"What."

....this should be interesting. 

"Where'd you hear that?" 

He crosses his arms. "Well, I was right."

The position of 'hottest person Lev has ever seen in person' is getting some unexpected new competition. The guy's face is human but his hands and arms and neck are covered with scales that shimmer green and yellow in the light. 

It would be gorgeous even if he didn't have a kink.

"I didn't say you weren't right," even though you totally weren't, "I asked where you heard that." 

"I'm a Morlock, we hear things. Like about the mutant boy living in Asher's house that he's been paying off the cops about." He glances Sasha up and down. "Apparently there's two of you, we didn't know that."

"That'd be because I don't live here and he's not paying off the cops about me. What's your name?" 

He's wearing eyeliner. This is just so completely unfair.

"Chris Parker. What's yours?"

"Alexander Mikhailov, but call me Sasha, everyone does. And this is Lev." 

"Your boyfriend's cute."

aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa

"You're right, he is." Sasha leans over and kisses Lev on the cheek. 

"Can I kiss him?"

"If he wants you to! — Lev, do you want him to." 

Instead of answering, he thunks his head into Sasha's shoulder. 

"I could just blow him."

That is NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT HELPING THIS SITUATION.

"You sure could," says Sasha, who knows Lev. "But instead you're going to stick to kissing him until he figures out how to say words." 

Lev makes a noise of protest into Sasha's shoulder. He is not super clear on whether he is protesting this complete stranger kissing him or this complete stranger not giving him a blowjob.

"Fair enough," Chris says, walks over to Lev, lifts up Lev's chin, and kisses him very thoroughly and with great attention.

!!!!!!

And Sasha plays with Lev's hair with one hand and pulls out his phone and texts Asher 

so there's a teenage mutant lizard person in the apartment, do you know him

with the other. 

nope

has jarvis said anything

nope 

Chris came in through a window and said he'd heard you let cute teenage mutants stay in your penthouse if they suck your dick 

I did not contradict him but I can do that if you think it's a good idea 

currently he's distracted with how cute Lev is 

also he thinks I'm a mutant and I'm not planning on disagreeing 

good idea, there aren't that many lab accidents floating around

I am... not super interested in dating a new person

and probably should not let random teenagers stay in my penthouse unless they're vetted by z

is lev okay with this

Lev is too busy being made out with by a hot guy to remember that he had objections to this happening in the first place. The hot guy has somehow wound up in his lap. How do these things happen. 

He pulls away and says, "you're really hot."

Those were words! Words means he gets to give Lev a blowjob!

He slithers down so he's kneeling between Lev's legs and starts trying to take off his pants.

UM.

lev seems fine with this 

"Lev, do you want him to suck you off?" 

"...n... o?"

He sits back and crosses his arms. 

"Alright." He puts the phone down and hugs Lev. 

"So how does the deal work specifically?" Chris asks.

"There's no deal. I'm dating Asher because he's great, and Lev lives here because he can't live with his family and I dragged him here in the middle of the night and Asher agreed to let him stay." 

"Aw, man, that sucks. I guess 'fuck a guy with great abs, get to live in a penthouse' is too good to be true."

"Also he's not interested in fucking people he's not dating and he says he doesn't want to start dating another person and you don't seem like his type anyway. — It's possible he'll let you stay anyway depending but don't, like, count on it." Sasha's still hugging Lev. 

"It looks like he makes you go to school, anyway. I'd rather suck dick for cash down by the pier, they don't make me try to learn algebra."

Well, that's... concerning.

"He's not making me do anything, if I stopped going to school he'd be concerned but any actual consquences would not come from him." 

upd8 the lizard boy is also an underage prostitute 

great! that's great

it's bad policy to let anybody who breaks into my penthouse live there but god would I feel like shit about it

"Why would you go to school if you're already fucking a billionaire?"

"Because, one, I have a family and they'd be super concerned and it'd be hard to give them an explanation they'd be satisfied with and also hide all of the everything from them, two, it's the path of least resistance, and three, I would rather not make life plans that rely on my billionaire boyfriend on account of how sometimes people break up." 

apparently he'd rather suck dick for money at the pier than go to school. do with this information what you will 

"My brother's really concerned about me but that doesn't mean I'm going to go around studying algebra when I could be getting high and getting laid. And how to survive after you break up with him really seems like a problem you can solve after you break up with him." 

"I realize I'm the only person in the conversation who thinks this but algebra is in fact fun and interesting."

"You are a mutant."

