Monster and the Prince-s-s [Levi Jones]

It was still very earlier in the morning as Brandon lay awake, staring up at the speckle ceiling. His chest rose and fell steadily like the waves crashing on sandy beach. His mind was devoid of any one particular thought as he watched his surrounding slowly brighten up by the first rays of the morning sun. Everything around him seemed still and quite, as if the world was untouched by time, frozen for eternity. He knew that wasn’t possible, seeing as how his clock just turn 6:28, but still it was nice laying in silence, only hearing the rhythmic sounds of his breath.
The peace and quiet did not last long. Noises coming from the other room captured his attention instantly. Bangs and clashing sounds came from the bedroom next door, Joshua’s bedroom as if something was repeatedly being hit against the wall. Brandon wasted no time getting out of bed to check on Joshua. He did not even put on a shirt to cover his untamed chest hair. In the doorway of Joshua’s bedroom, Brandon watched as Joshua, in his little, red, Iron Man pajamas sat in the middle of his bedroom, surrounded by a sea of toys, clashing Godzilla with his Scooby Doo stuffed animal, making explosion noise each time. Brandon did not interrupt. He lean his body up against the doorframe, watching him for a few long minutes. Only when Joshua was going to pretend to decapitate Scooby did Brandon intervene. “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed, young man,” he said in a gruff, authoritative voice, but his features betrayed him. The smile, that gave him wrinkles around his cheeks and the chuckle he gave, when Joshua turn around in surprise, knocking over a box of Lego pieces. “But daddy, it is Saturday,” Joshua protested, trying to pick up the millions of Lego pieces and placing them back in the box one at a time because his hands were so little. “And?” Brandon tiptoed into the room to not step on anything that will send him into a frenzy of silent curses. He bent down over the pool of Legos, scooping them up back in the box. “We always have our ad-ad-ad”

“Adventures?” Brandon helped him out, finding his stuttering cute. “Yah, that! On Saturdays.” The Legos now back in the box, clearing the floor only slightly. Brandon felt like it was like moving mountain, cleaning Joshua’s bedroom. It seemed to function better in chaos. “That we do,” he said tussling Joshua’s dirty blonde hair, while Joshua tried to push his hand away in protest, laughing hysterically. He lost the battle, his hair now more wild and messy than before. “Okay, Padawan. I’ll give you twenty more minutes to play, as I get ready and then you sir will get a bath and we will go on our adventure.”

Joshua’s face lite up like fireworks, probably coming up with one adventure after another in his head, getting more ridiculous and impossible than the last. It was always fun to hear him add and expand his story, even though there was no chronic logical flow to them. He went back to tormenting Scooby with Godzilla, as Brandon left the room, leaving the door wide open to hear him from the bathroom which was across the hall.

He went pass the sink, toilet and turn on the shower, letting it heat up before getting in. Than he return to the sink, for his toothbrush. “Doing okay,” Brandon yelled across the hall, squeezing a good helping of Crest toothpaste across the bristles, before shoving the brush in his mouth. “Yes, Daddy! Just playing Monster and princ-prince-“

“Princess?” he corrected once again through a mouth full of foam. He spat the tooth paste out and rinsed his mouth with a cup of sink water. Now his breath was minty fresh, he took the electric razor, which hum loudly over the shower, to tame his five o’clock shadow. Periodically, Brandon seemed to freeze on the spot, as if immobilize by an unknown power, constricting him. It happen as he stared himself in the mirror, the razor inches to his face. Brandon felt light headed, and he felt the world spinning under his feet. Weak, on the verge of collapse, he braced himself on the porcelain sink. “Josh!” he yelled, stumbling from the bathroom across the hall, using the walls to keep from falling. “Joshua?” But there was no answer.

He came bustling in, not caring he toppled over a mound of clothes as he came into his son’s room. There was no sign of him. Not under the bed or hiding in his secret hide away place. Even though Brandon was frantically searching, he remained calm on the outside. Joshua had frequently teleported ever since he came into his powers at the age of two, which was early for mutants, but he could not teleport far, across the room, sometimes across the road but never out of reach. But the last time, he teleported halfway across Los Vegas to a carnival by himself that rolled in that very day because “Daddy was busy.” His insides were tearing up inside, not seeing Joshua outside, playing, either. He could be halfway across town, or across the state. Brandon had a safety net in place for this situation, but that did not stop him frantically grabbing his keys, and cellphone before taking off, shirtless and in his fluffy puppy pajama bottoms, his son picked out for him for Christmas last year, forgetting all about the shower faucet still running.

_______

Joshua did not seem to notice the transition from his bedroom floor to a completely new location. He was too absorbed into his Godzilla figurine to notice he was on tossed, grey cotton sheets. It was only when hands out of nowhere grabbed him suddenly, that he screamed out of surprise, teleporting a few feet away just out of instinct.

The hot Nevada darkness was still in Levi's first floor apartment. Nothing moved in the quiet of the early morning hours; all was as it should be. It was a rare moment of quiet in the home Levi had made for himself over the past few weeks while taking a break from being with the team of girls back in California. He had come to the city to explore some 'opportunities' and had found it suited his life style very well. Each night there was more than enough work for him to attend to, more than enough underground activity to keep him busy. So he stayed here, comfortable in a large open apartment Sally had helped procure. He was not often home, and the mess that cluttered the floor and surfaces gave away his bachelor tendencies.

It had been a long night: Levi had only managed to fall into bed as the sun was rising in the distance over the desert. His exhausted body had been asleep the moment it hit his soft mattress, shoes and pants still on, shirt thrown halfway across the room as he stumbled through the dark. His eye lids flicked rapidly, eyes moving constantly beneath them in dreams. Deep sleep was hard for Levi to accomplish; he was always on the verge of waking, just a slight noise or change in light away from consciousness. While his mind was lost in sleep his body still twitched and rolled, wrapping the many blankets around him and entangling his sleeping form in their clutches. A moan or muttered word would escape his lips occasionally, evidence that even in sleep he was not truly at rest.

