Cody Cross breathed deep as he stepped out of his apartment building into the night air. God, possibly the best thing about this holiday was the smell. The city in winter normally just smelled like dirty snow, air pollution, and urine, but today it was different. His superhuman sense of smell picked up the aroma of flowers, of perfume and cologne, of warming chocolate, oil, and cheese, of champagne and wine, all covering up the stink of Neo City in February. Valentine's Day was superficial in origin, sure, but he didn't mind the effects one bit on a day like today.
He hadn't always thought of it so positively. As a shy and awkward teenager, he'd hated it; always seeing the girls he had a crush on get buried in valentines and gifts by admirers and their boyfriends, then knowing what happened that night, it made him resent the commercial holiday. All it did was rub his face in being alone. But that had changed over time, he's started to actually grow into his body and features and started getting noticed a little despite still being an introvert and a geek and then Wolf had chosen him and everything changed.
That had been eight years ago now. Had it really been so long? He'd had so many adventures since then, first as a teen hero and now at twenty-five, a card carrying member of one of the world's premier teams and being part of the mystical guardians of Earth.
He still didn't care for Valentine's a great deal but he sure appreciated the break it gave his nose. This Valentine's Day though, today, he felt very good about the holiday. He had a date with a girl he liked and he felt it had a good chance of ending with them both at her place. He felt a little bad about hoping for that, wanting it, but hell, he was still a young guy. And it had been a while. His life wasn't exactly conducive to a love or sex life of any kind despite being surrounded by the ridiculously beautiful women and men that made up the super set. He couldn't count the number of times he'd returned from an adventure so turned on by his comrades, or even enemies, that he'd had to pleasure himself before he could start thinking straight. Along with realizing just how much of the world smelled like piss that was another down side to his powers; his desires were stronger and more animalistic.
But there wouldn't be any of that tonight! It would be romantic, sweet, and blessedly normal. He had a dozen roses and a box of homemade chocolates, his nicest, well, only suit. The city was quiet, nothing was going to stop him from-
Cody stopped in mid-step, turning and breathing in, his nostrils flaring. Among all the smells of the city, its people, and the thankfully cloaking aroma of Valentine's Day, there was one scent that was standing out. A young woman's, younger than him, smelling a bit of sweat, of excitement, mild arousal, but offset with the musty scent of chitin and an acrid chemical tang. "Fuck!"
He ignored the questioning looks and the way people hurried past him or just moved wide as he shook his head, shifting the bouquet to his left hand and stuffing the chocolates under the same arm. Then he turned and made an easy leap that carried him up a story and a half, his right hand reaching out and taking hold of the side of the closest building, his feet pressing against it and bracing before he leaped again, up to the top and out of sight, people crying out at the inhuman feat. "She just had to show up now!"
~
"You just had to show up now!" The Scarlet Sting shouted, frustration in her vibrant young voice, as the heavy door slammed shut from the impact of Prowl's body against it; the powerful blow of her tail having caught him and sent the hero hurtling across the space of the vault. There was a series of thuds as thick bolts slid automatically into place around the massive portal of steel and titanium along with a whir of clicks as smaller locks engaged. Her red wine colored eyes went wide, the smooth, creamy skin of her face paling, plush pink lips falling open aghast and showing clean, white teeth. They were locked in? They were locked in! "You idiot! Now look at what you've done!"
Scarlet Sting, a name she usually preferred to her "real" name of Rachel Whitmore, threw her hands up in the air and stomped her foot in anger, making far more sound with it than one would expect from a woman of her size. The one time, the one time, in her nineteen years of life that she actually had a date for Valentine's Day and he had to show up and make her miss it! What the hell was he thinking?
Prowl, Cody's code name, watched his longtime adversary warily. "That's my line, Scarlet," he growled, already on his feet and watching her, his body tensed and ready to explode into motion at any moment. Shit! On his own, he wouldn't be strong enough to get through that door or any of the walls; and there weren't any vents that went in here that were large enough for anything but an insect. So much for his date. They were in here until the bank opened and the manager unsealed the vault.
She turned to face him and let her eyes look over her familiar foe. Even as many times as they'd encountered each other, she rarely got a really good look at him, he was always moving so fast! His eyes were not hidden by his timber wolf grey, sharp edged domino mask and they shone faintly in the dark like polished gold. His features were strong and sharp, almost rough but not quite, and clean shaven with a somewhat wild mop of russet locks that fell down to his jawline. His skin was the kind of pale that came with Nordic ancestry but was weathered and slightly tan from spending time outside. He was tall and lean but hardly skinny; that gracile frame was packed with hard, wiry muscle that could be seen flexing and moving under the body hugging costume he wore, almost every detail of his body showcased and clearly defined. It got less snug in the crotch area but there had always been a very large bulge there that she'd always been a bit curious about. It couldn't be that...he had to stuff or wear a big cup or something.
His costume did show off his ass however, and damn! He was her enemy and all but she loved to get her hands on it! It felt great and it always threw him off a step when she copped a feel during a fight. His costume was primarily that same wolf grey color with a stripe of a dull burnt yellow that started on the inside of the legs above his flexible boots and went up the middle of his chest to stop in a sharp "v" just below his neck, the gray resuming for his shoulders, the short sleeves, and the high neck of the bodysuit. His arms were bare below mid-bicep until the mid-forearm length gloves began, also gray with details of that burnt yellow. He wore no belt, leaving his lines fluid and streamlined, supple, sleek, and primal. He moved the same way; with an animal grace, power, and purpose that could sent a thrill through anyone watching as it set off that instinct buried in the human unconsciousness that remembers what it means to be hunted. He didn't usually have the box he had tucked under one arm and the bouquet of what had once been roses though.
Okay, so he was hot. And it looked like he'd had a date too. But he still fucked the whole night up! "You're the one who came in here all sneaky, picked off my guys, and threw us both in here. And shut the door!"
He grimaced, "You knocked me into the door; I didn't walk over and close it!" Prowl took a few steps towards her, golden eyes bright, "And you were the one robbing the bank in the first place."
