I feel the salty waves come in

I feel them crash against my skin

And I smile as I respire because I know they'll never win

Flug didn't fully recognize the English song playing overhead, but it had a good beat to it. Very relaxing. He could understand it well enough, and the lyrics were catchy. He couldn't place the band, but he had the vague feeling he'd heard this singer before. Maybe he'd popped up on the radio one or twice before and Flug just never paid it much attention?

Focusing on the song was much easier than focusing on his parents.

As your typical 20-something-year-old, once he determined something was wrong, he took to the internet to try and figure out what it was and what to do about it. Unsurprisingly, looking up "I think I sold my soul and now I can't sleep, what do I do?" didn't yield many results. Neither did "I haven't slept in 5 days, what's wrong with me?"

Well, he did get some results. Just nothing that helped him. Most websites went into stress and insomnia, but Flug was fairly certain that wasn't the case with him. Even given his stressed nature and insomniac tendencies.

The fact that most side effects of sleep deprivations were near fatal or could drive you to madness was not comforting.

Once he got tired of flipping through the Google pages (seriously, he got up to page 20. Page 20 of the Google search results!), he decided that nothing in the shallow end of the internet was going to be of any help. Not wanting to get involved in the deep web quite yet, he settled on a random ask forum.

There he detailed his experience, although he felt compelled to omit the parts concerning his newfound employment. It was like some newfound intuition warning him that it would be a bad idea to mention his job. As if some force was putting the thought of No no, you can't talk about that, in his mind. He was able to post about his sleepless nights and something else. Something he hadn't noticed until he was thinking over the past week, trying to come up with any other changes he'd been going through.

His sense of time was all kinds of messed up. When he was working or studying, it was like he was going a supersonic speed. He was at his peak productivity and it felt like it took no time at all. But when he wasn't doing anything, when he tried just relaxing and letting his mind wander, time dragged on. On and on like the next hour was days away.

It gave him the impression that he was wasting time.

And to top it all off, on top of his growing concerns for his health and well-being (thank you, WebMD) there was yet another symptom of whatever it was that ailed him.

He felt fine.

Yeah. All the neurotic tendencies in the world coupled with insomnia, anxiety, and the unceasing need to keep working lest time stretch on into eternity, and he felt pretty much ok in all honesty.

Still concerned for himself, still an anxious ball of nerves, still horny as fuck, but ok in the grand scheme of things.

What was happening to him? Was it related to his signing of that contract? The contract Black Hat had gotten from some witch doctor from the United States? The contract that gave Black Hat ownership of Flug's soul?

Was he going to be okay?

He would have to see it again. The contract. And actually read it this time. Read it in full. He had only had one good look at it, and he'd been drinking a bit. His memory was foggy.

Flug didn't know exactly how to approach this predicament with Black Hat, so he decided to avoid it altogether for one more day and call up his parents to go get lunch. It had been too long since he'd seen them, and he was horrible about remembering to call.

Rather than just sit quietly and awkwardly in his old home, he opted to take his parents out, so that he could sit quietly and awkwardly in public.

Can we fast-forward till you go down on me?

Flug wondered if his parents understood the lyrics as well. Maybe they could talk about that instead of his life.

Things were fine at first. Flug told them about what he was working on, how quickly he had been able to build his latest inventions, how his grades were (as always) near perfect. They were so proud, they were always proud. Always supportive and telling him that he could do anything he set his mind to. His latest progress a clear sign of what they'd always know; their boy was something special. Someone who was going to really make a change in the world.

It hurt Flug, to know that he was such a disappointment to them.

Not that they knew that. As far as Marta and John Flugslys knew their son Rocinante was an above average student who was going to graduate with honors and his doctorate in Robotics and Mechanical Engineering, going on to a successful career helping heroes and making this world a better place. Somewhere along the line they probably expected him to meet a nice girl and have a family of his own.

Past his graduation, he wouldn't be doing any of that.

