Sue fidgeted uncomfortably. One cheek rested on the cold, metal
examination table, and The other on the plastic “butcher’s paper”. She moved
and it crinkled nosily in response. Sue covered herself with her arms. She
was wearing only her frilly pink panties. Her dark blue uniform bundled at
the foot of the exam table. It had been a week since the accident. No one in
the newly dubbed “Fantastic Four” were feeling ill, but Reed had insisted on
a full physical. He’d given both Johnny and Ben a clean bill of health. Only
Sue was left.
Reed entered the room. He retrieved a stethoscope from a nearby drawer.
Sue covered herself as best she could. yes, he was a scientist first, a
med-vec in the army second, but he was also a man. He placed the stethoscope
on her chest, above her bare breast. She took a deep breath upon his command.
The goose flesh rise up on her forearm. She breathed again. This time he put
the scope on her back.
“Heart and lungs seems normal.” he put the scope away.
“Tell me, are you experiencing headaches, nausea, or diarrhea?”
“No.”
“Dizziness, shortness of breath, or chronic back pain?”
“No.”
“I have to cover ALL of my bases. Is there anything else you want to
tell me?”
“Well…” she started. “No. Nothing.”
“You hesitated. What is it?”
“I can’t.
“You must. I have to make a full report to the government. All members
need to pass a physical. You can tell me. Is it…personal?”
He studied her face intently.
“I’ve been having these…cravings.”
“Cravings?”
“Yeah. Oh, Reed this is going to sound crazy.”
“It’s ok. I can handle it. What kind of cravings?” The light in her eyes
seemed to intensify.
“Cigarettes.”
The room went silent. His lower lip scrunched up in scrutiny. Sue shifted
uncomfortably.
“I TOLD you it was crazy.”
“No, no. It’s ok. Can you tell me a little more?”
“I’ve never smoked a day in my life, but ever since the accident… I’ve
been getting these intense…”
“Cravings.”
“Yes. Cravings. It’s like, I see a person smoking in the street, and I
just want to snatch the cigarette from them… suck that thing down to the
filter. Oh, you’re oh, I knew it!”
She started gathering her clothes. Reed stopped her, held her tight by the
shoulders.
“It’s alright Sue. Please. Clam down.”
She stopped moving.
“This is fascinating, and if it’s truly caused by the cosmic radiation, we
need to run some tests…”
He paused to wool gather. She stared at him while the wheels in his head
churned violently. God. He was such a dork! And yet… and yet…
“Sue, will you permit me to… God, this is going to sound strange. Not to
mention it violates my Hippocratic Oath, but…we need to get you some
cigarettes. There’s a store not far from here. I’ll escort you if you
like…”
She smiled. She studied his face. He was serious. And for the first time
since the accident, she realized that some good could come out of all this.
“OK. Let me put my clothes on.”
She reached for her uniform and her black overcoat. Like a Boy Scout, Reed
turned away from her and stared at the wall. She tapped the back of his head.
“You’ve already seen me naked. You can watch me dress…if you want.”
He spun around and then grinned from ear to ear. He shrugged his
shoulders. His eyes were trained keenly on her naked body. He watched as she
reluctantly zippered up the front of her snug, form-fitting uniform. He
helped her with her jacket – sleek black leather, with a snazzy little belt
to loop around it. It cut off at the waist, showcasing how the blue material
clung to her shapely behind. He admired it all the way out the door and into
the street.
They stood at the street corner in front of the Baxter Building, waiting
for the light to change. This was all so strange to her. She looked at Reed’s
reflection in a department store window. She studied it, but didn’t come to
any conclusions. Why? Why go to all this trouble? Why did he suddenly become
so animated? Sue felt him brush up against her. For a second, his front
touched her back. He apologized and backed away, but in that brief moment,
Sue understood everything. He smiled. She touched his hand and smiled again.
They entered a local convince store. There was a long wait at the counter.
Sue decided to use it to her advantage, and get close to Reed. He fidgeting
uncomfortably. She sensed this and whispered a question in his ear. He
quietly responded. She felt her face get hot. She’d guessed, but didn’t know
how right she was. Her hand brushed against his thigh.
The line moved slowly. She lifted her chin slightly and peered above the
crowd. The cashier was a dark-haired girl, of about seventeen. She was cute,
above all else, but sexy too. Sue watched her silently bag a carton of
Newports.
