Damon "Manny" Valentin

Lee Seng stared at the caller ID for awhile. He let out a smile and then looked at Akio.

"Aren't you gonna pick up?" Akio asked. Lee Seng bit his lip and cleared his throat before answering the call.

"H-hello?" Lee Seng tried his best to keep himself sounding normal and confident, but actually just sounded strained and forced.

"Hey, Lee Seng? Are you alright?" Manny asked. He had a tinge of concern in his voice and Lee Seng coughed embarrassed.

"Y-yeah, I just, uh..." Lee Seng turned to look at Akio who motioned him to go. Lee Seng nodded and started to walk off, down the path. "Didn't expect you to call out of the blue." There was a slight pause before Manny cleared his throat.

"Oh, well... It's been awhile and I just wanted to, uh..." Manny trailed off. Lee Seng sighed.

'This is more awkward than I thought.' He thought to himself before walking off the sidewalk trail and standing against a tree.

"You wanted to what?" Lee Seng asked.

"Oh, I heard in the news that you awakened your powers." Manny said. "I just wanted to see how you're doing. Dad called me last night and you came up in conversation, so I just wanted to..."

"I'm fine." Lee Seng lied. "Just trying to figure out what the hell I'm gonna do now." Lee Seng shifted his leaning position and sat down.

"Ah, what're you tryna do?" Manny curiously asked. Manny did seem quite curious on what was happening with Lee Seng. Lee Seng sighed.

'Should I tell him?' Lee Seng thought. 'Its been three years since those two...'

"Lee Seng?" Manny's voice echoed. It snapped Lee Seng out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

Manny chuckled. "Lost in thought, again?" Lee Seng could feel his grin. He didn't understand why, but he felt disappointed and mad at Manny. He let out a frustrated sigh and nodded.

"Y-yeah. Tough couple of days, sorry. What were you saying?" Lee Seng asked, trying to hold back the unwanted emotions.

"Oh, if you need to talk, let's meet at the usual place?" Manny asked. Lee Seng was caught off guard. The emotions stirred more and Lee Seng tried to quell whatever flames were being fanned.

'Oh god, please don't...'

"Sure. I'll see you at the park in a bit then." Lee Seng hastily hung up. His breathing was fast and he felt the anger bubbling.

'Come on, it'll be fine.' Lee Seng thought. 'He's just worried and finally called... Why would he call after 3 years? Doesn't he know what I've been through?'

Lee Seng tapped his messages and scrolled until he saw Manny's name. He clicked on it and their text history came up.

July 17, 2017; 8:25 pm: Lee Seng

Manny, I hope you're doing well. I was wondering if you wanted to hang.

July 23, 2017; 2:43 pm: Lee Seng

Hey, just checking on ya. How's the Academy?

August 3, 2017; 10:25 am: Lee Seng

Manny, can we talk?

August 3, 2017; 11:00 am: Manny

Sorry, I'm busy.

August 3, 2017; 11:01 am: Lee Seng

C'mon, bro! I haven't heard from you in awhile. Just wanted to see how you're doing.

August 17, 2017; 5:28 pm: Lee Seng

Hey, I know you're busy but I really need to talk to you.

August 20, w017; 6:23 pm: Lee Seng

You know what? I guess you have changed.

Don't worry about me, I'm fine.

Lee Seng sighed. He shut his phone off and slipped his phone into his pocket. He didn't want to think about the past, yet here he was scrolling through the last text messages he sent to Manny. He looked at his left arm and tried to move it. It wasn't stiff and heavy anymore so he stretched his arm.

'Are you going to go see him?' Keng asked.

"Yeah." Lee Seng whispered. "I want to see him. It's just... strange he decided to reach out now." Lee Seng stood up and headed towards the parking lot.

Akio was sitting on one of the benches, when he noticed Lee Seng making his way towards him. Akio stood up, intercepting Lee Seng who seemed lost in thought.

"Where you going now?" Akio asked. Lee Seng looked up, snapping out of a daze.

"I need a ride to a park in the city." Lee Seng answered.

"Which one?"

"The one in front of Griffyth High. Manny wants to meet up. Don't know why after three years." The two began towards the parking lot. Akio had a couple of theories but didn't want to let Lee Seng get paranoid. Manny and Lee Seng's history went as far back as when they were born. They both had similar childhoods and grew up basically in the lab. The two were inseparable, so Akio could only imagine a tiny glimpse of what Lee Seng was thinking about.

"Alright," Akio said. The two made it to the parking lot and Akio unlocked a black car and stepped inside. Lee Seng followed shortly after and could smell the "fresh" air freshener still coursing its way through the car. It was one of the few smells Lee Seng actually liked. Akio started the engine as Lee Seng shut the door and started off towards Gryffth Park.

----

It was almost 9:30 am when they pulled to the side of Gryffth Park. Lee Seng and Akio sat in silence. Lee Seng milled about with his thoughts, trying to prepare himself mentally and hold as much of his emotions from showing physically while Akio shuffled through a random playlist of Kpop and Japanese music.

Lee Seng snapped out of his daze as the car was stopped for a long time. He looked up and noticed they were already at Griffyth Park. He pulled his phone out and there was a text from Manny.

