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[It's late. Typically Rinoa would be back studying or getting ready for bed right now, but not tonight. Nope! Tonight is for a clandestine trip to the training center to try and get these wings under control once and for all. Sure they won't always be out, but she can always find a way to force them out at a later date.]

[The way she sees it, she might as well learn to fly while she has the chance. Of course learning to fly isn't easy. It's not instinctual for her at all. So largely it seems to involve a lot of jumping off things and a lot of falling. Rinoa's probably going to be a mass of bruises before this is over.]

[If she thinks she hears anyone, she'll try her best to hide her wings, but she's certainly not the most observant all the time. Not to mention there's not much she can do if she's mid-air. So feel free to come bother the girl with wings maybe give her grief for having wings at all, for being a sucky flier, or well whatever really.]

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[ It's one of the rare occasions Aerith is out this late--she doesn't usually have trouble sleeping anymore, but there's the rare night that anxiety gets to her and shadows seem darker, wrong.

She's making her way to the "secret area", knowing the view from there helps relax her; it's a place where she can find beauty in the darkness.

....The sounds of falling are distracting her from that, though, and she heads off the path to find who, or what, is making that sound. Unsure what she'll finds, she makes her way quietly, holding her quarterstaff close. ]

[What she'll find is a dark haired young woman currently sprawled out on the ground rather helter-skelter. She's wearing a rather sheepish expression and her wings are situated around her rather precariously.]

Owww. [She keeps her voice quiet as she climbs to her feet and begins to dust off her seat and legs gingerly.] That's going to leave a mark.

[A sudden noise makes her freeze, but she relaxes when she can't seem to find anything in her immediate vicinity.]

Must be the wind. That's all. I'm hearing things.

No, that was probably me. [ Cloud had a wing once, so the sight of them doesn't bother her. Reassured that it's not one of the monsters, Aerith steps forward so Rinoa can see her, quarterstaff held loosely behind her back. ] Looks like you took a fall. Are you feeling okay?

Oh. I didn't see you there. [Uh oh. Busted. Time to act like it's no big deal. She can do that, right? Right!]

I'm okay. Just been really clumsy lately, that's all. Nothing too big.

When it's your wings? Seems a bit dangerous to me, actually.

Dangerous? Not really.

[She tilts her head, curious now.]

Why would it be dangerous?

Well, say, if you fell out of the sky...

That'd mean I'd have to get up in the sky first. [She smiles cheerfully.] I can't seem to get very high at all.

Ah... something else that's new? [ She puts her hand to her chin. How strange... and just a little worrying, given who has wings in KH. ] Practice makes perfect. If they can carry your weight, you should be able to do it.

...But it's too bad you can't carry up a cushion with you.

[ Sleepless nights were a rare occurrence for Erik, least of all now when he finally managed some semblance of control over his life. The past couple of weeks however had set him on edge and the nights returned, minus the nightmares that would accompany them. The training center was the only place he'd feel at ease, what with Charles not around to elaborate, not prone to the whole belief of something external as 'Time Compression'.

In that singular moment, he felt ill at ease, distracted by his own thoughts as he walked through the training center, looking up at the slightest sound. Vulnerability was not a feeling he wanted to experience again, but the thought stuck to him constantly, fearful almost. Erik caught sight of a flash of wings, drawing closer to investigate. It was a distraction for a distraction, and an insatiable curiosity Erik needed to fulfill. ]

Do you always hide out this late?

[Sleepless nights weren't so uncommon for Rinoa. Sure the medicine the infirmary staff had given here worked well enough, but she often worried about becoming dependent on the stuff so she only used it sparingly. Stupid time compression fueled nightmares. With her last finals coming ever closer and the SeeD exam looming she had to be in top form. Granted the wings she was currently sporting weren't exactly conductive to top form, but that's another matter.]

[So lost in thought was she, that when he speaks up she froze mid-motion which since she'd been about to try for a launch ended up with her frantically trying to keep from falling yet again. Managing to keep her balance, she glanced up at him in shock. It was probably almost comical the way her face first drained of color and then flushed in interesting new ways, or at least it would have been if it wasn't obvious why she was panicking. Her stupid, stupid wings. She took several steps back, shoulder's hunching slightly as she frantically tried to get her wings to fold up small behind her, hoping that maybe he hadn't seen them.]

Hiding? Who's hiding? I'm not hiding. [She's babbling and yes, she's rather obviously hiding right now.] I just thought it'd be uh... nice to see the training center at night. In the dark. That's all!

[Another obvious lie. She actually hated the dark. But this right here? Is why she's not a covert ops student. She'd be so bad at it.]

Clearly. [ Sarcasm was evident in his response, as Erik didn't miss the evasion in her voice. He stepped forward, sizing her up when the wings she didn't quite manage to hide the first -- or the second time, became more apparent. Almost akin to a predator sizing up his prey, he walked around her, hands behind his back as Erik examined the wings with amusement. ]

It couldn't certainly be that you're trying to fly, now is it?

