Superhuman

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Reacting to his name was something he had tried to ignore. He had heard people call him from outside in panic and reacting to it in front of a crowd would only arise suspicion, and he hardly needed an angry mob attacking him when they realised the villain was someone they knew from all their classes. However, hearing Scott call him wasn't easy to avoid, and his automatic reaction was to turn his head and glance back at the other. His first emotion was anger, inevitably. He had gone out of his way to ensure Scott stayed outside, away from the danger the fire and smoke brought, but he recognised how naive that was. If the situations were reversed, he would run inside to search for Scott if he learnt he was missing - it was ridiculous not to assume Scott would do the same for him.

Had he just been standing in the corner, he could have pretended to be the innocent victim. He could have tossed his mask aside and left before anyone saw him, whimpering about how scared he had been. However, it was hard to do that when he was stood in the flames, his whole body covered, without anything burning or even hurting him. Acting like he was the victim when he was quite clearly the perpetrator was a waste of time and energy. Instead, he shook the flames away and snatched the boy's hand to physically drag him outside, ignoring the pained yells of the victims still left inside. Only when he had forced Scott into his car and climbed into the passenger's seat did he tug his mask off, albeit angrily with a loud string of swear words.

"You fucking idiot-- I told you to stay outside, Scott. I fucking told you , don't you ever listen?!" He snapped, slamming his hand down with another angry exhale. "Just-- fucking drive, I'm hungry. We're gonna get something to eat and... I dunno. Just fucking drive already."
 
"I-I... what? Ethan, what's going on? Are you okay?" He babbled our in shock, crying out of fear, then relief and back to fear again as he stared at the other. It didn't help that he was being yelled at which only triggered him to get even more emotional and inevitably cry harder. Despite that, he started up the car anyway despite just how wary he was, physically shaking in anxiety.

"I'm... not an idiot," he corrected the other in a whisper after a moment of silence. "I-I wanted you to be safe. I... I mean, you could have gotten hurt in there. I didn't want to see you die when I could have helped you," he explained, his voice trembling as he haphazardly pulled into a McDonald's parking lot. "Ethan, just.... what the hell is going on?"
 
"You saw, right? You're not an idiot but you're confused? You just saw me back there, standing in a fuck ton of flames without a single burn, Scott. Are you really that fucking confused?" He countered slowly, his brow arched at the reaction. He expected to be yelled at and told how fucked up he was, so the quiet shock and panicked confusion caught him off guard. It also made him feel guilty, which he really didn't like. In his eyes, what he had done was perfectly okay and he shouldn't be remorseful for it. Hell, he had let most people leave, even if that had only been because of his decision to save Arie.

"I dunno. I've been able to do this for a few years now. I don't know why, I can just-- do it. Start fire, I mean. It's why I tried to off myself, I didn't understand, I hated myself-- look, whatever. I'm a freak, that's been established, but I don't give a shit, Scott. They deserved it. The people at the cinema deserved it when I torched them up too, it's... justice or whatever," he mumbled, absently staring down at the mask in his hands, smiling to himself at how perfect it was to him. "

...Jason got out, though. I wanted to watch that fucker burn but... Arie was there and I can't see him get hurt, I'm so weak sometimes, I hate that-- but there's always next time. I'm sure he knows it was me now, but... that's fine, I can handle that... Are you going to say something or are you just going to sit there whimpering, Scott? Are you gonna call the cops on me?"
 
"I'm not going to call the cops," he reassured after a moment before taking Ethan's Face in his hands carefully, scanning the other with worried eyes. "Ethan, please. You... don't need to hurt anyone like this. I'm - I mean, I'm kind of both mad that you didn't tell me and super confused about this all still to be honest. It's not every day that you date some fire-bender or whatever. I just - there were innocent people there, you understand that, right? I hate Jason and Arie just as much as you but the other people there had nothing to do with any of this," he tried to insist with a halfhearted smile.

