[MoM][IC Contact]

[pummelgranite]

"Persephone. Speak."

Comments

[pummelgranite]

[ Oh shit, the good bug is having a feeling??? ]


Extremely in favor. You free in the middle of the night?

[khajidont]

[ persephone, he's having an ENTIRE FEELING and he HATES IT ]

I always am

I mean that's when I usually do all my beetle stuff anyway

[pummelgranite]

Uh huh, I know.

So what kind of steam are you thinking about blowing? I'm guessing not at the club.

[khajidont]

I was thinking blowing off steam in a more literal kind of way

Can you do a lot of fast travel with your god powers?

[pummelgranite]

Depends, it's more like taking really good shortcuts than actually being fast? Where were you thinking?

[khajidont]

There's a place I like to go. It's the nearest desert to here. I can send you the coordinates

[pummelgranite]

Sure. If it's too far to bike though, I probably need a lift.</font

[khajidont]

If you don't mind being carried I can take you there faster than you could bike there anyway

[pummelgranite]

Nuh uh. Don't mind. Flying is great.

--> ACTION??

[khajidont]

Cool. Just tell me when and where and I'll pick you up.

------------------------> ACTION!!

[pummelgranite]

Sweet. Maurtia Central Station, by the big ugly statue. 30 minutes?

[ And shockingly enough, she makes it on time! She tries to put out her cigarette before he gets there, alas the pesky Beetle Senses. ]

[khajidont]

Hey, Persephone, [ Jaime says, lighting down in front of her. They've attracted more than a few probing stares in a busy area like this (and, likely, a few photos taken to be sold to one tabloid or another), considering that neither of them are particularly subtle. For once, Jaime elects to ignore it. They're here to meet up and fly away, that's it. ]

You ready? I can carry you or you can piggyback it. Your choice.

[ Carrying's better, though. You can go faster that way, and tonight, Jaime's definitely feeling the desire to put figurative pedal to figurative metal. ]

[pummelgranite]

Hey Blue, hey Khaji-da.

[ A Londoner should have remembered that even 3 AM, central station is far from empty. Ah well. ]

Whatever's fastest. [ Duh. ]

[khajidont]

[ 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.

[pummelgranite]

Uh huh, they're called eyelids.

[ 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...?

[khajidont]

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. ]

[pummelgranite]

[ 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.

[khajidont]

Hey! It's a very nice desert!

[ 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. ]

[pummelgranite]

[ She gives her little half-snort that's about as close as she generally gets to a laugh. ]

Cute.


And 's fine. A little minimalist, but . . . [ shruggo ] Desert.

[khajidont]

[ Jaime shrugs. ] Reminds me of home.

[ 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.

[pummelgranite]

[ "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?

[khajidont]

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. ]

1/2

[pummelgranite]

Since . . . ?

[ 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-

[pummelgranite]

- constructs. You mean since . . . uh.

[ Had slipped her mind. Now she's got it. ]

Anyway I can make big plants.

[khajidont]

Oh. Oh!

[ 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.