Chapter 2: Realisation
It was almost noon before the first two awoke. Patton stumbled into the kitchen in his cat onesie, his hood up and glasses on to hide his sleepy eyes, luckily, the glass shards from last night had been cleaned up by Logan before bed.
Not far behind him was Roman; wearing red PJ bottoms with yellow stars and a plain white shirt. He staggered into the kitchen clutching his head with one hand, groaning a 'good morning' to Patton before grabbing some pieces of bread and turning on the toaster.
"How's your hangover?" Patton asked, glancing over at the other who clearly had it worse.
"Head is killing me…" He groaned and placed the bread in the toaster, flipping down the toggle, he then turned and leant against the counter.
Patton was just pouring himself a coffee and took out a second mug before pouring Roman one too, handing it to him "Thanks Pat" he held the warm mug already starting to feel a bit better. "So… are we the only ones up?" he asked taking a sip of the sweet brown liquid beans.
"Yup, I think so at least, but I'm just about to make a full English breakfast to help settle our stomachs, so could you wake Virgil up for me please?" Roman groaned at this request, not really wanting to deal with Mr Doom and Gloom this early. "I'll get Logan when I'm nearly done" Patton informed and prepared the pans and food.
After plucking up some courage Roman made his way to the bedroom door closest to the front door after putting his coffee on the kitchen counter. He let out a deep sigh before slowly opening the door, figuring there was no point in knocking if Virgil was asleep.
Oh how wrong he was.
"Hey, Virgil? Patton is making breakfast and so-" He stopped, his eyes widening as the light from outside leaked into Virgil's darkened room. Currently Virgil was standing with his back to the door and was just getting changed; he wore his ripped black skinny jeans with a red studded belt, however he was naked from the waist up, only just picking up his shirt from the floor.
Be that as it may, it was not Virgil's vulnerable torso that almost caused Romans eyes to pop out of his head and his jaw to hang loose. No. It was the pair of large, black, feathered wings that protruded out of Virgil's back.
Upon seeing the light enter his room Virgil turned a little, finding a stunned Roman looking in with wide green eyes. Virgil had forgotten about the visibility of his wings for half a second before he saw Romans eyes move from his face to his back. Virgil's eyes slowly widened, his breath hitched in his throat, he could even feel tears brimming in his eyes 'shit!...' he thought.
They both stood there for what felt like hours in shock, but as soon as realisation hit, Virgil tucked his wings behind his back and in one fast motion slammed the door shut in Romans face "GET OUT!" causing the latter to stumble back a bit but not snap out of his shock.
After a minute Roman walked in to the kitchen, his eyes still widened and his brow furrowed, his heart and head were fighting a huge battle 'that couldn't have been real… I was just seeing things… yeah…' Roman thought to himself and he resumed his place by the toaster in silence.
Patton had heard Virgil scream at Roman to 'get out' but thought nothing of it as he cooked breakfast. It wasn't until a few moments later, and Roman returned to the kitchen with a disorientated look on his face that Patton began to worry. He leaned forward a bit to look at Romans expression more "Roman? What happened?" Patton asked carefully but he didn't even get a glance in response.
The toaster 'pinged' and as if on auto-pilot Roman reached and took the toast from the toaster, the heat not bothering him as he held it with his bare hands.
Then… The worst situation possible for these hung over university students… Happened.
Virgil suddenly appeared directly behind Roman his voice a low gravelled tone "Roman I-", though his words were suddenly cut off.
The abrupt appearance once again made Roman flinch, and with his headache, as well as, the initial shock of what he thought he saw, Roman gasped sharply inwards, the heat from the toast igniting his ability.
Suddenly the toast was on fire, and out of pure instinct Roman dropped it on the floor "Oh Shit!" he backed away, crashing into Virgil and knocking him to the ground with wide eyes and an 'oof'.
