Questions & Answers

Posted on Tue Sep 10th, 2024 @ 6:28pm by Bobby Drake & Ethan Hale

1,628 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Montague Diner NYC
Timeline: Early morning Nov 1, 1990

Ethan should have told someone he was leaving the mansion. After all, nearly every time he did so, he found himself in trouble. He didn't want to take the time, partially because it would delay him further and partially because he was afraid if he did, he'd be told no. No was not a word he wanted to hear.

Tracking someone by their scent wasn't something that he did often. It wasn't his strongest ability. That didn't mean he couldn't do it, however. The good news is he'd spent a lot of close personal time with his wayward teammate (though not as personal as whoever Bobby was dating). The bad news was that there were a lot of conflicting scents.

It took him a bit longer than he expected, well over an hour and he'd followed more than a few false trails.

But he eventually tracked him down to an all-night diner named Montague. Checking to make sure the camouflage function on his suit was active he stepped inside and spotted Bobby.

At first, Bobby didn't see Ethan because he was all hands and mouth with a big beefcake of a man in a corner booth. Kevin. His chiseled arms and crew-cut hairstyle made him the poster boy for a Marine Corps recruitment advertisement. The wavy American flag on his bicep rippled as he groped Bobby in a rather forceful way.

Ethan's eyes, even with the costume disguising his features, could not hide the widening of his eyes and their growing more feral.

When he'd detected Bobby's scent inside the restaurant, he'd expected to see him stuffing his face with food, or crying in his coffee.

He crossed to the booth where his friend and the rather hunky stranger were engrossed in their intimate acts with each other. If Ethan had met the stranger in a bar, he would have at least taken notice of him, if not be attracted to him. But that was not the case now and the look he gave the other man was one of anger and perhaps a little jealousy.

He considered a subtle clearing of his throat to get their attention, but Ethan had never been one for subtlety and he wasn't about to start at that moment.

"Bobby," he said sharply both hands coming down on the table, "What the actual fuck is going on?"

"Ethan!" Bobby gasped and pulled back from his date, pulling a slimy string of saliva from the other guy's tongue.

"Who the hell..." Kevin started to say, but he didn't have the chance to finish.

A puff of frost shot out of Bobby's mouth that crystalized the spit string clear back into Kevin's mouth. The other man's lips turned blue from the chill. "Ow! My head!" he yelled, grabbing his temples.

"Sorry, Kevin!" Bobby exclaimed. "Ethan, this is a bad time!"

Ethan waited for a slow beat before talking. He was straining to keep himself under control. "Make the time. Tell your slutty little friend to take a hike. We need to talk."

"How did..." Kevin spat ice cubes out of his mouth. "Wait... You are one of them! Aren't you, Bobby? You're a filthy mutant!"

That was like a gut punch to Bobby. His face went pale looking at Kevin. "I can explain..."

"There's nothing to explain, mutie scum!" Kevin pulled a beanie cap out of his back pocket and slid it over his high and tight crewcut. It sported the Friends of Humanity logo. "Your ass is grass!"

He took a swing at Bobby right then and there.

Ethan's ire toward Kevin grew as the beefy man revealed his prejudice.

Without really thinking, he reacted. He grabbed Kevin's arm in mid-swing. "That's my boyfriend asshole, and it's your ass that's in trouble." His claws descended almost of their own volition. "Now get out of here before I rip your arm from your body."

"Two of you?!" Kevin backed away and brandished a knife on his way out. "Should've known muties hunt in packs! I'll be back with my crew and then you'll be sorry!"

As Kevin left smoldering hatred in his eyes, Bobby just hugged himself with one arm and stared at the floor. Every eye in the joint was on them, but Bobby was frozen as solid as if he had taken ice form. A slow tear fell from his left eye while he tried to hold back the emotions he so desperately wanted to hide.

Ethan too was aware that everyone was looking in their direction. Once more he had let his anger get the best of him. He was sorry that his jealousy had caused Bobby to demonstrate his power.

