out for all that i can get

[sofentheblow]

WHO: KARLA SOFEN and TONY STARK
WHERE: in the SKY
WHEN: backdated to april 22
WHAT: aerial tour of heropa?? yes. accidental crimefighting?? WHO KNOWS (but yes)
WARNINGS: mild violence? heavier contemplated violence.




[ Funny thing about flying -- herself, that is, this fantastic defiance of the natural human limit that, except for her own insistence, way back when, on reaching out and taking these abilities that shouldn’t be hers --

-- No, they should, how could anyone be more deserving than Karla Sofen, who was willing to take them from another, to do whatever was required to make them hers?

-- Anyway, about flying: Karla’s never especially enjoyed it. As a tactic she appreciates it, obviously -- as she does basically any advantage over enemies and allies -- but if the phenomenon that is essentially swimming through air, in its own right, holds any wonder, she can’t remember ever feeling it.

If she did, she might tonight -- a rare, cooler Florida spring evening; a thunderstorm’s passed, leaving clear skies and virtually no winds to struggle against at two thousand feet.

Instead, hovering unimpinged by the usual winds aloft, she’s occupied herself chewing over yesterday’s conversation with Tony Stark. It was downright comfortable, really; not that she’d put the search for an angle on pause, but there’s a degree of guardedness she’d been able to turn down. It’d certainly been more convivial than it had any right to be, given their limited interactions in the past.

Who knew that team was getting in her way so much?

Well, she always felt it did, matter of fact, but what’s the use in rehashing that now?

Then, in her peripherals, a distinctive glow, a familiar flash of red metal. Ah.

Her approach is reasonably stealthy -- at low speeds, hers is a soft flight, rather than heavy, rocketed propulsion -- though that’s not taking whatever monitoring systems Tony has in there into account. She flies up beside him, matching his speed. ]

My tour guide. You made it.

Comments

[sofentheblow]

[ Everyone's a little frozen, regular people-wise; clearly not among the sorts of interruptions they'd been expecting. ]

I think -- [ Karla's calm, here -- insultingly so, if you're the muggers -- with the sort of smile on her face you'd have if you were proposing something else entirely. A vehicular detour through a route that was more scenic anyway, maybe.

Smug as hell, basically. ] -- that you two are going to hand over your weapons to this gentleman here, -- [ indicating Tony ] and you're going to come with us to the police station and turn yourselves in. And then you're going to apologize to me for ruining my evening.

[ She holds her hand out -- abruptly, with an air of being put upon. Evidently one of the muggers startles easy; hand on the trigger, no warning, he fires off a half a dozen shots, roughly in Tony and Karla's direction. ]

[liverletdie]

He's not as fast as a speeding bullet, but he can see where it's going easy enough that the moment his hand shakes, Tony slips forward, fast for a man in an iron suit, enough that he takes the majority of bullets, glancing off armor instead of skin, and he just looked at the guy.

Like he couldn't believe he was that stupid. ]

I can't believe this.

[ He looked back at Karla, his eyes nearly visible behind the plating that protected them. ]

Can you believe this?

[ He almost shrugged, reaching out to snatch the gun from the guy, not even bothering to ask, before he grabbed the other one. ]

What about a man in armor says "shooting him is a good idea"?

[sofentheblow]

[ She does, in the commotion, have the presence of mind to go intangible, and a single stray bullet passes through the space Karla's body was occupying a moment earlier.

Her thoughts head straight for retaliation -- no blasts, nothing too overt, but the work of phasing out is already done, she could reach into their would-be assailant's chest, let her hand go solid, nick his heart with a fingernail or something. No evidence, or none of the sort anyone would be looking for, and he opened fire on them, that's not unreasonable, she could --

Except now Tony's talking. It's enough to snap the tone in a different direction. That's not happening here, is it? A wave of familiar, comfortable heaviness sweeps her body as she phases back in. ]

Only barely. [ It strikes her that she's not at all clear on the protocol for handling these things; he presumably is, though. To Tony, a smile creeping back on to her face: ]

It's too much to hope for you to have handcuffs somewhere in there, isn't it?

apparently i lost formatting there somehow

[liverletdie]

[ Since she was't screaming, and instead talking -- he was happy to see -- that meant she wasn't injured, and he shook his head, a little sad. ]

You know, I don't.

[ He paused, looking back at the two of them. ]

Luckily, they aren't exactly about to get a one-time opportunity flying with the lovely Moonstone here.

[ Instead, his head tilted, like he was listening to something. Two blocks away, the police blotter said. The tip transferred to the station, an alien -- unknown -- voice in the police radios, telling them there was a 245 in progress. All units be advised. This location.