A few weeks ago, it was more or less his plan to do nearly everything on that list. Putting his mechanical skills to use helping others was the best way he could think of to make a living. It was a job that always needed new talent to keep up with villains, was considerably safer than actual heroics, and would pay well. It would also make his dear parents immensely proud of him, to see him accomplish everything they knew he was capable of.

That was all well and good, but it wasn't anything he really looked forward to. No matter how he looked at it, it just seemed like something he'd do because there was nothing else he could really think of now that aviation was out of the question. Everyone expected him to go into the business of assisting heroes, it was just kind of what was done, and there wasn't any other profession he could find that would put his skills and talent to good use.

Until he was scouted by the competition.

Since finally taking the plunge and signing away his soul, he felt free. As free as he used to feel when he was flying planes. The majority of times were test runs, to make sure he could actually fly the things, but the few times they left him to fly moderately freely would be moments he would treasure till his death.

He felt the same rush of unchecked ability, like he was truly free to do whatever he wanted.

Albeit it was a bit more freedom now, or it would be when Black Hat's crazy Hat House (knowing him it was probably going to be much grander, like a mansion or manor) was finally built and Flug got his own labs. The promise of free reign of his OWN PERSONAL LABORATORY made him feel high. Or at least what he imagined being high felt like, he didn't do drugs.

Oh that was another thing, how was Flug going to explain a) his job, b) the fact that he would be moving in with his boss, or c) that settling down and starting a family was pretty much out of the question?

Even before the whole villainy thing, that wasn't happening. Flug was out of the closet, not exactly publicly but he knew himself and that was enough for him, so marrying a woman and having children was a tough if not impossible scenario to imagine himself in.

He supposed he could maybe adopt a child or two, do some good and give some orphans a nice home and his parents grandchildren to spoil. And maybe, just maybe, he could find a woman he liked well enough to live with for the rest of his life. Maybe he could live a lie and be okay with it so long as everyone around him was happy.

If he was really going to be villain though, and he'd already literally signed away his soul so it's not as if he could very well change his mind about it now, bringing children into it was out of the question. As well as bringing some innocent woman (or man) into his life.

It was bad enough with just his life on the line, the life of a villain a guaranteed dangerous one, no way he was including anyone else in it.

God, was this what heroes felt when they tried planning for the future? Just a big hole of "Nope! Never putting anyone I may care about in this situation! I'm going to live my entire life in a relationship with my hand!"

As his parents chided him for the umpteenth time about how he shouldn't let his studies control his life, he should really put himself out there and find a nice girl, Rocinante wondered about how they'd react if he came clean and came out. Right now.

Ok, maybe not right now this very moment now, but maybe on the way back home? When they dropped him off at his apartment, and he maybe invites them up for a quick drink or to use the bathroom or something? Maybe he tells them then?

He doubted he would tell them then. Or ever. They were such nice people, they loved him truly. He was their son and nothing he could do or say could change that.

But he was living a lie. A lie that they cherished and placed all their hopes into. Could he shatter their illusions of the ideal perfect son?

Well, not perfect. He'd had an accident in la Fuerza Aérea and had gotten pretty badly hurt (due to the pressurings of a fellow cadet, as far as they and anyone else but he and Julio and now Black Hat knew), but that was all behind him. Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes things happen that we just can't explain, and we just have to trust that it's all a part of God's plan. We may not understand it, and it may even be painful, but God has a plan for all of us and we must believe that even in the darkest times, He is with us. He is always with us.

Sometimes while growing up Rocinante felt that it was part of God's plan for him to be gay, to teach his parents that prejudice was not ok. If that were true then he wasn't doing a very good job of it. He couldn't even bring himself to tell them.

Logically, he knew there were two outcomes. He tell them and they reject him, or he tell them and they accept him. Realistically, he knew he couldn't keep up the charade of heterosexuality for the rest of his life. Or even just the rest of their lives, they were very healthy people.

