Chapter Five: Love of a Lifetime (or It Gets Raunchy)
"Hello? 'On?" He walked into a dark and empty apartment. No note (not that they owned paper or pen, anyway). Her toothbrush, which was her only possession besides her shoes, was missing. She might as well have left a ring on the counter.
In the lobby, he made a collect call to Utopia.
"Nate? Glad to hear from you, son. I was starting to get worried."
"Actually, I was calling for Emma. She there?"
A moment later, she said: "A telepath calling me via telephone. I'm suspicious, darling. What's happened?"
"I may or may not have lost my powers again. Let's assume the latter. Could you help me track someone?"
"Of course." She paused and he felt her mind probing his, making sure he wasn't in trouble. He allowed her to pick through his memories: the Omega Machine, his adventure in Mexico, but when she got to the part where 'On crawled into bed with him, he shut her out.
"Would you consider returning?" She said. "At least temporarily. Rent in San Francisco is a nightmare and Scott's been so distracted lately."
"Thanks but I-"
"Won't leave your girlfriend. Got it. She's at a bar downtown called 'The Glass House'. It's a half hour walk for you. If she leaves before you arrive, I'll give you a buzz." She scoffed. "Did Rachel really compare herself to Charles Xavier? Amateur. Part of Charles's success is knowing memory isn't a movie. It's a living thing. His alterations became a part of the world and they'll continue even after his death. But Rachel," she said with disgust, "Rachel thinks she can rip out the weeds and erect a statue. It's temporary at best."
"You mean her memories will return."
"I mean that unless she's a complete moron, she'll notice things don't add up. When that happens, bring her to me. I wouldn't recommend correcting anything yourself. This requires an experienced hand."
"Can't you do it now?"
"I wouldn't dare. Until her mind's ready to accept repair, any attempts could result in insanity. Get lost. Collect calls are expensive."
"Wait. And what about… the ethical implications?" He referred to the sex he intended to have with her, not the mind-wipe. Somehow, he knew Emma would know.
"You're asking me? Are you hoping for a blanche cart?"
"I value your opinion."
In her silence, he heard a joyfully broken heart. "You care for each other. You're consenting adults. What else matters?"
By the time he reached The Glass House, the sun had set. He expected to find 'On at the bar, but not as a bartender. She looked amazing: smoky eyes, tight pants, and some sort of shimmery scarf tied over her breasts. Her tip jar over flowed. When she saw him, she dismissed him with a smirk and turned away to flirt with a man in an Armani suit.
"Excuse me," his voice faded into the crowd. "Excuse me!"
Armani placed a folded bill in her ample cleavage, his eyes captivated by hers.
"Excuse me!" Power pulsed through him once, twice, and blew across the room. The mob lapsed into dead silence. One by one, everyone remembered they suddenly had urgent business elsewhere. Last to leave was the manager. He tossed her the keys and told her to lock up.
Nate was exhilarated – his powers were back! – but 'On was pissed.
"Unbelievable." She hissed.
Her rage rolled off like heat waves. He picked up sharper details, too, like how she'd planned to use that money for dinner and a hotel room for the night. In a month, she expected to have enough for rent, wardrobe, and a car. Speaking to him was not in her plans.
"What the hell is this?" he asked.
"It's called a job!"
He removed his jacket and draped it over her bare shoulders. It was hard to think when she had so much flesh on display. She threw it on the floor.
"I'm not a charity case! I don't need you to take care of me!"
"That's my only coat!" He quickly picked it up, but too late… It smelled like beer. He cursed under his breath and then added: "And you're my only friend."
She sighed and hugged herself. "I can't be alone with you all the time. It's confusing. I need my own place."
"I bought food. And provisions for the kitchen. May I suggest moving the conversation there? Given the improvements, I believe you'll reconsider moving out."
"You dork," she smiled.
Playfully, she knocked him with her elbow and he wrapped an arm around her. Their faces turned towards each other and their lips came together. She gasped sharply. A warm feeling flooded him, leaving him filled and hungry, peaceful and stimulated. He dared not shatter the moment. Never before, not even in the throes of passion, had he ever felt this way. Like he'd finally come home. They pulled apart and walked home in comfortable silence.
