Concealed no More

The day was overcast, with the sun occasionally peeking out behind the clouds. Silva studied the sky, concluding it would rain. It wasn’t anything new. She had known it wouldn’t when she had exited her place.

But it was better than looking towards Steven, who was sitting on a park bench waiting for her arrival. She was procrastinating the meeting, hoping Mika would show up soon.

At the very least, greeting them both at the same time would be easier than greeting Steven and then Mika afterwards. “And what would I even talk about with him?” She couldn’t figure out any topics that would interest the guy.

This was the crux of the problem. Even if Silva were to greet him, she lacked the confidence to hold a conversation without a third person present. No, she was sure that she would say something she would regret instantly.

At this point, Silva had been standing and waiting for almost ten minutes - hidden by her ability from any awkward glances she could receive. 

While Steven seemed content with sitting on the bench relaxing, she was getting tired. She suspected it was mostly her nerves draining her strength, but it was still true.

After another excruciating minute, Silva finally decided to not wait for Mika. She prepared to greet Steven - only to be interrupted by a passing girl. 

To Silva’s frustration, the girl seemed to know Steven and decided to stop and chat with him. While Silva was not adept at reading other people's intentions, she was very aware of what the girl was aiming for. It was that obvious.

Witnessing the blatant attempt at flirting, Silva rolled her eyes. She felt that she had looked at the sky enough, so this time, she decided to study the park once more to see if there was anything of interest happening until Steven freed himself.

There was not much to see, some solitary trees scattered around the greenery, a couple of stone statues deeper in the park, people going about their own business and a lot of pigeons.

There was an actual name to this park, but Silva had no recollections of anyone ever calling it by any other name than “The Pigeon Park.” The reason was simple, the many pigeons scattered everywhere.

Seeing nothing of interest, Silva decided to walk a little closer to Steven to see if there was any progress in him getting rid of the unwanted attention.

From what snippets Silva overheard, the girl was from the same school as Steven. She was currently asking about his relationship with Mika. 

This made Silva give a deprecated smile. This was one of the questions she had wondered about herself and one that had slipped out of her yesterday when it was entirely uncalled for.

Not any closer to a solution or decision, Silva hesitated. She had moved, so she had to do something, right?

Luckily for her, before Silva had to decide on the next course of action, Steven acted first. He looked to the side, his impatience clear and glared.

As Silva followed the direction, she saw Mika coming their way at a determined pace - clearly ready for a battle.

The unknown girl also had noticed Mika’s arrival and was now sending a nasty glare her way, which said person promptly ignored. 

Steven, visibly relieved by Mika`s presence, addressed the girl. "As I said before, friends. Now that Mika has returned, we have something to discuss between just the two of us. So, unfortunately, I'll have to leave," he gave her an apologetic smile, then stood up and started to walk away with Mika joining him in tow.

Silva started to trail after the pair, giving the surroundings repeated surveys and trying to measure the right moment to greet them.

Steven and Mika were speaking quietly, clearly indicating the strange girl shouldn’t involve herself with them.

They walked a little more before Silva finally found a place where no one was present. She took a deep breath and then ceased to use her ability.

After walking behind them for a minute and hoping they would notice her, Silva was forced to give up as her inner awkwardness was growing by the second. She took a breath and finally said her greetings. “Hello! Thank you for waiting for me!” Her voice sounded forced and strangled, not making for a good impression.

This startled the duo, making Steven quickly spin himself to face Silva while Mika sighed before turning to speak. "Please don't sneak up on us like that. It's unnerving... And hi!" Mika ended with a smile.

Seeing who it was, Steven relaxed his stance and waved. "Hi! You sure know how to give someone a heart attack. Did Mika entice you to try and kill me? What did she promise? I`ll double that for you to do the same to her!" He changed his hand motion from a wave to a menacing fist-shaking.

“Ah, no, I just...” Silva wavered before gathering her resolve. “Actually, we have to talk about it. Can we find a place where no one will disturb us?” She looked into the duo’s eyes.

Steven returned the gaze evenly. "Mika told me we had a thing for us to discuss. I kept pestering her about what it was, but Mika would not budge. Anyway, there is a place not far from here. I'll show the way." He started to walk, heading deeper into the park.

–

 

Silva found herself sitting under a canopy with a table between her and the pair. She fidgeted, trying to not look conspicuous and inexperienced with other people.

At least the spot was secluded enough, with just pigeons glaring at the shameless humans for not bringing them food.

As Silva had expected, she had barely said anything until now. She had tried to probe Steven about the thugs that had followed him, but all she got out of him was that they were mostly harmless, and he could deal with them.

But now that they had reached their destination, Silva was slowly overcome by a nagging feeling that she had to show initiative and start the dreaded topic. She had to reveal everything to Steven and then apologise to both of them.

Unnoticed to Silva, they had already sat in silence for a couple of minutes. She only then realised her audience was waiting for her to start.

It seemed that Steven could tell that the following conversation would be serious. He was giving Silva enough time to gather her composure, which Silva was thankful for. Or that is what it seemed from how he encouraged her with his eyes.

As was Mika, to be honest. But Silva was currently more conscious of Steven’s stare.