"... we can talk about this later, okay? I'm just - I'm glad your safe... even if you weren't in any danger," he decided before letting go of the other's cheeks and instead turn off the car. "I'm not really hungry after that but if you are, we can eat. I just - I hope everyone gets out safe, you know?"
 
"Nobody bothered to help me when I came back from hospital, Scott. They're all as evil as one another; all of 'em. I got the people I wanted to save out the school and the others can burn, it's... I don't care. I got Arie out because-- I don't know, because I still care about him. Not in a romantic way but I just do. He got Jason out, which sucks, but I'm pretty sure the guy broke his ankle in the stampede, so that's something," he babbled, deciding to talk to try and limit the amount of awkward silence there would be if he didn't nonsensically babble. Eventually, he gave up attempting to avoid looking at the other, glancing in his direction with a weak smile.

"...I got mad and I wanted to hurt them, that's all. I want people to at least notice me, even if I have a fucking mask on. It makes me feel... like myself, I guess. You don't understand how much I struggled with this when I was younger; I was terrified of myself. This helps me feel more like me so... so if that's too much, you can dump me. I won't ever hurt you, Scott. Even if you break my heart and hurt me, I... I won't ever hurt you," he promised, nodding for emphasis with his hands awkwardly fiddling with the mask. "I don't want to break up, o-obviously. You're the only thing stopping me from losing my shit and burning every store in the city, to be honest."
 
"That's a lot of pressure," he teased before deciding to slip out of the car. Tugging a hoodie over his admittedly dorky elf outfit, he shoved his hands in the pockets and waited patiently for the other to follow. "Come on, let's get some burgers. I think we should probably both calm down and, like... I dunno, figure this whole 'fire' thing out together? I dunno, that's what my therapist would probably tell me," he explained as he kicked loose gravel to the side.

"I mean, assuming you want to talk about it. If you can do all of this, imagine if there are others like you? I mean, I don't want to sound rude but you might not be as unique as you think," he offered before holding his hand out expectantly, hoping to at least have the other hold it. "I mean, that would be wicked. Look, just... don't go burning buildings down anymore, okay? That's all I'm going to ask from you."
 
"So what is it you want me to do? Bottle everything up until I try to hang myself again?" He grunted bluntly, immediately grimacing at his choice of phrase and the memories it provoked... though he genuinely knew that was where he would be heading if he had to go back to pretending that he was perfectly normal and didn't possess any powers. It would just make him and his mental health worse after years of genuine progress, and he wasn't entirely fond of throwing all that effort away.

"...I'll try," he sighed, reaching for his hand after ensuring himself he wasn't going to do anything stupid, like burn the boy's hand. He loved Scott, but accidents could happen - his parents and their deaths was a perfect example of what could happen if he didn't compose and calm himself.

Remembering his parents only made him grimace more. He had been lying about them for weeks, pretending that they had come back from holiday when, in reality, he was staying at his house all alone in the knowledge of what he had done. He didn't have to pretend, but the emotional strain of pretending they had gone missing was too much to deal with.

"...My parents aren't coming back, they never did come back, I... didn't want to stay at yours and become a nuisance, so I lied," he explained once inside the building, sliding into a booth with a careful smile. "It was an accident, I didn't-- I didn't mean to hurt them, it just happened and I panicked and... I couldn't go to the police, I... god, I didn't mean it, Scott, I swear-- and now I'm alone in that fucking house and-- I told you, you shouldn't be with me. I did warn you before all this... came out."
 
"... what are you saying?" Scott whispered, the color in his face draining. He stopped outside the McDonald's and held Ethan's shoulders lightly with wide eyes. "Please don't tell me what I think you're implyingx Ethan. This... isn't funny," he insisted before letting go and rubbing his face.

"I.... I don't know what you should do," he admitted with a frown. "You, Ah... the just thing to do would turn yourself in but then you'd be in jail for life. God, that's... so much to handle, aha..."
 
