Disclaimer: Once again, I own nothing. Marvel does. TRAGIC!
I like a little teasing, it's sooo fun. But I promise I'll give you full "realization" by the end. The next chapter will be a bit more serious, but still sexy. It'll be up in 2-3 days.
In the meantime, I'm a comment whore so please feed the beast!
"Damn, it's hot, yo," Todd muttered, flapping one webbed hand at his face in an effort to cool down.
"We know," Pietro drawled sarcastically as he flicked a sweaty lock of silver hair out of his eyes.
"It's ain't fair, yo, the hottest night of the summer so far and the power goes out," the amphibious boy groused.
"Well, maybe it wouldn't have died if SOMEONE didn't have to have the thermostat at 68 degrees. The A/C is like 40 years old, it can't handle it," Lance muttered, shooting a dirty look at Blob.
The gigantic teen ruffled a hand over his wilting Mohawk. "I don't like to sweat while I sleep," he said with a shrug.
"But it's okay to sweat when you walk, when you sit, when you talk, hell even when you eat right?" Pietro huffed, once again batting a sticky hank of snowy hair from his cheek.
"You're one to talk," Todd snarked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he crouched on one arm of the ratty sofa parked on the front porch where the Brotherhood boys had decamped when the power went out, and they realized the inside of the house was hotter than outdoors. "Who blasts the stereo while they blow dry their hair? You can't even hear the music, yo."
"Just because some of us don't care about their appearance-"
"Ok, knock it the fuck off," Lance barked, silencing the bickering. "We all messed up." He'd been running several power tools in the garage while trying to shim a rotor and fix a busted axel on his jeep while Todd used the stove. They all had a hand in blowing half the circuits in the dilapidated boarding house, and there was no use to trying to fight their way through the junky basement in the pitch dark tonight. Best leave it until morning.
"So shut up and deal, Speedy," Lance pointed a finger at Pietro's sweaty face and got the middle finger in response, even as the cards were passed out at lightning speed.
They boys gathered around an old Coleman gas lantern on a battered coffee table on the porch, shirtless in the heat and sweating hard in the muggy summer humidity. To pass the time and boredom, as a result of having no TV, music, or anything else to do, they played poker. Almost completely broke, they had no money to gamble but traded chores, dares, homework, and any other creative bargain they could think of.
"Ante up."
"Make breakfast 3 mornings in a row."
"I see that bullshit."
"I raise cleaning the bathroom."
"How many times?"
"How long's it been since someone cleaned it?"
"I dunno, months?"
"Ugh, I think once is enough for now. No need to kill anyone."
"Alright, you pussy. Call."
"Your dad's a pussy."
"I don't know my dad, so for all we know he is a pussy."
"Shut up and show your hand."
"Heh, two pair. Fours and jacks."
"Fuck me!"
"Only if you ask nicely." Pietro fluttered his eyelashes exaggeratedly at the Toad as he scooped the betting slips away from the other teen and towards himself.
"Not so fast, Quickdraw," Lance stilled the pale hand with his dark calloused one. "Trip 8s. Don't forget to use bleach on the tub, I want pancakes for breakfast, and don't even think about putting bleach in the food."
"Fuck me!"
"Only if you ask nicely," Lance laughed and swept the slips to his side of the table.
"Ha, nice one, you!" Toad cackled from his perch.
Blob belched his agreement, loud and wet, as Pietro rolled his eyes. Lance took a swig from his rapidly warming beer, gave a long rumbling burp, paused to take a breath then finished it up with a nice staccato "fuck. all. you" at the end.
Toad and Blob bent over laughing as snowy haired teen made another disgusted noise through his nose.
"You are such a girl, Pietro." Avalanche punched his friend in the shoulder.
The pale teen's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you are all disgusting," he huffed then took a deep breath and-
"!"
The sound of three jaws hitting the grimy porch was all that could be heard as the monster belch echoed then faded.
"THAT is how it's done." Pietro smirked arrogantly, shuffling the cards at lightning speed with one hand as he stuck one finger under Lance's chin and shut the other boy's mouth with an audible click.
