CHAPTER 7: "Wolverine, this is Hot Pyro. Hot Pyro, the Wolverine."
Alright, so I'm not about to waste your time on every tiny little detail of what has happened this week. Suffice it to say I've had enough close encounters with Warren to last me a lifetime, but I'm not gonna settle for that. School is going surprisingly smoothly and the fan club attacks are always something to look forward to. Surprisingly enough, and regardless of a now very tangible sexual tension, Warren and I have become very good friends. To the point where we now spend more time annoying the crap out of each other, in a fun way, than with anyone else. It's awesome, I have to admit. Who would've known that you could find such a hot best friend in a week?
"Earth to Tempest!" See what I mean? "Finish your breakfast already? The rest of the gang is coming over to help out with whatever it is that you want to do with your room. You could at least be focusing on that for a while."
"Aren't you just the cutest thing." I answer, sarcasm simply overflowing from that phrase. He smiles and everything seems to brighten up. Well not quite, but... whatever. I can already hear him laughing. I turn to him to retort something, but my words are cut short by the door bell. Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold are out showing a house, so Warren just gets up, giving Will and I time to finish our breakfast and heads off to open the door.
"Yes?" HUH? Who is it?
"Hi, is Samantha here?" I get up squealing and run towards the gruff voice I haven't heard in too many days.
"LOGAN!" I scream, jumping into his arms.
"There y'are love!" He says. He hugs me as tight as I hug him and for a moment, my eyes begin to get wet. And as contradictorily as my brain normally works, the sky starts to let go of a few drops of water while the sun shines stronger than before. Suddenly, a rainbow forms across the sky. I can hear Will coming to a stop next to Warren. I let go of Logan, only to see Remy and Rogue standing there as well. I jump towards Remy and hug him tight.
"I've missed you all!" he smiles.
"Bonjour Cherie! 'Ow are you doing?" I let go of him and proceed to carefully but just as enthusiastically hug Rogue. As usual, she's wearing gloves, pants and a thin but long-sleeved t-shirt.
"I'm doing great actually!" I smile at all of them. That's when I see the strange look Logan is giving Warren. Uh oh... I wave my hand in front of him.
"Um... Logan? You still with us?"
"Who's this?" I have a bad feeling about this...
"This is Warren. He's Will's best friend. He's also staying with the Strongholds."
"Why?" thank you Rogue!
"My mom is also fighting the SRA. And Mrs. Stronghold didn't like the idea of me staying home alone. So I moved in during the summer, into the attic." Rogue smiles at him and nods. Remy also smiles, as if agreeing but Logan still looks doubtful. Damn him and his nose! See, I have a theory. Humans exude a certain odour when they are... involved. Or when they want to be. It's a natural tell-tale sign that you're lusting after someone. And I have to admit I can smell it on me and on Warren, thanks to my enhanced senses. Which makes me feel great, but Logan (and this is where the theory actually starts)... probably doesn't think like that... (That's something else about my gorgeous best friend of a pyro: his senses, without being genetically enhanced, are extremely powerful! Sometimes he smells stuff before I do, and his aim is awesome, thanks to an amazingly finely tuned hand-eye coordination.)
"Who are your parents? We're probably fighting along side them..." Damn you Logan! He clearly stated it's his MOM who's out there doing the fighting! I turn to Warren. His dad is always a touchy subject. Thankfully, Warren is making good use of his reading powers and is keeping his cool. It's surprising how he can't stay cooler than I can...
"My mom is Pace, my dad is Barron Battle." I see Rogue's eyebrows hitting her hairline, Remy whistles quietly, and Logan's eyes narrow. I send a pleading look at Rogue and she nods.
"Hey, can you guys help us unload some stuff we brought Sammy? The little airhead forgot them at home..." Will and Warren quietly head out, and, though Remy wants to stay and listen in, Rogue grabs him by the hair and drags him out.
"A'ight love, care to explain?" EXPLAIN? Explain what? Oh right! The smell...
