Burning Slow

Meeting part of the gang

The two teenagers looked at the guy that just appeared from nowhere, starting to survey him from head to toe.

From his curly brown hair, dark complexion, gray hoodie, tight jeans and dirty yellow shoes.

Nick noticed the way that the two teenagers eyes in front of him were roaming around his body. He saw how Ember didn't even try to hide the fact that she was judging him while Nathan smiled at him as Nick saw his eyes look at his body from head to toe repeatedly.

He thought that it wasn't fair that he was the only one being surveyed. He crossed his arms, placing his weight on his left leg, also starting to survey the two teenagers that stood in front of  him.

He noticed most of the little details that the two possessed.

He saw that he was only an inch taller compared to Nathan but both of them obviously towered over Ember. He noticed that Nathan had unruly black hair and Ember had her black hair in a messy ponytail. He saw that Ember's eyes turned brown when the slightest amount of light hits them. His eyes wandered over to Nathan's face and noticed his sapphire blue eyes. He was also very much jealous of the fact that both teenagers had perfect clear skin while his was bumpy all over. He noticed that both teenagers were wearing matching blue shirts but Ember's was tied in a knot, showing a small part of her abdomen, they both wore sweatpants but Ember's was black and Nathan's was gray. He saw how Nathan shifted from foot to foot on his blue Nike shoes while Ember was standing up straight, showcasing confidence.

"You don't look too bad, Mister fox." Ember's tone was almost mocking but she held her hand out for him to shake nonetheless.

"You're not so bad yourself, Miss Agapov." Nick smirked, grabbing Ember's hand and kissing the back of it instead of shaking it like Ember wanted.

"Ugh, charming indeed." She rolled her eyes, taking a step back.

"So what're your powers?" Nick asked.

"Nathan is an elemental and Ember can see her lifespan and-"

"So you're a teleporter, huh?" Both teenagers cut off Greyson.

Ember narrowed her eyes at her dad, shaking her head. Greyson sighed, nodding his head, complying with their wishes.

"Uh, yeah, I can teleport to anywhere in the world as long as I have the address." Nick answered.

"Great," she sat back down on the couch, picking at the remains of her chocolate chip cookies. "Nate, can you grab me a soda?"

"Sure." He took a step towards the kitchen but Nick stopped him.

"I got it, bro." Before he disappeared.

Nathan sat beside Ember. "So he is useful." He stated as Nick teleported back, handing Ember the soda she requested.

""So what do we do now?" Nathan asked, opening the can of soda for Ember.

"Well, we wait for the address of the others so Nick can go get them."

"Cool." Ember said as she grabbed her soda from Nathan, mumbling a thanks. "What do you guys say we go out for a while?" She proposed, looking at the two boys as she took big gulps of her soda.

"That sounds great, love. You kids go out and I'll stay here to clean up this-" Greyson gestured to his living room that Ember and Nathan trashed.

Ember and Nathan sheepishly smiled at Greyson but he just chuckled, walking to the kitchen to grab some cleaning supplies.

"Alright, let's go guys." Ember said, untying the knot in her shirt and wearing a black hoodie.

Both boys nodded, walking behind her, kind of looking like her bodyguards from their towering heights compared to hers.

"Let's stop by Alex first, I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know you're alive." Ember nodded at Nathan's suggestion.

"What do you mean by know you're alive." Nick asked.

"Oh so dad didn't tell you anything." He shook his head. "Yeah, I'll just explain when the rest of the people get here so I don't have to explain over and over again." Nick nodded in understanding.

"So, Nick, after we visit Ember's trainer, do you have any places in mind that you want to visit?" Nathan asked.

"I want to drop by a cosmetics store."

"Cosmetics store? For what?" Ember looked at Nick, genuinely curious.

"Well, I can't be looking like this when the rest of the gang sends me their address." He exclaimed, gesturing to his face. "So you two are going to help me clear my skin just a bit, make it look more presentable."

