ONCE BURNED was made by MEL. Copying, altering, or stealing any of the site's content is prohibited. All of ONCE BURNED's characters are the original work of their owners and may not be replicated or stolen. All images and graphics belong to their rightful owners and ONCE BURNED does not claim to own any of them.
When it came to meeting his twin, Sam thought doing it outside in public was a risk. Alex was not the type to actually care about other people but Sam needed the exposure. He'd been a recluse at such a young age and was just now, at the age of twenty-three, stepping out into the world.
And he also knew that Alex didn't like staying cooped up in one place for too long so Sam had to take the risk, if only to keep both of them sane.
He entered a cafe and ordered a caramel macchiato, something he found he surprisingly liked, being more of a tea drinker. He took his phone out while waiting for his order to look at the time and whether Alex had texted him her whereabouts. When he saw she hadn't, he sent one to her, asking where she was.
Alex had left her dorm early, just trying to escape her roommates and the inane chatter that came from not only the people she roomed with, but also their devices. It was like their devices had taken on their personalities and it was all just a little much to handle for her. She'd gone running for a while, starting at the track and then eventually getting sick of that when people started showing up for practices and opted for going to the town and jogging the sidewalks.
She knew she'd agreed to meet up with Sam before, and she hadn't been on her phone much since she went out. It wasn't until she heard mumbling through the headphones that were connected that she even thought to. Sam is waiting for you, asked where you're at. You're late. Not that either of us are surprised.
Alex rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out to shoot a quick be there in a couple text. She didn't bother telling him where she'd gone and why she was late, it wasn't like he needed a play by play anymore than she needed one from him. The fact of the matter was that she'd lost track of time. She could understand why he was asking and why he might be miffed that she was late, but it would be weirder if she was on time. Just as she rounded the corner, she saw the cafe and unplugged her headphones, draping them around her neck. She entered the shop and went to the counter to ask for a water before spotting her twin and heading over to sit across from him. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I don't think you really want me to lie to ya, huh?" She flashed a half smile and chewed on the inside of her cheek, glancing around at everyone on their laptops. "How are you holding up?"
When Alex finally arrived, Sam was halfway through his drink and he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, regular comedian." He responded, taking in his twin and frowning slightly.
He looked around and saw practically everyone was on a device of some sort and he cringed. "Better than you, I'd wager. You wanna go somewhere else?" He asked, concern lacing his tone.
There weren't many people around so there wasn't a big amount of devices but he still understood the damage it might do, being around too many of them. Hell, he was feeling the strain on himself just because someone decided to lie to the person they were talking to for God knows what reason.
She gave him a shrug, not really responding to his sarcasm or the frown that seemed to be plastered to his face permanently whenever she was around. She'd learned over the last twenty-three years to just accept that his face couldn't do anything else.
The concern that colored his tone made her nose scrunch up, "I think I can manage. It's only been ten years of dealing with this fresh Hell, right?" She'd turned her eyes back to him and observed his face. Sam was easy to read, like she'd been studying the same content for her entire life. Of course she knew her brother was honest when he voiced his concern, he couldn't lie about anything, but it was unnecessary. She was perfectly fine dealing with the side-effects of her ability. If anyone should have been concerned, it was her.
"How's the ticker? Taking it easy? No one's been telling extravagant lies without me have they?" Alex smirked and took a drink of her water, her hand stretching across the table so that she could hook her pinkie through his.
Sam rolled his eyes at Alex's defensive stance. He grunted his response before taking a sip of his drink, knowing full well that Alex was assessing his every twitch. He'd even put his phone on airplane mode just so she wouldn't have to deal with whatever fresh Hell he'd looked up on on his phone prior to her arrival.
When his twin mentioned his insides, Sam groaned and put his face in one hand, while the other received her pinkie. "Too much. I don't know whether to be grateful or call bullshit on cooping myself up for so long." He rubbed his face tiredly and looked at Alex. "I fucking hate being a mutant. I take back all those times I thought Wolverine was the epitome of awesome." He pressed the heel of his palm against his browbone and sighed.
Tugging at their joined little finger, he looked down at his coffee. "At least yours is useful, you know? I know, I know, I've said this every single time we see each other but deal with it. I'm gonna be complaining about this forever."
