Flash Fire: The Extraordinaries, Book Two
By TJ Klune
4/5
()
About this ebook
First editions of the Flash Fire hardcover come with a reversible jacket!
Flash Fire is the explosive sequel to The Extraordinaries by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author TJ Klune!
Through bravery, charm, and an alarming amount of enthusiasm, Nick landed himself the superhero boyfriend of his dreams. Now instead of just writing stories about him, Nick actually gets to kiss him. On the mouth. A lot. But having a superhero boyfriend isn’t everything Nick thought it would be—he’s still struggling to make peace with his own lack of extraordinary powers.
When new Extraordinaries begin arriving in Nova City—siblings who can manipulate smoke and ice, a mysterious hero who can move objects with their mind, and a drag queen superhero with the best name and the most-sequined costume anyone has ever had—it’s up to Nick and his friends Seth, Gibby, and Jazz to determine who is virtuous and who is villainous.
And new Extraordinaries aren’t the only things coming to light. Long-held secrets and neglected truths are surfacing that challenge everything Nick knows about justice, family, and being extraordinary. Which is a lot to handle when Nick really just wants to finish his self-insert bakery AU fanfic.
Will it all come together in the end or will it all go down in flames?
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
TJ Klune
TJ KLUNE is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, the Green Creek Series for adults, the Extraordinaries Series for teens, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.
Read more from Tj Klune
In the Lives of Puppets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Olive Juice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John & Jackie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Flash Fire
Titles in the series (3)
The Extraordinaries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flash Fire: The Extraordinaries, Book Two Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heat Wave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
The Extraordinaries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heat Wave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inexplicable Logic of My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bones Beneath My Skin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Until You: At First Sight, #3 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Marvellous Light Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All That's Left in the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Withered + Sere: Immemorial Year, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If This Gets Out: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is Why They Hate Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Any Way the Wind Blows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winter's Orbit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairytales From Verania: Tales From Verania, #5 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spell Bound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So This Is Ever After Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Winter Knight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRelease Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ocean's Echo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Restless Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time Out Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Into the Dying Light Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
YA LGBTQIA+ For You
All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Foxhole Court Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is Where It Ends Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tricks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sleeper and the Spindle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Both Die at the End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Truly Devious: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Wicked Fate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What If It's Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clown in a Cornfield Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lion's Legacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Miseducation of Cameron Post Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last to Let Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girls Made of Snow and Glass Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Upside of Falling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Raven King Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This Is Why They Hate Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radio Silence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before I Let Go Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Upside of Unrequited Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River Has Teeth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond the Black Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King's Men Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robin and Her Misfits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rest of Us Just Live Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Burn Down, Rise Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Flash Fire
57 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Satisfying follow-up to the first book in the series. Nick and Seth are trying to figure out how to date each other, Jazz is worring about Gibby's post-graduation plans, and all of their parental figures want to know their kids are doing. Meanwhile, public opinion about Extraordinaries is souring while new ones appear.
From almost the first page, TJ Klune addresses the critics of the first book. As the son of a cop, Nick has always seen cops as heroes. He (and other characters) reconsider that assumption a lot over the course of the novel. - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Wanted to love but - Book was a pandering to wokeism because of all the criticism of the first book.Normally, I save 1 stars for utter trash, but I made an exception in this case.TJ should have stuck to what he wrote and maybe stated people deserve second chances, esp since we weren't given all of Aaron's or Cap's service record. Just one blip and omg you are so evil.I don't care to be preached to when I am reading. Reading is supposed to be an escape from all the crazy that is around us. At least in my opinion.Nick needs to get over his self. The others need to quit enabling him, so annoying.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I hate to give a Klune book "only" three stars, but I'm not gonna be one of the people inflating the ratings just because it's a book from my favorite author.
Maybe it's because this is YA that I didn't really love this, but it's also more than that. The plot got buried under all the social commentary (more like blasting) and there was an over abundance of monologues and speeches. I did love the humor though, as I usually do with Klune, but the rest of it just didn't rise to the occasion.