"Okayyy." Both teenagers answered, suppressing their laughter.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Ember said, snapping her fingers. Both boys looked down at her. "I need to buy a shirt."

"What for?" Nathan asked.

"I'm going training, duh."

"You can just borrow a shirt from Alex, duh." He mocked.

Ember pouted. "I really want to go shopping though."

"Em, it's 4 in the afternoon, we have plenty of time to go shopping later." Right after Nathan spoke, Nick's phone chimed.

"Oh, I got an address." He announced, staring at his phone.

"Do you have to get them now?" Nathan asked. "We're just a couple of meters away from Alex's house." He pointed to the gray two story house in the distance.

"Nah, I can get them in a couple of seconds. I can get them later." Ember and Nathan nodded.

They reached the house in a couple of minutes and Ember knocked on the door, grinning from ear to ear.

"Who is it?" A muffled sing-song voice from inside was heard.

"It's me!" Ember answered, her tone getting squeaky.

"I don't know anyone named it's me." The muffled voice replied, no longer in a sing-song voice.

"Just open the damn door." Ember then grumbled.

"You sound like my best friend, Ember, but she died-" at this, his voice cracked a bit- "three weeks ago so you must be an impostor."

"Alex, just open the damn door!" Nathan yelled, getting agitated while Nick was just listening to the banter with an amused look on his face.

They heard something click and the door opened up slowly.

"I don't wanna see no ghost so I'm keeping my eyes shut. Now, what do you want?"

Ember jumped the man that was wearing a green shirt, has a slightly buff body build, not as tall as Nathan or Nick but still a couple of inches taller than Ember, and has long brown hair tied in a man bun. Her legs were clasped around his waist that were also modelling gray sweatpants- the same kind as Nathan's- that were perfectly showcasing his ass that was probably as huge as Captain' America's, and her arms were wrapped around his neck as she buried her face in it.

"HOLY s**t! A GHOST IS f*****g HUGGING ME! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?" The man known as Alex panicked.

"Relax, A, Ember's alive." Nathan assured.

Alex poked Ember's body as he felt his eyes start to feel hot and fresh tears blur his eyesight. He poked her back, making sure that she's not a zombie or anything. Ember giggled a bit when he poked her on the side of her torso.

"Holy s**t, it is you." His voice thick with emotion.

"Yes, dumbass now hug me back." Ember ordered.

"It really is you." He choked out before hugging her back as tight as he could, tears soaking into Ember's hoodie.

Ember started coughing, unclasping her legs from his waist. "Dude, not so tight." She choked.

"Oh, sorry." Alex loosened his hold around Ember, wiping away his tears then grinning at her. He lifted her up, carrying her, clasping her legs around his waist again.

"Come in, you guys." He gestured to the two to enter his abode.

"So obviously, I know Nathan. Who are you, guy I've never met before?" He asked, pertaining to Nick.

"I'm Nick Fox." Nick introduced himself in a hoarse voice.

"Like the fox in Zootopia?"

"Uh, yeah." Nick chuckled, clearing his throat.

"You do know that you can put Em down, right?" Nathan asked as they walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, but she's not complaining so I'm not going to."

"Yeah, I don't have to do any work up here so I'm good." Ember second, grinning at the two boys that were walking behind them.

"Does this always happen?" Nick asked.

"Oh you have no idea."

"So E, are you up for some good news training?" Alex asked.

"Duh, it's why we visited you in the first place." The man chuckled, opening the door to a very familiar room that Ember hadn't seen in a year.

She hopped off Alex, roaming her eyes around their training room. "i missed this place." She almost got teared up.

"So what's your power?" Alex asked Nick as they let Ember have her moment.

"Oh, I can teleport."

"Interesting." Alex nodded. "Another person that I'll get jealous over." He added, fake crying.

Nick burst out laughing. "What do I have that you'll get jealous of?" He asked.

"That's because we have powers and old man Alex over here-" Nathan easily draped his arm over Alex's shoulders- "wants what we have." To make it even worse for Alex, he made a small wisp of fire on his palm that rested above Alex's shoulder 'cause he obviously knew that Alex had a mild phobia to fire.

