Alex and Pam - Genoshan Street Party
Oct. 31st, 2019 07:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainAlex and Pam visit the street party on Halloween, and engage in some invisible fun. How they each feel about it afterwards isn't Quite what they expected.
"Still can't believe this," Pam pointed out as she gawked at all the costume-clad people in the streets. Her arm was securely wrapped around Alex's waist (nothing unusual about that) but honestly, she was feeling less stressed about being out in a crowd than she had in years.
Maybe, she mused, the counseling was finally paying off. Or maybe it was knowing that this was the one place where the mutants probably outnumbered the flatscans, and that the Boss was in charge. Whatever. She liked Genosha, she liked her costume, and being out at a party with Alex didn't suck. She'd take it.
"It's a thing," Alex agreed, his own arm around Pam's shoulders. "A thing that is." He could scarcely believe it himself, the scores of costumed mutants and mutates filling the streets. I seemed like something out of a dream. But there they were. And despite himself, he was determined to enjoy it.
Though his girlfriend's choice in costume was somewhat ... revealing. There was a time when that wouldn't have bothered him. And he wasn't sure if it was a sign of growth or an indication of regression that it did now. Still, he did everything short of walking a half-step behind her to block the general, festival-going public from catching a glimpse of Pam's (admittedly extremely fine) butt, which her costume showed off to perfection.
"I mean, if we can't be ourselves here? We've come a long way from Asteroid M."
"Yeah," Pam agreed thoughtfully. It was kind of weird in some ways - she still felt weird about living in the Prime Minister's house or whatever it was called, and missed her old rooms both at the school and at Asteroid M (especially the latter, where she could throw knives at the wall) - but overall, it was pretty cool. "Glad we came, then?"
"I don't hate it," he admitted, fingers stroking up her side familiarly. "It seems a little ... far. But I don't hate it. How about you?" A green-scaled mutate dressed in crude mummy wrapping passed them, hoisting his drink in the air in celebration.
"I definitely don't hate it."
Pam hummed softly as Alex's fingers skimmed her side and then chuckled as she held up her own beer in a counter-salute. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, there's shit about the school I kinda miss sometimes, but I still pop in and out anyway, so whatever. It's...kinda cool, though. With the boss being in charge and everything." She snuggled in against Alex's side and tilted her head up to nuzzle his neck. "Woulda missed Billy and Goody and Laura, but they're here too, so it's all good." Tommy - well, Tommy wasn't at the school anymore, either, so she didn't suppose missing him mattered either way.
"I sort of wish Scott was here," Alex admitted. "I think ... I think it would do him good to see this." He hugged Pam tight against his side, and clinked his beer can against hers. "I mean, this is everything any of us ever wanted, right? Mutants being mutants, out in the open, in their own place." He tilted his face to catch her lips in a brief kiss.
"It's everything we've ever wanted. I can't understand why they stay away."
"Did you invite him to the party?" Pam asked curiously. "I mean, I dropped off invites for Shen and Nott, just in case the Professor didn't do the whole announcement thing. Maybe if he saw it, it'd make a difference?" Or not, more likely. But even if Scott didn't want to move to Genosha (and Pam agreed, he was being kind of an idiot about it) he could at least visit. It wasn't like anyone was going to tie him up and keep him there.
"Well, no" Alex said, looking more than a little guilty. "But you know how Scott is with parties, most of the time. And a party in Genosha? With the Brotherhood? I figured I'd save us both the awkward conversation. You think I should have?"
"Probably." Pam shrugged and tightened her arm around his waist briefly. "Not like he hasn't come to Brotherhood shit before, right? He was at that party Pietro threw with all the glow sticks that time; I remember him dancing with Wanda there. If you wanted to see him, it would've been a good time."
"I think that was more like reconnaissance than a social outing, for him," he noted ruefully. "And I don't think now would be the best time for that, you know? Maybe when things are a little more settled. I mean, I can always take a day and visit Westchester if the separation anxiety gets too bad."
Pam let out a chuff of laughter. "Separation anxiety?"
He nudged her hip with his. "You know what I mean. Coming back to the Brotherhood was rough on me and Scott--I don't think he's forgiven me yet. But he hasn't cut me off, either. That's something."
"He really should just come here," Pam observed. "And I don't see why there'd be anything to forgive, anyway. It's not like you ever you were staying there forever."
"Yeah, well. What I say and what Scott understands are two completely different things," he said. "He's so used to people screwing him over that it tends to be his default reaction to anything. Well-adjusted, the Summers boys definitely are fucking not."
Alex sighed. "Anyway, they should all just come here. They can't hide out forever, and it will be a shit-show when the school eventually gets found out."
"No shit." Pam was quiet for a moment, considering that, then shrugged. "I invited a couple of people to the party. Hopefully they'll see we've got things under control here and make the move." She nudged Alex and smiled. "And as far as well-adjusted goes, you seem a fuckload better lately."