I'm not gonna lie, I'll read everything this author publishes, but I'm just going to adjust my expectations in the future when it comes to his YA releases. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The ending of this book had my mouth on the floor. This book was just as great as the first book. I laughed. I cried. I yelled at the book to save someone. It was great. I hate that I have to wait for the next book, but I love that I can read this one and the first one again and again before it comes out.
*I want a Seth in my life.
Book preview
Flash Fire - TJ Klune
1
"Nicky, yes," Seth Gray groaned, and Nick had never been prouder of himself in his entire life. Granted, he’d also never been more turned-on, and he couldn’t quite focus because all the blood had left his brain and traveled south, but still. Hearing his name come from Seth’s mouth in that way was apparently enough to fry all the remaining circuits in Nicholas Bell’s brain.
Sweat dripped down the back of his neck as he shifted above Seth, who was lying on Nick’s bed. Seth’s glasses were crooked, his bow tie partially undone, his dark hair a mess of curls. His sweater was rucked-up, revealing a sliver of pale skin. Seth’s cheeks were flushed, his lips swollen since Nick had been attacking them for the last twenty minutes. Nick thought they’d gotten this making-out thing down pat.
However, a conundrum now presented itself: stop while they still could, or keep on going into the strange, unknown land of Putting Hands Under Clothes for a Nice Time. They had the house to themselves; it was Saturday and Dad was out to lunch with the Chief of Police Rodney Caplan and Officer Rookie to talk shop. Nick wasn’t necessarily supposed to know what shop meant, but he wasn’t stupid, no matter the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, given certain … actions he might’ve taken last year (or, to be honest, all the other years of his life). He’d seen the posts on social media calling for reform and defunding, people marching in the streets demanding change, and though he’d always been proud of his father, valid concerns were being raised, and rightly so. Dad didn’t talk much about it—at least, with Nick—and neither did Cap or the Rook, no matter how he asked. This frustrated Nick to no end.
Especially since he’d spent the morning with Dad, driving around in the new, unmarked SUV he had been given as part of his job as the lead in the newly formed Extraordinaries Division, listening to music on Nick’s phone he’d connected via Bluetooth when they ran errands. Talk about overkill. Nick treasured the time he had with his dad, but he was certainly capable of side-eyeing the fact that the seats were leather and heated, and for what? To keep Dad’s ass warm while he worked? Seemed like there were more important things to worry about.
Speaking of Dad.
He probably wouldn’t be back for hours, especially if they got a couple of beers into them. Seth had come over to help Nick with his homework (trigonometry again), and they’d promised to stay downstairs, Nick smiling innocently at his father, who had eyed them both up and down with a stern expression. Seth squeaked, as he was wont to do, his abilities to create fire out of nothing be damned.
And they had meant to only do homework. Honest. Nick wasn’t failing or anything, but he had a test coming up that he wasn’t quite ready for, and he wanted to get as much done as he could, seeing as how it was Valentine’s Day and homework was in no way romantic in the slightest. They had plans later with their friends—a double date of sorts—and he’d decided to be responsible. Mature, even.
The problem with that was, of course, Seth. Seth, whose brow had been furrowed as he’d looked down at the textbooks and papers spread out on the table. Seth, who’d been munching on pretzels while saying something about the sides and angles of triangles. Seth, who was quite possibly the hottest dude in existence, so much so that if Nick didn’t put his face on Seth’s face again in the next five minutes, he’d probably die.
Hey,
he’d said, interrupting what he was sure was the most boring explanation of mathematics in the history of the world. Can I show you something in my room?
Seth had wiped the salt from his lips with the back of his hand. What?
Nick had leaned forward, chin in his hands. It’s a surprise.
Surprise,
Seth had repeated. He’d sounded dubious, which, okay, yeah, sometimes Nick’s surprises, while well-intentioned, ended up exploding. Literally. But this was going to be a good surprise. With potentially good explosions.