"All you need to know is that nothing has happened." (Yet). I say as if that settled everything. I turn to help with the unloading process but Logan stops me.
"You think I'm buying that?" I huff. Men are impossible!
"If we had done anything, then that would also be smell-able! If you can't smell it, then it hasn't happened! You of all people should know THAT. And besides, back at the mansion there were teens all over the place smelling worse than this!" He smirks at that one. Ok, we're getting somewhere. "Can you just... forget it?" his smirk gets wider...
"You said so yourself: back at the mansion we knew of several people in the same situation and they were our inside joke." Oh this can't be good. "So just you wait until I tell Rogue and Remy about this!" WHAT?! NO!!!! "And besides, could you ever block out that smell when back at home?" No, I couldn't. And when you're a teenager, smelling lust is pretty annoying... I shake my head. "Then I can't forget about it. Sorry love. No can do." My shoulders drop. Damn it. "In any case, I trust you. So... yeah, whatever..." That's Logan's way of giving me his permission to jump Warren. He better not read this...
"So, what are you doin' today?" I smile. This is a much safer subject.
"Well, some friends were coming over to help me paint my room and such." Logan snorts, and then grins.
"Oh, well, we'll help then." I smile as big as I can and hug him. Isn't he the greatest?
I hear Will, Warren, Rogue and Remy come back in. I let go of Logan, walk over to them and wink at Warren. He gives me a small smirk.
'We are so talking about this later.' Oh shit...
In about 20 more minutes, the whole gang is here. Introductions are over with, (Ethan nearly had a heart attack...) and we all head over to my room to help out. Between Will, Warren, Logan, Remy, Rogue, Layla and I, my bed gets send to the garden, then the vanity, the desk, and every other piece of furniture available, while Ethan, Zach and Maj get the paint cans, and cover the carpet and the doors with plastic.
"Thank whatever higher being is available that that closet is part of the wall. It would've been, by far, the heaviest thing..." I nudge Warren for his ever useful comment. Layla, Maj and Rogue giggle while all the guys nod in agreement. I groan.
"A girl has to be able to dress herself decently!" Warren huffs.
"Decently, fine, but you have a whole mall's worth of clothes inside that closet!" The guys, Logan and Remy snort in laughter. Rogue, Layla and Maj take a defensive stance.
"Oh shut up." I say.
We then proceed with the painting. We covered all the doors with paper or plastic, so we get started straight away. I chose a lilac base for the walls and I'll have everyone imprint their right hand on the ceiling with their respective signatures under them. Everyone grabs their own colour: Layla runs for an apple green, Will chooses an electric blue, Ethan grabs the orange, Zach takes the most noticeable yellow (it is a white ceiling) Magenta grabs a darker purple, Logan chooses a silvery grey, Remy grabs a chocolaty red, Rogue grabs an electric green. Warren simply turns to his favourite shade of blood red.
After that, (which, by the way, took a couple of hours. These guys are sooo messy! Thank God we covered the carpet as well!!) I start decorating the walls and ceiling. I'm pretty good at painting, if I do say so myself. Starting with the ceiling I draw the shape of a few lightning bolts here and there, filling in a couple of gaps, which I'll paint afterwards in that silvery grey Logan used and probably Zach's yellow. Then I grab my own aquamarine can and start painting lines across the walls. Just random waves, sometimes adding a bit of white, or blue or a darker shade of the aqua. In the end it looks as if there are aquamarine coloured ribbons across the whole of my room. Everybody's gone down. Maj is off with Zach and Ethan getting some pizza for lunch and ice-cream for dessert. Meanwhile Layla, Will, Warren, Logan, Remy and Rogue are getting ready to take the furniture back into my room.
As I was grabbing the grey and yellow cans and wondering how I was going to be able to paint my ceiling, Warren walks in.
"Wow." I giggle.
"Does it really look that good?" he nods.
