3303/Falling with style

Falling with style
Date of Scene:	09 September 2020
Location:	Back Yard
Synopsis:	Shazam and Firestar meet for a lesson in trust. It ends with a broken arm...and yes, trust.
Cast of Characters:	Angelica Jones, Billy Batson

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Angelica Jones has posed:
Angelica still has Billy's number. It's been a little while, and she called him out of the blue this morning. What with school being in, she knows she'd have to wait. And wait she does, in the back yard of the mansion. But she knows he'll come. He always comes.

"Dude, come already," she murmurs to herself. Her food's gone cold and she's literally bored, laying in the shade of a tree not dissimilar to the one they met by. Not a good omen, that.

Billy Batson has posed:
The Speed of Mercury doesn't do squat for you when the folks are in the kitchen, cleaning up while you do the dishes. Alone. Little matter of a D- in Biology. Finishing the dishes Billy manages to sneak out. A magic word and he was shooting to Staten Island... then he checked the GPS and did a hard right for Westchester. It's hard to miss that flash of ginger from up high and he remains vertical almost till he's on top of her.

The Champion of Man finds his mouth dry.

<Yo, Uncle Achilles, what up with the nerves now... and every other time I act like an ass in front of her?>

<I handle 'Courage' you lack confidence and style. Not my table.>

<Grumble grumble.>

"Hey, sorry I took so long. Chores. What's up? Are things better here?"

Angelica Jones has posed:
The ginger in question looks up, and a smile of absolute forgiveness beams like a star. She scrambles to her feet, the wait forgotten, and says, "Come on down here you goof," holding out a hand. "Got some news."

She pauses, knowing he'll come down without question, and instead hesitates. "Actually, could we go, like...up?" She points upward with her other hand, a questioning tilt to her head. It makes her hair do funny things, Achilles might notice. Billy definitely would.

"I think, we need to fly."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam processes this. He drops down until he's hovering only six inches off the ground.

"Uh hunh. Just want me for my Speed of Mercury?" he says somberly for about a half second. Then he cracks a grin.

"Sure, we can fly," he says and without waiting scoops her up. This is wonderful in and of itself. He likes it better than holding up the Statue of Liberty or the Brooklyn Bridge. Holding her in his arms in the classic rescue the damsel/dude pose he carefully lifts into the air a hundred feet and hovers there. Going to fast with a normal human is not good. He read up on that... till he had to go ewww and shut that book and play some videos. He comes to an upright position and gives Angelica a squeeze.

Obviously he has her where she wants him.

Angelica Jones has posed:
Angelica closes her eyes a moment as they go up. "It's not...you're teasing?" She opens them again, the simple being in the air, being safe, making her smile. But she looks away at the world around them, so far up. And murmurs something soft, dissonant.

"Don't get too used to it, hero," she says, keeping his face in the corner of her eye. She's smiling, but she seems older. Stronger. "Someday I won't need to be carried." She means something by that, but she's looking so far away now. The world is so, very, huge.

And her arms tighten for a bit in return. It scares her still.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam drifts forward and leans into it going horizontal again as he picks up speed. He's not going near his full or even cruising speed because without the gifts of the gods it's darned difficult to breathe and talk over 30 mph.

He's still smiling at the chiding. "Oh yeah? You can turn into energy or something now? It's not fair to let me get used to this if you don't want to make it a habit you know? Spill your news, fire hair. Even the world's mightiest mortals can only take so much suspense."

He detours around Salem Center and heads down the Hudson.

Angelica Jones has posed:
Angelica shakes her head, trying to watch everything at once while still being as present as possible. She evades a bug trying to find its way into her mouth, then wisely turns her head. It means she sees him again, and she smiles.

"It's not like that. Not really. I just had a feeling recently," she says, her eyes glancing downward. Staring downward.

"Drop me," she says suddenly. "But, you know. Stay close? I need to test a theory." She looks back up to him, her face suddenly serious.

