Nothing - apparently

The night before his birthday, Thomas pressured his mom to tell him exactly what time he'd been born - but she was firmly against the idea.

"There's no point you sitting up for hours, when you could get a full night's sleep and find out in the morning all the same. It's a school night, and I can't heal sleep deprivation!"

Thomas looked sceptical.

"Your father agrees with me," warned the brunette. "Now go to bed - and please, darling, don't try to stay awake."

With some ****, he had to concede she was probably right - and he certainly didn't want to attract the ire of his father. The thought made him shudder. And so when his alarm sounded at 7am on Monday morning, the youngest Lachlan sprang out of bed and rushed to the mirror. The same blue eyes stared back at him as always, the same short dark hair - in short, the same pale face. He hadn't grown, either in height or muscles. Thomas didn't give up though, and stared into his own eyes, trying to find the switch for his powers. Power-education was always frustratingly vague on exactly how powers worked. Apparently it was just something that came to you, like a muscle you never knew you had.

And that was great, but Thomas's frustration was rising. There was... nothing! Physically, mentally... he seemed identical to the night before. But everyone - everyone - got powers after the planet had completed eighteen orbits of the star. It was somewhat inexplicable, but utterly consistent. Frustration was beginning to yield to panic.

After twenty minutes of staring into the mirror, pacing round the room, staring into the mirror, considering jumping off a building - both to see if he could fly, and to see if he wouldn't - and a little bit of angry crying, before the teen sullenly made his way to the kitchen.

"Good morning, honey! What's the news?"

Thomas looked up at his stepmother, dressed in her scrubs for a day at the hospital. Sarah had the same blue eyes as him, and people often said the two of them looked remarkably similar, but her hair was somewhere between brown and auburn. There was something weird, though - the air around her seemed to shimmer, a misty magenta colour. But he blinked, and it was gone. Probably some really powerful ability being used on the other side of the world, as usual.

"I... I'd rather not talk about it." He felt bad letting his stepmother down - under her passive, friendly demeanour, she was clearly both curious and a little anxious. He could almost see the latter emotion growing, as she sat down next to him, with a quick glance at her watch.

"I only have a few minutes," she said apologetically. "Come on, Thomas. You can tell me anything."

The teen looked up, and saw a surge of maternal love behind Sarah's small smile of sympathy.

"I - I don't know what my power is. There's just... nothing." On the last bitter word, Thomas looked up to his mom - and was startled to see the air around her had turned an electric blue, with rivulets of pink and purple, bright enough to halo her head.

When she spoke, Sarah's voice was perfectly calm, with a hint of sympathy. "It's not unheard of for some gifts to take a while to manifest. Have patience - you'll find it." But despite what everything about her voice, expression, and body language was communicating, he could tell she was shocked, and worried.

Wait a minute. I'm usually shit at reading people! So, if the aura is actually my thing...