"Yeah, well," he offered a lopsided smile. "I guess I've been too busy lately to worry about being on the edge of a dissociative breakdown? That seems to help. And things are just ... less tense lately, in general? Stressed, but not tense. I don't know. Maybe my crazy is just coming out in a new way."
"Probably," Pam teased. "But whatever, it's a good look for you." And it was. She'd never realized just how "off" Alex sometimes was until he wasn't. It had just been Alex.
"I'm so glad that the changing shape of my personality disorder meets with your approval," he told her dryly, though he was grinning. He nudged her hip again. "And hey, you've hardly knifed anybody since we took over. And the ones you did only needed stitches afterward. Maybe we're actually mellowing?" Or just exhausted from all the work they'd put in to making Genosha something like a functional society, after their revolution.
"Maybe." Pam grinned back at him, then pointed out, "Also? The ones I stabbed totally deserved it. Even Lance said so. And I haven't sent anyone in my self-defense classes to the hospital." She paused as if considering, and said, "Maybe I'm losing my edge. You think?"
"Nah," Alex answered, immediate and wholly honest. "You can still kick the asses of any three mutants or mutates on this island. You just don't feel the need to cripple," or kill, "them when you do it. It's a good change, trust me." Smirking, he turned in front of her, hands resting at her bare waist. "Nothing wrong with not immediately going for the 'murder' option. I'm sure our happy Genoshan citizens would agree."
Pam was still preening at Alex's appraisal of her fighting ability when he finished, but laughed at the last part and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Fuck our happy citizens. I'm just happy I haven't heard Wanda tell you to keep an eye on me in months."
"I know, right?" he agreed, tugging her closer so they could sway together to the music being pumped into the street festival. "And did you notice Eileen's not hovering over us tonight, making sure we're okay? I mean, literally hovering. Like, she'd be three feet overhead, watching and offering us cookies and shit." Alex's expression was wry, but his tone was fond. More than fond. The Brotherhood had always been as much his family as Scott, and he didn't even mind the hovering that much. Though it was nice to have a night off from it.
"Definitely noticed," Pam confirmed, happily swaying with the music. Not that she minded Eileen hovering, mostly, but it was cool that she wasn't. Except... "Damn it, now I want a cookie," she complained, scowling up at Alex.
"I might have a few stashed in my room back at--" Alex stumbled over the right word to use. "Mansion" would probably have been appropriate, but that made him think too much of the school. And "palace" didn't really suit the Brotherhood at all. "--our place," he finished lamely, though he tried to cover the moment with a suggestive smirk. "I could be persuaded to share, if you're nice to me tonight."
"If?" Pam's eyebrows climbed, but only for a moment before she smirked instead. "Maybe I'll just buy myself one. Or get someone else to. Seeing as there's a 'if' involved." Or yeah, probably not, but seriously. If?
"Well, you know it's not a real if," Alex backtracked. "When have I ever withheld cookies from my girlfriend?" Or anybody, really, but especially not Pam.
"I don't know. Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Pam teased, though he could feel her face warming. It wasn't the first time Alex had called her that, lately, but it still took her by surprise and made her stomach do weird flipping things. She was pretty sure she liked it, anyway.
"I watch a lot of movies," he returned wryly. "It's the next best thing, right?"
"Only if watching porn on the internet measures up to sex." Pam smirked. "You might watch to watch how you answer that."
"I'm not even gonna touch it," Alex admitted fervently. "I'm not even gonna go near it. In fact, I'm gonna pretend we were having an entirely different conversation and not even think about all the wrong ways I could answer that."
"Probably a good plan." Pam smiled and brushed her fingertips along the back of Alex's next. "So are you wanting to head back already? Or are we hanging out here for a while?" Surprisingly, she was actually hoping they'd do the latter, and not just because she hadn't seen Nott yet. This was actually kind of fun.
"I mean, that kinda depends on how deep your cookie-lust is running right now," he said. "Personally, I wouldn't mind stayin' a while--I feel like we haven't seen nearly enough of this party yet. But if you're ready to head back, I won't complain. I'm here for moral support, or some shit."
"No, I'm good with staying." Pam smiled and shifted in closer, pressing against Alex as she swiveled her hips more or less along with the music. "I just wasn't sure whether or not you were looking for me to start being nice to you now."
"There's plenty of time for nice," Alex said philosophically. "And, I mean, this is pretty nice." His hands moved from her hips to her bare waist, thumbs tracing irregular circles over Pam's skin. "We don't have that many chances to get out and just have fun lately, anyway. Might as well enjoy it, right?"
Pam hummed softly, her eyes half closing, but when she looked up at Alex through her lashes, she smirked. "Because we were definitely party animals before. But yeah, I'm all for enjoying it." She teased her fingers across his neck before urging his head down and brushing her lips over his teasingly. "So what's next on the agenda? Karaoke?" she teased.
