Slice of Life

The world was a fog when Ren came to. Shadow encroached around the corners of his vision, painting the world in a strange replay of silhouettes and images.

"What. Where am I?" Ren mumbled.

"Finally awake, are you?" The voice chuckled, followed by the sound of latex snapping. "Make sure to thank your friend."

Thank his friend? Man, who cared about that? His head was pounding, his arm felt like it'd been thrown into a meat grinder, and… something soft was touching his other arm.

"Ren?" the voice cooed. Ren shut his eyes.

"Is that you, Olivier?" Ren breathed.

"The one and only," she hummed. Ren snapped up into a sitting position at Olivier's soft touch, hitting the light above him.

"Ah, Fuck!" Ren hissed. The lamp swayed back, and Olivier caught it with her free hand to stop it from hitting him a second time.

Olivier tightened her grip around his bicep, and she forced him back down. "Ah-ah-ah," she warned, putting one hand on top of his chest. "Careful now. Lay back."

Olivier's features were becoming clearer by the second. She was wearing black nail polish like she usually did. His gaze continued to travel upward, admiring how the plaid skirt rested around her waist. She was wearing an old beige sweater over her white button-up t-shirt. Her ears were long—like the elves of fantasy stories. A series of gold diamond-shaped piercings hung from the bottom of her left ear, her hair a striking mix of gray, black, and red tied into a ponytail. Olivier smiled, and the scar around her lip moved with her. Her blood-red eyes were enough to convince any man—Ren especially—to calm down.

"We were really worried about you," another woman said as she moved to stand behind Olivier. "What the hell were you thinkin'?"

June, Ren's sister. "I guess I wasn't," Ren chuckled. A sharp pain shot up from where his arm had been taken off, causing him to bang the elbow of his good arm against the metal gurney he was now on. With some struggle, Ren slowly moved his new arm in front of him, noticing the change in color from the rest of his skin. A line of intricate stitches had been made where his new arm now was. Ren frowned. "Ugly."

"Beggars can't be choosers," someone snapped from Ren's right. Ren recognized the man as Doctor Scales. He wore the white lab coat typical of a man in his position. What wasn't typical was the helmet he wore that bore the resemblance of a dragon. It was difficult to get a read on him, sometimes. Doctor Scales was washing his hands in the sink. "Be grateful you're still alive."

"Thanks, Rudy." A smile tugged at the corner of Ren's mouth as Doctor Scales hesitated briefly. Ren knew it got under the man's skin, but that made it that much easier to understand what was going on in his head. "For real, man. Thanks. This shit hurts bad, though."

Doctor Scales ripped a paper towel from the dispenser, drying his hands as he approached. "It's called medicine. Get used to it." Pulling out a small silver cylinder from his coat pocket, he gripped Ren by the chin and turned his face toward him. "Don't blink." The doctor clicked a button at the end of the cylinder and a light came on. He pointed it directly at Ren's left eye, then his right, clicking it off and pocketing it afterward. "Well, you seem fine enough. You'll want to rest, though. You lost a lot of blood. Your body needs time to recover, so make sure you eat something."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ren said, waving his good hand and rolling his eyes. "I'll think about it."

Olivier giggled. "How about for me?"

Ren tilted his head to the left, catching her gaze once more. "For you? Uhh, well, um. Yeah, I… yeah, I suppose I could do that. Gotta, uh, take care of myself, right?"

Olivier smiled warmly.

"Oh, brother," June whispered just loud enough that Ren could hear.

"We heard what happened." A behemoth of a man came up to June's side next. Even beneath his jacket you could tell the man was not to be messed with. His skin was more on the tanner side, a reflection of his desire to work out. His hair was brown and short, ruffled from sweat, it looked like. A cocky smile tilted his goatee to one side, his caramel eyes digging daggers into Ren. This was Maxis—Ren's best friend. "Gotta say, bro, that was pretty stupid."

"Eh, not the worst I've done," Ren said, not entirely sure if what he said was the truth.

"You're right, but don't do that again. I don't want to be the one to arrange your funeral."

