[you don't need to, you shouldn't, in a city where the action that's happening around you, ground-level, is vitally important to watch (you could lose a fucking eye, couldn't you)]
[looking up is dangerous literally, foolish metaphorically; low expectations and skepticism don't make for a hearty meal, but they do keep the blood pumping more often than hope and trust do]
[he's mostly tried to ignore it; her crazy talk of Big Heroes and Big Powers and Big Rescues, her stories where people got Saved instead of Fucked]
[Badou usually keeps his freckled nose to the dirt (the ground he sprung from)]
[her hair has been in a constant state of windswept all day today, her face is bright pink, she looks ridiculous, but she doesn't care because this is who carol is. this place took away a piece of her, one of the most important pieces, and she finally has it back.
this is as happy as he's probably ever seen her, as happy as she's been since she got here.
she pushes her hair back from her face and her grin is huge.]
[the demand is instant, his eye hard; he's still got traces of awe and confusion around his mouth, but he needs to see to believe, sometimes many times]
[she's just as quick to comply, she missed this so much, she'll happily do it any time he wants. any time anyone wants.
carol lifts off from the ground slow, watches her boots leave the dirt even though she really wants to be watching his face. gotta give the kid a second to process.
a foot above the ground and she stops, hangs there, waits.]
[he approaches warily, a quiet tinge of fear passing across his eyebrows as he kicks at the air beneath her hovering feet]
[like Carol, he stares at that space between asphalt and red shoes, wondering frantically (could the soldiers they made in the pits do this? they said they could jump so high, move so fast, that it was like flying, but this is something completely different, isn't it?)]
[she lets him look and look, patiently; this is normal for her, but coming from a world where this never happens? where this is something you only see in the movies? it must be so surreal for him.
[his eye flickers up, showing uncertainty, a deep-set worry that won't go away]
[and maybe this is why he's been such an asshole about her life, about her powers; he's had to be strict with himself, with acting a certain way and following the jungle-rules of the city; any contact with something more than human, more powerful than it should be, hasn't ended well for him]
[it's hard to accept how Holly Heights works, and it's almost impossible to accept the idea that somewhere, it is someone's life's passion to help instead of hurtkillmaimrape, with their extraordinary powers]
[his reaction isn't what she'd been expecting at all -- whatever she'd been expecting. maybe some loud swearing or something, but definitely not this... quiet. it unnerves carol enough to make her frown, notch of concern forming between her brows.]
I -- you just seem kind of...
[slowly, slowly, she touches back down, boots scraping on the ground.]
[he's been saying it to other people; you can regain abilities you lost, but this is the first time he's seen it in such dramatic action]
[he shrugs a bit at the woman, frowning (why did she stop that weird floating? -- he had a tendency to bring people down, maybe, to force them to ground and asphalt)]
S'good. M'fine. ...It's weird, is all.
[it's so, so stupid, but he's scared, too, hopes it doesn't show]
[a hazy green eye watches again, and he tries to give himself an inner shake, because it's Carol, god damnit, he had nothing to be afraid of from Carol (other than her getting into his business, other than her finding out about -- )]
[she's not a monster from below. she might be a monster from the surface, but he doesn't know what measuring stick they use up there; maybe all the monsters are heroes]
[which is a blatant lie; give carol a chance to show off and she will show off. right now it's caution holding her back, not any sense of decorum or restraint.
he still seems so uncertain.
but she sighs, faking put-upon, and pushes herself lazily up through the air until she's higher than his head, higher than two of him. calls back down:]
[--and the next second she's a sleek streak of blue and red and gold, impossibly fast (not as fast as she can be, no, her body's still too human for that), arcing further up, up, shooting straight for that hot sun.
how long until she hits the barrier and ends up on the ground again, right on her ass on the pavement?
[the quick movement startles him, and her ass slamming into the asphalt beside him has a loud, sharp sound coming from his throat; something between concern and shock]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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what is that shape getting closer?
is it a bird is it a plane no it's your mom, who, upon landing, will be wearing the biggest shit-eating grin imaginable.]