The sun had started to leak in through the shaded windows in Levi's apartment, giving the rooms a golden glow that threatened to wake the occupant. He was determined to continue his rest, though, and pulled a spare pillow over his head, blocking out the ever brighter light. Levi fell back into a fitful sleep, unaware of the still early hour. He was in the middle of a particularly engaging dream when the pressure on his bed shifted, the mattress sinking in ever so slightly. He was sitting up in his bed before his eyes were even open, arms outstretched to get a hold on whatever it was that had caused the disturbance his ever active body sensed. He caught a glimpse of a surprised face and felt the softness of warm skin before the sensation under his hands and the sight before him faded out of existence faster than he could react to.

“What the fuck...?” He mumbled, completely confounded. In his hands there was nothing but empty air, still and warm in the Nevada heat. His vision snapped to the corner where there stood nothing other than a young boy with ruffled blonde hair, looking small and out of place amongst the weight equipment and punching bags. It took Levi's mind longer than his body to process the information that was sprinting across his nerves from his eyes to his brain. He simply stared at the boy, taking in his wide eyes and Iron Man pants, judging his age and trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Levi couldn't help but feel a tinge of tenderness for the boy who had just appeared out of thin air. It was obvious this boy was a mutant; Levi couldn't comprehend any other means of him teleporting straight into his bedroom. The kid probably had no control over what he was doing, given his young age. It brought to mind memories of Levi being unable to stop himself from catching flies that buzzed by his head when he was little, and how his parents had always yelled at him for it. It was a rough life, growing up as mutant, and Levi was someone who understood just how terrifying and hard it could be. This kid was probably too young to understand what the rest of his life was going to look like if something wasn't done to help mutant kind, and Levi wasn't about to give him a first hand experience of it if he could help it. He was just lucky he ended up in Levi's apartment rather than some mutant haters.

With a jolt Levi sprang up from the bed with his mind set on approaching the boy and telling him that he was safe here. As he moved to place his feet on the floor Levi stumbled, the blankets he had tossed and turned in all night constricting his movement and forcing his propelled body to tumble towards the wood floor. His left arm shot forward instinctively and he caught himself with his face inches from the floor, a mild expletive bursting from his lips. After picking himself up and angrily tossing the blankets back onto the bed, exposing his tattoo covered arms and torso, Levi took a few steps towards the boy, who remained solidly in the corner of the room. “Hey, kid...are you ok? What's your name, buddy?”

Joshua did not know what was going on, but he was too petrified to do anything. He just stared at the looming figure, half covered in blanket, making him a great big blob of terribleness. When the blob lunged at him, than he started to run, screaming, “Monster! Monster! Monster!” He hoped over the weights on the floor and just ran to the closest door near him. He grabbed whatever was close to him as he sprinted across the bed room and threw it behind him, which was mostly clothes, but he got a empty beer bottle or two. He did not look behind him, not even when he heard something shattering. He did not stop sprinting with his stumble legs until he got to the bathroom, locking himself in. He crawled on hands and knees to the toilet sit and rolled up in a ball between that and the bath tub. He rocked back and forth.

Levi could have caught the boy as he raced through the apartment, tossing anything he could find behind him to hinder Levi's progress. He dodged the clothes, wadded up, both dirty and clean mixed together, and the empty bottles that hit the floor with a hollow thud. The kid was fast, but he was still a kid. It would have been easy to grasp onto his arm and pull him to a halt, yet Levi only moseyed after him, trying to hold back laughter as he was called a monster.

“Ok kid...” He called through the door, leaning up against it casually. “You caught me. I'm a monster...but I'm a cool monster. I don't, you know...eat kids or whatever.” Levi stopped to think, trying to figure out what would lure the boy out of the bathroom. Levi was sure he could knock the door down if needed, but he remembered Sally saying something about not breaking the place or else she wouldn't get her deposit back. As he was thinking his stomach rumbled, indicating that his body need something to fuel it. Letting the kid chill out for a minute he left the door and walked over the fridge, making sure not to step in the shattered glass bottles. His food supply was dreadfully low: beer, old take-out, a block of cheese. In the freezer he found the ticket: chocolate ice cream. Not only was that something Levi himself wanted to eat, but he had an idea that little kids would too.

“Yeah, so, instead of eating kids I eat ice cream.” He said across the room, his voice reaching the bathroom easily, more friendly in tone than most people knew Levi was capable of. “I think I'll have some now. Perfect breakfast for monsters and little kids who need to get the fuck out of my bathroom.”

A low hissing sound came from the bathroom corner. At first, Joshua thought it was his imagination. Just a lump in a rug, but rugs couldn’t hiss. As his eyes adjusted to the dark of the bathroom, he saw a cat curled up on a mat. It was brown, black, orange calico cat. Its fur poked up at odd ends as if he was a porcupine, cat alien. “Nice kitty,” he said reaching out to the cat. The cat hissed at him once again, but did nothing to stop his advances. It was either to lazy, indifferent or just a front, seeking attention. He let Joshua pet him, brushing his fur down. He ignored Levi. “There is no such thing as nice monsters, Mr. Cat,” Joshua muttered, crouching before the cat. His palm tracing the curvature of the cat from head to tail as he repeatedly showered it with love.

He heard footsteps fading away. Maybe it was his chance to escape. But before it even crossed his mind to run the blob monster came back. “No! Go away.” Even after he said those words, his tummy grumbled and his smacked his lips at thought of ice cream. Ice cream for breakfast sound yummy. He left the cat snuggled up on the bath rug and tiptoe to the door. His hand jingle the door knob, but he did not unlocked it.