"Let's not go crazy here," he huffed. That kind of attention, Alex definitely preferred to avoid. Besides, did they even have karaoke set up anywhere? Seemed like it might get lost in all the other festivities, but Pietro did like to be thorough with his party planning. "I'm more of a bystander than an entertainer."
"Chicken shit," Pam tossed back with a smirk. Not that she cared if Alex did karaoke - fuck, there was no way in hell she'd do karaoke. But still, it had to be said. "Besides, you already said you were crazy. You wouldn't have to go anywhere."
"There are degrees, y'know," he said, eyes darting to the side. "My crazy is kinda charming, sometimes. That kind that likes the spotlight that much is just obnoxious. Anyway, I don't see you rushing up there for the mic anytime soon."
"Because I'm that obnoxious?" Pam smirked, then shrugged. "Wrong kind of crazy for me, too. Though you could maybe talk me into it if you got me another couple of drinks." Or not, most likely - the idea of everyone watching her, on stage, was enough to make her itch to reach for her knife - but it wasn't impossible if he dared her. Besides, she could always wear someone else's face. That might might help.
"Another couple of drinks, I can definitely manage," Alex grinned. "I have no further comment to make in regard to that other thing." His smirk turned ironic, but he tightened his arms around Pam's waist, and nestled the side of his head against her left shoulder, his face against the side of her neck. "Except to say ... you're never that obnoxious."
"Hey, I work hard at obnoxious," Pam pointed out, but there wasn't any venom to it. In fact, she was quite happy to press in tighter against Alex and rub against him, slowly. Which was its own kind of obnoxious, she guessed, but whatever. He liked it. "Hmmm...if I could make us both invisible, we could go at it, right here," she whispered teasingly.
As if by instinct, he pressed back into her, matching the press and sway of her hips with his own. Slowly, calculatedly. Just the way he'd learned she liked. One hand traced down her back to the barely-present fabric of Pam's shorts, squeezing. "Don't tempt me. You had me at 'invisible', but a chance to go at you like I want to ..." Well. That just might be too much to resist.
Pam moaned and buried her face in his shoulder. Yeaah. That definitely sounded good. Really fucking good, in fact. Except she couldn't...
Or could she? Fuck, she could make herself look like Freddy if she bent the light right, despite the fact he was more than a foot larger than her in all directions. She and Alex between them didn't take up that much space. So, it would be like making an invisible Freddy...
She disappeared suddenly, then focused her attention on bending the light out further. "Wish there was someone here who could check if this was working," she muttered as much to herself as to Alex as she hurriedly started unfastening his pants. She guessed they'd know soon enough if anyone started staring.
For his part, Alex gave a startled glance around their immediate vicinity. When it didn't seem anyone was taking any special notice of Pam's ... current occupation, his fingers quickly went to the buttons of her own short-shorts. "This is crazy," he noted, though once her shorts were undone, one of his hand slid up her side to her chest. "We could just fuck at home, you know."
Despite his protests, he made no effort to stall her hands at his quickly-loosed pants. And the way his hands moved over her body, it was fairly evident he didn't care whether they were being obvious or not in their mutual rising lust for each other.
"Yeah, but then we'd have to go there," Pam pointed out, completely ignoring the fact they could be there in seconds if she just summoned a portal. Instead, she pressed into Alex's hand with a gasp, and pushed his pants down far enough to bare the critical parts of his anatomy. "Fuck if I know how we're going to do this without a wall, though," she admitted.
Nobody around them appeared to have noticed their increasing lack of clothing and disregard for the usual boundaries of public displays of affection ... and, honestly, Alex's blood was so far diverted from his brain at that point that he probably wouldn't even have noticed. He had eyes only for Pam, and once her shorts were down around her thighs, he kissed her hard, then spun her around so that he could press into her from behind. One hand slithered under her top to squeeze warm flesh without the barrier of fabric.
"We'll make it work," he breathed. "We always have. And I'm pretty sure we can find a wall if--"
"Alex, there is no fucking way I can keep us invisible to go find a wall," Pam pointed out breathlessly. "Unless you want everyone checking out your skinny white ass, we're doing this right here." Which, okay, sounded really good to her, and apparently not too awful to Alex, because they proceeded to do just that.
And yeah, okay, maybe she should've been quieter, because by the time they were done? There were definitely people looking around for the source of the noise. But whatever. Pam smirked as she got her clothing back in order. Alex definitely deserved a cheering section. "Ready for visibility?" she asked him, her eyebrows rising teasingly.
"Just a second--" he murmured, flush setting in now that his excitement had wound down. "I've almost got it. Dammit. Putting on pants is fucking hard when you can't fucking see them."
