Hi, You're Upside-Down (AJ)

[Ravyn Rozanova]

The day was pleasantly mild, and Ravyn hummed happily to herself as she made her way towards the pond, planning on climbing a tree and spending the rest of the afternoon daydreaming until it got cold and dark out. With her overactive imagination, it was easy for her to spend hours just thinking about things. Especially with Noah. And not only that, but her recent, ah, encounter with Carter had changed the way she felt about herself. She felt more confident, more sure of herself than she had in a while. She had no idea her first time with someone would make her feel so changed. But she liked it.

She reached the edge of the pond and headed towards her normal tree, quickly tying her hair back in a braid. It was cool, but she was dressed in her regular tanktop and shorts, with her wings tucked neatly against her back. As she reached the trunk, she was about to clamber up onto the first branch when a motion caught her eye.

Looking up, she realized she wasn't alone. Hanging upside-down was a boy. She couldn't tell from the angle she was at whether she knew him or not. "Um. Isn't that a little dangerous?" she asked curiously, shading her eyes as she looked at him. "I mean, it'd hurt if you fell on your head."

[Aaron Walker]

AJ had also made plans to spend the day in a tree. Although he also enjoyed using heights as a place to think, it was often more about plotting his next adventure and less about reflection of his life. Also, with winter on the way, he was taking advantage of every nice day and spending as much time as possible outside.

He had quickly climbed up the tree by the pond and settled on a branch about twenty feet up. He had planned to go a little further up, but there was a problem. His shoe lace had gotten tangled around one of the branches. When he bent down to fix that, the contents of his pockets had started to slip out. And it was while reaching for grab them before they hit the ground that he had landed himself in his current predicament. So he dangled there upside down (his shoelace still stuck around a branch) trying to keep his pockets from emptying themselves.

Luckily, it wasn't long before someone wandered by.

He started grinning as soon as she walked under him. Although he didn't know her by name, he had seen her in the hallways before. And every time he did, he was stuck with a mixture of jealousy and awe. Why? Because of the wings tucked against her back. To have wings, and therefore the ability to fly, was a wish so great for AJ that it was close to becoming an obsession. He had tried (and failed) a number of times to create something he could use to give him the gift to soar through the air.

"How high can you go with those things? How fast can you dive? Would it hurt if I pulled out a feather?" AJ started yelled down his questions before she had a chance to speak. And each word followed the next so quick she would be lucky if she could understand anything he had asked.

"A little, I guess," he admitted, when he realized she had asked him a question. He attempted to shrug, but the gesture was a little hard to preform in his current position. "It wasn't exactly the position I had in mind, but I'm pretty good at falling, so I wouldn't worry too much."

"So...how 'bout them wings?" he asked, still grinning despite the fact his face was starting to resemble a tomato from all the blood rushing to his head.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn blinked as he started blurting questions at her, and struggled to understand what he was saying. After several moments, she thought she got the gist of them. But then he was answering her question, and she gave a grin, amused at his position. How had he gotten like that if he hadn't tried? "If you say so!" she called up, leaning against the trunk of the tree. "How about I give you some help, though? I was just about to climb this tree myself. I wouldn't want you to fall if I can help you out."

That said, she leaped lightly onto the first branch, standing up so she was closer to him. Wow, that was a lot of blood rushing to his head. "How long have you been hanging here?" she asked, laughing.

He asked her about her wings then, and she glanced over her shoulder, letting the feathered appendages spread out behind her. "I love my wings," she told him, looking back up. "What did you ask? How high I can fly? Pretty much as high as I can go until the oxygen is too thin for me to breath. It's not very comfortable above a few hundred feet, though."

She reached her hands up and pulled herself onto the next branch, so she was now just a little below him. "And how fast can I dive? I've never really measured before. Not as fast as a peregrine falcon, but uh, pretty damn fast." She rubbed the back of her neck. Maybe she should see if she could get someone to measure her MPH sometime.

As she remembered his last question, she let out another laugh. "Would it hurt if I pulled out some of you hair?" she retorted, reaching up once more so she was sitting on the branch he was stuck on. "Yes, they're a part of me, so except when they fall out on their own, it does hurt when a feather gets pulled out."