(And since he was always and forever a prude, he’d flushed at his own audacity.)
But he wasn’t to be deterred. He’d stood from the table. Come on. It won’t take long.
This wasn’t a lie. If it progressed further than it had before, it’d probably be over very quickly.
Your dad said we couldn’t go upstairs while he wasn’t here,
Seth had reminded him, as he’d stood too.
This was true, yes. But when Nick had reminded Dad that a bedroom wasn’t necessary when it came to getting down to bidness (Nick’s words, which he’d immediately regretted), Dad said he was going to get plastic tarps to cover all the furniture so they didn’t leave boy stains. Nick, of course, had been sufficiently outraged.
Dad had made things worse by taking out an empty spritz bottle from underneath the sink, filling it with water, and saying if it worked on dogs in heat, it’d work on boys as well. And then he’d sprayed Nick in the face.
Nick loved his father more than anything, but he was convinced his sole reason for existing was to ensure Nick would remain a virgin for the rest of his life.
Which was fine with Nick, at least for now. Yes, he had a hot boyfriend who had superpowers and went by the name Pyro Storm, and yes, his body looked amazing when he was in chinos or his Extraordinary costume, and yes, Nick loved making out with said hot superhero boyfriend, but he wasn’t quite sure if he was ready to take it to the next level.
It hadn’t helped that he’d done what he always did when he didn’t know something: he researched it exhaustively. And boy oh boy, was that a mistake. It was confusing being turned-on and also slightly horrified at the same time, especially when he’d come across an article titled How to Be a Good Bottom
that involved detailed instructions and illustrations about things like the proper way to perform enemas to avoid any side effects, and wearing gloves for prepping so one’s fingernails didn’t cause damage to the interior of the anus.
And that didn’t even begin to cover the wide and terrifying world of being a modern queer man in the twenty-first century and all that came with it. Was he a twink? A twunk? A power top? A power bottom? A bear? An otter? (He didn’t have enough body hair for those last two, but he wasn’t ready to rule anything out yet.) Did the heter-oh-noes have to deal with this? If not, then it was homophobic in ways Nick couldn’t even begin to articulate. How dare straight people avoid these little boxes.
He kept on clicking, and it was about the time he was mired deep in an unintentional exploration of furry culture (people dressed up like wolves and goats and chickens and how awesome was that) that he realized he was probably in over his head.
He was sixteen years old, dammit. He didn’t need to be a power goat twunk. He had ADHD and a healthy libido, which didn’t really leave room for anything else.
Which was why the surprise Nick had for Seth was simply tackling him onto the bed and sticking his tongue down his throat. Seth, for his part, squawked, protested once through a mouthful of Nick, then gave up entirely when Nick bit down on the skin under his ear, which immediately turned him into putty.
Nick was by no means an expert, especially since his first experience had been with a villain who’d ended up trying to kill him, but Seth’s appreciative noises and the grinding of his hips meant he wasn’t too bad, right? And Seth tasted like pretzels, which should not have been as hot as it was. Oh god. What if he had a food fetish? What were they called? Foodies? Shit. What if he was a foodie?
Nick remembered what he’d learned on Reddit about safety and consent. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You have a right to say no, and I will respect that decision.
Seth laughed quietly. Really. How generous of you.
I know,
Nick said, distracted by the way Seth’s sweater was pulling up even higher. Another inch or two, and his belly button would be exposed. Was that hot? Nick thought it might be, but he couldn’t be sure. Did he have a kink for belly buttons? What a terrible realization to have at this exact moment. He was having a hard enough time knowing he was a foodie.
Nick,
Seth said.
I’m not thinking anything weird!
Nick blurted as he looked up from Seth’s stomach. I don’t want to cover you in chunky peanut butter and eat it off you!
What?
Nothing,
Nick said hastily. Forget I even said that. Let’s talk about something else. How are you? I’m fine, thank you for asking. Would you like to take off your pants and stay awhile?
