Bee's House

When she saw Stanley smile, she knew things would be alright. Something calmed her…maybe it was just the milk…but she actually felt sleepy for the first time since she’d been here. Maybe it was just the relief slapping her in the face. Ever since that fight…it had been a question of if she’d ever even see him again. Now, with all this reassurance, she felt protected and blessed. Dinah could rest.

Giving him a bit of a laugh, she nodded. “Oh yes, very lovely…”

A beat passed them by awkwardly, her sipping and him slurping.

It was strange for her to have so many questions but not be able to ask them. She wanted to respect his boundaries but man…it was so challenging when she cared so much. Still, she was playing it safe. “Have…you started classes yet?”

--

--

He had spent so much time with her, had learned all her faces, and considered himself an expert in her body language. He was glad that she seemed to feel so comfortable, so much had been said and even he himself had been so terrible and hurt her, almost purposely. Maybe now wasn’t the time to talk about that and he was completely fine with waiting. Even if he was a constant mess and was afraid to go out of control he a part of him was looking forward to that talk and to move forward whatever that may mean for them. 

He let out a long sigh and let himself fall into the palms of his hands and watch her sip her milk. “Not yet... but I should be soon.... would it be okay if I walked you to your room? I don’t want to keep you up too late.”

cass-writes‌:

Her sarcasm was becoming and it reminded him of his own. He enjoyed their banter and was wondering why he had been so wrapped up in his mind before when there were live play things waiting to be corrupted. They surrounded the campus, begging for their worst nightmares to be exposed. August licked his lips and followed the sweet girl inside, chaos pleading for release.

“No, no…I’m very clean with what I do. As they say, cleanliness is next to godliness.” His nose scrunched up for a moment as he inspected the room.

“Who do you live here with?”

August didn’t like surprises, although he should have know she would have roommates. Still, something about one on one conversations allowed you to push boundaries…if other people were here to play, he might not make the same decisions.

-----

-

Shock had been drawn into this a little too quickly, she was way too excited about getting back to her room that she had forgotten to clean up. She could admit she wasn’t the best at keeping things tidy, especially recently since she didn’t /have/ to clean up after her brothers. She was enjoying her newfound freedom a little too much. Her desk was fine, all of her knickknacks organized from most favorite to least. She had a few jars filled with some voodoo recipes she was trying out, her makeup was in its place, medical books, everything was fine for the most part. But before you could take in all the beauty that was the chaos in her head, you’d see the bong... the bottles of beer, a vodka bottle half empty, and her little heart-shaped case that very obviously held her little treasures. The empty bed on the opposite side of hers was empty. only a small blanket was balled up in the middle. It was very obvious she’d had company at some point. 

“Excuse the mess,” she began pushing the empty bottles into the nearest trashcan, “I live by myself here, but my brothers visit often. They’re gone now, don’t you worry about being interrupted.” She didn’t bother putting anything up besides the empty bottles, it was kind of just neatly pushed back. 

She took a seat on her bed and pointed to a lounge chair, not more than a couple of feet away from her, “you’re welcome to make yourself at home. She let her hair down and began playing with it between her fingers, wondering just how to go about this; how to achieve her endgame.  

*

Was she worried?

Terk laughed.

“Listen, I’ve never been in a situation I couldn’t get out of,” she said confidently. Perhaps this wasn’t due to her own merit, considering she had her brothers who would (sometimes) willingly go to bat for her - but who needed to know that? Not this kid. “Why? Trying to cause trouble?”

As it turned out, reckless as it might have been, trouble was exactly what she was looking for. If she couldn’t start this whole experience with a bang, what was the point in starting it at all? Now, this was the worst possible mentality she could have - and she knew it was the worst possible mentality she could have. But, if she wasn’t giving her brother a heart attack at any and all times - she wasn’t doing her job as baby sis.

“What if I promise you nothing bad is gonna happen? Will you come? I’ll have security on standby just for you.” She couldn’t help but giggle - what a stupid fucking thing to say.

But, she had a feeling it might work.

“I’m Terk, by the way. Terk Ronaldo - party planner extraordinaire. Ready to get you fucked up in the safest...” she smirked, “…environment possible.”

------

Charles thought back to all the trouble he had gotten himself into in the past, nothing really ever became too much too handle. He wasn’t afraid of gambling away his money for fun or losing his wallet from dancing too hard on the dance floor, what he was worried about was the people that could possibly tear off his arm. Now /that/ was the kind of trouble he was trying to avoid and the kind of trouble he had promised his mom he’d stay out of. 

“No... Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not really the type to get myself into trouble. It seems like I might not be the perfect type for this party,” he handed the flyer back to the girl with a smile, “thank you though.”

“I really appreciate the effort, but I’ll have to resist...” and resisting he was trying, he hadn’t been out to a party in such a long time and although he wanted to avoid getting hurt- No. He couldn’t. 

