Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[Halcyon638]

"I did get off the bus with a stalk of wheat between my teeth," he replied after taking a sip of his coffee. "Thanks," he said. "Although I do have plenty of embarrassing stuff in my past. I'm talking Xenoblade Chronicles lore videos-level of embarrassing." He smiled sheepishly. "It does get kind of annoying. It's like a double-edged sword--great when you're single, not so great when you're...um..." He stopped himself, taking another sip. "Not saying that we're...um...you know. Not single."

"You must get the same thing all the time," Austin said. "Probably even worse as a girl." They gingerly made their way out of the congested coffee shop.

"Yeah, you can totally bring 'em. Hopefully at least one of them can talk Magic with me. I mean, there are going to be a lot of my teammates there and...to be honest, some kinda douchey dudes there, but I'll make sure no one gives them a hard time or anything. Any friend of yours."

After her film appreciation class, Monica had her final class of the day, in which Dr. Friedberg reminded her (and everyone) that their personal essay draft was due Friday. That night, she had a brief run-in with a convenience store robber, but nothing too taxing.

Afterwards, she slept soundly. Maybe she didn't need to ask her psychology professor about the counseling services after all. Though maybe it couldn't hurt to learn what her options were...The Centauri weren't exactly the "talk about your feelings"-type.

As she was making her way out of her seat as Dr. Howe finished her psych lecture, she received a text from Hadley inviting the group to go watch the campus improv troupe perform that night.

 

[siobhancan99]

She bantered with Austin in classic avoidance "oh. these people will totally be able to talk to you about magic the gathering. And Dnd i'm guessing. Aliens. Star trek. doctor who. all that kinda shit" She laughed "and no I don't have a string of dudes following after me, but I'm a Freshman and nobody. I'm not the Indiana god of basketball." She stuck her tongue out "So mostly I just get ogled from afar, which is in a way worse. I mean if you're gonna eye fuck me at least talk to me like I'm a person and not the platonic ideal you're going to touch yourself thinking about later." she sipped at her coffee, then realized the time and ran to class.

Monica did abandon her plan to talk to the professor, though she'd probably revisit it if she had another dream like the one two nights before. It was too real, to vivid and too ...sexual and creepy. She didn't know how to feel about it. Hot cape guy was hot but also sinister. Also clearly there was something wrong in her head that she was having these dreams.... but Centauri don't exactly talk about their feelings. Instead she texted back she'd love to go. She had never been to improv and it might be fun. She also made sure Gabi put the word out about the party and that the whole group was invited. They could all show up with Austin, who would be their sort of door pass.

 

[Halcyon638]

Nick also texted Hadley saying he would be at the improv show. After dinner, Monica arrived at the theater where the event was being held to find Hadley.

"So, how's your class with Finley?" Hadley asked Monica, referring to her Engineering Design and Communication course. "He can be a pretty tough grader but he's pretty entertaining. My Computational Methods in Engineering instructor suuuucked. He didn't explain things well and then acted all annoyed when you asked questions."

Talk turned to the invite to the party tomorrow. Brushing a lock of purple hair away from her glasses, Hadley said, "I've got a thing, but thanks. Sooo, Austin. What's he like?"

Not long after, the improv troupe, a group of 4 guys and 2 girls going by the name Commando Grandmas, made their way onto the stage. Midway through the show, Nick texted them that he wasn't going to make it due to bad takeout and having "a date with the toilet." Although Monica got the sense that the people up on stage were having more fun than the audience at times, there were a handful of funny moments, and one of the guys seemed legitimately talented.

As they left the show, Hadley said, "Thanks for showing up and not making me look like a total loser. Have you been to Founder's Square? I'm probably heading over there on Saturday if you wanted to go. There's a great used bookstore and record store down there. Ooh--there's also a pretty decent sex shop. I need to pick up a new vibe 'cause mine is just doing nothing down there."

Monica's mind turned back to the first draft of the personal essay she needed to finish by tonight. "You okay?" Hadley asked. "I'm talking too much. Just tell me I'm talking too much."

