~:~ Barely Human ~:~

~:~ Chapter 10 - There's fire in his eyes ~:~

~ Keith was still in shock. Today's past events had been somewhat of a wild roller coaster of emotions and stress. It almost felt like it had never even happened. Some may blame that on the fact that they were now sitting in the corner booth of their new favoured milk bar, the one they'd first met at, like it all had in fact, never happened.

Keith was quiet in his seat, watching the bubbles in his milkshake pop away one by one. He hadn't taken a sip yet, he almost felt like he no longer had an appetite. Lance hadn't uttered a word since the discovery of Keith's... Predisposition. It was painfully awkward between them, and the tense air lingering in the gap that separated the two was a heavy reminder of such. Neither knew what to say. In the beginning they were so sure that everything was fine, that this was something that could be put behind them and they could keep moving forward. But fire likes to keep on its toes, it was always shifting to the next thing to burn. Eventually it caught up with them.

"So..." Lance begins and ends. His eyes darting everywhere and anywhere that wasn't Keith. Keith cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter, he didn't know how to respond. Lance's eyes bore into the table top as though he were searching for the answer to a question he hadn't yet asked. He ends up sputtering. "So you're like a superhero then, huh?"

Keith's eyes flick up to find Lance's. He doesn't say anything, he didn't know what to say. Lance drew in his bottom lip between his teeth and let it go a second later. He brings his shoulders in and laughs dryly. "Sorry, that was insensitive. But seriously, what can you do? With your powers and all."

Keith let's that set. He opens his mouth and closes it over and over. He had no idea how to begin. Where did he start?

"Well... I don't know honestly. I've never really taken it any further than setting my hand alight." Keith tells him quietly, checking his peripheral vision discreetly for any onlookers or eavesdroppers who may have taken attention to their conversation. So far the coast was clear. He knew what he'd told Lance was a lie, but how was he meant to say that he was the reason his father had been left a pile of ashen remains and blood on the sidewalk? That he could explode like a bomb with a radius of thirty feet? Possibly more. How did he say that?

"Oh yeah, I can burn a city to the ground if I really tried hard enough. Y'know the usual."

No, he didn't want to scare Lance. At least not more than he already probably had. It was difficult to tell. Lance was pretty hard to read right now, he almost seemed reclusive. He was shut up. Keith didn't know how he felt about that. He shrugs. Lance nods.

"So you've just been like this? Forever?" He questions slowly. Like he were treading on a minefield. It sort of irked Keith a little, he didn't want Lance to be afraid of him, to be wary around him. He wanted Lance to know that he could put every ounce of his trust in Keith. Keith would never hurt him, he would never dream of it.

"Yeah."

"How? How did you manage to pull through? I would've been so afraid." Lance says, he's leaning against the table, arms folded over. Eyes wide with wonder. Keith looks at his drink.

"Who said I'm not afraid?" Keith looks up, his eyes finding Lance's where a strong gaze is forged. One Keith was hoping would tell Lance everything going on in his head so he didn't have to say it aloud. Communicating through wordless conversation. "For a time I sort of became selectively mute just so no one would come near me. So I couldn't hurt them. I tried my very best to never use my power but growing up made it difficult."

His hands ball into fists. His eyes have found the wooden table top again, he wondered if he had the ability to burn a hole through the timber with just his eyes. He turns away before he can find out. "However, being a shut in lead to growing impatient and short tempered. I was easily irritated and weak to my own power, some days I found it difficult to control and had to run from home for a while until it settled down. I missed out on so much growing up because I constantly needed to avoid everyone just to keep them and myself safe. It was- no, it is a matter of surviving."