Food in the apartment made her much happier than she'd led him to believe. She immediately began making tacos, which she taught him how to eat.
"How is it you've been living in California for five years and have never eaten a taco?"
"I'm a man of mystery."
Since they had no table, they ate on the couch. And since they had no television or radio, they sat facing each other. Despite her earlier claims, he could tell that the new merchandise pleased her very much. She was at ease, which gave him a boost of confidence.
"I want to apologize if my behavior offended you," he said.
"Oh?" she pretended to be preoccupied with her meal.
"If I tried to seduce someone I loved… And they rejected me, I'd vanish, too."
She avoided his eyes. "Yeah, wasn't how I thought it'd go."
"I have eyes, 'On, of course I wanna make love to you."
"Naughty." A pleased smile snaked across her face.
"I've been mad about you for ages… But you're alone and hurting. It'd be wrong to pursue something with you right now."
"Would it?"
"Would it not?"
She shook her head no. "How would making me not lonely be wrong? Life doesn't have to be so fucking complicated. Every man I ever touched, I closed my eyes and pretended he was you. Now you're so close and I can't think about anything else."
"Neither can I."
"Kiss me."
She tasted less like lipstick and alcohol this time. More like a person. Her fingers threaded his hair, gripping the base of his skull and sending shivers down his spine. When he deepened the kiss, she stopped him and said softly, "Slow down, tiger."
His lips moved down her jaw, which she clearly enjoyed, and when he found the sensitive spot behind her ear, she clung to him for dear life. In a flash, she removed her excuse for a shirt and placed his hands over her bare breasts. God, he hadn't had a lover this demanding since… No, he wouldn't think of her now. It wouldn't be right.
"Let's move this to the bedroom, shall we?" he asked.
"I feel underdressed." She pulled his shirt over his head as they stood.
"Whatever happened to 'slow down, tiger'?"
"Shut up and put your mouth to good use."
Growling, he swept her up and stumbled over his pants as they crumpled on the floor. Beyond the threshold, she dropped on the mattress and lifted her hips to squirm out of her skin-tight pants. The angle presented her curves in the best possible way and he rushed to help strip her garments. That was the first time he noticed her left leg was prosthetic. Propped on her elbows, she smiled and crooked her finger at him. As if he needed an invitation! Then she rolled onto her stomach and presented her backside to him. His lips searched out her warm, creamy skin down her spine to a grotesque star-shaped scar. When she hit life hard, it hit back.
"Roll over," he said.
"That's what you want, not what I want."
She arched her back so that her bottom brushed his erection. On the first date? When he asked "Is this what you want?" he squeezed her ass so that the globes parted slightly and he glimpsed the dark shadow of her anus. His thumb brushed over it.
"Oh yes, yes, yes." Her words beckoned him on. When at last his digit slipped inside her body, she groaned like an animal and pushed against him. "Good boy."
She rolled over and pulled his head down to her pebbled nipples. His lips eagerly parted to kiss her breasts and pull their hardened peaks between his teeth. Once they were fully engorged, he flicked his tongue over the sensitive nub and heard her melt. All the while, his thumb caressed her rectum.
"Oh God, you're good." She opened her legs and his mind hazily cautioned against his strongest desires.
"Wait, wait…" He looked around.
"Lose something?"
"Damnit! Where'd I put the condoms?"
She chuckled and reached under the mattress where she'd hidden an emergency stash. His hands were shaking so badly that it took ages to get it opened and unfurled. By then, his erection had started to fade. She cupped her breasts and twisted her nipples wantonly. He happily assisted, vaguely aware that she'd taken over the condom application.
On her hands and knees, she arched her back again and he slid easily inside. Once more his thumb buried in her cavern, stroking less vigorously than his muted erection. The barrier between them was an affront to humanity, but she appeared more than pleased. Everywhere their flesh touched tingled and he knew passion was burning in their loins, but he felt it like a fire through a wall. Then she reached down to fondle her clitoris and he flushed with satisfaction.
"Are you close?" he asked.