"That'd be me," June corrected. Dark bags sat beneath her anti-eyebrow piercings, her favorite black shirt tied underneath her bust. Her dark hair covered one side of her face as her sparkling green eyes constantly veered away from her brother. The golden hoop pierced around her bottom lip trembled as she struggled to keep her composure. She looked tired. "I would be arranging your funeral, dumbass."

"I said I was sorry," shrugged Ren.

"Did you?"

"Didn't I?" He thought for a moment. "Well, I'm apologizing now. Sorry." Ren sat up slowly, taking care not to hit the light a second time. Now that he was thinking about it, the jitter mark that'd gotten him into the most trouble was gone, replaced by a lifeless-looking arm. 

"What the fuck, did you just give me some dead guy's arm?" No response was given.

"Whatever, I mean it works well enough."

Not that it would change anything. Whether that jitter mark was visible or not, his abilities, whether good or bad, would remain uninhibited.

Jitters were rare, and it was unheard of for one such as Ren to have two of them. It just wasn't thought possible. Typically, they showed up as small tattoos somewhere on the body—like a birthmark of sorts. Consistency was a major issue, and these jitters were not always a boon in the eye of the wielder. The abilities granted were as varied as the theories behind them. It wasn't unheard of for a person to kill themselves by accident upon discovery of their Jitter.

Even so, those with a Jitter were revered. Ren balked at the idea. He wasn't any different from your average Joe as far as he was concerned. Matters weren't helped by the fact that both of his Jitters were on the backs of his palms. At least, they were until now.

Ren sighed. "How did the little dork get me here?"

June turned around, sniffing and wiping away a tear from her eye.

"Sunny said she used your cell phone to warp you around," Maxis explained. "Pretty damn smart for a kid, eh?"

Ren peeked through the gaps between his friends to see Sunny sleeping on the couch.

"I'll have to make it up to her," Ren said, smiling.

Ren had a faint idea of what had happened. He'd experienced it for as long as he could remember. Whenever his emotions would go unchecked, he'd sometimes "blink" from one spot to another, warping instantaneously. It was never very far—about a few dozen feet at best—but the one consistent thing he'd discovered about it was that it tended to move him toward sources of light. Since the effects could occur while he was asleep, Ren imagined Sunny had used the phone's light source to essentially transport him.

Smart kid.

"Well. I need to get going before another imbecile like you walks in," said Scales. As Ren was about to retort, the man continued. "By the way. If you can manage to get some samples from the denizen you killed, I'll pay you a pretty penny."

"What? Like if I go now?"

"No. Don't go now. Fetch them later. Or don't. Either way, I'm leaving. I've got better things to do." With that, Scales pushed the door open to another room and locked it behind him, closing the curtain.

"Aw, man," Ren moaned, scratching the back of his neck.

---

Ren was out within a few minutes of relaxing on the couch back at his house. He had to wonder if the medication prescribed to him also worked as a sleep aid. Not that he knew anything about medicine, anyway. He threw the covers off him, grumbling about the rays of light peeking through the blinds.

"What time is it?" he muttered, reaching for his mostly broken phone. "10 a.m.?"

He'd slept almost eighteen hours since his visit with Rudy. Maybe the damage was a lot worse than he'd given it credit for.

Ren shook his head and tossed his phone onto a cushion beside him. Making his way to the kitchen, he pulled open the fridge door, smiling wide when he saw his favorite box of wings waiting for him inside. Ren pulled it out of the fridge, reading the note his sister had left for him.

Eat these slowly! Watch yourself and take it easy! If I catch you outside, you're a dead man! Love, June.

Ren chuckled and shut the refrigerator door.

---

"All right, here we are," June said, pulling up to the front of the school. She pulled the lever behind the wheel, putting the vehicle into park. "Got everything you need?"

"Yeah, I think so," Sunny nodded as she shifted through the contents of her backpack in the passenger seat. When she was done, she zipped the backpack shut and opened the door. "Thanks for driving me!"

"Of course, sweetheart." June nodded. "Have a good day now! Say hi to Benji for us!"

"I will!"