Pam let out a snort of amusement and turned to give him a hand, sliding her hand down the outside of his leg until she found the pants leg in question. "Welcome to my life."
With Pam's help, he was able to get his pants back up around his waist, and the two returned to visibility just as he was buttoning up. Alex gave an abbreviated squeak, then quickly turned toward the wall they'd recently made use of to shield himself from the crowd as he finished getting everything back into place.
Face warming as the people immediately around them not-quite-spontaneously burst into applause, Pam's personal visibility flickered before she pasted an uncaring expression in place and waved them off. "I'm thinking we might want to get out of here? Like, right here, here, I mean. We can stay at the party." Because yeaaaah. She maybe could use another beer. Or three. It'd been worth it, but yeah. There were way too many people looking at them now.
Cheeks coloring as he noticed the additional attention they were garnering, Alex slipped his arm through Pam's and tried to hurriedly lead her away without being excessively obvious that he was hurrying. "Yes, definitely, please. Let's someplace where the crowd is a little less smirk-y."
Pam nodded and opened a portal in front of them, though she had to laugh as she snuggled in against Alex's side. "So that's what it's like to be fucked by someone you can't see, huh? Kinda interesting. I can see why you're a fan."
Once they were through, Alex offered a grimace and a squeeze around her middle. "I think that mighta become my kink back when we were still on the inside, honestly. Is that weird? I mean, all kink tends to be weird--that's why they call it kink, right? But is this, like, really weird?"
"I don't know." Pam's grin faded and she tensed, the light flickering around her, there and not again. When she spoke again, her voice was deliberately casual, almost flippant, as she tugged Fatale's persona firmly in place along with a smirk. "You shoulda said something, Summers. We can definitely do that."
Alex paused a moment, then said," You could just say 'yes, Alex, that's weird,' you know." His tone was mild, but concern colored his expression at the edges as he regarded her. "It's not as if I'd take it personally. And I love being able to see you, now, too. I just meant that ... Ugh. I don't know. I think the one of the main reasons I managed to come back out into the world as intact as I did," which wasn't saying a lot, but still--he was better off than some, "was because of that. And that makes it special. Even if it's weird."
Pam took a breath and exhaled slowly the way Doc Samson had been lecturing on for the past year, flexing her fingers against the impulse to dig her nails into her palms. She could talk about this, as herself. She could. "I...I'm glad it helped," she said truthfully. Because yeah, it had helped her, too. She wouldn't have come through it all without him, and he knew that. Just... "I just...I used to pretend, I guess," she admitted awkwardly. "That you could see me, even when I knew damn well you couldn't. Or I'd tell myself it was because it was dark in your room, or...anything to not remember that you couldn't."
"Aw, Pam," he said, immediately apologetic. "I had no idea that was how you felt about it. I didn't mean to dredge up shit you don't want to think about. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Pam offered a crooked smile and tightened her arm around him. "Kinda my fault, anyway."
"I don't think it's anybody's fault, not really," Alex protested, returning the one-armed hug. Well. Maybe the Right's fault. But why screw up a perfectly good party bringing that bunch of irredeemable shitheads more than than he already had? "It's just so weird for us to have our wires crossed on something like this, I guess," he went on. "It's kind of weird."
"Really weird," Pam agreed wholeheartedly. Normally she had a pretty good idea how Alex felt about - well, pretty much everything. The idea that she'd had no clue about this had her more thrown than how he felt about it did. "I always figured you knew, and it was just one of those things we didn't talk about," she admitted.
"Same," Alex affirmed, face screwing up into a vaguely dissatisfied expression. Sure, people just assuming the two of them were joined at the brain could be irritating as fuck, some days ... but, confronted with something he hadn't known or even suspected, he wasn't exactly loving the wider implications of that kernel of uncertainty. "So maybe it's a good thing it came up?" he said. "Gave us a chance to actually talk about it, instead of just assuming."
"Yeah, probably." Pam mulled that over for a minute, then smiled up at Alex a little awkwardly. "Wow. Maybe there's actually shit about each other we don't already know. Like, y'know, normal people. Though this was a pretty fucked up example."
"Which is exactly the kind of example you'd expect, from us," Alex said with a grimace that was mostly ironic. "But yeah. Wow. Do you think that should make us feel better about our relationship or worse?"
Pam mulled that over for a minute, then shrugged and smirked. "I'm gonna go with better? Just because it's pretty fucked up to think that at eighteen, we know absolutely everything about what makes each other tick just from being together in Hell." She snuggled in against Alex's side and tilted her head in against his shoulder. "Nearly everything's cool, though."
"Nearly everything," he agreed. Alex tried to smirk, but the expression came across more ... warm and generally happy. Because, yeah, it didn't matter if people thought he and Pam were excessively close. And it didn't matter if there weren't actually that close, in fact. They knew what the meant to each other, and were always there for each other, regardless. And that? That was pretty fucking awesome. The rest could sort itself out. Or not. The point was, they were good.
