The Chained Watcher

Rooftops

The kid's mom (he thinks, could just be a random adult though) spotted what her child was doing right before the wind swept over the roof, sending empty paper plates sliding and upsetting the kid's balance. He perched on the edge of the roof, waiting, just in case the kid managed to recover.

Their foot slipped off the edge, and he let himself fall off as well, trusting the invis to keep him off the cameras as he angled himself to intercept the falling flailing child.

When he got close, he lost a second when a flailing arm smacked him in the face, but he recovered and grabbed their arm, pulling them in close as they latched onto him like a koala. His wings snapped out with an audible sound as he killed their momentum and turned the fall into a speedy glide. Okay, streets are a bit too crowded, but there's a park just a few blocks away he can land in.

The kid's eyes are screwed shut as they cling to him, and he makes sure he's holding them securely while weaving between the buildings and searching for a big enough tree. When he spots one with large wide branches, he circles it for a moment while descending gradually before backwinging to get rid of the rest of his momentum.

His feet touch the sturdiest-looking branch, and he folds his wings in against his back. Now all he needs to do is calm the kid down enough to get them to release their death grip on his sweater.

Gently rubbing their back, he sat down with his back against the trunk and murmured quietly, "Hey, it's okay, you're safe now, no more falling." Normally he tries to ignore emotions as a matter of privacy, but this time he lets himself monitor the level of fear the kid is feeling to tell when they calm down.

They're definitely very shaken by this, but that's kinda to be expected after falling off a roof. Falling can be very scary for people who don't have wings.

Speaking of wings, he loosely wraps his around, figuring the extra warmth and contact would help calm the kid down. But hey, at least they aren't screaming bloody murder! He probably wouldn't bother to calm them down before leaving if they were screaming in his ear the whole time.

As the kid's terror slowly ebbs away, he takes slow, deep breaths, hoping to silently encourage them to match his breathing pattern. Slowly, ever so slowly, the quick panicked breaths, near hyperventilating, calmed down. They still held on tightly, but he could tell they were no longer completely overcome by terror.

His invis is running out by now, but there are enough leaves on this tree that he should be hidden from any cameras. There used to be one in this tree, but it looks like a squirrel got to it a while ago and it never got replaced. Well, if it hadn't been broken already, he would have smashed it to keep it from capturing any footage of him, so it's not like it makes much of a difference.

Running a hand through their hair, he smiles when they make a noise of protest. Looks like they're almost calm enough to leave. Their death grip had also loosened to the point where he can shift them to sitting on his lap, so he carefully moves them so they're facing to the side instead of straight into his sweater.

Aaaand his invis ran out. Now he'll need another one before he can leave the park. Oh well, that's why he carries several on him.

Oh, looks like the kid noticed his wings. It should be fine though. Even if they say they were saved by a person with wings, the fact that no cameras caught sight of this winged person will probably lead to the internet concluding that the kid has a guardian angel or something.

"Woah..." The quiet wonderment in their voice made him chuckle, drawing their eyes up to his face.

"Feeling better now?"

They nod, and answer verbally, "Mhmm." Then they look back down to his wings, asking quietly, "When did people have wings though?"

He probably shouldn't answer, or he should claim he's an angel or something, but he really doesn't want to get tangled up with superstitions and divine problems right now. Smiling, he said, "Most people don't, so I usually try to keep them secret." Booping the kid's nose, he asked "Do you think you can keep a secret?