[ Huh. Having someone greet Khaji every time they meet is... new. It's nice, though. Jaime doesn't think Khaji cares very much (though he does chirp back a hello in the back of Jaime's mind), but Jaime does. It's been so long that he's always impressed when people remember he's a person. ]
Cool, that's what I was hoping you'd say. Khaji says hi too, by the way, [ Jaime says, flapping his wings a few times to get them airborne before his wings change seamlessly into a jetpack, because of course they do. They're covered with a translucent blue forcefield before Jaime jets off at what isn't top speed, necessarily, but at a pretty fast clip. ]
Let me know if you want me to lower the bubble. I dunno if god powers prevent you from getting crap in your eye.
Eyelids aren't enough for most people at this kind of speed, but you're the boss. Tell me if it gets to be too much.
[ Which is to say: no, he does not want to talk. What he wants to do is fly really, really fast until he can't feel his face anymore and then blow up a bunch of rocks where nobody can see him and ding him for being a scary, destructive imPort. He wants to let Khaji fly free and do what he wants to do, slip into the back of his mind and become a passenger, content to leech off of the sheer, animalistic joy Khaji radiates when he gets to do his thing.
So that's what he does. He drops the shield, and it's nearly imperceptible when he lets Khaji share the reins, save for another burst of speed as they rocket higher in the sky for what seems like the sole purpose of having a better point at which to indulge in constant lifts and falls, like the world's fastest, most terrifying rollercoaster. Even with the foul mood that brought him here in the first place, he can feel Khaji's delight singing through his veins, and he reminds himself to do this a little more often, let them both fly loose like they were meant to, let them both take control simultaneously in the sort of way that's only ever feasible when they're in the air.
They reach the desert soon enough and Khaji yanks the reins away from Jaime entirely to do a triple loop-de-loop before stilling, still at a great height. Jaime snorts, rolling his eyes. ] Show-off. [ Then, to Persephone: ] Here it is. Home sweet home.
[ It's a big, empty desert with a bunch of big rocks in it. It looks like a wasteland with nothing to recommend it, and it's Jaime's favourite place in the world. ]
[ Holy FUCKING shit. She thought she'd known flying, but Inanna's starlight was nothing like this. And yeah, maybe there was an extra vine or two around Jaime by the time they arrive but never once would she let him slow down on her account. ]
Shut up about your stupid desert a minute. Was that you? Was that Khaji-da? Tell him he's an absolute legend. No, wait, statement adjustment, his legendary status is irrelevant but his flight prowess has been noted as- uhm- prowessful.
[ He grins, though, still coming down a little from the thrill of flying. He's been able to do this for years and, somehow, it's never gotten old. ]
That was both of us - or as close to it being 50/50 as we ever get. [ Which is a fantastic feeling in and of itself, and one he's incapable of putting into words. It would be difficult for even the most gifted poet to put into words, and Jaime still occasionally has a hard time getting a whole sentence out with the words in the right order if he's sleepy enough. ]
So thank you, we accept our legendary status. Oh, except for the whole loop-de-loop thing, that's one-hundred percent him. [ He pauses. ] I mean, I say thank you. Khaji just says that he knew that already. Dude's totally preening, though.
[ Going to El Paso here is an exercise in futility. It's too sad, too strange to see all of the differences there, but the similarities as well, knowing that there are no familiar faces in those familiar houses. The desert, though? The desert's the same, no matter what world you go to, just a reassuring ocean of sand and rubble, vast and peaceful as ever. He used to come here to do his homework, back home.
Now, he comes here to think, or to let off some steam, or just to be alone, a quiet, personal place that's all his own. He'd brought Bart here, before. Now he's bringing Persephone.
He descends until his feet hit the ground, and he lets Persephone off - or, at least, he does after she's through with disentangling him from her vines. ]
That, and there's a bunch of big rocks that nobody gives a crap about, which means I can blow up as many as I like.
[ "Reminds me of home" says it all. It was rare enough for Blue to actually ask for help, but Persephone's savvy enough to know a special place when she sees it.
Even if it's a weird special place because there are no clubs???