"There are math things that are fun and you could sell me on algebra being one of them, and no, actually, that does not sound like a problem to solve after I break up with him, it sounds like the opposite of that, and also I'm pretty sure you're a mutant." 

"Yes, but I have a cool mutation and not a stupid mutation that makes me like algebra."

Lev is about to object to this but come to think if it before he had his mutation he actually was way less fond of algebra.

Oh, good, an opening. "What is your mutation? — other than the scales. I'm assuming it's not just the scales." 

"I'll show you." 

He gestures in Sasha and Lev's general direction.

And Lev suddenly feels-- very focused, very energetic, very happy. His hand starts twitching for a pen to write with. 

QUIT FUCKING WITH MY HEAD, he wants to scream. 

"What did that do," he says instead, slightly panicky. 

"If you're injured, it healed you. If you're not, it gives you energy and puts you in a better mood. I did it at, like, one-cup-of-coffee level."

"I don't care what level you do it at don't fuck with my head." 

His heart's going faster than it should be and he wants whatever this is out —

"Fine." He gestures again. "Back to normal."

Good. Good, that's good. His hands are just a little shaky. "— I'm going to go talk to Asher." 

Lev attempts to telepathically send 'don't leave me alone with Chris.'

Sasha does not have telepathy but he does know Lev. "Lev come with me." 

"Okay. --Uh, you should probably go, Chris."

"That's cool. Lock your windows," he says, and jumps out of the window.

That sounds like something Sasha does not need to deal with right now! 

He goes and looks for Asher; he's clinging to Lev's hand just a little bit. 

Asher's in his workshop with his tongue between his teeth, working on something with very fiddly parts. 

"Hey. Chris left." 

"Well, that was a weird series of things that happened."

"Yes. Yes it was. His mutation is — he does a thing where if you're injured it heals you and if you're not it makes you focused and energetic and he said it improves your mood but it did not do that for me — I yelled, he took it off, I said I was going to find you, he left. Through the window. Can I have a hug." 

Asher hugs him.

"It made me feel better but I don't have, uh, trauma."

Somehow he had managed not to realize that probably that reaction was because of trauma. "Yeah." He's just going to lean on Asher. 

Asher kisses his forehead. 

"Sounds like a set of powers SHIELD might be interested in."

"It does," he agrees. 

Kiss. "I'll add a hand sensor or something by the windows so they only open for you."

"You're the best and I love you." Kiss. 

"He was-- really kind of a mess on a whole bunch of different levels, and he hurt Sasha, but he was also kind of really hot."

"You looked like you were trying to tell me 'don't leave me alone with him' with your brain. — to his credit he stopped doing the thing as soon as I objected but it would have been really nice if he'd asked in the first place." 

"Being alone with a really hot guy who wants to fuck me is terrifying especially if he's also--" Lev gestures vaguely.

"That's fair." He puts his head on Asher's shoulder. 

"Are you okay?"

"I don't like how easy it was for him to get in but if you add the handprint thing I'll be fine." 

"I can do that now," Asher says, gesturing to put his suit on.

"Thank you," he says, and steps back. "I love you." 

Outside, a man in a fur vest is watching Stark Tower through binoculars and taking notes.

Sasha leaves Stark Tower in plainclothes, takes the subway home. 

A week later, Lev wakes up to the sound of someone in his room, says "Asher, is that you?", gets a cloth put over his face, smells ether, and everything goes dark.

It's hard to tell the difference, sometimes, between the spider-sense and regular anxiety. 

But whichever one it is, he's awake in the middle of the night. He leaves a note on the counter and heads to Stark Tower. 

Lev's not in his bedroom. 

There's a note on the pillow that says:

Lev Aarons is at the intersection of Cherryhill and Inglewood. 

--KRAVEN THE HUNTER

...Sasha goes and wakes Asher. 

Asher is not there.

Sasha tries calling Asher. 

It goes to voicemail.

"There's been a tsunami in Indonesia," Jarvis says.

"Thank you, Jarvis." His voice sounds very small. 

Sasha suits up. 

Meanwhile--

The Morlocks had been keeping an eye on the new guy who used their sewer system. They didn't want to pick a fight unless they had to, and as long as they could share space they would, but anyone else who used the sewers could be a threat.

So they knew as soon as Kraven brought Lev through the sewers.

Lev was a nice guy. Chris had no hard feelings. He disapproved of people kidnapping him. And Stark Tower was easy to break into.

...Except this time the windows had a fucking handprint sensor on it. 

He goes down to the front desk.

"Hello?" says the woman behind the desk. 