Once again he grabbed the first thing he could reach that fit his size. The only thing he could find was a toothbrush. He wielded it like a sword unsheathed. “Where is daddy’s prince-s-s, evil monster?” he said simultaneously unlocking and thrusting the door open with both hands, before attacking. Wild ideas of captor maidens, knights in shining armor and slaying evil monsters like wild boars, ferocious dragons and rampaging minotaurs filled his head. All he wanted was daddy’s happy ending.

Levi had moved back to the bathroom door in hopes that the boy would take his offer of ice cream and come out willingly. He was relieved when the door started to open but was soon finding out that the child was not coming out because of what Levi had said.

“Whoa, easy, kid!” Levi jumped back as his toothbrush was thrust toward him, in danger of stabbing into his thighs. His body moved instinctively to avoid danger, yet his brain told him it was just a toothbrush, and thus let himself feel the weak pressure of the boys attack. The small voice that yelled out was confident in its child like way, and again Levi was left confused. Was he asked about a prince? Somehow Levi had managed to get himself into some fairy tale game with this random boy and he had no idea what to do.

Levi had tried playing along with the boy when he called him a monster, but that approach had obviously not worked. The kid was smarter than Levi had given him credit for. He could continue to play along being an evil monster, as that had gotten the boy to leave the bathroom, or he could just grab the pipsqueak. What then, though? Tie him to a chair until he figured out where he belonged? Maybe if he wasn't a mutant...but he was, and that changed how Levi viewed him.

“Ok, buddy, you asked for it.” Levi had had enough, mutant or not this kid needed to get things straight. He was in Levi's home now, not some fairy tale land. With his usual super human reflexes Levi effortlessly scooped the small boy into his arms and was back across the room in a blink of the eyes. He set him on top of the kitchen counter, keeping his body lodged in front of him so the boy couldn't slide away and make another run for it. “Listen; I'm not a fucking monster. I'm just...like you. You tell me your name, now, and what I can do to get you back home and I'll give you some ice cream. If you don't then you're going to be stuck here for longer than either of us wants.”

Swordless and captured by the enemy, Joshua played along, not nearly struggling to break free as he could have. He was placed on the counter, his arms and legs pin down so he could not run away again. He had nowhere else to turn to put look at the person before him. He looked wide eyed up into Levi’s eyes but soon was distracted by the pictures on his body. Wonderful designs that melded together; one picture after another, holding Joshua’s attention. Finally he said, “Mister, you funny. I like you,” before disappearing and reappearing by the tub of ice cream left on the floor. He grabbed it than teleported to the mystery man’s bed. He wasn’t allowed to eat ice cream for breakfast or eat in bed, but if he was going to break one rule, he might as well break all of the rules.

“Spoon?” he asked the mystery man still not answering his question. He popped the lid off and already the ice cream was soft and mushy. The top layer already watery, the way Joshua liked it. Not waiting for the spoons any longer, he dipped a finger in the chocolate ice cream and scoop out a big scoop before it disappeared into his mouth. With his mouthful he spoke, “Daddy will be here soon.” He had no cares in the world. It was him, a tub of ice cream in someone else’s apartment. He left a trail of chocolate from the bed sheets to his pajamas. A slither of chocolate was around his mouth as well.

Levi had not thought to consider the boy's ability to teleport when he set him upon the counter. It was only a minute later, after he had seen the boys eyes light up while looking over his tattoos, that the boy was yet again gone from thin air. With a quick turn Levi watched as the boy casually picked up the ice cream carton and settled himself on his bed.“You little fucker,” Levi said in wonder, shaking his head in the now empty kitchen.

He grabbed a spoon from a half open drawer and headed over to his bed, which was now occupied by the boy. Levi had had many men in his bed before, but this was something entirely different. “Move over, you,” he said as he flopped into the bed beside the boy and handed him a spoon. The ice cream was dripping from the carton onto the sheets and pillows, soaking in and making everything sticky. It was a situation that might have thrown others into fits of annoyance; to Levi it hardly mattered. He'd just wash the sheets later, or, more likely, buy new ones.

“You think your dad's gonna be here soon, huh? What's he got a tracer on you or something? What a dick, can't keep track of his own kid.” Levi let his head rest back into the pillows, still obnoxiously tired from the little sleep he had managed to get. It was a shame; poor little mutant kid probably had a regular human as a dad who didn't know how to take care of him. The thought of the boy being mistreated by his father made Levi sick. He would have a word or two to say to this kid's dad if he ever showed up to claim his son.

Brandon hoped in his old, beat up car and took off like a madman. Social work did not pay him well enough to afford other amenities let alone a new set of wheels, but the things he could do with the car, was amazing. He speed around corners, hardly slowing down, went down roots that seem to be dead ends, but made his own street by going down an abandon alleyway, no bigger in width than his car. His engine roared with anger as he cut through an empty donut shop’s parking lot, all the while his radio was blaring Teenage Dream by Katy Perry on the radio.
Sweet trickled down his back even in the early morning sun, making his bare skin stick to the pleather of the car seat. He did not care about that or losing his left mirror by a mailbox because he took to sharp a turn down a residential neighborhood. All he cared about was getting Josh back. If that meant ditching a few cops on his tail, then so be it. It wasn’t his first car chase.

Back at Levi’s abandon warehouse apartment…

“Thank you,” Joshua said taking the spoon from him, before scooting his Iron Man bum so his new friend can sit down. He feed himself a large helping of ice cream, this time more contain and less messy than using his hand, but still even with the spoon droplets of chocolate still fell onto his clothes. The next scoop of ice cream, twice as big as the last, he held it up to the man, close to the man’s lips. “I would do the airplane, but I can’t do that thing with my lips,” he said, now trying to blow air through his lips to make an airplane noise, but nothing but gargle came out. “See? Can’t do it, but my Daddy can.” Joshua sounded disappointed.
Joshua watch the man curiously as he close his eyes and lean back into his bed, as he mutter something about Joshua’s father. Joshua would have none of that shit. He grabbed another bolder size scoop, but instead of gobbling up the deliciousness, he flung it at the man’s direction. “He is not a dick, ‘you little fucker,’” Joshua repeated verbatim what the man said earlier, angry that he called his daddy a mean name.

