You woke up to the sound of talking. "I think we did well. Oh man, My sister is calling."
"It can't be that bad, right?"
"Hold it Jaspers... Sup?... What?...Cal too huh?... Don't worry, if Cal is with him he will be fine... Rose give you any- hold on, I think he's actually home." You heard a knock on your door. Cal fell from your bed, hitting the door.
"Cal." You whispered, ducking under a blanket as the door opened.
"He's here. Thanks for watching him... Yeah, that sounds great. See you soon." Bro hung up, then pulled up the blanket you were under. "Dave? What happened to you?"
"I snuck out to see if Aradia was okay, but I was caught. Cal broke me out." You realized you had lost your shades. Bro reached out and you moved back, curling your wings around you.
"You need to get bandaged up."
"I'm a freak."
"Your not a freak, your special."
"You don't get it. I'm a freak, in fact I'm such a freak that even Slick said I was too rare to kill. I don't want to even leave my room."
"What did you do to make him think that?"
"I don't know. They pulled out this weird thing and everything felt too hot and my head hurt. They said something about reversal flames."
"That's incredibly rare, but that doesn't make you a freak. You just hit the ability jackpot, like my friend Jaspers."
"The guy you were just talking to?"
"He used to watch Rose when she was little. He can alter existing matter, so he can make his arms stretch or limbs form. He isn't a freak, he's just special, like you." Bro picked you up, walking over to the bathroom.
"Is he alright?" Jaspers asked.
"Not sure." Bro set you down on the bathroom counter, pulling out bandages and peroxide. He immediately set to looking over your arms and legs, pulling out bits of glass and cleaning your wounds. You were to exhausted to fight back, letting him check your wounds. He turned looked over your wings before turning you around on the counter. "Can you spread out your wings?" You do, then feel him mess with your wings, so you pull them back in. "You have glass in your wings, stop moving."
You hated the feeling of hands on your wings, and your wings automatically pulled away even though you needed the glass pulled out. "You need some help Strider?" Jaspers offered.
"Yeah, can you hold his wings still?" You felt strong hands on your wings before Bro continued to remove glass. You were barely able to stand up afterwords you were so tired. You notice a tall, slim man with black hair, cat ears, and tail. He had purplish-pink eyes and a stare that made you nervous.
"Hello Dave, my name is Jaspers. I meet you once before when you were four."
"Hello. Can you stop smiling?"
"Why?"
"You teeth are the stuff of nightmares." You eye his sharp cat teeth.
"I apologize, but I smile when I grow nervous or excited from habit."
"What's making you nervous, or excited if that's the case?"
"You must have realized by now that some instincts come with the form."
It clicked rather quickly," Wait, I'm making you hunt excited, aren't I?"
"Cat instinct, sorry. I'm sure you are quite the great person to be around, but all I see is weakened prey right now. You took a large hit, and it's surprising you didn't break any bones! I do have control of myself, but please excuse me smiling and don't act on instinct."
"You mean like the one to back up and run?"
"Yes, I'm usually in better control but the trip was a harsh one and has worn me down. I'll leave you alone since you need rest as well." Jaspers walked off, curling up on the couch while you opted to head off to your room. Why was your life so weird?
You woke up, and moments later heard heavy pounding on the front door. Bro opened it," Sup' kid?"
"I need to talk to Dave." You could recognize Sollux's voice anywhere.
"Is it that important, he's been having a rough day."
"It'th important!"
"How important?"
"He could be kidnapped again!"
"Get in here kid." Bro closed the door behind Sollux and you ran over, not even caring if he saw your wings. "What's your information?"
"They know hith routeth and everything, and they plan to get him when he headth for the buth tomorrow. Altho, thomeone thpotted him flying yethterday."
"Who?"
Sollux unrolled the newspaper in his hand," A renown thcientitht called Doctor Harvord Thcratch, who apparently thpotted him while taking pictureth of the night thky on the roof of hith houthe a mile from here. He pothted the picture too and claimed he found a trail of blood leading into town."
Bro looked over to you," You flew home?"
"It was dark and I couldn't exactly walk down the street." You motion to your assorted cuts and tank top.
"I lock you in a house with your aunt and you still escape. What am I going to do with you?"
"Aradia thayth thankth." Sollux smiled," You don't know how much it meant to her that you rithked your neck to check on her. Thee you at thchool, hopefully." Sollux let himself out.
"When did you learn to fly?" Bro asked.
"Yesterday when I jumped out the window at my aunt's."
"You're going to need to tone down the flying. Also, carry Cal on your shoulder when you go to school. In fact, take Cal everywhere with you."
"What exactly is Cal anyway?"
"He's an enhanced puppet. He protected me for as long as I can remember until I asked him to keep you safe. Not really sure how he works, but he's safe and reliable."
"That's really creepy."
"And now you need him, so you will take him with you when you go out. He will find you anyway, so don't make it harder than it needs to be."
Another knock sounded, and Bro opened the door. "I brought vodka!" Your aunt came in, Rose close behind. "Jaspers? Is that you?!" Your aunt hugged Jaspers," Oh, Rosey it's Jaspers. You remember him right?"
"I do. It's so odd to see him again." Rose closed the door as she walked. "Dave, you scared my mom half to death." She punched you and you flapped your wings to stay upright.
"Stop, I'm still sore." You adjusted the pointy shades you had to wear until you could get new aviators.
"Oh? Why would that be Dave?" Rose asked," It must have been important."
"I think escaping is important."
"Your stay wasn't that bad." Rose glared at you, making you take a step back.
"It wasn't leaving your house that hurt me, it was escaping Droog's." You flashed your wings, freezing when you heard the hissing of a cat. You tucked your wings away quickly, which caused Jaspers to pounce on you. He quickly comes back to his senses and helps you up.
"I apologize. I didn't really mean it, it just sort of happened." He smiles while rubbing the back of his head.
"What's going on?" Rose asked confused.
"You get the instincts with the form, but I'm a bit worn out and am still on edge, so my grip on control is a little loose."
"What about Dave?"
"I'm still stable." You actually weren't sure if you were stable and not going to flip over the edge into bird instinct, but hey. Fake it till you make it.
"Oh really? So you had total control and decided to toss your wings up like a territorial bird?"
"Still stable."
"I doubt that." Rose walked over to Jaspers to talk to him, leaving you to do whatever. You decided to call it a night.
John had yesterday's paper, looking over it," Are you sure you're hiding and not just making enemies?"
"Can't help that I'm the town star. Even have a guard I'm so popular. Up top Cal." You high five Cal, even if he was the creepiest thing around.
"Cal doesn't even do anything." John laughed.
"What are you talking about? He handled four guys on Saturday."
"Woah, really?"
"You don't even know Egbert."
"You're messing with me, aren't you?"
Karkat leaned forward from in his seat," That's the truth Egbert." Sollux nodded silently.
"What? How did you escape?"
"I jumped out a window into the night and made off with the Declaration of Independence." The look on John's face in response is priceless.
"Phone for you," John smirked," calling bullshit."
"This is why we're best friends."