Whatever tension she'd had pent up in her body released when he took her pinkie. She thought for a moment about it. There had once been a time when they hadn't done it, but she couldn't remember when that was. It was like they'd been attached at the pinkie since they were born. She stared at their hands as he spoke and she frowned, her eyebrows pulling together. She didn't like when he had a hard time and she could understand his frustrations. While his ability triggered anxiety attacks and heart problems, she showed signs of being a lunatic or a schizo. Neither of them had been dealt a particularly pleasant hand.
"I always told you, Batman knows what's up. Dude doesn't have any abilities, but still kicks ass. Get a sugar mama, lock yourself away in her mansion and be her sex toy. Boom, problem solved. On your free nights you can go fight crime if you really want to, but I mean c'mon, who'd want to leave that situation," Her tone was flat although she was definitely joking. The subject was touchy and she wasn't really one to find amusement in much anyway.
Alex began shaking her head, her pinking tightening around his, "You're a human lie detector, Sammy, what's not useful about that? I hear voices from machines, inanimate objects, I wouldn't say that's necessarily useful." Her eyes cast down and she shook her head, "I'd trade you any day of the week, you know that."
Giving Alex an incredulous look before pursing his lips in amusement, Sam cooed at Alex. "You think I'm cute enough to get a sugar mama? Lex, your heart is showing, we don't wanna give people the wrong idea."
He grimaced when Alex tried her best to make him feel better. At least he wasn't getting heart palpitations from her words. "It's sweet that you're trying, Lex." He rubbed his eyes and glared at the man who had been lying to whoever he was talking to for the past ten minutes. "Fuck..." he pushed against his chair, making it scrape the floor loudly. "Let's get out of here."
He laced his fingers through Alex's and yanked her up, pulling her with him out of the shop. "You tell your friend the truth, you fucking dink!" He yelled at the man just as they exited the shop.
Once they were outside, Sam gasped and clutched the side of his head. "Stupid fucking liars." He glared at the man as he stalked past him. He turned to Alex and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pull too hard." He paused and looked into the shop and then back at Alex. "It'd be bad if you made porn start playing on his tablet, right?"
With the hand that was not connected to his, she promptly gave him the finger and smiled, "Don't flatter yourself, they're usually old, creepy hags." With way too much work done to their faces and boobs that are hard as a rock from being messed with all the time. Yeah, he was cute enough for that.
The sudden outburst probably would have caught anyone off guard who wasn't her. Things built up in both of them to the point of being explosive. She gripped tight to his hand and followed behind him. Her eyes followed his to the man that he was talking to and the guy didn't even seem phased. Alex always said that people lied to make themselves look good and those who lied frequently often didn't realize that they were doing it anymore. Her lies were typically sarcasm or for protecting her brother from truths she didn't think would help him. Unfortunately, her lies didn't help him either.
They stopped outside and she stared through the window at the man, trying to recall what his tablet had been murmuring. It was difficult when she blocked it out to remember and through the glass she couldn't quite make it out. Alex looked up at her twin and placed her hand on his cheek, "What have I told you about apologizing to me? Wasted effort." She gave him a concerned smile and patted his cheek. When it clicked in her mind what the tablet had been saying, she heard Sam's suggestion and she smirked, "From what I heard, he's really really into micropenis porn. One moment please." Alex looked back at the man and then down at the screen of his tablet. She closed her eyes and tried her hardest to locate it and separate it from the rest of the devices. Once the familiar tone reached her mind she found the folder that was labeled something vastly different and opened it to the loudest and raunchiest video she could. At high volume.
Her eyes opened and she smirked wider, "Oops. Hate it when that happens."
"Hey, don't knock your future career." Sam shook his head and gave her a shit-eating grin. He rolled his shoulders when it cramped up a little from the strain of forcing himself to stay still.
Once they were outside, Sam could breathe again and having Alex's hand on his cheek calmed him. Much as he thought she was a brat, having Alex around was a boon to his health and well being in general. He laughed at her response and stood there, taking in the cool air and revelling in the fact that no one was currently lying.
When he heard the video playing through the glass, Sam turned to look at the guy as he scrambled to switch off his tablet but to no avail. The music and sounds were still playing. He tugged at Alex's hand and chuckled. "I love you." He said over his shoulder and walked towards an abandoned parking lot.