Silva cleared her throat one last time before speaking. She figured that there was no correct way to start, so she decided to be direct.

“Well, I wanted to apologise to you both and speak about our abilities.” Silva noticed that Steven's gaze sharpened, gaining a hard going. He glanced at Mika, clearly unhappy with her about something. But afterwards, he fully concentrated his attention on her. He did not interrupt, and Silva felt that she had to be with her choice of words.

This was godsent. Silva nodded gratefully to Mika, then resumed her confession. "I have an ability and... it allows me to stay hidden... It allows me to avoid people. Allows me to walk in peace. I walk around the city a lot after school, you know.” She revealed.

Silva then took a deep breath. “And one day... By chance, I saw you. Steven, you were hurt. It was just a bit of curiosity at first. I mean, you and Mika headed to a remote place with you bleeding, and I... Followed. I saw Mika healing you. I also heard you two speaking.” This was the big reveal, and she wasn’t attacked. Which was probably a good sign.

But it wasn’t all either. Silva gulped. “There were other times too. There were a few times I followed you two when I spotted you walking in town. I never went as far as following you to your homes. I... Just wanted to speak with you. And get to know you both, but I never found the right time.” As she kept talking, the words came easier and quicker.

“It was also why I happened to be there when those thugs attacked you. I... I did not know what to do... I thought that you were in danger, so I... I..." At this point, Silva was clutching her hands together. "So when I saw him rushing at you..." Silva meekly let her gaze wander to the floor. “I spoke with Mika yesterday on the phone, and we agreed that I should speak with you as soon as possible.

Steven gave Mika a reproachful glare. He clearly didn’t appreciate them speaking behind his back, but he did not interrupt.

"I am not very good with people... Especially talking. You probably already noticed that. But... What I wanted to say... I apologise for my actions. I was in the wrong, and I hope we can be friends despite any misgivings you may feel... I won’t follow you anymore, and I deeply regret doing it before.”

Silva tensely awaited the answer. She could not imagine what she would do if Steven would not forgive her. 

However, the first one to speak was surprisingly Mika. “OK, so now that Steven has forgiven you...”

“Hey! Wait!” Steven was not having it.

“Huh, you do not forgive her?” Mika probed, giving Steven a withering look, daring him to challenge her.

“No, wait, I do, but...”

"See, I told you he will!" Mika gave Silva a winning smile.

It was so absurd that Silva couldn’t help but giggle. Their antics never failed to amuse her. What was an awkward moment before now felt much more pleasant.

Though Steven seemed like he had more to say, in the end, he just sighed, giving up and throwing his hands in the air.

Nerves got the better of her. Silva couldn’t help but ask. “So what now?” She wanted to know.

At least Steven had recovered at this point. He shook his head, still unhappy from what Silva had confused to. "Now we do proper introductions.” He put his hands on the table and rapped his fingers on it.

Steven glared at Mika again before sighing. “Yesterday, we got to know each other names, but now I feel like that is not enough. We are, after all, special snowflakes, so we must stick together lest we melt!" He announced with surety. "I will start. I am Steven Bran, 19, and I have two siblings. I play football in my free time. And I am more durable, stronger and faster than people can be. Yes! My superpower is that I am better at being human than anyone else!" He finished and pointed at Mika, waiting for her to continue. 

While Mika did scowl, she still spoke in the end. Just not about what Steven had expected her to. 

"You? How are you a better human when you can barely scrape enough marks to pass a grade?" Mika rebuked him. "And tone down your fake enthusiasm. Otherwise, Silva might think I am strange for keeping you in my company." Her preaching fell on deaf ears as it did not seem that Steven minded it.

Seeing there was no effect, Mika huffed. "Anyway, I guess it's only fair that we tell about ourselves. It does seem that we will be spending more time together. I am Mika Shore. I can heal bruises and cuts.” She bowed, letting her brown sway over her face. “Luckily, there has not been a need for me to try and heal anything more serious than that for obvious reasons. All of my practice comes from this guy here.” She jabbed her finger at the culprit.

“I can also sort of tell if there is something that requires my immediate attention. It's also a lot harder to heal myself, and I can’t do anything about diseases." She tapped on her chin with a finger and gave a sideways glance to Steven before adding. "I am 18, no siblings, I like reading… I guess" She shrugged.

"Oh..." Silva found herself with both Steven and Mika looking at her expectantly. "I… I am Silva Timley. I can conceal myself... Well, you already know that ah, but it doesn’t really work with cameras. What else…" Silva struggled to think of what else was there to say.

Silva could not think of anything worthwhile, so she asked something that had been bothering her for a long time now. “Have you told your families about yourselves?”

“Oh, bringing out the big questions?” Steven joked. “No, I have not. For them, I am just good at sports. That is all.”

Before Silva could ask more, Mika continued. “I haven’t told mine either. I mean… I would heal them if they got hurt, but otherwise... I don’t want to spend the rest of my life as some kind of a miracle worker. And I am kind of afraid...” 

Silva to comfort, but Mika motioned that it was fine. She simply kept talking. 