"Hey! I'm not old." He defended, shrugging of Nathan's arm. "I'm 24. You can't call that old." He added, crossing his muscular arms.

"Yeah, sure. Now go on ahead and you and Ember train." Nathan shooed him away, his tone teasing.

"You're not going to train with us?"

"Nah, gotta keep Nick company."

"Psh, excuses." He grumbled before walking over to Ember who was already stretching.

"Can I borrow a shirt later?" She asked.

"Sure." Alex responded, also starting to stretch.

Nick and Nathan sat beside the door, making conversation.

After the two stretched, they decided to dive straight into combat without laying out any rules.

The two boys watched in amusement, although Nathan tried to look nonchalant but his amusement was evident in his eyes.

Alex and Ember fought for straight five minutes, unable to land any painful blows on each other.

Alex relied on power while Ember was light and graceful, easily able to dodge all of Alex's hits but her hits weren't hitting him either.

Ember slowly got tired, not having any proper training since the virus, her endurance wasn't as great as it was two years ago before she died in the future.

As Ember tried to catch her breath while still trying to dodge and hit Alex, he was able to land a powerful blow on her stomach.

She toppled over, gasping for air. "Oh god, I totally forgot how strong your right hand is." She coughed.

"You good?" Alex asked as he handed her a bottle of water that Nathan tossed to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just surprised." She drank a couple gulps of water then punched Alex in the shoulder.

"Alright, one rule: no harsh blows to the stomach." She laid out, coughing a bit.

"So I can still hit the stomach?"

"As long as it's not harsh. Alright?" Alex nodded then helped Ember up.

"Forty more minutes, A." Ember challenged,

"Bring it, E." Alex smirked.

The two charged each other, continuing to fight.

*****

"Em, you alright in there?" Nathan asked as she wiped the blood from her gushing wound with her blue shirt that was fully soaked in blood around the stomach area.

"Yeah, just give me a sec." She lied straight through her teeth.

She ran her blue shirt through cold water and dabbed it on the huge gash in her stomach, already feeling lightheaded from the amount of blood that she lost.

"What kind of psycho do you have to be to stab a girl?" She muttered to herself. She was just thankful that her organs weren't badly damaged and that she just died from blood loss according to her dad and Nathan.

According to them, they immediately rushed her to the hospital and the doctors stitched her huge gash close but they couldn't save her because children born with powers had rare blood so their leading 'cause of death was blood loss.

She groaned in frustration as she continued to dab her gash, the blood just wouldn't stop flowing out of it.

"f**k it." She grabbed a bandage from the medicine cabinet and wrapped it around her torso tightly, hissing slightly. 

She placed her blue shirt, that she probably will never use again, in a plastic bag and hid it in one of Alex's cabinets where she knows he won't ever find it. then she slipped on the black shirt that she borrowed from Alex then her black hoodie that was also soaked in blood but it wasn't that obvious.

"So, you want to come with us, A?" She asked as she got out of the bathroom, tying her hair up.

"To where?"

"You'll see. Come on." She looped her arm around his and they started to walk out the door, gesturing to Nathan and Nick to follow them.

"We're still dropping by a cosmetics store, right?" Nick piped up.

"Yup, we're heading there now." Ember answered as she took a right turn.

"Why are we going to a cosmetics store?" Alex asked the three.

"Well, Alex, as you can see, my face-" he gestured to his face at the exact moment Alex turned his head to look at the two that were walking behind him and Ember- "is very oily and bumpy so I've asked the two with us to share some of their knowledge on skincare."

"Oh, I know the feeling." Alex chuckled. "They're the whole reason why my skin is this fabulous, darling." He finished in a French accent which made the three teenagers burst out in laughter.

"Ember and I got into skincare when we were twelve actually. Anyways, we're here." Nathan announced, entering a shop.

They walked to the aisle labeled skincare then Nathan and Ember started to pick out all their skincare needs.

