843/Lightning Strikes

Lightning Strikes
Date of Scene:	29 March 2020
Location:	Liberty Island
Synopsis:	Shazam gets stuff off his chest. Bea gets stiff off her chest. Perfectly G-rated.
Cast of Characters:	Billy Batson, Beatriz da Costa

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Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam is back at the Statue of Liberty. He waves to a ranger who waves back, looking happy to see him. He has a large paper bag beside him and is drinking an orange juice. It's healthier. He looks down at a small open topped box of bulging and slightly shaking balloons and smiles to himself. Not going to prank the Champion of life this time. He gives the water balloons a pat and scans the horizon, like there's evil afoot.

There's no evil afoot. The bad people are all heading home this time of the morning.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    What's that? Up in the air! Is it a meteor? Ball lightning? No, it's Fire! Ending her night patrol with a quick full-speed flight to get her flames all super-hot.
    Just like her.
    Spotting Shazam up on the Statue, she redirects and flies up to him, waving cheerfully as she approaches.
    "Hey there, Shazam. Trespassing again?" She grins at some private little joke. "I told you, this is my spot where I pretend to be the Flame of Liberty!"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam decides the water balloons are a dumb idea. She's fire. they could hurt her, or put her out. Yes he could catch her but... is she decently clad under that fire? Oh, don't think that way, William. The box gets shoved aside quietly. Besides she looks perfect right now, her... fire flowing in the breeze,

"I'm keeping an eye out for any evil afoot! Yeah. Also brought you a coffee from a Brazilian place I found. It might be a little cold though, sorry."

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    Landing beside Shazam, standing next to him, flaming yet oddly not radiating as much heat as you'd expect, Bea smiles indulgently. "Uh ... most evildoers that are our line of business are asleep by now," she says gently. "This is when we usually head home and try to catch up on sleep, yawning through the rest of our day." She seats herself next to him. "I hope, too," she adds, "you weren't going to use the water balloons to fight evil. Most evil is pretty resistant to those. You'd need a super soaker at least."
    Something in her demeanour suggests she's amused. It's hard to place a finger on just what signals this. Possibly the grin.
    "And it's nice you thought of coffee, but I don't really drink when I'm this way. If you want me to switch to my flesh body...?"
    She leaves that hanging in the air, waiting for Shazam to cough, splutter, and turn red.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam reaches into his bag and pulls out a leotard, green of course. He blushes a bit and looks away while she makes up her mind. "Up to you. I think this about your... size. You need a fireproof costume. I mean what if someone snuffs you out..." He takes a big gulp of orange juice and focuses on New Jersey.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    Bea gives a quizzical look at the garment, then at Shazam. Then she starts to giggle. "If someone snuffs me out in flame, I've generally got bigger things to worry about then my clothing," she says.
    Still, Shazam gets a burning kiss on the cheek. "But it's nice you thought of me. If you, uh, kind of stood there, and held your cape like this?" She demonstrates position and posing flaring out a cape of flame behind her. "That way only people out at sea with REALLY powerful telescopes might get a few moments' glimpse."
    For her part she takes the leotard (which does not burst into flames in her hand) and positions herself to hide behind Lady Liberty's spikey head.

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam dutifully spreads his cape and tries to be as big as possible. "The vendor made it special for you when I told him who it was for. He wouldn't take money for it. So I made him charge me twice. there ought to be a class in super hero ethics you can take somewhere... what the heck are you doing back there... stop that or I'm gping to take off right now! Yiiii!"

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "I'm wriggling into it!" Bea says, laughing. "It's very form-fitting. Someone who knows my dimensions very well made it." A few more moments of wriggling ensue before finally she announces, "OK, it's on."
    She walks from around the cape in the sleeveless, tank-top design leotard, bare arms and shoulders brown in the morning light, standing out against the form-fitting green. The VERY form-fitting green.
    "If this were fireproof, I might wear it all the time. This looks really nice!"

Billy Batson has posed:
The orange juice is finished. Shazam sits back down and bats a spot next to him. He covers it with his cape in fact. "Can we... talk?" He almost wishes he brought a raincoat but... too trite. She's too old, she's got four inches in height and twenty pounds on you in your normal form. Why does the morning have to be a little chilly on top of everything?

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    Bea curls up on the caped patch and looks over the edge curiously. "I know I should be afraid of heights, but ever since, well, you know, I just haven't been," she comments. "If I fall, I'll be on fire before I fall ten feet. It's one of those many, many little changes that happen when you get empowered like us."
    She turns to look at Shazam. "So what did you want to talk about, Shazam?" she asks. "I have an idea I've been rattling around in my head too that I want to let escape at some point."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam uses every bit of Achilles' courage to answer. Also a good measure of Billy's own. Reflexively he leans a little closer. He also drapes some cape around her. Gotta love that cape. He takes one more look around and says softly, "Girls. I uh... like-like someone."

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "Oh? Well, that's a perfectly healthy thing. You're about the right age for it in your ... ah ... other self, and ..." She pauses, wrinkling her forehead a bit. "How does that work when you change, now, come to think of it? It never dawned on me before, but that could be very confusing, couldn't it?"
    She shakes her head. Focus, Bea, focus. "So who is it you ... ah ... like? Is it someone I know? I hope it's not Lia!" She chuckles. "She's nice enough, but she's definitely a maneater. I'm not going to say "out of your league" because that's an insult to both of you, but she's ... how would I put this? She's not a beginner model if you get my drift. More like one of those sport model motorcycles that's very thrilling but if you don't know what you're doing will kill you."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam shakes his head then gets a conspiratory look. "No not Lia. Well she's... a little older than me... " He leans a little closer.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    Still blithely unaware, seemingly Hell-bent on maximal terminal awkwardness, Bea continues nattering. "So a senior in your school? That's always a bit difficult. Schools are so stratified and so divided into little cliques and camps. What do you know about her?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam continues and really needs a lesson in personal space right now. "She's a metahuman."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam doesn't deem to be feeling awkward but encouraged. "She's been in the hero game longer than me... doesn't get nearly the respect she deserves." Lean in. "She's... ho... beautiful. Really beautiful." A guy with the strength of Hercules and the stamina of Atlas can really seem looming when he wants to. "And... to be honest, I think I fell for her the first time I saw her fly up to me."