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica rolls her eyes at Nick's text "and he wonders why he doesn't have a girlfriend." She grins at Hadley "Austin? he's sweet and sort of a dork and a nerd. He was cool with you guys coming to the party as long as one of you could talk about his Magic cards. Like.. the game not.. is your card the Queen of Spades" She laughs and shrugs "I dunno he's... a big dopey cornfed piece of ... incredibly hot man" She grins at the purple haired girl and shrugs her shoulder "Not much more to tell than that. We saw a movie. We got coffee. I'm going to a party with him but also like, all of you. Well not you apparently, but some of you." She shrugs "we will see how it turns out."

After the show as Hadley rambles on Monica grins at her "you're only talking too much if you feel like you are. Are you nervous about something?" She shrugs "I don't think you're talking too much. I mean, sharing too much maybe." She nudges the purple haired girl very gently with an elbow to make sure she knows she's kidding. "I'd love to come over and check out Founder's square with you. I haven't been around the city much at all and having someone who knows their way around would be killer." For one, it would be nice to actually see the city and for two it would add another place she's familiar with for crime fighting potential. "as for me being quiet I have this assignment due that feels like... Freshman english mixed with Psych. We're supposed to pick a moment that defines us and well. I mean there's the giant elephant in the room for me. At the same time like.. while it does define me I don't want it to always define me and I don't want to write about it but... I feel like I have to, you know?'

 

[Halcyon638]

When Monica agreed to go to check out Founder's Square with her, the purple-haired New Yorker said "Awesome" in her usual cool, disaffected manner, but it was evident she was excited. "I was thinking of just making it a 'girls' day out' kinda thing because Nick will complain the whole time I'm looking at old books and records and Porter is--he's sweet and all but I sorta feel like I have to watch over him the whole time. It might just be you and me and Layla because I guess Gabi's going home on Saturday."

Hadley considered Monica's dilemma. "Yeah...that's tough. I mean, it's not always the giant, huge stuff that defines us. Though I guess the big trauma makes for juicier reading," she said with a smile. "You can always make it up. Write about your sordid summer fling on the French Riviera. Or about how you're in a Fight Club and spend your nights beating people up in a parking lot."

In any case, Monica knew she had to finish at least banging out a draft by the time the night was through. Gabi greeted her with a nod and a smile, curled up on the couch with her evolutionary biology textbook. "Heyyy. I'm going to need your expert opinion on swimsuits for tomorrow," she noted. The friends caught up briefly before Monica went off to work.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed as she sat at the computer. The incident was at once hard to face and also something she'd been wallowing in for six months. It was paradoxical but true. She stared for a long time at the screen and began to type. She typed about meeting Tom, about letting him in, and about having him ripped away. She typed about how it made her feel like nothing was permanent and made her unable to trust in things that were good. She typed about how it became all-pervasive. How back home she couldn't go out on the street without someone offering their condolences and bitching about the big city, and how here at school she felt like it was something she had to bring up so people understood her. How it became a thing much larger than itself and somehow less, that in talking about it she was worried she was diminishing it and diminishing Tom. Tom who had been everything, in the way teenagers can make their first love everything. It was mostly stream of consciousness, just a pouring out of all the despair, the guilt for surviving, the guilt for not having been there and the guilt of wanting in some fashion to move past it. Without directly stating what she was doing, she wrote about her risky behavior after. Most people would assume she meant drugs or sex or something. It was safe enough to allude to it.

After a few hours she shut the laptop and crawled into bed. She lay there, raw, staring at the ceiling and praying that there would be no strange dreams.

 

[Halcyon638]

Monica slept hard. If she'd had any nightmares, she'd forgotten all about them. That morning, she printed out her essay and went to class. She'd received a text from Kayla, a high school friend of hers who had subtly distanced herself from her when Tom had died, as if being around her were too much of a bummer. "Hey! Heard you were in town last weekend. Hit me up next time! So much catching up to do!" Kayla had taken a gap year to work at her mother's bakery in Cottersville.

When Monica arrived at her physics class, Austin had bought her a coffee from The Mean Bean. "I feel kinda bad you missed out on it and had to go with the 'Bucks on Wednesday." He pulled out an assortment of sweeteners, packages of half and half, and a stirrer. "Hope you like. Plus, I have to get you caffeinated for today because we go all night, babyyy," he said, a half-joking tone to his voice.