August needed to be up to something. It was rattling him the wrong way to be a “student” at this yuppie school…Everywhere he turned there were these self motivation posters and invitations to school activities. It made him sick.

His usual gang were the chefs back at camp. They would hang out late at night, doing mischievous things anywhere they went. Cities after cities lured them into the shadiest of street corners. They’d rob, do petty crimes and gamble their nights away. It was just their way of living. It was what August knew. His nose had the habit of sticking upward, sneering at the campus joy and festivities. Where were the kids doing unsanitary tattoo art in their dorms? Where were the kids sneaking bongs and alcohol? Where were all the fights?

Itching for chaos, he saw a new, pure face ready for corruption. 

Zoning in on the male, he had this golden boy look about him that August wanted to crush. He followed him a little ways, that was until he was heard on the staircase. “Yes, but I’m sure a strapping young man like yourself can handle it.” He lit up a cigarette in the staircase, sitting on the ledge of a window as he wiggled it open. No need for a smoke alarm to go off.

“What floor are you headed to?” He projected, the echo in the staircase sure to reach the blonde even if he had reached the next flight. 

km 

Nothing like enjoying a show and not offering to help.

----

Charles kept climbing the stairs trying to pay no mind to the guy he had left behind. But the smell of the cigarette found him quickly, it hit him a needle popping his heart that was so full of positivity and love. He was reminded of the one person who’s support was missing, his father. A tall solid man, quite the opposite of what he was, who focused the majority of his time on his work and the “legacy” he’d leave behind for his children, and yet no one had heard from him in months since he’d found out about Charles’ ability. They weren’t quite close, but that didn’t keep his heart from hurting.

“I’m heading to the fourth floor, try not to set the building on fire while I’m gone,” he spoke out clearly making sure to add a little bit of emphasis on the latter statement. He started walking up the stairs a little faster trying to get away from it; the smell itself didn’t bother him or that people were so dumb to self-sabotage their bodies, it was the reminder and the pain that it triggered.

He set his boxes down in front of his door and reached for his keys, hoping that sharing living quarters with other people wouldn’t continue to be this intrusive. He pushed the boxes in with his foot and took a deep breath in to compose himself, he then headed back down trying not to make contact with anyone. 

Their hands danced for a bit. They handled each other so delicately that she wondered again if this was real. Still, after running her thumb over his scars, her face changed to that of a worried mother. They both were going through so much with these changes…she didn’t care anymore about answers or what the extent of his powers were. Dinah finally accepted this reality and was determined to be a positive force in Stanley’s life.

Mentally, she was silently vowing him protection, friendship and patience when he began to move. His offer was sweet. And normal. And everything they needed.

“We can be boring, right, Stanley?” There was a gleam in her eye as she moved to sit next to him. The young woman sipped her milk and took in a deep breath. 

Okay, being quiet was really hard. 

---

Stanley sat there in silence for as long as he could, eating his ramen and looking at Dinah every few minutes to make sure she was still there. Her presence was comforting, it was everything he needed, in all those months they’d been apart and now. He felt at home even just sitting with her having a late-night snack, it was so familiar and normal, he just couldn’t help himself but smile. These kinds of moments were all that had kept Stanley sane while they were apart, those everyday moments that people usually paid no attention to. That was all that Stanley had been wanting. 

He pulled down his hoodie and scratched his head for some ideas on how to start a conversation. Usually, he was better than small talk, but there was nothing better that he could come up with at that moment. 

“Lovely weather we’ve been having right...?” He chuckled realizing he hadn’t been outside since he’d gotten there and there he was talking about the weather. 

His eyes expressed a steady focus on her as she told him of her name…He smirked harder, nodding. There was almost nothing shocking about this girl…yes, she seemed a little bit ready to find trouble, but definitely didn’t look too dangerous. No face tattoo or giant nose ring…no glass eye or golden tooth. Not to say August was disappointed…He was intrigued. 

There was a shrug…”I would like nothing more than to ‘come over.’ What an honor, Miss Shock.” He held out his arm like a proper gentlemen and smiled invitingly. “Lead the way.”

----

Shock wondered if she was being too impulsive, inviting a stranger into her home was one thing, but inviting a stranger who was gifted was a bit riskier. She took another look at the guy, tall, handsome, a little rough around the edges... just her type. She knew Lock would have something to say if he was around, how she wasn’t thinking this through. But she decided if she could get away with it, why not.

He seemed interested enough to follow, but she couldn’t fully read him and that had her set to figure him out. 

When he started to speak on it, that’s when her wound was reopened. A gush of emotions washed over her and she knew the corners of her eyes were threatening to overfill. I never meant to hurt you. She held tears in, knowing…she was exhausted and this was just the cherry on top.

