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Truth be told Nathan wasn't much of an attentive student in school, Hell quite the opposite. About the only subject he really had a liking towards was Science. He still felt some of the stuff from it go right over his head, still it was all stuff that had his interest. Funny thing though about science, it always had a knack for showing up when you forget all about it.
For example, did you know that when depressurized, like in a plane, air pockets can expand?
Nathan does now.
As the plane had landed Nathan looked like he had been stung or had an allergic reaction to something. He kept trying to blame it on the lunch they served, swearing their must have been nuts or something in it. Though he was quickly and repeatedly refusing any service for his weirdly swollen self whenever a stewardess asked. Thankfully the flight being fairly short, few hours that he was never able to keep track of in his bloated panic, and having his smart phone connected to his surf mix on Spotify helped a ton. Still it didn't make getting out any easier, as is puffy body squeaked, at least in his mind, as he had a little struggle getting out of the seat, getting his luggage from the overhead, and getting off the plane.
“Sir again I'm so sorry about the allergies, are you sure you're okay?” One of the stewardesses asked Nathan as he tried to hurry past a bit awkwardly
“Oh no yeah great its fine really gotta go!” Nathan babbled as he scurried off the plane. Quickly looking for a nearby bathroom. Even with the air pressure back to normal he still felt bloated. He needed a way to get the air out, and sadly he forced himself to do the first thing that came to mind.
...PPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT…Nathan wasn't the type to eat foods that can induce that kind of... flatulence, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Clenching at his finally back to six pack perfection stomach Nathan breathed a bit before sighing.
“Ah.... thank God.” He let out in a breath of relief. Quietly though he realized all the other men in the bathroom, looking on in shock and awe of the scene, more importantly horrifying loud noise, that just occurred. Quickly Nathan needed to and came up with an excuse.
“Phew... airplane food am I right? Seriously don't eat the chicken next time, stuff is not friendly to ya.” Nathan awkwardly said aloud, feeling his face bloom red as he awkwardly made his leave in a hurry.
In first class, Sam refused to settle himself. He used a fake ID to purchase drinks, and he continually flirted with the stewardess whenever she made her rounds. The man next to him instantly regretted switching seats with him, but that’s what he got for wanting a view from the window. Sam swayed across the aisle, restless from the stims and anxious from what would come after the trip. If he had just stayed sober, it would be an entirely different story, but both feelings were subtly feeding off of each other in his obnoxious show. It may have been somewhat excusable if he had even acknowledged the few others in first class, but his focus was on distracting himself with the brunette in her early-30s donning that continued to humor his playful advances up until landing.
All the alcohol Sam had consumed struck him the moment those cabin doors opened. He stood, quickly snatched his duffel bag from the overhead bin. He had strolled between the rows and out of the walkway, now refusing to even glance at the stewardess he had admired for the past couple hours as she bid him farewell. Sam was always good at hiding his drunkenness up until he opened his mouth. He could navigate his way home for miles in a blackout state without arousing suspicion, but the second he would open his mouth, his words would transform into a string of complete nonsense and his mind would struggle to grasp everything lost in translation.
Sam seemed to wander aimlessly through the airport. He didn’t know what he was looking for exactly, but his body seemed to be on autopilot. His mouth hung open, and his eyes struggled to hold any focus. Next thing he knew, he was in the bathroom throwing water against his face. He looked up and saw his miserable face before him:
I need to get coherent… fast. In the reflection, he saw a long-haired blonde man practically jump into the bathroom and pass what could have been the nastiest gas he could have ever smelled behind him. Everyone else present seemed to share Sam’s look of disgust. The guy said a couple words, but they went right over Sam’s head as the smell began to drift, horrid enough to actually sober Sam up a bit. The guy was visibly embarrassed, and quickly made his exit. Not wanting to bask in this atmosphere, Sam followed suit.
”Oh man, please tell me unleashing unholy ass bombs like that isn’t your superpower or something!” Sam jokingly shouted towards, what looked to him, the blonde meathead. He probably shouldn’t have been spouting off about bombs in an airport, but then again he wasn’t really giving much attention to his own words.
At this point, having done something he couldn’t get past the shame of, well for the most part, a small sick part of him was proud of what he just did. Nathan just wanted to get his surfboards, get away from this airport, and start finding out who, what, and why. However something caught his eardrum and made him quickly turn around. Okay it wasn’t the bomb part, but that was pretty stupid. It was more the superpower part of it all. Quickly Nathan stopped in his tracks, getting straight back over to the black guy who said all that.
