Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 09:48:58 -0400
From: Dusty Hansen <dustyh75@hotmail.com>
Subject: newest ultimate x man part 3

Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:

1) If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or
you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You shouldn't
be here.

2) The X-Men and any related characters are property of Marvel Comics,
trademarked and registered and copyrighted and all that. I'm using them
without permission.

For those who read the comics and worry about such things, this story takes
place in the (much simpler and easier to follow) Ultimate X-Men universe,
right around issue 54. If you don't want to dig out your copy, the team at
that time is Jean Grey, Cyclops, Iceman, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler,
Colossus, Angel, and Dazzler.

Comments can be sent to "dustyh75@hotmail.com"

Thanks.

***

Seth blinked at Scott in confusion, trying to understand what he'd just
said.

"Last night?" he asked, his face puzzled.  "I didn't meet anyone last night.
  I wasn't even awake last night.  When did you?"

"OK, slow down, please," Scott stammered, holding up his hands.  "Jean said
that when she talked to you on the plane, in your head, she gave you a
little push to stay asleep, because her and the Professor thought you needed
rest.  The Professor also thought your exam would go better if you were
completely calm, and then when it was over we just decided to let you sleep
in there all night."

Seth nodded.  He and Scott were facing each other on the bed now, Seth still
with his knees drawn up and his head resting on top of them and Scott
sitting Indian style, talking with his hands.  The circle of light from the
lamp on the end table wasn't really hitting them, and Seth realized that he
felt really comfortable even though Scott seemed nervous as hell all of a
sudden.  Scott ran a hand through his hair, pulling his t-shirt tight across
his chest as Seth tried not to think of Jean's boyfriend that way.

"I know all that already," Seth said carefully.  He didn't want to sound
rude, but he didn't need to hear the part of the story he already knew.
"How did you, I mean, what happened?"

"You were having some kind of dream," Scott answered.  Oh, yeah, "some kind
of dream" all right.  The wet kind.  "I don't always sleep well, and I was
walking the building, just doing a perimeter."

Seth giggled.

"What?" Scott asked, cocking his head to the side.  His eyes were impossible
to read with those glasses on, and he kept his face pretty impassive.  Seth
hadn't ever known anyone so tightly wound.  Even the way he was sitting was
controlled.  Sure, his legs were neatly folded, but his back was ramrod
straight.  The only time his posture faltered was when he started talking
about whatever had happened the night before, and got all flustered.

"Nothing," Seth answered, finally smiling a little.  "You just sounded like
a soldier or something for a second."

"Sometimes we are," Scott said softly, looking down.  Seth swallowed hard, a
lump rising in his throat.  There were things here he didn't know, and he
wasn't the only one here who had been in pain before.  Jean had mentioned
that they had lost a friend recently, a member of the family, and Seth
remembered seeing the Beast's death on television, but was that it?  Or was
Scott talking about something else?

"Anyway, what happened last night?" Seth asked, breaking the mood.  Scott
sighed.

"Like I said, you were asleep, but you were making noise, so I went in to
check on you, and when I got to the bed you were talking in your sleep a
little."

"I do that, sometimes," Seth said, blushing.  They both smiled.

"Anyway, I thought you were awake, but you were just being noisy," Scott
said, his voice getting lower.  He fidgeted a little, and his voice started
to speed up.  "Anyway, I went in to look at you, and your sheet was kind of
falling off, so I grabbed it to pull it up and my hand kind of touched you
and that was it."

He'd said the last part so fast that Seth felt like he needed to replay it
in his head to sort all the words out.

"What else happened?" Seth asked.

"Nothing!" Scott blurted, tensing.  He started to get up, and Seth's voice
stopped him cold.

"You're lying."

"What?" Scott asked, blinking.

"You're lying," Seth answered simply.  "You said that you knew I could touch
people and use my power on them without hurting them because you touched me
last night.  If nothing happened, you wouldn't know that.  Scott, I need to
know this.  You know that.  Just, please, tell me what happened."

Scott sighed, and nodded.

"You're going to get upset," he began, and mentally kicked himself.  Of
course Seth would get upset now that he was expecting to hear something
upsetting.  "I, um, I kind of didn't tell the Professor this part, because I
didn't think he needed to know the specifics of the, uh, the incident."

"We had an incident?" Seth asked.  Sure enough, he was starting to get
upset. "What does that even mean?"

"Do you remember what kind of dream you were having last night?" Scott
asked.  He was looking right at Seth, and even through the glasses he felt
Scott's eyes pinning his own.  "Do you remember what you were dreaming
about?"

Seth was about to ask why that mattered, and then it hit him.  Last night
he'd had a dream about a man, someone he didn't know, the same kind of dream
he'd had before, dozens of times.  He'd been alone, and the man had been
near him, and then they'd started to touch each other.

