Chapter Text
3:30 AM
It was peaceful, not at all what you’d expect from the two people who were inhabiting the flat. The only thing illuminating the space was the light that penetrated through the blinds. There’d be an occasional creak, but it wasn’t enough for them to wake up.
“Stop!” A voice screamed, his voice echoing all throughout the flat. His shirt was sticking to him due to his sweat, his hand gripped his blankets as he tried to calm himself. He tensed when he heard light footsteps. Did he fail to wake up? He raised his hand, palm towards the door. He was ready for it.
“Nico.” A tanned boy entered the room, he was just as sweaty as the boy he mentioned.
“You shouldn’t bother coming to my room whenever I have a nightmare, Leo,” Nico sighed, looking away. He knows why Leo checks, he will not have another conversation about it. “I’m not a child.”
“I just want to make sure that you know you’re awake and not stuck in like an inception kinda thing,” Leo joked. “I’ll go back now.”
Nico rolled his eyes, facing the wall. “Leo, you said you’d leave.”
He heard Leo mutter “how the fuck” followed by a series of footsteps and the closing of a door. Leo was too predictable. Nico felt like he was melting but he wrapped himself in his blanket even more, loving the safe feeling it gave him. He’d choose protection over comfort any day.
His dream.
He should be used to it by now. It’s been the same dream ever since he was fifteen, he’s twenty-two now and he can’t seem to shake it off. He just wished he could stop screaming, he should be used to it. He felt sorry for Leo for having to experience the same thing as him, but having to wake himself up just so he can run to Nico’s room just to check on him.
5:30 AM
He wakes up again. He looks at the door, his eyes meeting Leo’s. They stay like that for as long as god knows when, but they’re there. Nico was staring at Leo’s eyes which were illuminated by the light seeping through the blinds. He says the same thing and turns to face the wall again.
This time, Nico stays awake.
“Leo,” Nico groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Don’t use that tone on me, Nico Di Angelo,” Leo glared, putting a plate of burnt pancakes in front of his friend. “I tried.”
“You know for someone who can control fire, you can’t seem to control it well enough to cook something as easy as pancakes,” Nico said, rolling his eyes, nevertheless he still ate the burnt pancakes without even flinching.
“I control fire not the fucking speed of chemical change in a pancake,” Leo said, frustrated. Nico stared at him, raising a brow. Leo sat on his chair, defeated. “I am unappreciated in my time.”
“Any plans for today?” Leo asked, taking a bite of his burnt pancake before flinching and pushing it away. “I’ll buy us good food later.”
“I’m going to go for a walk and then possibly a bookstore,” Nico said. “You?”
Leo shrugged. “I’ve received some interesting intel from Jason. I might meet up with him later.”
Nico nodded, tapping the table lightly with his fingers. “Exciting.”
“Oh it is,” Leo smirked, summoning a ball of flame in his palm. “I haven’t had a chance to exercise for a while.”
“Arsonist,” Nico scoffed, standing. “I’m going for a walk. I hope you don’t burn anyone alive while I am gone.”
“Sure thing.” It wasn’t so convincing, but Nico didn’t care.
He let himself absent mindedly walk towards the park as he thought of his life like he always did in the mornings. It was a sickening routine for him. He’d feel disturbed by his nightmares and then he’d go out for a walk the next morning. It’s hell. He stared at his bracelet clad wrist, scowling when he saw his black mark peeking. It was there to mock him--there to remind him-- that he will amount to nothing more than a mutant. He fixed his bracelets before stuffing his hands in his pockets.
For a Saturday morning in New York, he didn’t expect it to be so...spacious. He’d always have people bump into him, angrily muttering how rude people are while they stuff their faces with hotdogs in a bun and god why would they spend so much for a hotdog in a bun? Nico will never understand. His eyes widened momentarily when he sees wings unravel just a few feet away, but composes himself shortly after. it was a common sight since almost all the homodaes stayed in New York to find solitude somehow.
“Mutants,” someone angrily muttered, voice filled with venom. “Fucking disgrace to society.”
“If you can’t control yourself then stay in your fucking home, bothering people here is completely unnecessary,” a woman in her 30s said to the boy with wings. Nico watched the boy get teary eyed before he ran away. He catches the scars on the boy’s back and knows that he’s been trying to cut off his own wings. He can't blame the poor boy for trying.
There are two types of mutants, or as the government wanted to call them: homodae. For Nico, there are two types of homodaes and he liked to call them concealed and revealed. Conceal is for homodaes such as him, his skills cannot be seen and he cannot be distinguished. The only time he’ll be found out is if he shows his capabilities or if they see the mark on his wrist. Revealed homodaes are ones such as the winged boy.
“I want to have super powers too,” a child whined to which the mother replied with nothing but a half hearted smile. Nico clenched his fists. Super powers? More like a curse he can’t fucking control. How did this work anyway? How could he just decide to control certain elements.
It wasn’t even supposed to be possible yet here he is.
He exists.
A homodae.
A curse.
A demon.