In her film class, Hadley mentioned that on Saturday she planned on heading to Founder's Square around 2:00. The rest of the day dragged on as she waited to get home from her final class and get picked up by Austin, who was driving her and Gabi to the beach house(none of their other friends had agreed to go and Gabi's boyfriend had something else going on). When her last class arrived and the professor told them to swap papers, she considered asking a woman near her, but Shaun was already passing his in Monica's direction, making it awkward to turn him down. She reluctantly exchanged essays. "Go easy on me," he said. "I already wrote about this for about a bunch of my college applications and a few scholarships essays. Hopefully it's not as boring to read as it was to write it about it for the 5th time."

Monica watched as Shaun took her essay and began to read, trying to gauge his reactions. His essay recounted his mother being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when he was in middle school, the subsequent impact it had on his parents' marriage, with his father too locked into his legal career to devote time to sharing the burden at home with her, and the increasing responsibility on Shaun as he started high school and his parents divorced, leaving him with the task of caring for his younger sister and balancing school. In the end, he noted how he'd turned down a scholarship for a more prestigious college to stay close to home, a decision he ended up (mostly) not regretting. Though rushed in spots and having a few clunky turns of phrase, the story was told without making it maudlin, with even a few moments of humor to liven it up.

After they read and wrote comments, the instructor allowed them a few moments to discuss their feedback and reactions. "So..." Shaun said. "You did a really good job. I mainly just pointed out a few grammatical things and a couple of moments where I thought it could be clearer whether it was a flashback or not," he noted, looking down at the paper as if avoiding eye contact. "I, umm....I'm really sorry. And--shit, I know you wrote how tired you are of people saying 'sorry,' so forget I said that. He, uh...he sounded like a good dude. Tom."

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded "it's ok Shaun. Honestly... it feels a lot more meaningful.... Less hollow when you say it. I think in part like... I think we all process what happens to others through the lens of our own grief. Most people have never had anything really bad happen to them. My dad just had the divorce. Tom's parents obviously had the same as me but like... none of us said we were sorry to the other because... I mean... we were all there. We all had that open wound. It didn't need to be said. Like it was just a fact of our being you know?" She shrugged "so for everyone else its like ...gosh that sucks... and it DOES suck but you know that for them they're trying to like... relate it to when they had a funeral for their dog. Like, they haven't experienced any adversity. Your struggle with your mom... which is continual. It makes what you have to say about it seem like... like you get it." She shrugged "Tom was a good dude. Tom was the best human being I ever knew. I guess, in a way, we're lucky. He didn't live long enough to prove that wrong you know? Like... he's always going to be this good looking guy with a nice car who listened to me and thought that I was worth being friends with even though Gabi and I were the weird kids in school. Gabi being the only non-white kid and one of like.... 5 catholics. But he took us both in and made us part of his friend group and ... like... we didn't even date at first and he had a girlfriend at the time so... He was just being nice. Being Tom. He gets to be that guy forever, in a way you know?"

She turned and regarded him for a moment. His essay had turned him from being a hot potential hookup to being marriage material. "Gabi is lucky to have found a guy like you. Not that I'm saying you two are a couple. or not. or whatever. like. uh. I mean it is what it is but what I am saying is she found a good dude on her first try so..." She shrugged and gave a little smile "thanks for being a good guy. Gabi means the world to me. Since we were little kids it was just us against the world."

Speaking of Gabi, she did have to get home. When she got back to the apartment, Gabi had a few suits laid out "girl... your mother would be scandalized" Monica nixed two of them without even seeing them on her "you know she will look at every picture you post..." She shook her head and flopped on the couch "alright girl. Show me what your mama gave ya" she laughed and leaned back, ready for Gabi to show her a few looks. She herself had a black 2 piece and a sarong to wear with it, and shorts and a t shirt for after the sun went down.

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi settled on a suit with Monica’s assistance. “Anyways, I probably should save that one for when Shaun and I go somewhere,” Gabi said, pointing to the most revealing of the options. “I almost didn’t want to but I figured when are we going to actually get to go to a beach party next?" As expected, by 1:30 it was already sweltering, possibly the last very hot spell of the summer in the northeast.