[The sarcasm wasn't lost on Rinoa. She'd been around Seifer way too long to not be familiar with the tone of sarcasm in someone's voice.]

[At first when he stepped forward, she stepped back. After a moment though she changed her mind and took that step back. No. She wasn't going to let him scare her. Not after everything she'd been through! She wasn't prey anymore, not really.]

Well... maybe?

[Since the jig was up, she stopped trying to mash her wings down quite so hard and let them settle down naturally.]

Turns out wings are like any other muscle and need to be exercised if you want to use them. I didn't want to worry anyone or catch their attention. So I waited until it was night.

[ Now that's a familiar situation. Erik had seen and heard it all before, and frowned from where he was standing behind Rinoa. He leaned against the railing and folded his arms across his chest, looking at the wings intently. ] Why would you worry anyone?

[ Erik moved around, turning to look at her. His expression softened somewhat as he caught her eyes and looked back at them sadly. ] They're a beautiful pair of wings, you shouldn't need to expose them only at night.

Well people don't normally have wings, right? [That seemed a safer answer than "Because I don't want people to accidentally realize that I'm a sorceress" after all. It's a weird feeling having someone examine them so closely and Rinoa shifted, wings fluttering a bit as she fidgeted.]

A friend said that too, but it's kind of hard to see them that way. I look at them and see "Different" not "Beautiful".

[Even if he was familiar with how people have been getting weird powers by time compression it's pretty obvious that there's more to this than some randomly spawned thing. Then again, Rinoa hasn't ever been very good at hiding things.]

[ He takes a step back, aware of her nervousness, sliding his hands back in his pocket and leans against the balcony. ] No, I suppose not. Though that hardly seems an excuse to hide them.

You look at them with fear because you're not used to the wings. They should be something to be proud of.

People here...It's not safe to be different. I don't want to cause any trouble. [Which is the absolute truth for once. Man it's a good thing for Rinoa that Erik isn't a telepath.]

Be proud of them? But it's better to be normal isn't it? It's not like people get in trouble for being like everyone else after all. But here, being different just gets you branded as a sorceress.

[She tucks her wings back behind her neatly this time proving that despite her panic earlier, she's actually gotten in quite a bit of practice with her extra appendages.]

[ He's heard the story all before, what his history lessons here entailed, what it meant surviving in the context of this world. In a manner of speaking, Erik was lucky to get by, as his capabilities were barely noticed. Though of course, it didn't stop him from using them when necessary, hunting down men for information and threatening them when they failed. The place was truly a dog eat dog world, a reminder of exactly what things would be like back home were he to return. ] Being normal is to not live your life. [ Erik runs a hand across his jaw, over the slight stubble that was there. For someone to hate who they are, what they've become, it's nearly unfathomable. He embraced who he was long ago, the only shroud of resentment that lingered was his inability to kill Shaw, though Erik never deviated from that task at hand -- all his actions pointed towards accomplishing that. ]

Would you rather spend your life in monotony? To be the same is to do just that.

[Without classes and exams to study for, Riku's made a habit of night walks. It helped his nerves and calm his worries that he was canvassing the area, and every night it was typically a new spot or section of the Garden that he'd visit. It made a bit of a mental map for him, and had he had his normal senses, he'd be on the lookout for any sources of Darkness, or some clues to this Time Compression.

It was also rather relaxing for him. There wasn't much that was terribly wrong in this world, minus pulling people into it.

The sound of wings gets him curious though, looking around even more for the source. Birds normally don't fly around at night, so what could that be?]

[Sadly despite all her practice Rinoa's still abysmal at this flying thing. Which would certainly explain why she kept running into trees, t-rexaur, and in this case perhaps a person.]

[Though Riku was probably pretty good at this avoiding thing even if he couldn't see what was going on. Though just to be on the safe side, Rinoa tries to warn him.]

Look out![The training center's supposed to be deserted! How had this happened?] I can't stop.

[So the grand question is what happens now?]

[He is pretty good at sensing danger when it's around, and his reflexes are still sharp. But the change in abilities, his senses are a bit dull, the warning is helpful.

But not so helpful or dire that he gets out of the way. Riku can tell she's having trouble, and is more concerned about Rinoa getting hurt than himself.]

Hey, watch it! [He doesn't mind being used to break someone's fall like this, just so long as he doesn't get a mouth full of feathers.]

[Naturally they end up colliding. No promises about the mouth full of feathers thing, her feathers seem to have a mind of their own and they like to go everywhere.]

Sorry! I tried to warn you!

[She starts to stand, but it's not an easy process as her entire center of gravity is still weird. That doesn't stop her from moving to offer Riku a hand up either.]