“Afraid of what my parents would think.” Mika ruffled her hair. “They are old-fashioned folks. They don’t like anything out of the norm.” She wasn’t done. “There is also the fact that I could end up in some kind of a lab. I don’t know how realistic that is, but… I can easily imagine some rich guy trying to kidnap me to keep himself healthy.”

Silva nodded. Her fears were similar. But… She still felt bad for not telling her dad. “Thank you for answering. “I… I want to tell my father, but… It has not been easy for him, and anyway, thank you again.”

“No need to thank us!” Steven dismissed, “That's what friends are there for!”

Silva felt a warmth flooding her heart. It was nice to hear someone call her friend, even if Steven was only half-serious. She was about to thank again, this time as a joke, but a cough from Mika stopped her, and Silva looked at the girl.

“So, how did you find out about your ability?” Mika asked, clearly eager to move the conversation along.

“Ah, I... It’s… Well...” Silva didn’t know how to respond.

"You don't have to tell us if it's private." Steven stopped her, to which Silva weakly waved her hand.

"It's fine. I already decided to be more open.” Silva reaffirmed to herself she was ready to speak. “I... I wanted to hide from my father when he was drunk, and it just happened.” She shuddered, recalling that moment. “It took me a few more days to be able to conceal myself when I wanted to. But after a while… It became surprisingly easy. It is nice, you know, walking around with no one bothering you." She had mixed feelings about the memory. "And you two?”

Steven shuffled in his seat uncomfortably and frowned but still decided to answer. "Well, after your story, it is hard to not tell.” He scratched the back of his head as he mulled over his memories. “Well, I got beaten, I wanted to be stronger, and that's what happened exactly.”

After shrugging, he continued. “It was not that noticeable in the beginning. I just thought that... Ah, well, imagine my surprise when I outperformed myself in the next gym class. I was twelve back then. Everyone just assumed that I had slacked off before, but... Well… When I push myself in physical activities, it's hard for me to reach my limits." He finished, and it was Mika's turn to speak.

"As for me, I found Steven beaten up,” Mika stated plainly. “Turns out he is not indestructible, and when I saw how badly he was injured. I lost myself in a panic, knowing I had to do something. So I did. I ran to him, grabbed his body, and the next thing I knew was that his bruises were fading." Mika gave a simple answer.

After the revelations, silence settled among them. Each was thinking over what they had learnt. Pigeons cooed in the background, and the occasional city noise travelled to them, but otherwise, there were no disturbances.

It was only after a while when Silva spoke again. “Do you think there are other people like us?” Her question wasn’t aimed at either of the duo.

“Sure,” Steven replied. “It would be naïve to think we are that unique.”

Mika seemed to recall something as she reached into her purse and pulled her phone out of it.

"That reminds me, yesterday I did some research on the web and..."

"I don’t think there was anything useful there last time I checked." Steven looked over Mika’s shoulder to see what she was on the phone.

“Yes, well, I wanted to see if there are rumours about Oldsteel,” Mika spoke. “It’s not like we live in a small city, but we still met each other. So it would not be far-fetched that there was something special about it, right?”

“Now that you mention it. What are the odds? So, was there something?” Steven furrowed his brows, thinking about the implications.

"Well… At first, I looked for people with abilities, but there was nothing. But I did stumble upon something else. There were a few videos and mentions of strange animals. Nothing concrete. I am grasping at straws here, really. But maybe we should keep that in mind."

"So you think Oldsteel could be a special place where the supernatural becomes natural?" Steven asked.

“No? Well, I only had yesterday to do research. So, who knows?” Mika then added more. “But we met Silva, so I think we should be more careful from now on.”

“Thanks! Now I'll have trouble sleeping with the possible mutant cockroaches hiding behind every wall!” Steven exclaimed.

“What kind of animals were in those videos?” Silva inquired when she finally found a chance, with Steven shuddering from his imagination.

"Well, a dog that jumped on a two-story house roof. Crow that was impossibly fast. Then there was that giant rat..." Mika counted.

"OK, now you are just trying to scare me!" Steven accused.

“Whatever! All I am saying is that we have to be careful. The world is bigger than we thought.”

“Then what do we do?” Silva asked.

Mika had an answer. "Well, for one, we can agree that we don’t want any more people learning about us. That is clear.” She waited for Silva and Steven to nod. “So, for now, let’s be extra careful with when and where we use our abilities. And yes, I know Steven, it is mostly on me. Still, we already had Silva following us and noticing. No offence. But what if there are others? What if they want to exploit us?” She reasoned. “I also worry. What if there are actual villains. Before we met you, Silva, I chalked up my Stevens abilities to chance. Sure, it probably was dumb, but two can still be a coincidence, but three...”

“Oh…” Both Silva and Steven were dumbfounded. It was clear that Mika had given the topic much more thought than they had.

“So, when you both get home, you should think about it. And, it is probably nothing, but… Let’s just be safe.”

Silva found herself with much to think about. They still tried to find new topics, but all of them quickly died out. The mood just wasn’t there.

After a little more chatting, they decided to split. Their lives demanded attention. Silva absentmindedly walked back home.

All things considered, the meeting had gone surprisingly well.