"Who do you think he is?"
"I don't know but he smells like rotting corpses, not just one but many," responded a gruff voice behind me.
"Yeah, can someone light some candles please? He smells worse than the sewers," a jolly voice said as she held her nose.
"Jean, have you retried to go through his mind?" a bald man said, rolling in, followed by a tall blue furry with a lighter and candles.
"Yes, Professor, but I could not decipher much. His mind works so fast, and from the little I could get, he seemed in panic. And you, Beast, have you found anything about him?"
"No, he does not even seem to exist. No paper trail, nothing on the internet and nothing on the S.H.I.E.L.D. database," Beast said as he lit the candles.
"So, let's recap. We have a man falling through a portal, landing on the table while we were eating breakfast and, last but not least, he smells like rotting flesh. I say we throw him in the Danger Room, so if he wakes up, we can contain him for now," said Scott with an assertive tone.
"We could do that, but since he came out of a portal, he may have the power to teleport. Or we could let him explain himself. I know you're awake," Jean said with a sarcastic tone.
As she said that, I opened my eyes. I was faking being passed out on a sofa surrounded by familiar people the X-Men.
"Yeah, okay." As Wolverine unsheathed his claws, Scott put his hand on his glasses, and Rogue was losing a glove. "Calm down, I don't want to hurt you."
"And you are?" Jean said, taking the lead in the conversation.
"Hi, I'm Ethan Reacher." Getting up, looking around, then finding my target. "Can I eat that? Thank you." Not letting anyone respond and, in what seems to be a nanosecond, getting a bowl of cereal and sitting back on the sofa. "I'm so fucking hungry. Oh, and I'm sorry about the smell," with a mouth full.
"Hi, yes you can. I'm Jean. This is—" Oh fuck, this is long, I need to slow down. I mean, in the zombie universe, I was alone with no one to talk to, and I spent most of my time in flash time. "Don't worry, I know who you guys are," finally slowing down and cutting off Jean.
"Rude," said Jean.
"Oh, sorry. It's been a while since I talked to anyone," realising I was rude. "Okay, so to cut it short, I'm from another universe—you know, the multiverse and its shenanigans."
"Wait, you're saying the multiverse exists?" Beast said, excited.
Wolverine cut him off. "Now's not the time, McCoy. We have a stranger and he still smells like rotting flesh."
"Oh that—in my world, there was a zombie apocalypse that touched everyone… well almost everyone on earth. And when i was aboout to be infect at the last minute, I found a way to travel to another universe."
Scott came forward. "I don't believe you. You're saying the multiverse exists, and you survived an apocalypse and you came here?"
"He's not lying. Don't take offence, but I was just verifying if what you said was true. And don't worry, I almost got nothing from you—your mind is moving so fast, me and Jean could not understand a fraction of your mind."He's gone through my head and is using Jean as a shield. For now, let's just give them a warning.
"Don't go through my head, or I'll overwhelm you with so many thoughts of no value, I'll give you a mental meltdown."
"Hey—" started shouting Scott but was cut off by Jean.
"It's okay. Can you excuse us? We just wanted to assure that you were no threat to the people of this school," she said with an empathic tone.
I do not like that. It might be my paranoia speaking, but someone agreeing with you so fast and defending you when you just threatened them does not sit right with me. But I nod.
"Uhm, can I go take a shower and we'll finish this conversation after? I'll answer what I can." Trying to calm the situation with Scott and Wolverine, as they did not want to relax—at least Rogue put her glove back on.
Without waiting a second and speaking for the first time, Kitty said, "Yes, go take a shower while we see what we can do about the sofa. I think we might have to burn it."
"Great, thank you. If it's not too much, could I have a new set of clothes? As for these, you will have to burn them. Yes, where can I find a bathroom?"
"Down the hallway, there is an empty room. You can shower there and I'll bring you a new set of clothes," Jean responded.
While me and Jean leave the room, everyone turns to Kitty.
"What? I couldn't focus with this smell."
"Yeah, she's right," Rogue adds while looking at the sofa where Ethan was passed out. "We might have to burn at least the cushions."
It might have been years since I talked to people, but I did not miss it. It's more taxing than running from the dead, I think, while under the shower.
So, what's the plan? After the revelation from the Speed Force and me finally being capable of travelling through the multiverse, should I just leave the zombie universe for good? Don't look back and go on? I mean, I already did half the work with the cure. Uhm… decision, decision.
'When was the last time I took a normal shower?' I thought while scrubbing every inch of my body. This feels good.
[10 minutes later]
(Jean POV)
Dropping a clean set of clothes, I had to go get some from a small store not far away. This is cliché, but at the same time I arrived, he came out of the bathroom with just a towel. I did not see it before with all the dirt and blood on him, but he has a handsome face. I wonder what he looks like without the beard. He has a well-defined body, even if a bit lean.
"Do you think I should shave the beard?" he said, cutting my thinking short.
"I don't know. I think it gives you a rugged look. I like it. But you need a new haircut—at least shorten it a bit."
"Yeah, maybe. These are my clothes?" nodding and handing them to him, and in the blink of an eye, he is dressed.
"Okay, let's not keep everyone waiting."