She looked down, considering offering a hand, but realizing it might be difficult for him to shake in his current position. "I'm Ravyn, by the way. I don't think we've met." He did look vaguely familiar now, but she couldn't put a name on him.

[Aaron Walker]

“Some help?” AJ asked, as if the idea had only just occurred to him. Although he had been waiting for someone to walk by, he had gotten distracted by her wings. “Yeah, I could probably use a little.”

And again he was distracted once she started answering his questions. “I could help you measure it sometime. If we could track down a radar gun, it’d be super easy. Maybe we could get a cop to lend us one…or just borrow it for a little bit.” Already the gears were spinning in his head as he planned out just how it would all work out. He would have to be high enough to get an accurate reading. Maybe the roof of one of the dorms?

Awkward or not, AJ reached out his hand when the girl introduced herself. “I’m AJ. And boy am I ever glad to meet you! You’re like the most awesome girl here! And I think you’re wings are beauty…AH!”

The shoe string had started to loose at this point, causing AJ to slide down a little further. “Uh…a little help?” he asked, although he was grinning far too much to look scared.

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. He was upside-down hanging from a tree, and yet he was offering to help her discover how fast she could dive. "You know what? That sounds like an amazing idea," she told him, grinning brightly. "Just let me know when you get your hands on a radar gun, and we can find out." Actually, it would be really interesting to find out just how fast she could go. Hmmmm...

Surprised again at his hand offer, she reached down and shook it, smiling. He looked cute, from what she could tell, but also looked maybe a few years younger than her. She thought she had seen him around the halls or something, maybe. "Pleasure's all mine, AJ," she replied, before laughing quietly at his compliments. "Oh, that's... One of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me," she replied, pressing a hand against her chest. Something about it touched her. "Thank you so much. I'm sure you-"

Ravyn was unable to finish her sentence, since it was at that point that he began to slip, and she immediately thrust her arms down to grab onto him. She frowned, trying to think of the best way to help him up. "If you just hold onto my hands, I might be able to pull you up," she told him, hoping her weak frame would be able to handle it. He seemed pretty light - hopefully it wouldn't be much of an issue. She couldn't help but grin back at him, though - his smile was contagious.

[Aaron Walker]

“Maybe you could help me get one?” AJ said. Already thinking of ways to find a cop in town. He supposed he could commit some sort of petty crime to attract one, but that might make it harder to sneak away with a radar gun. “Maybe we could look around the donut shop?” Ever oblivious, AJ didn’t realize he was making a joke with his last question. To him it seemed like a logical and rational idea.

“Thanks,” he said, reaching up to grab her hands. “I’d hate to fall and break my head open just after I meet the most amazing girl ever.” He grinned as he said it, not really worried about falling so much. He worked his way out of worse before. And after all this was a school for metas, he was sure someone around here would be able to patch him up if he did fall.

As for the ‘most amazing girl ever’ comment, he really did mean it. And being young, naïve, and innocent he was sure this girl heard things like that all the time.

“You’re the best,” he said, once he had gotten into a more safe position with her help. “A real hero. You should fight crime in the dead of night or something…with a cool secret name…like…The Winged Wonder!”

[Ravyn Rozanova]

Ravyn tried to imagine what was involved in getting a radar gun, and laughed aloud. "As long as we don't break the law, I suppose I could try," she replied, wondering what on earth he had in mind. He was a quirky one, this AJ. She let out a snort and an even bigger burst of laughter at his suggestion of a donut shop. "Oh right, because they hang out there all the time," she agreed, trying to control her giggling. Hey, who knew, maybe it would work!

"No problem," she told him, tugging him up with only moderate effort. It wasn't a hard as she thought it was going to be. She felt her cheeks heat up as he continued, moving over a tad to give him some room on the branch next to her. "I'm not that amazing," she argued, averting her eyes modestly. "But... Thank you." She looked over at him again, smiling shyly. She had never really met the guy before, but she found herself adoring him already. That tended to happen when someone told you you were the most amazing girl ever. She wondered what the criteria for that was.