10 minutes after Brandon left his home, he squealed to a halt by what looked like an abandon warehouse. He first looked behind him to see if anyone was following him. He heard several distinct sirens a little further down, but they were getting farther and farther away. He would have said something vile about the police being pigs and all, but he was more worried about his son, than his views of the police. Why would he son come here? He got out of his car, took the metal staircase two at a time.

Before Levi could strangle the kid the door busted open and in walked Brandon, yelling, “Where is my son?” Brandon was out of breath, sweaty and only in his puppy pajama bottoms and nothing else. He knew instantly what this was, when he barged in, expecting it to be empty, but seeing fully furnished. It was a safe house. . If it was any other time, he would think twice barging into a safe house because it could be a base for gangs, drugs, weapons, a prostitution ring, fugitives of the law, or just a mutant in hiding. He quickly took the first four off the table because he wouldn’t have made it this far into the warehouse. He would have been shot dead.

“Daddy over here,” Joshua getting up onto the bed, knocking over the tub of ice cream, dumping most if not all of the contents onto the bed sheets. “Cold. Cold. Cold,” Joshua said, seeing as how he was ankle height in chocolate.

Levi burst out laughing as the kid repeated what he had said earlier, in defense of his father. Despite himself he was starting to like this kid, who took matters into his own hands and had a healthy dose of confidence in himself already. As he was preoccupied with laughing, his eyes still shut, Levi did not notice the kid scoop a large amount of ice cream on to the spoon and flick it directly onto his face. The wet thud it made as it covered his mouth and nose was comical, and even as he was wiping the mess from his face, streaking lines of chocolate that didn't manage to get removed, he was moving to yank the spoon away from the kid's grubby hands. It was then that he heard the foot falls on the stairs, running full force towards the front door.

Even as the door handle was turning Levi was vaulting to his feet in front of the bed, shielding the innocent boy from view and whatever danger might step through the door. Levi's first instinct was to think someone had caught up to him again. It wasn't a common occurrence, but it was known to happen from time to time, and it wouldn't do to have this kid used as fodder to an attack. His muscles were tense, poised to lunge and attack if need. Every synapse in his body was firing, sending signals to his nerves and keeping his body vibrating with unused energy.

When the door slammed open and in burst a man clad only in pajama pants, Levi's brain couldn't comprehend. He had been so ready for action that his body just slumped, defeated, back onto the bed. “Jesus christ, calm down. He's right here,” Levi said, indicating to the boy now actually standing on his bed. All the fight was gone from his voice for the moment as he realized he was sitting in the mess of spilled melted ice cream. What a joke this day was turning out to be.

From his position on the bed he watched the man who had entered relax at the sight of his son, unharmed. Levi took the moment of reunion between the two to inspect the older man, his eyes lingering as they passed over his bare chest. He was older than Levi, patches of gray already starting to pepper his curly hair, with a smile for his son that wrinkled the corners of his mouth and lit up the room. Levi's eyes narrowed at his apparent relief, trying to judge the nature of this man. It didn't matter that he seemed visually relieved that he had found his son, or that he had risked whatever could have been in the warehouse to barge into it. Levi was going to give him a piece of his mind anyway; he had spent too much of his life wising his parents had taken any interest in him to let this man get away with losing track of his son.

Careful to avoid further covering himself in chocolate, Levi stood up and walked over to the man, getting right into his face. “You are one lucky son of a bitch, you know that?” The question was a growl that was intended to intimidate, to cut right to the man's heart. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to your son if I was someone else?”

Joshua could not help himself as he ran off the bed, making a straight line towards Brandon, leaving a trail of chocolate in his wake. Instead of waiting for Joshua to make more of a disaster as he ran up to him, Brandon took a few large steps and scooped him up, cradling him in his arms, hugging him, and holding onto him tight. Joshua giggled. Brandon smiled. It was a happy reunion all around. Joshua seemed perfectly fine, besides the chocolate all over his pjs.

It wasn’t until Brandon checked Joshua over did he look up at the man, who used his own body to shield his son from harm, who probably had a hell of a time chasing after him, convincing him he wasn’t a bad guy and being patient with him, even though the aftermath of a surprise encounter was evident: piles of clothes thrown every which way, glass broken, chocolate stains on the bed covers and hard wood floors. It was an utter disaster. The man’s home might have been in shambles but the person before him wasn’t. Shirtless like Brandon, he had a smooth, chisel body, rippling with tattoos that reach down to his waist or even possibly lower. He had a stern look on his face, which made his features more pronounce. His jawline more chisel, his eyes more passionate, creases in his brow more prominent. This man was masculine in every way. What snapped him out of his haze was Joshua, who caught him staring at the man’s tattoos. “Daddy, he has cool pictures on his body. Doesn’t he?”

Instead of being a shame of being caught by his own son, and being lecture by a prepubescent boy, who thinks he knows better, Brandon look the man straight in the man’s eyes and said, “That he does, Josh. That he does,” before asking the man, “Do you have a bathroom?” He wasn’t going to confront this man, in front of his son. He did not know this man, but this man needed an attitude adjustment. He met many of people like him in his line of work. To sum up this man and the people like him in one word, it would be arrogant.

“Over there daddy,” Joshua said pointing to one of the only doors in the warehouse apartment. He did not wait for the man to give him an answer as he marched over to the bathroom door. A stray cat poked its head out, curiously, before scampering off, seeing his space invaded once more. Brandon set Joshua in the bathtub so he wouldn’t get anything else covered with chocolate, before peeling off his shirt, pants and underwear. “Daddy, I like him.”

