Whole Human, Whole Not

Roman and Remus have butted heads often as they grew up, but that doesn't mean they weren't there for each other. They've grown up in an orphanage their whole childhoods and there has been no luck in trying to track their birth parents. The twins have played together and protected each other however they could. Whenever they were outside and felt like battling, they made magenta shields and flying discs appear from their hands. The two didn't think much of it as they figured their imaginations were stronger than they initially thought. If either of them was bullied and the other brother was too far to really do anything, they would think and hope that the bullied brother would go to a particular spot to escape. Next thing they both knew, they'd find the bullied brother at the specific hiding spot without any knowledge of how they got there.

Although they haven't played pretend or needed to escape from bullies as often growing up, they were still there for each other. Certain occurrences that involve a magenta hue have happened with tiny effects that it was easy to overlook them: Roman would leave a patch of flowers around him after getting up from cloudgazing, Remus would make papier-mâché weapons with less time than normal for a rookie working on particular crafts, Roman even went to a lake with his boyfriend, Virgil, once and approached the flower before bringing it back. Virgil saw magenta platforms under Roman's feet as he walked onto the lake and back, but didn't know how to bring it up or if Roman even noticed.

One day, in their early adulthood, the brothers were on a double date with occasional banter sprinkled here and there. Unfortunately for them, there was a mother with her child complaining about their "lifestyle choices" as if they haven't dealt with enough bigots in their lives. The mother had lectured them about how "red meat makes you gay" and other chimerical nonsense while the kid gave them an apologetic stare. Roman could tell that Virgil was on the verge of a panic attack and was trying to calm him down. At the same time, Remus's boyfriend, Darius, rolled his eyes at the woman and tried to keep Remus from shouting profanities.

"You know what? We already paid for our meals. We should just get out of here," Roman whispered to the group.

One moment, they were struggling to bypass the woman while each couple was holding hands; next thing they knew, all four of them were in the half-packed parking lot. They looked around confused.

"Umm... Remus, did you black out in another fight again?" Roman asked.

Remus looked at his phone for the time.

"No... and barely any time has passed," Remus answered, equally confused.

Virgil and Darius were both weirded out, but they didn't leave due to the knowledge that the brothers wouldn't hurt them and they were just as weirded out. The four of them ran from the parking lot without much thought. They reached a park and stopped to catch their breath.

"I think that lady gave me gray hairs!" Virgil proclaimed.

Remus walked behind Virgil, dug into his head, and plucked a hair out, much to the emo's dissatisfaction. The mustachio squinted at the strand.

"Yep, it's a gray hair, but let me try something," Remus declared.

Virgil was about to question the statement, but he already saw some weird stuff that day. They all squinted at the strand and noticed it became dark purple before Remus put it in Virgil's head again. Roman thought for a while before forming a magenta sword into thin air and making it disappear once he backed away in shock.

"So, um, how long were you able to do that?" Darius questioned.

The brothers looked at each other and pondered for a good while. After taking their moments of "imaginary battles" into consideration as well, they came to the conclusion that they had their abilities "for pretty much their whole lives."

Remus made some grass underneath him dry up with the wave of his hand. Afterwards, Roman waved his hand over the same patch of grass to make an iridescent display of flowers grow.

"I wish we knew where these abilities came from, though," Roman thought.

"There are folks who put those abilities in the same category as magic for the sake of simplicity," an unfamiliar voice shouted.

The group looked around until they saw an older man with messy hair, black pants, a dark sweater, and a light shirt underneath it. The man walked over towards the group, but was still far enough to not linger.

"There are beings out there who don't wish harm on humans. In fact, they use their abilities to help humans every now and then or just have their own fun in the galaxy. They're referred to as anodites and they're not as bad as they are carefree," the man explained to them.

"That last statement almost describes my boyfriend," Darius claimed humorously.

"Wait a minute, what makes you an expert on these... anodites you associate us with?" Roman asked with skepticism.

Before anything could be said or done, Remus blasted a magenta orb of energy from his hand and the older man waved his arms in front of him to form a magenta shield. The group was taken aback as they saw what just occurred.

"Takes one to know one, I suppose," the older man joked.