Sunny shut the door, waving as she made her way up to the staircase leading to the school. June perched her chin atop her palm, watching until Sunny entered the building—a habit she'd formed over time. June chuckled as the memory of her and Sunny's first meeting resurfaced.

Goodness, she'd been so angry with Ren. With the unpredictability of Ren's work and her low wages, she wasn't sure if she and Ren could pull it off. But how was she supposed to say no to someone who'd just lost her father?

The first week or two of Sunny's move in had been rough, strange, uncomfortable. Everything one would expect from a new roommate.

Now, though? June couldn't imagine life without her.

June leaned back in the seat, listening to the hustle and bustle of children and their families. She remained like this for a few minutes before shifting the vehicle back into drive.

Next stop. Amber.

---

Good god, this was just what Ren needed. It wasn't until his sixth wing did Ren acknowledge how little energy he had. With every bite, he felt renewed and full of vigor. It wasn't unlike the sensation one got after recovering from being sick. Sometimes it took an awful experience to help you appreciate the slow and mundane.

"Baka!" cried one of the characters on the show Ren was watching. Seemed the new Everyone's a Catgirl movie was coming out soon. Maybe Ren needed to spend more time relaxing like this on the couch from time to time.

Tossing the last of the thirty-six wings onto the plate, Ren let out a content sigh and leaned back against the couch, feet on the table. It was almost noon now, and Ren was beginning to feel a sort of restlessness in his legs. Considering Olivier and Maxis's class would be starting at 1 p.m., Ren stood up and stretched his limbs. Those two were overdue for a visit from him, anyway. At least, one that didn't involve getting his arm stitched back together.

---

Black Lotus University was everything Ren hated about school. Pompous young adults walking around like they knew the first about living in the real world. While they sat around in their cozy little classrooms, Ren was out making a difference in the world with the denizen threat looming over everyone's heads.

As Ren passed by a group of jocks, he caught Silas out of the corner of his eye—the spitting image of a man and a dragon fused together. Unlike someone like Maxis, who had—for the most part—just inherited his father's height and relative build, Silas's skin was pale like a corpse. Silas reminded Ren of the group of emo teenagers who thought they were tough, edgy, and misunderstood. There was nothing to misunderstand about Silas. Him being part gargoyle had nothing to do with it.

Ren clicked his tongue, pretending not to notice them.

By the time Ren arrived at Olivier and Maxis's classroom, it was close to 1 p.m. Smirking at his good sense of time—he did have a good sense of time, right?—he looked to his left, and then his right before climbing the tree nearest the top floor of the building beside him. Olivier and Maxis sat relatively close to each other, the former seated next to the window.

Ren shimmied along the branch as he usually did in these circumstances, and watched as the teacher droned on about some complicated formula that didn't matter. Ren counted the seconds—three to be exact—before he mentally checked out and reached into his coat pocket for a piece of paper. Among the paperclips, knickknacks, and other miscellaneous objects, Ren found a couple of receipts. It'd be a little awkward up here, especially with such a long piece of paper, but he could build paper airplanes with the best of them.

How Olivier and Maxis could concentrate, Ren had no idea. Somehow, they hadn't noticed him yet, which while surprising, was not a bad thing particularly. It would make his paper airplane entrance all the much sweeter. A simple note would have to do. There wasn't a whole lot of space on the receipt, but there was at least enough to set up a meeting spot later on.

"Tell Maxis," Ren mumbled as he wrote the note, "meet at Sigg's after class. Have a great day, Olivier!" Ren completed the note with a small smiley face at the bottom, scanning over it one last time before he folded it up.

"And now, for my next act," Ren mumbled, putting the finishing touches on the receipt given life, "watch as this bad boy brings some life to this boring-ass classroom." Lining up the back wing of his airplane with his nose, he rocked his good arm back and forth a couple times before letting it loose.

The airplane flew with perfect accuracy, and just in time too. The professor's back was turned, his attention on the board. Olivier rubbed the side of her head where the paper had hit her, frowning. She plucked it off her desk, glancing in Ren's direction. Olivier stifled a laugh as she unfolded the piece of paper under the desk, mouthing off what Ren had written.

