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WHO: Felix & open
WHERE: Various places in Maurtia Falls
WHEN: August
WHAT: Attempts to fly, copious amounts of alcohol, knives, and anything else of interest
WARNINGS: Nothing, though will update if necessary.
NOTE: Please feel free to respond in prose or brackets and I will match you. I just default to brackets.

It's been almost two months since Felix was whisked away to ye olden Earth for a second chance at life. He's adjusted to the archaic technology well enough, though he does miss what he's accustomed to using. And the weapons in this era are shit. Covenant plasma rifles and whatever those strange incinerator guns were on Chorus are much more interesting and fun to use than standard projectile rounds. But he makes do and it hasn't really been much of an issue, giant man-eating behemoths aside.

He's even starting to get used to walking around in public without his armor on. He's only worn it once since he came here and that was to fight the aforementioned behemoths. It isn't necessary here the way it was on Chorus or in space. It's nice, sort of. It reminds him of the old bounty hunter days, though that's laced with a lot of complicated feelings he doesn't like to dwell on.

What he hasn't really dealt with is this notion that he can fly. Maybe he should. Being able to fly would be really fucking useful, and hell, it might even be fun. But it's also tangled up in how he died, and that's something else Felix is trying—and failing—to avoid thinking about. He knows he needs to figure it out, especially if something else attacks wherever he happens to be, but how to do it without attracting undue attention or making an ass of himself is the question.

Asking for help absolutely isn't an option.

1 — Questionable Coping Mechanisms

[ Some people get high to avoid their problems. Others get laid. And while Felix might enjoy the latter, and has used that method in the past to not deal with his problems, he isn't looking for companionship now. There's just too much shit going on in his head for that. No, what he does now when he knows he isn't going to be able to sleep is go to the bar. Which bar doesn't matter. As long as there's alcohol and enough atmosphere to keep him distracted, he doesn't care where he is.

If it's a club, he's dressed appropriately in a suit and tie. If it's some hole in the wall, he's still dressed well, though not as formally. Felix doesn't go out in public looking slovenly, even at midnight. Sometimes he flirts, though it's only a harmless way to pass the time and keep his hand in the game. Other times, he doesn't say much at all.

Whatever the case, he's currently leaning against the bar ordering a drink. A sideways glance at the person next to him has him lifting his eyebrows inquiry. ]

You want anything?

[ It's not a come-on. Not yet and it might never be. He's just not in the mood to drink alone right now and will buy a drink for anyone willing to talk to him. ]

2 — Learning to Fly

[ Trying to figure out how to fly inside his house isn't an option. He knows. He tried jumping off the sofa once. He didn't spontaneously take flight and trying to leap off the top of the stairs seemed like an invitation for a broken neck. Going outside is the only way to go, so as loathe as he is to do it, Felix sucks it up and heads outside to take this debacle on the road.

He looks for places that don't see particularly well-populated. He doesn't want to be caught trying to do this, still half-convinced it's all a bunch of bullshit. Finding the appropriate leaping off point proves difficult. Too low and nothing happens. Too high and he might die for a second time. That he feels a kind of anxious fear curdling in his gut if he gets too high up is something he staunchly ignores. He refuses to accept that he might have developed a fear of heights after his ignominious defeat. Acrophobia is for pussies.

In the park he tries casually stepping off the edge of a few high rocks. After a quick glance around to see if anyone's watching him, he even climbs a tree and drops off one of the lower hanging branches. His ankle twinges in uncomfortable protest upon landing, but he doesn't fly.

Eventually, irritable and frustrated, he ends his day at a bridge. He forces himself to go to the railing, ignoring the churning in his stomach, and looks over the edge. It's a large enough drop that it'll kill him if he can't fly. But if he can, this has to be a surefire way to find out. The old reckless Felix would have come here from the start and taken a leap without thinking it through and it rankles that he's lost that feeling of invincibility.

It's enough to make him contrary and defiant. Swinging up onto the railing, he perches there, looking out over the land. If it kills him.... Well, who the fuck cares, right? And if it doesn't... ]

I must be fucking crazy.