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    That is definitely (definitively!) the end of Bea's blithe ignorance. Her eyes open wide as the implications sink in.
    "Oh, God, you mean me, don't you?"
    To her credit she didn't do something ego-crushing like flinch back or anything, but the sudden tension and wariness in her stance is probably noticeable. You know, noticeable like a water balloon on flame would be...
    "Oh, Sha... Billy. That would be extraordinarily unwise. I'm almost twice your age. I could almost be your ... call it a younger aunt. I'm not really girlfriend material!"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam blinks. "NO... I was going to say... Julie Power! Not..." For once Solomon trumps Mercury and the mouth clamps shut a second and continues, "Not that you aren't young, and beautiful, and deserving more respect from people. But yeah like a young aunt... or really, an older sister. Want that coffee?" Yeah coffee! Somewhere Solomon is getting high V's from his fellow advisors.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    Well, that certainly is a relief! The hunted look in Bea's eyes vanishes in an instant. It is followed by some sudden giggling and a deep sigh. "Oh, thank God!" she bubbles. "I thought we were about to have the most awkward possible conversation!"
    Another deep sigh of relief.
    "And yes, I'll have that coffee now, thank you." She takes the coffee and sips is before continuing. "I was just thinking how if you were talking about me that it would make discussing starting a superhero group with you a bit ... strained."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam looks confused a moment. "But you're... League! I'm a noob. It's the Superman vibe isn't it? I hate that. I really do not see the similarity--not like he could drag me to court and shut me down over it." He does a drape an arm over those brown shoulders. "Thank you. It'd be an honor! You are my best super buddy. Even now that Lady Shazam is here... no relation."

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "The League is many things. For starters it is inactive. Ever since Superman died we've all but disbanded. We know each other. We can call on each other at need and will get responses. But the League as a force is gone. Second, however, the League is for the experienced. For people who already know and understand how to fight crime. Each member of the League can (and most have!) fight crime on their own."
    Relaxing now that she knows she's not the target, the arm around the shoulders is ignored. Indeed, given the chill, a little appreciated. (Though somewhere inside some of his inner voices might be appreciating the chill more...)
    "What I see with you--and others--is people who want to fight crime, but don't know how. And I worry that some of you might get in too deep, get over your head, and then get hurt, or, worse, hurt others. So I was thinking if we had a group that reaches out to the newcomers and offers companionship, training, support, and, of course, allies at need we could be, like, a Justice Minor League. Terrible name, I know, but I'm still working out the idea."
    Beat.
    "Who is Julie Powers?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam hands Bea a printout he had in his belt. "She's even prettier in person. Only she has to be buds with Mary... who introduces me as her little brother." The arm around the shoulders starts tensing. A lot. "Ms. d... Bea this is complicated. Either I'm scrawny little Billy or I'm... old. You asked if its confusing? It is mother flower confusing! Why did the Wizard decide I was good enough for this power but not my looks? I mean you... asnd Lia was just the tip of the iceberg. I figured this would be great, I'm an adult. I'm tall and swol... but it isn't. I... women been saying stuff about me. I have good ears as Shazam, the darned cape ruins the view... he could rescue me all night..." Arm gets tighter.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "Ah, Shazam? You're reaching the point where I have to flame on to not get crushed?" Bea's voice is level, but there's a hint of strain in it. "And yes, I know it gets confusing just being powered in the first place, but when we have the age difference added I can't imagine what it was like."
    Bea snorts. "When I was only a year older than you I was making money by letting tourists take pictures of me on the beach so they could go back and pretend to their friends that I was their girlfriend or something. If I suddenly was able to switch into this person and back I'd be horribly confused and frightened. But ... you have to trust yourself. You'll figure it out. Maybe with some help."

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam shrugs. "The beach thing sounds nice. When I was thirteen I was living as a runaway, a thief, a con artist. Oh sorry. Sorry. I should get going, I got yardwork waiting back home. But can I make a suggestion? Let me fly you back... that way you can keep that leotard. You look nice in it. Next time I'll bring you some socks... " A little abruptly he gives her a peck on the cheek. Yep chilly morning.

Beatriz da Costa has posed:
    "Sure. If this super group works out, we'll be starting out of my home anyway. A seven bedroom townhouse is not a bad headquarters for a fledgling group, don't you think?"
    Bea stands up and finishes her coffee, nicely cooled to drinking temperature by the very chill that's suddenly made Shazam have to leave.
    "Honestly, I don't know how to ride a flying superhero. What do I do? Climb on your back? Or do you hold my waist or something?"

Billy Batson has posed:
Shazam's answer is to sweep her off her feet... err bum and carry her in his arms. "On my back? That's very undignified. this is the way that... Superman does it. So, you like heights?" With that he steps onto the guardrail and just falls forward, plummeting for a hundred feet before he levels out and flies low over the water. Yeah, definitely bring her socks next time. Thick ones.