He couldn't keep lying to them so blatantly, right to their faces. It hurt, almost physically. He couldn't just live the rest of his life acting like everything was fine when he had to force himself to be something he wasn't. It was going to rip him apart eventually, and it was just going to be worse the longer he waited and allowed it to fester within him.

But...he found himself without the nerve to risk breaking their hearts in order to preserve his.

And who cares? Divine intervention

I wanna be praised from a new perspective

But leaving now would be a good idea

So catch me up on getting out of here

Singer, band, whoever you are, you have the right idea.

Because apparently Reynaldo, the son of the couple across the street who's maybe four or five years younger than him, got caught with another boy behind the high school.

They were making out, as stupid high schoolers do.

And Rocinante's parents just couldn't believe it. He always seemed like such a good, God-fearing boy. And his parents were just the nicest people. Where could they have gone wrong with him?

Must've been that other boy, set him on the wrong path. That was the only explanation. He was such a good little boy, they always saw him playing across the street with the neighborhood kids when he was younger. Playing futbol and tag in his front yard like all the other boys. Completely normal.

But then again, who could tell nowadays? It seemed like they were just crawling out of the woodwork. You couldn't go anywhere anymore without running into un maricon shoving their sinful lifestyle in everyone's faces. They supposed it was just a matter of time before someone they knew turned out be be that sort of person, but they never expected one to be someone from their own neighborhood, someone they'd been around for years. You think you know somebody!

Rocinante nodded his head along silently, vowing that he'd keep his secret for the foreseeable future.

Stop there and let me correct it

I wanna live a life from a new perspective

That sounded nice to Flug. Correcting these bigoted and prejudiced views from the two most important people in his life. His family. Showing them an entirely new perspective. Perhaps changing their lives (and his) for the better.

But, he didn't do that. He picked up the check and held the doors open for his mother and father, got in the car, and allowed them to drive him back to his apartment while exchanging more pleasantries on the ride.

Once back in his own dimly lit space, and assured that his parents were on the way back home, he disrobed. First removing the scarf, thank God for the chilly Fall day, and touched the little teeth marks Black Hat had left him. They still hadn't fully healed and it would be a while before they did if he kept pawing them like he was now, unlike that weird rash or burn or whatever, which seemed to fade away on its own after a while. Touching and stroking and picking at the scabs like he needed reassurance that they were real.

Oh yes. They were real.

He slipped off his coat and his blue T-Shirt, revealing the tight corset he'd been wearing underneath. Not part of his usual attire, he didn't typically like things above hip level, but he'd been feeling adventurous. He was glad for his oversized shirt tucked into his pants, it left little chance of anyone seeing what he wore underneath.

Stripping off his jeans which felt far too loose in comparison, he really should get some tighter pairs next time he went shopping, he stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom and took a long look at himself.

The corset was black and plain. He would get something more inviting if he wore these kinds of things more often. The slightly crushed feeling wasn't completely unpleasant or foreign, he often felt crushed. Emotionally, and that translated well into his physical being every once in a while. Actually, having a bit of control over when he felt such a tightness in his body was...refreshing.

Flug ran his hands over the thing lightly, just barely making contact with the very tips of his fingers. The material was stiff, and melded with his already thin frame quite well. It wasn't as if he had any need of it, if anything he could stand to put on some weight rather than make himself even skinnier.

It did make his body seem a bit more curved, though. Accentuating hips and chest which were flat and plain otherwise. He'd be lying if he tried to say that he didn't like this extra bit of slimness the corset provided.

The light pink panties contrasted sharply with the deep black squeezing him. A nice, soft, pastel sort of pink going roughly against the corset and black stockings, although their lacey white trim matched perfectly. It seemed like such an innocent sort of color, one for small girls or pure young women.

And yet he, a semi-grown man who could not be called pure or innocent by his own standards was wearing them. Had wore them in the presence of his sainted parents. Had deliberately slipped them on this morning knowing full well that he would see them.

