NEPTUNE

As soon as Penelope saw her brother on top of the rubble they had been responsible for putting there — proof of one of the times they had practiced their powers in the big, empty warehouse — she realized how much she had missed him. It hadn’t quite hit her, not until that moment. And when it finally came, she was glad Avery was standing in front of her, even if a few levels up. 

Penelope scoffed as soon as she heard her brother’s words. “I’m hurt you’d think I’d bring anything but grape,” she stated, fully joking and making her tone reflect that, in a very dramatic, feigned way — hand on her chest and everything. 

“I forgive you,” Penelope started, a small smile on her lips as she shook her head, “I shoulda bugged you more at work, too,” she admitted, “but we’re here now, right? What’s the plan for today? There’s not much else left to destroy around here.” 

He smiled a bit when she said she forgave him, but honestly, he hadn’t expected anything else. They always forgave each other, no matter how stupid the shit they did was. Maybe he had to wait a couple of days for forgiveness, depending on how bad the situation was, but regardless of whether or not she forgave him, he’d still do anything for her. 

“Well, I mean. How about we try to make this rubble float? Maybe we could even turn it into dust?” He shrugged. When they combined their powers, each one of them felt supercharged, like a supernova inside of them trying to escape. Avery could do things he’d never imagine such as causing an object to become so dense it collapsed in on itself, or so light that someone could probably walk through it. He could manipulate the gravity of an object, causing the molecules themselves to spread apart. Whilst Penelope was just as amazing, he always thought that maybe he had received the back end of the power stick. 

Avery was walking home from classes. The day had seemed to stretch forever, and it was nowhere near over yet. He was walking along the beach, watching everyone lying in the mid-afternoon sun. Part of him wished he didn’t have so much on his plate so he could join them, the other part of him knew that he had to hustle now so he could live a better life later. 

It was obvious that he wasn’t looking where he was going and he wasn’t even surprised when he bumped into someone. “Oh shit sorry!” He said to the other person, “Sometimes I dissociate -- are you okay?” 

Avery flung the napkin over his shoulder as he rushed to keep up with the amount of drink orders that were coming from the crowd that night at the bar. He was in the process of mixing a manhattan ice tea when someone caught his attention out the corner of his eye. A smile automatically spread across his lips. He poured the drinks and handed them to the customer before turning to his friend. “Give me 5 and I’ll end my shift early. I heard there’s a bonfire on the beach tonight and there’s no way I’m missing that.” He then continued to pour himself and Hana a shot. “Here, just to get things started. I’ll steal a bottle from the back before we go, any preferences?” He shouted over the loud music and crowd.

Where: Miami Beach

Who: closed with @replicaticns

It wasn’t often that Avery went surfing. Not only was it the fact that he barely had any time to do it, but also that he had an irrational fear of sharks. But, when he did, he really enjoyed it. It gave him an adrenaline rush he just really couldn’t get enough of. Maybe that’s why he was so inclined to pull off his illegal stunts, the adrenaline high made all the risks worth it. 

Avery sat on the beach, his board firmly placed in the sand not too far from where he sat. He noticed someone as they walked past, something about them just caught his eye, maybe it was their surfboard or maybe it was just the universe telling him he should say hello. 

“Hey man! I really like your style.” He called out to the other.

The storage unit had been an after thought, only purchased when he realized there simply wasn’t enough space for all his bikes at the garage. It pained him, but after some serious digging, he’d convinced himself it would be fine. Security, locks that took him a minute to pop open. And he’d been told he could bring his own if he wanted, which he hadn’t gotten around to yet. People tended to ask questions when you wanted a federal grade lock. Which is exactly why he made a point of visiting his bikes once a day. He didn’t keep his most expensive out there, he’s no fool, but for anyone with half a brain would make a pretty penny.

He sees him before he hears him, a fact Tierney doesn’t miss. Kid’s done this before. He watches him, keeping himself to the shadows, poised to trick the kid into not seeing him if he has to. He steps in only when the kid starts looking harder at the bikes. He knows what to look for. Makes him more dangerous than an average thief. And Tierney has dealt with plenty of thieves. He gives him a minute, let’s him feel a little more relaxed before he steps out of the shadows.

The kid’s reaction is gratifying. His lie however…no so much. He flashes out his hand and in an instant feels his powers wrap around the kid, holding him in place. “Please. You and I both know these aren’t your bikes.” He cocks his head to the side, watching him closely. “Because I’m pretty sure if I asked you what motor you were just…admiring, you wouldn’t be able to tell me much at all.” He smirks. “Now. I’ll give you one shot to explain. And maybe I won’t call the cops.”

Avery felt a force engulf his body. It was an odd feeling, as if he was being hugged from all directions but a lot tighter. He tried to wiggle free but it didn’t work. He kept calm and met the other’s gaze. “Well, welcome to Maimi Mr. Mutant.” He clenched his jaw as he attempted to sum up how powerful the other person was. It seemed as if the man held him with ease, so yeah, pretty powerful. “You really shouldn’t leave your things lying around.”