They met up with Porter. At first, he seemed tongue-tied around Monica and Gabi, despite them not yet revealing their swimsuits, but then Gabi got him talking about his ideas for Dungeons and Dragons characters and he acted more at ease. “I’m totally going to tie Monica up and get her to play with us one of these nights,” Gabi said.

Austin drove up around 1:40, a few minutes earlier than expected. He drove a silver, brand-new, fully loaded SUV. “Hey, all,” he said. He was dressed in a form-fitting dark blue T-shirt that showed off his powerful upper body and black shorts. He looked at Monica and an immediate, boyish smile appeared on his face. “Hey,” he said.

As they approached the vehicle, country music was blaring. He immediately turned it on. “Go ahead, make fun of me,” he said. “I’ll remind y’all I am from Indiana, though, so cut me some slack.”

It was a 45-minute drive to the beach house on Lake Prospect. It was a ridiculously spacious, modern building, and, combined with the prime property, Monica could only imagine how disgustingly loaded the parents of the guy throwing the party must be. When they first arrived, Austin made the rounds, introducing Monica, Gabi, and Porter to Nate, the host, and most of Austin’s teammates.

Not long after, with the late afternoon sun bearing down, Austin motioned in the direction of the water. “We gonna do this?” He took off his T-shirt, revealing his muscular, athletic body, a testament to countless hours in the gym. Nearby, Gabi took off the wrap that was concealing her lovely bikini body, and tried to get Porter to join her in the water.

“I’ll…I’ll go in later,” he said, keeping his shirt in place over his heavy frame.

Austin and Gabi started jogging ahead, looking to join the dozens of sexy young men and women splashing around in the water, many of them with beers in hand. Nearby, music blasted from a sound system.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica nodded at Gabi’s choice. “Shaun… is a really good dude. He’s like…. Marriage material good dude.” She didn’t elaborate, as Shaun’s story was his own to tell Gabi or not. Still, a good word on his behalf wouldn’t hurt. She hoped. She once tried to push Gabi at Paul Hoendorffer and that failed spectacularly so, she hadn’t interfered since they were about 13.



When Gabi mentions tying her up and playing dungeons and dragons, she rolled her eyes “you are like, the lamest dominatrix ever. Get a pretty girl tied up and then ask her what kind of elf she wants to be? Really? You have no imagination, which is ironic since you need imagination to play DnD.” She nudged her pretty, secretly nerdy roommate and smiled, then gave her a little hug.

For now, Monica was in some conservative shorts and a blue halter and sandals. She had a black two piece tucked away in her bag with her sarong. She never wore two pieces, being a competitive swimmer she’d just gotten used to dressing for the event. Even when they’d been in high school and went to the lake to get drunk or go boating, she’d always just worn something she could swim easily in. Plus she’d been with Tom so… she wasn’t exactly advertising what she had. The suit felt like it exposed a lot, but it was conservative as all get out, covering everything reasonably well. Gabi’s was far more daring, which was odd since she’d been so shy. Being away from home really seemed to make her blossom.

She blushed at the thought. She’d had a few untoward thoughts about her roommate in the recent week, and while she was glad she was coming out of the sort of emotionally frozen grief she’d wallowed in all year she wasn’t sure that she was ready for that kind of thought. Not about her best friend for sure. Fortunately Austin showed up and distracted her.

“Nice ride.” She looked it over and grinned “Is someone violating the NCAA rules on accepting gifts? Hmmm?” She figured the giant boy scout got it from his basketball loving dad, but… you never knew. “Austin you rebel.” She laughed and winked at him, then climbed into the SUV. When some Kane Brown started in on the speakers she smiled “Gabi and I are like, really country. Not like.. suburbs of a city in the Midwest country. Like… you can smell manure in the air on the way to school country.” She laughed and turned it up, singing along. She wasn’t terrible but she wouldn’t be winning any awards for her singing.

At the house, she changed and tucked her bag away in a room with some of the other girl’s bags. She emerged to find she was probably the most conservatively dressed person at the party, everywhere she looked was skin. Some of that was Austin’s and when he peeled his shirt off she gave a playful whistle, looking him over, and her friend as they jumped into the lake.