"A hero, huh?" she grinned, sitting up a little straighter. "That's me, saving treed kittens and boys from certain peril!" She couldn't imagine herself being a superhero, but the idea amused her. "Would I have to wear spandex?" she asked, musing over the thought. "Because I don't think that would hold up as well as they seem to do in the comics." And plus, who actually looked good in spandex?

[Aaron Walker]

“Oh yeah…” AJ said slowly, as if the idea was just now occurring to him. “The law. Well…I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with borrowing, right? I mean, it’s totally different from stealing.” He grinned. Surely if they explained to anyone who caught them that they had full intention of returning the radar gun, there would be no problems. He looked at her a little confused by her sudden giggle fit. Maybe she was just excited. Well whatever the reason, he joined in.

It’s probably good that Ravyn didn’t know his criteria for what made something amazing. Pretty much anything could be defined in those terms according to AJ. You just had to look at it the right way. Still, wings were a little more amazing than usual.

“Nah,” AJ said, taking her question seriously. “You’d be like some cool…um…hip superhero. Wearing like all black with some cool neon colored symbols and flair. And definitely no cape. It’d get in the way.”

He squirmed on the branch a bit, getting more comfortable, before looking at Ravyn with a look somewhere between bashful and puppy dog eyes. “Can I touch them? I promise to be gentle.”

[Ravyn Rozanova]

"Borrowing, right. I mean, we'd return it eventually." Ravyn couldn't help but grin at him. She wondered if he was really being serious; he sure seemed like he was. Hell, maybe it could be fun! She could use a little more of that in her life lately. "But if we get caught, or whatever, I'm putting the blame on you," she told him, still chuckling.

She thought about the image he was describing for her 'outfit', nodding appreciatively after a moment. "That sounds freakin' awesome," she agreed. "Maybe once we get the radar gun, you could help me make it?" She was still sort of joking, but since he was seeming to take almost everything she said seriously, who knew? Maybe they could make it and she could wear it for fun and laughs! "No, no cape. It would get tangled in my wings," she nodded.

She caught his look, smiling gently at him as he spoke. "Of course you can," she told him, allowing the wing closer to him to spread out so he could reach it. "Just don't tug on the feathers, they're attached to me," she continued with a light laugh. For some reason, some people had a hard time realizing that her feathers were quite firmly linked to her body, and hurt to be pulled out.

Still, they did shed on occasion, and as her wing was brought out to its full width, she felt one, a primary feather, tug gently away from the rest of the wing. Before it could fall, she reached out and grabbed onto it, lifting the rather large feather for him to see. "Apparently I'm molting," she told him a bit seriously, then laughed again. It was only natural. She sat it on his lap and rested her hand against the branch again, letting her gaze wander from him to the sky above them. She felt... Content, which was a wonderful change from the anxiety that had been controlling her life lately.

[Aaron Walker]

"Exactly," AJ added, grinning like a maniac. He was so excited that Rayvn was agreeing with him. It even seemed like they were on the same train of thought. The experience was unusual for him, although admittedly he didn't always noticed that others weren't thinking like him until too late. "We won't get caught. I mean, come on, you can fly. They'll never catch us." Of course he didn't think about the fact that it would be difficult for Rayvn to fly off with him.

"I wonder if we could get someone to make you a costume..."he said, fiddling with the end of a branch next to him. "There has to be a good sewing type person around here somewhere. Wait! Do you we a home ec class here? Maybe it could be the class project!" And now AJ had another plan to get going.

He smiled at her permission and reached out his hand slowly with his hand. He was suddenly very concerned that he would really hurt her. What if he accidentally pulled one out? Would she yell at him and never talk to him again? What if he just messed them up? Would it hurt if he rubbed the feathers the wrong way?

His hand was actually trembling a tad when he finally touched her wings. He let just the tips of his fingers graze along them before snapping his hand back, already worried that he had somehow hurt her.

The worry vanished when she laid one of her feathers on his lap. He was so happy and grateful that tears started to form in the corner of his eyes. "Really?" he said, looking up at her as he clutched the feather in his hand. "I can keep it?" He felt so honored. And started wondering if there was a store in town where he could buy a glass case to keep it in.