15715/Gone Like a Flash!

Gone Like a Flash!
Date of Scene:	25 August 2023
Location:	Vasquez Home
Synopsis:	Irie makes a proposal as does Billy.
Cast of Characters:	Billy Batson, Irie West

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Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam had a tough time today, pushing a super tanker to dock is not as easy as Superman makes it look After a few a petty crimes were stopped, and some scripting for his show was done with an assist from Steve, he was ready to kick back. A magic word later, a ringing blast of magic and Billy Batson is sitting on Shazam's throne eating a Twinkie, he dipped in peanut butter and looking to chill.

What could go wrong?

Irie West has posed:
    "HI BILLY!" Irie says appearing from the portal. "HI STEVE! Oooh, peanut butter and Twinkies. A classic. Can I have the other one?" Maybe giving the speedster a moist cake made almost entirely of sugar might not be the smartest thing in the world.

    "You look tired. Long day?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson says, "Yeah. I got a supertanker to dock. Pushing those things is not easy. You use too much force and you go right through the hull. This thing was going to make a mess of the docks as it couldn't stop. The crew is yelling at me what to do. the harbor patrol is yelling at me what to do." He slides the plate with the aforementioned Twinkie to her with a smile and motions for her to sit by his side.

Irie West has posed:
    Irie hops up onto the big chair, her legs dangling off the edge, as she reaches for the Twinkie and slathers it with peanut butter. "Yeah. Sounds rough, but they know what they're doing, right?" She kicks her feet in thought before asking, "How do you keep from tearing everything apart when you're that strong?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson raises an eyebrow and says, "I didn't at first.I mean my first time as Shazam, I threw a robber through a window. He'd shot me in the mouth. I was breaking stuff. Eventually it sort of came to me. I mean Shazam's muscles aren't superstrong, his strength is magic and I get some wiggle room. I can pick up a building and not have it fall apart. It takes practice. But... here," he shows her pictures on his phone, a wrecKed street in Manhattan, a trashed factory. "I did this fighting Juggernaut when he got me angry and I didn't hold back. Shazam lives in a world of cardboard. I try to be really careful."

He nudges Irie and says, "Okay, your turn... when you're, say running to Philadelphia... that'd take an ordinary human a couple days. Does it seem to take a couple days to you as well? Even though you do it in like a half hour? Because if it does, I owe you big favor for that trip we took. You were pulling a dang rickshaw!"

Irie West has posed:
    Irie scootches over to look at the pictures and shakes her head in wonder. "Yeah. I can see how fighting somebody like that would leave a lot of collateral damage. But I know what you mean."

    She leans back and considers Billy's question for a bit. "Fifteen minutes," she corrects. "Faster if I push myself. But... yes and no? Time gets wonky when you're channeling the speed force. It doesn't work the same way as it normally should. Like... it hypes up my reaction speed and when I'm not in combat it all kind of goes on autopilot. If I'm in combat and I have to pay attention, then I feel every microsecond, if that makes sense?"

    "The Speed Force is weird and nobody really understands how it works," she says. "That's why when I go to school I want to go into theoretical physics and study it. If I understand how it works, then I'll be better at it, and the better hero I can become! Besides, science is neat."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson leans just a little against Irie as he is showing her the images. "Science. Magic and science are funny together. I feel your lightning. When you go by. It feels nice. As Billy, I can get an idea of a storm coming. I think you're really great." He says the last sentence a little quickly. "I... I know we're older now but if you'd still like it... could I take you for coffee or a movie or dinner... or listen, you gotta stop me... we can literally go anywhere. I can probably get my hands on a space suit and take you to the Moon with a little work. Not joking, please stop me..."

Irie West has posed:
    "Well, the Speed Force isn't magic, we're pretty sure of that," Irie says. "We're pretty sure it's one of the fundamental forces of the universe. It's just hard to quantify." She shrugs. "I figure it'll be easier to quantify it for me since I can actually channel it."

    And then Billy asks her out. She blushes a deep red from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. "I, um, I mean, uh..." she stammers. "I mean, yes! I would like that! We don't have to go anywhere special. Dinner and a movie would be fine. I mean, I go to special places all the time, so you don't have to show off for me. But I'm not gonna say no if you want to!" she hurriedly amends. "But. Yes. A date. With you. Is good. Yes."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson puts his hand over Irie's. He exhales slowly, "I should have asked you out a lot sooner, seriously. But it felt because sometimes I was this guy who was twice your age. So I kind of cooled things off. I'm sorry. Anyway, we can do something now if you want." Please want.

Irie West has posed:
    "Yeah. Um. About that..." Irie says, her tone turning serious, as she turns to face Billy. She lets him take her hand and she squeezes it. "I want to date //you//. Not Shazam. I like you. For you. I'd like you if you were completely powerless, and that's the person I want to date. I know you can't really separate you and ... him, and, you know, that's okay. But when we date, I'm dating Billy Batson." She can't help but feel a little worried that she's making such a clear distinction, that he might reject her over it.

    And then he asks if he can take her out now, and she blinks in surprise. "Oh! Um. Okay. Where should we go?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson studies her before answering. "I understand. But you have to realize Shazam is a suit I wear. It's me in there. As for dating I understand you want the Billy experience. That's fine. Kid Flash and Shazam are colleagues. I'm really flattered. I may still be Shazam for commuting on a date. I don't want you pulling me in a borrowed rickshaw. Fair enough? Anyway, I can make better time than you pulling that cart and you really wore yourself out. Hey! We can go for a drive. I have the van tonight! Would you like that?"

Irie West has posed:
    Irie brightens up. "Yes! I mean, you can drive? Can you teach me how to drive? I mean, you'd think that since I can run anywhere faster than any car can go that I would need to learn how to drive, but I want to fly the T-Jet someday and Donna said that I need to learn how to drive a car first to prove that I can handle the responsibility so I'm working on getting my drivers license. And... um..." she slows down, folding her hands in her lap and looking embarrassed again, "It's something we can do together."

Billy Batson has posed:
Billy Batson gives Irie's hand another squeeze. "Teach you to drive. They say you shouldn't teach your friends and relatives to drive. I did all right with Victor. Then again I was already driving a couple years. Not my cars either. I was kind of a shady guy. "So T-Jet hunh? I fly quite a bit myself. The Titans sound awesome. I considered trying to join but... transformation makes you really awkward at times. I mean, it was worse when I was younger. I had bad impulse control. I nearly got into a throw down with Crush. I... Shazam creeped people out out hanging around the school. It was hard to fit in. I had almost no friends. I didn't want to let slip who I was."

Billy gets up and fiddles in his pocket for keys. He extends a hand to Irie to pull her out of the bean bag chair.

Irie West has posed:
    Irie takes the helping hand up. "Yeah, I can imagine. It seems like you're doing better though." She grins, blushes again, and then leans up and kisses Billy on the cheek. "Thanks for taking me out," she says. "We're going to have so much fun!"