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Sal has always known how others were feeling, it just came naturally to him. His dad had no clue why Sal hated being touched though, he didn't figure out it was part of his quirk until he told them. Haphe Empathy with a mix of regular Empathy, it's a quirk that's impossible to completely turn off and gets out of hand when there's skin-to-skin contact, but it somehow suited Sal.
To Sal, his quirk was a blessing and a curse. On the bright side, he knew when people needed help or when to avoid them. On the not so bright side, he felt all the judgement that was directed at him, all the anger and pity. He felt his dad's horrible mixture of blame pity sadness on constant repeat.
"Sal, wake up!"
Throughout his small conversation with Mrs. Packerton, she gives out some really weird vibes, he felt frustration bubble over around the room. He looks up and, oh of course, it was Travis. He sighs and keeps himself busy until the bell rings. He meets up with Ash like he always does after Mrs. Packerton's class and they're having a nice conversation till Sal feels it, angeranger frustration anger sadness? helplessness angerangeranger.
"Nobody likes a goody-two-shoes, Sally face!"
Sal really doesn't need to say anything back, but he does, just because he's used to it. Though, he's used to bullies with just angerangeraner hate hate bitterness, he feels pretty bad for going out of line when he sees Travis' fist heading towards him. When he feels the fist collide with the small part of his face that's not covered, the breath gets knocked out of him.
Not because he was hit, he's used to that. But because, in that small moment, he understands Travis before he storms off. He thinks he hears Ash say something, but he's too out of it at the moment to fully process anything right now. He hears footsteps and Larry's voice, he feels his shoulders lurch. He blinks and looks up at his concerned friends.
He hears Larry's voice again, concern confusionprotect protect, "did... did he? Like, did he touch you?"
He nods.
He feels Larry's protectsafesafe anger anger protect and he blinks again "Larry, I'm fine... please don't go after him." Larry's quirk really comes in handy more often than not when being friends with Sal. Larry's able to detect danger, it works best on people he's attached to.
Ash perks up "Oh, I keep forgetting about that part of your quirk!"
Sal grabs Larry's arm, he wears gloves for a reason, and tugs. "Larry, seriously, Travis doesn't know about my quirk. He just thinks I'm quirkless because I never talk about it." He feels Larry's anger fizzle into frustrated acceptance and he lets his arm go. Larry sighs "Sal, are you okay?" Sal looks to where Travis was a minute ago "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna talk to Travis tomorrow." Ash looks at Sal and he feels her shock surprise confusionwonder, she makes a face "Are you... sure?"
He nods again.
When Sal gets done with helping Larry, he goes to where Travis was eating. Travis' seat is empty. He contemplates just not talking to him today, but eventually gives into the urge to look for him. He goes with his gut and opens the boys' bathroom door. Sal chokes, sadnesssadness anger envy frustration resentment sadness, Sal sees the note on the floor, he already knew most of what Travis was going through but reading it helped place the final pieces of the puzzle. He puts it down and steps toward the stall, he hears Travis try to muffle the sounds of his crying.
"Hey Travis, It's Sal." He hears a sharp inhale and feels his FRUSTRATION. Sal coughs, feeling awkward "Did I ever tell you about my quirk Travis?" Travis makes some sort of grunt-growl "Go the fuck away Sally Face!" Sal sits on the nasty floor right in front of the still closed stall door, it's disgusting. "How about this Travis, you tell me about your quirk and I'll tell you about mine? Don't you wanna brag about your cool quirk a bit?" He hears Travis sigh and let out a dejected "Why are you doing this?" Sal shifts a bit closer to the stall "Doing what? Talking?"
"Why are you trying to help me Sal?" The stall door unlatches and swings open... right in Sal's face, well, mask.
"Ow." Sal feels his mask mash into his face painfully and feels panic guilt worry. "Shit, I'm sorr- I- I mean, you shouldn't have been so close to the door! Idiot!" Travis gets up and starts to wash his hands in the sink "and besides, my quirk isn't that cool." Sal stands and walks over to Travis, he hums "Dude, you're able to turn light into a solid object, that's literally the coolest shit I've ever heard of." Travis turns the water off and scowls "I have limitations you know, I can barely keep it stable and I can only use it in small amounts." Sal chuckles "Yeah but think on how cool it'll be when you're able to fully harness it!" Sal feels his confusion conflict acceptance.
"What's your quirk anyway? I thought you were quirkless, you never corrected me when I called you that."
"A mix of Haphe Empathy and regular Empathy, I can't turn it off."
Travis doesn't look as shocked as he thought he'd be, Travis exhales "Figures... but what's that hephe part about?" Sal scratches the back of his neck "It's uhh haphe, it basically means skin contact. When you punched me yesterday, you actually got part of my skin. When it happens, I sort of just understand? I understand how they're feeling and why, it practically fries my brain for a couple minutes though."
Travis leans on the wall "Well... sorry I punched you?" Travis puts a hand to his face "Ughh, I'm not good at this." Sal decides to lean on the wall too "Don't worry, I went way out of line, you don't have to feel sorry." They stand in silence for a while before Sal breaks it.
"Travis?"
"Hmm?"
"I won't tell anyone... but is it your dad?" He sees Travis stiffen before looking away and nodding. "I'm sorry he makes you feel that way." Travis turns back to face him, angry "Listen, I don't need your fucking pity." Sal puts his hands near his shoulders in a sort of surrender pose "I... I'm not really pitying you, I just, I mean you shouldn't have to go through that." Travis sighs and there's silence again, this time Travis is the one to break it.
"I'm sorry for being a jerk all the time."
Sal lets out a laugh and bumps Travis' shoulder with his own "You're fine, I get it, I really do. I'm sorry for going overboard yesterday though, I'm used to dealing with bullies that are actually assholes. I'm here if you ever wanna talk though, I'm not a therapist or anything but talking helps more than you think it does." He feels Travis' shock amusement gratitude "I'd have to get past your guard dogs first."
Sal sees Travis smile for the first time, it's small, but it's there "But thanks."