Invisibility: the ability to render oneself unseen to the naked eye.

Josh stumbles out of the bus and into the biting wind of downtown, tugging and scratching at his clothing. He tosses his backpack aside and starts unbuttoning his shirt. His clothes are too soft. They leave trails of fire on his skin each time they ruffle as Tiana pulls him down the street.

Can there be such a thing as too soft? Why isn't it too rough? Why can't he keep his hands steady? Why are all his thought so loud?

Tiana is guiding him somewhere but he doesn't pay that too much mind. Josh can't keep his eyes open long enough to see where they're going. It hurts too much to look. He thinks they're behind a building, but all he sees is the concrete beneath his feet.

She talks and talks, but he can't tell if she's talking to him. Plus, her voice sounds like a metal fork against porcelain, scraping the inside of his skull. Is Tiana walking faster, where's she going?

It sounds like they're walking directly through traffic, considering how loud everything is around him. He's dizzy and wants to puke, but he doesn't think that would help.

As Josh tries to keep up with Tiana's quickening pace, his legs give out and he lands his hands and knees. The spikes of pain shooting up his arms distract him enough to force his eyes open.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Tiana asks.

He doesn't hesitate to put his arms over his head and pull both his sweater and shirt off. They both get stuck over his head and Josh starts to cry all over again, the feeling of fire ants running under his skin coming back in another harsh wave.

"It's too soft," he mutters in overwhelming frustration, furiously thrashing his torso around to get the tangled clothing off of him.

A pair of hands grab where the shirt collar got stuck and helps him pull it free. Josh gasps like he hasn't breathed in years and throws the two tops across the alley. He scratches at as much of his back that he can reach, trying to the stop the itch that he can't pinpoint.

Everything tickles, except it doesn't and he can't laugh because all that comes out are breathless whimpers of pain. Josh starts to unbutton his pants when those same hands stop him, grabbing his wrists and holding them in a firm but gentle grip.

They're not Tiana's. She's standing a couple feet behind whoever's right in front of him.

"Woah there, cowboy. That won't help," Tyler whispers, kneeling down so they're eye to eye. His face is calm yet Josh can see the worry in his eyes. "Damn, your pupils are pinpricks. No wonder why you're so sensitive right now."

Josh tries to get away from the searing pain caused by the skin contact, hands still shaking under Tyler's hold. "It's all too much, I need- I need to get rid of it," he chokes out, sobbing now.

"I get it, but right now the best thing you can do is calm down and let me help."

"He's never gotten this bad this quick before," Tiana tells him fearfully. "I didn't know what else to do except..."

"It's okay, Tia, it was good that you called. Josh, I'm going to touch your face, is that okay?"

He shakes his head, hot tears leaving cool tracks on his cheeks. "Don't touch me, please."

"I'm sorry, but I have to."

Tyler lets go of Josh's hands and waits for a second, probably to make sure Josh doesn't start trying to claw his way out of his own skin. Once he gets the all clear, he slowly and softly resting his hands on the sides of Josh's face.

Josh flinches at first, accidentally flashing his wings. But when the pain doesn't come, he relaxes again. It doesn't hurt. In fact, Tyler's hands are warm but not burning, and calloused enough not to irritate Josh like the soft cotton of his shirt. He leans into his touch, finally relieved that he can actually touch something that doesn't feel like it'll send him into a coma.

The scorching itch that encompassed him before ebbs away, like a leak on a faucet. Drip, drip, dripping out of him until Josh can breathe without that feeling of a cement block crushing his chest.

Tyler's eyes flutter then slip shut, his head falling to his chest. Josh stares, finally clear headed again. He puts two fingers on Tyler's wrist. Okay, he's still breathing, so that's good.

Tiana looks at Josh, still slightly shaken but keeping her composure. "What happened to make you react like that? I've never seen you get like that so fast."

"I- I don't know how to explain it, but when I touched Dallon, I saw- I think I saw a memory of his. He was a kid and his parents were yelling and throwing things. His mom was drunk, I thought she was going to hit him. And when I got out of it, everything was unbearable."

"Jeez. I guess you get the powers with the most side effects, huh."

"I guess so." Josh looks closely at Tyler's face, seeing it scrunch up in discomfort.

"Empathic perception, he might be trying to lessen the oversensitivity," Tiana says.

"Yeah, I think he is." Josh pokes Tyler's cheek. "You called him?"

"I didn't know what else to do. Usually you have some sort of warning sign before and I can get you away from people before it gets back, but you just instantly lost it."

"Maybe because I've never been able to see into someone's head like that before," he says.

Tyler lets go of Josh's face, faint red eyes snapping open as he does so. He takes in a deep breath, running a hand through his hair.

"You've got a lot of shit going on in that head of yours, bird box," he chuckles.

"Good or bad?" Josh jokes.

"Like therapy levels bad." Tyler pushes himself to his feet, brushing the gravel off his jeans. "Another citizen saved. You might want to get dressed before someone sees those flappers."

Josh suddenly realizes that he's shirtless and his fly is wide open. He covers his chest, looking sheepishly at Tiana. She rolls her eyes and grabs his clothes, throwing it to him.

"Let's never talk about this," he says. "Ever."