Patton saw the fire engulf the toast as it fell to the tiled floor, and out of panic he knelt down and put his hands over the fire to put it out!
"Patton!" Roman shouted, seeing Patton putting out the fire with his bare hands "You idiot! Are you okay!?" Roman knelt down and grabbed Patton's hands, turning them over to inspect the damage only to choke on his own breath as he and Virgil both witnessed Patton's burnt palms regenerating themselves back to full health.
Silence.
All eyes were wide, Roman, crouched down staring at Patton's hands, which he still held, Virgil sat on the kitchen floor, back against the counter in shock, his eyes flicking back and forth from Roman to Patton. The latter on his knees, his hands trembling a bit out of fear of being discovered, even tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at Roman and then Virgil's expressions. Patton felt as though he might cry but he also felt a pang of excitement, though he had been found out, he saw Roman's hands catch fire and ignite his toast.
'I… I'm not the only one?'
Thoughts spoke out in unison, loud enough to cut through to Logan's mind. Logan had been sat at his desk for the past hour writing notes in his journal when he began hearing a ruckus out in the main room. He's considered going to check it out but decided against it, until hearing this loud unison of thoughts, still trying to reign in his ability.
With a sigh he got up and left his room, walking out and to the kitchen where he found the three still on the floor in silent shock and the remaining ashes of Romans toast.
"What is happened here?" Logan's voice cut through the silence and soon everyone's wide eyes were on him, making him slightly uncomfortable.
"U-Uh… Well…" Roman tried to think of something, finally letting go of Patton's hands and standing up. He glanced at Virgil momentarily before holding out a hand for him. Virgil didn't know how to feel at this moment, anxiety building up slowly causing his breath to be a little heavy and uneven, he looked up at Roman who had extended a hand. After a moment of consideration Virgil finally took the assistance and stood up with Romans help.
Lastly was Patton, who remained on the kitchen tiles, looking down at his hands "I… I think we all need to have a talk…" He spoke, even if he was wrong about Roman, almost everyone had seen his ability and he knew he had to explain, suddenly becoming very nervous about it.
"Patton" said person looked up from his hands to see one of Logan's hand extended out to help the younger up, he wore a sweet and encouraging smile on his face, which was rare in Logan's case. Nonetheless, Patton accepted his aid and stood up, returning the favour with a smile of his own, trying to cheer him-self up a bit.
"We should all take a seat in the living room before breakfast, I think there are things we need to discuss as a group" Logan spoke to them all before turning to enter the living room.
With that they all exchanged nervous glances; Patton turned off the stove and silently followed Logan out to the living room. Just as Roman started following he looked back to see Virgil standing, hunched in on himself, his eyes were shut tightly and he was biting his lower lip so hard it might start bleeding… His whole body was trembling visibly, with his hands in his pocket; Romans brows furrowed a bit in worry "V-Virge? Come on, I wont say anything if you don't want me too… We can talk about it later" he spoke softly, walking over to the trembling boy.
Virgil heard him, his voice was soothing and his words let his nerves dissipate a bit, Virgil was terrified that they would hate him if they all knew, but if Roman promised not to tell then all he had to do was deal with one person… It was still one person too many but that's the best he could get out of this situation.
He finally took in a deep and shaky breath before pushing past Roman a bit roughly and going to the living room too, curling up on the sofa, opposite to Patton. Roman blinked as Virgil completely stood him up, he sighed heavily through his nose "Geez… That's what I get for being nice…" he grumbled to himself before joining the rest, taking his place on the centre of the sofa.
There was more silence, no one knew what to say or how to start this conversation, it's only been a day and they'd already messed up, but at least they messed up together.
Patton cleared his throat to speak up first, putting on a large but obviously fake smile "S-So~ I guess the cats out of the bag, huh? H-Ha… Get it… Cat" he motioned to the cat onesie he was still wearing. All this earned was a small nervous chuckle from Roman. Patton sighed with a whine and pout, poking his index fingers together and hunched down a bit, he finally began "Roman… Virgil… I'm sorry for scaring you… I panicked and just used my hands to put out the fire… I'm so used to my body healing fast that I didn't even think twice about it…" he admitted.
