e x - p u r i f i e r

Dante grinned. “Good enough is good for me, I bet,” he said.

The Inhuman looked up, smiling as he looked into Adrian’s eyes. It was so nice to see the man openly happy. When they first met, Adrian was so resistant, but in the short time, he’d opened up so much. There was still a lot Dante didn’t know about his new boyfriend, but he knew Adrian was a lot more relaxed.

“How about if I invite myself to spend the night with you tonight?” he suggested, “and you can show me what your full cooked breakfast is like tomorrow morning?”

Adrian knew if the people he had once considered friends, or rather ‘associates’, could see him now they would comment on how much he had changed in the passing months, how open minded he’d become. He was under no false pretences that they would reject him too, despise him. He wasn’t one of them, he was a mutant, and above all, he accepted it, he was proud to have shed what he once was, and for the first time, he felt content, he felt happy.

He and Dante still had a lot to learn about one another, but the mutant knew that it would come with time, there was no need to rush things, no need to dampen their high spirits. “I wouldn’t argue with you.” Adrian admitted, still smiling faintly, looking forward to having some good company for once.

Dante grinned and squeezed back, then kissed Adrian on the cheek again.

“Good,” he said, “because you’re in for a wild ride with me. Never a dull moment, especially since we have superpowers.”

The Inhuman laughed. “We could be crime-fighting boyfriends! Pretty awesome, right? Fighting evil by night, then coming home and helping each other unwind?” Dante waggled his eyebrows and laughed. 

So much compassion felt strange to the new mutant, having never really been shown much of it throughout his entire life, but it was welcomed none the less. The relation he’d had with his father hadn’t exactly been healthy, his mind barely his own as opinions and ideals were drummed into him, his life being set out before him without choice. Dante was a choice, being able to walk the streets openly as a mutant, was a choice, and he revelled in this new ability to think differently, to make his own decisions, his own views.

“Crime fighting boyfriends?” He repeated with amusement evident by the laughter lines tugging at the sides of his gentle blue eyes. “What would you say to being woken up in the morning by a full cooked breakfast?” The mutant queried out of curiosity. “I like a proper meal in the morning, gets me ready for the day ahead. What do you think?” He asked, wondering if he’d mind being woken up for breakfast in bed.

Dante grinned. He could feel the tension in Adrian’s body unwinding. He lifted his free arm, sliding it down Adrian’s and clutching the man’s hand gently.

“I’ll try,” he teased. “Can’t promise. A guy as hot as me can’t always turn it off.”

The Inhuman smiled wider and walked along, gently stroking the mutant’s side. Even through the shirt, he could feel how hard Adrian’s body was. Dante was no slouch, featuring well-toned arm muscles and a great set of abs, but Adrian was ripped. Even Dante was impressed.

“So,” he said, “you wanna be boyfriends? Be a real couple, see how that goes?”

Something akin to a smirk brushed the mutant’s lips at such a retort, his eyebrow raising in a playful manner as he looked down to the slightly shorter male from his stature. That was something that never ceased to intrigue Adrian, the Inhuman’s abilities. But then again, he was still enamoured with what he was too, fascinated by how he’d become that way, that there was a whole other species that he’d never even known about.

Rachel pressed her lips together and looked down. “I go by Rachel Grey.” She said, although she did answer to Summers. “Scott and I don’t really agree on a lot lately.” Like who he was dating and his treatment of her mother, and other things. “Plus when I tell them who my parents are people don’t exactly look at me the same way.”

Dante smiled and let himself down, but it didn’t go unnoticed how easily Adrian held him up. He grinned and slipped an arm around the mutant’s waist again, pulling him into a close side hug.

“Me too,” he said. “If we make it that far before we kiss again.”

He grinned and leaned his head on Adrian’s shoulder once more. It wasn’t just the alcohol here. Dante liked this guy, and he really liked how Adrian finally let go and relaxed. That smile was really charming and Dante had a glowing hope that he could pull more smiles to the surface.

Helping him down, Adrian fell back into the same position as before, an arm wrapped almost protectively around his shoulders. If there was thing that people could count on, whether it was during his many years as a Purifier, or even now as a mutant, the brunette didn’t allow those he cared for to come to harm, he’d do anything to keep them safe.

Well the sooner she sorted this out the better. “For the record…I never lied.” Rachel said plainly. “And I don’t really go by Summers anyway.” This was a bad attempt to make him feel better.

