~ It was almost incredible how quickly the weather had caved in on this little town. The temperature had dropped drastically and it was painting Keith's body with goosebumps. A shiver would convulse down his spine every minute or so. He pulls the collar of his hoodie up over his nose to keep it warm. If it really wanted to, it could start snowing and Keith wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. It was feverishly cold yet thankfully the fire crackled in his stomach, filling his body with warmth.
He'd managed to get away without rain for the most part, so there was that. At least until the fencing of the train yard came into view and then the rain began its light and gentle decent to the Earth. Along with it did Keith's sense of calm, plummeting to the ground along with his bravery. What lie beyond that fence line, keeping Keith from the one inside, was something he wasn't sure he was ready to face. Who knew how Lance was going to react to his long awaited appearance. Who knew what sort of fury inhabited the boy of stark blue eyes. Keith wasn't ready to find out.
But he guessed now was as good a time as any to really settle things, to say his final goodbye and leave. It needed to be done, for the sake of the one he cared about. So with that he takes a deep breath and throws a leg over the dip in the wire fence. Each step his nervousness increases. Every second made his urge to run away stronger and stronger.
Until there he was. Right where he knew he was going to be, leaning against the bonnet of an old car not too far from their usual and favoured spot. Keith could feel the cigarette lit between the boys lips. His eyes were cast down on the blue light of his phone. He didn't look happy, but Keith was immediately breath taken at the sight of him. Still as beautiful as ever, glittered in the rain. Keith had missed him, more than he thought.
Keith tried to make his approach as quiet as possible, something about not wanting to make a big fuss playing a big part in the act. However, his hopes were quickly rolled away along with the empty, probably prehistoric soup can his foot had collided with. With a clatter that echoed off every damned metal surface in the nearby area Lance looks up and Keith smiles sheepishly. "H-hey..."
Lance was silent, watching him with dark eyes as the boy neared unsurely. It was almost as terrifying as Keith's earlier experience with the witch of a student counsellor. Lance was not happy. Keith didn't know what to do, so he stood there, two metres away with his hands clasped together behind his back. Looking around to avoid making eye contact like the idiot he was. Now what? He was sort of expecting Lance to kick and shout and pull him by the lobe of his ear, and yet nothing. The boy merely watched him with sunless eyes. It was scarier than if he was beating the ever loving shit out of Keith - some part of him kind of preferred that over what he was getting now.
Lance rolls his eyes with a groan and pushes off of the car. There he begins to circle around Keith like a vulture eyeing its meal. Keith stiffens immediately. As Lance comes to his front he stops, breathes the toxic fumes of his cigarette in deep before then blowing the smoke into Keith's face. He nearly forgets to cough. Realistically the smoke did nothing to him. Lances deathly gaze however, did. It made him feel small. Insignificant.
"Start talking Kogane." Lance tells him. Keith blinks in surprise, he hadn't really thought about how he was going to start. And besides, it probably didn't matter how much planning he'd done, because with one simple glance over the boy before him and Keith was pretty much rendered speechless. He had no idea what to say.
"I uh... I..." Keith spoke like his mouth was numb and incapable of speech. Lance rolls his eyes again and drops the cigarette to the now damp ground. He never steps it out.
"Here, let me get you started; Oh I'm so sorry Lance, I disappeared out of nowhere and ignored you for a week and it was completely uncharitable and thoughtless of me. I should have contacted you sooner, given you a sign that I was okay, even a simple hello would've done. But yet since me, being the crass, dim-witted moron that I am completely disregarded how you were feeling and how stressful my disappearance was for you."
Keith blinks, his mouth opening and closing a few times. Lance doesn't let him speak.
"And for some reason or another I found it mind-blowingly difficult to even say the smallest; 'hey, don't worry I'm okay. I just need some time off!' So I'm really sorry for my inability to trust you when I need some time to recuperate myself. Please, oh please forgive me Lance! I'll never do it again!"
Keith stares at him with wide, dumb-struck eyes. He was speechless, I mean if he wasn't already was then he definitely is now. Lance raises a brown and folds his arms over.
"Well?"
"You... pretty much summed it up really." Keith shrugs and scratches the back of his neck, an embarrassed tinge blossoming on the skin of his cheeks. Lance narrows his eyes.