She missed him so much the entire time they spent apart, and yet here…now…she couldn’t even pull him in for an embrace. Too much of her wanted this to be Mexico all over again. A quick fight, get everything out in the open and end the night snuggling in one or the other’s bed. Damn, she was naive sometimes.

“I believe you. I knew that wasn’t you…I won’t make you–” The microwaved interrupted and she took out her milk. “I won’t make you talk about it if you can’t. I still can’t even explain…this.”

Dinah showed him her hands. In an instant, claws revealed themselves. She stared over at them as she leaned against the counter to take a sip from a straw, wincing at the heat on her tongue.

“Makes me feel like we’re in a movie and not real anymore, Stanley…”

---

He could tell that his words were hurting her. Tears began to fill her eyes and he fought himself so hard to not reach over and take her into a warm embrace. There was no doubt in his mind that he was still crazy in love with her, but he wasn’t sure if she still felt the same. Even if she forgave him for the way he had treated her, he probably would still hold back. 

He took a look at her hands, so small and delicate, and in an instant, they changed. Stanley smiled slightly and without thinking reached out  his torn up hand and touched hers. His hand was rough, the palm had scars from balled up fists, and his nails were long, thick, with pointy ends. The one thing that always stayed with him, even if he wasn’t transformed. His hands embarrassed him, but he wanted to show her that he was there with her. 

He placed his ramen down at a table close to them and sat down.

When Dinah had gotten out of bed…she wasn’t expecting for all this. She didn’t mean to sound careless or light about the situation, but the young woman was a little on edge to be put in this current scenario. Her natural defense mechanism was to joke around…to poke at the situation until it transformed into something else. 

Yet, they were both seemingly paralyzed as silent spaces hung in the room. 

“I just got here a few days ago…my paren–my mom was worried about what they’d do to me if they took me here. She had to reach out to other parents who had students enrolled here before letting them take me.” 

Dinah poured her milk and placed it in the microwave, taking a moment before turning around to look him in the face. 

Moving forward meant that you asked the hard questions sometimes too.

“Stanley, why did you come back from your dad’s so different? Things were going so good and then…when you got back it was like I was living with a whole new person.”

-----

Stanley was glad to know that there was someone that was taking care of Dinah when he had left. He would’ve hated to think that she’d gone into this blind and alone. The worst thing about him being transferred from the lab to the academy was the cage, the chains, the assessment of whether he was safe to be let out. He had been terrified during that time and he knew they didn’t mean to make him feel like a liability, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t have anyone by his side during that time, his dad was being questioned and probably arrested. And Ben... he couldn’t tell him. He was scared to reopen that wound. Stanley felt alone.

He had never talked to Dinah about his trauma, he had mentioned a few times that his relationship with his dad was complicated. But what was he supposed to have said then? He didn’t know how to explain his intelligence, strength, or his love for self-destruction. But now she was asking and wanted to be let in. It was late and he was beginning to hurt, he wanted to walk away. 

“Yeah, it’s better to be a little nourished before bed or else you’re askin’ for trouble.” he nodded, knowing what it was like to go to bed hungry. Perhaps for different reasons or maybe not. The smile on Caden’s face widened a bit when he heard the other laugh. “Not exactly,” he said with a shy smile. Not many people knew he was a Merman. It’s not that he was ashamed of the fact it’s that he was probably the only one who was half fish in this school. 

----

Stanley laughed nervously feeling guilty. How many days had he gone without eating just because he didn’t feel like getting up from his bed? Days wasted away wallowing in self-pity because he felt different, and here he was in front of someone that was like him, someone who had to find this place as a home. Stanely could’ve been doing the same, finding some comfort in a place that was designed to keep him safe. 

“Have no fear, the fun is here!”

Apparently, Terk was under the impression that it was 1994 - because she was walking through the courtyard with a stack of flyers (that she printed!), calling to anyone who would listen about this totally rad, really cool party she was throwing with her brothers. It was their first night in their brand new apartment, boxes still scattered around the place, and she was already down to clown. Since she didn’t know anybody….how else was she gonna spread the word?

Strolling through, she managed to shove a flyer into the hands of every single person who walked by. It was a talent of hers, she liked to think - tiny as hell and just as persistent. But, if she knew one thing to be true - it was that this party was about to be lit. This was a pretty big stack of paper and she fully intended on passing out every one.

Tantor was going to flip shit.

Leaving the courtyard, Terk turned the corner and, without a missed beat, shoved a flyer into the chest of the next unsuspecting person who walked by. “Hey, you! Party at mine, 10 o’clock.  Bring your friends.”