It did not escape him that he was growing more aroused the more he thought about how much of a embarrassment he'd be if they ever found out. That heat in the pit of his stomach getting hotter by the second.

Such a...naughty little maricon.

Who needed to be...disciplined.

Well, it wasn't as if he didn't have the entire night to himself. If Flug was just going to stay awake all night again, then why not indulge in the virgin's favorite past time?

Flug laid down on his bed, one hand snaking into his panties and the other coming up near his head. As if an unseen hand was holding it there. Holding him down. As if the hand caressing him softly (for the moment) could belong to someone else.

He could still just barely see himself in the mirror. He made eye contact and tried to block out everything but the sensations in his underwear and the desperate look in his eyes. That wanting, yearning, needy look that swore obedience to someone or something that Flug didn't want to comprehend right now.

He parted his legs a bit wider, allowing for better movement of his hand. He watched his back arch slightly, and his head tilted back with it. He saw himself bite his lip to keep himself from moaning too loudly. The corset was making it more and more difficult to breathe, but he wanted to keep it on. Wanted to see the effect it had on him. He watched, as if it was someone else.

As if that wasn't him clad in ladies wear, wasn't him spreading his legs even wider now, wasn't him trying to get that perfect angle that made him feel so slutty and perfect, wasn't him wishing he had someone else to touch him so that he could watch his legitimate reactions to stimuli. Wishing that for just one night he wasn't alone.

Sorry, Dios, for making you cry. Again.

"D-d-d-di-d-did you bring it?" Flug asked Black Hat. Given the nature of their meeting today, they'd opted to meet in the library instead of the Cafe. It offered a bit more privacy, as there were very few people present and getting an isolated table far away from those few was easy. He was still uneasy, this whole thing made him nervous. But it had to be done.

"Yeah, I brought it." Black Hat said, pulling out a familiar scroll, complete with the same red ribbon keeping it rolled up tidily. "You say you haven't slept at all since you signed it?"

"That's r-ri-right."

"Well, let's go over the side effects." Black Hat unfurled the ribbon, letting the scroll uncoil itself a bit. He held it flat against the table for both men to see.

Flug was a bit nervous to be looking at it again. In the lighting of the library, it seemed spookier. Unnatural even. Like it was better suited to lonely campfires in the unknown rather than familiar rooms of quiet safety.

What in him had thought it was a good idea to sign this without reading through it properly?

It was hard for Flug to concentrate on reading the words, his eyes kept going back to the bottom where he'd signed it. It was honestly in much better handwriting than he'd thought it would be in, given that he was slightly buzzed when he'd actually signed it. In the dark, leaning over and using the top of the cooler as a flat surface.

Black Hat had signed it as well, in his actual name. Which was either in some crazy cursive or was in some different language. It still had an air of elegance and poise to it, though. Like it knew it was the handwriting of someone important.

Flug's signature itself was normal. It looked about the same as any other time he'd written it. Perhaps a little sloppy, but clearly legible and clearly his handwriting. It would probably hold up in court.

Wait, were soul contracts considered legally binding? Who would he have to talk to about this, an attorney or a priest? Was he going to need some kind of spiritual lawyer when he died?

Flug returned to skimming over the contract as best as he could, shaking himself out of his distracting thoughts. Some of it was in a language he didn't recognize, but it seemed like the basics were in English, which he could read perfectly well. Maybe just the mystical stuff was written in...not-English?

"By signing this contract you agree to submit yourself in entirety, including but not limited to life, earthly possessions, body, mind, will, any and all private resources and/or properties, immortal soul, and desires to the service of-"

Yeah ok, that confirmed it. Black Hat's name was something he would never be able to pronounce or read. What language even was that? Were those letters?

"Once willingly signed, this contract will relinquish you of your immortal soul within 6 hours. If this does not happen, you have no soul to take possession of. It is recommended that this contract is burned, you take another's soul as your own or reclaim your original soul, and attempt to pledge your being again after 90 days."