But then the idea of having to take off his own pants entered his head, and he couldn’t quite catch his breath. This was both exactly what he wanted and still moving way too fast, all at the same time. He didn’t know how to reconcile the two, and the indecision made his brain hurt.
Hey, hey,
Seth said, reaching up and grabbing his forearms. Nicky, look at me.
Nick did, trying to calm down before he spun out of control. While he wasn’t as bad as he used to be, he was still prone to setting himself off, his thoughts becoming nothing but static, his throat closing, vision tunneling. If he let it go too far, he’d end up with one of his headaches, which would knock him on his ass for a few hours at least.
The medicine he took—Concentra! It’ll help you concentrate!—slowed the worst of the ADHD symptoms, but the headaches had increased in frequency. A side effect, he and Dad had been told, but one he’d have to deal with, given how Concentra was the best thing for him.
He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth as Seth’s grip tightened around his wrists, grounding him. There you go,
Seth said, brow furrowed in worry. We’re good, Nicky. Relax.
Sorry,
Nick muttered, feeling ridiculous. Of course he’d ruined the moment. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He couldn’t even semi-seduce his willing boyfriend right.
Nothing to apologize for,
Seth said, letting Nick’s wrists go and rubbing up and down his arms. You good?
Nick nodded. Yeah. Just … you know how it is. I thought about your belly button and then I wondered if I have a kink for belly buttons.
He frowned. Or something. And then peanut butter got involved, and now here we are.
I have no idea what to do with any of that,
Seth said, but here.
He reached down between them and pulled up his sweater, revealing at least ten miles of taut skin. How’s the belly button?
So good,
Nick breathed fervently. And because he couldn’t not, he bent nearly in half and pressed his lips against Seth’s stomach. When he felt Seth tense, he blew as hard as he could. The fart sound ripped through the room as Seth screeched, bucking his hips, knocking Nick off the side of the bed. Worth it.
"You dick! Seth snapped at him.
What is wrong with you?"
Nick grinned up at the ceiling from his position on the floor. I’m trying to blow you!
"Blow me? You jerk, I’ll show you blow me, just you watch. I’m going to blow you until you can’t even remember your stupid name."
With that, Seth launched himself off the side of the bed, landing on top of Nick, knocking his breath from his chest. Nick managed to grunt before Seth pulled up his shirt and began to blow raspberries onto Nick’s bare skin. Nick cackled as he tried to shove Seth off him, but Seth was too heavy. Blow me!
Nick began to chant through his laughter. Blow me, blow me, blow—
Ahem.
Once upon a time, Nick fell from the top of McManus Bridge, plummeting hundreds of feet toward the pavement in what was surely going to be his messy, awful death, all because of a douchebag Extraordinary named Shadow Star who’d taken Nick’s fanfiction a bit too seriously.
And here, now, for the second time, Nick’s life flashed before his eyes because he was sure this was the end. Only this time, it wasn’t going to be because of impact trauma. No, he was going to die of mortification, because apparently his room had fantastic acoustics, seeing as how the words blow me echoed dully as he and Seth turned their heads at the same time to see Aaron Bell standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, a grim look on his face.
Um,
Nick said. It’s not what it looks like?
Really,
Dad said flatly. Because it looks like my underage son is demanding oral sex from his underage boyfriend when they’re both supposed to be in the kitchen doing homework.
Nick hadn’t known that hearing his father say oral sex would be so emotionally devastating. He did now.
Oh my god,
Seth moaned, covering his face with his hands.
"Dad!" Nick yelped.
Dad rolled his eyes. Seth, get off of Nick and get your things. I’m driving you home. Nicky, why don’t you stay here and think about all the sex you’re not going to have. In fact, when I get home, we’ll discuss exactly that.
What the hell,
Nick muttered as Seth slid off him. Seth refused to meet either of their gazes as he stood from the floor, cheeks aflame. Dad, you can’t say things like that.