He is suddenly acutely aware that he is seventeen and looks younger than he is and is wearing eyeliner and clothes that he got at a thrift store and hasn't showered in three days since his last hookup in an apartment. 

"...I need to talk to Asher. It's important."

She looks him over. "Mr. Stark is unavailable." 

"It's superhero stuff, I'm a mutant, you can tell I'm a mutant-- it's important and it's urgent, please--"

"He is," she says, "unavailable." 

This is going to go nowhere.

They added the handprint but Stark Tower probably isn't that secure, he'll have to scope it out, Sasha at least will hear him out. He climbs--

Oh, look, there's Spidey.

"Hi! I know you don't know me, but you have to tell Asher his boyfriend's boyfriend got kidnapped."

What.

"I know he did," Sasha says, "Asher's in Indonesia but I'm on it — the note said Cherryhill and Inglewood, do you know if that's right?" 

"Good. --He's been using our sewers, I came as soon as we knew what he was using them for."

"Alright. I'm going to where he says he's keeping Lev — you should come, he might need the healing —" 

"Using the sewers might be better, if he left a note. He'll be expecting you to come from above."

"Yeah. Good plan. Let's go." 

Chris pulls off a manhole cover with practiced skill and climbs in. 

"We would have kicked him out if we knew he was planning to kidnap a mutant teenager."

Sasha follows. "I believe you." 

"He was all like 'I'm Kraven the Hunter, I'm here to hunt the most dangerous game' and we didn't know what kind of most dangerous game there was in New York City but we figured it was probably, like, mutant rats or something. No offense but Lev did not seem like my idea of the most dangerous game."

"I don't think he's hunting Lev, or he wouldn't have left a note. I think he's hunting Asher. — also, 'the most dangerous game' is always people."

"Like, humans people or us people?"

"It's a quote from something they made us read in English class and the person in the story was talking about a human, but it depends on who's saying it. They always mean people, though, it's never giant rats." 

"Maybe any of us should have gone to high school."

"Maybe." How close are they? 

Impossible to tell, unless he knows what New York City looks like from beneath, but Chris is clearly hurrying. 

"I could give a shit if he hunts humans, most of them deserve it, but mutants seem more dangerous in general. --Although I guess Asher's cool."

"I'm human but if someone hunted Lev's parents I can't say I'd mourn. Asher is indeed cool." 

"Well, I keep seeing headlines about how you're a menace, so I assume you're cool." They turn a corner. "I should tell you about my power before we get close and should stop talking."

"All I know is you do healing."

"I can redirect the energy that powers organic superpowers. So I can heal you or make you stronger and more agile and tougher or basically be Adderall, but if I do your powers won't work as well for a while after. Might even stop working. --My girlfriend Rachel's in the area but I didn't want to pull her in, I might have talked to Sasha and he seemed really freaked out by mind control. Rachel, like, mind-controls people into thinking she's hot, and she can't turn it off."

"Last time someone mind controlled him he wound up really seriously hurt, if he's got warning he can deal with it." Wow, it's weird talking about himself in the third person. 

"Well, that won't be a problem for you, she can hang around and listen and barge in if it seems like you need a distraction. --I'll take Lev because I can heal him, you deal with Kraven?"

He'll just consider that his warning. "Sounds good." 

"Okay. We should be quiet now, he might be able to hear us."

Chris keeps leading the way.

And Sasha keeps following. 

Lev is crumpled on the floor, unconscious.

Sasha's spidey sense might start going off like mad.

He's on the ceiling before he's sure what's happening. 

"I am Kraven the Hunter," announces a man wearing leather pants and a fur vest and nothing else, "and I am hunting the most dangerous game."

"It really looks more like you're going out for bear night, except no self-respecting bear would wear an outfit that tacky."

Sasha is very quiet and very still and clinging to the ceiling, well above eye level. 

"Run along boy, I'm looking for a spider. The most dangerous game is a spider with the intelligence of a person."

"A reliable source told me that actually it was people."

"Nope, it's spiders with the intelligence of a person."

How does Kraven the Hunter feel about being webbed to the wall. 

"Ah ha!" he says. "My quarry is here."

That's great. Chris is going to zap Lev with his power-- no one said he shouldn't, so hopefully Lev's power wasn't doing anything too important-- and carry him to the Morlocks' home base.

And in one quick movement the webbing is cut, Kraven is no longer attached to the wall, he's pulled out a gun, and he's started shooting at Sasha.

That's not great! 