3 — Target Practice

[ Pent up frustration and no one to unleash it on forces Felix to find alternate means of purging himself of his restlessness. On nice days, and there are more of them here in Pennsylvania than there aren't, he packs up his knives and heads off to whichever area of the park happens to be secluded that day. He really doesn't care if he hits anyone—moving targets are more of a challenge than stationary ones—but he hasn't reached a comfortable enough equilibrium with Locus yet to ask him to bail him out of jail and he doesn't want to listen to the lecture he suspects he'd get if he accidentally kills someone.

Right now, he's standing about sixty feet away from a tree, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, with a brace of knives strapped to his thigh. There are marks along the tree's trunk already, showing that he's been here for a little while. Despite that, he's far from tired.

Felix pulls a knife and sends it into the trunk. Another follows. And another. Soon there are five knives in a neat line down the side of the tree. He pauses in the act of drawing out the last one as movement catches the corner of his eye. ]

Hey. [ The other person is in no actual danger, Felix is too good a marksman to miss that wildly, but the threat of a lecture makes him at least try to pander to safety precautions. ] Don't come too close, yeah?

4 — Choose Your Own Misadventure

[ If none of these prompts grab you or you'd like to do something else with Felix, please feel free to toss up your own starter. Felix doesn't casually wear his armor, so no one will see him in it unless some serious fighting is going down, but otherwise I'm open to pretty much anything. If you have questions or want to plot anything, you can reach me on plurk or via pm. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ By now he's got most of the city mapped out—either in his head or back at his provided home. The streets he's learning name by name. The houses, businesses, people, plants, landmarks. He's learning them all because it's necessary. For some reason, anyway. He needs to know everything because if he doesn't, that's when shit happens. The last thing he needs is to be taken unawares here in this city on ancient Earth.

Today he's learning routes—straightforward and back-round-abouts to get from point A to point B. There's several pages of shorthand notes on his also ancient communicator and he thinks that the next time he does this, he'll just wear his suit. He can record that way and let that do most of the work. But, he didn't and Locus will have to live with that decision.

Already settled with his newfound power, he takes to walking around invisible so he'll be left alone. Which is what he's doing currently as he comes upon the bridge. He doesn't think much of it, lifting the phone to snap a picture of it and murmuring his notes into the speaker when he catches sight of a familiar silhouette. It makes him do a double-take and a strange feeling twists in his gut. The last time they spoke, he and Felix left on tense terms. Not that it's surprising, because they have been either incredibly awkward or tense. There's no middle ground yet. It's not something he likes to think about because he doesn't know how to solve it currently or if he even wants to solve it.

Except that seeing Felix standing on the edge of a bridge makes him want to solve something pretty damn quick.

Before he even realizes, he takes off running toward him, not even knowing if he'll get there in time or even be heard. But, damn it, this isn't happening again. ]

Felix!

[ He might have been in the city for a few weeks, but he isn't exactly making lasting connections. The only people here outside of Locus he expects to recognize him on sight are the people he "works" with at the face cream place. And he isn't expecting any of them to be walking along the bridge right now. Of course, he also isn't expecting Locus to be there either.

Hearing his name startles him out of his uncertain waffling. After all these years, his body reacts automatically to the sound of that particular voice, spinning around to see what the hell's going on. Except the space between the edge of the bridge and the railing isn't made for impromptu acrobatics and Felix, busy searching the area for Locus and unable to find him, isn't paying attention to what he's doing. ]

Locus?

[ His foot slips and he topples backward with a yelp, blindly grabbing onto the railing. All thoughts of flying and the fact that he can supposedly do it vanish from his mind. There's nothing under his feet and suddenly it isn't a bridge in some nowhere city on archaic Earth. He's there in that goddamn temple, flying over the edge and plummeting to his death. The panic is there in his voice as he shouts; ]

Where the fuck are you?

[ Because somehow, that's the most pressing issue right now. ]

[ Fuck.

That really didn't turn out as he'd planned. Not that he'd really been planning for anything, but. Seeing Felix actually standing on a bridge like that... Yes, he's seen him die once, but he didn't think Felix would ever resort to—to this. He's never really found or thought Felix to be stupid and over the years he has had a lot of hairbrained ideas, but nothing to this extent. This has got to be the stupidest thing he's ever done. Here he is, being given a second chance to live his fucking life, and he's just throwing it away.