Well, ok, Flug assumed that he had a soul before last week. He wasn't aware that souls could apparently be taken so casually. Or that you could take someone else's as your own and use it in business transactions like this. Who knew?

So, had he been relinquished of his soul? What did that mean for him?

"Once the soul has left your earthly body, it will take up residence in the contract itself. You will not be able to disobey anything stipulated by this contract. Any attempt to go against the contract or destroy it will cause tremendous mental, emotional, spiritual, physical, metaphysical, fifth dimensional, psychosomatic, mystical, or phantom pain. As well as distress the nature of which has not been yet experienced by humankind."

Ok, what the hell was fifth dimensional pain? Flug assumed he didn't want to find out, but seriously, what the devil did that even mean? He didn't exist in the fourth dimension, much less the fifth dimension! At least, he assumed he didn't. Maybe he did and he just couldn't comprehend it as a dimension of space.

So, his soul was no longer in his body, it was now in this very piece of paper before him. Yeah sure why not? BUT WHAT DID THIS MEAN FOR HIM!?

"Stipulations of this contract are as follows:"

The long and short of it was the Flug had agreed to spend his life working under Black Hat, that he was not at liberty to discuss matters of his employment or his employment itself with persons unauthorized by Black Hat, he could not disobey anything ordered by Black Hat, and the only one who could free him of this fate without causing tremendous pain to Flug was of course Black Hat himself.

Why had he agreed to this again?

"As compensation for your sacrifice, your new lord and master has graciously seen fit to bestow upon you-"

Ok was this one of the ones Black Hat wrote himself? He seems like the kind of guy to refer to himself as "lord and master".

And his "gracious compensation" was dental coverage, health insurance if it impeded his ability to work, lifetime housing, recession-proof employment, the honor of being subordinate to the future world dictator, free protection (whatever that meant), and negotiable scheduled breaks.

Ok, maybe Flug was wearing him down.

Flug grinned up a bit at his new boss, and found said dark-skinned man peering intently at the contract through a magnifying glass. Which really made Flug take notice of the nearly black color of his eyes. Almost like he didn't have an iris.

When Black Hat glanced up at him from it though, he was reassured. Through the magnifying glass, Flug could see a rim of nearly-black-reddish-brown circling his pupil. Almost indistinguishable, but there all the same.

"Having any better luck?" Flug asked. "Because I'm not s-s-seeing the side effects of being s-soulless anyw-w-where."

"It's in the fine print." Black Hat said simply.

Flug sighed. "Of course."

"I-i-i-is that...is that what I a-a-am now?"

"Is what what you are now?"

"Soulless. Am I s-s-s-soulless?"

Black Hat looked up in contemplation. "I guess so," he said after a second. "Does that bother you?"

"W-well, it's not like I was using it." Flug said with a sad sort of smile. "Do you see any life-threatening side e-f-ffects?"

"Just usual sleep-deprivation stuff. Insanity. Possible hallucinations. Have you stopped feeling pain and empathy?"

"Uhhh, no?"

"You may stop feeling pain and empathy."

Well, okay. That was closer to what he was looking for. He pretty much knew the symptoms of sleep deprivation; fatigue, weight loss, weight gain, heart disease, diabetes. And that was just the physical stuff! Mentally it pretty much destroyed the brain!

Like going insane! Or hallucinating! Well isn't that just peachy!

"So, I can't sleep because I'm soulless?" Flug asked.

"The signer of this contract cannot dream and does not need sleep per se. Sleep is not strictly a requirement so much as it is an amenity." Black Hat said, as emotionless as if he was reading out of an academic journal. "The signer can still lose consciousness and/or can be forced to pass out under the influence of medicinal or recreational substances. Nothing causing natural REM sleep will have any effect, save for drowsiness. Meditation or hypnosis is recommended as an alternative to normal rest should the signer desire it. These can be utilized as a way of preserving mental health."