"Still can't believe this," Pam pointed out as she gawked at all the costume-clad people in the streets. Her arm was securely wrapped around Alex's waist (nothing unusual about that) but honestly, she was feeling less stressed about being out in a crowd than she had in years.
Maybe, she mused, the counseling was finally paying off. Or maybe it was knowing that this was the one place where the mutants probably outnumbered the flatscans, and that the Boss was in charge. Whatever. She liked Genosha, she liked her costume, and being out at a party with Alex didn't suck. She'd take it.
"It's a thing," Alex agreed, his own arm around Pam's shoulders. "A thing that is." He could scarcely believe it himself, the scores of costumed mutants and mutates filling the streets. I seemed like something out of a dream. But there they were. And despite himself, he was determined to enjoy it.
Though his girlfriend's choice in costume was somewhat ... revealing. There was a time when that wouldn't have bothered him. And he wasn't sure if it was a sign of growth or an indication of regression that it did now. Still, he did everything short of walking a half-step behind her to block the general, festival-going public from catching a glimpse of Pam's (admittedly extremely fine) butt, which her costume showed off to perfection.
"I mean, if we can't be ourselves here? We've come a long way from Asteroid M."
"Yeah," Pam agreed thoughtfully. It was kind of weird in some ways - she still felt weird about living in the Prime Minister's house or whatever it was called, and missed her old rooms both at the school and at Asteroid M (especially the latter, where she could throw knives at the wall) - but overall, it was pretty cool. "Glad we came, then?"
"I don't hate it," he admitted, fingers stroking up her side familiarly. "It seems a little ... far. But I don't hate it. How about you?" A green-scaled mutate dressed in crude mummy wrapping passed them, hoisting his drink in the air in celebration.
"I definitely don't hate it."
Pam hummed softly as Alex's fingers skimmed her side and then chuckled as she held up her own beer in a counter-salute. "Yeah, I think so. I mean, there's shit about the school I kinda miss sometimes, but I still pop in and out anyway, so whatever. It's...kinda cool, though. With the boss being in charge and everything." She snuggled in against Alex's side and tilted her head up to nuzzle his neck. "Woulda missed Billy and Goody and Laura, but they're here too, so it's all good." Tommy - well, Tommy wasn't at the school anymore, either, so she didn't suppose missing him mattered either way.
"I sort of wish Scott was here," Alex admitted. "I think ... I think it would do him good to see this." He hugged Pam tight against his side, and clinked his beer can against hers. "I mean, this is everything any of us ever wanted, right? Mutants being mutants, out in the open, in their own place." He tilted his face to catch her lips in a brief kiss.
"It's everything we've ever wanted. I can't understand why they stay away."
"Did you invite him to the party?" Pam asked curiously. "I mean, I dropped off invites for Shen and Nott, just in case the Professor didn't do the whole announcement thing. Maybe if he saw it, it'd make a difference?" Or not, more likely. But even if Scott didn't want to move to Genosha (and Pam agreed, he was being kind of an idiot about it) he could at least visit. It wasn't like anyone was going to tie him up and keep him there.
"Well, no" Alex said, looking more than a little guilty. "But you know how Scott is with parties, most of the time. And a party in Genosha? With the Brotherhood? I figured I'd save us both the awkward conversation. You think I should have?"
"Probably." Pam shrugged and tightened her arm around his waist briefly. "Not like he hasn't come to Brotherhood shit before, right? He was at that party Pietro threw with all the glow sticks that time; I remember him dancing with Wanda there. If you wanted to see him, it would've been a good time."
"I think that was more like reconnaissance than a social outing, for him," he noted ruefully. "And I don't think now would be the best time for that, you know? Maybe when things are a little more settled. I mean, I can always take a day and visit Westchester if the separation anxiety gets too bad."
Pam let out a chuff of laughter. "Separation anxiety?"
He nudged her hip with his. "You know what I mean. Coming back to the Brotherhood was rough on me and Scott--I don't think he's forgiven me yet. But he hasn't cut me off, either. That's something."
"He really should just come here," Pam observed. "And I don't see why there'd be anything to forgive, anyway. It's not like you ever you were staying there forever."
"Yeah, well. What I say and what Scott understands are two completely different things," he said. "He's so used to people screwing him over that it tends to be his default reaction to anything. Well-adjusted, the Summers boys definitely are fucking not."
Alex sighed. "Anyway, they should all just come here. They can't hide out forever, and it will be a shit-show when the school eventually gets found out."
"No shit." Pam was quiet for a moment, considering that, then shrugged. "I invited a couple of people to the party. Hopefully they'll see we've got things under control here and make the move." She nudged Alex and smiled. "And as far as well-adjusted goes, you seem a fuckload better lately."