"Oh God!  Oh God oh shit!" Seth blurted, jumping up off the bed.  He didn't
care if Scott knew that he was gay.  They'd all find out about that at some
point, anyway, if he lived here long enough, but was Scott trying to tell
him that?  That his dream hadn't quite been just a dream?  "Oh, God you felt
that?  You and I, we did?"

He wasn't even forming complete sentences, and Scott grabbed his shoulders
before he could bolt out of the room.

"Seth!"

"Oh, God, I didn't mean to," Seth said quietly, still trying to pull away
from Scott.  There wasn't any way to resist his power, which meant that when
Scott had touched him, he'd forced himself on Scott.  "I'm sorry, I'm so
sorry."

"SETH!" Scott said again, his fingers digging into Seth's shoulders through
the t-shirt.  Both of them jerked to a stop, Scott's sharp yell cutting
through Seth's moment of panic.  "What happened wasn't your fault.  Are you
listening to me?  It wasn't your fault."

"But I, did I make you?" Seth asked, swallowing.  He felt dizzy, like he was
going to pass out.  "I'm so sorry, Scott.  I'm sorry."

"Stop," Scott said, leading him back toward the bed.  "Just, um, take a deep
breath, and listen to me for a minute, ok?  What happened when I touched
you, you wouldn't have done that if you were awake, would you?  You wouldn't
make someone do that unless they wanted to, right?"

"I, no, but Scott."

"No," Scott said again, holding up his hands.  They were both sitting on the
bed now, leaning toward each other.  "You just agreed with me that you have
nothing to apologize for.  What happened was an accident, that's all."

They were both quiet for a few moments, sitting on the bed.  Scott listened
to Seth's breathing, listened to it slow as he calmed himself down.

"Are you ok?" Scott asked finally.  Seth's face was blank when he finally
looked up.

"Why aren't you mad at me?" Seth asked, biting his bottom lip.

"Why would I be mad at you?  I just told you, it was an accident."

"Yeah, but, um," Seth began, swallowing uncomfortably again.  He was
starting to feel like someone was force feeding him giant chalky pills that
just wouldn't go down.  "I don't mean to pry, you know, but aren't you
dating Jean?"

"Yeah," Scott answered, nodding.

"Well, I don't know what you felt when you touched me, but, um," Seth's
voice trailed off, and now he was as fidgety as Scott.  Scott chuckled.

"Well, I know you're gay," he began, grinning.  "And I know you're either
not a virgin or you have a hell of an imagination."

Seth felt his face turn beet red, the kind of red that you saw on cartoons
but hardly ever on real people.

"Oh, my God," Seth groaned, looking away.  He couldn't look Scott in the
face, not now, not knowing that Scott had seen everything inside his brain.
No, not just seen, but felt.  "Oh, God."

He'd said that so many times in the last five minutes that anyone walking by
in the hallway was going to think they were having a revival meeting in
here.

"I'm sorry," Scott said quickly.  "I thought maybe I could lighten the
mood."

Seth shook his head.

"I know, I'm just, I don't know," he said, shrugging.  "I guess I'm just
really embarrassed."

"Oh," Scott said, wondering if he'd made things worse again.

"Mostly I'm embarrassed at your lame jokes," Seth said quietly, and when
Scott looked up in surprise he saw that Seth's mouth was stretched in a wide
grin.  "But seriously, aren't you, I don't know, uncomfortable?  Or a little
weirded out or something?  I mean, you're dating Jean.  Aren't you
straight?"

Now it was Scott's turn to swallow uncomfortably, and to blush.  He thought
for a second that it was a good thing the lamp was so dim and faraway,
because maybe Seth wouldn't notice.

"Yes, of course I am," Scott said quickly.  "I mean, I'm dating Jean and
all, but it, um."

"It's not your thing," Seth supplied.  Scott kind of nodded, but still
looked confused.

"I mean, it didn't feel bad or anything," he clarified.  "It actually, well,
it felt kind of good, but I don't know how I feel about that, you know?"

"I guess," Seth answered, shrugging.  He kind of understood.  "If it makes
you feel better, once when I was on a trip for track, in the back of the
bus, one of the girls on the team gave me a blowjob.  It didn't feel bad or
anything, but, you know, it wasn't really my thing.  Is it like that?"

"Yeah," Scott said, brightening.  Of course, that made complete sense.  It
meant that none of what happened really had to mean anything.  It was just a
pleasant kind of accident.  "So, you know, that's how I know that you can
use your power on people without hurting them."

"Cool," Seth said, looking away again.

"What's wrong?" Scott asked.

"It's going to sound stupid," Seth answered, sighing.  "I mean, it's great
that I can do that, and that Jean and the Professor were right, but I don't
even know how I did it.  It happened when I was asleep, and I have no idea
how to do it when I'm awake."

Scott nodded.