Olivier turned her head in Ren's direction, her eyes still glued to the instructor. She flashed him the okay sign. Maxis turned to look at Olivier, then followed her to see Ren. Maxis shook his head, offering him an incredulous look.

Glad to hear it, Ren thought, chuckling. Err, see it, I guess.

Apparently, his chuckle was too loud. The instructor's head snapped around, his hand still preoccupied with a piece of chalk, and saw him. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

That was his hint to get the hell out of here. Ren threw one leg over and hopped down from the tree. The landing was tougher than he imagined but not much more so than usual. As the teacher peered over the edge of the windowsill, Ren put a thumb to his nose and waved with the remaining fingers.

"Later, loser," Ren commented to himself before darting off.

"Hey, get back here! I'll have you reported if I catch you on private property again!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Ren cried, spinning on the spot to meet the teacher's gaze briefly.

No one came to chase him off. No one ever did, and Ren liked to believe the instructor knew it was a losing battle. Getting onto the campus was just too easy. Ren knew he looked the part of a college student coming onto campus, and he'd take advantage of it any time he could. It was worth it to see the looks on their faces—and of course, to see Maxis and Olivier.

"Well, they got the note," Ren said, looking over his shoulder at the monstrosity of a school. God, did it look creepy. Whose idea was it to model it after gothic architecture, anyway? "Might as well check up on Sigg while I'm waiting," he mumbled. "Don't know what Rudy was so worried about. I feel fine. Always been a quick healer, he just doesn't know it." With a smirk, he started on his way to Battalia's—the name of Sigg's bar.

---

Maxis sat at the front of the bar with Ren, ice clinking in his glass. Ren spent some time explaining the appearance of the denizen and why the fight turned out the way it did. For the most part, Maxis understood. He'd still berate him for making such a dumb mistake, though.

"Did you really have to blow your arm off, though?" Maxis asked with a raised brow. He meant it in good faith, but Ren insisted.

"Nah, nah, man. You don't get it! This fucker was huge as hell." Ren spread his arms wide to express the size of the creature. "I can't even stretch far enough. You should've seen it."

"Maybe I should have," Maxis agreed.

A minotaur dressed in a navy-blue bartender's vest approached. Waves of dark hair framed his bull-like features like a barbarian. He bore a golden hoop around both his left ear and his septum. A set of black-framed glasses sat atop his nose comfortably, his golden eyes carrying power and intelligence in equal measure. The wood of the counter squeaked as he leaned on it.

"How was class, son?" he said, looking at Maxis. This was Sigg, the owner of the bar. He was a stern man, strong and reliable like many minotaurs. He was just as powerful as he appeared, though it was rare he demonstrated his strength.

"Just fine." Maxis sneered as Ren. "Though I heard this troublemaker threw paper airplanes at us during class."

Sigg eyed Ren.

"Hey man, that's a lie, and you know it… it was one paper airplane," Ren corrected.

Sigg sighed. "Well, I didn't hear anything from your professors, so I can only assume you're not in trouble because of it."

"Probably exaggerating, anyway. They always make it sound like the end of the world whenever Ren shows up." Maxis shook his head.

The bell rang behind them, indicating a customer had just walked in.

Ren swiveled around in his chair to see June and Amber. "Hey, sis. Hey Amber," said Ren.

June growled. "Ren. You're supposed to be resting."

"And what better way to rest than at Sigg's?"

Amber's hair was a mishmash of colors. Violets, oranges, and yellows traveled like a gradient toward the tips. She wore a white dress with frills of blue at the hems, exposing the tattoo on her left shoulder. A golden ring hung from her septum, her eyes a stunning gold.

"Be easy on him," Amber said, giggling. She pecked June on the cheek and turned around, waving goodbye. "Love you, June! See you later tonight, Ren!"

"See ya!" Ren waved back. "You know what? She just reminded me. I should go pick up Sunny."

"What?" June looked aghast. "No! Rest! She can get on the bus for one day!"

"Yeah, she could," Ren said, brushing past her, "but she'll be so much happier to see me instead! Have a nice shift, sis!"

"But!"