"Why exactly? Why can't I sleep?"

"Doesn't say."

"R-really?"

"Really."

Black Hat continued.

"The signer may experience the desensitization of physical pain and suffering. Both of their own and of others. Without the soul, the body has little sensational properties. However remnants of those sensations do linger and can be experienced as what are more or less akin to phantom pains. All physical perceptions can be controlled i.e. suppressed or intensified by the mind with practice."

"So, if I concentrate really hard on not feeling pain, I won't?" Flug asked.

"It's more like you don't feel pain at all, you just think you do. Because you don't have a soul, you don't really feel physical things at all, it's just in your head. And you can control how much or how little you feel."

"Oh," Flug said, a little sad about it. He didn't want to lose all his physical sensations. Painful or pleasurable. Well, it said "may", so perhaps he wouldn't lose them? Or perhaps he could simply not try to control them, thereby keeping at the very least the illusion of physical feelings. Yes, even if life hurt, he wanted to feel it.

"The signer may experience a lack of empathy towards others of their species as well as those beyond. The suffering of other beings may not affect the signer to any extent, either negatively or positively. This too can be altered by the mind of the signer if desired."

"Well, that sounds like something I'll need for a future in villainy." Flug said under his breath.

Black Hat chuckled a bit. "You already had that one…"

They locked eyes for a few seconds. Flug almost daring his to break out into full blown laughter, he daring Flug to tell him he was wrong.

Flug was the first to break eye contact. He just knew Black Hat was smirking at him. He rubbed his neck, the area still covered in scabbed over bite marks covered by a green turtleneck. He just knew Black Hat only grinned wider at him. He refused to look at him, wouldn't look in his eye. He kept his eyes downcast, trained at the piece of paper on the desk that said Black Hat owned him.

Shit, this was going to be a long lifetime wasn't it?

"Due to the lack of soul and lack of sleep, the signer may experience a shift in the perception of time. Either that time is going by more quickly or more slowly. This also can be controlled, as time is itself an illusion."

"Well, ok. Fine. I'm not too w-w-wo-worried about that."

"There's one more thing." Black Hat said.

"Tell m-me."

"Despite the controlled numbness to physical sensations such as pain, the change in the perception of time, and the lack of immortal soul, the signer is still a mortal being subject to death by conventional means of murder, illness, and old age. If you wish to upgrade to Premium- Are you serious Mortimer?" Black Hat said. "You're really advertising your products in your other products?"

Black Hat laid down the magnifying glass with a huff. "That's just desperate."

A pause. "Shit, I'm going to do it too."

Flug blinked. "Uh, w-wh-w-what was that about an up-g-grade?"

Black Hat was silent for a beat before answering.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." He said quickly. A bit too quickly. Flug became suspicious. What could he be hiding?

"B-Black Hat, come on now. Just tell me."

"I said it's nothing!" He snapped. All four of the other people in the library turned their way.

"O-okay, okay, fine." Flug relented. What ever "upgrading to premium" meant, Black Hat wasn't willing to talk about it. Not right now at least. Maybe Flug could get it out of him later.

Or just, you know, read the fine print himself and find out right now.

Black Hat snatched up the contract and put it back in his coat. He seemed to be in a real hurry to get out of the library. He practically bolted out of his seat and ran for the door. Flug hurried to keep up.

"Black Hat? Hey, w-wait! Black Hat!" He tried calling but his boss wouldn't stop for him.

They exited the library, Black Hat speeding up a bit and Flug almost breaking into a light jog to keep up. Black Hat wouldn't turn around or respond to anything he said.

"Black Hat! Look, I won't a-a-ask about it again ok? Black Haaaaat! I'll just f-f-forget I even heard about whatever it was! Wey, you're one of l-l-like five people I talk to s-stop ignoring me!"