"I think we can fix that," he said, facing Seth on the bed again, folding
his legs under him.  "Here, turn toward me."

"OK," Seth said, mirroring Scott's posture.  They were sitting Indian style
on the bed, facing each other.  "Now what?  Meditation or something?  Some
kind of secret mutant training trick?"

"Not exactly," Scott answered.  "It's more a matter of focus.  All of us,
Jean, Bobby, Kitty, all of us have to train to learn how to use our powers,
and training means you have to practice.  Take your glove off."

"I don't think we should do this," Seth said immediately, shaking his head.

"That's why it doesn't work," Scott argued.  "The Professor and I talked
about this, and Jean said you and her did, too, a little.  Every time you
use your power, you're upset, so you're instinctively defending yourself.
And now you're already convinced that if you touch me and you focus on
activating it, you're going to hurt me, and you're right.  If you go into
this thinking you're going to knock me out or give me a seizure or
something, then you will, because your power will respond to that."

"Because that always happens!" Seth blurted, frustrated.  "I know it's going
to happen because it always happens."

"But it doesn't, remember?"  Scott said, pointing at his own chest.  "I'm
your proof that you did it once and it didn't hurt, and now all you have to
do is do it again.  You can do this, Seth, I know you can, because you
already did.  Now, take off your gloves."

Seth looked down at his hands, uncertain.  Scott made sense, kind of.  If he
could do something asleep, he could do it awake.  His body already knew how
to do it, but Scott was saying that his mind didn't, and that's really what
he needed to train.  He pulled one of the leather gloves off, but stopped.

"What if I hurt you?" Seth asked uncertainly.  "I mean, half the team
already hates me for knocking out Kurt and Bobby."

"No, only Bobby has a problem with that," Scott said.  "Everyone else thinks
Bobby made a rookie mistake and needs to get over it.  Now listen, you will
not hurt me.  I know you won't.  Now take off your other glove, take a deep
breath, and when you're ready take my hands.  I believe in you.  You can do
this."

Seth took a few moments to breathe in and out, concentrating on what he was
about to do.  In his head, he kept picturing himself taking Scott's hands,
and Scott being fine.  Nothing was going to happen.  Nobody was going to get
hurt.  Scott trusted him, was sure that he could do this, and more than
anything he didn't want to let Scott down.  Everyone else here, so far, had
treated him like a curiosity or, in Jean's case, a responsibility, but Scott
was the only one so far who had treated him like a friend.  More than
anything right now, Seth needed a friend, so he couldn't let Scott down.
Closing his eyes, he reached out, his hands open, and folded them over
Scott's.  Scott grasped both of his hands firmly.

And nothing happened.

Nobody passed out, nobody got a shock or had a seizure.  Seth wasn't getting
any feedback, and Scott was still holding his hands tightly.  Seth opened
his eyes, and when he saw Scott sitting calmly, smiling encouragingly at
him, a wave of relief flooded through him.  Without thinking, it also spread
down his arms and into Scott.

"Oh," Scott said, sitting up a little straighter.  Seth jerked his hands
back, afraid that he'd done something after all, but Scott just smiled at
him.

"Are you ok?" Seth asked, alarmed.  "Did I hurt you?"

"No," Scott answered, and then immediately clarified.  "No, you didn't hurt
me, and yes, I'm ok.  Did you feel that?"

"I felt... something," Seth answered, trying to remember.  "It happened so
fast that I got a little feedback from you, but I was so scared I was
hurting you that I let go before I could really concentrate on it.  What did
you feel?"

"Well, at first I didn't feel anything," Scott answered.  "But then it was
like this warmth, kind of.  For just a second, I felt like everything was
ok, and this kind of wave went through me, but then you pulled your hands
away."

"That's kind of what I was feeling," Seth agreed.  "When I touched you and
nothing happened, I was so happy that I guess I kind of, whatever the word
is, transmitted it to you."

"You know what this means?" Scott asked, smiling.

"You were right," Seth answered, smiling as well.

"You want to try it again?" Scott asked, and Seth nodded.  "OK.  Remember,
just focus.  It's going to feel good, and you're not going to hurt me."

"Right," Seth agreed, a nervous feeling running through his chest.

He could do this.  He'd just done it a minute ago, and he could do it again.
  He just needed to focus on feeling good, and that would flow through him
into Scott.  He took Scott's hands again, and felt another wave of relief
when Scott didn't immediately pass out or bite his tongue in half or
something.  Scott drew in another deep breath, feeling Seth's relief flood
through him, and he held Seth's hands tightly when Seth tried to pull them
away again.

"Wait," Scott said softly.  He concentrated on keeping his own breathing
slow, not sure if his emotions would travel back through the physical link
to Seth.  "What do you feel?  Are you getting any feedback?"