Roman, Virgil and Logan were all looking at Patton softly, "It's alright Patton, it was my fault… sorta" Roman glanced back at Virgil, earning a glare from him that said 'don't you dare' before turning back to Patton.
After a big dramatic sigh, a large genuine smile perked up on Romans lips, he sat back in his seat with his forearm over his forehead "And here I thought I was the only freak in town~!" He spoke dramatically to try and lift the tension in the air. Patton blinked before laughing at Romans effort to cheer him up, he then elbowed Roman in the side earning an 'Oof' "Hey! I'm not a freak and neither are you!" Patton lectured before sticking a tongue out at him.
Roman chuckled "So, you have speedy regenerative abilities?" he asked, Patton nodded his head and looked at his hands "Yeah, I've had it since I can remember, but what about you? How did you turn that piece of toast into charcoal?" Patton asked with genuinely curious eyes, his legs crossed on the sofa and leaning forward a bit with his hands rested on his ankles.
"Hmmm… Well… I'm not really sure myself" Roman admitted rubbing the back of his neck "As far as I know I can create and manipulate natural elements" he shrugged, coming out with the whole truth since Patton had, the latter giving Roman wide glimmering eyes. "I don't really have complete control of it yet… My parents never let me experiment in case I destroyed something again" he chuckled awkwardly.
"Again?"
This time the voice was from Virgil, who seemed to have calmed himself after listening to the others, the prior anxiety attack now completely dissolved.
Roman blinked at the curious, black-rimmed eyes that looked at him, they were almost as interested at Patton's which took him by surprise, especially since they'd been shut tight in fear just moments ago. "Is grumpy goose feeling better?" Roman smirked at Virgil, earning his a punch in the upper arm and a roll of Virgil's eyes.
"Just answer the question Pyro Prince"
"Oww…" Roman ignored the returned nickname, though kinda liking it, and sat back with his arms spread out either side of the back of the sofa "Well… I think I was 4 or 5 when I started finding these abilities? But at 7 years old I accidentally froze the floor and caught the sofa on fire…" he grimaced just remembering. "My parents were there too… They were fine! But… They kept me from using my abilities if I could help it" He groaned and rubbed his arm.
Patton hummed and Virgil glanced at Logan who seemed to be writing this stuff down. Virgil frowned and sat up straight, letting his legs drop to the floor "Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Virgil's stern voice surprised all three before the two on the sofa turned to see Logan looking up from his journal.
"I don't understand your question" Logan spoke, Virgil grit his teeth together before getting up and snatching the journal, dashing around the back of the recliner before Logan to snatch it back "You're writing this all down? Logan!" Virgil held up the book for the others to see before looking down and reading what Logan had wrote.
The latters expression was mildly confused but all over frustrated upon having his journal taken, with a sigh he pushed his classed up his nose and closed his eyes.
"Lo? Why are you writing it down?" Patton asked a little worried, not wanting to loose the trust of his first friend here. Roman raised a brow before asking the next question "Why are you so calm about this?"
"I'll tell you why…" Virgil replied, after having read earlier notes from Logan's journal, catching the attention of the two on the sofa "Cuz this big nerd is one of us"
Patton's eyes widened further if they could, his hands over his mouth as he gasped "Really Lo? What can you do?" Patton had flipped from nervousness of being discovered to the immense excitement he now held once he knew he wasn't alone in this.
Logan glanced up at Virgil as the latter held out his note book, once he had his journal back in hand and Virgil returned to his seat Logan cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience I have caused with my silence and my note-taking" he began "I do indeed possess an ability like yours, I am what you would call a telepath" Patton gasped and squealed happily, bouncing up and down a bit.