"I should have asked you to meet me here." He said before letting Alex's hand go. He instantly felt the chill but he ignored it as he grabbed a shopping cart in the corner. He tested it out and turned to Alex. "M'lady, your chariot awaits." He presented the shopping cart with flourish.
She was pretty pleased with the reaction she got from not only the man that had micropenis porn so easily accessed on his laptop, but also her brother. She squeezed his fingers and followed behind him while they walked towards the parking lot. This was more their style, quiet, out of the way and stress free compared to a cafe like that.
He dropped her hand and she snorted, "Yeah, you should have, ya fuckin' dink." Alex waggled her eyebrows at him as she stole his previous insult. It was always a good time when she got to mock him and tell him how stupid he was. That was part of the main foundation their siblingship was based on. He'd have taken the opportunity just as quickly as she had if it had presented itself. Too bad that he was the only dolt around. She pecked him on the cheek before climbing into the shopping cart.
To be honest, she didn't even think about whether it was heavy or not. Even for him, twig that he was. She stuck her arms out like an airplane and glanced back at him, "Ready for take off, sir."
"Lex. We talked about this. If you can't think of your own insults, you cannot mooch off me. How will society thrive with moochers like you?" Sam asked with an exaggerated sigh. "Think of the people, Alex!"
As Alex climbed into the trolley, Sam grinned at her stance. He made some sound effects and pretended to talk into a speaker. "Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. Prepare for lift off." He gripped the handlebars and started pushing slowly to the corner of the parking lot and turned, much like an airplane would on the landing strip. Then, he took off at full speed before letting her go.
"Oh get fucked, Sam," She rolled her eyes and shoved him.
As he began his spiel, preparing for take off, she buried whatever spikes of anxiety that rushed into her chest down deep. They'd always done stupid shit when they were growing up. It was one of the things that the She Devil hated. It was kids being kids, but they'd always been expected to be more than that. She took a glance back at him, "Don't pussy out halfway, full force, got it?" There wasn't any time for half-assed take off.
And just as she'd asked for, he pushed her as fast as he could and let go so that she went rogue. Alex shifted her body weight to keep it steady and then went hard to the right in order to spin around once she'd slowed enough not to tip it over. When the cart came to a stop, she stood up and raised her arms in the air, "Hell yeah! That was sick, Sammy!"
Sam simply laughed at Alex's response. He often wondered what people thought of their relationship but this right here, it couldn't get any better.
Once he let go of the trolley, Sam jogged over to where Alex was headed and threw his arms up like she did. "I know right? Those weekends at the gym are finally paying off!" He flexed his arms and made funny faces at Alex.
"Ah jeez...I came out of my room to be around people but I'm just playing trolley plane with my twin in an empty parking lot." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm twenty-three years old and I'm still afraid of going near people. What am I doing with my life?"
Her eyes rolled back into her head at his gym comment and she laughed. After steadying herself and climbing out of the cart, she stood in front of her twin and watched him make ridiculous faces at her. She reached up and pinched his nose, making a honking noise before smirking and slipping her hands into her pockets and rocking on her heels.
His words rung true. It wasn't just him though, she always struggled with socializing with others, too. Alex's eyebrows pulled together and she frowned, "Stop, don't do that." She shook her head, "It isn't just like we have normal abilities, Sammy. Your heart can only handle so much and my personality got buried beneath computers and cellphones. I'm basically a robot with anyone that isn't you." She hated when he slumped about things, probably because he was supposed to be the positive one. Not that either of them had a particularly optimistic outlook on life.
Alex bumped his shoulder with hers and looked up at him, "Besides, I'm the only person that can probably tolerate your weird ass."
Sam jerked his head back when he was honked in the nose. The fact that Alex actually made the sound made him laugh. "You're an idiot." He said affectionately. She may be the Devil's spawn but she was his Devil's spawn.
He made a face but ultimately, he understood where Alex was going. It was a tired argument he had but it was always on the forefront of his mind. And he couldn't help that it always surfaced.
"And I'm the only one who will understand your shitty self." He shrugged before locking Alex's neck in his arms and giving her a sharp noogie.