Sasha's aiming for the gun, if he can get it too webbed up to work or out of Kraven's hands he'll be fine — thank fucking god for the spider sense — 

When he successfully webs the gun, Kraven shakes it and presses a button and the webbing dissolves.

WHY 

"Why —" dodge — "are you —" dodge — "doing this —" 

"I am Kraven the Hunter," he says. "I have challenged myself against all the fiercest and most ferocious monsters of the world. And now I shall challenge myself against the most fearsome and terrifying monster of all-- and rid New York City of a menace at the same time!"

"— I'm in high school!" 

Kraven pauses. 

"They let spiders go to high school?"

"I'm not a spider! — wait, you can see how many legs I have, how did you — not the point! I'm not a spider! I'm a human!" 

"I was definitely told by Mr. Fisk that you were a humanoid spider, and not a teenager." He sheathes his gun. "Teenagers are not in any way dangerous game. They are not more dangerous than, for example, lions."

He stops dodging but does not come down from the ceiling. "Fisk keeps trying to kill me because I keep messing with his plans to kill lots of people and make lots of money. Which is why I'm failing English class. ...most of why I'm failing English class." He is not going to comment on whether he is more dangerous than for example a lion. He is instead going to sound as teenager-ish as he can. 

Kraven quick-draws his gun. "You could be lying to me. Spiders are cunning."

"I'm wearing skintight Spandex. You can literally see how many limbs I have." 

"You're a spider-person," Kraven says, pointing the gun directly at the center of his torso. "Not a regular spider. I know you're humanoid."

A girl appears. She's so pretty. When you look at her it's really hard not to think about what her lips would look like wrapped around your dick, what her skin would feel like if you touched it. Her breasts move back and forth when she walks and it is kind of hypnotizing. 

"Listen to the kid. We're all teenagers here. Not a worthy enemy in the bunch."

That certainly is an effect. 

Sasha takes off one of his gloves to reveal what is very obviously human skin, and not an exoskeleton or chitin or whatever it is that spiders have he's pretty sure it's not skin. 

"That doesn't mean you're a teenager," Kraven says. "I would still be ridding New York City of a menace."

"You can't believe everything you read in a newspaper," the girl, who must be Rachel, says. "Actually, Spider-man helps lots of people."

(She's so pretty. You want to believe whatever she says, because then she'll smile at you and touch you and that sounds like the best thing in the world.)

...maybe he should be a little less clinging to the ceiling. Sasha drops to the ground, lands on his feet, and stands the normal way that human beings stand. 

Kraven looks really uncertain.

He also looks really, really distracted by Rachel.

Thank you Rachel you're the bomb Rachel. 

"Can we go home," he says, deliberately pitches his voice to sound younger than he usually does. 

"Take off your mask," Kraven says, "so I can see how old you are."

Sasha hesitates, then — Kraven won't recognize him — pulls up his mask to show the bottom half of his face. 

He looks very young and very tired. 

Kraven snaps a picture and runs. 

Yep how about he leaves right now immediately. 

Rachel lifts up her shirt and says "hey, everyone, look at my boobs."

Kraven hesitates for just a second--

Sasha grabs the camera and ducks into the floor and goes. 

When Sasha gets back to Stark Tower, Lev is there in the living room.

Chris has crossed his arms and is glaring at everything.

"Hey," he says, and hugs Lev. "You doing okay?" 

"I woke up and Chris was carrying me through a sewer? Are you okay, apparently someone was trying to kill you--"

"I'm okay! I'm very very good at dodging. — I'm a little freaked out but like, mostly because you got kidnapped." 

He goes to take the mask off, pauses, turns to Chris. "Don't tell anyone about this?" 

"I can keep a secret."

Sasha takes the mask off, all the way this time, and kisses Lev. 

"--ah. So that's why we don't know who you are."

"That is why you don't know who I am," he agrees. 

"Do you need a heal?"

"I don't think so but I should still check." He takes off the suit; there's no broken skin under it. "Doesn't look like it, no. I'm going to go get clothes." 

Chris looks at him appreciatively.

So does Lev.

Sasha has the cutest boyfriend ever. 

He comes back out in sweatpants and one of Lev's shirts, drapes himself across Lev. 

"I'm fine, really," he says. "I was unconscious for the entire thing and woke up being carried by a hot guy."

"Yeah, but when I last saw you you were unconscious on the floor while someone was loudly announcing he was going to kill the world's most dangerous game and being able to touch you is reassuring. — for some reason he did not mean people. Why would you even make that reference if you didn't mean people?" 

"Maybe he didn't know it was a reference? --What happened?"