Brandon looked at his son quizzically for a moment. Joshua had a hard time making friends. He did not like very many people, not his peers, his teachers or anyone besides Brandon. Brandon always thought Joshua remember being abandon at a young age, even though he was only two at the time. It was heartbreaking, but for Joshua to like him, especially so quickly, the stranger must be different. He said nothing, just turn on the faucet, directing the water away from his son so the water could heat up before dousing his son with warm water. “15 minutes, okay. I will be counting,” he said.

“Okay,” Josh responded through squirts of water being shot out of his mouth for fun. Brandon went to the door and shut it behind him. “I have spare clothes and shoes in the car for him,” was all Brandon said to the stranger, before leaving to get Joshua’s backpack. It was a Spiderman suitcase, filled to the brim. It was an odd thing to have in the trunk, but Brandon did.

When he got back and after he place the suitcase in the bathroom for his son, he turn to Levi and asked, “What did you want to say about my parenting?” Brandon’s voice was as stern as Levi’s voice was. But instead of being idle, having a staring competition with this man and a jest with words, Brandon started to clean up. He first went to the bed, taking off Godzilla and the tube of ice cream and placing them both the already filled sink in the kitchen. Returning to the bed, he creased the bed sheets’ sides over the pool of chocolate to contain it, before winding it up into a ball. The bed was stripped to its mattress.

All the things Levi had wanted to say to the man, to scream in his face about being a father to a mutant child, began to dim as he watched his house be hijacked from him, the two strangers taking over his bathroom and roaming around as they wished. He was leaning up against a wall, eyes following the other man with their usual quick movements, as he saw the man care for the boy, Josh, with a tenderness and care that Levi had never experienced from his own parents. Like most of his thoughts and opinions, the one Levi had first formed about this man began to change almost immediately. It was still inexcusable that he had not been keeping a closer eye on his son, but the fact that he was here now shadowed that, and perhaps, Levi conceded, he had no power over Josh's teleportation.

When the man came back into the room and made his snide remark to Levi, he just shrugged and continued to observe, his foot tapping on the floor in perfect tempo. Instead of speaking to each other further, the man actually began to clean the mess that dominated the apartment. Levi did not interrupt immediately, as he was busy admiring the way the man moved. He was unabashedly staring at him, eyes flickering occasionally to notice a ray of light ebbing in through the windows, or catching the tail of the cat as it moved to a new hiding spot. It was distracting Levi from his indignation of the intrusion, having his thoughts and sights focused on the lean man who was half naked and strutting around.

“So'd you bring clothes for your kid and not yourself? Or are you just trying to show off?” The words left Levi's mouth in a much less taunting way than he had meant, betraying his coarse facade. He stalked over to a dresser, pulling open a drawer and taking out one of the few shirts that were still neatly folded and clean from when Sally had helped him move. “Hey,” he called across the room, getting the other man's attention. “Take this.” Levi tossed the shirt over the distance of the apartment with ease, judging the course correctly to land in the other man's hands if he reached out to catch it. While he was there Levi picked up a t-shirt for himself and pulled it over his head, wriggling into the tight fabric that stretched across his upper arms and torso.

“Ok, now stop. Just fucking stop.” Levi walked over to the man and yanked the bundle of rolled up sheets from his grasp, tossing it back onto the bed. “I can take care of my own crap, thank you very much.” With another glare, he went back over to the kitchen table and took a seat on it. The wood groaned under his weight, and he shifted so his legs were supporting more of it. His eyes stayed on the other man, watching closely to judge how he was reacting. He was going about like nothing was out of the ordinary, like this was common practice for him and the boy. There was no fear showing in those steady brown eyes or in the way he carried himself around the room with purposeful strides. Levi could have snapped his neck, for all he knew, or taken a gun and shot him for intruding, yet he was completely comfortable turning his back to Levi. It was not an act that Levi was used to seeing in regard to himself; usually when he gave someone that glower and warning that he had given this stranger they were gone as fast as their legs could carry them. This man, however, did nothing of the sort. It not only pissed Levi off that he was being ignored, but also piqued his curiosity. Why did he feel so safe here in a strangers home? What was he not letting on?

“Who are you?” He asked, still lounging half on the table. “How did you know your kid was here?” Levi did not beat around the bush; he wanted answers and not small talk.

Brandon worked delicately stripping the bed of its sheets, all the while the hair on the back of his neck prickling up. Brandon did not have to turn to the man to know that he was hungrily leering at him, the exact same way as he was doing only minutes before, a cheetah stocking its prey: unbashful and unashamed. No, that was the wrong metaphor to use, more like two peacocks flourishing their feathers to get the other one’s attention. It worked. Even though the man spoke to Brandon with rough edges, he was still kind enough to offer a shirt for Brandon, ignoring the man’s raunchy remarks and Brandon giving one in return.

“Thanks,” he said across the room, catching the shirt with the slightest of ease. It was entirely black, with long sleeves; the exact same the man was pulling over his head. His muscles bulging and flexing as he slipped into his shirt. There was nothing sensual about Brandon putting on the shirt and don’t get me started on who wore it better. Even though Brandon was still slim for his age, he gained a few pounds on the account of being a father. It was snug, especially around the midsection but it would due. “Thanks again,” he said returning to whirling the sheets up to be washed, before the bed sheets wore torn from his hands. Agitated and probably more than annoyed with Brandon and the boy, but Brandon had an obligation to uphold to this man and his son. “All I am doing is taking responsibility for my actions.” It was his son’s doing, but his son was an extension of him, making all of his son’s actions his. If he "borrowed" something and returned it, Brandon was fully prepared to return the product in its condition that he got it, or even better.  It was also a teaching opportunity for his son to learn from his mistakes.

Instead of going against the man’s wishes, he followed him into the kitchen, which was two steps from the bedroom. Instead of sitting down next to him, Brandon gave him the space he needed and leaned up against the far counter. His arms folded, waiting, until finally, the man’s anger subsided and he talked in a more civil voice. “The name’s Brandon Conner. You’ve met my son, Joshua.” That was the answer Brandon gave, but wasn’t sure it was the answer the man was looking for. The question Brandon was pondering was out of all the places he could teleported to, why here?

