fire ; diego hargreeves

2 ; the meeting

"You know, dear Alejandro, libraries are usually silent for a reason." Alex looked over at his co-worker. Sally was giving him an amused look as he turned down the volume of his headphones.

Sally was his first (and only) friend at his job. She was shorter than him and had short green hair. She was African-American and had a kind streak a mile wide, rivalled only by her weird streak.

"I like listening to tunes when working. I'll try to keep it down," he said sheepishly. Sally nodded her head, looking like she knew he would turn it up again eventually.

Work in the library was decent. The pay was alright for what he did, but he still had to take a second job to make sure he could make rent. Working in a bar was ... alright. There were worse jobs to make ends meet.

Alex still had three hours until his shift was over. As much as he enjoyed this job, it sometimes dragged.

Sometimes Sally said the girls from the nearby university came to the library to catch a peek at Alex. It amused him a little. Sure, he identified as bisexual, but that wasn't the kind of thing he was looking for. Not yet, at least. He was too busy trying not to burn everything that he touched. He supposed getting a partner would make that a little harder.

At age twenty-five, Alex had an alright build, especially from what he'd been raised from. He was treating himself right and learning how to care for himself in ways no-one else had before.

He was doing well, all things considered - he did work with flammable liquids at night. That probably wasn't the greatest choice of job, but it was one of few going at the time.

Three hours later, he was leaving one job and taking an hour's walk to the next. Alex usually liked the walk; it helped to clear his head, let him calm down enough for the six hours he'd be working with drunken idiots. But this time was a little different.

Usually Alex walked a little closer to the road than the alleys and shops and whatnot. But the streets were busy and cramped. So naturally he was to be mugged the one time he walked on the other side of the road.

"Keep quiet and this will be nice and easy," the mugger said. There was a gun pressed to Alex's neck and the mugger was rummaging through his pockets, trying to grab the bag that was on his shoulder. Maybe the mugger should have made sure his alleyway was clear before he tried to mug Alex.

Someone, dressed in leather spandex, that shouted BDSM, appeared from above and landed on the mugger. A gunshot went off, and then Alex's ears were ringing. As the leather man tried to beat up the mugger, Alex grabbed the gun, and it melted over the mugger's hand.

"What the fu-"

Alex pushed the mugger aside, and he scrambled away, making whining noises as he ran.

"Fucker tried shooting me," Alex said, rubbing at his right ear. The gunshot had been so loud up close. He looked at the man, finally getting a proper look at him. "Why are you dressed like an edgy Robin?"

The man laughed, shaking his head. He had an eyemask on, but it didn't hide the long scar on the right side of his face. He had an alright build and was looking at Alex in a weird way. Maybe it was because Alex was shorter than him. Or because he melted a fucking gun.

"Did you just burn that guy's gun?" he asked. Alex pursed his lips a little before he nodded his head.

"Yeah. Tends to happen."

The man scoffed. "So you burn mugger's guns often?"

"Eh, I can burn anything. Especially you in your spandex."

The leather man chuckled and shook his head. "You're a pyromaniac?" he asked, looking Alex up and down, like he didn't expect a twenty-five year old to be able to conjure fire.