"A little," Seth answered, still feeling a little nervous about this.  He
was staring into Scott's glasses, but all he could see was the reflection of
his own eyes.  "It was kind of like an echo, like I get when something bad
happens.  I felt good, and then I felt it come back from you."

"Cool," Scott said, smiling.  "I told you this could work.  You need a
little practice, probably, but you're doing great."

"Thanks!" Seth said, blushing, and then Scott was blushing a little, and
then Seth felt that flush coming back to him, and then that feeling washed
back to Scott again.

They both sighed together, and Scott felt himself shiver a little, a fast
ripple that ran over his body.  When it happened, it mirrored back to Seth,
and then Seth sent it back to him again, the feeling a little stronger this
time.  In the back of his mind, Scott realized that they were falling into a
loop, but it was happening too fast, and neither one of them seemed to be
able to control it.  As soon as Scott felt good, Seth felt it, and then Seth
felt better, and that carried back through to Scott.  As the circuit
continued, it got a little stronger, so that before when he'd just felt a
shiver, now it was like a hand running quickly over him, under his clothes,
and Seth was feeling the same thing.

Involuntarily Scott gripped Seth's hands even tighter, almost painfully, his
mind turning back to last night and the phantom touches in the infirmary.
Now Scott felt hands sliding up and down his arms, running over the brown
hairs and caressing his muscles, and Seth felt it, too.  Seth felt the same
hands running over his shoulders, lightly caressing them, and Scott felt
them harder, smoothing over his own shoulders and running down his chest.
He inhaled sharply, his pecs pressing up toward the hands that were now
resting on his chest, and Seth gasped as he felt palms circling over his
stiffening nipples.  The hands started to move lower, running up and down
his sides, and Scott felt hands running up and down his back, the fingertips
tracing his spine, the hands drawing him closer and closer to Seth.  Seth
was breathing faster, hands running all over his chest and torso now, and he
blinked, seeing Scott's face right in front of his.

"Wait!" Seth blurted, pulling his hands out of Scott's.  Both of them
gasped, the room and the two of them suddenly coming sharply into focus.
"What was that?"

"I don't know," Scott answered.  Had they been about to kiss?  "I think we
got kind of, I don't know, caught in something.  It was like it was
looping."

"But what about the other stuff?" Seth asked.  "I mean, one second we were
just feeling good, and then all of a sudden we were, um."

"Yeah," Scott said quickly, neither one of them wanting to say exactly what
the "um" was out loud.

"Did I make you do that?" Seth asked, worried.  He picked up the gloves and
pulled them on, before anything else could happen.  He'd probably have to
wear them all the time, at least for now.

"I don't think so," Scott said quickly.  "I mean, when it was happening, I
wanted it to.  I don't think either of us could help it."

Seth nodded, relieved again.  He hadn't forced anyone to do anything, hadn't
made Scott try to kiss him against his will, hadn't mentally forced himself
on Scott.  It raised another problem, though.

"We can't do this again," Seth said, looking down.  "I mean, I appreciate
you helping me, but you have a girlfriend, and I like Jean, and if this
happens every time we try this then eventually we're going to do something
we shouldn't."

"You're right," Scott said, standing up quickly and walking toward the door.
  By the time Seth looked up again, Scott was already in the doorway, half
turned.  He stopped in the doorway.  "You haven't met Peter yet, have you?"

"No," Seth answered, shrugging.  They'd felt like such close friends for a
little while, but now it all seemed really awkward, forced and stilted.
Scott was acting like he couldn't wait to get out of the room, and Seth
couldn't really blame him.

"You should," Scott said, opening the door.  "He's, you know, your kind of
guy, and he's single."

"Um, thanks," Seth said, puzzled.  Did Scott just try to set him up with
Colossus after the two of them had almost made out for what would have been
the second time?  "And thanks for, you know, helping me with this."

"No problem," Scott said.  "Team captain and all.  Have a good night."

"You, too," Seth answered, and then Scott was gone.  He sighed, wondering if
he'd alienated yet another team member.  At this rate all he had left was
Jean, unless she was miffed about what happened that afternoon, and Kitty,
unless he managed to do something to piss her off, too.

In the hallway, Scott hurried to his room.  He'd had to get out of there
while Seth was still confused, before he really started looking at him.
Otherwise, Seth might have noticed that Scott wasn't uncomfortable about
what had happened, and was instead uncomfortable about the hardon snaking
down the leg of his pants.  Seth might not realize what had happened, but
Scott did.  The link between them hadn't turned sexual until Scott started
thinking about what had happened the night before, and as soon as he had, it
had happened again.  If Seth hadn't broken the link, they would have gone
even further.

"Damn," Scott sighed, trying to figure out what it all meant.  He loved
Jean, and he was straight, but doing that when Seth was awake was even more
intense than what had happened last night.  "I really need to go jerk off."

***

To be continued.