“I don’t have my son lojack if that what you are asking?” he said moving around the island to the kitchen table. When the man could see all of him clearly, he lifted up his left pants leg. Around his ankle was a colorful beaded bracelet that had no repetition of colors at all. It was haphazardly done by a five year old. “On his last birthday, when I found out that he could teleport not just but a few feet, but outside of our home, we made these bracelets. He has one just like this one around his anklet. It was I made that day, a promise that wherever he went I would find him and protect him. The mutant who gave me these beads, said, ‘when the need is great, just follow your heart.’’ Brandon pulled down his pant leg, hiding away his most cherished item from view.

“Now, if you will excuse me. I will get back to work,” Brandon said, but he did not watch where he was going. Brandon, with his bare feet, stepped in a melted puddle of ice cream and losing his balance. He could not get a good grip on the hard wood floors and he was falling backwards.

Levi's fingers were drumming against the table as he listened to the man introduce himself as Brandon. He did not offer a name in return, as was his custom. The fewer people who knew who he was the safer he was and the better he could function in the world he lived in. When Brandon began to speak of his connection with his son, and the lengths he had gone through to be able to be there for him, whenever he needed him, Levi felt an unfamiliar twinge of compassion.

“Huh. Well your kid is lucky then. Not everyone gets such a happy family.” The sarcasm dripping from Levi's words was habit; a defense mechanism to limit the amount of kindness he showed. Inside, though, he was relieved that at least one young mutant had someone looking out for him in a world were many were left to fend for themselves at much too early an age, as he had.

One second Levi was comfortably on the edge of the table, ambivalent to Brandon’s movements, and before the next second rolled around he was not. Levi was used to the feeling of his body moving without being aware of it until it was already happening; he had spent his life training his already altered reflexes to function almost independently of what he saw and experienced. His muscles always sprang to action before his eyes, or his mind, and he had learned to use that to his advantage.

It came as a shock, then, when Levi could watch as Brandon placed one foot into the puddle of melted chocolate on the floor and begin to slip backward, grasping at the counter in futility. The world around him was moving so slowly that his eyes could lock onto the motes of dust filtering through the rays of sun coming through the window, follow their progress through the room at a speed that should have been undetectable. Levi was gazing around in bewilderment until he glanced again at Brandon, who was still in the process of tumbling backward. With a start, Levi jolted into action, but just as this new way of viewing the world surprised him, so did the way his body responded. He could feel the electric pulses coarse their way through his muscles, feel the twitches and contractions that made them flex and obey his thoughts. It was pure adrenaline and euphoria as Levi was able to focus and control his powers like never before.

One step brought him to Brandon’s side, and another movement wrapped his arms around the mans chest and under his arms. Levi felt Brandon's back fall comfortably onto his chest, with him supporting the weight easily. He took no time to ponder over the rush of excitement and odd comfort he felt at the sensation of having Brandon in his arms, and instead pulled him away from the mess on the floor and halfway across the room. It was only when Levi stopped moving that the world returned to normal around him and he had no way of knowing barely a quarter of a second had passed from the instant he saw the danger presented to Brandon to now. “Fucking Christ, watch where you're going.” Levi quickly dropped his arms from Brandon after making sure he was on steady ground. His voice had an edge to it that barely hid his unease, and was louder than necessary in the small apartment.

He left Brandon standing where he was and walked to the window farthest from him, giving the most possible space between them he could. With a flick of his fingers he lifted a section of the blinds and peered outside to distract himself. The pavement of the dusty road was beginning to waver in the rising heat, promising another day of unrelenting sun. With a snap of the blinds his attention was now on the clock, which indicated it was only just eight, an hour that Levi should, by all accounts, still be asleep during. He wondered briefly if he was, and was just having a very vivid dream. The strange behavior of his powers and the appearance of Brandon and his child were just too surreal for Levi to fully grasp as reality, and as he always did when faced with something that did not quite fit in his mind, Levi began to pace. His long strides followed the length of the apartment and back, making him appear as a tiger trapped in a cage.

His powers had never acted the way they just had before. Levi had felt their influences for nearly fifteen years now, and not once had he been able to control them in such a precise manner. A million thoughts flitted through his mind, each less plausible an explanation for their change as the other. Levi had never had the ability to think things through clearly, and this was no exception. It took him quite a few rounds of pacing to settle on one thing: this had do with Brandon. Strange mutant kid shows up followed by this stranger, then this happens? It couldn't all be coincidence.

He stopped abruptly in front of Brandon, momentum ceased immediately as he stood staring into his face. “You're a mutant, then, too. What did you just do to me?” Levi's eyes narrowed, the ice blue irises contracting as they focused in. “And don't you give me some bullshit answer. You know what I am talking about.”

Everything happen so quickly, it was hard to keep everything straight. One moment he turn his back to the stranger, the next he was in his arms. The man, who had yet offer up a name, caught Brandon from slipping and falling with blinding speed. “Thanks,” Brandon said a little red in the face as the man propped him back up, away from the puddle of ice cream that was settling on the hard wood floors. He pulled down his long sleeve shirt so his midriff did not show.

Like a cage animal the man pace back and forth, trying to figure out how to get out of this strange predicament he was in. Brandon knew that the man was a mutant almost at once, but he would not go around outing him or anyone for that matter. It wasn’t his place. For one, the man lived in a refurbished warehouse off the main road, with no distinguishing features to the living inhabitants inside. He was running, hiding, a fugitive, maybe even from the law. The second, he used his body as a human shield to protect Joshua from harm, even after knowing what Joshua was. That was something that Brandon would be forever in his debt. One day Brandon would repay that kindness that he showed his son. But the last confirmed it. Even being this close to him, Brandon could feel his presence feeding off his energy. Just like Brandon, this man had a power that he could not switch off. It nipped at Brandon, feeding off of him, but it wasn’t overbearing as other mutants and over the years he learn to live with it, even at times ignoring his symptoms as he went about his day.