“Come on what superpower yeah thats great like anyone would have a superpower thats so dumb bro hahahahahahaha…” Nathan was still embarrassed and this didn’t help matters at all. Trying to play it all off though Nathan realized he just made it worse. So he quickly readjusted with a cough.
“No man I just had a bit of bad gas you know, burrito on the inflight meal and all. Heh.”Sam knew he only made the situation more awkward by bringing it up outside the bathroom. He walked over to the guy and put his arm over his shoulders. It was a clear invasion of personal space, but in Sam’s current state of mind it was a friendly gesture. In a low whisper, he uttered in his ear, in the most intense tone he could put on,
”Well guy, I have superpowers.” Things started awkward the moment the guy started to tenderly wrap his arm around Nathan’s masculine shoulder. Seriously why do people always assume he’s gay because he likes to walk around with his shirt off and enjoys his own body so much? Though what the guy said, in a voice that dripped of every kind of alcohol the plane could possibly have had on it. That did catch Nathan’s attention. There was a brief moment when Nathan wondered about this guy being involved in that whole ‘stopping evil government’ business he found himself in. Then again the drunk probably just needed some nappy time.
“Yeah sure buddy whatever you say.” Nathan huffed as he found himself suddenly dragging along a drunk man towards luggage.
”No, really.” Sam had initially meant it as a gag, but he was actually offended when this guy snubbed him like that.
Nathan sighed, okay now this guy is either screwing with him hard or he was now carrying around a completely slouched brethren of taking down corruption. He truthfully wasn’t sure how he’d feel about the later, but he figured he might as well play along for the time being.
“Alright bro whats your big super power? Smelling like a dive bar?””Hahaha,” Sam remembered how hammered he actually was. He realized running his mouth like this was a bad idea, but he figured this guy would never really believe him, and if he did
so what? He stuck his hand in his pocket and retrieved the letter. He hadn’t thrown it away like he was supposed to, but then again he had read it on his walk back to his room some hours before in broad daylight.
”Well, to be honest, I’m not completely sure…” and he wasn’t lying: Sam didn’t think perfect aim and withstanding impact really constituted him having superpowers, but flying through a windshield and walking away with nothing but flesh wounds didn’t really have a label in his head.
”But, this thing says I’m special or some shit. My guess is I’m invincible.”Nathan was still doing a bang up job assuming the drunk hanging off of him was doing an amazing job playing his little game with him. However things suddenly got very real when Nathan was face to face with the same letter he had gotten on Cocoa Beach a few hours before. Sighing irritated Nathan quickly grabbed the letter out of Sam’s hand.
“You fucking idiot you were supposed to throw this away.” Nathan quietly but not really that much so told the guy who probably wasn’t comprehending it anyways. Ripping the letter up in his hands as quickly and into as small a pieces as could Nathan quickly threw it into a nearby waste bin while keeping Sam upright.
’Man…. First I get turned into a balloon, fart out a bathroom, now I’m stuck with this drunk? Off to a flying start man.’ Nathan sighed,
“Look just… here.” Nathan gently hoisted Sam down onto a seat as he got to the luggage carousel. Shaking his head as he waited for the luggage to arrival so he can get his surfboard and get whatever this show is on the road.
”Aight man, look here…” and just as quickly as he was plopped down, Sam stood up.
”First off, I’m good on my feet. Second, I need to get my bag, too. Third, fuck you Mr. Cargo Shorts. What’s your fucking name anyway?” Nathan sighed annoyed with him as he shook his head slowly. Seriously what the Hell kind of thing did he do to deserve this? It sucked worse because Nathan could see a guy and girl nearby getting some coffee from a stand. Seriously he didn’t deserve this.
“Its Nathan alright? Nathan McFadden.”As Sam stood, his cognitive function was slowly returning. With a single thought, he snapped his head and met Nathan’s eyes:
”Sam Pikus. I’m guessing we’re here on the same shit.” Sam saw his suitcase on the carousel and was quick to snatch it. In a single motion he pulled up the handle and threw his duffel bag on top.
”In that case, I’m gonna go out for a smoke before the Smiths or whoever the fuck get here. I’ll have plenty of time to annoy you in however fucking long this trip is.”Nathan watched Sam walk past before he spotted his boards in their luggage tote. He grabbed it, hoisting it upright as he sighed. Having to remind himself that the beaches will be worth it. There was a second thought, but he’s pretty sure even when the two are out of public view he still wouldn’t be allowed to coil an arm around that guy’s neck and choke the life out of him….