"Hippie's gonna squeal till she's hoarse." I snort.
"Is that even possible for her?" he laughs "But thanks, I guess." He gives me a winning smile and I can't help but smile myself.
"So, what are you gonna do now?"
"I was trying to figure out how to paint the lightning bolts on the ceiling. I drew them standing on the stair but how am I suppose to paint straight holding my arm up like that?"
Warren moves behind me.
"Grab the brush." He whispers. I shiver slightly, but do as he says, dipping the brush into the grey paint.
"Ok." I breathe out. Warren wraps his arms around me, and then starts heating up the air. Slowly, steadily, he lifts us up to the ceiling, then throws back his body, leaving me lying on him, as if on a scaffolding.
"This ok?" he asks softly. OK?! This is MORE than ok! This is great! He chuckles. I've gotten used to the fact that, when we're this close, he reads me automatically. Regardless of the brain-fuzziness, I start painting. Warren is definitely more comfortable than scaffolding and he's at just the right height so that I don't have to stretch my arm or anything. As I run out of paint, I wave my hand and a wind current pushes both paint cans up to us. Damn I could do this everyday...
"Hey Warren, Logan wants to know if you can help the paint to dry off so that we can... we can.. Where are you?" at the sound of our laughs, Will looks up at us.
"OH! Alright, leaving now. I'll tell them you guys are still painting."
"Thank you!" I chirp. I can hear Will going down the stairs and saying just that. I keep painting. Alright, so between the painting, which always relaxes me, Warren's natural warmth and ... well Warren, I'm starting to become sleepy. Which is ridiculous cause it's only about 1 pm or something!
"Hey you guys need any..." Rogue enters without knocking, a hateful characteristic of hers. What would happen if one of these days I finally jump Warren's bones and she decides to do a surprise visit?! I can feel Warren's chest shaking with controlled laughter. A week ago I would've died of embarrassment. But this is Warren. The guy without shame, that's teaching me to have no shame myself. So it doesn't particularly affect me, not anymore. We both know we want to jump each others bones. We just don't do it because this building things up to a breaking point is just much more fun. (Uh huh!)
"Well I guess they don't need any 'elp..." Remy, helpful as always.
"Well, at least they're still dressed..." Logan mumbles gruffly.
"Logan!" I screech. Can they be any more annoying?
"The guy's playing human scaffolding for ya!"
"He's helping me out. You guys can't!" he scoffs
"Ask Stronghold here! He could do the same!" now it's my turn to scoff. And Warren's.
"Thanks to hippie over there, Will wouldn't dream of helping Tempest like this. Or any other girl for that matter." Remy, Rogue and I laugh. Will chuckles and Layla giggles. Typical.
"Why? She doesn't seem the type! And who's Tempest?" I snort.
"Tempest is Warren's nickname for me, just like he calls Layla "hippie". And yeah, she's not that type of girl, but Will is that loyal type of guy." Everyone laughs again except for Logan.
"Nickname huh? Yeah, well – " Logan gets cut off by the door bell and Will goes to see who it is. Meanwhile, I'm still painting. I'm done with the first lightning bolt. And I got to say it looks good.
"Yup, it certainly does." I smile. I don't need to look at him to see he's also smiling. I guess this is as good a time as any to mention that the only down side of this position is that I can't look up at his gorgeous face. And what's the bet that his smile has now turned to a smirk. "It has."
"What certainly does? And what has what?!" we both laugh at Logan. I can hear Layla also laughing. She's the only person currently in this room that knows about Warren's other power.
"I just said that her lightning looks good." Logan is probably frowning.
"No, you didn't. I would've heard it!" we are saved by the arrival of Will, along with Maj, Zach and Ethan.
"WOW! This place looks really good!"
"Thanks Maj!" I say loud enough.
"Doesn't it? I was going to say so, but then every body started talking about you guys, so I had no opening for my praise." Warren and I laugh. Just as predicted.