As quickly as the man started pacing, he stopped and rounded on him with accusations of tampering with his powers. “Yes. I am a mutant,” he said without missing a beat. He wasn’t ashamed of who he is. He took pride in it. Pride in the fact that he helped so many mutants control their powers and not let their powers control them. “It’s called Power Amplification. Mutants near me get a power boost, able to focus and control their power better but a cost. A cost that I have to pay-,” he said pointing at the dark, puffy bags under his eyes. “-my energy. That is why not only you got a power boost but why my son was able to teleport half way across Vegas with no signs of fatigue. You saw him, he could hardly teleport five feet, but with my mutant abilities he has no limit on how far he could go.”

Brandon did not show it, but he was dead on his feet. Exhausted from the lack of sleep and mutants feeding off his energy, he felt light headed and weary. The heir of in control and confidence was wearing off. What kept him going, and what still keeps him going is Joshua. Nothing really else matter or compared to seeing Joshua’s face lite up, happy and laughing. If that meant Brandon had to forgo sleep, then so be it.  But the adrenaline high of finding his son out of his bedroom was wearing off. He took the chair closes to him, not caring that he sat next to a worn jockstrap hanging over the armrest.

“Speaking of Joshua? Out of all the places he decides to teleport, why here at your apartment?” That was one thing that bothered Brandon the most. Brandon always thought Joshua had to picture the place and where he wanted to go, but Joshua has never been here before or saw this man ever in his life so why here? “When he first appeared, do you know what he was going on about?”

Levi admired the way the Brandon was up front about being a mutant, the lack of waver in his voice and the glint of confidence in his eyes. It immediately relaxed him, knowing that Brandon was not one of those mutants who hated or feared the way they were, but were proud about it, just as Levi himself was. It meant that he was in good company, or at least with someone who understood that being a mutant was nothing to be ashamed of. He felt his body become less tense, less ready to pounce at little notice. It was then that Levi caught the last bit of what Brandon was saying, and noticed how exhausted he looked. Levi gave him a rare smile, switching modes from aggressive to placid in the same quick manner he did everything.

“You look how I feel. God, why didn't your kid wait to cause trouble at a normal hour?” He took the three steps to his bed, now devoid of coverings, and flopped down onto his back, legs still hanging over the edge. The way his body sank into it was pleasant, tempting him to shut his eyes and fall back into his usual fitful sleep. With a yawn he stretched his whole body, arms arching over his head and shirt lifting to give a hint of his stomach before he returned his hands to his sides. The morning was surreal, and now his energy from the disturbance was wearing thin. He kept his leg bouncing in order for him to stay awake, and was aided by Brandon beginning to speak about Josh again.

“Fuck if I know. Not like I was expecting him or anything.”  Though it did raise a good question, Levi has just assumed that Josh's teleportation had been random, and that there was no meaning behind it. Young mutants were known for not being able to control their power, after all. When he had been young he certainly couldn't, and still to this day had trouble at times. It seemed natural that Josh would have no way to decide where he teleported to sometimes, especially if it was half a city away from his origin point. He couldn't understand, then, why Brandon was asking if Levi knew why he was here. It was a ludicrous notion that he had anything to do with it; he had never seen these two before, and it wasn't like he was wishing really hard for a handsome man and his son to pop into his life.

“He was babbling about some fairy tale shit. Asked where his daddy's prince was at.” Levi glanced over to Brandon, an impish look on his face. “Not the princess type huh?” He may have been tired but Levi did not fail to notice what exactly Josh had been asking when he had attacked from the bathroom. It might have been simply a slip of the tongue by a young boy, or perhaps it was more along the lines of the truth. The thought caused Levi to let his eyes linger on Brandon, trying to determine if he was indeed looking for a prince. The idea spiked some interest in Levi, and he found himself hoping for an answer that was unlikely to come.

After it was quiet for a moment Levi called over to Brandon, who was still sitting heavily in the arm chair. “Hey. I'm Levi, by the way. Just don't remember that if anyone asks.” Despite his usual misgivings about giving away his name, he felt compelled to do so. He couldn't quite get his thoughts in order as to why, but there was something about Brandon nearly nodding off nearby that made him feel comfortable. Besides, he seemed harmless enough, and Levi was certain he could outrun anything that was sent his way.

Brandon just nodded his head at the man’s comment, not filling up to speaking at the moment. Being a father was never easy. There were a hundred of different things to do in a day and a thousand of ways each and every one of those chores could go wrong. The need to keep moving, go go go kept bombarding Brandon to clean the man’s apartment, even though he was beyond exhaustion. To shut his senses down before they went into sensory overload, Brandon closed his eyes, lean back in his chair and listen to his own, but most importantly, the man’s breathing.

Not for a minute did Brandon forget about the man’s presence. Not only could he feel the man’s presence bearing down on him, but the man commanded a presence that kept Brandon’s attention. He was not afraid of him, like the man wanted the world to believe, more of an idle curiosity. Even though Brandon was interested in the man he never pressed for answers like the man’s name or mutant abilities. That wasn’t he style. How could anyone, especially a father, have blind faith in a man he barely knew? Brandon could. It wasn’t the man’s words that convince him, because let’s face it the man wasn’t a people person, but his actions. That was one thing Brandon could stand by.

“Interesting,” was his only response to Joshua’s antics after he teleported here. That confirmed it. Joshua did not necessarily see the place he wanted to go, or even know the person he was teleporting too. Did Joshua create a fictional character that looked much like the man laying just off to the right of Brandon or was the man actually his ‘Princess?’

“What if I am?” Brandon said. He opened his eyes, and a flood of light blinded him. A white haze surrounded everything, giving everything a richer color and more texture, as his eyes readjust to his surroundings. “Don’t tell me you have a problem with it, being a mutant and all? If you must know, I am bisexual.” Brandon wasn’t going to hide behind facades, keeping everything important on the DL. He was comfortable who he was, being a mutant and being bisexual. They were two aspects of his life, but they did not define him.