It didn't take long, for the sirens to screech in the distance, and then moments later, the cops were out, and Iron Man handed them their weapons. ]

But they do.

[sofentheblow]

Hm. A girl can dream.

[ Threat neutralized, the two guys may as well not even be there, for the purposes of conversation. The whole process -- muggers crammed in the back of a cop car, paperwork, all of it -- goes considerably more quickly than she'd expected. She could do something to hide her relief, but why would she? ]

What if we left before the cameras got here, this time?

[ This is the sort of thing that would be nice to have show up in the newspapers. Obviously. But she's reasonably confident these kinds of events spread by word of mouth in the imPort community -- better if it's hearsay. Doesn't look so much like she involved herself for the cameras that way.

And she would like to get out of there, with Tony -- that part's sincere. ]

[liverletdie]

Are you feeling shy?

[ He asked, but he nodded, the metal head transcribing the motion clearly so she could see it. His motions were often exaggerated, for the people around them, so everyone could see what he was doing for them.

There were sacrifices men like him had to make, to make sure they were clearly understood.

It was with a burst of his jets that took him up into the air, where he waited, before they took off in another direction again, and he let the question slip. ]

Anywhere else in particular you want to see?

[ He had something in mind that he wanted to show her, after all. ]

[sofentheblow]

[ Were the snort in Karla's register of reactions, this would have prompted one. It's not and she doesn't, but. The underlying impulse is there just the same. ]

Sure, if that's the story we're going with.

[ She doesn't so much kick off the ground as step gently up into the air; she overtakes him quickly enough.

Deadpanning, her expression far enough into mock-innocent that there's no insult to his intelligence, there, only the game they've been casually playing: ]

I leave myself in your very capable hands.

[liverletdie]

Well then, I'd better not let you down.

[ He takes off ahead of her, but turns in the air, so he's still looking at her. It's not meant to be a boast, of course, but it's certainly a sign that he didn't fear where he was going.

Then again, he's awfully perceptive for a guy in a metal suit. ]

Why don't I show you my place?

[sofentheblow]

[ It's not a conscious decision when she increases her own speed, challenging him to match her, flying backwards though he is. For a moment her expression is more smile than complacent smirk.

Just for a moment. ]

There's an idea.

[liverletdie]

More than just an idea, hopefully.

[ He said, but the implicit question isn't really a question, it's very obviously a statement. He laughed, and took off, his speed picking up.

He suspected they could take the long way, get a nice flight in, but he never broke the sound barrier, never even hit Mach 1. There was no need to go that fast, after all. ]

[sofentheblow]

[ There are half a dozen retorts that spring to mind -- variations on how fun it is when ideas move from the conceptual into the practical, mostly -- but unfortunately none of them would sound nearly as witty shouted over the winds.

So she allows herself to sail forward in companionable silence, if a forced one.

Heropa's relatively tiny size means it's also a short one; the flight back to the imPort housing area is shorter than she'd remembered. ]

[liverletdie]

[ And the flight to the particular house Tony was in was even quicker. He beelined for it, a quick zip of time, before he landed on the yard.

Sadly, the grass had started to dip -- right in that particular area. Right where his feet landed every time. He was a creature of habit, after all.

With no wind, and once Karla had landed, he made a slight gesture. ]

Temporary home sweet home. It's not much, but who am I to say no to a good thing for the moment? [ That was a lot more money in his pocket for investments. ]

[sofentheblow]

[ Uh, well, actually, Karla can think of a handful of reasons to say no to that particular good thing for the moment and the strings attached to it, come to it. But she's not here to talk about that, and she's perfectly cognizant of the enormous potential for political discussions to spoil a mood.

There's a distinct glow that travels down her body as she lands; by the time she takes her first steps onto the sidewalk her costume's been replaced with a wrap dress in a red that almost precisely matches the shade of his armor.

Not yet adjusted to local style, apparently. ]

Well, it's only nearly identical to ours.

[ Practically a guarantee there's fewer animals in this one, though. ]

[liverletdie]

[ He could only watch, the appreciative glance apparent when his helmet floated into place above his head, like it was made to slide up that way. He nodded, getting the meaning behind it.

After all, she could match very well, couldn't she? ]

I'd hope there'd be some differences, at least in the company.

[ He looked down at his armor, a half-hearted grimace on his face. ]

Shall we?

[ He held out his arm, he'd take it off inside. No need to give the neighbors a very intimate view of his delicates. The underarmor left very little to the imagination, after all. ]