Locus runs faster, propelling himself across the ever shortening distance and getting there in time. HIs hand closes around Felix's wrist and he bodily hauls him over the railing to get him on steady ground. It's only then he realizes he's still in his incognito browser mode and he shifts out of it instantly. His expression is aggressively severe as he jabs his finger against Felix's chest. ]

What the hell are you doing?!

[ Is he hallucinating Locus' voice now? Is this the end of his so-called second chance? Has he been magically transported back to Chorus to fall back to the ground? Felix's heart is pounding, his breath coming in too-short gasps, and his hands are starting to shake from all the adrenaline. He's going to die again and—

Something grabs him, snapping him out of it, and he yells a curse—fuck, damn, son of a bitch, some awkward muddle of all three, who knows?—struggling against his unseen assailant. It's stupid, some dim part of his brain realizes, because whatever it is is pulling him away the nothing under his feet. But there isn't a whole lot of room in his brain for logic right now. ]

Holy—Fuck!

[ Locus materials out of thin air in front of him, startling him again and making him choke on an inhale. It's not the first time he's seen him appear out of nowhere before, but he's always been in his suit. He's never done in as himself before. ]

Ow, fucking hell. [ Wheezing, Felix slaps Locus' finger away. ] What's your problem? You almost gave me a fucking heart attack! I almost fell off the—What the hell is going on?

[ He's confused and rattled, but there's ground under his feet again and he isn't falling to his death. It's easier just to get angry. At least that chases the fear away. ]

[ Because he's dealt with Felix for so long, his squawking doesn't deter him from remaining in his face or stave off the anger. Of all the stupid ass shit to do, he pulls this. That is not okay. He wants to shake him out if indignant anger. He also kind of wants to leave and not deal with this. Because whatever Felix does is his business, not Locus'.

And yet.

He stands there, breath coming hard and his lungs burning a little. His heart was racing too fast and there's a strange cold sweat on his brow. This isn't the angriest he's ever been with or at Felix, but it almost feels like it could be. Both arms hang loose at his sides, almost as if he's just waiting for Felix to make a second attempt. His hands ball into fists at the thought. ]

Why don't you tell me?

[ Because if anyone has some explaining to do, Lucy, it's Felix. Not Locus. He makes a wide gesture to the side of the bridge where he just pulled Felix from. ]

What the hell was that, Felix?

[ Of all the nerve.

Whatever has changed between them, Felix can still recognize when Locus is pissed. And he's pissed now. He can see it all over his face and in the way he's holding himself. Locus is pissed. Felix just can't figure out why. Because he almost fell? That was Locus' fucking fault. If he hadn't been yelling and being all invisible none of this would have happened.

Felix is in the middle of working himself into a snit—he's frowning, his eyes are narrowing, his shoulders are hunching up and he's leaning forward just a little into Locus' space, a signal that an angry jab of fingers is coming—when he realizes that Locus just fucking saved him from falling. It blindsides him so fast that his eyes widen, his mouth drops open, and he just stares at him. ]

Did you just—You saved me. [ It comes out quiet and a little bewildered, because the last person he would have ever expected to help him now is Locus. The righteous anger evaporates, leaving him to list backward a little and lean against the railing. ] You startled me and I slipped.

[ He still feels like he fell—no pun intended—in some kind of bizarro world, but his heartbeat is slowing down to normal levels now and he can breath. The panic has receded, he doesn't think he's in danger of imminent demise, and apparently Locus is capable of stepping in to help him. Although why is a goddamn mystery. ]

I didn't know anyone was out here. I heard your voice, I thought something was wrong, but you weren't there and, I don't know. I slipped. [ His eyes narrow again, though it's with confusion and curiosity instead of irritation. ] Why are you pissed? You aren't the one who almost fell off a bridge.

[ He can see the reaction from Felix and is readying himself for another unsatisfying fight. It's reminiscent of their past and gives him a twinge of... something in his gut. He doesn't really recognize the feeling just yet, just knows it's there and will possibly reflect on it later. Later when they're not standing on the side of some bridge where anyone can happen along and see them or hear them.