"Oh. Well, they always give us something to talk about. Can't blame ya." Again, the only one who doesn't laugh, at Magenta's comment, is Logan.
"A'ight, a'ight. Let's go get some food." We all cheer.
"Hey Will, you mind catching the paint cans." Thanks Warren!
'Your welcome.' I giggle. Geez, what he does to me.
"Sure thing." I leave the brushes in their respective paint cans and, as Will flies up to grab them and set them down, Warren lowers us both. When we are all back on the ground again, we leave my room to dry, then head off to the kitchen in search for the pizzas and ice-cream. YUM.
"So, what are you guys doing right now?" I ask in between bites. Rogue looks up.
"Well, right now we're only trying to find a safe place. We're kind off on the run. It's only been a few weeks since we closed the mansion. We know they have already raided the place. Thankfully, the lower levels were already fortified so they didn't get to the jet or Cerebro. But it was too close. We can't tell you were we are, though. Sorry sweetie." I shake my head.
"Nah, don't worry. Telling us would probably defeat the whole purpose of going into hiding."
"But what about technology? What with cell phones, GPS tracking, how are you staying hidden?" Warren asks. Logan looks impressed. Hey! Just because he's a hunk doesn't mean he's stupid! I can see Warren struggling to keep his laughter in. LOL.
"Well, we have a mutant among our midst who's a tecnopath. He's taking care of all that. Poor guy spends his whole time in our make-shift command centre making sure no one's in on us!" I sigh. Well, at least they're safe. For now. Warren grabs my hand and squeezes gently. I manage a small smile. Never before had I noticed how much I truly worry about these guys.
"So, any interesting advances?" Will asks. I can see he's asked the questions we were all dying to hear.
"We've managed to infiltrate several government buildings, thanks to Kitty and Mystique, who, thanks to Magneto, is now on our side. Well, in all honesty, she was always on our side. Problem was, there were two sides on our side." Everyone laughs.
"Oh, Logan, you always did have a way with words." He chuckles. This feels more like home than anything ever has before...
WHEW! I think I've never worked like this. Well maybe I have but I like to block painful memories (LOL). Anyway, it's now about 6 or something and we are sitting in the living room, we as in the gang, Logan, Remy and Rogue. And everybody is fighting everybody over what movie to watch. You should see this, it is just hilarious. I mean, the sight of Logan and Remy bickering like children against Ethan, Zach and Maj, all five of them wanting a different movie. Rogue, Will and Layla are trying to calm them down, but they also want different movies.
Fortunately for me Warren's being the bigger person and we have surreptitiously gone to my room to finish painting the effing ceiling. You see, after lunch, Logan wouldn't allow us to go back, so we decided that it was time to dry, at least, what was painted. Which, in all fairness was the most important part. Once the paint was completely dry, thanks to Warren, we all carried the furniture back up to my room.
It looks awesome. Really. And Rogue brought me some bed sheets and curtains that go perfectly with my room so, we hung up the curtains and then the boys decided it was time for a little soccer game.
The whole gang, plus Remy and Rogue played. Logan had promised me a sparring match though, so we declined the invite. About an hour into the soccer game, Logan and I got tired, not to mention we were pretty even, so he sheathed his claws, I put away my Sai (I love Elektra, what can I say? The woman is awesome, fun, and she kicks some serious ass! She's the one who gave me the twin Sai to start with!) and we went back to the backyard. Everybody was already tired. Even Warren was slightly panting.
So, innocently as always (this had nothing to do with the fact that, for once, Warren was wearing a white t-shirt, and we all know what happens to white shirts when they get wet...) I thought that I'd refresh them. Focusing on the few clouds there were in the sky, I concentrated them all over our back yard and created a fantastic downpour. Layla, Maj and Rogue started screaming bloody murder at me, while the boys ran back towards the house laughing. Warren, true to his word, didn't mind getting wet, and because he probably knew he was half the reason why I made it rain, walked calmly back to the house.