[Hey, are you here yet?]

Lee Seng quickly typed in a reply that he just arrived and would meet him at the gazebo and slipped his phone back into his pocket. He turned to look at Akio who was finger drumming away to a Korean song.

"Well, I'll be at the gazebo for a bit. If you can't wait, I'll figure out a way home." Lee Seng said. Akio turned and nodded.

"I gotta make some calls, but I'll wait for you." Akio replied. Lee Seng waved as the car doors unlocked and stepped out of the car. The sounds of life were starting to grow louder as the sun rose high. Small amounts of cars passed by while joggers and bikers passed by. Lee Seng made a beeline into the park. The cut grass, sprawled trees and benches repeated throughout Lee Seng's trail.

It took him a couple minutes to reach the middle of the park. A huge gazebo linked up to the cement trail he followed. A familiar young man was standing underneath the shade of a tree. He was scrolling through his phone. He was slim, stood around 6' 2", with blonde hair. He wore a plain t-shirt and blue jeans with a the familiar M necklace. The young man radiated with natural charisma and Lee Seng recognized this young man as Manny or Damon "Manny" Valentin. The two grew up together and because of their dads working together, they were often times just left together and watched by one of the babysitters or one of their mothers.

Lee Seng came closer to him and he looked up. As soon as he saw Lee Seng, he slid his phone into his pocket and smiled. Lee Seng nodded at him and stood on the sidewalk.

"Hey, Lee Seng! It's been awhile." Manny waved. Lee Seng waved.

"Hey," Lee Seng responded. "What did you want to talk about?" Lee Seng didn't like the feeling he was getting with Manny. It's been three long years and the two of them never really contact each other after Lee Seng tried multiple times. Manny nodded and stepped forward. Lee Seng put his hand up.

"I think it'd be best if we just talked like this for now." Lee Seng said. "What do you want?" Manny stopped and fiddle with his necklace. Lee Seng could tell he was nervous by the single action. Manny looked at Lee Seng closely. He noticed his ears were on his head and white fur that came along with it. Lee Seng's tail stayed close to him, drooping towards the ground. Manny stared for awhile, wondering if he should say something or not.

'I guess he hasn't changed at all.' Lee Seng thought.

"You got... Ears and a.. tail now?" Manny asked. Lee Seng felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. He tried his best to hide his tail and ears. He covered his ears and nodded.

"Y-yeah, um..."

"Oh, well, I had some free time finally and wanted to see you." Manny quickly changed the subject. Lee Seng's anger bubbled. He didn't want to do this, but something kept pulling at him to stay. His tail began to move a bit more furiously, swaying behind him. He moved his hands away from his ears and shook his head.

"Oh, so you just decide to come back into my life after three years? Do you even know what I had to go through?!?" Lee Seng shouted. The bubble had popped and everything he desperately tried to hide was already coming out. Manny noticed and put his hands up.

"I'm sorry, Lee. I had feelings for her and I guess it was a good opportunity to go to the Academy."

"Had feelings for her and was a good opportunity?" Lee Seng scoffed. "You really crossed that line and just expect to come back? You ignored me for three years. You chose Sara and what, it didn't work out? She chose to leave me after she heard I was powerless. Just like Jae and Jason. They all turned away from me. Just like you did."

Lee Seng felt the vibrating energy. He took a step back.

"Y'know, Lee, it's funny I'm back and now you're upset. You ever think I decided to come back for you?" Manny's face had a smile plastered all over it. Lee Seng stopped as the vibrating energy began in his chest.

"If you really chose me, you would've stayed."

The vibrating energy grew and a ripple of gravity shot out of Lee Seng and everything around him began to pull away from him. Manny starts to slide backwards and Lee Seng quickly turns around, clutching his heavy chest.

"You should stay away from me, Manny." Lee Seng said.

'It's for you own good.' He thought. He started his way back, moving through the destroyed park around him and onto the sidewalk back to Akio. His ears twitched.

"I can't do that." Manny shouted. "Like it or not, I'm back. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to continue to be your best friend." Manny starts to push forward through the gravity force. His bones start to break under the pressure. Lee Seng stops as he hears the bones break and starts to look back, but quickly whips his head back forward. Manny lunges forward, grabbing Lee Seng. Lee Seng throws Manny away from him, watching him fly away from another burst of gravity.

"Enough!" Lee Seng screamed. "You lost me when you didn't even try three years ago." Lee Seng turned back and shook his head.

'I'm pathetic, aren't I? I can't even handle myself. He should stay away.' Lee Seng sprints down the path with a pained face.

The invisible gravity effects dissipated as soon as Lee Seng left and Manny winced in pain. He closed his eyes and clutched his t-shirt. A green light started to envelope him and his body and bones started to heal back.

"This'll be fun, Lee. I'll see you around, I guess." Manny muttered as he pulled a cigarette out of his pocket. He grabbed the lighter and lit the cigarette. He stood up and stretched as his phone began ringing. He pulled it out and chuckled. He picked up the phone.

"Hey, Dad. How're you?" Manny asked.