And yet I did,
Dad said, not moving from the doorway, even as Seth tried to push by him. In the end, Seth made himself as small as possible as he sidestepped Dad, back rubbing against the door frame. He didn’t even say goodbye. "I live to make your life miserable. It’s in the job description, kid. When you become a father, you get a manual called How to Screw with Your Child. It’s very informative, and it’s the only type of screwing that’ll be happening in this household for the foreseeable future."
I hate everything,
Nick announced grandly as he glared at the ceiling.
No response. Nick turned his head to see an empty doorway. He groaned and sat up, glancing at the photograph sitting on his messy desk. In it, a young version of Nick stood with a beautiful woman, her hair blowing in the wind coming off the ocean as she laid her head on his shoulder. Jenny Bell, his mother, now three years gone.
It was you, wasn’t it?
he asked her picture. You’re the one who told him he had a sense of humor.
She didn’t reply.
Nick looked away from the photograph when he heard the front door open. He jumped up from the floor and went to the window, sliding it open. The sounds of Nova City filtered through, loud and obnoxious and comforting. The air was frigid, causing gooseflesh to prickle along Nick’s bare arms. They were supposed to get snow later, the clouds above an ominous gunmetal gray.
He looked down the stone path that led to the street. Seth and Dad were walking toward Dad’s SUV parked in the space in front of the house. He won’t keep us apart!
Nick shouted, laughing when both Dad and Seth jumped, looking around wildly. "I’ll find you, my beloved! No matter where you are, we will be together. Nothing will ever come between us!"
Dad glared up at him. Kid, I’m warning you.
Nick blinked innocently as he leaned forward on his elbows, breath streaming from his mouth in a thick fog. "Why, Father! It’s not my fault if the neighbors hear us and think you’re trying to keep my boyfriend from me."
Dad slid a single finger pointedly across his throat as Seth looked as if he wished a sinkhole would open up underneath him and swallow him whole. Rude. Nick was being romantic.
But then Seth looked up at Nick and said, We’ll be together in this life or the next,
and Nick knew it was quite possible they were meant to be.
Dad sighed dramatically before steering Seth toward the SUV.
Unfortunately, it was about this time that Nick realized two things: he was alone in the house and he was still thrumming with arousal.
He didn’t think as he turned away from the window to reach for his phone. He typed in his passcode (Seth’s birthday) and opened the internet browser. He created a new incognito tab just to be safe and typed in his favorite porn site. The screen filled with stills of men in quite a few different positions that should’ve been anatomically impossible. He swiped through until he found his favorite category, a recent addition gaining traction.
Extraordinary porn.
He sat on the edge of his bed, ready to make the most of his time alone. He clicked on the third video on the list, one he was intimately familiar with. In it, a skinny man in a ridiculous costume who went by the name Boner Boy saved a rough-and-tumble dude who worked at an oil derrick that had exploded. However, since the budget for this particular piece of cinema verité didn’t allow for an actual explosion (or an actual oil derrick), it only showed the aftermath: the man covered in artfully placed smudges and most of his clothing ripped off as Boner Boy felt him up under the guise of tending to his fictitious wounds.
Nick hit play, already anticipating the first lines of dialogue.
You’re safe now,
Boner Boy would say woodenly. But I should check you for serious injury. Take off your pants.
Yes,
Rough-and-Tumble would reply. You should check very closely as I take off my pants.
Except no sound came from his phone.
Oh, the actors were doing their acting, and the sex was most certainly happening on-screen, but he couldn’t hear a single thing. Nick frowned, clicking the button on the side of his phone. The volume was already turned up all the way. It should’ve been loud.
He frowned. "Goddammit. I just got this phone."
A horn honked outside, but Nick ignored it as he lowered the volume and then turned it back up to no avail. Nick was about to throw his phone down and grab his laptop when his gaze darted to the upper right corner of the screen. A little symbol blinked at him—one he knew very well.
Bluetooth.