She grabbed a hard seltzer from a cooler and got one for Porter. As they stood on the dock, the wind whipping her hair around her face she regarded him for a minute “Hey I know that uh, it might not be your thing but Gabi and I go to the gym and you’d be welcome to join us. We met Austin there. Could give you a few pointers.” To make sure that it didn’t seem like she was calling him fat or wanting to have a conversation about his weight, she brightened “Oh and he totally plays magic, which I guess is like… uh… rpg adjacent. You should talk to him about it if you play. He was really dying to tell me about it and was hoping you all would know more than I do.”

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi smirked. “Marriage material, eh?” she said after Monica commented on Shaun. “Are you trying to marry me off already? You sound like my mom,” she said, teasing. “You’re going to have to give me the deets on how you arrived at this conclusion later.”

When Monica had asked Austin about the car, he’d blushed. “So, my dad kinda…owns a car dealership in Naptown—sorry, Indianapolis. We’re not, like, rich or anything, but we do okay.” He sang along, his lack of vocal skill a bit endearing, as “Wide Open” blasted from the speakers.

Porter’s face brightened when Monica mentioned the gym. “Oh…that would be…cool,” he said. “I’ve been…meaning to go there. It’s just…a little intimidating. Yeah, I play a little Magic. M-Maybe he can give me some workout pointers and I can give him some Magic tips.” He was smiling now. “Uh…you don’t have to stay here. With me. It looks like Austin wants you out there. I’ll…I’ll catch up with him later.”

Gabi was calling to her and Porter as well. “Come on, guys!” she said, up to her chin in water now. Austin was drinking a beer at a leisurely pace, about 2/3rds of him below the surface, motioning for Monica to join him.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica smiled "he's not the boss of me Porter. One date doesn't make him my boyfriend." Honestly she didn't know that she wanted a boyfriend. She did want to feel someone against her though, and soon. She slipped out of the sarong, then drained her seltzer and jumped into the water with Austin and Gabi "you know I wasn't really planning on getting my hair wet. There's land next to the lake" She rolled her eyes at the two of them, then splashed them playfully "Austin, Porter is like... deeply into Magic so you should totally nerd out with him for a bit tonight. Maybe you two could um. be a team or something. I'm not really sure how that works." Monica had a fairly reasonable grasp of DnD. Buy mountain Dew, pretend to be a wizard. Ian had played obsessively for a while, then gave it up when he found the magic of hard drugs. She was reasonably sure she preferred DnD Ian. Magic, however, was a mystery to her. People paid tens of thousands of dollars to... put cards down on a table or something. To be fair she was more interested in figuring out that than basketball though, so if Austin was going to be more than a hookup she better figure out one of them.

Sliding in behind Gabi she wrapped her arms around her and then flopped back to get them both under water a moment "there, are you two happy now?" she laughed and held Gabi a second too long then realized and slipped away, sliding over to Austin "so you're not drinking too much or are we staying here?"

 

[Halcyon638]

Gabi laughed and squirmed against Monica’s grasp as the slightly cool water took the edge off the brutal heat. “We’ll definitely talk some MTG,” Austin assured her. “That’s Magic: The Gathering for you noobs. I should have Nate show him the insane gaming setup inside the house, too. They’ve got VR and everything.”

“So how does a guy like you find time for nerdy stuff?” Gabi asked.

“It’s harder these days. Let’s just say I had a lot more time to geek out on things before I grew 6 inches in high school.” Holding up the beer, he said “Don’t worry. Going to put away one or two early on but they’ll be out my system before the sun goes down.” He swam a loop behind Monica. “She’s not always this responsible, is she, Gabi?” She could hear Austin’s voice just behind her, and a moment later, his arms were looped around her midsection under the water, his strong, large hands resting on her taut stomach. Her back brushed against the solidity of his upper body.