By the time he got under the roof he was completely drenched. It was the most mouth-watering sight I've ever seen. I'm so gonna dream about that tonight. *Sigh*. The things I bring upon myself. After that everybody changed, we made popcorn and decided we would watch a movie. Which brings me back to the current bickering coming from the Strongholds' living room. But I just calmly lift the paint cans up to me, with Warren "holding" me up and paint. About 30 minutes later, as I'm finishing off the last lightning bolt, the door is practically pulled off it's hinges by Logan. Typical.
"Been painting this whole time huh?" I roll my eyes.
"I'm pretty sure you would've heard if we had tried anything else." Warren chuckles.
'So am I.' I shiver. Logan snorts.
"Any way, we've finally settled for 'The Dark Knight'. I thought I'd let you know..." I scoff quietly. Sure he did.
"Well I'm done here, so we'll be down in about five minutes." He nods, gives us one last look, and leaves. What's the bet he's going to be counting?
True to my word, five minutes later we are down in the living room. Warren dried the paint off. I even had time to change into my favourite shorts and a comfy tank. Thanks to Layla, Maj and Rogue, Warren and I have to share the single, reclining sofa, much to Logan's chagrin and our amusement. I have to say, this guy is the most comfortable man-pillow ever!
Six popcorn bags, and 2 movies later, it's now slightly past 10 pm and we are starting our third movie: 'Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'. One of my personal favourites. I've always loved a good vampire/werewolf movie...
How can they keep going? It's now past midnight and every single other person in this living room is arguing about the NEXT movie we will watch! I feel Warren shifting and look up at him. He's giving me a weird look.
'Don't look at me like that!' he snorts softly while I get comfortable and ready for another round of bickering, popcorn throwing and complaining. Did I mention that, by this time I'm bluntly sitting on Warren's lap, comfortably snuggled in his arms. And if I'm forced through another movie, between the brightness of the screen, the tiredness of today, and his unnatural warmth, I'll fall asleep!
'You can. Though I strongly recommend that you sleep somewhere else tonight.' Now it's my turn to look at him strangely. He chuckles. 'I mean that you shouldn't sleep in your room tonight.'
'Why?'
'Because of the paint fumes?' Awww! Isn't he the cutest thing! Even I don't look after myself like that! But...
'If I don't sleep in my room... then where?'
'In my room?' I didn't know you could do a mental 'DUH!' tone! WAIT! He said HIS room?! 'Yes, I said MY room.'
'And you'd be sleeping where exactly?' I ask slightly apprehensively. He chuckles.
'Don't worry, there's no need to give you a heart attack... yet...'
'Where Warren?' I ask, shivering against him. I shift to look up at him, hating and loving the cheeky grin on his face.
'I'll sleep on the couch. Don't worry about it. I've done it before I moved in. Chill.' Even though I was the one who was apprehensive about sleeping in his room, with him, I can't help but be slightly disappointed. Oh well. He said 'yet'. *Yawn*. Oh well, I might as well get comfy. I doubt I'll last this movie...
I don't know how much time has passed since the fourth movie, all I know is that I don't remember watching half-way through it. I'm not even fully awake. I just hear voices whispering, people moving and perhaps a door being opened and shut. Aside of that I'm being slightly jostled, maybe even carried. I feel all nice and warm. Warren. He's the only explanation. I don't know what ungodly hour it is. And in my dreamy state I can't care. I feel I'm being laid down on a soft, cool, surface, covered with a soft, cool, and malleable something. I shiver a bit. After being so warm, I feel the change. Yet I can't help but feel great, and cared after. I feel a soft, warm pair of lips on my forehead. I smile. Then a weight dips the bed right next to me, and everything is back to being nice and warm. And I'm free to go back to sleep...
"Wake up, Tempest. Rogue, Remy and Logan will be here in about an hour. Rogue says she promised to take you to the mall, so you better have slept well." says a deep voice in my ear.