She shook her head no. "I can't… I can't… You feel too good."
He bit back disappointment. "Very well. If this continues… maybe you'll take more than my thumb."
"Yes! Do it!"
He replaced his thumb with two fingers and gently probed her opening. Once she was relaxed, he pressed his pre-lubricated, ribbed-for-her-pleasure, latex-covered cockhead against her and asked, "Are you certain? This is what you want?"
Once more, she dissolved into a frenzy that built stronger and stronger until his girth pressed her to the breaking point. Then she climaxed. Scalding and smothering, her anal walls rolled deliciously along the invasion and he forced himself to withstand it. His testicles drew tight with need. If she could take it, so could he. But once her last spasms subsided, he returned to her natural opening and indulged his fierce desires with brutal thrusts that would've torn her delicate posterior. With a rough cry, he spent himself and collapsed on her back.
Afterwards, they spooned together. She drew lazy circles on his forearm and said, "Anal on the first date… I don't know if you'll never come back or never leave."
"'On, I love you."
She chuckled.
"And don't tell me it's the sex I love," he added. "I wasn't sure before. All the tension clouded my judgement. Now I'm certain. I love you."
She smiled. "I love you, too."
His tormentors had him entombed in darkness. Starting at his feet, they slowly and surgically removed every bone. He felt everything: every torn tendon, ripped muscle, and sliced vein. As he faded away piece by piece, he told himself it was "only" a nightmare.
'It's not a dream,' they mocked his cries. 'This is real. She's a dream. She never existed.'
"You forgot coffee filters," she said the next morning.
He kissed her forehead. "I'm sure Ray has some. I'll run upstairs."
"Invite her over, I'm making omelets."
On his way out, he noticed that an envelope had been taped to his door. He read it on his way. By the time he reached her door, he was crestfallen.
"Oh no… What's happened?"
"I've been evicted."
"What?!"
"And reported to the authorities for mutant abilities." He handed her the affidavit that he'd been holding. "We can't stay. I've probably placed you in danger, too."
"Where will you go?"
He shrugged. "'On can't even think about Utopia."
"She doesn't know? …Come on, let's put our heads together."
Over omelets and very strong coffee (since he'd forgotten about the filters), they formed a plan of attack. He was due at court in eleven days, at which point the landlady could drop the suit or move forward. 'On seemed sure that if they could come up with the money – first and last months' rent plus the deposit – the lawsuit would drop. But that sum was enormous.
"You'll have to juggle cases," she said. "If you can do five a week…"
"Five a week?!"
"Yes, five a week. Take out a bank loan to cover expenses. You're a small business now, you can do that. We need every penny." She looked off into the distance. "But how to cover my half…"
"You were raking in tips last night," he said. "Should reach your goal in no time."
"If every night was Saturday, then yes, but folks aren't very thirsty on week nights… Maybe I can wait during the dinner rush."
"I say we cut our losses. The police will be waiting to arrest us-"
"For what?! They can't arrest us for being mutants! That's illegal!"
"It's not an arrest if they don't give us our rights! They'll throw us in a pit and Cyclops will leave us there to rot! Think they won't? or they can't?"
"Guys," Ray stood between them. "Let cooler heads prevail, shall we? Look, Nate, I can't make you stay if you wanna go, but I plan to stay and I think 'On does, too. You're worried about disappearing. I get that. Homeless folks vanish all the time and no one notices. You hold down a job, pay some bills, I promise someone will come after you if you go missing. San Francisco is much more tolerant of mutants. That's why we moved here in the first place! The landlady isn't a monster, she reported you because you used your powers on her and she had no other recourse. She had every right."
He glared at her. "You've got some nerve talking to me about abuse of powers."
"I'm with 'On this time. You've got eleven days to come up with the money, so let's get to work."
…
To Be Continued…
…
Author's Notes: Sorry for any grammatical and/or spelling errors. I usually spend the week between updates checking and re-checking for errors, but this week my son was sick and now I'm sick, too. My brain is so sluggish and primitive that only bright colors and high-pitched sounds are getting through. Time for more Ny-Quil. Cheers!