“I’m usually the responsible one,” Gabi said, smiling at a handsome guy handing out hard seltzers. “Gracias,” she said, taking one and popping the top.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica laughs "you don't know man. Maybe I'm like... always partying. I could be having crazy sex like all the time! or like... maybe I go out at night and fight crime!" She laughed and pressed back into him, liking the feel of his big strong arms around her. She closed her eyes and rested her head back against his broad chest "I can be crazy." She laughed and ran her fingers along his arms, brushing over the well defined muscle. "Gabi is normally more responsible than me actually it is true." she looked up at him "But you know, its college. I'm trying new things. That's what college is for right?"
She didn't have another drink just yet, more just focused on the fun of being in the water with her best friend and a hot potential something. The sun was great, and the fun relaxed atmosphere even more so. "So I guess when the season starts there's no more of this huh? its all class and workout and all that kind of good stuff huh Austin? When IS basketball season anyway?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Practices start around the end of September and then the season kicks off first week of November, so, yeah, I’ll be a much duller boy. Better enjoy me while you can,” he teased, grinning. A few of Austin’s teammates, both significantly taller than him, made their way over with another cluster of partygoers. He talked with them for a few minutes, including Monica in the conversation, then turned his attention back to her fully.

“Alright, Ms. Swim Team,” he said, polishing off a beer and chucking it toward pile of bottles already accumulating at one spot on the beach, “I wanna see your skills. Race you back to the dock.” He dove in and Monica followed. She easily outpaced him, and waited for him at the wooden structure, seeing Gabi socializing with some of his male and female friends. She had lost sight of Porter. When Austin arrived, there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes and he scooped her in his arms, one hand around her back and one beneath her legs and began to swim away from the docks. “You look amazing,” he told her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed happily and let herself be dragged away from the dock. It felt amazing to have his big arms around her, to feel the solidity of him. She felt bad for comparing him to Tom since.. there was no comparison in that regard. Tom had been lean and beautiful but Austin was ... big. Strong. Strong enough she could pretend not to be stronger. The sun beating down on her, the warmth of him against her back, it was great. "I'm glad you asked us" she kept tangled in against him, then when they got out a bit from the dock she twisted around to tread water and face him. She leaned in, kissing him and tugging on his lower lip. "its nice out here and I like you" She let herself lay back, floating in the water right by him. She smiled over at him and then looked up at the sky. "So with you being so busy and all, and like... whatever answer is cool like it is what it is... you looking for a like... right now kinda thing? I know the kind of hell athletes go through. Tom and I were both swim team so, we got to see each other at practice and meets a bit but..." She looked over at him, running a hand over his sculpted body as they floated in the lake "I'd understand if you were thinking more casual."

Honestly, she was fine either way. She wasn't totally sure she was into a relationship at the moment, but if she was going to be in one he seemed like just a great sweet guy and he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, even if he was in the "soft sciences." So... you know... smart for someone who was going to have to go to law school if basketball didn't work out.

 

[Halcyon638]

As Monica kissed him, he softly pushed aside a stray, wet lock of her blonde hair. “I like you, too,” Austin said, smiling as she floated by him. He extended his fingers to hers as she floated, taking her hand. “Phew, I’m super glad you brought this up. I’m never good at starting these kinds of conversations.” He shielded his eyes and glanced at a speedboat in the difference.

“I like spending time with you a lot. You’re smart, and you’re funny, and just..beautiful. I’m just kinda looking for something light right now,” he said, floating on his back for a moment. Making eye contact again, he added, “With practice and school and just where I’m at mentally. No labels, or obligations, or any of that stuff. Is that, like, a dealbreaker for you? Which I totally understand if it is.”

 

[siobhancan99]

As he talked she felt an almost palpable sense of relief "Austin you know I'm like... fucked up." She laughs and splashes him "Not like in that, I think drama is interesting way but in that like, actually shit is weird in my life kind of way. I am totally fine being casual. We can see each other when we see each other and if that turns into something it does and if we just... hook up when we have time then... ok." She sighs. She'd never been in this situation. She wasnt entirely sure that she could last in it, but... at the same time it left her free to figure out her feelings on a few levels. It also gave her someone to spend time with and Austin someone to spend time with too. "It works... until it doesn't work and when it stops working we can change it" She reached over, taking his hand a moment and squeezing it softly "So... good that's out of the way. We can enjoy ourselves tonight and not have to like... be all fucking weird about whether its just sex or a prelude to marriage."