Are you okay?

No, it's okay. I've had worse. [He offers her a bit of a smile, taking her hand, but using more of his own strength to get up so she doesn't topple over.]

I'm fine, just wanted to make sure you didn't hit the ground. What about you?

Oh. Well I'm still glad you're okay! [Hey! She's stronger than she looks. She would have been fine.]

It's okay, I've been doing that a lot lately. I think my bruises probably have bruises. [She smiles and rubs her arms gingerly.] No big deal! Nothing a cura won't fix.

[It's not the strength more than the balance.]

Wish I could help some way. [Not having his magic kinda sucks for that.] I take it you're not used to the wings then.

[Okay that makes sense. She's got really bad balance right now.]

It's okay. It's not as easy to use as it is normally, but I can still use magic. [She shakes her head, wincing as she manages to whack a wing into a nearby tree. Then, wising up, she carefully tucks them close against her back just like Marco had shown her.]

That's right. They showed up one day and it's been really weird ever since. I'd be more worried if I didn't know a lot of people have weird stuff happening to them right now.

Good to know that someone's magic works. As far as I know from most of the people I talked to, no one has their previous abilities. [He can't help but twitch at tree whack.] We could always try and find a more open spot for you.

Yeah, it is rather nice to know you're not alone at the very least. They don't hurt, do they?

At least I hope it'll still work. [She hasn't exactly tested this theory. Now she's a little worried.] If I can't well...I'll just have to find someone else who knows Curaga I guess.

I thought they'd offer good cover and make me less obvious, but all I've done is fly into trees, tangle up on stuff, and it's just been a mess.

That did make this less nerve wrecking. I was so worried at first! I wouldn't eve leave my room. [She hakes her head.] They're okay. They only hurt when I hit them on something. They're really sensitive to touch I've found.

Well, it's worth a shot if you want to try. [He doesn't mind being a guinea pig. No harm if it's just a Curaga.]

Maybe after you get used to them a little more, sure. But I think it'd be better in open space. [He gestures towards them, careful to only have the tips of his fingers brush on the edge of her feathers.]

Worried about what other people might say cause of them?

You're probably right, it's one of those things I should probably have checked out before I even started.

[She smiles cheerfully.]

I've never been very good at planning things out.

I guess you're right. I still seem to be finding people even here anyway so it couldn't be too much worse in the open, could it?

[She starts as his fingers brush against her feathers as she really can feel it and it's just kind of weird. Sill she snaps out of it at his question and nods slightly.]

Yeah, pretty much. I wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea just because I've got... wings.

[He may have been zapped twenty years into the future, but no way is Zell going to let that interrupt his usual training. He heads over to the training center, beating his way through grats, as usual.

Eventually, an impressive, white wingspan catches his eye. Thinking it's some kind of new monster, he hurries closer to investigate, but comes to a sudden stop when he realizes who it is.]

Rinoa?!!

Zell?

[And there goes her concentration. Flying is hard work after all. So she starts to drop like a stone.]

[Be a good friend and catch her, Zell? ~~It can make up for that time he couldn't help her personally when she was playing "let's hang onto the cliff" or something.~~]

[Zell's a pretty chivalrous guy, so he quickly rushes forward without hesitation to try and catch her, or at least break her fall.]

I gotcha!!!

[And because it's more heroic and Zell's an awesome SeeD he actually gets to catch her! Though he gets a face-full of wing for his troubles.]

Thanks. [She sounds a little breathless as she carefully maneuvers her wing out of his face.] Sorry about that. They're harder to control than you might think!

[Squall had been walking through the training center. Mostly to get away from all the animals he kept running into. He never knew there were so many cats in Garden...

Of course animals became the last thing on his mind as a sole white feather drifted down to the ground in front of him. He almost reached down to pick it up, but- something made him look up. ...Which was good because suddenly he found himself dropping his gunblade and stumbling back to catch an armful full of... Rinoa? ...It seemed she'd been testing her wings if falling clear from the sky said anything. He looked her over.]

... ... ...Is this a new battle tactic I don't know about?

Edited 2011-10-02 05:14 (UTC)

[Flying is harder than it looks. Marco was right about how wings are something that have to be trained and exercised to use properly. Which probably means he's right about a lot more than that. Oh well, that's something to worry about later.]

... Hi.

[Rinoa smiles up at him cheerfully and at his question she just sticks her tongue out at him. His sense of humor shows up at the weirdest times. If that wasn't his sense of humor then she's just going to pretend than it is.]

What can I say? Flying's not as easy as it looks.

[Which is probably obvious by the random bruises smattered pretty much all over. From the looks of it Rinoa's spent more time falling and crashing than she has flying.]

[She's also not about to make any attempts to move. How often does she end up in Squall's arms after all? Might as well take advantage of it while she can.]

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(cozy)?