flying too close to the sun

An awkward encounter

Tommy woke from the uncomfortably bright light shining through the small uncovered window in his bedroom, he groaned and went to pull the covers over his head before he remembered that he had work at Niki's this morning.

He sat up and rubbed his face, his blond hair was somehow more fluffy than the day before, sticking up like a mushroom cloud. Tommy stood up and stretched, his whole back and wings ached from the night of restless sleep on the cheap tatty mattress. Deciding to skip breakfast in favour of a shower he quickly got ready, getting dressed into plain trousers and a pale hoodie. Normally he would be okay with just wearing a t-shirt but he knew Niki would be worried if she saw the knife mark and the few bruises that were forming from his eventful night.

Grabbing his rucksack he legged it out the apartment, for such an awkward and leggy looking teen, he was surprisingly fast as he shot through his district.

"NIKI!!"

He shouted cheerfully, grinning to her as he walked into the quaint bakery. Niki looked up at him and smiled warmly, she had medium blonde hair and eyes were a sea green and the small gills on her neck were the only things giving away that she was a fish hybrid. Not that she tried to hide it!

"Did you enjoy the donut I left for you? It's a new recipe so I figured you were the best to test it"

Niki asked, her voice soft and caring as she smiled at her employee, she truthfully just liked giving him all the snacks she could but she didn't want to tell him that, and end up scaring him off. He hated pity and would rather be broke than be given any charity.

"It was poggers big N!"

Tommy told her, grinning again and throwing his rucksack down to the ground behind the till. His job was to serve the customers, whether they just wanted a loaf of bread, or a coffee while they sat and read the paper. Most of the time he enjoyed his job, it was uneventful and quiet most days with the occasional customer coming by to grab a pastry and leaving again.

Today wasn't much different, Niki worked in the back of the store so she often wasn't involved in the customers other than poking her head in to say hello. Tommy was half zoned out thinking about his recent criminal run ins when the bell on the door rang, announcing someone had arrived. His gaze traveled to the door for a before before he froze, his blood going cold for a moment, as Phantom entered the small bakery.

Now Tommy didn't have an issue with Phantom, in fact he thought his powers were awesome! Phantom much like his name suggested could turn himself almost transparent like a ghost, floating through the air at high speeds for someone without wings. The only thing that annoyed Tommy was Phantom's public persona, he would often act more childish to appease the youth of the city which although was a bit annoying, Tommy also respected the effort of keeping his good reputation. Tommy simply didn't have the patience for that.

Now it wasn't all this that made Tommy freeze in his thoughts and panic him. It was the worry that he could be recognised and end up in jail at any moment, he definitely didn't have the high ground from the cramped place behind the bread counter. He decided to play with confidence and take control on the situation before Phantom could notice Tommy's similarities to the districts vigilante.

"Ahh big man Phantom what brings you to the humble 77th district bakery?"

Phantom looked a Tommy, his eyes took in the small winged boy with lanky limbs and bright eyes full of contradicting emotions; fear, surprise, awe, excitement, confidence. He smiled at the boy adjusting his brown beanie over his curly dark brown hair.

"Why hello there, i haven't seen you here before"

The Phantom strode over to the small coffee table in the bakery, there were only a few tables and chairs since people didn't tend to sit in the bakery much. He looked over to where the winged boy ran his hands through his wildly fluffy hair awkwardly.

"Uh yeah big man I'm only part time, got too many woman for full time"

Tommy blabbered grabbing a small notepad and biro pen from the counter and walking over to Phantom

"Come on bitch boy- uh I mean mr Phantom, what do you want?"

The Phantom paused before for a moment, as though processing, before bursting into laughter at the boy with no filter. It took him a couple moments to calm himself enough to get his words out.

"You're certainly a character, well you gremlin, I want a coffee with two sugars"

Tommy nodded scribbling something on the notepad, Phantom glanced at the notepad and had a small suspicion that instead of writing, the gremlin had just drawn a dick. Before he could confirm this, Tommy made his own input on Phantom's order.

"Come on skinny man, you should have some cake too"

Phantom laughed again, he was liking this strange skinny kid and part of him wanted to get to know him. In a way he reminded him of himself when he was a kid, Tommy was louder though.

"Sure gremlin, pick one for me"

Tommy scribbled something else on the small notepad before scampering round the back of the country and started to prepare the drinks.

Phantom took this time to look the boy over, he looked young, maybe 16 if that. He was also scruffy, with long skinny limbs and hair that looked like it hadn't seen a brush in weeks. His wings too looked like they should be a beautiful white, but they were mucky and ruffled. Phantom frowned, if Phil saw that he'd have a fit. His heart swelled a little as he noticed the scruffy child's hands had a slight shake as he made the coffee and poured the sugar, could just be excitement of meeting a hero but Phantom couldn't shake the feeling there was more to the boy that met the eyes and with that he decided next time he came for coffee, he would bring Phil.