Black Hat spun around on a dime and Flug almost crashed right into him. It seemed like this happened every other time they were around each other. Black Hat had an odd look in his eye, and in all honesty Flug was more preoccupied trying to find that tint of color to his iris than discerning what that look meant. It was like a small little thread, just one shred of proof that this bizarre being he would live under was a human at his core.

"I'll forget it, o-ok?" Flug said, trying to placate the man. "Totally forget about it. As a matter of fact, what was it we were talking about? I have no idea. Already g-g-gone."

Black Hat still didn't respond. He seemed a lot calmer, which Flug counted as a win, but wasn't his normal underlyingly menacing self.

"A-a-are we g-good?"

A pause. Black Hat relaxed his posture. Flug just barely took notice of how tense Black Hat had been. Why had he gotten so worked up about whatever "premium" meant?

Well, Flug knew what the word meant. It meant "an amount to be paid", or referred to some more expensive version of a pre-existing product. It usually had more features and/or benefits, but Flug's main concern was the price. The "premium" version of things tended to give little in the ways of updated technology and were more of an excuse to make things more expensive.

Hey wait…

"Yeah, yeah we're good, Flug." Black Hat finally said, his normal stance and attitude returning. "May I drive you home?"

"Y-yeah," Flug said, being shaken out of his thoughts. "Yeah please."

They walked out to where Black Hat had parked his car, the place a bit more populated than it had been before. His car stood out a bit, it looked as dark and suspicious as it's driver, but no one ever seemed to take notice of this besides Flug. Or maybe, like him, no one else was willing to voice their concerns.

No matter how founded they might be.

As they got in and drove off towards his apartment building, Flug tried to lighten the mood with some small talk.

"So, n-now that I don't sleep I guess I have a lot more time to devise weapons."

"That you do."

"Lots more time to experiment."

"Yep."

"Kind of bummed that I can't dream. I'm going to m-miss that."

"Well, look at it this way, you have more time to make your dreams reality." Black Hat said, putting a hand on Flug's shoulder.

"T-thanks. And hey, no dreams mean no night-m-m-mares so I got that going for me."

"You have nightmares?" Black Hat asked. The way he said it, though. He asked it like it was a question he already knew the answer to. The hand on Flug's shoulder was still and relaxed, not revealing any clues.

Just how much do you know about me, Hat-Man?

"Yeah, s-s-sometimes."

"What about?"

"Hospital beds." Flug said. Not the whole truth, but not technically a lie. "They're not pleasant."

Black Hat chuckled at this. "Neither is hospital food, but I never had nightmares about that."

"What'd you do that landed you in the hospital?"

"Got shot. Among other things." He said with a thin smile, sending the pair into another awkward silence.

"It's probably too late to enroll for night classes," Flug blurted out after a few seconds. "And I'd have to pay just to take them."

"Night classes?"

"Well, if I have the whole night free now, I might as well expand my education. It's not like I want to just stay in and do nothing for eight hours."

"Ok, I see your point." Black Hat said, tapping Flug's shoulder a bit. "Same problem with online classes, huh?"

"Heh, m-maybe I should just hack into the school network and take online classes for free." Flug said as a joke.

"Yeah, that would work. Go ahead and do that."

Wait, Flug wasn't being serious! Although...why not? He had nothing better to do with his time. Playing with himself was going to lose it's thrill eventually, and he needed something to keep his mind occupied in the late night hours.

Well, he'd be way behind in the class. He probably would've missed more than a few important things. And what classes were being offered online anyway?

And would they show up on his transcripts or not? He wasn't going to put in effort for a class and NOT receive credit for it.

But having so many classes in the following years at all hours would probably look really fishy…

GAH! Why couldn't Flug stop thinking about every little detail and just fucking DO THINGS!?

Hey, what was that song playing softly on the car radio? It sounded familiar. Flug moved his arm to turn the volume up, slightly disturbing Black Hat's hand. Black Hat didn't move away, just settled back in the groove of things as Flug sat back in his seat. He even started rubbing Flug's shoulder. It felt pretty nice. Flug leaned into the touch a bit without realizing it as he listened to the song. It was the same one he had heard yesterday with his parents.