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"How do you think I-I fucking feel, Scott? You think it's easy for me to handle?! I... I had to... to move their bodies and... and lie and cover my tracks-- I'm not a bad person, it was an accident. I don't care about that fucking school and those people, but my parents-- I never wanted them to get hurt," he grimaced, staring out the window to avoid crying in front of the other, even though the tears had already started to roll from his eyes. He did fiercely wipe them away, quite angrily in fact, but stopping the emotional outpouring wasn't easy when he was finally able to reveal to someone what had happened. Months of keeping it to himself had been hugely damaging for his mental health, so telling Scott came as a huge relief... even if the other was horrified by it.

"I'm not handing myself in, I... no. No, that's stupid," he confirmed angrily, glancing back at the other with a firm scowl. "I'm going to do what I want and going to jail isn't in my plans. If you want to cut ties with me, I'm fine with that. Not... Not fine, not really, but I can understand it-- fuck this. Just... drive me home. I want to scroll through Twitter, take a bath and sleep this off."
 
Scott, in response, carefully moved to wipe away a few tears from Ethan's face with a frown. He knew he'd probably be pushed away or yelled at but it was important in his eyes. Looking away, he too stared out the window for a moment before sighing and replacing the frown with a halfhearted smile.

"You... aren't getting rid of me that quickly, sorry," he decided quietly. "Now to your place or mine? I... I know my mom bought a few bath bombs and I'm sure you'd like them - and look, this... I'm not going to lie and say this isn't kind of freaky, okay? This isn't really what I was expecting but I believe you when you said that you didn't mean it and... I'm glad you told me."
 
"...I don't want to go to my house, o-obviously. I like it at your place. Your Dad's fun and your mom's super sweet and... I like it there. They don't judge me, it's nice," he sniffled, fiercely wiping his eyes as he, predictably, shoved the other's hands away. He didn't want to be fussed over, as though he was the victim in any of this. In fact, he wanted to be yelled at and hit, because it was probably what he deserved. Yet, Scott was (as usual) far too understanding and sweet with him, which he both appreciated and hated at the same time.

"I want to speak to Arie," he decided quietly, pulling his sleeves over his hands with a determined nod, glancing at his boyfriend awkwardly. "Can you drive me to his place? I... It's around the corner from my house. I just need to talk to him, tell him about this-- he should know. He's an asshole but he... I think he'd understand, I... I think he'd realise why I tried to kill myself if I told him all this, s-so... so I should do that, I... I think. Is that insane? Am I not thinking straight?"
 
"Well, I... I mean, if I'm gonna be honest, I'm not very comfortable with you going to your ex's place," he admitted, though exhaled hard. "I'd bring you, if you want. This won't be a common thing, though, okay? I don't like Arie and... I'm only doing this for you," he murmured before tugging out his keys.

"After this, we'll go home, okay? We can... come up with an excuse on why your parents aren't around. If you tell everyone the truth, you will be arrested and probably will never be let out."
 
"...Let's just go home. Forget Arie, it was a stupid suggestion. He hates me now and... we're not friends anymore. I don't mean anything to him, I... think he made that clear when he let his boyfriend bully us without trying to step in and stop him, so... so let's go back to your place and figure something out," he nodded, moving to stare back out of the window. While it was relieving to finally admit all of this to someone, it didn't mean he felt any less lonely. He was still struggling with it, especially at seeing the horror his own boyfriend responded with. He didn't expect him to agree with what he'd done... but the disapproving glances weren't particularly easy to deal with either.

Simply, he felt just as lonely as he did when he was younger, and it was a feeling that only brought on self-loathing and hatred.

"Why are you still with me? You know I won't stop what I'm doing, right? Even if I wanted to, it's impossible to pretend I'm not weird, Scott. I can't help it sometimes, it's never going to go away, I... I just don't know why you're still with me, really. That's weird to me."
 
"Well, we're both weird, right?" He reminded softly. "You're just weird in a different way, I guess. It's just - maybe I'm delusional but I think we can help one another, right? I think I can help with sort of finding coping methods I guess and you just... help me feeling less lonely," he chuckled before deciding to head out of the restaurant, his appetite fading.