---

Ren pulled up to the school entrance and shifted the vehicle into park. It'd been a few minutes since school had gotten out, so he didn't have much time to look for her.

"Guess I'll just hang around the buses," Ren mumbled.

Right on cue, Sunny came walking down the steps from the school. A couple of girls were trailing behind her, giggling. Ren smiled until one of the girls put her gum in Sunny's hair.

"The hell?" Ren jogged up to the group of girls, raising a brow. "You want to tell me why you just did that?" He looked down at a girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She had the same arrogant sneer Ren had seen from bullies when he was a kid.

"W-well, she started it!" the girl cried.

"I did not!" Sunny retorted. "Stop picking on me!"

"Go on, you heard her," said Ren. "Otherwise, you'll have to deal with me. And trust me," Ren said as he kneeled, so his gaze was level with the girl, "you don't want to deal with me."

The girl's eyes widened, and she motioned for the others to follow her. The girls were gone in a flash, scrambling onto the school bus.

"Thanks," said Sunny.

"Fight back next time," Ren said, rising to his feet. "Otherwise, they'll think they can just keep picking on you. They'll get away with it if you don't stop them. Trust me. It's worth going to detention to stop that crap."

"I'll… try," said Sunny.

"I don't see Benji," Ren said, craning his head over the crowd.

"Benji had to leave early today," Sunny explained. "Got sick, I guess."

"Oh, that sucks. Well, hey! We're watching movies with Amber tonight, remember?"

"Yeah!" Sunny's smile returned. Ren couldn't help but reciprocate the gesture. "I'm excited! What are we going to watch?"

"Apparently, Amber's got some good movies for us. Just hope none of it's romance."

"What's wrong with romance?" Sunny frowned. "Is it 'cuz you don't get any dates?"

"Damn kid, but no. Ahh, it doesn't matter. Come on, let's go!"

"Okay!"

---

An hour later, Ren, Sunny, and Amber were on the couch, two bowls of popcorn and three glasses of soda at the ready. Sunny sat between Amber and Ren, bobbing side to side happily.

"Do I want to know what you brought over?" Ren asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "No romance, right?"

Amber rolled her eyes but smirked. "No romance. Not this time. But you really should open your mind to it. I brought June over, so I don't see why I can't bring you over as well."

"Agh, that's different. You two are dating. I'm just… well, here, ya know?"

Amber giggled. "Just give it a try sometime. I think you just haven't found the right movie yet."

"Yeah, sure. We'll see."

---

"Need anything else before I leave, Sigg?" June asked as she peeked around the doorframe.

"Did you get the glasses cleaned?" asked Sigg as he was putting away the remaining liquor bottles. Glass clinked with the slightest touch—broke at the slightest touch. It was a careful act to pour drinks and care for the merchandise when you had as much strength as Sigg. Since such restraint was necessary to avoid breaking anything, it had given Sigg great control over his abilities.

"Sure did," said June.

Sigg stood up, whipping a towel over his shoulder. "Then I—wait. Do you hear that?"

June looked out the front window, squinting. Across the street were two cars with their brights on. They screeched through the neighborhood with reckless abandonment, giving June and Sigg pause. As the vehicles turned onto their street, the passenger windows rolled down, and two unidentified people pointed their guns at the bar.

"Get down!" Sigg screamed.

Sigg and June dove for cover as bullets soared through the air. Glass shattered, and wood splintered, sending bits of broken glass and gnarled remnants of the counter to the ground. Seconds passed, the smell of burned rubber quickly left, and the engines grew distant.

"Are you okay?" Sigg asked as he rose to his feet.

"Y-yeah, I think so," June said, gently shaking the small pieces of glass and wood away from her clothes. When she saw blood, he gasped. "Sigg! You're hurt!"

Sigg furrowed his brow and looked down at the wound in his bicep. A thin line of blood oozed out from the hole. With a grunt, Sigg plucked the bullet from his skin and rolled his shoulder. "A flesh wound. They weren't packing enough heat, it seems."

"What a relief," June said, sighing. "What do we do now?"

Sigg examined the bullet between his index and thumb fingers, then crushed it in his hand before dropping the mangled metal on the ground.