Collective Mutants: Summer Heat - I

by Rossi

He stepped off the train and the heat hit him like a physical blow. Dry, scorching heat, like a blast from a furnace, smelling of baked earth and dried grass. and sheep.

"Hot enough for you, mate?" asked a familiar voice behind him, and he turned, squinting into the afternoon glare.

"It's a bit warm," he agreed, grinning. "It's good to see you, Ali."

"You too, Fish." Allison smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "C'mon, mate, let's get out of here. There's a beer with your name on it in the fridge at home. Literally. I wrote on it so that pig of a brother of mine didn't pinch it before we got back."

Fish laughed, and followed his friend and former housemate through the patch of bare ground that seemed to be the train station's car park. "He can't be too bad, Ali. He lent you his ute to pick me up," he said, dumping his sports bag in the back of said vehicle. The garment bag he brought with him into the cabin, although that was only marginally cleaner than the tray - the floor was covered with bits of hay and baling twine, and red dust coated the seats.

"Only because I offered to muck out the chook yard next time it needs doing," Allison said wryly, sliding into the driver's seat with casual familiarity. Her hair was longer, he noticed, as she started the ute with a roar and pulled out. Blonder too, bleached pale at the ends by the sun. Or maybe it was the fact she was so brown that it looked that way. "What?" she asked, glancing at him, flushing very slightly under his stare. "Have I got something on my face or something?" In that tanned face, her eyes were startlingly blue.

"Nah, I was just. You look happy, Ali. It's good to see," he temporised, expecting her to laugh at him. Instead, her expression softened slightly.

"I am," she said quietly. "I thought maybe I'd get bored, miss all that stuff in the city, but honestly? It's good to be home. I miss you guys, of course, but I don't think I'd want to be anywhere else." She flicked the indicator on as they drove through the tiny main street of the town, turning left at a low sandstone building with broad verandahs that could only be the local pub. "Dad's even been talking about retiring in the next couple of years and splitting the place, between me and Dave."

"How's Dave feel about that?" Fish squinted through the windscreen, at the heat haze shimmering on the road like illusionary water. The buildings had dropped off pretty quickly, and on either side of them stretched endless yellow paddocks, punctuated by fence lines and the occasional tree. Even with the windows down - which set the hay fragments into a dervish dance inside the cabin - it was baking hot. "You two still getting along?"

"Compared to before I left, like a house on fire." Allison looked across at him again, and flipped open the console between the seats, pulling out a plastic bottle of water. It had clearly been frozen, ice still lingering inside and condensation beading the sides. "Here. I knew you'd need something to get you back in this weather. Weather Bureau predicted high thirties to low forties today. I reckon it's close to 42, 43 out there."

"As always, you're a life saver, mate." Fish took the bottle and drank gratefully, the cold causing a momentary flash of pain across his temples. Heat had never been kind to him, not with his mutation - under his light cotton t-shirt he could feel his gills practically gaping for cool water.

"We can go down the river later, have a swim, if you like," she said, shrugging. Her hands were relaxed and sure on the steering wheel, a fresh cut or two showing on the backs, the nails brutally short. "Can't have you expiring of heat exhaustion before the big do. That'd be a pain in the arse to explain."

"Explain to who?" Fish took another gulp of water, and held out the bottle to her. "Want some?"

"Nah, I'm fine. To the pains in the arse that have been bugging me about this bloody thing for the past two weeks. I think just about ever farm hand and jackaroo in a twenty k radius has called 'round. Dad's been threatening to set the dogs on 'em." At Fish's snort of laughter, she added: "I've been telling them I already had a date. My bloke from the Big Smoke."

"What, me?" Fish paused in his laughter, not believing his luck.

"No, I mean Bert Bloody Newton. Of course, you, you drongo." Seeing him preen, just a little, she grinned. "James already had a date, and Robbo's just as bad as the blokes around here, so I had to make do."

"Thanks a heap," he huffed, pretending to be insulted.

"You're welcome." She looked away from the road again and reached across to punch him lightly on the arm. "It's bloody good to see you, Fish."