"So what are you?"
"...Sorry?"
"No, Keith. What are you?" For a second Keith was confused, like he had been before in Ms Haggar's office. There was no way Lance knew did he? About the fire? No, surely not. There was something he was missing.
And he finds it in the way Lance was looking at him, all kinds of degrading insults were playing in his head right now. He was calling Keith all of them. Every name in the book to pay him out. It makes him want to smile, but he knows now was not the right time to do so.
"I'm a crass, dim-witted, inconsiderate, dumbass who should've been more aware about your feelings and to trust you." Keith says, his voice is small. His eyes find his feet, he's pouting like a child but really, there was something that made him want to laugh about this whole ordeal. Lance was acting like a mother scolding their child for putting the cat in the washing machine. Or something along those lines.
But as quick as the feeling came did it fall away and Keith decided to be stern with himself. He straightens up and looks directly at Lance. The boy has his eyes closed as he listens, he opens his mouth and begins to speak-
"Good, I'm glad you came to your se-"
"But that isn't why I came." Keith interrupts. Lance's mouth clamps shut, there's a line between his brows.
"What?"
"Lance, we can't see each other anymore."
A pause. And then;
"What?" Lance says again. Keith only sighs.
"I already told you, I'm not someone you should hang around with." Keith tells him, he rests a hand on his hip and rubs the bridge of his nose as he tries to find the best way to say it. "Look, I can't tell you exactly why, but I just need you to understand that the longer you hang with me the more danger you're in."
Lance looks lost and confused yet still very, very mad. Keith's gaze falls away, he can't bring himself to look him dead in the eye.
"Why?" Is all Lance can ask. The way his voice nearly cracks has a small lump forming at the base of Keith's throat. He hated this, he didn't want to do this but at the same time wished he could get it over with. "Why can't I be around you? What makes you so dangerous Keith?"
Keith bites his lip, he wanted to tell him. About everything he was and everything he wish he weren't. But he just couldn't. Not if he wanted to protect this person before him.
He shakes his head.
"You can't tell me? You're pushing me away and you can't tell me why? That's a low blow." Lance bites and it has Keith wanting to crumble. He somehow holds his resolve however, his eyes meet the others.
"It's for your own good Lance."
"No, no don't do that, don't make it my fault. Tell me what's going on with you Keith, you've been acting weird all week. I want answers." Lance takes a step towards him. Keith nearly steps back, but he holds his own.
"I'm sorry."
"Are you really?"
The new kid runs a hand up through his hair and sighs heavily again. This wasn't going how he'd planned it would. "It's complicated."
"Try me."
"You wouldn't understand."
"I've been through some shit Keith, I think I can handle it."
"No, you can't alright? I can't even handle it, it's something completely beyond you. Why can't you just leave it at that?" Keith's voice raises just a fraction. Lance's fists are clenched at his sides. He looks like he wants to explode.
"Because I want to know what's going on in your head, and it might seem crazy but it's because I care okay? I care." Lance barks at him. His eyes look glazed, like he should be close to tears but he wasn't going to break yet. He had too much fight in him. "What are you so afraid of?"
That strikes a knife through Keith's chest and twists it sharp. His gaze falls to the floor.
"What are you so afraid of Keith?" Lance growls venomously and Keith finally snaps. The temperature rises up a notch and all the sudden the fog is dissipating around them and the rain evaporates before it hits their figures.
"MYSELF!" Keith shouts, his nails are digging into his palm, his stomach is tying itself into knots and he's squeezed his eyes shut tight. "I'm afraid of myself okay?" When he slowly opens them to see why Lance had fallen quiet he comes to find the boy staring down at something in horror. Keith furrows his brows and looks to his hand. His eyes widen.
His searing hot heart freezes over.
Oh god.
---
Cigarette ash falls to the toe of her shoe, smoke cascades into the confines of her lungs. The breeze is chilly against the back of her neck. Giving a short sigh she brings her phone up to her ear and leans her weight to one leg, hip resting against the side of her car.
"What is it?" A grave, deep voice asks once the line connects with a crackle. Sucking in deeply before letting smoke pile out of her mouth, she clicks her tongue.
"I think we've got another one." She says. There's a pause of silence for a little while, she rolls her eyes and waits patiently.
