Time Warp: Disappearing Act (Damien)

[Tarak Rana]

(January, 1990)

Thirteen year old Tarak Rana squirmed beneath the uncomfortable scrutiny of his trainer. She was a beautiful woman, young enough that he felt pangs of interest stirring within. But her instructions were, for the moment, quite squashing those in favor of anxiety.

"You need to concentrate, Mr. Rana." Ms. Knowles reprimanded, her tone light. He so wanted her approval, though, that even the remotest of negative enforcement caused him to frown down at his still very visible sneakers.

"Sorry." He muttered, glancing over to his companion, Damien. They were the same age and had the same power, which meant they had frequent training sessions together. It was perhaps fortunate that neither had a strong competitive streak; some of the other students with similar powers, instead of cooperating and helping one another, instead were always trying to one up one another.

Or perhaps that would have helped Tarak master his power more easily, if he'd felt the sting of competition from Damien.

Instead he offered the other boy a smile, tentative because he still was unhappy at being lectured by their trainer. "I think I can see through your hand now."

[Damien Tremblay]

Damien wasn’t faring much better than Tarak. Ever since he’d disappeared at home, it was like he couldn’t replicate those results, no matter how much he tried. It was hard enough just to get his fingers to disappear, and his entire body seemed impossible.

At least he had Tarak, who seemed to have similar luck.

And if nothing else, the longer they spent mastering their powers, the longer they could spend under Ms. Knowles’ instruction. That wasn’t a terrible thing.

He was huddled up at one of the desks, watching his hand. Start small, he’d been told. So he had been trying. Concentrating so hard was bound to give him a headache later, but he wanted to have at least some success. He tried to think about the desire to vanish, like he had when his sister had bugged him about the fish hook incident.

... Yeah, it wasn’t working. He flexed his hand and glanced over at Tarak, trying to offer him a little smile of encouragement before going back to staring at his hand. This time, it seemed to go a little fuzzy, and for a moment he could see the desk through it.

Of course, that tiny triumph distracted him from concentrating, and he lost it as quickly as he’d gained it. “Yeah... so could I. For a second.” He flexed his fingers again before looking up at their teacher. “Did you see it?” Ms. Knowles smiled and nodded.

“I did see. Try it again.”

... Damn. Damien had been hoping that would be good enough for today.

[Tarak Rana]

Tarak winced in sympathy as Ms. Knowles dismissed Damien's hard-earned victory. He personally felt that should have deserved some sort of more positive comment, maybe even a reward. He certainly would have complimented Chandresh had his younger brother achieved their goal.

Even if it wasn't their entire goal. He still felt that progress ought to be noted.

However, much like Damien he wasn't going to complain too much. He didn't want his trainer to be upset with him, which she surely would be should he insist on more positive reinforcement.

Instead he squinted down at his feet once more, willing them to go invisible. His left sneaker began to fade, the worn carpet of the training room they were in showing through.

"Hey! Look! I did it! It looks like I only have one foot!"

Just as long as nobody looked too hard at the missing limb, that is.

[Damien Tremblay]

Damien continued to flex his hand, flipping it back and forth on the surface of the desk. It had been invisible, for a few moments. Even the small victory was making him happy, though he was well aware that he had a long, long road ahead before he could even think about going fully invisible again.

Funny, his foot throbbed at the thought. Maybe he just needed his sister here to bug him again. It certain worked the first time.

After training it was a good thing he had history. He was planning a nap in the back of the classroom. It wasn’t that he was a terrible student... it was more that this was tiring.

At least Tarak was making progress. Damien leaned out of the desk to look and grinned at his classmate. “Nice, Tarak!” It was a neat look, really, only having one foot. “If you lean more on your other leg, you could freak people out.” Yes, he was a thirteen year old boy, of course he was going to suggest something like that.

Even if it did earn a little look from their trainer.