"I knew you couldn't resist me forever," he replied, grinning. She hit him again, harder this time, before turning her attention back to driving.

***

Fish broke the surface of the river with a gasp of relief, having swum underwater from one side to the other several times in quick succession. He could practically feel his skin drinking in the cool fluid. Treading water, he asked Allison: "So, what's the deal with this thing? I mean, I've heard of B&S Balls before, but somehow I don't think you'd be into circle work with a ute."

"You never know, mate, it's a big thing here in the country, driving around in circles in a muddy paddock," she replied from her perch on the half-sunken tree she and her brother had used as a diving board since they were small. His response was to splash water in her direction and she reciprocated, before adding: "Well, it's the only real big party around, besides the odd 21st. So the local kids tend to make a big deal out of it - they dress up, stress over who they're going to go with, even though they'll go with the same people they always go to everything to, drink way too much - but it's a bit of a laugh. Mum kind of insisted I go this time; I was too young before, and I think she wants to show the district that I'm safe to be around. Either that or marry me off to some farmer's son."

"I'd like to see that," Fish snorted.

"I'll have you know I'm one of the most eligible 'spinsters' going to this thing tomorrow," she sniffed, but her eyes danced with laughter.

"Sure you are," he teased.

"Bastard," she retorted, kicking water in his direction. He merely ducked underwater and swam over to where her feet dangled. Before she could blink, he'd grabbed her feet and pulled her in with a most embarrassingly girlish squeal. "No fair!" she spluttered when he let her go to reappear next to her. "There's no point even ducking you, since you can stay under all day and not give a rats."

"Exactly right," he said with an evil grin. "You're in my territory now." He moved in on her, the grin turning predatory and she kicked herself backwards, giggling despite herself.

"Don't you dare."

"Hey, you two lovebirds coming in for tea or are you too busy snogging?" called David from the bank. Allison's ears turned bright red and she muttered something rude under her breath.

"That brother of mine is going to die. Slowly and painfully." Fish echoed the sentiment mentally as he watched her head for the bank with a few swift strokes. Watching the play of muscles under smooth tanned skin as she waded out, he added several extra tortures to the mental image.

"Oi, Tadpole, come on!" Allison's call roused him from images of David's lingering death, and he looked over to where she was standing on the bank, a faded beach towel wrapped around her shoulders.

"Yeah, be there in a sec," he called back, and ducked under the water for a last few laps, leaving barely a ripple behind him. It would be best for his health, he rationalised, if his gills got maximum hydration.

Nothing to do with having an erection at all.

***

"Well now, don't you scrub up well!" Allison's mother, plump and matronly but with that practical, no-nonsense edge Fish'd seen in Allison all-too-frequently, beamed at him as he emerged from the spare room. He blushed slightly and tugged at the collar of his shirt, where the bow tie was threatening to cut off his circulation.

"Thanks, Mrs F," he said. "I feel like a right dope in this lot - are you sure Allie isn't having me on about the whole tux thing?"

"Afraid not, mate," drawled David, following Fish into the communal dining/kitchen area in a tuxedo of his own. He tugged at his collar, unconsciously echo Fish's gesture. "The B&S is the height of the social calendar 'round here, which means dragging out the monkey suit."

"Well, I think you both look lovely," his mother protested. "Such handsome boys. Aren't they handsome, Les?"

A grunt came from behind the stock auction pages of the local paper screening a beaten-up armchair in the corner. David's ears reddened.

"Knock it off, Mum," he growled, and made a point of looking at the clock on the wall. "Where the hell is Allie? She's been in the bathroom all bloody afternoon."

"Like you didn't take hours yourself," came Allison's snort from behind them. "Still, you had a bit of a challenge, making your ugly mug presentable."

"Who are you calling ug." David began, but the rest of his retort was lost as, with a click of heels on the linoleum, Allison brushed between him and Fish to stand in the middle of the kitchen. "Bloody hell," he managed, still looking stunned. Beside him, Fish was trying to remember how to breathe.