Her vines retreat back under he clothes and she runs her hands through her wind-fluffed hair. When they come away it's now braided back neatly. ]
Poor rocks. You sure you want to take your feelings out on something that can't fight back?
Eh. [ Jaime raises his right arm towards one of the larger rocks, fingers curled into a fist before his suit ripples, shifts, and changes, gaining layer after layer until it forms a large cannon. He lets out a single blue charge, hand jerking back a bit with the effort, leaving a neat hole in the middle of the rock with a massive spray of rubble behind it. It's as satisfyingly loud and destructive as it always is, and he simply regards the twin plumes of smoke wafting from his cannon and the rock alike for a moment. ]
I don't really wanna hold back - but I don't wanna hurt anyone either. This seems like the easiest way of doing it. I haven't really seen you in action since - you know.
[ They've just conveniently not spoken about that big pow-wow they'd wound up having, way back when. ]
[ For a moment, she genuinely doesn't remember their fight. There's been so much, since then. And somehow, even knowing that it was the "real" memory, what they had shared in the dream seemed so much more significant. He had been so unrelentingly patient and kind with her, the fact that they'd met first as adversaries had slipped her mind. ]
I mean, you don't have to blow me up. I've got-
Edited (where did my icons go) 2018-03-03 07:15 (UTC)
[ Something that can fight back, but also will exist for the sole purpose of being destroyed? That sounds right up Jaime's alley. Honestly, he doesn't even like letting loose around other people with superpowers - you never know what's going to go wrong.
Something that can fight back that isn't technically alive? He almost sounds a little too eager. ]
[ and now HE has totally forgotten about it again. This Is Fine, Persephone tells herself. This is perfectly normal Teenagers With Cool Powers But Nothing Will Ever Be OK coping.
Honestly? Hell yeah. She can get behind that kind of repression. ]
One! Two! Three! Four!
[ Kllk! go her fingers. There's a longer pause than normal before anything happens. A gentle, distant rumble at first, then louder, and then the ground splits and out pours glassy tentacles. ]
[ Usually, this is where Jaime goes for strategy. Go high, take in the situation, figure out how to take them out as quickly and efficiently as possible while ensuring that as few bystanders as possible will be affected and that minimal property damage comes of this.
The idea of just charging in headfirst is a little electric, and he can feel something buzz straight up his spine, a gleeful little sussuration. When Khaji urges him to go, he does, the tips of his fingers lengthening into claws before he's entirely aware they are, and he flings himself at one of the tentacles, fingers digging into it as he twists his body, seeking to rip it straight out of the ground to fling it away from him as far as he possibly can. ]
[ It does still catch her by surprise a little- the switch between the bubbling kindness and inhuman ferocity. She hadn't even grown everything she meant to by the time he attacked. The plant her grabbed on to is rent from the ground- and once severed it cracks and shatters, and then sparkles satisfyingly into nothing.
A few other snake behind him, trying to ram him in the spine. ]
[ It's satisfying - slightly less satisfying than watching it shatter, but it does its job of reassuring him that he can go all-out against these, and it means nothing. Less than nothing, unless you count whatever energy it takes out of Persephone, but he trusts her to say the word when it's time to stop.
Normally, he'd dodge the blow, but here? It's fine if he gets tossed around a little. He's in no actual danger, so he takes the blow head on, bracing himself against it as he's tossed further into the air, only to spin around and blast them with a loud crackle of blue energy, a small circle of glass appearing in the smoking pit below. ]
[ Another snap and she raises a platform for herself to get a better view of the battlefield. He's fast. Faster than she'd realized. It's hard to keep up with him, even with her magic arsenal.
She'll need to get around him, grapple, aim his blasters away from her greenery. She shouts out her count of four again- four vines heading for four limbs. ]
[ As Jaime moves, he shifts, changes. It's a far cry from that hulking, dull-witted beast that Persephone had met in their shared dreamscape, nor is it the nigh blank slate of Khaji wandering around in a body that's not his own, but it's not your Friendly Neighbourhood Blue Beetle either - the suit is becoming jagged and sharp at the edges, at the curve of his elbow and the plating on his shoulder, at his knobby knees and flanking his ankles. Jaime isn't wholly aware of it happening. It's just one of those things that happens when he isn't keeping a tight rein on himself, and he rarely cares to ruminate on what that could mean. There's something vaguely animalistic about it, if you're being generous about it, but you could just as easily just call him a very violent pufferfish.