He was not sorry for the way he had handled Kevin once the other man's hatred was displayed.

The talons of his left hand retreated into his hand and he reached across the table with it and wiped Bobby's tear away.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's not your fault..." Bobby kept looking down but he held Ethan by the wrist, bracing Ethan's hand against his face. "He was just some guy I met at the quad. We made eyes at each other and then... you saw what then." Bobby scoffed in despair. "Of course, he's with the fucking Friend of Humanities. If not for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all!"

Ignoring the stares of the other patrons, Ethan turned and sat down across from Bobby in the booth. "You want to tell me what happened? Is Kevin the guy you were talking about?"

Bobby nodded. "Yeah. I started classes at the community college and I thought why not have a good time?" He spit into a napkin and wiped his mouth. "I can't believe I made out with Friends of Humanity douchebag. Blech! Can we get out of here now?"

"Yeah," Ethan replied, "Of course we can. Where do you want to go?"

After seeing the other diner customers still glancing their way, Bobby shook his head. "I don't care. Just outta here. Especially if Kevin does come back with friends."

No food had been ordered yet, so Bobby and Ethan just got up and left without incident. They strolled down to the crosswalk and took a few side streets to the next boulevard.

"I don't know if I'm cut out for any of this," Bobby said, looking at his feet while they walked. "Maybe Pietro was right. I need to work on myself before I can be any good to anybody."

Ethan had thought of taking, or trying to take Bobby's hand as they walked, but had thought better of it. He just kept to Bobby as they moved.

When Bobby finally spoke, Ethan was caught off guard. "Pietro? Quicksilver is giving you romantic advice?" He took hold of Bobby's elbow. "What's going on?"

"Pietro joined X-Factor a few weeks ago," Bobby said, chuckling at the memory. "It really pissed off Maestro, too, or so rumor says. He crashes at the Baxter Building but I hardly ever see him there. When he's not looking for Wanda or helping with X-Factor things, he's hitting up a bar or nightclub, I guess." Deciding he didn't like being grabbed, Bobby pulled his arm free with a light tug. "Anyway, he told me I'm a big enough mess without bringing someone else into it. After tonight, I think he's right. I'm a shameless flirt but too chickenshit to go through with anything. I don't know if I'm even capable of trusting another person." He finally looked Ethan in the eye. "I'm so sorry, Ethan. You've been nothing but a good friend and I've been a complete asshole the entire time."

Ethan moved his hands down by his side and shook his head.
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"I wouldn't say you were a complete asshole, but you've given off mixed signals. When you kissed me I thought, you know that you likedme and I thought, at least at first that maybe you wanted to do more than kiss."

"I don't know what I want..." Bobby said. "I just know I don't want to be alone. But I think I have to learn to be. How can I be any good to anyone if I can't be good to myself? That's why I'm doing college, trying to branch out, meet people I didn't grow up with. Maybe I can find myself and like who I find."

"I think Pietro is right. You do need to be good to yourself first. I mean sure you can hook up with some guy you meet in a club, or on the street. Sometimes the sex is good, sometimes it's not. But trust me when I say that the best sex, at least in my rather limited experience is with someone you love and that loves you back. That's hard to happen if you're life is constantly fucked up."

"We could go back to your room and see what happens, or we could try going to a bar and seeing if we can get in. What do you want to do?"

Bobby furrowed his brow at Ethan. He didn't want to do any of those things. Wasn't Ethan listening? "I think I just want to be alone..."

Shaking his head and looking over at Bobby Ethan asked. "Wait a minute. I just thought of something. Are you telling me that Quicksilver is gay?"

"I didn't say that," Bobby said, backing away. "And if you care so much, why don't you ask him yourself?!"

Without a care for anyone who could see, Bobby shifted to ice form and took off on his ice sled.

Ethan let out a loud sigh. He didn't try to follow Bobby. There would be time later to talk to him.

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