Taking flight

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

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?"

Comments

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

Nura was flying high in the City, holding Devlin in her arms. "You'll see, kiddo," she reached to ruffle his hair. "It's a surprise."

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

"Okay," Devlin agreed, taking in the view. The City looked amazing from this height, and he was able to pick out some of the famous landmarks on Earth and other worlds, all right next to each other. One of these days, he'd have to explore more of this place, find out what was beyond the borders of what they'd already seen.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

They were nearing the second tallest building in the City. It had a flat rooftop area, with what looked like the remains of a dead roof garden. Once she was high above the building, she descended, landing on on the roof so softly that there was barely any noise but the winds from up above. "Here we are." She set Devlin down on his feet. "Thank you for flying Air Legion. Please proceed to the terminal in an orderly fashion."

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

Devlin grinned and quickly looked around the roof. It was a little gloomy with the dead plants, but the view more than made up for it. Everything in the City was below them, and it felt like being on top of the world.

"So what's the surprise?" he asked.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

Nura ushered Devlin to the rotting bench, seating him on the moss-covered wood after she wiped away some of the dead plant and weeds. "Oh, it's pretty big!" She then taking a seat next to him. "Your surprise is..." she threw her arms up in the air with excitement in her voice. "...your very first advanced flying lesson!" She put her arms down, though she was still beaming like she'd won the galactic lottery. "Brought to you by the Legion of Super-Heroes."

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

"Huh?" Devlin asked. He was surprised, all right, but part of that was that he had no idea what it meant. "What do you mean by 'advanced lessons'? I mean, I know how to fly, but what's advanced?"

You know, besides not falling and not crashing.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

"Advanced flying utilizes special tactics used to fly faster, higher, and even at a faster pace, enough, so that you can stun an enemy, imitate the wind at certain points, but also, to be able to duck and dodge buildings and debris in certain situations." She moved one leg casually over the other, clasping her knee in her hands. "It's a very important set of skills to know. Especially in combat."

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

"Wow," Devlin said. That definitely sounded advanced, and anything that could help him with his powers, he tended to listen to attentively.

"So, how do you do it?" he asked. "What do I need to do first?"

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

"Well..." She got up off the bench, twirling around to face him, arms out away from her body. "First. You need to transform. Ben says that you're part Osmosian: an alien race that absorbs energy?" She lowered her arms to her sides. "I only saw a little of your alternate form...but it has wings, right?"

[at-a-peak.livejournal.com]

Devlin hesitated for a moment.

"Yeah, we can absorb energy, but Gwen says it's really bad," he warned. "Something about going crazy?" He didn't want another repeat of the rage virus again; once was enough.

"But I can transform okay," he insisted. "That's just me, since I was born that way."

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

"That's...interesting." Her interest was indeed piqued. Perhaps scientifically and curiosity-lead, but mostly concern for Devlin, as he was a very important person to her and his mental health mattered a great deal from what Ben had told her about Devlin's father. "I have a million and one questions about it...but that's for another time. Today it's just you and me...and the skyline."

She put her hands on her hips, authoritative. "Can you transform right now?"

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

Unflinchingly, Devlin made the shift from human to alien. The changes to his body and mass came quickly and easily, and soon, the boy had been replaced by an amalgram of Ben's original ten aliens.

Devlin spread out his tattered-looking insect wings and said, "Okay, so what first?"

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

When Devlin changed, Nura found herself staring for a few seconds more than usual, before returning to her usual mode of interest and facial expression. A different type of alien, for sure, with many different attributes. Nura wondered if "absorption of energy" went literally with "absorption of powers", as it went.

"Second...start flying. Unless you want to jump off the side of the building..." Her eyes went to the edge of the roof. There was that impulse to just go running and leap over the side and fall, and then soar up into the sky the way she and the Legionnaires would, in symbolic was of demonstrating their defiance.

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

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.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

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."

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

"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.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

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.

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

"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.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

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."

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

"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.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

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.

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

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.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

"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?"

[farfrom-tree.livejournal.com]

"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.

[foreseen-future.livejournal.com]

"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.