Snippet #2123090

This was a terrible idea. But there were other mutants. And they'd escaped from the Ward. Safety in numbers.

It was like those old cartoons where there's an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, except my devil was telling me I was going to get myself killed, and my angel was cheerfully chattering away about how nice it was that there were more bird kids out there.

Really, walking was just a bad idea, not to mention a tiring one.

I eyed the alley critically as Marceline gestured, mainly looking for sneaky little rocks or harmless dumpster kittens that one of us could trip over. Because that would hurt. A lot. I kicked a semi-flattened soda can off to the side, wondering if this idea would really work. Plenty of things could go wrong... but really, the hardest part would be actually getting off the ground.

I was about to mention this, but Marceline beat me to it, suggesting that Eins go before us. Pretty good idea, except a tug on my shoulder told me Eins didn't think so.

"What is it?" I asked, in the resigned tone of a person used to complications of life. I frowned and waited as she stammered, realization setting in as I pieced together her broken words. Oh, fantastic. I was quiet for a moment, determined to keep my sarcasm to myself and figure this obstacle out.

I mean. You can't just tell someone how to fly.

"Well..." I began, trying anyway. "Hovering is pretty much flying... kind of." I stopped, exhaled in one long woosh, and tried again. "Look, just get a running start and jump into the air. Your wings will do the rest."

Assuming she had the same instincts I had. Predicting her reaction, I added "Worst case scenario, you get a few feet in the air and then fall. But if you can hover, I don't see that happening."

I stepped away from her, further into the alley, to give her room. I couldn't imagine her not being able to fly... she might not be the best at it. But I was sure she could stay in the air, and I made sure that confidence showed on my face. We'd have to make sure Eins could even fly before we got into the air ourselves, otherwise we'd have to figure out how to land and...

Damn it. How were we going to land? But as I wondered, I could already see that we'd simply separate and drop the last few feet to the ground. Couldn't be that difficult.

Reassured, I turned to Marceline. "I guess we'll go for it right after her?" I asked, inwardly wincing at the awkward take off I was already imagining. I wondered if it would be a good idea to hold onto just her arm. Maybe I should get a good grip on her belt loop or something. But I didn't want to imagine the kind of reaction that suggestion would get, even if it was totally innocent.