 

[Halcyon638]

As some of his friends approached, Austin wrapped Monica up in his muscular arms and kissed her, this time almost with a sense of urgency. “That sounds perfect,” he said. She caught a glimpse of a telltale bulge in his shorts before he lowered his torso into the refreshing water again. “Tell you what. Porter’s looking a little lonely over there, so why don’t we hit up shore and he and I will talk some Magic strategies. If that isn’t enough to get you turned on, I don’t know what to do.”

Gabi was chatting with a pair of girls on the shore, talking about their respective living conditions. She took a minute to introduce Monica to them and then decided to tag along with her and Austin as they caught up with Porter. The shy freshman had his shoes and socks off and was wading calf-deep into the water. “Aren’t you hot, man?” Austin said.

“No, I’m okay.”

“So I’m trying to put together a decent midrange green-white deck, and Monica says you’re the guy to talk to.”

“Oh…yeah, I guess.” He and Austin began to talk shop, while Gabi rushed over to Monica and grabbed her arm, dragging her toward where someone was grilling.

“I need some food but I also need you to protect me in case another dude tries to talk to me about crypto,” Gabi said. “At least back home it’d just be guys wanting to talk about their ATVs.” Soon, they had some food on plate, and then were back in the water again.

Austin rejoined Monica in the water. “Porter’s a good guy. Said he’s okay for now but I’m going to have Nate show him his VR gaming setup later.” As the day went along, the heat barely seemed to dissipate, and the revelers got rowdier and rowdier. Amid the throngs of people, Monica, Gabi, and Austin mostly hung out and talked with a smallish circle of 8 people total, occasionally checking on Porter.

As night approached, Gabi, slightly drunk, took Monica aside for a moment. “Candace and Elisa offered to give Porter and I a ride back,” she told her friend, motioning to two of the women they’d been chatting with. “Just saying…”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica considers for a moment "I don't think that will be necessary." At her friend's look she laughed "Because I have my own room, and he can go home after." She hadn't even slept with Tom. They'd fucked, but they'd never slept in the same bed. Despite being 18 the last leg of their relationship, she lived at home and having a sleepover was pretty much off the table. She wasn't about to do that for the first time with some hook up, even if that hook up had serious boyfriend potential. It seemed, in its own way, far more intimate than messing around and as a result more of a betrayal of Tom. "He can drive us home as long as he's sober enough, and he can stay for a little while."

She found Austin talking with some of his buddies, and put her hand on the small of his back to let him know she was there. When he looked down she got up on her toes to say softly in his ear "Why don't we head back to my place for a bit, where it is quieter." She slid her hand down over his ass and gave it a squeeze to try to drive home the message that he might get lucky. "Gabi has a ride but I don't know how sober they are and I think it's probably best we head out. Then we can get in a little time to ourselves and sleep in our own beds."

 

[Halcyon638]

Austin nodded, wrapping an arm around her waist. “I like that idea.” He said his good-byes to his friends, who rained down a predictable chorus of complaints about him leaving just as they were getting started. “Nah, you guys will have way more fun without me,” he said, a good-natured smile on his face. As they walked away from the crowd, Austin gave her a wry look, then squeezed her hand.

Austin seemed to be sober, and Monica couldn’t recall him having a drink since his second of the day several hours ago. They rounded up Porter who was sitting watching The Shining on the ridiculously large television in the beach house, spurring an “All work and no play” remark from Austin, and then went to get Gabi. Gabi stumbled a bit, possibly a little more drunk than Monica had thought. Then, again she’d only seen the brown-haired girl intoxicated on two occasions.

Typically, alcohol seemed to dial up Gabi's usual peppiness, and for the first 20 minutes of the car ride, she was chattering away, only to spend much of the rest of the ride home resting her head on either the window or Porter’s shoulder. “I hope you had at least a decent time,” Austin told Porter.

“Yeah,” Porter responded. Soon enough, they were dropping Porter off at his dorm, and then on their way to Monica and Gabi’s place. As they walked inside, Gabi leaned on her friend. “Go ahead and make yourself at comfortable,” Gabi told Austin, motioning to the living room. “Did I just say ‘at comfortable?’” She giggled and Monica escorted her down the hall, lending her her shoulder again as Gabi walked into the room.