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[you don't need to, you shouldn't, in a city where the action that's happening around you, ground-level, is vitally important to watch (you could lose a fucking eye, couldn't you)]
[looking up is dangerous literally, foolish metaphorically; low expectations and skepticism don't make for a hearty meal, but they do keep the blood pumping more often than hope and trust do]
[he's mostly tried to ignore it; her crazy talk of Big Heroes and Big Powers and Big Rescues, her stories where people got Saved instead of Fucked]
[Badou usually keeps his freckled nose to the dirt (the ground he sprung from)]
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[she makes him look up]
Wh... thefuck...
[he blinks hard, wondering if he hasn't gotten sun-sick again]
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this is as happy as he's probably ever seen her, as happy as she's been since she got here.
she pushes her hair back from her face and her grin is huge.]
Hey kid. I told you so.
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Do it again.
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carol lifts off from the ground slow, watches her boots leave the dirt even though she really wants to be watching his face. gotta give the kid a second to process.
a foot above the ground and she stops, hangs there, waits.]
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[like Carol, he stares at that space between asphalt and red shoes, wondering frantically (could the soldiers they made in the pits do this? they said they could jump so high, move so fast, that it was like flying, but this is something completely different, isn't it?)]
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in the end, she says quietly, gently,]
You doing okay there, kid?
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[and maybe this is why he's been such an asshole about her life, about her powers; he's had to be strict with himself, with acting a certain way and following the jungle-rules of the city; any contact with something more than human, more powerful than it should be, hasn't ended well for him]
[it's hard to accept how Holly Heights works, and it's almost impossible to accept the idea that somewhere, it is someone's life's passion to help instead of hurtkillmaimrape, with their extraordinary powers]
[eventually, he stutters out a]
Y-yah, I. Yah.
[and his eye flickers back to that space]
...Why...
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I -- you just seem kind of...
[slowly, slowly, she touches back down, boots scraping on the ground.]
Freaked out?
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I -- no, I meant why all'a sudden can ya do that.
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[it's an obvious lie, and he doesn't try to pad it, too, well, freaked out]
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[her tone is painfully gentle, like she's trying not to spook a deer.]
I got a regain thing. You sure you're okay?
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[he shrugs a bit at the woman, frowning (why did she stop that weird floating? -- he had a tendency to bring people down, maybe, to force them to ground and asphalt)]
S'good. M'fine. ...It's weird, is all.
[it's so, so stupid, but he's scared, too, hopes it doesn't show]
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instead, she offers him a small smile that tries to have the same effect.]
I told you, didn't I? Superheroes.
[I told you, didn't I? I help people. I protect people. I save people.]
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[instead he says, more of a question this time]
Do it again?
[thin fingers scratch inside the top of his cast, but his eye is trained on her sharply still]
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[the smile gets a little bigger. carol puts her arms behind her back, casual, and floats up again, a little higher than before.
as many times as he asks, she'll oblige him.]
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[she's not a monster from below. she might be a monster from the surface, but he doesn't know what measuring stick they use up there; maybe all the monsters are heroes]
[barks distractedly]
What, izzat all? I can jump that high.
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[which is a blatant lie; give carol a chance to show off and she will show off. right now it's caution holding her back, not any sense of decorum or restraint.
he still seems so uncertain.
but she sighs, faking put-upon, and pushes herself lazily up through the air until she's higher than his head, higher than two of him. calls back down:]
Happy now?
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[and he sits down as she gets farther away, resting his cast in the crux made of hip and folded thigh]
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[she's done this today already, she knows what'll happen, but still. carol turns her face up, squints against the light, and smiles to herself--]
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how long until she hits the barrier and ends up on the ground again, right on her ass on the pavement?
thirty seconds, forty-five tops.]
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[yeah that still hurts]
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Th-the fuck was that!?
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