"I dodged bullets and asked why he was shooting at me, he said he'd been told by Kingpin that I was an evil sentient spider-being, I said I was a teenager in high school and definitely not a worthy opponent, Rachel came in and started being distracting, he said to take off my mask so he could see how old I was, I pulled it up halfway to show the bottom half of my face, he took a picture, Rachel pulled up her shirt and yelled 'hey look at my boobs,' which got him to pause long enough for me to grab the camera and run. — remind me to smash it." 

"You should smash it right now."

Sasha gets up and grabs the camera from where he'd left it with his suit on the floor and heads to the kitchen. 

There are smashing sounds. 

Sasha comes back. 

"Good," Lev says. "I hope we don't ever see that asshole again."

"Same." He flops down next to Lev. "And I'm going to yell at Asher about building security once he gets back from Indonesia, nobody should have been able to get to you in the first place." 

"I'll take a look at things and improve it. --I think he designed the security on the theory that anyone who could fuck with Iron Man should, and then didn't really change it when we moved in."

"Yeah, and I'm going to yell at him for that." Lev needs snuggling.

...okay, more accurately, Sasha needs snuggling and Lev is right here and very snuggleable. 

Lev can snuggle him!

Chris sits next to Sasha and puts his head on Sasha's shoulder.

...yeah okay he'll snuggle Chris too.

Falling asleep on Lev's shoulder is really nice. It's not like he doesn't know this, but it's always good to be reminded.  

Lev nudges him and says, "Bed."

"Mmmmmkay." He is not any less cuddly once they get to a bed, but he falls asleep almost immediately. 

Well, they didn't tell him not to fall asleep on the couch.

That's true, they didn't. 

In the morning Sasha makes breakfast for both of them, then thinks to check the living room, then makes breakfast for all three of them. 

"Your couch is incredibly comfortable," he comments.

"It's... honestly a pretty normal couch."

"I like it but I'm not sure I'd call it incredibly anything." 

He bounces. 

"It's SO SOFT."

...cute, but also concerning. "I'm glad you like it." 

"When I turn eighteen, I am going to have an apartment with Rachel and we are going to have an extremely soft bed and never sleep in sleeping bags ever again."

"...how old are you?" 

"Seventeen. I ran away when I was fourteen and I started looking like this."

He's increasingly in favor of plan "Chris lives in Stark Tower for the next however many months" but it'll have to wait until Asher's back. He nods and eats his breakfast. 

"Thanks for the food. I might stop by sometime in the future to grab a shower and get something to eat and nap on your couch, if you guys let me in."

"...I should wait until Asher gets back to make long-term plans but you can stay for a couple days, at least." 

"Rachel would miss me."

He nods. "Makes sense. — tell her I said thank you?" 

"I will."

"And thank you. For everything." 

"Lev is cute, I don't want him to be kidnapped."

"Neither do I!" 

He glances Sasha up and down and says, "...you know, I could stay a bit longer."

He glances Chris up and down and says, "Take a shower while I talk to Lev?" 

"Yes. I might take a while."

That's chill! 

Sasha finds Lev and opens with "Is it cool if I sleep with Chris," mostly because he can't think of a better opening. 

"I'm pretty sure you can sleep with whomever you want?"

"...I mean, yeah, but I know you get insecure sometimes so I still wanted to ask?" 

"Thank you for asking. --I realize this is not actually how relationships work for you at all but I'm just like 'he doesn't even like algebra.'"

"Liking algebra isn't a requirement for someone I'd date but he'd at least have to not be incredulous that other people would, I'm not planning on dating him." 

"It's a bad idea for me to fuck him-- I don't even like sex when I'm not in love with the guy-- but he's so hot."

"You're adorable and if you look like you're going to make bad decisions re fucking him I will remind you that the decisions are bad." 

"I might want to make bad decisions, though."

"I didn't say I'd stop you!" 

"I am going to make bad choices and then jerk off to them forever."

"I love you very, very much," Sasha says, and kisses him, and waits for Chris to be done in the shower. 

It takes a while!

When he comes out he's wearing the same dirty clothes he was wearing before. 

Yeah, well, nothing of Sasha's is likely to fit and that's something he actually would want to ask Asher about before he did it. Sasha pulls him to a spare bedroom and starts taking his own shirt — well, okay, it's Lev's shirt, but Sasha's the one wearing it — off. 

Chris kisses him. "I like to be hurt."

Mm. Kissing's good. "How hurt?" 

"I can heal myself, so-- as much as you want to hurt me?"