"Yeah, well," he offered a lopsided smile. "I guess I've been too busy lately to worry about being on the edge of a dissociative breakdown? That seems to help. And things are just ... less tense lately, in general? Stressed, but not tense. I don't know. Maybe my crazy is just coming out in a new way."
"Probably," Pam teased. "But whatever, it's a good look for you." And it was. She'd never realized just how "off" Alex sometimes was until he wasn't. It had just been Alex.
"I'm so glad that the changing shape of my personality disorder meets with your approval," he told her dryly, though he was grinning. He nudged her hip again. "And hey, you've hardly knifed anybody since we took over. And the ones you did only needed stitches afterward. Maybe we're actually mellowing?" Or just exhausted from all the work they'd put in to making Genosha something like a functional society, after their revolution.
"Maybe." Pam grinned back at him, then pointed out, "Also? The ones I stabbed totally deserved it. Even Lance said so. And I haven't sent anyone in my self-defense classes to the hospital." She paused as if considering, and said, "Maybe I'm losing my edge. You think?"
"Nah," Alex answered, immediate and wholly honest. "You can still kick the asses of any three mutants or mutates on this island. You just don't feel the need to cripple," or kill, "them when you do it. It's a good change, trust me." Smirking, he turned in front of her, hands resting at her bare waist. "Nothing wrong with not immediately going for the 'murder' option. I'm sure our happy Genoshan citizens would agree."
Pam was still preening at Alex's appraisal of her fighting ability when he finished, but laughed at the last part and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Fuck our happy citizens. I'm just happy I haven't heard Wanda tell you to keep an eye on me in months."
"I know, right?" he agreed, tugging her closer so they could sway together to the music being pumped into the street festival. "And did you notice Eileen's not hovering over us tonight, making sure we're okay? I mean, literally hovering. Like, she'd be three feet overhead, watching and offering us cookies and shit." Alex's expression was wry, but his tone was fond. More than fond. The Brotherhood had always been as much his family as Scott, and he didn't even mind the hovering that much. Though it was nice to have a night off from it.
"Definitely noticed," Pam confirmed, happily swaying with the music. Not that she minded Eileen hovering, mostly, but it was cool that she wasn't. Except... "Damn it, now I want a cookie," she complained, scowling up at Alex.
"I might have a few stashed in my room back at--" Alex stumbled over the right word to use. "Mansion" would probably have been appropriate, but that made him think too much of the school. And "palace" didn't really suit the Brotherhood at all. "--our place," he finished lamely, though he tried to cover the moment with a suggestive smirk. "I could be persuaded to share, if you're nice to me tonight."
"If?" Pam's eyebrows climbed, but only for a moment before she smirked instead. "Maybe I'll just buy myself one. Or get someone else to. Seeing as there's a 'if' involved." Or yeah, probably not, but seriously. If?
"Well, you know it's not a real if," Alex backtracked. "When have I ever withheld cookies from my girlfriend?" Or anybody, really, but especially not Pam.
"I don't know. Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Pam teased, though he could feel her face warming. It wasn't the first time Alex had called her that, lately, but it still took her by surprise and made her stomach do weird flipping things. She was pretty sure she liked it, anyway.
"I watch a lot of movies," he returned wryly. "It's the next best thing, right?"
"Only if watching porn on the internet measures up to sex." Pam smirked. "You might watch to watch how you answer that."
"I'm not even gonna touch it," Alex admitted fervently. "I'm not even gonna go near it. In fact, I'm gonna pretend we were having an entirely different conversation and not even think about all the wrong ways I could answer that."
"Probably a good plan." Pam smiled and brushed her fingertips along the back of Alex's next. "So are you wanting to head back already? Or are we hanging out here for a while?" Surprisingly, she was actually hoping they'd do the latter, and not just because she hadn't seen Nott yet. This was actually kind of fun.
"I mean, that kinda depends on how deep your cookie-lust is running right now," he said. "Personally, I wouldn't mind stayin' a while--I feel like we haven't seen nearly enough of this party yet. But if you're ready to head back, I won't complain. I'm here for moral support, or some shit."
"No, I'm good with staying." Pam smiled and shifted in closer, pressing against Alex as she swiveled her hips more or less along with the music. "I just wasn't sure whether or not you were looking for me to start being nice to you now."
"There's plenty of time for nice," Alex said philosophically. "And, I mean, this is pretty nice." His hands moved from her hips to her bare waist, thumbs tracing irregular circles over Pam's skin. "We don't have that many chances to get out and just have fun lately, anyway. Might as well enjoy it, right?"
Pam hummed softly, her eyes half closing, but when she looked up at Alex through her lashes, she smirked. "Because we were definitely party animals before. But yeah, I'm all for enjoying it." She teased her fingers across his neck before urging his head down and brushing her lips over his teasingly. "So what's next on the agenda? Karaoke?" she teased.