“She doesn’t look old enough to sell those, does she?” Sue whispered.
“N-no, she doesn’t.”
Sue grinned, and concentrated. She created a small visible window dead
center at the girl’s chest. Reed’s eyes widened. Sue smiled wickedly.
“Ah, she’s old enough to smoke them, though. Look at those lungs.”
They stared at the x-ray of her chest. At first glance, the lungs appeared
healthy, but her tiny cilia were coated with thick, black tar. Reed watched
the lungs expand and contract. They were still mostly bright pink, but showed
slight signs of discoloration.
“A rookie. Been smoking about a year. I bet her parents don’t know.”
“No, probably not.”
“What do you think of that, Reed? What do you think of her sneaking
cigarettes? Quite the bad little girl, huh?”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. She decided to have some fun with
him. The invisible window shifted. She revealed her pert little rosebud
breasts for a split second. Reed stifled a laugh and playfully poked her
lower back. They approached the sales girl.
“Marlboro 120s.”
Reed shifted his weight to his other foot. He seemed anxious.
“Oh – and a lighter too, please.”
Sue walked ten feet in front of the store, and began tearing the
cellophane off the pack . “Marlboro 120s? I thought, you know, for a
beginner, you’d start with lights.”
She tore the silver packaging off, and then rapped the pack hard against
her wrist. She smiled as she did this.
“Yeah, well. I don’t fuck around.”
She raised the pack to her lips, and one of the cigarette’s tips caught
her cherry red lips, and she pulled… and continued to pull, the 120 mm
filter sliding against the other cigarettes, making a low but distinct sound
as it scrapped against the cardboard flap. The cigarette hung there for a
moment, unlit, a smirk splayed across her face. Reed watched intently as she
bent her head down, and cupped her hands around the tip. She pulled hard as
the flame caught. She sucked hard with her lips, causing the cigarette to
flip upward slightly. She was there to catch it in the crux of her first and
middle finger, cradling it, as she dragged.
Her eyes aglow, she slowly removed the cigarette from her mouth. Her lips
formed the perfect oval shape, and she exhaled. Reed watched in intense
interest, as the smoke curled from her lips, and began to billow upwards. He
couldn’t believe his eyes.
“No cough.” he whispered.
She flashed him a toothy grin.
“No, no cough,” she confirmed.
This was truly something to behold.
“And you’ve never smoked a cigarette before, in your entire life?”
She simply shook her head, blew the remaining smoke out of her nostrils,
and returned the cigarette to her anxiously-awaiting lips. Reed was simply
beside himself.
“We have to…go back to the lab – for tests.”
“Lead the way.” she said, talking through her exhale.
His eyes followed her and her cigarette the entire way back. She handled,
inhaled, and exhaled like an expert. It didn’t make much sense, but Reed saw
the evidence before his very eyes. The cigarette was down to a nub by the
time they reached the Baxter Building. Sue crushed it against the brick
exterior, and scrapped it as she walked, creating a long, black scar on the
red brick. She flicked the spent butt into the bushes. Reed stared at the
mark. She smiled.
“You coming?” she teased.
He wordlessly followed her inside. She was about to light up again on the
way up the stairs, but Reed insisted she wait until they reached the lab. The
cigarette dangled from her lips as they made their way upstairs and into the
research lab. He had her sit back down on the table.
“Disrobe, please.”
He turned his back to her again. She couldn’t help but laugh. At the sound
of this, Reed spun around and again became a captive audience. She slipped
out of her coat, and slowly, seductively removed the blue uniform, never once
taking the unlit cigarette out of her mouth.
He nodded, and she lit it immediately. He picked up the stethoscope and
listened to her chest while she inhaled and exhaled. He did it for an
inordinately long time. She carefully stroked his hair while he did this,
amused by how enamored he was with doing this – his medical fetish and his
smoking fetish fulfilled at once.
“Reed. I think there’s a chemical reaction going on.”
“Where?”
She smiled and pointed to her crotch. He stretched his fingers down to her
waiting vagina, without ever taking his head away from her chest. He inhaled
the smoky scent, and listened closely to the smoke pour in and out of her
lungs. There would be enough opportunities to explore the bizarre positions
made possible by his super-powers, just not enough hours in the day.