Roman looked at his hands as he was processing the new piece of information.

"Remus, Roman, it's nice to officially meet you," the man addressed the brothers.

"Officially?" the brothers asked.

"Huh? Oh, right, silly me. I've watched you two and have done my best to be there for you without drawing too much attention. One of our abilities involves us creating different human bodies for ourselves to blend in to the other residents of this planet. I've used it to my advantage over the years as well as the ability to manipulate reality to an extent to create nice dreams for you two and stories to read to each other. We're not a strict species, but your government isn't that fond of interstellar visitors," the man clarified.

Remus started to get the idea of the man's implications and ran over to the man with an eager hug. Roman was uncertain at first, but briefly made magenta gloves over his hands and soon joined in on the hug.

"So... you didn't leave out of fear we were gay?" Remus asked.

"Of course not. I'm gay, too, your other parent was trans and pre-op," the man explained.

Virgil and Darius carefully walked over to the three and Virgil cleared his throat.

"I don't know how we imagined meeting your father, but this certainly was different," Virgil casually said.

The man looked at the pair and chuckled.

"Call me Patton. I don't exactly have a surname, but my mate's surname was Lunar. I can take you all to him if you wish, it's actually our anniversary of meeting."

The group looked at each other before nodding. With as much power as he was able to use, Patton teleported them all to some woods on the side of a road. As Patton walked them through the woods, he explained that his ex, Marshall, and he met at a music festival since he was a night owl and Patton just liked to explore. They slowly grew closer overtime and met up at night when they could pretend that they were the only ones on the planet. Patton subtly revealed his abilities to Marshall before revealing what he was, and Marshall revealed that he was a transboy who was only willing to do top surgery as he felt it was less complicated or scary. At some point in the relationship, things happened that caused Marshall to give birth to the twins, and the four were on their way to see Marshall's friends to show them until a truck hit their car. Patton was about to heal Marshall's severe wounds until Marshall stopped him and decided against calling 911 for the sake of protecting Patton. Patton promised he'd make sure the twins were safe and that he'd talk to him every time he sees the moon. After Marshall's passing, Patton healed the twins' wounds and got them all out of the car before protecting Marshall's body in a shield by a tree and teleporting the twins to an orphanage where they wouldn't face the risk of being taken away from Patton if his species was found out. He kissed them both, vowing he'll watch them grow and went back to give Marshall a nice burial.

After telling his tale, they stopped in front of a petrified wooden tombstone with Marshall's name and the moon engraved on it. Patton stroked the dirt in front of it and made Marshall's favorite flowers grow again after they initially wilted. He muttered the song "Talking to the Moon" as he turned a purple humanoid form with pink stands of energy sticking out from his head.

"Is that what we look like under our skin?" Roman asked.

Patton sniffled and nodded.

"He would've loved to see what fine young men you've grown into," Patton told them while still focused on his former lover.

They all watch the flower and tombstone as if they were sharing Marshall's story. After several more minutes, Patton turned to the twins with a slightly serious expression.

"Boys, there's a lot more power within you both than you have already experienced. Even though it doesn't mean that we don't have our weak areas, there's still a lot of power that we have that usually takes about 60 or 70 years of training to master. I know you've only just known about your heritage today, so you can decide whether or not you both want to go to Anodyne with me to practice," Patton explained to them.

After the four discussed the possibilities and consequences amongst themselves, they spoke with Patton about the possibility of Remus going with Patton in order to feel less chained to morals, Darius tagging along to be with Remus, and the three visiting Earth yearly or more to teach Roman about his abilities as he stays on Earth to help those in need. By the time the moon was up, they all hugged and shook hands as they bid their farewells.

"Too bad Anodyne doesn't have cell phone service," Roman joked.

"Well, even if you don't, telepathy can come in handy," Patton responded.

"Well, thanks for sticking by my side for so long," Remus told Roman.

Roman chuckled before saying, "I'm looking forward to our tutoring."

Patton tapped Darius's throat to help him breathe easier. The two boyfriends smirked at each other before they flew with Patton. As Virgil and Roman waved to the three of them, Roman glanced at the moon and felt as though he was waving "hello" to his other father.