"Let's not go crazy here," he huffed. That kind of attention, Alex definitely preferred to avoid. Besides, did they even have karaoke set up anywhere? Seemed like it might get lost in all the other festivities, but Pietro did like to be thorough with his party planning. "I'm more of a bystander than an entertainer."
"Chicken shit," Pam tossed back with a smirk. Not that she cared if Alex did karaoke - fuck, there was no way in hell she'd do karaoke. But still, it had to be said. "Besides, you already said you were crazy. You wouldn't have to go anywhere."
"There are degrees, y'know," he said, eyes darting to the side. "My crazy is kinda charming, sometimes. That kind that likes the spotlight that much is just obnoxious. Anyway, I don't see you rushing up there for the mic anytime soon."
"Because I'm that obnoxious?" Pam smirked, then shrugged. "Wrong kind of crazy for me, too. Though you could maybe talk me into it if you got me another couple of drinks." Or not, most likely - the idea of everyone watching her, on stage, was enough to make her itch to reach for her knife - but it wasn't impossible if he dared her. Besides, she could always wear someone else's face. That might might help.
"Another couple of drinks, I can definitely manage," Alex grinned. "I have no further comment to make in regard to that other thing." His smirk turned ironic, but he tightened his arms around Pam's waist, and nestled the side of his head against her left shoulder, his face against the side of her neck. "Except to say ... you're never that obnoxious."
"Hey, I work hard at obnoxious," Pam pointed out, but there wasn't any venom to it. In fact, she was quite happy to press in tighter against Alex and rub against him, slowly. Which was its own kind of obnoxious, she guessed, but whatever. He liked it. "Hmmm...if I could make us both invisible, we could go at it, right here," she whispered teasingly.
As if by instinct, he pressed back into her, matching the press and sway of her hips with his own. Slowly, calculatedly. Just the way he'd learned she liked. One hand traced down her back to the barely-present fabric of Pam's shorts, squeezing. "Don't tempt me. You had me at 'invisible', but a chance to go at you like I want to ..." Well. That just might be too much to resist.
Pam moaned and buried her face in his shoulder. Yeaah. That definitely sounded good. Really fucking good, in fact. Except she couldn't...
Or could she? Fuck, she could make herself look like Freddy if she bent the light right, despite the fact he was more than a foot larger than her in all directions. She and Alex between them didn't take up that much space. So, it would be like making an invisible Freddy...
She disappeared suddenly, then focused her attention on bending the light out further. "Wish there was someone here who could check if this was working," she muttered as much to herself as to Alex as she hurriedly started unfastening his pants. She guessed they'd know soon enough if anyone started staring.
For his part, Alex gave a startled glance around their immediate vicinity. When it didn't seem anyone was taking any special notice of Pam's ... current occupation, his fingers quickly went to the buttons of her own short-shorts. "This is crazy," he noted, though once her shorts were undone, one of his hand slid up her side to her chest. "We could just fuck at home, you know."
Despite his protests, he made no effort to stall her hands at his quickly-loosed pants. And the way his hands moved over her body, it was fairly evident he didn't care whether they were being obvious or not in their mutual rising lust for each other.
"Yeah, but then we'd have to go there," Pam pointed out, completely ignoring the fact they could be there in seconds if she just summoned a portal. Instead, she pressed into Alex's hand with a gasp, and pushed his pants down far enough to bare the critical parts of his anatomy. "Fuck if I know how we're going to do this without a wall, though," she admitted.
Nobody around them appeared to have noticed their increasing lack of clothing and disregard for the usual boundaries of public displays of affection ... and, honestly, Alex's blood was so far diverted from his brain at that point that he probably wouldn't even have noticed. He had eyes only for Pam, and once her shorts were down around her thighs, he kissed her hard, then spun her around so that he could press into her from behind. One hand slithered under her top to squeeze warm flesh without the barrier of fabric.
"We'll make it work," he breathed. "We always have. And I'm pretty sure we can find a wall if--"
"Alex, there is no fucking way I can keep us invisible to go find a wall," Pam pointed out breathlessly. "Unless you want everyone checking out your skinny white ass, we're doing this right here." Which, okay, sounded really good to her, and apparently not too awful to Alex, because they proceeded to do just that.
And yeah, okay, maybe she should've been quieter, because by the time they were done? There were definitely people looking around for the source of the noise. But whatever. Pam smirked as she got her clothing back in order. Alex definitely deserved a cheering section. "Ready for visibility?" she asked him, her eyebrows rising teasingly.
"Just a second--" he murmured, flush setting in now that his excitement had wound down. "I've almost got it. Dammit. Putting on pants is fucking hard when you can't fucking see them."
Pam let out a snort of amusement and turned to give him a hand, sliding her hand down the outside of his leg until she found the pants leg in question. "Welcome to my life."
