes wider than what seemed possible.
"That's right, as reported by an eye witness—" the T.V. reporter went on, overshadowing the sound of Johnny's hoarse coughing. "popular city saviors Reed Richards and Johnny Storm were allegedly seen kissing one another on the streets just outside of the Baxter Building only two nights ago—"
"That's—" Johnny hacked, holding a hand to his throat. "a damn—lie!"
"H-huh? Oh…Yeah, uh…I'll…call ya back…" Ben muttered into the phone before it slid out of his hand and fell into his lap.
"Oh my God!" Sue uttered, staring blankly.
"We never did that!" Reed protested angrily, now patting Johnny's back in a concerned manner. "Th-that's completely made up!"
"Sheesh…" Ben uttered in disbelief.
"Sue—" Johnny started, regaining his breath.
"How could you two be so stupid, how could you drag this out into public?" Sue stood up, holding hand to her head and unable to take her eyes from the T.V.
"B-but we didn't!" Johnny threw his hands up, glancing from her to the screen and shaking his head avidly.
"It's a rumor, someone's…" Reed sat grasping at straws. How could someone have found out? It's not like the things they were saying they saw were true, but then how would they know about it? "We didn't do that, we would never be that careless. They don't have any proof."
"Eye witness Jason Bradley had these photographs as evidence." Continued the story.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me…" Sue's jaw was the one to drop this time.
"Photos?" Johnny gaped as well.
As the supposed evidence appeared on screen, everyone in the room was stone still. It…well, it certainly was a picture of two people kissing. For a moment, it was dead silent.
"Wait a minute…" Ben furrowed his brow.
"…That's not even us!" Johnny yelled, looking very near explosion. "I-I'm short! And old!"
"And I'm a woman…" Reed gawked in equal astonishment.
"Confirmation on the authenticity of these photographs has yet to be obtained, but resident cab driver Tom Shelling had this to say…"
"Sure, I picked up these two guys as a fare just a few weeks back. Yeah, sure, I'd'a called them a couple. I guess, I mean I ain't an expert in the queer department."
"Oh God." Reed dropped his face into his hands. Out of all the annoyances the media had to bring them, this was by far the worst. This was just some incredibly ironic coincidence. What was this, Karma? For God's sake, now what? They couldn't exactly deny a true rumor just because it had false foundations…could they?
"I can't believe this…" Sue paced a small circle, rubbing her neck.
"Sue, that's not us in those pictures—this is bullshit!" Johnny barked, flames crawling up the back of his hands as he stared at the television lividly.
"So what if it's not? Everyone knows now, don't they?" Sue snapped back before promptly leaving the room.
"Ohhh this just gets better and better…" Ben slapped a hand over his face.