"So… You read minds?" Roman asked just to make sure he was thinking of the right one, he received a nod in response
"However, I do not intentionally invade others thoughts without good reason or permission… Unfortunately, I have recently discovered that intoxication lessens my ability to restrain it…"
Roman raised a brow, along side Virgil "So… you were reading our minds last night?" Virgil asked cautiously, Logan nodded his head once again.
"I do apologies, I did try my very best to keep my ability under control but some thoughts did slip through" Logan apologised before silence fell over the room once more, all 4 were taking in and processing the information this morning had held.
"Prove it" Roman suddenly spoke up with a smirk, facing Logan "Prove you can read our minds"
To this Logan raised a brow, accepting the challenge "Okay, If you give me permission to read your mind, then I will do so" Roman nodded and stared at Logan, who in turn, stared back.
"You are thinking that-… uh… Roman that is not information you, nor I, should be divulging…" Logan spoke sitting up a bit more in his chair with a glance to Virgil. Roman blinked before his eyes widened "Oh crap…"
"What? What did you think of?" Patton asked eagerly, his eyes glittering with anticipation, Roman covered his mouth before slowly looking at Virgil.
All it took was one guilty gaze and Virgil gritted his teeth and glared at the princely character "You didn't…" he growled, instinctively Roman shuffled back, away from Virgil and closer to Patton.
"I-I'm sorry, it kinda just came to mind before I could think of anything else!" He panicked, Patton looked at Logan, then Roman and then Virgil, the only one out of the loop and this made him pout.
"Guuuuyyyysssss No fair… I wanna know too…" he huffed cutely, this caused Virgil to ease his shoulders and expression before letting out a short chuckle at Patton's childish behaviour. Taking his hands out of his pocket he held them up "Fine! Fine!" giving in seeing as the others came out of the super power closet.
He stood up and walked to the other side of the coffee table in front of the TV "I guess I'm the last one… I also have an… well… a couple of abilities"
Patton's face lit up more if possible, like a kid on Christmas "You do!? Like Romans?!"
"Not quite, short stuff" Virgil chuckled, without saying another word Virgil just disappeared right before their eyes, stunning not only Patton but also Roman and Logan.
"Woah…" Roman spoke before looking around trying to find him.
"Wow! He disappeared!" Patton gasped and got up, touching the space Virgil previously was, even Logan found that intriguing.
For the pure fun of it Virgil snuck around the coffee table, walking straight through Patton and sat down where Patton previously sat. He then made himself visible and made sure his face was close to Romans "Hey there Princey~" He smirked. Roman gasped loudly, pulling back and falling off the sofa.
Logan rolled his eyes as the childish act and resumed writing in his journal, while Patton and Virgil laughed hysterically "Serves you right for busting in to my room while I'm changing".
"Ha, Ha, very funny, and I thought you were asleep!" Roman huffed in defence, pulling himself back up on to the sofa. He then looked at Virgil before smirking slightly "So… you really are a demon~" he spoke, but was taken aback when Virgil's slowly settling laugh stopped dead and he turned his head away.
Patton sensed a bit of tension and moved to crouch by Virgil's feet looking at him worried, Roman's smirk fell, he wasn't expecting Virgil to take his comment seriously. "Hey… I was just kidding Virge…" Roman said before placing a hand on Virgil's shoulder.
"Roman! What have I told you about being mean to my dark strange son!" Patton lectured again, causing Roman to blink and pull back dramatically "W-What! He's not your son Patton and I don't think 'Dark' and 'Strange' is that different to my comment" Roman retorted.
Virgil sat there while Patton and Roman argued, he knew they meant well and even if they'd only known each other for a day, it felt like they'd lived together for much longer than that. He felt like he could trust these guys, and that they could trust him. Yes. They were all strange in their own ways but Virgil liked it, nonetheless, when Roman called him a 'demon', it just brought back past memories that are best left forgotten. Logan's voice brought the two out of their argument and Virgil out of his thoughts.