“Hmm, why shouldn’t you call the cops?” One of the least threatening things to Avery was the cops. It was the equivalent to a parent counting to three to attempt to stop their child from acting out. “Do it.” He shrugged. “I don’t mind.” Part of him knew that the cops were not going to be called if he was a mutant from Chicago, he was sure they’d be more interested in the other than in him. He sighed, “Okay, I’m bored.” and with seconds he reached out to the other with his powers, feeling their mass and it’s gravitational pull and the Earth’s pull on him. He concentrated on weakening the effect of gravity on the other. Maybe if he started floating away he’d be too preoccupied to hold him in place. He knew it was working as the other’s hair started to raise from its flat position first, he could also feel the room get lighter. If he wasn’t careful enough, he could send everything in this room into the air. 

“Yeah, no. I know,” Penelope nodded. “Today is a no-concentration day, anyway.” And a show like Friends — which they had watched time and time again — came as nice, mindless entertainment; no plot to follow, no complicated intricacies to keep with up with. “Oh!” The blonde began, as something popped into her head. “I found out there’s this documentary where they talk about dark matter, along with other stuff that’s not as relevant to us.” Maybe that would be a good one to add to the watchlist. 

Penelope’s gaze was glued to her brother and his adventure with the spoon and the ice-cream. “They’ll probably talk about what we’ve already read but it’s worth a try, right?” Penelope questioned, her voice fading away at the end as her interest was now solely on Avery and the ice-cream. A smile curled her lips, her eyebrows furrowed as she waited for the outcome to arrive — would Avery be victorious against the ice-cream? 

“I would never make it explode.” There was a bit of mischief lacing her words, even if she had meant them. Her mind fondly played back the memories of how many explosions they had created when they were young. Much to their parents’ annoyance. As soon as she saw that piece of ice-cream fly off, Penelope instinctively jumped with surprise. And then, she let out a laugh. “Ben and Jerry’s, one. Avery O’Brien, zero,” Penelope spoke through the laugh.

Her lips pressed together in thought. “That makes sense. We were used to how Miami used to be and now with all of them just coming all at once… Might have messed that up,” Penelope mused, absentmindedly playing with the tips of her hair. “Has he met any of them yet? There has to be a reason why so many of them came all at once.” Penelope sigh. “I don’t like it,” she let out, her eyes on her brother. There was an underlying worry in her voice.

Avery let out a laugh and rolled his eyes at his sister’s tally of scores. He was just impatient and couldn’t wait for the ice cream to soften and he was ready to accept the consequences of this. “I mean, I find it really interesting regardless. And who knows, we could watch it and it might be fun to add our own opinions. Make it into a mockumentary of some sort.” He didn’t know much about what he could and couldn’t do with his powers, but what he did knows was that he was able to manipulate gravity with them and that was fucking cool. 

Avery simply shrugged at her next question and he finally gave up and passed the ice cream back. “I’m not told those kinds of things. Although, I think I’ve met one or two so far.” He shoved his now cold hands into his pockets to warm them up. “He didn’t seem too bad at all. He was at the bar when I was working night shift the other day.” He hesitated and pursed his lips, “It does bring the question of why they’re here. Especially all of a sudden. Although I’m not worried, we can definitely handle ourselves.” He smiled at Penelope. “As if I’d let anything happen to you.” He’d probably summon a black hole or something before he let that happen. 

Dark or light, he ponders the question himself for a moment. Truth be told, his time as a Kings member had landed him with an expensive taste, craving aged red wines or a bottle of Dom Pérignon to himself. A pink gin, admittedly, would suffice. “How about a gin and tonic? And hold on the cheap tonic water, use the good stuff, I don’t mind forking out for the better gins too.” 

He beams, “That’s a good start, I think I could get along with you,” Lenox follows his sentiment with a flirtatious wink, the kind he uses illusions for to seem all the more tempting to his victim. He plucks one of the shot glasses up between his index finger and thumb, lightly tapping it against the other man’s glass before shooting it back. “You know, usually this stuff goes a lot better with a wedge of lime and some salt to lick off someone,” maybe it’s a little overly suggestive, but that’s always his footing when talking to someone he finds the merest bit attractive. Leaning forward on the bar, he’s attentive to keep his eye contact linked with the others, “What’s your name?”

“Huh. Good for you.” He remarked as if it meant nothing to him that the other might get along with him. He took his shot without flinching and retrieved both the shot glasses and tossed them in the bar sink. “Yeah well, it’s also great by itself. It was meant to be sipped you know.” He pulled a plate of lemon from behind the bar. “Help yourself if you need it.” Although he already knew it was too late to make a difference. 

Avery shrugged his shoulders and went to work, fixing a gin and tonic, with the fancy stuff. He had to move over to the display case to get the better Gin off the shelf. “Do you want an infused tonic sir? Might I suggest the elderflower tonic?” He held the bottle like a vintage wine and showed it off to the other, his accent faux-posh. 

Penelope let herself grow comfortable on the couch, moving around a little bit to find that perfect position. She let her own expression match Avery’s after she heard his little comment. “It’s a blessing and a curse, really,” she joked, looking at her brother with a little of mischief in her eyes. No matter what happened, no matter what he did, Avery would never be a curse to her. Not when he was that most important person in the world to Penelope. 