Dante grinned, then burst out laughing as Adrian swept him up. He swung his legs around the bigger man’s hips, holding on and supporting himself on the other’s strength.

“You should smile more, dude,” the Inhuman said. He slipped his arms around Adrian’s shoulders and pulled them close as he held on. “You have a nice smile. A hell of a kissable smile, too.”

He grinned mischievously and kissed Adrian gently, right on the lips.

“Wanna go back to your place?”

Having been moulded into a soldier his entire life, even before his mutation had manifested, Adrian had always been a strong young man. His body had always been kept in peek physical condition, sticking to regimes day in and day out. Even now, he still worked out most days, mainly to keep himself busy, but to keep himself agile as well. “You think so?” He uttered, never really noticing how little he actually smiled, but he blushed at the compliment all the same.

Holding Dante close, the kiss against his lips caused the mutant’s heart to skip a few beats, it’s rhythm quickening as he blinked, looking into the younger male’s eyes. Needless to say, Adrian had never been a very intimate person, there had never been cause for it, but now, now he was enveloped by this new emotion.

“Hey, I’m not one to turn down free drinks,” Dante laughed. He squeezed Adrian gently and kept walking, head resting on the mutant’s shoulder.

A few hours later, they finally left the bar. Dante proved to be a terrible singer, but the bar had a drum set and the Inhuman took the chance to show his skills, playing back-up for the karaoke singers. He grinned the whole time and by the time they left, he floated on a high not just from the alcohol but also the music.

As they left, Dante slipped an arm around Adrian again. 

“Dude, that was epic. Hearing you try to sing was awesome! I haven’t had so much fun since I got to New Attilan.”

He grinned and impulsively leaned up and gave Adrian a quick kiss on the cheek.

“That was totally epic.”

It had certainly taken a few drinks before Adrian had been able to even attempt singing, but once he had plenty in him, there had been little stopping him from just letting go and singing to his hearts content. For the time being, all turmoil and woes had been washed away, cast aside by the sheer enjoyment that seeped through every part of him. He couldn’t thank Dante enough.

As they began to make their way back and he felt Dante’s slip his arm around his waist, he embraced him tightly, a smile planted firmly from one side of his lips to the other. “I don’t think I’ve ever sung or drank so much in my life.” The mutant laughed, the warm sound bubbling up from within his chest.

Dante smiled, relaxing into Adrian’s embrace. He looked up at the larger man and slipped an arm around Adrian’s waist in turn, then gently leaned his head against the man’s shoulder. The Inhuman was warm, a little warmer than human norm, but it was a comforting sort of warmth, like a blanket or a nice fireplace.

“Well, stick with me, big guy, and you’ll do all kinds of crazy things. Maybe we can practice with our powers together sometime, too.”

Dante felt warm against the new mutant’s side, the slightly chilled night air cooling his skin, making the hairs of his arms stand up on end, so the warmth radiating from the young man was something of a relief, it was welcomed. Adrian wasn’t the most emotional of people, but even he couldn’t keep the smile that tugged at each corner of his lips from showing, he had no reason to hold it back.

      ❝ yes, i am. you’re a mutant as well, aren’t you? ❞ he asked gently. 

Dante grinned. It was good to see Adrian relaxing. The guy was so wound up, so full of remorse when they first met, but the past little while had very clearly been good to him. Dante hadn’t been sure if he could even get Adrian out to the bar, let alone karaoke, but here they were, about to go make everyone’s ears bleed.

He started when he felt the arm around him, but he grinned and leaned into it.

“I get that a lot,” he laughed. “My sister tells me that sometimes, but it’s good to hear that from you too.”

He was looking forward to a night where he could just be himself, where he could pick up drink after drink and know that the only biggest worry he had was just managing to handle the consumption. He was pretty sure he’d fine, but it made him feel all the more enthralled to be able to do such a thing, to enjoy an evening with a friend, and a good friend at that.

Adrian felt as though he could get to know Dante more, and maybe in return, he’d share a few tales about himself too.

{⊗} It had only been a moment following her speaking to one of her students about an  assignment that she soon heard a voice call her by name both unfamiliar and yet poignant with it’s assumed knowledge about her. 

          “Yes. That’s me alright.           And who might you be?”

He didn’t mean to the put the X-man on the spot, not being the most sociable of people, sometimes Adrian found he could be a little awkward around others, but he was certainly trying. Clearing his throat, he took a few steps closer.