"Hi, I'm Grace, can I help you guys with anything?" A saleslady that looked to be the same age as the teenagers approached them, wearing a big bright smile.

She was as tall as Alex with a slightly lighter complexion compared to Nick's and her coily hair was slicked back in a tight high ponytail, poofing at the back, perfectly framing her small face.

"Nate, I trust that you can handle Nick by yourself?" Nathan nodded at his best friend and she nodded back.

"So Grace, I need some gauze, cotton balls..." She continued to tell Grace everything she needs to clean and fix her wounds in a low voice so the boys wouldn't hear her. As she enumerated everything, they walked further away from the boys.

"So yeah, that's everything." She tried to  rack her brain in case she forgot something.

"Sure. Do you want me to grab everything and I could just hand it to you with the handsome men that you were with?" Ember immediately shook her head.

"We grab them together and we can check out." Grace nodded and they grabbed a basket and walked to the aisle where everything Ember needs is located in.

They moved quick, picking up all the items in just a couple of minutes and Ember quickly paying for them.

"Thank you so much for your help, Grace." Ember thanked, smiling at her.

"No problem." Grace smiled back. "I'm happy to help a customer." Ember nodded, still smiling.

She waved goodbye and walked back to where she left the boys.

"Hey, E. What'cha got there?" Alex asked which turned the head of both teens that were seriously reading the labels of skincare products.

"Oh just some post-apocalypse snacks for me." She lied partially as she also bought a couple types of candies.

Nathan nodded at her while Nick and Alex looked at each other, wondering what the hell that meant.

"Em, I don't know what would work best for Nick. Is it this one or this?" Nathan asked, showing Ember two different brands.

Ember's hand hovered in the middle of the two, contemplating.

"This one." She grabbed the bottle Nathan was holding in his left hand, starting to read the label. "Yup, definitely this one."

"Great, we're finally done. I didn't know that skincare would take this much work."

"You have no idea." Nathan, Ember and Alex answered at the same time.

The group checked out and walked out of the shop.

"God, I'm so tired." Ember whined. "Carry me, A."

"E, I'm as tired as you."

"Or," Nick interjected, "we simply teleport back."

"Holy s**t, that definitely slipped out my mind," Nathan said.

"Hold hands, guys." Ember immediately grabbed Nick's hand, feeling overly impatient to get back home. Alex held Nathan's hand as he held onto Nick's hand and they whooshed into particles in the air, shocking the few passerby's that were around them.

They travelled through spaces between gas molecules and finally back home.

"And we're back." Nick announced.

"Ugh, that's going to take some getting used to." Ember groaned, holding her stomach, feeling like she was about to puke.

"Agreed." Nathan and Alex second, also holding their stomachs,

"I know right." Nick laughed. "Anyways, can you guys make me look presentable first before I fetch the dude or gal that sent me their address?"

"Alright." Ember responded, getting off the couch and grabbing Nick's shopping bag.

She pulled out a bottle with clear liquid inside and she opened the pack of cotton they also bought. She immediately got to work, making Nick's face look cleaner and fresher.

"And you're done." She said once she finished applying a type of serum.

"Thanks." He smiled, showing his perfect straight white teeth. "Now I gotta fetch whoever I'm supposed to get. Be back in a jiff." He winked before disappearing.

He reappeared after a few minutes with two dudes by his side- also groaning and holding their stomachs- that looked exactly like each other with their average height, a few inches taller than Alex, and tanned skin tone except one has pure black hair and the other guy had pure white hair.

"Oh good, you guys are here." Greyson appeared into the living room as he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel.

The two newcomer's eyes landed on Ember and it was if they weren't just groaning earlier from travelling through molecules.

They knelt in front of Ember, grabbed her hands and kissed the back of it.

"James Caddel, light magic." The white haired one introduced.

"And I'm Jacob Caddel, shadow magic." The black haired one said next.

"The charming Caddel twins." Greyson sarcastically introduced.