"Christ, I think I tasted that one," Blob muttered with awe. The only sound that was heard for a few long moments was the patter of rain as the storm that had been threatening all evening finally broke over their neighborhood.
"A girl, eh?" Pietro grinned at Lance as the dark teen's surprised expression melted into a wide grin and he shook his head in mute appreciation of his pal's range of talents.
Several more hands passed, with the take evenly split between Pietro and Blob: dishes were covered for a week, trash for a month, and Blob had to walk to school for 3 days while Pietro had to do the grocery shoplifting for this weekend.
This hand was brutal, every boy convinced he had it in the bag, and the bets were getting more and more ridiculous and crazy. Move Principal Kelly's car to the roof of the gym, sneak into the X-mansion and steal Cyke's uniform, attempt to pants the Wolverine during the next battle, spit-shine Xavier's head. On and on it went until they ran out of ideasat least until the growing breeze from the storm wafted Toad's ripe scent downwind.
"Ugh! Todd has to take a bath," the green teen's eyes widened comically in horror at Lance's suggestion, "every week," his mouth was open and slack as a fish on the shore, "for a MONTH." His brown eyes narrowed sharply at the smelly teen as Fred and Pietro cackled evilly at his shoulders.
"No way, man. No way!" Toad gasped in panic.
"You fold?" Lance tapped the edge of his cards on the table, his face giving away nothing but amusement.
"I-"the green boy swallowed audibly. "Ihell no! If I win none of YOU can take a shower for a month." He grinned yellow teeth at the discomfort that flitted over his teammates' faces.
"I fold," Quicksilver announced decisively. "No way do I want any of that action. I just spent a fortune at Bath & Body Works, and I haven't event tried out their new White Tea & Ginger bath gel." Blob folded also with no comment.
The absurdity of what the silver teen said flew over Lance's head as he mulled over not bathing for a month versus having a month to clear the house of Todd's natural funk. "You're on, show 'em if you got 'em," he decided.
Todd threw down his cards with a flourish and hopped up and down on the sofa's arm. "Full house, yo. Ah yeah, Ah yeah, get it get it get it!" A little cabbage patch, some running man, a little hammertime, and Todd was on stinky cloud 9.
"Royal flush," Lance grinned and fanned the Ace through 10 of clubs under the celebrating teen's nose. "Pietro, get the soap."
"What? No!" Todd shrieked and tried to run, but Fred's meaty arm shot out and caught him in a wriggling, thrashing headlock.
Lance and Fred dragged the squealing frog boy out into the pouring rain, ignoring his screams for mercy. Fred held his arms up and behind his head in a fell nelson as Lance held his breath and dragged the younger boy's pants down and off, leaving him shivering in only his ratty boxers.
Pietro appeared in a blur of pale skin and hair, his mouth and nose covered with a pollen mask, yellow rubber gloves up to his elbows, the never used toilet brush in one hand, and a bottle of Palmolive dishwashing liquid in the other.
Lance shot an eyebrow at his friend's attire and choice of weapons. "We need the strongest stuff we have for this job," Pietro reminded him as he doused the toilet brush with the soap. "Gird your loins boys, I'm going in!" he cackled as he attacked the Toad with the brush and bubbles, going right for his armpits.
It took both Blob and Avalanche to immobilize the squirming teen enough for every foul nook, cranny, and crevice to receive a thorough and merciless scrubbing at the hands of the laughing speed demon. By the time they were done, Todd was a whimpering, squeaky clean limp mutant, all the fight gone out of him.
Blob finally put the teen down, but Lance kept one firm hand around his buddy's throat. "Don't even think about rolling in anything, Todd. Got it?" The serious look on his face softened as his little friend sniffled and nodded before shuffling back into the dark house and up to his room to cry inconsolably into his pillow at being sofresh.