Like Z, then. Sasha kisses him and takes Chris's shirt off and pushes him back onto the bed and then pulls his hair hard. 

He can try to take Chris's shirt off but Chris will stop him.

He will stop trying that, then. 

When he pulls his hair, Chris moans.

What a good sound. Let's see how many other ways he can get Chris to make it. 

Chris is pretty much a fan of getting hurt in any of the ways it's possible to get hurt!

That's convenient, because there are a lot of ways to hurt someone. Especially when you, like Sasha, have super strength. 

Good thing you don't have to take off someone's clothes to punch them. 

That is good. 

"Can I suck you off?"

"Yes," and Sasha starts getting the rest of his clothes off. 

Chris has had a lot of practice at giving blowjobs and he is very, very enthusiastic. 

Oh, that's — oh. Oh. 

He pulls off, says "fuck my mouth," and keeps sucking him.

Guess who doesn't have a gag reflex? It's Chris.

That is very, very, very good — 

Sasha's fingers tighten in his hair and he pulls, hard, when he finishes. 

Chris swallows and puts his head on Sasha's shoulder.

He reaches up and puts his hand on the back of Chris's head. "Do you want me to —?" 

"...I should probably tell you something."

"Yeah?" 

"I'm a girl."

Blink. 

"Okay. Do you want me to call you a different name?" 

"...no. My name is Chris."

"Okay. — also do you want me to talk Asher into getting you estrogen, I can probably do that —" 

"Why would I need estrogen, I'm already a girl."

"— okay, is this the kind of 'actually I'm a girl' where you want boobs you don't have and you want me to call you she, or the kind where you have boobs you don't want and you definitely do not want me to do that." 

"The second kind. --If he can get me a more reliable supply of testosterone that would be great."

"Cool. I will talk to him about getting you a more reliable supply of testosterone." He kisses Chris again, mostly because he can. 

"So you can if you want but I have-- gross parts."

"...I mean, tongues are objectively kind of gross, that doesn't mean I don't like kissing you." 

"...All right."

"....you don't look like you like that idea." 

He methodically strips off his clothes. His chest and back and stomach are covered with scales, but they fade out to skin around his hips. He's somewhat hairier than most girls, not quite as hairy as most men; he has two small, well-formed breasts and a vulva.

"— you still do not look like you want to be doing this!" 

"--once you start touching me it'll stop hurting."

"I'm going to go get you clean clothes." 

"Great, I got the orgasm denial fetishist."

"...okay I am in fact that but mostly you look miserable. I'll be back." 

He puts his clothes back on and goes. 

He wraps the legs of his pants around his throat so it cuts off his air and puts his hand between his legs and comes.

He comes back with a shirt that'll be a little bit too big for Chris and a pair of sweatpants that should fit fine and underwear, drops them on the bed. "You okay?" 

"Better."

He puts on his old sports bra and the clothes Sasha brings. 

"Good." He sits down crosslegged on the bed. 

Chris kisses him.

That's much better. Sasha kisses him back. 

"I like getting fucked," he says, "I just have to-- get fucked hard enough that I'm not thinking about what my body looks like."

"Makes sense. — I don't know if I can do it, though, and I don't actually want to sleep with people who look like they're miserable about it, it's depressing." This is not the real reason but it's one that he's pretty sure Chris will accept. 

"I can still blow you whenever you want."

"Good." Another kiss, and another. 

Is it time for Chris to get the shit beat out of him?

Chris thinks it is time for Chris to get the shit beat out of him.

It can definitely be time for Chris to get the shit beaten out of him. 

He gets floaty and can't really say words and his hips are thrusting a little bit against the air.

(It's-- frustrating, to know that Sasha won't touch him, and hot that Sasha can decide not to touch him-- and then blood trickles down his face and he's not thinking much of anything at all--)

Ohh fuck that's really hot. 

Sasha kisses his forehead, is careful to avoid the blood, and then hits him again and then bends his arm backwards — 

He can't think, it hurts so much, he belongs to Sasha, Sasha can do whatever he wants to him, it's so good--

"Good job," he whispers, "you're doing great," and he lets go of Chris's arm and hits him again, in the chest and in the stomach and in the solar plexus and in the jaw, and then kisses him, very gentle. 

He's breathing in little gasps. He wants to shove Sasha to his knees and fuck his throat, he wants to be Sasha's thing, toy tool property used--

Chris makes a little whimpery noise and his muscles tense and suddenly relax.

"You're doing great," he whispers again, and bites down on his shoulder and presses hard and stays there a moment, two, before he says "you're doing so well, I've got you —" 

One of the few advantages of Chris's anatomy is that he can have multiple orgasms. 