"So, is it all right?" Allison asked, half-teasing, half-nervous. She essayed a small twirl, revealing that the halter-top of the peach-coloured dress left her back almost entirely bare. Her hair had been French braided, the plait reaching the base of her neck, and small diamond studs glittered in her ears.

Fish's collar seemed to tighten to the point of strangulation.

"Ergle," he gurgled, and Allison's grin turned mischievous.

"I'll take that as a 'yes, my brain has melted and I've lost all higher functions', shall I? See, bro? _That's_ how to win a girl over. Bowl her over with compliments."

"That's enough, Allison," scolded her mother, coming forward to tweak at Allison's hair just a little. "You're embarrassing the poor boy."

"And you weren't earlier?" Allison teased. "Okay, I'll behave."

"That dress is a bit short, isn't it?" came a voice from the corner as her father finally lowered his paper to peer critically at his offspring. Allison seemed unperturbed.

"No, it's just the right length. I'll be able to jump out the car and open the gates, without tripping over some idiotic long skirt." She smoothed down the front of the figure-hugging dress, which stopped at mid-thigh. "I could go out drenching in this, no worries."

"Not without a gallon of sunscreen," David added. "So that's why you were wearing that stupid halter-top thing for the past couple of weeks." He ducked the playful slap Allison aimed at him. "Hey, not the hair!" he protested, trying to preserve his carefully-combed-and-almost-terminally-moussed arrangement.

"No more nonsense and go into the front room - I want a picture," Mrs Ferguson herded the three of them into the rather stilted-looking room none of them used except for company. Like a sheep-dog with a penchant for floral print, she arranged them to her satisfaction - Allison in between the two boys - in front of her pride and joy, the crystal cabinet (it contained the various pieces of crystal the Ferguson women had won in three generations of Local Show baking competitions) and stepped back, camera raised. "Now then, everyone smile. Fish, you'll have to put your arm around Allison so I can fit you into the shot."

"_Mum_," Allison growled through gritted teeth. She ignored the tingle that shot up her spine as Fish's hand brushed her bare back.

"Smile, dear," her mother replied blandly and took the shot, the flash momentarily dazzling them all. "Lovely. Now, off you go, or you'll be late."

"Drive carefully, and don't worry about the chores - Jim and I will have it in hand," instructed Mr Ferguson as they trooped through the kitchen again. "I'd say 'don't drink too much', but I remember my B&S days, so I'll settle for, 'don't be stupid'. And look after Allison, you two -these things can get a bit rough."

"Dad, I _can_ take care of myself, you know," Allison protested, bending down to kiss his weather-seamed cheek. "And don't overdo it - things can wait until tomorrow."

"None of that mutant power business, you hear? Especially if you're drinking. You don't know what could happen."

"No, Dad." Allison rolled her eyes as she kissed her mother goodbye, before following the two boys out the back door to David's ute.

***

The region's annual Bachelor and Spinster's Ball was held in the local hall, with a marquee out the back to extend the space available and give the hall's floor a respite from spilt beer, muddy shoes, and unfortunate biological accidents. The lights were blazing in the warm twilight as the three of them approached, having parked the ute a little way up the road on the banks of the river.

"You leave your vehicle in the car park 'round here and there's no tellin' what'll happen to it," David had explained. "Either some bastard'll use it for burnouts or something stupid, or you'll have some couple going at it like rabbits in the back."

"Which explains the sudden proliferation of mattresses in the backs of farm utes," snickered Allison, picking her way along the dirt track and wishing she'd grabbed her boots for this part - her heels weren't exactly practical for walking on rough terrain. "Which reminds me. I couldn't help but notice the sleeping bags you tossed in the back of yours, Dave. Thinking of getting lucky?"

David's ears turned red and he muttered something. Fish nudged Allison. "Looks like you were right."

Luckily for David they were hailed by a group of dinner-suited young men - still wearing their farm hats and boots, though - assembled at the front of the hall as they approached. Greetings and catcalls were exchanged, the newcomer introduced, beer handed over. and the evening had begun.

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