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Nick did. He leaned forward, kissing the bump in Pyro Storm’s mask where his nose was. “Hi. Nice to see you.”
Pyro Storm sighed, though he was fighting a smile. “How did you find me?”
Nick winced. “Uh, the tracker? But I swear I wasn’t being creepy or that I don’t trust you, even though you lied when you said you were going home and going to bed. I forgive you for that, by the way. Who is that? Why didn’t you tell me there was another Extraordinary?”
“Go home,” Pyro Storm said. “We can talk about this tomorrow, okay? I swear, it’s not what it looks like.”
“What does it look like?” Nick asked, confused.
Pyro Storm looked over his shoulder at the other Extraordinarybefore turning back to Nick. “I’m not—we’renot doing anything. With each other. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Nick gaped at him before bending over, wrapping his arms around his waist as he laughed.
Pyro Storm frowned. “It’s not funny!”
“It is,” Nick gasped, wiping his eyes. “Dude, I know you, okay? You would never cheat on me.”
“You didn’t think that?” Pyro Storm asked, sounding small and unsure.
And Nick couldn’t have that. He leaned his forehead against Pyro Storm’s, the heat from him chasing away the chill in the air. “Of course not. I trust you not to mess around on me. That’s pretty mature, if you think about it.”
Pyro Storm shook his head. “You dork.”
“Introduce me,” Nick said, stepping back. But instead of waiting, Nick pushed by Pyro Storm and marched toward the new Extraordinary. “Sorry about that. He’s really protective of me. I’m cool with it. Hey! Hi, hello. I’m Nicholas Bell, and you are … ma’am? Sir? Some other pronoun you would have me use?”
The Extraordinary looked past him at Pyro Storm. “He’s loud.”
Nick nodded furiously. “That’s my default setting. Sorry about that. So—about that electricity you almost fried me with. I have questions.”
The Extraordinary looked him up and down. “Seems like you have your hands full with this one.”
“Not yet,” Nick said. “Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean we’re ready to take our relationship to the next level. We’re waiting until the time is right, even if it means blue balls.”
Pyro Storm groaned as the Extraordinary snorted. “I certainly wasn’t talking about that.”
Nick blanched. “Oh. Uh—right. My bad. I can see now that you weren’t inquiring about our sex life. Let’s start again. I’m Nick. And you are …”
“Wait,” Pyro Storm said as the Extraordinary opened their mouth. “Don’t.”
Nick and the Extraordinary both glared at Pyro Storm. “Honeybunch, he just asked my name. If I don’t want to tell him, I won’t.”
Pyro Storm shook his head. “It’s not that. You need to work up to it slowly with him. Trust me. Watch. Nick?”
“Yes,” Nick said promptly.
“I’m going to tell you her name in a moment, but first, I have to give you some information. I want you to breathe, okay? Easy breaths, in and out. Can you do that for me?”
Nick could. He sucked in a breath, held it, then let it out. He did it again. And again.
“Okay,” Pyro Storm said, taking his hand. “I’m going to tell you two things. I don’t want you to speak until I’m finished. Can you do that?”
Pffft. Easy.
Pyro Storm squeezed his hand. “First, she’s a drag queen. When she’s in costume, she uses she/her pronouns. When she’s not, she uses he/him.”
“A Puerto Rican drag queen,” the Extraordinary said, a seductive curl to her lips. “The best in Nova City.”
Nick opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out was—for lack of a better word—a squeak.