I just roll on the bed and try to go back to sleep. I hear a chuckle and I struggle against consciousness. I don't wanna wake up yet! I'm nice and warm as I am! The chuckles continue as I feel the mattress dipping right next to me. I have a blurry flashback to the same feeling some time ago. Then I feel the same warmth surround me. I remember the feeling of a pair of warm, soft lips on my forehead. I smile.
"Come on, Tempest, get up, or Will is going to eat your pancakes too..." I perk up slightly.
"Hmm... do I have to?" I whine. I hear the voice, which I now recognise as Warren's, chuckling in my ear. Awww, why does he have to do this to me? I finally open my eyes and turn to him. He's lying a few inches away from me on top of the covers.
"Yes, you do. And if you hurry, I might just add ice-cream to your pancakes!" that definitely wakes me up!
"Okay, okay, I'm up! But that's blackmail!" he laughs, standing up to make sure I'll get off the bed.
"No, it's not. It's persuasion." I grumble, but follow him down to the kitchen nevertheless.
Once there, I plop down onto a chair as gracefully as I can at this point in the morning.
"Alright, Tempest, here's your coffee." I grab the mug. It's perfect of course. After saying hi to Will, who looks even sleepier than I, I find my plate of pancakes and, as promised, they have a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Yum... "Rogue, Remy and Logan will be here in 50, to take you to the mall."
"Yes mom." I grumble. Suddenly I feel him behind me, leaning until his mouth is on my ear.
"I doubt you think of me as your mom, Samantha." That whisper wakes me up as no coffee can. I shiver uncontrollably. One of the reasons why I love that he's given me a nickname is the fact that the way he says my name makes me... let's leave it at warm. And (DUH!) he knows it. I glare at him while he laughs at me and pulls the room temperature back down to a more comfortable one.
"Thanks man." Will says fanning himself. Warren nods. I swallow up my pancakes.
"I'll go get ready. You guys enjoy your Sunday, I'll be shopping!" they both say something along the lines of 'bye Sam' as I run off to change.
As soon as I enter my room I face my closet. Today I'll wear... I'll start with the shoes. Crème high-heeled Mary Janes, then... light blue skinny jeans, and... A crème camisole! There! All set. Now, shower! I rush to the shower and in 15 minutes, I'm out! Record time again! Anyway, I get out, dry, dress, brush my teeth, and do my make up: a bit of base, a little eyeliner, and lip-gloss. Perfect! And I still have some spare time! This is amazing seeing as, back in the mansion, it took me hours to get ready for anything. So I guess this little Sky High experience is doing its share of good. Either way, I stuff my big brown hand bag with everything I may need for this shopping trip and go down to wait. I wonder if Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold are up yet...?
"Hey guys." The both look up at me, astonished, to say the least.
"You're ready?" I huff.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Will. But I have to admit, I'm impressed myself."
"Well, we don't know how slow you were at getting ready before meeting you a few days ago, but we can tell you that the hippie and the purple girl, each, take hours to get ready." I nod.
"I used to do that myself. No idea what happened. I guess this little trip is doing me some good after all..." Warren snorts. Will smiles. I run to the door as I hear Logan, Rogue and Remy getting out of their car.
"Morning guys!" They look at me, as dumbfounded as it gets. What can I tell ya? I just wasn't a morning person back at the mansion. Blame it on school, and Warren's breakfasts.
"Well hello sweetie! What has caused this miracle?" I laugh.
"Bonjour mon cœur! I see you are more than ready for attacking the mall, as you and Rogue are used to." I nod enthusiastically. I haven't been shopping with Rogue for ages!
"Alright then, chirpy, morning version of my goddaughter. Let's go. Better start early cause I just know that this is going to take all day..."Logan mock sighs and I smile brightly. This will be very fun.
"Bye Warren! Bye Will! Don't wait up!"
And with that, I close the door and follow Rogue, Logan and Remy back to the car.