"What type?" He finally asks.
She breathes again, drops the cigarette from between two perfectly manicured fingers and presses her shoe into it. She then pulls her scarf closer around her neck, preserving what little warmth her body created.
Hooking her fingers under the handle of her car door she pulls it open and gets into the drivers seat. Jamming her key into the ignition the engine revs to life. The heater splays warm air over her front.
As she pulls out of the parking lot the man at the other end of the line grows impatient. "Well-"
"Fire."
The radio starts up and slow jazz begins to flow from the speakers. As she leaves the car park she finds her own gaze in the rear view mirror. The high school gradually shrinking in the background. And in the silence that followed along the phone line she smirks.
"Keith Kogane, child of fire."
---
Keith had never known what people meant when they said everything goes in slow motion as something major happens, when a sudden realization drops, or the ball is hurling towards your face in a game of sport. He never really understood what time freezing in place meant. Until now.
His heart beat was slow, very slow. Like it was unsure whether or not it should keep beating. Keith didn't know himself if he wanted it too. The look on Lance's face was enough to make him feel sick. He'd fucked up. He'd fucked up. It finally happened. He'd fucked everything up.
Lance steps back, he can't tear his eyes away from Keith's hand and forearm. A gold glowing flame is coiled around his skin. Dancing to the song of its own crackling. Keith raises the other hand slowly. "Lance-"
"You're... You're on fire Keith!" Lance suddenly shrieks as he hurls himself around, scoops up a bundle of old fabric out of a forgotten baby pram and tries to dab it out. Keith yelps in surprise when Lance starts beating him with the rags. The fire isn't giving out in the slightest and as soon as contact is made the fabric catches alight and goes up in flames. Lance screams and tosses it over his head into the damp soil where only then the fire dies. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy fuck! Keith! Oh my god don't freak out I'm- I'm gonna call the-"
"No! Lance stop!" Keith reaches out on instinct. Lance flinches away and stares at Keith's hand with wide eyes, he's holding his phone to his ear. Keith stops and drops his hands. "I'm sorry, it's okay."
"Okay? Okay? Keith you're on fucking fire!" Lance exclaims, waving his hands around like a maniac. The phone is still dialing when he runs his hands through his hair and stares at the ground, muttering to himself as though he'd finally lost all sense of... Well, sense. "How did- how the fuck did that even- holy shit."
"Lance. Lance look at me." Keith orders and slowly the boy meets his eyes. He looks terrified and confused all the same.
"Why-... Why aren't you freaking out?" He asks and Keith takes a deep breath. He wills the fire around his arm to die away, it's a bit more of a struggle but eventually it does.
"Because... Well..." He has no idea how to explain it. He never thought he'd have to, he thought he'd be able to hide it. What a shame job he did. He puts his hands on his hips for a few seconds before dropping them. How did he put it? What was the best way to help Lance understand?
In the end Keith just blurts, "I have a superpower."
And Lance's face deadpans. Keith waits a few moments before scowling to himself for being such an idiot. Right, because that would pour light all over the situation you fucking moron. I'm sure now he understands everything.
Keith sighs, heavily, he looks at Lance to find his face is morphed into an expression of total, full fledged confusion.
"Look, let's just-... Let's sit down." Keith tells him as he gestures to the freight car. Keith steps over and stands beside it. Lance doesn't make even the slightest of movement, he simply stands where he is and holds his arm to his body. He looked unsure, maybe even... afraid? Keith swallowed hard. Lance was afraid. Because of him. He nods his head, raises two hands up and slowly makes his way back over. "Okay... Lance, I know it's going to be hard to believe when I tell you but... I have a..."
He doesn't know what to say. Lance watches him warily from a good few metres away. Scratching the back of his neck, Keith breathes out. "-I'm different."
Without a warning his entire right hand goes up in flames. Lance jumps in fear, his face is lit up with the orange glow of the flame, his horrified eyes shiny and glisten with the embers. Keith can see his silhouette in the reflection. He watches the boy with expectant eyes, he wasn't sure what to do from here. Lance was terrified. He holds his phone to his chest and stares at Keith's burning hand.
Keith slowly moves his hand around to show that it was doing him no harm. Lance's eyes never pull away from his blazing hand, staring at it with frightful captivation.