Before an argument issued the doors to the bathroom open up and out ran Joshua all clean and washed up, clothes picked out, unmatched like usual. “All done, daddy!” But before Brandon could say anything, or really get up on his feet, his son teleported onto the bed, next to Levi, sending Brandon into a dizzy spell. “Hey, Mister. Hey, Mister! It’s Saturday. Daddy takes me on an adventure Saturdays. Wanna come?” he asked, shaking the man awake to get his attention.

Brandon did not show it. He did not want to worry his son, but he was on the verge of collapse. Instead, he got to his feet. Stood there for about a minute to steady himself, before walking to the bedside. “Now Josh. Can’t you see the man is tired?”

“But…But…”

“I think it is time to go. I think we overstayed our welcome.” That was the end of it. Joshua looked disappointed but said nothing.

The way Brandon had answered Levi's rude jest caught him off guard; this man was not ashamed of anything. It was a refreshing change from the people he spent most of his time around, and Levi laughed at Brandon's accusation of him having in issue with it. He had never really cared enough to label his own feelings, but as he thought back to the time he spent with Matty, and the many nights and many different men and woman that shared his bed, he supposed the label fit him just as well. “No problem. I don't care one way or the other; you can fuck whoever you like.” Even me was on the tip of his tongue, his quick words never having much of a filter, yet this time he caught himself and refrained. It probably wasn't the best time to be saying whatever he felt like.

Levi's rare discretion proved to be a good choice as just that moment Josh emerged from the bathroom, clean and equally as awake as the two men were tired. Levi didn't have a chance to notice much else before Josh disappeared into nothingness and suddenly reappeared right next to him on the bed. The unexpected move caused him to sit straight up in a flash, head and eyes turned to Josh in tired frustration. “You gotta cool it with that or else I'm going to get whiplash.” When the boy happily asked if he wanted to join in their adventures today, which Levi most certainly did not, he merely sighed and turned to Brandon.

He watched Brandon from his view point on the bed, noticing how he seemed unsteady on his feet as he rose. Levi felt his muscles tense, ready to spring up if Brandon should stumble; he was not looking for opportunities, just preparing himself to stop the man from getting hurt a second time if need be. He seemed to be dead on his feet, and Levi wondered how he was going to keep up with Josh for the rest of the day. He was saved from having to decline the kid's offer, however, when Brandon spoke. It was a relief to Levi to hear that he would soon once again have his apartment to himself.

“Maybe next time, kid,” he said, knowing full well there was not likely to be a next time. He looked towards Josh, nodding his head towards Brandon. “Your dad looks tired, though. Maybe today you could, I don't know, read him a story or some shit like. That can be an adventure.”

Levi rationalized his words as being in the best interest of the mutant kid, and not Brandon. If he was too tired to watch over Josh then something along the same lines of this mornings shenanigans could occur again, and that could be dangerous for the kid. He was just trying to keep an eye out for the boy, that was all. He didn't really care whether Brandon got to rest or not, it was just a side-effect.

He rose from the bed, slower than usual, and made his way past the two to the door. When he opened it the heat of  the Nevada morning rushed in and the sun made him squint his eyes. He couldn't wait to crawl back into bed and shove a pillow over his eyes. “See you around, Joshy,” Levi stood by the open door, waiting for them to file past him. When Brandon was near he just nodded his head and under his breath, presumably too low for Josh to hear, said, “Keep being fucking careful like this; the kid could do a lot worse.”

Joshua face lite up like fireworks, hearing Levi's news. Even though Levi could not come with them on today's adventure, Levi did promise the boy a next time. Even though Levi probably did not know what he was saying or getting himself into at the time, he could be assured that Josh would not forget the promise Levi made. Brandon did not say his concerns out loud as he watched his son bounce up and down on the bed, before leaping off to get his things in the bathroom. He stormed out of the bathroom like a firecracker with his suitcase rolling in behind him, ready to concur the day. "I'm ready," he said excitedly.

The more excited Joshua was, the more exhausted Brandon seem in comparison. Brandon just cracked a smile. Exhaustion is the price of being a father, Brandon paid it up happily. "Come here, son," he said his arm outstretched, taking his son's hand and in the other, relieving his son of his suitcase. They walked hand in hand to the front door, where Levi was waiting. The hot summer sun baring down on them. Brandon could tell just how warm it is in the wee hours of the morning that today was going to be a hot one. Before Brandon and Josh could depart Levi stopped them, whispering his form of a complement or so Brandon had took it.

"Here," he said, letting his son wiggle his little hand out of his, so Brandon could retrieve his wallet from his pajama pocket. Brandon pulled out a business card and handed it over. Engrave on the card had his name, his occupation (Social Worker for Mutant Kind), his work address, work number, fax number and scribbled on the back was his cellphone number. "If you or anyone you know needs some help, don't hesitate to call, day or night." He did not usually give out his cellphone number to perfect strangers, but this was a different circumstance all together. He did not say it out loud but he knew Josh would pay his new found friend a visit one way or another.

Joshua raced down the metal railing but was always in view of Brandon's watchful eye. "Thanks again," Brandon said firmly shaking the man's hand, following his son down the stairs. At the base of the stairs, where his car was parked, he stopped dead in his tracks, debating on wither to trouble the man some more or not, but it couldn't be help. "Levi?" he said turning himself around. "Sorry to bother you once again but can you do me a favor and hold onto my car for a couple of days? The police are probably still looking for it."

"But, daddy, How we getting home?" Josh said tugging at Brandon's arm to get his attention. "Public Transportation, son," was all he answer, letting his son pull him in the direction his son wanted to go. The last departing words were Joshua some warehouses down from Levi's apartment, screaming at the top of his lungs, "BYE MONSTER!"