The frown he's wearing cuts even deeper, the lines forming on his face so easily that anyone can guess this is a face he makes a lot. And if anyone knows Felix, it's not that hard of a guess. Locus can't quite figure out what's so hard to understand from what's happened here and for a moment that flickers across his face, fading the anger and replacing it with incredulous disbelief. Felix isn't a stupid man, so why the hell is he acting like it? So, he almost corrects that he didn't save him—even if that's what he did—but ultimately decides against it. That's really not the fight and argument he wants to have right now.

Both hands curl around Felix's shoulders—tight and unforgiving—Locus' eyes narrow as he leans down a little closer into Felix's space. ]

Why do you think I'm pissed? I know you're angry, Felix. But jumping off a bridge isn't going to solve anything!

[ It's for the best that Locus doesn't assert that he didn't save him. If he had, whatever stumbling, meager steps forward they've managed to take after the disaster on Chorus would disappear in a fiery blaze and that ground might never be recovered. As it is now, Felix is blissfully unaware that he's the only one thinking Locus tried to prevent him from dying a second time.

This isn't the first time Locus has grabbed him like this and he's half-bracing for a shaking, but that doesn't come. Not yet, anyway. Felix frowns at him, though he doesn't try shrugging out from underneath his hands. ]

You don't know that! It might be high enough to—

[ Wait. Realization is like a lightbulb. It bursts on inside his mind, flooding it with a glimpse of what it must have looked like from an observer's perspective. For fuck's sake. ]

Wait. [ His eyebrows shoot up his forehead as his voice raises in incredulity. ] Did you think I was trying to kill myself?

[ Of all the stupid things to think. Felix is torn between the urge to break down into hysterical laughter and disbelief. Later, when he's still thinking about the absurdity of all of this, it will occur to him that Locus thought that and tried to prevent it and he'll wonder why. But that's later. ]

Oh my God, I was trying to fly!

[ It's almost like he just wants to slap the shit out of Felix. He starts arguing—arguing!!!—and Locus feels the itch in his palm to knock some fucking sense into this goddamn idiot. Yes the hight would have killed him. And if it didn't kill him, it would have severely injured him. What then? And now he's fucking arguing over it!

Locus opens his mouth to respond to the question because what else was he supposed to think when Felix blindsides him with the admission. Not that Locus knew what Felix's power is, but, it's a good enough reason to do what he was doing. Sort of. Kind of. But also not fucking really. Felix isn't stupid but he makes some stupid-ass decisions way too much. This is why Locus gets so frustrated with him more than he doesn't. Well, this among other reasons, but still.

The grip he has on Felix's shoulders tightens for a few passing moments, the pressure pushing against his bones, but then he lightens the hold until he eventually lets go and drops one arm back down to his side. The other comes up and he rubs against the bridge of his nose. ]

And what if you didn't, Felix?

[ DOES HE EVER THINK AHEAD?!?!? ]

[ The hold Locus has on him starts to get more painful than he's willing to tolerate. He might not be as big as Locus, but he's got plenty of muscle in his own right and it's feeling more and more like his bones are grinding together. He's about to protest—with words, his fist, maybe a good swift kick to the shin—when he's let go.

Pride keeps him from touching his shoulders and kneading out the discomfort, but he does give them a pointed roll. And the glare Felix shoots him ought to be clear enough: asshole.

There's a legitimate answer to that question. Have you ever been afraid of something, Locus? Because I am and I'm fucking sick of it. I don't want to let it control me anymore. But that's the kind of answer he can't give him. Maybe he never would have been able to do it, but he certainly can't do it now when things are as bad as they are between them. ]

Then I guess history would have repeated itself.

[ He tries to make it snide and sarcastic but he's still too close to it and it just comes out a little sharp and off instead. Might convince someone who doesn't know him, but he doubts it will convince Locus.

He scoffs, looking away. ]

The stupid file they gave me said I could fly, okay? I'm guessing you're invisible. [ He waves a hand at Locus. ] Good for you. I don't know how to do it. I can't fucking figure it out. [ Which is galling all on its own, never mind that it's like some kind of cosmic fucking joke. He gestures again, this time at the railing and the drop beyond it. ] I thought this might help.

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4 - In Heropa /o/

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