When the vines head towards all four of his limbs, he lets them and hangs suspended in motion in mid-air for a moment, the stretch at his muscles mildly unpleasant until he yanks, curling them into himself and wrapping them further around his wrists before sending a jolt of electric blue energy rippling down them and into the ground below, the air around him crackling with it. ]
[ Man dang. One: that looks totally sick. But two: oh my god dang!? Fine, if restraining him won't work either, then she'll try to overwhelm him with the sheer number of vines heading at him. ]
WE CAN PROBABLY END THE FIGHTY PORTION HERE either right here or handwaved
[ Jaime, predictably, lets himself be crushed underneath the weight of the vines headed his way and falls to the sand with a heavy sounding whump. There's something to it, letting himself become overwhelmed by an opponent, and letting himself feel that in whole before doing anything even remotely close to thinking - and he's not thinking throughout all of this, not really. He's just reacting based on instinct alone, and it just feels right. He can see how people break bad with superpowers like these, drunk on power, because this just wasn't the sort of thing normal people like him are supposed to have.
He allows the vines to smother him long enough for him to grow truly claustrophobic before allowing energy to grow deep within his chest. Even through the vines, Persephone will be able to see a faint blue glow before it bursts well out of him, tearing apart the vines in its wake.
Jaime doesn't get back up again this time. He just lies there, panting heavily, still looking distinctly inhuman, but not at all unhappy. If anything, he looks calmer than he ever does when he's just putting it on, even if he is actively steaming. ]
[ SICK!!! He just looks rad. But hopefully he's had enough. That kind of display is draining, especially without an audience. She's still catching her own breath when she leans over the side for her platform.]
[ Jaime doesn't speak for a moment, just thrusts one hand up into the air and gives her a thumbs-up. Once he catches his breath again, he reluctantly rises to his feet and hops up onto the platform she created, brushing himself off a little as the spikes on his body flex and settle, flattening back into his suit as if they were never there to begin with, turning back to the toothless, friendly figure most of the public knows him as.
He sags against her side, because if you can't indulge in a little contact with someone who'll let you get your rage on in the middle of the desert, there's nobody you can indulge with. ]
Thanks for that. Seriously. I needed that. [ He stretches his arms out in front of him, muscles satisfyingly sore. ] You've got some moves.
[ Jaime laughs, a little hoarsely. ] I don't usually start steaming unless someone gives me a work-out.
[ In this moment, a part of Jaime thinks that Persephone may know him the best out of anyone here. There are people that he loves and adores, but Persephone's the one who gets what it's like to go through some majorly life-changing stuff, the one who accompanied him through that nightmare, and the only one he'd thought to call to blow off steam, a task he doesn't tend to want anyone to see. He doesn't like it when people look at him like he's a monster, but there hadn't been any danger of this here. Which means... ]
Hey, you know what's stupid? You still don't even know what my real name is.
[ She glances back at him when he says it. She's never really gotten the whole Secret Identity thing. Laura Wilson was a secret that wasn't kept for any real need. She'd just wanted to be Persephone more.
Intellectually, of course she knew there was someone inside the suit. But to her, the blue chitin was as real a face as any, and Blue Beetle was plenty of name. There was no desire at all to push, even if Bruce hadn't taken the time to impress upon her the importance of secrecy for costumed heroes.
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pummelgranite) wrote2019-09-03 02:08 am
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Cool, that's what I was hoping you'd say. Khaji says hi too, by the way, [ Jaime says, flapping his wings a few times to get them airborne before his wings change seamlessly into a jetpack, because of course they do. They're covered with a translucent blue forcefield before Jaime jets off at what isn't top speed, necessarily, but at a pretty fast clip. ]
Let me know if you want me to lower the bubble. I dunno if god powers prevent you from getting crap in your eye.
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[ FLYING!!1! Flying flying flying flying ////// she grins up at him, obviously and instantly pleased. ]
Let it down! Unless you wanted to talk on the way...?