One of the many advantages of Chris's psychology is that hurting him will definitely cause this to happen.

And Sasha keeps his teeth in Chris's shoulder and holds him through it until he relaxes again. 

"I need cock," he says, "I need something inside me-- mouth or ass or--"

That's — okay he can do that, he pushes Chris's head down and wraps Chris's hair around his fingers. 

Chris is moaning and desperate around his cock.

That's good that's really good, Sasha fucks his face and pulls his hair hard and — ah — 

Chris swallows and looks like the only important thing in the world is Sasha's cock.

And Sasha comes again in his mouth and goes soft and boneless and relaxed, tugs Chris's head up by the hair so it's on Sasha's chest. 

Chris gestures and stops bleeding, but there's still little bits of dried blood all over his skin.

Chris not bleeding is good. Sasha doesn't stop playing with his hair. 

Snuggles are nice. Chris is a fan of snuggles.

Snuggles are nice. 

"I should. Probably go home at some point," he says, reluctantly. 

"Me too. Rachel will miss me. --Unless your terrified boyfriend wants to hook up."

"My terrified boyfriend does not want to hook up and if he tells you otherwise he's wrong. — that sounds like a joke but it isn't one." 

"Fair enough. Why? You've told him not to?"

"He doesn't actually like sex with people he's not emotionally close to but he sometimes makes bad decisions when people he's not emotionally close to are hot and will not wind up enjoying those decisions." 

"Weird way for a gay dude to be, but whatever."

"...I don't get how that's weirder than if he was straight but whatever." He unflops from the bed and finds his pants. 

"Straight people do all kinds of weird shit. I don't understand straight people."

"Okay, that's fair, neither do I." 

Chris finds a piece of paper and scribbles a number on it. "Here's my phone number."

Sasha puts the number into his phone as Chris 🐍. "I'll text you." 

"Cool! See you."

He goes back and hugs Lev, and then heads home, and definitely does not tell his parents what happened last night. 

Lev does not have sex with Chris in the next week but he sure does jerk off about this possibility extensively. 

He drags himself to class and is uncomfortably aware that his parents probably think he's sneaking out to do drugs and hangs out with Lev and keeps a close eye on the news. 

Asher improves security at Stark Tower and informs the front desk that if a short dirty teenage lizardperson appears he can be sent up to talk to Lev.

I'm boooooored

wanna fool around tonight

tomorrow's friday and I do actually need to go to class sometimes 

otherwise someone's going to start assuming I'm skipping to deal heroin and I do not need that kind of attention on my free time 

tomorrow night? 

you know if you just dropped out we could fuck whenever

unfortunately for that plan a high school diploma is useful for a variety of things, such as jobs 

you can steal shit. or sell drugs. or fuck people for money. or get hired as muscle, there's a ton of people who want mutant muscle

or, y'know, get your billionaire boyfriend to toss you a million bucks

orrrrrr I could do something that isn't gonna make me hate my life 

you are a weird person

but cute

and good at punching

thank you! I try 

that was supposed to be about the being good at punching but thinking about it it's about the whole thing 

tomorrow night at the tower then? 

looking forward to it

Marlo doesn't actually know Sasha's address and doesn't particularly want to — can't accidentally hint at secrets you don't have — so when he has a thing he wants to ask about, the best place for him to try is Stark Tower. 

Somewhere, under all the layers of too much drugs and even more sex, underneath the social rejection and the desire to fuck with his parents, underneath all the cynicism and world-weariness and streetwise savviness (there is less of all three of those than Chris would like to believe), there's an eight-year-old who wanted to play superheroes versus Nazis with the boys instead of playing princesses with the girls.

And what that eight-year-old thinks is:

Holy shit, that's Captain America.

What Captain America thinks is: 

I really hope Asher hasn't acquired another teenage boyfriend. 

Should he cruise Captain America?

Why is he even asking himself this, obviously he should cruise Captain America.

He makes eye contact, makes a show of glancing Captain America up and down, and licks his lips.

— his estimate for 'Asher has acquired another teenage boyfriend' goes down dramatically. 

"Hello," he says, very neutrally. 

He would be mildly disappointed that Captain America doesn't want him to blow him but that is completely lost in all the CAPTAIN AMERICA IS TALKING TO ME.

"Hi! I'm Chris."

Okay that's cute. 

"And I'm Marlo. Nice to meet you." 