"It's okay Lance..." Keith says softly. Unable to explain to the boy why this was happening. Why he was the way he is. Because he, himself, did not know the answer.
"H-how... how is that..." Lance trails off. There's a tug of an empty smile pulling at the corner of Keith's lips. He shrugs.
"I've been like this for as long as I can remember. Fire never hurt me, I can control it. Contort it. It is me." Keith tells him and Lance only looks more lost than he did before. Keith sighs again. The fire fizzles away as he drops his hand to his side. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I also didn't mean for you to find out this way."
Lance is at a loss for words. I mean, fair to say, how are you meant to act when your friend suddenly goes up in flames like it's nothing. 'Oh, would you look at that my arm's on fire, haha what do you know, whoopsie. Let me just- put that out, there we go. Sorry, happens all the time.'
No, that's not normal. Lance knew that much. People don't just catch on fire out of nowhere and go about like they normally would.
He was going crazy. That was the only reasonable explanation for something as absurd as this. Either that or this was all just a dream. A horrible, horrible dream. Maybe he had taken on a lot more brain damage from his little brawl with his father than he had initially thought. This was all just in his head.
Keith could tell exactly what he was thinking.
"Lance, this is real. You're not dreaming."
"But how... How is that even possible?" Lance asks. His gaze is strong in Keith's own. It makes Keith feel helpless again. He doesn't know how to explain himself.
"It's not. It shouldn't be. But yet, here I am. The kid who can set himself on fire with the snap of his fingers." Keith turns around and runs a hand through his hair. This was stupid. He had no way of telling Lance what was happening. He knew this day would come eventually, as much as he told himself it wouldn't, that he'd be fine. He never prepared for it. Because I mean, how do you prepare for something like this. Cramming his hands into his hair and pulling he screams internally.
Argh, he was so stupid. Such an idiot. A fucking idiot.
"Okay." Lance says. Keith pauses, furrows his brows and looks over to the boy of caramel skin. He drops his hands.
"Huh?" Is all that slips from his mouth as he turns back around to face his friend. Lance is looking at his feet.
"I don't really get it, like at all. But... Okay. So now what? Who else knows?"
Keith is quiet for a moment, he's just staring. Lance was so cool. How was he able to stay calm about something like this? Keith was waiting for him to freak out, run away and that would be it between them. But yet, here he is. He was still here. He wasn't going anywhere. That warmed Keith's heart a little. There was this gentle sense of assurance. Like he wasn't going to be left alone. Lance wasn't going to leave him.
"No one." Keith says. Lance seems surprised.
"Not even Shiro?" He asks. Keith shakes his head.
"No."
Lance bites his lip and looks back to the floor. Even though the sky has since cleared up and the sun was dancing down on them, the breeze was icy. He shivers.
"Okay." He says again, Keith's eyes find his, he doesn't say anything.
It falls uncomfortably quiet between them. It was unnatural, yet as to be expected.
"So, it doesn't... hurt?" Lance finds himself asking, using his eyes to gesture to Keith's hand. The boy perks up and his attention flickers to his finger tips. He shakes his head.
"No, my clothes don't burn either." Keith explains. Lance makes a small 'o' with his mouth and nods like he understands, clearly he doesn't.
"Wild."
"Yeah..."
More silence. God, this is not how Keith had envisioned this to have gone. He had no idea what to do. Lance clicks his tongue and rocks back on his heels. Keith glances around at anything and everything.
"So... Wanna get milkshakes?" Lance suggests all the sudden. Keith's eyes meet his, his brows knit together tight. What? Did he... Did he miss something?
He'd heard it exactly how he'd heard it. Lance was smiling like a dumbass. Grinning as bright as the sun. He is the sun. It only worsens Keith's confusion.
But as much as he doesn't get it, that silly smile was contagious. He can't believe himself. This was all too weird. He's not complaining in the slightest however. This wasn't how everything was meant to happen but at this stage, he wouldn't have it any other way. The truth was out, it was out. Lance knew about what he was. He knew him. And it was actually all okay.
"Heh, yeah."
Finally with that, life seems to go on as normal for the two.
He knew he shouldn't get ahead of himself but... Keith felt good. There was a weight taken off his shoulders, it gave him some relief. Even if it were only temporary.
Temporary relief.