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[ Which is to say: no, he does not want to talk. What he wants to do is fly really, really fast until he can't feel his face anymore and then blow up a bunch of rocks where nobody can see him and ding him for being a scary, destructive imPort. He wants to let Khaji fly free and do what he wants to do, slip into the back of his mind and become a passenger, content to leech off of the sheer, animalistic joy Khaji radiates when he gets to do his thing.
So that's what he does. He drops the shield, and it's nearly imperceptible when he lets Khaji share the reins, save for another burst of speed as they rocket higher in the sky for what seems like the sole purpose of having a better point at which to indulge in constant lifts and falls, like the world's fastest, most terrifying rollercoaster. Even with the foul mood that brought him here in the first place, he can feel Khaji's delight singing through his veins, and he reminds himself to do this a little more often, let them both fly loose like they were meant to, let them both take control simultaneously in the sort of way that's only ever feasible when they're in the air.
They reach the desert soon enough and Khaji yanks the reins away from Jaime entirely to do a triple loop-de-loop before stilling, still at a great height. Jaime snorts, rolling his eyes. ] Show-off. [ Then, to Persephone: ] Here it is. Home sweet home.
[ It's a big, empty desert with a bunch of big rocks in it. It looks like a wasteland with nothing to recommend it, and it's Jaime's favourite place in the world. ]
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Shut up about your stupid desert a minute. Was that you? Was that Khaji-da? Tell him he's an absolute legend. No, wait, statement adjustment, his legendary status is irrelevant but his flight prowess has been noted as- uhm- prowessful.
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[ He grins, though, still coming down a little from the thrill of flying. He's been able to do this for years and, somehow, it's never gotten old. ]
That was both of us - or as close to it being 50/50 as we ever get. [ Which is a fantastic feeling in and of itself, and one he's incapable of putting into words. It would be difficult for even the most gifted poet to put into words, and Jaime still occasionally has a hard time getting a whole sentence out with the words in the right order if he's sleepy enough. ]
So thank you, we accept our legendary status. Oh, except for the whole loop-de-loop thing, that's one-hundred percent him. [ He pauses. ] I mean, I say thank you. Khaji just says that he knew that already. Dude's totally preening, though.
[ Khaji has never wanted for confidence. ]
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Cute.
And 's fine. A little minimalist, but . . . [ shruggo ] Desert.
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[ Going to El Paso here is an exercise in futility. It's too sad, too strange to see all of the differences there, but the similarities as well, knowing that there are no familiar faces in those familiar houses. The desert, though? The desert's the same, no matter what world you go to, just a reassuring ocean of sand and rubble, vast and peaceful as ever. He used to come here to do his homework, back home.
Now, he comes here to think, or to let off some steam, or just to be alone, a quiet, personal place that's all his own. He'd brought Bart here, before. Now he's bringing Persephone.
He descends until his feet hit the ground, and he lets Persephone off - or, at least, he does after she's through with disentangling him from her vines. ]
That, and there's a bunch of big rocks that nobody gives a crap about, which means I can blow up as many as I like.
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Even if it's a weird special place because there are no clubs???
Her vines retreat back under he clothes and she runs her hands through her wind-fluffed hair. When they come away it's now braided back neatly. ]
Poor rocks. You sure you want to take your feelings out on something that can't fight back?
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I don't really wanna hold back - but I don't wanna hurt anyone either. This seems like the easiest way of doing it. I haven't really seen you in action since - you know.
[ They've just conveniently not spoken about that big pow-wow they'd wound up having, way back when. ]
1/2
[ For a moment, she genuinely doesn't remember their fight. There's been so much, since then. And somehow, even knowing that it was the "real" memory, what they had shared in the dream seemed so much more significant. He had been so unrelentingly patient and kind with her, the fact that they'd met first as adversaries had slipped her mind. ]
I mean, you don't have to blow me up. I've got-
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[ Had slipped her mind. Now she's got it. ]
Anyway I can make big plants.
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[ Something that can fight back, but also will exist for the sole purpose of being destroyed? That sounds right up Jaime's alley. Honestly, he doesn't even like letting loose around other people with superpowers - you never know what's going to go wrong.
