V: The V in Vigilant

he could see everydetail of his hands and chest, every tattoo, every piercing, as ifhe lay bathed in light. What the hell was this shit?
Calm down. In the time he’d been withMatty, Vic had learned how to deal with all sorts of crazysuperpowers, and this sudden sensitivity to light was just one morein a long line of doozies. Thinking around the pain in his head, hetried to rationalize what had happened.
Everything’s so damn bright.
Alright, true. Unlit rooms seemed well-lit,and turning on the bathroom light had blinded him. So what exactlywas he dealing with here? Some sort of photosensitivity. Normallight was too much for him, while here in the darkness beneath hisblankets, he saw clearly. Almost like…
Night vision.
The moment the words whispered through hismind, Vic knew they were right. Night vision. But if that were thecase, why didn’t it only kick in at night? Sometimes the powersmade no sense to him at all. This wasn’t really night vision somuch as a constant dilation of his pupils, allowing in every bit oflight in a room, giving him the ability to see in the dark butfrying his brain with too much light. Suddenly the prospect ofnavigating a bus through sunny city streets exhausted him. Did hehave any sick time left? Could he get away with calling in yetagain? If only he could drive with the blanket over his head toblock out the sun.
Of course. Throwing off the covers,Vic slid off the bed and headed for the dresser. Half the drawerswere his, the other half Matt’s. He knew without having to lookwhere his lover kept everything—shorts and jeans in the bottomdrawer, swim trunks and tank tops in the third one down, underwearand socks in the second. The top drawer was where Matt kept belts,an extra wallet or two, a few gold chains he wore now and then, andthe largest collection of sunglasses Vic had ever seen outside astore display.
These weren’t cheap shades—Matt had a veryvain streak in him, and he loved to look like that untouchablesummer playboy in Speedos and Oakleys. The look had been designedto keep others at bay, suggesting to any man interested that Mattwas out of his league. It had been easier than trusting anyone withthe powers he inadvertently gave his lovers. And the illusion hadworked, until Matt himself shattered it when he approached Vic allthose years ago.
Now Vic flipped through the sunglasses,looking for something that wouldn’t look too stupid on him. Mostwere in obscene colors, red and orange and yellow, wraparoundshades made for chilling on the beach, not driving a city bus.Finally near the back of the drawer he found a pair of RayBans—black, classic, cool. Slipping them on, Vic nudged the drawershut with his hip and returned to the bathroom. Eyes shut, heturned on the light. When he heard the bulbs buzz to life, heopened one eye, then the other.
Then nodded. Thank you, Matty, for havingexpensive tastes. The shades blocked out most of the glare.Instead of seeing everything darker, as he normally would wearingsunglasses inside, he saw things as he usually did, his visioneliminating the darkness.
Vic took a deep breath to steady himself.Last night had been heavenly with Matt, but in the morning, therewas always a price to pay. What a fun engagementpresent.
* * * *
Though Roxie’s original reply still rang inMatt’s ears—”Oh, hell no!”—she caved in after lunch andagreed to take both he and Sadie home after work. The ice creamcone he bought her from Bruster’s helped, but he knew the realreason she played nice. As he handed over the cold cone heaped withscoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream covered with rainbowsprinkles, he casually mentioned, “You know, I talked withVic.”
She didn’t ask about what—she didn’t have to.Her eyes lit up and she almost dropped the cone in her excitement.“And?” she asked, breathless. “Don’t leave me hanging! What’d hesay?”
Matt sort of grinned and she squealed. Thesound was deafening. “Yes!” she shrieked, jumping up and down likea little girl. “He said yes! I knew it! I knew he would!”
The next thing Matt knew, she had launchedherself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and plantinga cold, wet kiss on his cheek. He cringed and swatted her away, butshe didn’t seem to notice. As he wiped a smudge of ice cream offhis face, she danced in a small circle, telling the other customersin line for dessert, “He’s getting married, do you believe it? He’sfinally getting hitched!”
“Finally,” Matt grumbled. Jeez, she made himsound desperate.
An elderly couple behind them gave Roxie awide berth, but upon hearing the news of his engagement, the womanplaced a gentle hand on his arm and beamed at him.“Congratulations, dear. What’s your sweetheart’s name?”
Roxie pushed Matt aside. “Vic,” she said, asloud as she could. Matt felt his face flame in embarrassment at theconfusion on the old woman’s face. “He’s so hot, too. Mattdoesn’t know how lucky he is to have that man. I mean—”
“I know.” Hooking an arm through Roxie’s,Matt pulled her away from the serving window in front of Bruster’sto the benches nearby. “Jesus, Rox. Tell the whole world, willyou?”
She laughed. Before he could stop her, shethrew her head back and bellowed at the top of her lungs, “He’sgetting MARRIED!”
“Great,” Matt muttered. “I’m sure mymother could hear that. It’ll be on the six o’clock newstonight and in the papers tomorrow. You’re more worked up aboutthis than I am.”
With a sigh, Roxie flounced down onto thebench, her petticoat-boosted mini-skirt flaring out around her, thetoes of her Doc Marten’s turned in above the striped leggings shewore. “I’m just so happy,” she said, throwing an arm aroundMatt as he sat beside her. “I’m in the wedding, right? You did askVic that, didn’t you?”
Matt dove into his hot fudge sundae and triedto dodge the question. “Um, well, things got a littlebit…heated between us after I popped the question. If youknow what I mean.”
Roxie’s grin widened and she winked. “Well,ask him tonight. Hey! Ask him when I take you home. I’ll be rightthere—”
“He’ll be at work.” For once Matt thanked GodVic didn’t hold a normal nine-to-five job. Carefully, he said,“We’re still