And I smile as I respire because I know they'll never win

There's a haze above my TV

That changes everything I see

And maybe if I continue watching

I'll lose the traits that worry me

Black Hat started rubbing his shoulder in time with the song. Maybe he'd heard it before also? It felt very relaxing, and Flug was able to feel himself calming down from his internal struggle. Perhaps if he just kept on this path he'd lose the traits that worried him as well.

Stop there and let me correct it

I wanna live a life from a new perspective

You come along because I love your face

And I'll admire your expensive taste

And who cares? Divine intervention

I wanna be praised from a new perspective

Yes, that was exactly it, a new perspective. Sometimes the only way to solve a problem was to look at it from a different angle, this he knew this from his many experiments throughout his life.

Many a time he hit a wall in his thought progress and being the stubborn workaholic he was, Flug couldn't just leave it be until he came up with a solution. More often than not, the best method of finding a way around a problem was to literally look for a way around it. Whether figuratively, in the case of equations and theory, or physically, in the case of mechanical issues. A truly new perspective. In the case of his current predicament, the solution was clear as soon as he calmed down and thought through it logically.

Flug could not change anything about himself, not anymore than he already had by signing his soul over to a supervillain, but what he could do is change how he viewed it.

A new perspective indeed.

And truly, what is so wrong with not having to sleep ever again? The only thing Flug was missing out on was a few hours of lying unconscious in his bed every night. Yes, there was the matter of his mental and physical well-being, but apparently there were substitutes to take care of those concerns in meditation and hypnosis. Something that would be worth looking into, for the sake of his health if nothing else.

This could be a good thing for him, if he was willing to make it something good. The only problem he really had with it before was that he didn't understand what had happened to him. His only issue had been not knowing what was going on.

Not knowing was the enemy, it was made of fear and uncertainty. Now that Flug knew what had happened and why, he could be okay. The information made him feel safe. Just knowing that everything with him was fine, that this was his new normal, gave him security. All that was left was to decide what to do with it, and Flug could do that at his leisure.

More to the point I need to show

How much I can come and go

Other plans fall through

And put a heavy load on you

I know there's no more that need be said

When I'm inching through your bed

Take a look around instead and watch me go

So, what would he do once he got home? Perhaps enrolling in more classes and increasing his school workload wasn't the way of going about expanding his mind. Both because it would look incredibly suspicious to anyone who bothered looking, and because perhaps what he was looking for wouldn't be found in a classroom. Whether in person or online. There were alternative modes of study, he just had to seek them out.

And they were all probably readily available from the comfort of his personal laptop.

It's not fair, just let me perfect it

Don't wanna live a life that was comprehensive

'Cause seeing clear would be a bad idea

Now catch me up on getting out of here

So catch me up I'm getting out of here

He could work with this.

Can we fast forward till you go down on me?

Flug locked eyes (er, eye) with his bossonce they'd arrived. He thanked him politely for driving him home yet again and swiftly walked up the three flights of stairs to his apartment, humming that familiar song as he went. The elevators had been down for some time now, so he was just accustomed to taking the stairs. He wondered again what that song was and who sung it. A quick search of the lyrics would probably turn something up, maybe he'd get around to it later tonight.

Flug made his way to his apartment, familiar number 302, eager to find something to occupy his time.

Notes:

If anyone is still curious, the three animes Flug referenced last chapter were "Puella Magi Madoka Magica", "Steins;Gate", and "Berserk". Why was Flug watching a magical girl show? Cuz the outfits are cute and the story was good shut up!

The title and the song that plays in both halves is "New Perspective" (duh) from Panic! At the Disco.

Translations:

la Fuerza Aérea = the Air Force

maricon = basically is slang to mean a gay guy

Dios = God

Wey = slang for "dude" or "guy"