"I think I can fly. But I'm not...actually...sure. Yet."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam hangs onto her a little tighter at that request. Then he swallows and nods.

"Okay. I seem to be good for stirring up your powers. Let's just have a safe word... toga!" With that he gives her a little toss away from him and...

Angelica Jones has posed:
"Wait what?" she asks, not having really grasped the concept of a safeword. She falls, and it looks like she's going to slam into the ground. She does, in fact, try to focus. But being tossed, even a little, throws her off kilter.

"Billy!" she yells, turning as she goes toward the ground, and she does manage to start to glow, but she's not slowing down at all.

Not 'Shazam.' Not 'Captain Thunder'. Billy.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam swoops down, catching her around the waist and feeling the warmth of her... which probably means she would incinerate a normal human.

"Billy is a good safe word," he allows. "Hrm, different tactic. Get on my back, jump off when you feel ready. And focus! Flying is... awesome. You'd love it." He tries a little awkwardly to settle her on his back. "I wish Fire was around. She could help you more than me with this. I mean I just kept jumping and then... I was Billy jumping off a roof and saying... my name as I fell. So this was a good idea. Jump off my back when you're ready. I'm putting it in drive." And he does fly slowly forward.

Angelica Jones has posed:
Being transferred, being caught and then transferred, gets her embarrassing moment past. She breathes, glad that he's invulnerable. Wasn't totally certain, but he did do a lot of amazing things. So, yeah. Safe enough. "Thank you," she says, as she gets into position. "Who's Fire, another member of the family? I should meet them all sometime." She's talking, but she's staring ahead as things fly past. Focusing, taking her time. "Thank you," she says again.

And then something YANKS her to the side, and she's falling again! A huge burst of heat went in the opposite direction, it clearly forced her to move like a propulsion of some sort. But direction control is clearly also an issue!

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam stops dead as Angelica begins to fall. She didn't say anything still... yeah, that's not falling exactly. He almost grabs for her immediately, then stops. Speedy Mercury better bring his A-game. He whispers, "Come on... come on... i thought you were incredible just from your flute playing and dancing... you can do this. You can't do this.. yeeeeeet!"

And Shazam catches her for the second time, their feet almost brushing the tree tops. He puts his feet under hers, hanging onto her shoulders.

"I know there's a flyer in you but so far, she's hiding pretty good." He floats them back up to a thousand feet. then he touches foreheads and says, "Thanks for your trust. I've... been a kind of wrecking ball in my recent outings. Thanks for calling me for this." Then he's blushing furiously at the closeness he started.

Angelica Jones has posed:
Holding onto him pretty tight, she isn't smiling now. She's scared, two failures one of which came a TEENSY closer to dying than she'd like, and she sighs into him, clinging. "I needed it. I mean, obviously," she says, eyes closed for a moment. Open again, she looks down. "I can do this, it's just...it's a lot."

Then she nods. "Okay. I can try again. And again..."

And again, and again. Minutes later, which seem like hours, she's falling with Shazam ready to catch, and she's...she's not looking good. But, there's something in her mind this time. Something new.

"I CAN DO THIS! DON'T!" She yells it, she believes it. She's falling. The treeline is coming up fast.

"DON'T CATCH ME!"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam nods as he falls alongside her. He stays out of reach yelling, "DO IT! IT'S EASIER THAN PLAYING A FLUTE!"

And he's sweating lightning, little sparklers that shoot off from him.

"DO IT!"

Angelica Jones has posed:
She hits the ground. She hits the ground and it hurts, her arm making a snapping noise as she does. Scorching marks cover the ground where she lands, and she rolls. She rolls, but she does not splatter. She gasps, the pain in her arm shattering her concentration. And she hovers a moment, her eyes closed, whimpering as she holds her left shoulder with her right.

Hovers. Not paying attention, she hovers. She's been trying to fly, and that was the wrong tactic. The ground looks like a war zone, bits of it on fire. She's hurt. She's there, alive. She's flying, and doesn't know it.