His phone was connected via Bluetooth to … to …
He raised his head slowly in abject terror. He stood slowly, as if in a dream, and drifted toward the open window as the horn honked again. He looked out to the street below.
The windows of Dad’s SUV were rolled down. Seth’s face was in his hands. Dad was leaning out the window. As soon as he saw Nick, he waved up at him and reached over to the dashboard to turn up the volume of the sound system in the SUV.
Yes!
Rough-and-Tumble shouted from the speakers, echoing in the street around them. Superpound me with your Extraordinary penis! Fill me with your superqueero power! Yes! Yes!
A neighbor looked over at the SUV before practically running away. That certainly wasn’t necessary. What a disproportionate reaction.
Nick closed the tab. Rough-and-Tumble and Boner Boy’s passionate love affair was silenced.
Nick looked back down. Seth was banging his head against the back of the seat. Nick would have felt bad if he wasn’t already filled with fiery outrage. Before he could demand that his father apologize for ruining his life, Dad spoke first, shouting, Get your coat, kid! You’re coming with us. I think it’s time we had a talk. You. Me. Seth.
He grinned. Bob and Martha Gray.
Seth snapped his head toward Dad, mouth hanging open, blood draining from his face.
Nick scoffed. How bad could it really be?
2
And that’s how you make a dental dam,
Dad said at the end of a twenty-six-minute demonstration where he took scissors and cut multiple ziplock bags into large squares. Martha and Bob Gray sat on a couch in their living room, watching Dad with no small amount of interest. I learned about it shortly after Nick came out and was saving it for a moment like this.
He jerked his head toward Nick and Seth, who were sitting in kitchen chairs they’d dragged out to the living room with the pace of prisoners in a gulag. Nick didn’t know what Seth was doing because his own mouth had dropped open, tiny sounds of pain pouring out.
Bob Gray—a barrel of a man with a devious twinkle in his eye and perpetual grime under his fingernails from his job as a super—leaned forward. Dental dam, you say? And what’s it used for?
No,
Nick whispered. No, no, no.
Seth grabbed his hand, holding on tightly.
Protection during oral sex,
Dad said. But not for penises. This is strictly for cunnilingus and anilingus.
He frowned, stretching one of the squares in his hands. Or, as the kids call it these days, rimming.
Oh my,
Martha said, picking up one of the squares. Normally a kindly older woman with fluffy white hair and a quick wit, she’d obviously decided in the past weeks that her mission in life was to make teenagers more miserable than they already were. Rimming. So, you just … what, put this over the genitals and it makes it safer?
She lifted the plastic square up to her face, and Seth made a sound like his intestines were being removed through his nostrils.
These will do in a pinch,
Dad explained, as if he weren’t ruining his only son’s life. Even cutting open a condom would work. But it’s better to use dental dams made for that express purpose. They’re usually latex or polyurethane. I don’t know if you can buy them at the grocery store, but they’re sold online.
Or,
Martha said, glancing at Bob, we could shop local and support the community. There’s that one shop down on Ninth. You know the one—it’s always playing loud music and has those mannequins in the window with the fun little red balls that go in mouths and attach to the head with black straps. I bet they’d have all kinds of dental dams.
Nick had never seen a soul depart a body before, but it looked like that was exactly what was going on with Seth.
So, naturally, Bob decided to make it worse. Or better; Nick wasn’t quite sure. Bob said, Isn’t Seth’s Pyro Storm costume made of some sort of latex? If it comes down to it, he can put that on before he and Nick … you know.
Nick, forgetting where he was and who he was with, whispered, Yes. That. For safety.
They all either ignored him or didn’t hear him. Either way, it was for the best. I suppose,
Martha said. Regardless, it’s good knowledge to have. And you’re not wrong, Aaron. It’s a big step to take, and they both need to realize it’s not something that can be taken back.
She glanced at Nick and Seth and smiled warmly. We get that your relationship is new and wonderful, but you need to think with your heads and not your bits.
