Vien’s head whipped up, eyes wide with panic. “No, no, d-don’t you dare!” he mumbled, his voice panicked as he shoved himself further up against the wall. Baal looked concernedly at him before turning to growl at Beau, starry wisps of smoke beginning to trail from their mouth
(Brb soon.)
Vien’s head whipped up, eyes wide with panic. “No, no, d-don’t you dare!” he mumbled, his voice panicked as he shoved himself further up against the wall. Baal looked concernedly at him before turning to growl at Beau, starry wisps of smoke beginning to trail from their mouth
"I'm sorry. I won't," Beau answered quickly, his brow furrowing faintly in guilt for making Vien panic. He took a step back and ran a hand through his white-blonde hair as he thought of something to say. Vien scared him a bit, with the magic and the figures he could conjure, but Beau still didn't want to hurt Vien with his own powers. That was the last thing he wanted.
Adel sat back down and sighed. "That was quite the outburst"
Vien said nothing, instead watching Beau carefully as he held Baal close to his chest. It was strange, like something a small child might do instead of the confident, sarcastic teen. But Vien was currently neither of these things, reduced to a sniveling mess because of a few flames
"Do you…want to talk about it?" Beau asked gently as he shifted on his feet nervously, feeling a bit vulnerable under Vien's icy gaze. He wasn't the best at helping others with their problems, but seeing Vien cry…it made him a little upset.
"Like you'd c-care," Vien muttered bitterly, as if he had been asked something similar before. Baal huffed in agreement, shooting Beau a look before resting their head on Vien's shoulder
"You know what? I do care, okay?" Beau answered, his voice getting a bit louder as he crossed his arms over his chest. He cursed himself mentally for letting his temper get the best of him as he glanced down at his beat-up shoes again. "Sorry…" Beau mumbled softly without looking up, feeling a bit bad for raising his voice.
Vien bit the inside of his cheek, shrinking back against the wall instinctively as Beau yelled. He felt more tears well up in his eyes before he could stop them, so he just hugged Baal tighter in an attempt to cover his face. Why had Beau made him cry more? Was it because he considered him some sort of friend in this place?
Beau winced visibly as he saw Vien shrink back even more at the sound of his voice getting louder. He looked down at his hands, wishing that he could conjure something to make Vien feel better. But, all his power seemed to do was hurt others. "I'm sorry, Vien. I didn't mean to get mad," Beau said softly. "I do care."
"It's okay," Vien mumbled, the creature in his lap twisting to look at Beau again. Baal gave Beau a sort of 'come here and talk to Vien' gesture with one of his wings before going back to nuzzling Vien's face. The boy sniffled, his gaze falling from Beau to the floor as he reached a hand up to wipe at his eyes
Beau walked towards Vien hesitantly, deciding to sit down across from him so it would be easier to talk like that. His gaze softened further at the sight of Vien's tears as he glanced over at the winged creature in their lap. "What's wrong?" Beau asked softly, cursing himself for asking the question that Vien must have heard a thousand times.
Vien, still staring down at the floor, held out a shaky arm over Baal's back. A good portion of his forearm was bright red, as if he had been sunburned particularly badly. "The demon kid. I didn't know he had f-fire," he mumbled, hoping that Beau at least got the hint. He didn't particularly care about the pain, he had his fair share of that on a daily basis. No, he was more concerned about the flames that had caused it
"He did that to you?" Beau answered, his tone dropping to something softer as he glanced up at Vien. One of his hands moved towards the red part on Vien's forearm, though he made sure not to touch it. The last thing he wanted was to cause him more pain.
Vien nodded, a small sniffle escaping him as he watched Beau's hand. "I've been b-burnt before," he mumbled, hugging the creature in his lap to his chest with his free arm as a sort of grounding tool. "I can't go near fire. N-Not without getting scared," he finally admitted. "I go near it and I can f-feel them. Feel the scars hurt again."
"The scars?" Beau asked softly, a concerned look registering on his face as he glanced up towards Vien. It was true that he had looked afraid next to the flames. If he had been that scared, maybe it was something from his past? Beau opened his mouth to ask another question, but quickly looked down at the burn again as he thought about how to heal it. The last thing Vien probably wanted would be questions about old memories.
Vien nodded. Almost robotically he pulled his sweater off, Baal sliding off his lap to curl next to his side. He tugged the end of his button down up to reveal a large, dull red scar that raised the skin in a spidery pattern along his side. "I was fourteen when they set my h-house on fire."
Beau's brow furrowed in pain as he watched the faint aura around the boy fluctuate, a pang of Vien's grief shooting through Beau's head. His power let him connect with other's minds and memories on some levels, but the side effects weren't always great. He looked towards Vien, knowing that 'sorry' wouldn't cover what happened to him.
"They did it to f-flush us out. They caught us, and we couldn't use our m-magic to stop them because we had to protect the family s-secret," Vien explained quietly. "They thought I was a m-murderer. They took me away and l-locked me in a coffin while they interrogated my f-family."
"I'm sorry, Vien. I know it doesn't change anything… but I'm sorry they did that to you," Beau answered softly, his hand fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He related to Vien in some ways, though it must not have been as bad as their past. People and even his own family had hated Beau's powers and how his hair had changed to white, a marking that he couldn't even hide.
"It's okay. They're dead now," Vien mumbled, letting his button down fall back in place as he tugged his sweater back on. He winced slightly as the fabric brushed across his new burn, but said nothing about it. "They had p-photos of my family performing magic, and in Birmingham, everyone t-thought it meant you served the devil. They burned my f-family at the stake, all while I watched. And when I g-got my magic, I went back. I went back and killed them all."
Beau nodded mutely, unsure out what to say to Vien. Was he supposed to condole him somehow? "Moraphe had no right to make you do that," He said bitterly, closing his eyes as he thought back towards the fight. Maybe he could have stepped in and told Ajax to stop hurting Vien, but the truth was that the headmaster worried him. Why would he make them fight like that?
"He didn't make me do a-anything. I was the one who was making people mad s-so I could see their powers," Vien admitted. "It's just something I do. I m-make people mad on purpose so I can see how much of a t-threat they might be."
Beau nodded faintly as he looked down at his hands and bit his bottom lip softly as he thought of what to say. Vien already scared Beau a little, but he knew that they were a good person even if they had tried to anger someone. "What are your powers, exactly?" He asked gently as he looked back up at Vien.
"Energy manipulation, if you w-want to be simple about it," Vien said, hugging Baal to his chest again as the creature crawled back into his lap. "All energy comes from the s-stars, which is why my magic looks the way it d-does."