Lost Boy (True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys) #Wattys2016

Chapter IV

It didn't take Wayward long after that to get an outfit together. He realized I didn't really like how tight the skinny jeans were, so he grabbed me some loose ones that were decorated with all different shades of red paint splatters all over it. He let me keep my black tennis shoes, and he gave me a matching dark blue t-shirt to wear under the jacket.

Wayward asked me about the piercings again, then tattoos and even hair dye, and somehow he got me to say yes to all three.

He sat me down in a little plastic princess vanity, and that was the first time I'd ever seen my face. I was definitely surprised. I wasn't how I pictured myself to look like.

I had long-ish jet black hair. It wasn't really long, but a little past my ears. My eyes were ice blue, and little close together. I had a wide nose that reminded me of an old Italian man's. Hell, even a little scar across the top one like I'd tried to eat a piece of glass and it'd cut it in half.

"Boy?"

Wayward's voice shook me out of that trance. He sat there across from me with a needle in his hand and a concerned look on his face.

"You alright there, Boy? Do you need a little alone time?"

"No, no, I'm fine," I insisted, running my hand through my hair. It was definitely thick, and a little fluffy from it. I guessed the fluff added a little bit of softness from it, because even though there was a little sand in it, it was still soft. 

"Close your eyes. I don't want you to see what I'm doing until I'm done. Sleep, if you wanna, even though you've probably slept for long enough."

I nodded my head and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up with a loud scream.

"I'M BLIND! JESUS CHRIST ON A BICYCLE, I'M BLIND!"

"Whoa, easy- wait, Jesus on a what?"

"I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T SEE!"

I got up and started running. I didn't care what was in the way or where I was going, but damn, did I go fast. 

And damn, did I fall hard when I tripped on whatever I tripped on.

"Boy, take it easy! You're wearing a blindfold! You're wearing a blindfold!"

"A blindfold?" I clawed at my eyes and ripped of the blindfold as hard as I could, and I was up close and personal with a mannequin.

I squealed in terror and threw myself off. Wayward grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard.

"Boy? Boy, calm down! Don't you wanna see what you look like? Boy!"

I sighed. "Y-yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wanna see."

"Good. Let's plop you down on, then. Maybe it'll help you calm down."

I sat down on the plastic seat and smiled at the mirror. Damn, did I fit in now. My hair was cropped a little shorter now and spiked a bit in the front. There were red highlights spread through, and it contrasted nicely with the natural black. I had a ring in my left nostril, and one in my lower lip. I noticed the tattoos on my arm, and Wayward started pointing at them and explaining what they meant.

A five-lined ring around my left forearm. "The transgender pride flag. It's a big part of who you are, so show it proudly." A red ukulele on my left arm, from my wrist to my elbow. "Because you're different. Not everyone plays ukulele, you know. Not as popular as guitar, but it still makes a pretty sound. You're kinda like that, boy. Not like us, but you can still make the same impact. You can even be the best damn Killjoy we'll ever see. Probably even better than anyone in the Four, if you try hard enough." On my right wrist, the same smiley face with the X'd-out eyes. "You always need something to remind you of us. We'll be your family, doll. Don't forget that." Two red dots, one that looked like it was dripping blood, on my neck. A date was above it, probably the current date. "You were drained of your memories, like a vampire can drain you of your blood. And this is the day Atom found you. So you can remember him, too."

I asked him about his tattoos, and he showed me. His middle fingers were both tattooed rainbow. "Because fuck them if they don't approve of my sexuality. I'm gay, and that's that." The X'd-eyes smiley face on my jacket, but red and black, on his right wrist. "For the same reason you have it. Atom's got it, Civil's got it, I've got it, and now you've got it. You're one of us now." A mosquito with the smiley face, but with normal eyes. "Because BLI's just a pest, like mosquitos. And they'll suck out your humanity. That's all blood is, isn't it? Liquid humanity. You can lose it and keep on going, but you won't be the same. And if it's all gone, you'll be dead, or as good as dead."

I gave him a warm smile. "That's pretty cool. I like how they all have different meanings."

"Yeah, art is art!" Wayward smiled. "Art is as art gets. It's great, isn't it? You don't know what you're doing when you begin, and when you're done, you've got a masterpiece."

I looked down at my shoes. "Yeah. I guess it is."

Was I ever an artist? Did I draw, tattoo, anything?

I looked across the room at my rifle. It looked so different from everything else here, and I thought back to what Wayward had said about the ukulele.

Different. But it can do just the same.

Huh. Fancy that. Just like me.