"Virgil… If you do not mind, I'd like to ask you some questions about your abilities later, but for now, may I enquire how the power of, either teleportation or Invisibility, is related to Romans harsh comment?" Logan asked.
Roman pouted and crossed his arms over his chest "I'm sorry alright… I wasn't being serious…"
Virgil looked at Roman and sighed, "It's okay Princey, I forgive you… It's just that nickname… It brought back dark memories I'd rather not think about" he admitted, Roman looked at the other apologetically and nodded his head.
Virgil accepted it and smiled softly before turning back to Logan "Well, my power is invisibility, suits me really and helps me when I want to be alone" He smirked and sat back against the sofa "I mean I was here all day yesterday and you guys had no idea~" he grinned sinisterly. Patton and Roman gasped in unison "You were here the whole time?!" Patton asked in surprised "I mean, I knew your stuff was here but I didn't see y-… ohhhhh" he pursed his lips in thought as that made sense.
"So when you suddenly popped out of nowhere, you seriously just … popped out of no where?" Roman asked vaguely, causing Virgil to laugh.
"Yes Princey, to some extent, your face was priceless though" to this Roman huffed again dramatically, Virgil then sighed and chewed on his lower lip a bit.
"My power of invisibility helps me keep my second ability a secret" he spoke up, grabbing everyone's attention "Just… Promise me you wont laugh, or be disgusted or… something like that"
Roman already saw and knew what would come next but it was so dark he didn't get to see properly; the other two nodded their heads and promised.
With that Virgil stood again, back behind the coffee table to give him enough room, he then removed his hoodie, and made sure the curtains were still drawn before closing his eyes.
Patton, Logan and Roman all watched in awe as Virgil's black-feathered wings started to become visible, folded up on his back. He slowly opened up his eyes and was shocked to see the look of either amazement or awe from his new friends, he felt his heart stop for a moment, as the stress and relief of them finding out was gone.
"Y-You… You're an angel!" Patton spoke, Virgil's eyes widened a bit and began to fill with tears. Though most hadn't said a word, their expression and smiles said it all, and as a thank you for accepting him in their family, Virgil slowly extended his wings out, both reaching about 2 metres each side, his feathers were silky and glimmered in the room light, though they were black, they still shone.
Roman stood up and walked closer to have a better look, Virgil still stood fidgeting with his fingers, his head tilted down so his fringe could cover his streaming tears. Both Patton and Logan felt the need to stand and take a closer look as well, Patton took Virgil's hand in his "Virge, your wings are beautiful~" Patton smiled and followed Virgil's face as he looked up to him. "Y-You really think so?" Virgil asked, still finding it hard to believe.
Roman looked at Virgil with sincerity, moving his hand to cup his damp cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb. Virgil's eyes landed on Romans, his cheeks beginning to heat up at the look he was getting from the redhead "I-I'm sorry I shouted at you this morning" Virgil spoke up with a sniffle.
Patton blinked before looking at Roman "Oh! So that's why you were so quiet when you returned, you saw Virgil's wings?" Roman nodded to that statement and stroked Virgil's cheek once more before letting go and placing his hand on Virgil's shoulder "Hey~ It's all good, I'd of expected that reaction from you with or without the wings~" he chuckled with a small smirk. "For a skinny, pale Dracula, you do have an admirable body" At this Virgil's eyes widened and turned away blushing, his wing folding up and lowering instinctively.
That was the day Virgil finally felt accepted, they had all found out and accepted each other's gifts. Though it had only been a day, their common abilities and personalities just fit like pieces of a puzzle, they felt like a family.
But their year had just begun.
A/N: Second chapter! They all find out but their abilities don't end there ;P Read as they begin to get to know each other better and watch as their abilities grow together~ I want to thank my Lil sis for helping me out with some details ^.^