CAPTAIN AMERICA JUST SAID IT WAS NICE TO MEET HIM. HE PROBABLY SAYS THAT TO EVERYONE BUT STILL.

"I'm going up to see Spidey, are you?"

A+ JOB ON FORMING COMPLETE SENTENCES THERE CHRIS.

"So am I." 

"He didn't tell me he knew Captain America. But I guess I should have guessed."

aaaaaa that was stupid

"I'm not surprised, he's very invested in keeping most information about him private." 

Mission: come up with something that isn't stupid to say.

"Well, I guess we're just fucking, so it makes sense he wouldn't tell me things."

Mission failed.

"That does make sense," he agrees. 

Oh no, Captain America is so good.

Chris wants to get on his knees before him and make him feel good and be told that he is good and pretty and wanted.

Instead when the elevator gets to their floor he says, "I'm going to go take a shower" and practically runs away.

......cute. 

Marlo finds Sasha, and opens with "So I did look it up, and," and by the time Chris gets back they're in the middle of an argument about maps. 

Chris waits for the conversation to be done and stares at Marlo.

He feels happier, more at peace, more content than he has since puberty

It's about five minutes after Chris finds them that Marlo nods towards him and says "I'll leave you two alone," and does that. 

NO

"...are you okay?" 

"Captain America is very good."

"Marlo is very good."

"...I don't think I'd be allowed to call him that."

"Did he introduce himself as Captain America? Because that's how he tells people what name to use and I don't think I've ever heard him actually introduce himself as Captain America to anyone." 

"No. He just said hi. --I'm going to go talk to him again."

Chris takes off at a run and then when he gets close to Captain America-- Marlo-- he starts walking slowly.

"Is something up?" 

"Sasha was busy." Quick, say something that will make him want to keep talking to you. "I can heal people." Stupid, stupid, stupid, he's invulnerable--

"Sounds useful." What is going on. 

"I redirect the energy that powers the abilities of mutants and lab accidents and I can direct it towards healing people or making them stronger and more agile or making them more energetic and focused and happier. But they can't use their powers while their energy is powering healing or whatever. So it's really very useful."

PLEASE LIKE ME.

"How old are you?" 

"Eighteen. I look young for my age."

(He looks maybe fifteen. His voice is high and he hasn't had his growth spurt yet.)

...uh-huh.

"Any chance you'd like a job?" 

Normally, no, but if Captain America wants him to do something--

"Yes."

"SHIELD legally can't employ under-eighteens, it's one of the main reasons we haven't hired Sasha. If you're lying about your age I suggest you stop." 

Goddammit.

"Seventeen. Eighteen in six months."

"Feel free to apply in six months, then, I'd expect there to be a lot of interest." 

"--I'm homeless."

Worth a shot.

Why is he telling Marlo this, particularly as opposed to telling Asher. 

"I'm sorry, but I can't get SHIELD to hire you until you're eighteen, they won't do it." 

"You could help me? And I could help you?"

With mutant powers. Or blowjobs. Chris is super not picky.

"Generally for homelessness the solution I'd recommend is 'talk to Asher about it,' he's in significantly more of a position to help." 

Oh. Okay.

"...He doesn't want me to fuck him."

"...yes, I'd imagine that's true." 

"Normally guys like that don't give you money unless they want something in return, and if it's to fuck me that's fine, but I don't know what it is he wants."

"You rescued Lev not even a week ago. I'd be very surprised if Asher wouldn't help you find a place to stay." 

"And what happens when Lev's gone a couple months without getting kidnapped? I'm a junkie mutie whore, I know what I'm good for, and he doesn't want it."

"...I really don't know how to express that Asher is not going to do that in a way that will get across." 

"You have to see the best in people. You're Captain America."

He imagines the face Asher would make if he had heard that.

"...That's very sweet of you to say." 

Marlo Rogers said he was sweet and now Chris would die for him. 

This is a completely reasonable decision.

"...I'll talk to Asher."

"And I'll see you around." 

!!!!!!

Marlo will SEE HIM AROUND. Which means he MIGHT SEE MARLO AGAIN.

He smiles all the way up the stairs and then goes to Sasha and says, "what would Marlo want me to do?"

"...in what context?" 

"He's really good. I want to make him happy and proud of me. What do I do?"

"...less drugs, less underage sex work, preferably zero non-caffeine drugs or underage sex work, get tested for STIs, stretch goal get a GED." 

"Can I still hang around when Rachel does sex work so I can punch guys who are messing with her, or is that also sex work? Can I still fuck older guys, or just guys my own age, or nobody? What about going to bars, I go to bars with my brother."