David was awake, but hopefully not for too much longer. Being surrounded by all these Epics made him uncomfortable, seeing as he was utterly defenseless in his current state. No one recognized him, of course: Phantom was, by far, a different beast than David Lin. Phantom was tall: he was average height. Phantom was threatening: he was dressed in a shitty rented tuxedo, playing violin at this fancy, self-congratulatory banquet for Epics.

He supposed there was one benefit to being awake here: none of the dozen or so telepaths could know his secret. While awake, he displayed absolutely no trace of his Epic status, and anyone who read his mind would find noting but a confused rambling of half-forgotten dream states, of soaring one minute and crashing the next. His mind...was not very well structured. Even the most powerful of telepaths would have to be really damned determined to figure out his secret while he was awake.

A finger snagged on his violin, and a note sounded out, just a stitch out of tune. He hissed with annoyance, gritting his teeth while he wrestled it back under control. He wasn't all that great at the violin, by comparison to other players around Epic City, but he was by far cheaper. He'd practiced the music until he couldn't feel his fingers, of course: the less mistakes he made, the less people would look at him. This was one of the most dangerous places he could be as a normal. Sure, everyone was a "good guy", helping others and all that, but everyone thought they were good, after all.

Like that Dragon Heart. He seemed nice, and the ladies loved him all the more for it. But he had also been part of the dynamic duo which had left two city blocks in a heap of smoldering rubble. And he was being celebrated for it. Diǎo​rén. [i]All[/i] of the Epics were fuckers, really. The High Epics could crush the villains in an instant, but did nothing. They were content to sit in their pretty little towers and watch the world burn itself to the ground.

He had to be careful with his thoughts, of course. Clairvoyant was always listening. He wasn't sure if she understood Chinese like a native, but it made sense that she would. Otherwise the Triads could have walked all over her. The had some Epics of their own. Then again, fighting those five zhū​gǒu together was a hundred percent suicide.

With a flourish, he set down his violin while the other musicians took over. Chief Thomas stepped up to him and thanked him for coming tonight. David fought back a yawn as he nodded. He was tired. And, technically, the food and drink and toasts should be for him too. He had helped with clean up shit, too. He'd also lifted a few choice valuables from the destroyed buildings, but who really cared about that anyway?

He sidestepped the sound system on stage, stepping down to one side so that he could finally take off the fucking tux jacket. The thing was probably a thousand degrees. Blessed cool air. Wonders of the world.

"Good playing, man." He looked to see that same Dragon Hearted fellow sidling up next to him.

"Thank you," David said warily, setting his violin down in its case.

"It really added to the atmosphere. I thought you were going to bring down the house!" He smiled jovially.

David didn't return the favor. "Kind of like how Epics brought down the Fitch building, huh." The smile died on Dragon Heart's face.

"Epics also saved a lot of lives during all that," he said testily. "Try to remember that."

David wanted to lash back. If there hadn't been Epics in the first place, none of it would have happened. He forced himself to breathe deeply, and even managed a tiny smile. "True. Thank you for saving those lives. Maybe next time you could--" He broke off before he said something that would have gotten him killed. "Next time I'll remember that."

He quickly bowed his way out of the engagement. He couldn't leave yet: he was booked to play again in an hour. There would be no appearance of Phantom for the evening, that was for sure. He opted to go to the window instead, where another guy without a tux jacket was standing. Stark Crucifier, or something like that. It reminded David of a combination of Game of Thrones and Hercules. Big guy, looking...fairly uncomfortable. He could relate.

David took the window next to the big Epic. No need to strike up a conversation with these people. It just put him in danger. Maybe...maybe he'd bail, and come back as Phantom. They could read his mind then, but they wouldn't be able to trace him back to his body. And he could still play the violin. No, that'd give him away. "Fuck my life," he mumbled.