Easier said than done,
Bob said, folding his hands over his stomach. I remember being sixteen. I wanted to put myself in pretty much anything that would have me—men, women, didn’t matter to me.
"Robert Gray, Martha said with a huff.
Honestly. We have company."
Speaking of Seth’s costume,
Dad said.
Nick panicked. "Dad, no."
"Dad, yes, he said sternly.
I’m not talking about using the costume for … that. He shook his head as he set the mangled plastic bags on the coffee table before him.
Bob, Martha, when I came to you after what happened last year on the bridge, I told you I was happy for our kids. Seth seemed to know what he was getting involved with, so I’m not worried about that part, though I did question his judgment a little bit."
Wow,
Nick said loudly. It’s not like I’m sitting right here or anything.
Dad didn’t react, almost as if he were used to having a child who could be irate about pretty much anything. "But Seth is an Extraordinary. He can do things most of us can’t even begin to imagine, what with all the fire and the flying. And he told me he wasn’t sure he still wanted to be Pyro Storm, not after everything that happened. I get that. I really do. I won’t say I understand the weight of such a thing, but I know what it means to feel like you have a responsibility to protect those you care about."
Okay, maybe Dad wasn’t so bad. Even if he was literally the most embarrassing person Nick had ever known, this was sort of sweet, in a way. He loved his kid, and Nick loved him too. Then he ruined it. "But if Seth and Nick take their relationship to the next level, how can we be sure that Seth won’t burn him if he gets too … excited? Do we even know where the fire comes from? Could it come from anywhere?" He glanced pointedly down at his own crotch.
The silence that followed was absolute, and it was in this moment that Nick planned to find an attorney and file for emancipation.
He yelped, "Dad, what are you talking about? just as Martha said,
Oh my, I never thought about that, just as Bob said,
We never tested that, for obvious reasons," all while Seth jerked his hand from Nick’s grasp and groaned so loudly Nick thought he was dying. They all began to speak over one another, Nick louder than the rest because he knew that volume was the leading factor in winning arguments. He shouted about fire dicks and the sheer audacity of his father. Martha went on about the making of the costume and how she hadn’t had plans in mind for it to be used as protection for anilingus. Bob picked up one of the discarded plastic squares and held it inches from his face, wondering aloud about elasticity of plastic and the human body. Dad said that while he didn’t believe Seth’s genitals could shoot fire, he wanted to make sure it was brought up because if that was the case, they needed to see if there was a flame-resistant material that could be used for condoms.
It wasn’t until Seth shouted, "We’re not having sex!" that they all shut their traps.
Everyone turned to look at him, including Nick. It was the first time Seth had spoken since Dad had begun ruining Nick’s life with assistance from the elder Grays. In solidarity, Nick reached over and grabbed Seth’s hand again. They were in this together. If they were going down, it’d be the both of them—just, apparently, not on each other.
We’re not,
Seth said in a strangled voice. His face was red, his unicorn-print bow tie so askew it was almost vertical. He swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. We…
He looked at Nick with wide eyes, begging silently for help.
Nick wasn’t an Extraordinary, but he’d mostly accepted his lot in life as the sidekick/love interest to the hero. It wasn’t ideal, but he made do because Seth needed someone like him.
Which is why Nick squared his shoulders, held his head high, and said, "Yes. We’re not having sex. We like to make out and rub against each other without penetration of any kind. I haven’t even stuck my hand down his pants, so you don’t need to worry about that. Today was the first day I’ve even seen his belly button since we started dating. But if it makes you feel any better, should we decide to bone down, it’s a decision we’ll make together when we’re both ready. And to be safe, we can get a fire extinguisher for my room and his in case he can orgasm fire. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I’m going to take my boyfriend down to the basement so we can spar because he needs to keep up with his training and I’m still trying to see if I’m capable of getting an abdominal muscle. Father, I shall see myself home by curfew. I bid you good day." With that, he stood, pulling Seth up with