Fred followed, determined to not let any food go to waste in the slowly warming fridge, leaving Pietro and Lance standing in the front yard in the pouring rain. The dark teen turned his face up to the sky, letting the downpour slam down on him, and laughed long and hard. Pietro couldn't resist the infectious sounds of his friend's laugher and tittered as he ripped the mask off his face and stripped the gloves to throw them into the growing muddy bog under his feet.
He bent over at the waist as his giggles got the better of him, "Did-you-see-his-face-"the silver boy gasped between laughs.
"Oh god, he acted like that brush was a gun or something!" Lance hooted and slapped his teammate on the back, not calculating that the force, coupled with Pietro's bent over state of hysterics, would launch the snowy teen face first into the muck. When the smaller teen's blue eyes opened and flared at him from a face full of mud, Lance struggled to steel his expression into something properly remorseful. Quicksilver aiming that sort of look at anyone was enough to send a shiver down one's spine.
Before he could form an apology, a slim leg shot out behind his knees, and the earthshaker went down on his back with a splat and a positive fountain of muddy water from the churned up lawn.
"Oh, so it's like that, eh?" He grinned at his teammate, a flash of lighting illuminating his bright smile so it stood in stark relief to his tan skin and the muddy water streaming down his cheeks.
"Oh yeh, man, it's on! Gimme your best shot," Pietro dared, crouched and grinning, as his captain sat up and clenched his fist. The already slippery mud under their feet liquefied as the ground trembled.
"Can't use that speed if you can't keep your feet under you," Lance taunted as the earth roiled and shifted under the speedster.
"Who said anything about feet?" the filth-spattered pale teen laughed as his hands blurred and suddenly dozens of handfuls of mud pelted the dark boy like a Gatling gun. He raised his hands blindly to shield his face and the ground stopped moving. A moment later he was lifted off the ground at the speed demon wrapped his arms around his waist and heaved, so the rocktumbler went ass over elbows to land on his side in the mud.
"You're stronger than you look," he panted, grinning from his prone position at Pietro standing over his, a crazy gleam in his eye as the lighting flashed again and a roll of thunder boomed so loudly the ground shook with no help from the mutant.
""I'm full of surprises," the smaller laughed as he held out one hand as a peace offering, grabbed his friend's forearm, and leaned back to pull him up.
Lance allowed his friend to drag him to his feet before he locked his hand over the offered forearm and pulled hard, his free hand gripping Pietro's wrist as the other teen tried to twist away from the trap. Lance spun them suddenly and had his teammate pressed against him, back to front, his arm bent into an arm lock that forced Pietro's wrist up between his shoulder blades. He leaned forward and pressed his cheek into Pietro muddy hair. "Surprises, yeh," he rasped, and the other teen shivered despite himself.
Pietro's breath stumbled at the heated caress of Lance's breath in his ear and unconsciously arched his back at the sensation. Suddenly he was shoved away and free ; for a moment he felt a twinge of regret then shook himself hard to clear his head. Circling warily he leveled an appraising look at Avalanche, water streaming from his long hair and into his eyes as the dark teen copied his motions and slid to his left, completing the circle.
"C'mon, make your move, Rockstar," Pietro challenged, bracing his back foot on one of the few patches of solid earth left in the mire. Lance unknowingly telegraphed his next move as Pietro's quick sight caught the subtle shift of weight to his right foot and his strong hips turning to add force to the impending lunge. As the dark teen threw himself forward, Pietro neatly pivoted on his back foot and Lance dove right past him, sliding in the mud several feet before he came to a rest with the silver teen suddenly on his back.
A filthy but slender and powerful arm snaked around his throat as Lance tried to push up against the surprisingly heavy weight of his teammate. He managed to get to his knees before Pietro, with a shimmy of his hips against his backside, neatly tucked on thigh between Lance's and shoved his legs apart, overbalancing him so he once again fell into the muck.
"Gotcha!" Pietro taunted as he pushed down once more. Lance's head came up with a curse, hitting him right in the nose. Pietro gasped at the pain and the momentary loosening of his grip gave Alvers' all the advantage he needed to flip them both and pin Pietro under him. He gripped the other teen's hands in his larger grip and pinned them over his head.