Something that can fight back that isn't technically alive? He almost sounds a little too eager. ]
Could you? That sounds perfect.
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[ and now HE has totally forgotten about it again. This Is Fine, Persephone tells herself. This is perfectly normal Teenagers With Cool Powers But Nothing Will Ever Be OK coping.
Honestly? Hell yeah. She can get behind that kind of repression. ]
One! Two! Three! Four!
[ Kllk! go her fingers. There's a longer pause than normal before anything happens. A gentle, distant rumble at first, then louder, and then the ground splits and out pours glassy tentacles. ]
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[ Usually, this is where Jaime goes for strategy. Go high, take in the situation, figure out how to take them out as quickly and efficiently as possible while ensuring that as few bystanders as possible will be affected and that minimal property damage comes of this.
The idea of just charging in headfirst is a little electric, and he can feel something buzz straight up his spine, a gleeful little sussuration. When Khaji urges him to go, he does, the tips of his fingers lengthening into claws before he's entirely aware they are, and he flings himself at one of the tentacles, fingers digging into it as he twists his body, seeking to rip it straight out of the ground to fling it away from him as far as he possibly can. ]
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[ It does still catch her by surprise a little- the switch between the bubbling kindness and inhuman ferocity. She hadn't even grown everything she meant to by the time he attacked. The plant her grabbed on to is rent from the ground- and once severed it cracks and shatters, and then sparkles satisfyingly into nothing.
A few other snake behind him, trying to ram him in the spine. ]
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Normally, he'd dodge the blow, but here? It's fine if he gets tossed around a little. He's in no actual danger, so he takes the blow head on, bracing himself against it as he's tossed further into the air, only to spin around and blast them with a loud crackle of blue energy, a small circle of glass appearing in the smoking pit below. ]
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She'll need to get around him, grapple, aim his blasters away from her greenery. She shouts out her count of four again- four vines heading for four limbs. ]
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When the vines head towards all four of his limbs, he lets them and hangs suspended in motion in mid-air for a moment, the stretch at his muscles mildly unpleasant until he yanks, curling them into himself and wrapping them further around his wrists before sending a jolt of electric blue energy rippling down them and into the ground below, the air around him crackling with it. ]
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WE CAN PROBABLY END THE FIGHTY PORTION HERE either right here or handwaved
He allows the vines to smother him long enough for him to grow truly claustrophobic before allowing energy to grow deep within his chest. Even through the vines, Persephone will be able to see a faint blue glow before it bursts well out of him, tearing apart the vines in its wake.
Jaime doesn't get back up again this time. He just lies there, panting heavily, still looking distinctly inhuman, but not at all unhappy. If anything, he looks calmer than he ever does when he's just putting it on, even if he is actively steaming. ]
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You dead down there?
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He sags against her side, because if you can't indulge in a little contact with someone who'll let you get your rage on in the middle of the desert, there's nobody you can indulge with. ]
Thanks for that. Seriously. I needed that. [ He stretches his arms out in front of him, muscles satisfyingly sore. ] You've got some moves.
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[ Yes that is fine, it's time to do a FRIENDSHIP LEAN. ]
Can't believe how literally you take "blowing off steam."
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[ In this moment, a part of Jaime thinks that Persephone may know him the best out of anyone here. There are people that he loves and adores, but Persephone's the one who gets what it's like to go through some majorly life-changing stuff, the one who accompanied him through that nightmare, and the only one he'd thought to call to blow off steam, a task he doesn't tend to want anyone to see. He doesn't like it when people look at him like he's a monster, but there hadn't been any danger of this here. Which means... ]
Hey, you know what's stupid? You still don't even know what my real name is.
[ What's he afraid of, exactly? This is dumb. ]
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Intellectually, of course she knew there was someone inside the suit. But to her, the blue chitin was as real a face as any, and Blue Beetle was plenty of name. There was no desire at all to push, even if Bruce hadn't taken the time to impress upon her the importance of secrecy for costumed heroes.
But it's not like she wasn't curious. ]
Dunno, isn't that safer? I'm pretty nefarious.
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I FOR ONE LOVFE DROPPING IMPORTANT THREADS FOR WEEKS AT A TIME