After a couple of heartbeats, her attention was on the ice-cream again. “You really know how to pick ‘em, huh. We should start a new show.” Penelope commented casually. “There’s one called Outer Banks. People say it’s cool.” Picking up the spoon, she began digging at it, though it was still too hard. Penelope had only been able to barely scratch the surface before she decided to give up and put whatever amount of ice-cream she got into her mouth, handing the tub to her brother. 

Her eyes were kept on him and she slightly shifted on her seat, sitting sideways to look at him. The show would keep playing in the background and it wouldn’t be the first time. Her gaze fell to the spoon in her hand, listening to her brother. “Which one?” Penelope raised her eyebrow, though it was more of a rhetorical question — his internship didn’t count. 

Then, her eyes were on Avery again. Penelope had been feeling the same but she had just brushed it off as her being… well, her. The one that felt too much. “I wonder if it will explode.” It had been a bad moment for a joke. Or an attempt at one. “Do you think it has to do with the influx of new mutants? They’re just coming out of the woodwork.” Those were the rumors — gangs of new mutants coming to Miami, for whatever reason. Penelope didn’t like it.

Avery nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it. I just prefer friends sometimes because I don’t need to concentrate you know?” Penelope was right, they probably should start a new show. He felt bad for making her watch his shows all the time and made a mental note change the show when they were done chatting. 

A small smile formed on his lips when she asked which job he was referring too. Yes, he was a busy guy but he barely spoke about his internship, and as much as engineering was a passion to him, his other lines of work were just more rewarding at this point in time. Avery tried hard not to bend his spoon as he forced it into the frozen goodness. “It probably won’t unless you make it.” He replied, the tip of his tongue sticking out the corner of his lips as he concentrated. Unfortunately, the ice cream gave way before he could adjust his strength and sent a dollop of ice cream flying into the air.  He sighed as he picked the ice cream off of his sweatpants and into his mouth regardless. 

“I heard those rumors too. Maybe we can just sense the power around us? Like, the cosmos is just that much more energies with frequencies or some shit.” He had no idea of their powers could even do that, but at the same time, nobody on this planet actually knew what the fuck dark matter was anyway. “Guzman mentioned it to me. It might be good for business you know?” Now he wasn’t just referring to the bar but to all his underground jobs he pulls. 

Lenox had spent more time than even he’d be ready to admit curating his new Miami wardrobe (it was enough to make his departure from Chicago a whole week later than the others). Packing away his former favoured garments in his archives such as various faux fur coats and bulky jackets to exchange room for lightweight Versace prints and vintage Levis 501s. The hours before departing for the clubs he’d filled meticulously deciding his outfit, concluding with a pair of lilac dungarees and an exposed chest which should help him seek enough attention to start up his new self ran the business on the south coast. A couple delicate gold chain to draw peoples eyes but nothing so blingy that it could completely overpower his vision, he’d save such pieces for special events or parties. He’d let his illusions take care of the rest, thoughtfully placed so he’d only ever been envisioned as entirely idealised as he enters with a pocket full of aspirin, ready to shift for whatever substance anyone should ask for. 

“Hmm,” his eyes shoot to the drinks menu before acquainting his gaze with the bar staff’s, offering a playful grin to what was undoubtedly an admirable fresh face. “You know I’m not too sure,” he mused, blatantly not the type to feel pressured by people waiting behind him. “What do you like?”

“Are you a dark or light liquor kind of guy?” He asked with a grin. He could definitely whip up tons of different drinks depending on the others tastes. “In terms of cocktails, a mojito always hits the spot. Or I can get you a rum and soda.” In a quick motion, he pulled two shot glasses from under the bar and seemed to pull a bottle of tequila from thin air. “You can always start by having one of these with me?” Sure, drinking on the job wasn’t common, but his supervisor didn’t mind as long as he got the customer to pay for it in the end with other drinks.

“To a great night?” He held up the shot glass to do a mini-toast with the other. 

Where: Some storage unit in Miami

Who: closed with tierneysinclair

‘who the fuck leaves their bike lying around in a locked garage?’ 

Avery often found himself at storage units, bribing the admin if there were any new renters or maybe a few units that hadn’t had someone check up on them for a while. He was informed that someone new had just rented a garage unit and hadn’t been back in a day or two. Avery smirked and asked for the unit number. “If they’re new, they could learn a lesson or two about Miami.”

He headed to the unit and picked the lock in no time. Inside he found a motorbike. The bike looked new-ish or rather, that someone had recently done a self-service on it. Avery took a closer look, inspecting the fuel tank and searching for any tracking devices. This storage unit company had faux security camera’s and Avery knew he could just ride it out of here and never get caught. Either he was so preoccupied with the bike or the other knew how to be light on their feet, but Avery hadn’t noticed the other person enter the unit. “Fuck!” He yelled as he saw the other, more because he got a fright than anything else. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people when they’re fixing their bike.” Of course the bike wasn’t his, but he knew how to lie well. “Can I help you with something?” 

-- a spotify playlist