When he woke up a few hours later, his wings were bigger and he felt, unhinged…. like he wasn't balanced or in control. He realized, his hair was on fire, the fire seemed to glow a deep red. He tried taking the flames from his hair to his hands, but he only succeeded in making the flames brighter. He tried putting it out, it worked. He tried lighting up his hand, the flames floated just above his palms. Somehow they were, purple and blue. He stopped with fire, and tried wind. A breeze came through the room, the wind started to flow around him like a tornado. Clothes and papers flew around the room, he was floating, which scared him since he didn't know how to stop. He tried to stop it but he couldn't focus. He calmed himself down, so did the mini-tornado. He breathed in 3 seconds, held it for 7 seconds, breathed out for 8 seconds. It disappeared and everything dropped, Vigil somehow caught everything. He realized he was using the earth powers, and put everything back in its place. He didn't want to try water yet, he'd wait until after work when no one was around. He tried lightning, his arms and hands crawled with energy and it spread across his body. He felt excited and jittery, he focused on just his hands but he ended up losing it entirely. He would have to work on that one. Before he started on the darkness, something caught his eye. It was his life book, he'd been writing in it since he was four and it was what he vented all of his feelings into. He sat on the bed then picked it up and flipped through the pages; songs, pictures, chronicle entries, notes from when Travis taught him things, a few stories and poems. He heard a knock at the door, he hid it under his pillow. The door opened, Rownan was in the door,
"hey Panic! At the Everywhere,"
"Really?"
"My nickname fits you better. Anyways, we're going to 'Tum Tai' wanna come?"
"Nah, I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, we'll be back in a few hours. See ya."
"Bye."
He heard the door open and close. So he got up, grabbed his headphones and phone, and went to the living room. He put on his dance playlist and Zendaya came on, he danced to it for a while then put his phone and headphones away. He made himself some dinner of his own, ate it, then got in the shower. He started to remember that song from Get Scared.
"You've got me shaking from the way you're talking... My heart is breaking but there's no use cryin'! What a cyanide surprise you have left for my eyes… If I had common sense I'd cut myself or curl up and die!"
He kept singing, while pausing or quieting down if he heard something. When he was done, he wrapped a towel around his waist and made sure no one was watching. He walked to his room and closed the door, got on some pjs and was about to get in bed when the others burst through the door.
"Kiddo! We got you a Thai iced tea!"
"Hold on, I'm coming"
Vigil put on a sweater and mask and pulled up the hood, then went and opened the door.
"Here you are!"
"Thanks guys… wasn't necessary though."
"I told you two he wouldn't care."
"Rownan please calm down."
"Yeah, I'll pay you back. How much was it?"
"I didn't pay for it, Patoran did. But I feel like he's wasting money on you."
"I'm guessing someone owes someone money and they used it to pay for this?"
"You are close, Rownan paid Patoran back for something a while back and Patoran used that to pay for the extra drink."
"Yeah makes sense. Thanks for the drink, I'll get my wallet and pay you back now."
"That's not necessary Kiddo we can do it in the morning."
"By morning time, I'll have forgotten and I'm not risking that."
"I just noticed, you sound a lot like Lolan sometimes."
He went back to his room looking for his wallet.
"Eh. Probably just a habit."
"From what? Were you rich?"
"No, I was a butler for a rich family. I quit though, it was… tiring."
He found his wallet and brought it out,
"how much do I owe you?"
"Five bucks."
"Here."
Vigil handed him the money and tossed his wallet onto his desk from the hallway.
"How did you throw it that well?"
"Practice."
"That's what you say every time you do something cool and we ask about how. Are you hiding something?"
"No."
Vigil replied a bit too quickly, they started getting suspicious.
"Why do you always wear hoodies?"
"I'm a bit cold-blooded."
"Why do you sit on things that shouldn't be sat on?"
"I don't know, it's a habit."
"Why have I never seen your ears?"
"Because you haven't noticed them."
"Why do you always cover your face?"
"Because it's ugly."
"Are you 18?"
"I'm 20 years old. But I don't blame you for thinking that, I'm pretty short." Vigil glanced at them, and retreated to his room.
"Panic! Come on, we're just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"Please come back we're sorry!"
"I would like to know why you lied for the first and third question?"
"Please! No more questions! I can't answer all of them."
They stopped,
"Kiddo, you left your drink out here."
He opened the door and grabbed the iced tea.
"Wait, please? Just answer a few more?"
"You have until I finish this."