"Ha! Can't top me, Pietro! Now I got YOU," Lance panted heavily, his chest pushing down into his friend's with every ragged breath of exertion. Quicksilver's eyes widened at the blatant innuendo and the sensual crush of the larger teen's strong torso pinning him to the earth. So strong and solid, and suddenly Pietro's heart raced from something unrelated to the fight.
A blinding flash of light and the world shattered with a crash that shook the ground beneath them. Lance fell off his friend and stared as a second bolt of lightning hit the transformer at the end of the street. Pietro rolled over in time to see it explode in a spectacular shower of sparks and the entire neighborhood plunged into darkness. The only light the continuing stabs of wildfire from the skies.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YEAH!" Lance shouted at the sight, punching one grimy fist into the air. Pietro gaped at him, his mouth open is shock.
"Are you crazy? Let's go inside!" He crawled to his knees and tried to grab Lance's elbow to drag him indoors.
The bigger boy shook him off, "Hell no! Did you see that! That's fucking awesome! YEAH!" Lance shrugged him off and stood up, fists clenched over his head as he shouted, celebrating the raw power of the storm. Lightning flashed again, so close Pietro could feel even the soaked hair on his arms and the back of his neck tingle. The immediate boom of the thunderclap nearly knocked both boys down again, so powerful they went once more to their knees.
"C'mon, let's go inside!" Pietro once again tried to grab Lance, and drag him out of his apparent insanity.
"No, Pietro! It doesn't get more real than this!" the dark boy grabbed both his teammate's arms in a fierce grip, pulling the silver teen towards him. "There nothing more real!" He shook Pietro, staring into his eyes, and the wild light dancing in them made the next flash of lightning pale in comparison. "WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lance flung his head back once again in response to the fierce, dangerous beauty of the storm as it raged around them. He appeared untamed, even savage, as his grip tightened once more on Pietro arms as he stood them both up and shouted over the crashing thunder.
"C'mon, Pietro! Let it go! Just go with it!" He laughed, the strong planes of his face illuminated haphazardly as another strike cleaved the sky. "WOOOOOOOOOO!" Lance turned his face up once more to the raging storm his eyes closed, the inviting cords of his neck almost tempting Pietro to lean harder into his powerful grasp.
"I don't understand!" Pietro shouted back, overwhelmed by the feel of Lance's strong hands on him, gripping him ferociously. Lance's expression was so intense that the power of the storm dimmed in comparison to his unexpected wild exuberance and strength. "I don't understand, Lance!" he shouted again, trying to be heard over the thunder as it once again boomed so close it pounded through them like a giant's heartbeat.
"C'mon 'Tro, just yell, let it all out! There's nothing more powerful than THIS!" Lance yelled, leaning into his friend's face, pressing his forehead to the other teen's. "Right here! Right now! This is life, man, can't you feel it? IT'S AWESOME!" He flung his head back once more, basking in the raw energy of nature roaring around them, tearing up their civilized world even if just for one night.
Pietro eyes widened as he looked up at the dark boy gripping him almost painfully as he was baptized by lightning. The ENTIRE sky fractured into a dozen blinding shards behind him, illuminating what was truly real, what life was, what true earth-shattering power felt like.
Pietro's hands scrabbled up to clutch at Lance's long hair and he threw back his own head as he screamed at the sky, laughing wildly at the same time, " YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" It felt amazing, every worry and thought just thrown out into the storm to be blown away on the tempest, leaving him only a mass of sensation and raw, honest need.
The hands at his biceps vanished only to reappear, one at the back of his crooked neck and the other in his own muddy hair.
"'Tro," the dark teen muttered, his husky voice suddenly so close, ragged but immeasurably strong as forceful hands on Pietro's neck wound viciously, sensually in his hair pulled him in hard and sure. "God 'Tro."
"Woooooo," the silver boy sighed as he gripped Lance harder, the rain beating a sacred tattoo on his upturned face.