trans_9 | Taking flight

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Taking flight

After that scare of thinking Nura was in the pods when she'd actually been running mazes for GLaDoS, Devlin was glad to have some time to spend with his surrogate mom/grandmother/whatever.

Devlin, clingy?

...Yeah, that pretty much cut to the heart of it.

"So, anything you wanted to do?" he asked. "Or any place we're going?"

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Devlin expected the surprise. His alien form wasn't exactly normal by any definition.

"Okay," he answered, simply spreading his wings and taking to the air. Not exactly flashy, but at least going simple wouldn't give his mom a heart attack.

Nura's feet lifted off the ground as she rose into the air. "Ready?" She started to float over the edge. "Let's head towards the park, all right? But we'll take the long way, since that has the most buildings."

"Got it," Devlin answered, flying after her. His flight was a little less steady than usual, given this was much higher than he'd ever gotten before and the wind currents felt different on his wings. But he was stable, at the very least, and able to keep up the pace.

Nura nodded and then took off at a slow pace, moving around the closest building, to the left. "We're going to come to a sharp turn eventually, so make sure to have your wings closer in as soon as we near the corner!" The wind hopefully carried her voice back to him.

"Okay!" Devlin shouted back.

The turn was just ahead. He brought his wings in closer as he began to turn, and...

Some charred bits of stone from the building dropped off from where Devlin clipped the corner, singing it with his Heatblast arm.

"Oops," he muttered.

Nura looked back and blinked. "It's all right!" she said. "No harm done." They were now headed for another building. "This time, give yourself a little room between the building and your wings! You need to really tuck them in as you make the turn."

"Got it!" Devlin yelled as he picked up speed.

He was coming up on the building, and once again, he tucked in his wings--but closer, this time. His turn wasn't the steadiest, but he did manage to clear the building (if barely) this time.

"I did it!" he cried once he passed.

Nura looked back with a proud smile. "Good job! Almost hit the building, but it's progress!" She continued to fly, looking to the front, as they started to round another corner.

Devlin's smile was slightly embarrassed, but he was feeling pretty good about his progress.

Just can't hit the next one, he promised himself.

He overcompensated a bit on the next corner, going a little too wide, but he managed to pull himself back in midway through the turn.

"Getting there," he said.

"It takes practice!" They rounded another. "Pick up the pace a little, but remember to take it slow on the corner, and then speed up. All right?"

"Okay!" Devlin answered.

The advice made sense. He did it all the time with hoverboard tricks--stop the board, use your momentum to propel yourself, then start it up again to complete it. Keeping this in mind, he went into the turn slow, leaning in slightly to help make the turn while letting his momentum do the rest. Once he got about halfway through, he sped up, clearing the building.

It was a little shaky, but it worked, and he had a huge grin on his face.

"That was wonderful!" Nura shouted on the wind. "Let's try to take it easy now for a bit!" She pointed out into the city. "We're going to try going incredibly fast while avoiding the buildings. All right?" She then shot off, forcing herself to go faster by thought and flight ring.

"Yeah," Devlin answered.

Going fast felt amazing. He was still trailing behind Nura even at his top speed, but just hitting it was a thrill. He didn't have to make any major turns, just lean a bit to avoid hitting the buildings. It was probably the easiest thing he was going to manage today, and he took full advantage of the excitement.

Nura laughed with the wind in her hair and her adoptive-child right there with her. She dived down in the air, eyes closed, heart racing, feeling so alive that she just had to let out a loud laugh. "Having a good time?"

"Totally!" Devlin answered, a bright grin on his monstrous-looking face. "It's great!"

"I'm glad!" she threw her head back, going into free-fall. "Now let's have some fun! Before a fun-crusher arrives fresh from the Caves of Grindwump country, all right?"

"Definitely!" Devlin agreed, going into a steep descent behind her.

They continued like that for a while until they reached the area the park was located in. Nura righted herself in mid-air, and started to slowly descend. She landed next to the bench, the wind still lightly blowing through her hair. She looked up at Devlin, watching to make sure he landed all right.

Devlin's landing was a little bumpy, but he managed to get into a low crouch as he transformed back, taking a moment to stretch out his human form a little bit and give his alien muscles a break.

"That was great!" he said. "Anything else I should know?"

"Yes." Nura promptly walked over and scooped him up into her arms. "You need to work on your landing. Otherwise, you did quite well." She placed a kiss on the top of his head.

Devlin gave a sheepish smile, which quickly turned into the "Aww, MOM!" look of embarrassment when she kissed him.

"Thanks," he said.

She set him down, ruffling his messy hair. "Maybe even try shifting back to human form while right near the ground."

"Yeah, that could work," he admitted, thinking about it. He did know how to control his landings from hoverboard accidents, so switching between forms to smooth out his landing might be just as easy.

"Who taught you to first fly, Devlin?" She put her hand gently on Devlin's shoulder.

That slight pressure on his shoulder helped keep him calm as he admitted, "My dad. A little bit, anyway. He was in and out of the Null Void when I was little, and when I was eight, he was locked away for good--supposedly, at least. I taught myself everything else about my powers."

He managed to smile. "At least until I got here and learned what else I could do."

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