He poked a hole through the seal, took off his mask and started chugging.
"Why do you cover up so much?"
"Why are your eyes black?"
"Why do you have yarn in your room when you don't knit or crochet?"
"How did you chug that down so fast?"
Vigil put back on his mask before answering with,
"Practice, I like yarn, I don't know why my eyes are black, and I cover up because I have a lot to cover."
"You were admittedly truthful, but you still dodged the last question."
"It's a sensitive topic, and It wasn't a lie. I'm going to brush my teeth and go to sleep."
He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, then went to his room and fell asleep as soon as he got under the sheets. In the morning, Patoran was shaking him awake.
"Kiddo wake up! There's a fire and we have to get out!"
"Wha- huh? I'm up, I'm up."
Vigil said, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Great! It's time for work."
Vigil put his face into his pillow,
"Ugh, I want sleep."
"You slept just fine last night now come on!"
"Nnooooooo… pleeaase Patoran just five more minutes."
"Nope I'm not gonna let you be late for work."
"Fine, if you leave the room I'll be out there in five minutes ready to go."
"Alright."
Patoran left, Vigil froze time and got ready. Then promptly un froze time and slept for five more minutes. When the five minutes were up, Patoran opened the door and yelled,
"Kiddo!"
"I'm up! I'm coming! Just give me a sec."
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and put on his mask.
"Thanks for waking me up Pat. I needed it."
"What would you do without me?"
"I have absolutely no idea."
He gave Patoran a quick hug, grabbed an apple,and ran out the door. The days all went by similarly: Patoran would wake him up, he would work and get home, kill some time with a few hobbies, and hide in his room while the others hung out. Sometimes he would join them, it seemed to annoy Rownan, Patoran liked making new friends, and Lolan warmed up to him when they talked about science. Rownan started to warm up to Vigil when he caught V singing Shiny under his breath. Vigil would drink some wine a few times a week, but not daily. The others started getting close to him, he wasn't as concerned as before because if his parents were looking for him, they weren't going to find him. Especially if it was taking this long. Three months pass by, he's gotten particularly fond of Rownan, Patoran seemed like the father figure he never had, and Lolan helped him learn about things that he'd missed out on during his isolation. He never told them about his past, or powers, he always made sure they couldn't see his oddities or scars. He was scared of what they would think or feel, his owners had drilled the words,
"you will never be loved if people know what you are…"
from the time he grew his ears. It's stuck in his head and he doesn't want to risk it being right. After a month, the wine ran out, he recycled it by sneaking past them to the recycling bin and back while time was frozen. He started to talk with them more, and he enjoyed being with them. But he still was a bit closed off and sometimes got scared of what could happen, so he would avoid them. He mentioned his name during truth or dare, since he was tired of Rownan's strange nicknames. It's two months later, Vigil's birthday came and he hadn't told the others about it. But he had seen Patoran looking around his room not realizing he was getting back from the shower, so he knew that Patoran saw it on his calendar. Which is why he was slightly prepared for the surprise party. There was an ice cream cake, three gifts, and for once Lolan was smiling a bit.
"Happy Birthday Vigil!"
Yelled Patoran.
"Thanks guys!"
"It's Oreo cake and mint chocolate ice cream. I picked what I thought you might like." Said Rownan.
"You should open your gifts and put them away, we can have the cake for desert, or dinner tonight."
Suggested Lolan, who needed to get to work for the early shift.
"Right."
He opened the present from Lolan first, it was a book on robotics.
"You checked my browser history didn't you?"
"I wanted to be sure".
"Open mine!"
Exclaimed Patoran, Vigil did and it was a journal, empty, with his name scrawled in purple pen on the title page.
"Thanks Pat! I know just what I'll use it for."
"Yay!"
"I guess I'm last."
"Yep."
He opened it, there was a Toothless plushie wrapped in stuffing paper.
"Thanks Rownan."
Vigil blushed a bit and held it to his chest, subconsciously signaling the favorite gift. Lolan and Patoran looked back and forth between Vigil and Rownan then exchanged understanding glances, they smirked. They left the room and went to their separate rooms to get ready for work. Vigil and Rownan had later shifts so they could afford to take their time.
"I'm glad you like it.."
"I should put these away, and put the cake in the freezer. Thank you, for all this."
"It's no problem."
Vigil cleaned up and put away his gifts. The day went along regularly, but the others referred to him as a birthday boy for the rest of the day and they had the cake for dinner.