"Why is it so hard to believe I like you?" He questioned with a growing frown. "Is this you trying to dump me? You keep asking me why I'm with you and it's just making me think that you're trying to push me away. I like you and I like being with you, why do I need any more of a reason."
 
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"I don't want to wake up one day and realise I burned you to a fucking crisp, Scott. I-I'd rather not deal with that. You're dumb for being with me," he grimaced, tearing his gaze from the window and focusing instead on tuning the radio into a good station, just to give his hands something to focus on.

"I want to be with you, I like you a lot. Who else is going to... understand me like you do? Nobody. I like you so much that I don't want to hurt you, even if it means having to separate. I-I don't want to, but you could get hurt and I couldn't live with myself. I-I'm barely coping after my parents," he continued, sitting back with his hood now pulled further over his head. "...And if I ever get caught, you might get in trouble for not telling the police when you first found out what I did. Do you want that?"
 
"Yes, god dammit!" He snapped in response, his cheeks reddening in frustration as he slammed his fist against the wheel, startling himself when it honked. Looking away, he slipped his hands onto his lap with pursed lips.

"I just want to be with you. Is that too much to ask? To be in a relationship with you? If... you have shared feelings, you should stay with me. I don't care about all of this, you're... you're still a high schooler with issues and that's the same for all of us," he insisted with pursed lips. "... do you really want to go to Arie's?"
 
"...Yeah. I want to make sure he's alright, it wasn't my intention to get him hurt, so I... should make sure he's okay. You can go back to yours, I'll head there when I'm done," he admitted after a long few moments of complete silence. If admitting his fears about hurting Scott was just going to perpetuate their argument, then he was more than happy to just abandon it completely and pretend like everything was going to be okay.

"I'd ask you to come in with me, but his mother's not... great, and his Dad can be kinda scary, so... I'll meet you back at yours?" He suggested once outside Arie's home, fiddling awkwardly with the strings of his hoodie. "...I'm just going to talk to him. I get it's awkward because he's my ex-boyfriend and stuff, but you've seen how much of a dick he is. I'm not into that, I'm not into him. I like you, alright?"
 
"Yeah, okay. Just get home safe and call me if you need help," Scott murmured as he took in the outside of the home. He never knew Arie's financial situation because he never brought attention to it, going as far as to ask to be dropped off a mile away when he was younger and just walk home to keep from anyone seeing him.

Lucky for both of them, Arie's mother was passed out on her recliner watching some not-so-funny comedy special. He was content just being in his room studying alone when he heard the sound of a car rev away. Cautiously peering through the window, he frowned upon seeing the other. Opening the door, he didn't hide his clear anger.

"Why are you here?" He asked flatly, his cheeks red in frustration. "Don't you have anything better to do? Wouldn't you rather be... be spending time with that weird boyfriend?"
 
"I wanted to check on you, make sure you were alright after the fire at school. I... I wanted to know you were okay, Arie. We're not friends right now but I wouldn't want you to get hurt," he began cautiously, pulling his hood up with a weak glance around, as though Jason would pop out of nowhere and bash his head in. Given he had almost broken his nose, it was the least he expected to happen.

"Can I come in and just talk to you or something? It's kinda cold out here and... I-I dunno, I think we should talk. I don't want to hate you. It doesn't help when you call my boyfriend weird, though. He's given me a place to stay and he's... nice to me. He drove me here, even though he doesn't like you or what you and Jason did to him. I don't either, but I want to move past that and... talk to you."
 
Shooting a cautious glance to the living room, his stern brows softened warily. His anger easily melted to guilt. Arie wasn't an inherently angry or mean person but he couldn't help but be angry at the attack on his boyfriend. If he knew Ethan was the one who also just so happened to put Jason in the hospital for the bad burns along his arm, his anger would easily spike again.

"Come to the backyard," he decided after a moment of thought, his eyes shifting to the backyard gate. This was a common thing during their relationship, having to hang out literally anywhere but his house, and just because his mother was passed out didn't mean she could wake up and get angry at them. Closing the door carefully, he tiptoed his way through the small house to the backyard.
 
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