---

Charles had only been at the campus for a few hours, he had been following a girl who was supposed to be giving him and his sister a tour but after a few agonizing minutes of listening to his older sisters' questions, he had to flee. He was just glad that his mom had to stay home or all four of the Summers’ women would’ve been cornering the poor girl with questions, and mama bear did not play with Charles’ safety. It had only been a couple of months since she had found out about Charles’ power and every thirty minutes since then she’d peek her head into his room making sure he was comfortable. Everyone had been freaking out, “what’re we gonna do with him?”, “How can we help him?”, “Is he in pain?”, “how do we not make him feel different?”

Not too long ago they were excited to finally get him out of the house, he was supposed to move in with his “best friend” Martin and tour with his gymnastics team. But now everyone, including Charles, was afraid of what people would do if they found out he was a mutant. So, that’s why he had ditched his sisters and the tour guide, with them around it felt more like he was being dropped off at a psych ward and not at an academy for gifted people. 

He felt calm and not like he was carrying a bulldozer full of rocks, his body was soft and he was breathing fine. He felt safe until someone slammed there hand into his chest.

“Whoa-” he stammered for a second as the girl in front of him went on.

“Umm, thanks? But aren’t you worried about the kind of people /this/” he waved the paper in front of her, “will bring to your home?”

Dinah could tell he was going in circles in his head. It was all over his face. Her mind was spinning too, but her nerves were more like distracting butterflies. They flew around inside her as if this was a happy moment…and maybe Dinah was celebrating a little. She kept thinking she must be sleep deprived and the moment would end any second…That’s why she had to keep focused, appreciate being with Stanley even if it was simply a dream.

Reaching forward carefully, she might have been shaking as she accepted the cup. “Thank you.”

She went to open the fridge to fetch the milk. Inside, the large amount of food made her eyes light up. This was the first time she had been in here unattended…”Holy wow…” she whispered, seeing names and labels of student’s and teacher’s food. There were more people here than she thought.

“Are you still using the microwave?” She ended up next to him at the counter, casually pouring her milk as if everything was fine. Maybe she was avoiding the real confrontation…maybe she was terrified to reopen the wound. Or maybe she just needed to show him first that she wasn’t scared of him.

--

She kept getting closer and he was not backing up, he didn’t want to. All he wanted was to cuddle up with her in a cold room and eat his ramen and tell her everything that had happened to him. But then he remembered what he was.

“No problem,” he whispered as he noticed her hand slightly shaking, “who would’ve thought you know... how many of us are actually out there. That you and I aren’t so different.”

It almost felt normal, them hanging out in a kitchen late at night getting a snack before bedtime. Except it wasn't. He grabbed his ramen and gave her space. But he wasn’t quite ready to walk away. 

He took her cigarette and eyed her as you would a puzzle. He was putting things together about her…She obviously had things on her mind if she was trying to catch a moment of fresh air at this hour. If it had been a nicotine addiction and she had a short supply, she never would have offered in the first place. Taking a slow drag, he took his gaze forward, staring into the dark trees that swirled together like a purple and black painting. 

It wasn’t only her current time and place that gave her away. She just sounded utterly bored. Her posture, her lazy conversation…all indications she was lacking a thrill. 

“Time will expose if that’s true, won’t it? I’m August. And you?”

“Tell me, how is it you like to play in the night?” It was a slight challenge. He wanted to see how she would react more than see what she’d come up with. After all, August was interested in work ethic, not creativity. 

-

There was one good thing that came out of Shock's “gift” and that was that to hurt someone she had to get to know them. And if she wanted to stay safe from all the freaks on-site then she’d definitely need to get to know some of them.

“My friends call me Shock.”

It was like a moth to the flame as she took more steps closer. In complete, protected honesty, the last time she saw him–he could have seriously hurt someone. Yet, here she was, putting herself…and even him at risk. Why did she like to play with wasp’s nest? What was she so terribly lacking in her childhood that caused her to make rash, impulsive decisions? Seeing him so tense, so hurt…she promised herself she wouldn’t cry. Things were so different…Dinah just missed her friend. 

“Well…my grandma had a lot of secrets, Stanley…we just thought she was crazy but it turns out she was telling the truth about some things…”

It was weird to talk about. It still didn’t feel real to her so how could she ever put it into words?

“I belong here just like you.”

-

All Stanley had ever wanted was to protect Dinah. He had tried to pull himself away to keep her away from the pain that people like him... them, go through. And here they both were. No matter how hard he had tried the universe just wanted them together. That should’ve made him angry, that the love of his life was now also suffering like he was, he wanted to be mad at the world. But how many other people were gifted with a second chance?

His father might’ve really messed him up and caused him to end up in a sort of prison, but had he not... He would’ve never seen Dinah again.

“What kind of milk do you need? There’s only 2% in the fridge...” He grabbed an empty glass and offered it to her, not looking her in eyes. He was terrified that he’d crumble into tears if he did. He was a mess.