With Pam's help, he was able to get his pants back up around his waist, and the two returned to visibility just as he was buttoning up. Alex gave an abbreviated squeak, then quickly turned toward the wall they'd recently made use of to shield himself from the crowd as he finished getting everything back into place.
Face warming as the people immediately around them not-quite-spontaneously burst into applause, Pam's personal visibility flickered before she pasted an uncaring expression in place and waved them off. "I'm thinking we might want to get out of here? Like, right here, here, I mean. We can stay at the party." Because yeaaaah. She maybe could use another beer. Or three. It'd been worth it, but yeah. There were way too many people looking at them now.
Cheeks coloring as he noticed the additional attention they were garnering, Alex slipped his arm through Pam's and tried to hurriedly lead her away without being excessively obvious that he was hurrying. "Yes, definitely, please. Let's someplace where the crowd is a little less smirk-y."
Pam nodded and opened a portal in front of them, though she had to laugh as she snuggled in against Alex's side. "So that's what it's like to be fucked by someone you can't see, huh? Kinda interesting. I can see why you're a fan."
Once they were through, Alex offered a grimace and a squeeze around her middle. "I think that mighta become my kink back when we were still on the inside, honestly. Is that weird? I mean, all kink tends to be weird--that's why they call it kink, right? But is this, like, really weird?"
"I don't know." Pam's grin faded and she tensed, the light flickering around her, there and not again. When she spoke again, her voice was deliberately casual, almost flippant, as she tugged Fatale's persona firmly in place along with a smirk. "You shoulda said something, Summers. We can definitely do that."
Alex paused a moment, then said," You could just say 'yes, Alex, that's weird,' you know." His tone was mild, but concern colored his expression at the edges as he regarded her. "It's not as if I'd take it personally. And I love being able to see you, now, too. I just meant that ... Ugh. I don't know. I think the one of the main reasons I managed to come back out into the world as intact as I did," which wasn't saying a lot, but still--he was better off than some, "was because of that. And that makes it special. Even if it's weird."
Pam took a breath and exhaled slowly the way Doc Samson had been lecturing on for the past year, flexing her fingers against the impulse to dig her nails into her palms. She could talk about this, as herself. She could. "I...I'm glad it helped," she said truthfully. Because yeah, it had helped her, too. She wouldn't have come through it all without him, and he knew that. Just... "I just...I used to pretend, I guess," she admitted awkwardly. "That you could see me, even when I knew damn well you couldn't. Or I'd tell myself it was because it was dark in your room, or...anything to not remember that you couldn't."
"Aw, Pam," he said, immediately apologetic. "I had no idea that was how you felt about it. I didn't mean to dredge up shit you don't want to think about. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Pam offered a crooked smile and tightened her arm around him. "Kinda my fault, anyway."
"I don't think it's anybody's fault, not really," Alex protested, returning the one-armed hug. Well. Maybe the Right's fault. But why screw up a perfectly good party bringing that bunch of irredeemable shitheads more than than he already had? "It's just so weird for us to have our wires crossed on something like this, I guess," he went on. "It's kind of weird."
"Really weird," Pam agreed wholeheartedly. Normally she had a pretty good idea how Alex felt about - well, pretty much everything. The idea that she'd had no clue about this had her more thrown than how he felt about it did. "I always figured you knew, and it was just one of those things we didn't talk about," she admitted.
"Same," Alex affirmed, face screwing up into a vaguely dissatisfied expression. Sure, people just assuming the two of them were joined at the brain could be irritating as fuck, some days ... but, confronted with something he hadn't known or even suspected, he wasn't exactly loving the wider implications of that kernel of uncertainty. "So maybe it's a good thing it came up?" he said. "Gave us a chance to actually talk about it, instead of just assuming."
"Yeah, probably." Pam mulled that over for a minute, then smiled up at Alex a little awkwardly. "Wow. Maybe there's actually shit about each other we don't already know. Like, y'know, normal people. Though this was a pretty fucked up example."
"Which is exactly the kind of example you'd expect, from us," Alex said with a grimace that was mostly ironic. "But yeah. Wow. Do you think that should make us feel better about our relationship or worse?"
Pam mulled that over for a minute, then shrugged and smirked. "I'm gonna go with better? Just because it's pretty fucked up to think that at eighteen, we know absolutely everything about what makes each other tick just from being together in Hell." She snuggled in against Alex's side and tilted her head in against his shoulder. "Nearly everything's cool, though."
"Nearly everything," he agreed. Alex tried to smirk, but the expression came across more ... warm and generally happy. Because, yeah, it didn't matter if people thought he and Pam were excessively close. And it didn't matter if there weren't actually that close, in fact. They knew what the meant to each other, and were always there for each other, regardless. And that? That was pretty fucking awesome. The rest could sort itself out. Or not. The point was, they were good.
