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the first time gueira feels the power of the promare inside him, he’s in miami beach. he had been walking home, back from another shift at his stupid job where men won’t leave him alone and constantly call him the wrong things. he had been seething. if another man asks for his number, he’d fucking kill them, he sneers. he’d kill them all, given the chance.
and then it comes. his anger explodes, consuming his body in bright reds and greens, and he can feel his throat vibrating in a scream unheard over the roar of the fire, but… it's not hot. it doesn't burn. it feels like going home and being greeted by a parents, head being patted as lips press to your forehead and then… it's Gone.
except it isn't . gueira can't describe it. the power that surges through his body. burnish they call it. a chance he thinks is a more appropriate name. months later, he’s mastered it. can feel it pulsing warm and friendly when he wants it to be. he waits patiently in front of the club, smiling as finally, finally , he appears.
did you wait long? the man asks, and gueira stomps down the flames licking at his fingertips, hiding his hands behind his back. not yet , he thinks, and his lips turn into a sickly sweet smile.
not at all, he replies. months , he thinks. weeks days hours minutes seconds seconds seconds slowly ticking until you're at your end.
he never calls gueira the right name.
he never uses gueira’s correct pronouns.
his hands find hips and gueira has to fight the urge to scream, suddenly reminded of that night, in his car, an empty parking lot surrounding them, his head pushed into a lap he didn't want to be near.
you dance well, the man murmurs, close to gueira’s ear, and he feels his stomach clench. He feels the fire inside him lick inside his heart, hot and heavy and full of all the same rage gueira has. they’re one after all, aren’t they? enough he thinks to himself, sliding a fake smirk on his face.
wanna see a magic trick? gueira asks, eyes trained on the man even as more people stream into the club. two men catch his eye, one petite and short with green hair, while the other is tall and lean, long hair covering a single eye. an odd pair, but gueira is Busy. so fucking busy.
a magic trick? lips press near his cheek, and gueira feels like hurling.
yeah, check this out. he snaps, and flames appear at his fingertips, licking slow and low in his palm. the man is amazed. he had never seen burnish fire up close.
gueira feels himself smirk, lifting it closer and closer to the mans mouth.
open up, he says innocently. in the corner of his eye, he sees the two men he spotted earlier move in his direction, but it's too late. the man opens his mouth, and gueira explodes, shoving the flame into his mouth and clamping his hand against his face, lifting him off the ground. there’s fear in the man’s eyes as the flame is shoved in his mouth, forced down his throat. his hands scramble and grab at gueira’s own, pressed tight against his face, trying to pry it off, but gueira’s grip is firm. he wouldn’t let go for anything.
you disgust me, he spits, face twisting into a nasty expression. he feels himself coated in his flames, black and fiery… terrifying. he moves the flame in the mans mouth further down, down, down his throat, scorching on the way down, burning an unforgiving path. the man looks scared. good, gueira thinks. he’ll never be as scared as i was.
gueira feels a hand on his shoulder, a voice whispering quiet words, but he pays it no mind, slamming the man down to the ground with a crack so powerful he Must have broken something. not that it matters; his body is being eaten alive by gueira. gueira did that. he laughs maniacally, and watches the man burn, inside and out, just as he had. just as all of them had, after gueira had finished with them.
the rest is a blur. he hears sirens and suddenly he’s outside, riding a motorcycle he doesn't remember climbing onto, and his hair is being pushed out of his face by the wind. he doesn't speak, but his arms wind around the waist of the small green haired man ( boy? ) in front of him, holding on for the ride, and he closes his eyes.
when they finally stop, they introduce themselves. lio and meis. they've been looking for him-- have been tracking him for months . they could feel his power. after they say it, gueira feels something too, radiating from both of them. lio’s presence is thousands of times bigger than meis’, but he doesn't say anything.
and you? they ask, watching as gueira stares at his hands. what's your name?
gueira opens his mouth, dead-name hitting the front of his teeth before he stops. he feels his body changing. the breasts he so hated sink into his body as his face morphs. the fire inside him… it was changing his outward appearance. he hoped he looked good.
he opens his mouth again, and his name falls naturally off his lips.