“Your arms are like…so strong,” Gabi said as she leaned against her and kicked off her shoes. “Sometimes I think about them just…holding me.” She let out another little laugh and then let herself collapse onto the bed. “Gooodniiight, Mon.”

By the time Monica exited the bedroom, Austin was sitting near the middle of the couch, scrolling through his phone. He tucked it into his pocket when he saw her. "She okay?"

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica turned red and shut the door after Gabi's words, trying to banisbh inappropriate thoughts from her head. Gabi was her friend from before she got hot. She was her only friend when they'd both been weird fifth graders. She was always there. Still, she'd really shown another side since coming to college. NO. No no no. There's a cute boy in the other room and you're going to let him do the things cute boys do. or something.

She nodded "yeah she's just a little tipsy. When we were in high school she used to be the one who drove if we didn't go with Tom, so she always had to be sober. I've never seen her drink more than 1 or 2 beers before. She will sleep it off and be fine." She reached for Austin's hand "we have a rule about the couch." She laughed and tugged him gently into her bedroom and shut the door, then slipped out of her top and lay on the full size bed. It would be a little cramped for his huge frame but at least it wasn't a twin bed, thank god. She rolled onto her side, patting the mattress and looking up at him. She watched him drink her in, just in her shorts "You coming to lay down or what?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Good lord,” Austin said, his eyes meandering from Monica’s toes, to the curves of her bare breasts, to the golden locks of hair spilling onto her pillows. He smiled, then began lifting his T-shirt. He’d gotten a little pinkness to his skin over the course of the day.

Austin carefully climbed into bed, yet Monica still felt herself jostled by the weight of his muscular body beside her. He lay beside her, half-propped up on his right elbow. He placed his hand on her right hip and leaned forward to kiss her. Their lips met with a soft smack once, then twice.

Austin moved his hand down her hip a bit, gripping Monica firmly on the outside of her thigh, just above the hemline of her shorts. “You’re so damned hot,” he said, pulling her closer as their tongues twisted together. He let out a short moan of pleasure as they kissed with a growing intensity.

She could feel his still-clothed erection brushing against her now. Austin was now grabbing her bare thigh, the right leg of her short hiked up above his large hand.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica pulled his hand to her breast, holding it there a moment. She rolled towards him, kissing his neck, raking her nails along his chest. She could feel his well developed pecs under the skin and traced the edge of them with her fingertips. She made a soft pleasured sound as she felt his palm against her, her nipple perking at the touch. She slipped a leg through his, tangling her body close in against him. She inhaled deeply, smelling the sweat of him from the day, the scent of his skin. She could taste it and the salt on it as she nuzzled his neck. Her cheek felt the scratch of his stubble and it added to the melange of sensations. Her hand slid around to his back, raking her nails a little harder along the skin, leaving marks on him that would fade. "You're not so bad yourself"

She could feel the strength in his arms, but with it she could feel that twinge of sadness that... she'd always be stronger. Part of her longed to feel a real Centauri man who could just manhandle her, but Austin was as close as she'd likely get on this Earth, so she reveled in what was available to her. Her hands explored him, running over his arms, squeezing lightly, feeling the tone of him. She wanted to roll him onto his back, and she knew she could but she shouldn't. Instead, slightly demure, dissembling, she kissed to his ear "roll onto your back for me sexy?"

 

[Halcyon638]

As they lay intertwined, Austin’s hands explored and caressed Monica's body in turn. His left hand dug up past the hemline of her shorts and grabbed onto the soft yet taut curve of one of her ass cheeks. He kissed her neck, working his way down her tender skin as his hand moved down from her rear to the rest of her thigh.

Monica’s request brought a sly grin spread to Austin’s lips, as if he were getting away with something. “Hell yes,” he said to her request. He obliged, rolling onto his back, the front of his shorts tenting impressively at the sight of her and at her touch. “Why don't you take off your shorts?” He reached out and touched her hands and forearms as she shifted position while he moved back as well, lining his head up with the pillows.