In Which Things are Poked With Sticks.

[curious_copycat]

Who: Polly curious_copycat and you!
What: THE FLOOR IS LAVA! (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ
When: the first day of the Event
Where: One of the parks
Warnings: A healthy (read: curious) Eternal and lava. Nothing could possibly go wrong. :-|

Comments

[yosukecantstop]

Yosuke squeezed his eyes closed tightly at the first flare of fire. It's cool, it's cool, she's not going to hurt you. Get a grip. If he concentrated on keeping his breathing regular and even, it not only kept him from panicking too much, but it also helped the adrenaline rush just a bit. Stupid freaking spiderwebs. Of all the humiliating moments in his life, this one had to be pretty far up there.

He could feel the web getting ready to give, and then -yikes!- it did. Headfirst, he dropped toward the ground, managing a bit of panicked fluttering and thrashing, but it was completely uncoordinated, and only made his descent change from a plummet to a sort of tumble.

"No!" He croaked, finally gathering the presence of mind to flare his stupid wings so that it became a shaky glide. He circled a few times until he was certain he could land where he meant to and then dropped heavily down onto the floating table beside Polly.

A few humiliating dry heaves over the side later and he sat back, wiping a little bit if bitter saliva off of his mouth with the back of one hand and giving Polly a shy, shaky, sheepish grin. "Sorry. Ugh, that really sucked." And then, with utter sincerity for once. "...Thanks."

[curious_copycat]

Polly watched with wide eyes as he plummeted, gasping once he finally caught himself. After that, there really wasn't anything she could do but throw her arms around him, even as the table wobbles at his landing, and he gives his sickly grin.

"I'm glad you're alright!" she said happily. "But how did you get wings?

[yosukecantstop]

So am I, Yosuke couldn't help thinking. At Polly's question he stretched one of his wings out and frowned at it. The feathers were all messed up. No wonder it hadn't been working right...

"Um. Lucifer-sama though that I should give them a try." He tried to keep his tone neutral, even though he personally found the whole thing really unfair.

[curious_copycat]

She couldn't help but stare at the stretched-out wing. Even with all of the various angels and demons who'd passed through the Thor, this was the first time she'd really been to close to wings like these. She can't help but notice the way the feathers are all mussed up, however, so she reaches out to try to gently pet them back into place.

... But also just to pet them.

"You don't like them...?" she asked, picking up on his discontent, despite his tone.

[yosukecantstop]

Yosuke shivered a bit when Polly stroked his wing. Woah. That really felt...something. Good, maybe. He wouldn't have expected to enjoy being petted, but he found himself ducking his head and focusing on preening his other wing by running his fingers through the feathers gently to make them lay flat. It didn't feel nearly as good when he did it, for some reason. But he also didn't want Polly to see him trying not to crane his neck and sigh like he wanted to at her touch.

"Of course not." He answered her, a bit glumly. No teenage boy in his right mind would want an enormous pair of fluffy angel wings growing out of his back. For that matter, he couldn't even get a shirt on over them. He was cold, and exposed, and far more conscious than usual of the way his ribs poked out a bit and his spine was sort of bumpy, and his hips couldn't hold his jeans up properly. Self-consciously, he folded the wing that Polly wasn't holding onto in front of himself.

"Anyway, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be trying to find somewhere that isn't covered in lava?"

[curious_copycat]

Polly frowned. Having never been a teenage boy, it didn't occur to her that it might be humiliating in some way. Once the ruffled feathers are smoothed, she lets the wing go, tilting her head at him.

"Well, I'd like them! It isn't fun to fly?"

The question makes her grin.

"But it's fascinating! It doesn't burn the table! But if I throw something smaller on--" She created an apple and threw it overboard. Striking the molten rock it vaporized in a puff of sweet-smelling steam, and she pointed excitedly.

"See? It burns just like anything should!"

[yosukecantstop]

Yosuke starts to smile at the question about flying. Okay, sure, yeah. When he's not running into giant freaking spiderwebs the flying part is pretty cool.

But he doesn't get time to say that before he's scurrying back a little, anxiously glancing at the lava devouring the apple. The table they were floating on got a nervous glance from him. "Hey, uh. Why doesn't the table melt, now that you mention it?"

[curious_copycat]

"I don't know!" Polly bubbles happily. "Isn't it great?"

She crouches down, leaning out over the lava just a bit, for a better view.

"It's just like any other lava! The molecules behave exactly the same!" She grins up at him. "We should be fried!"

Randomly, she creates a handful of other things: a teapot, a pillow, a bunch of grapes, and a hamburger, throwing them off of the table. Oddly, the only thing that doesn't vaporize is the pillow.

[yosukecantstop]

Great is not exactly the word that's on Yosuke's mind, but he doesn't bother to flinch over it. It's hardly the first time Polly's caught him thinking in four letter phrases.

His wings flutter a bit on their own, much the way a frazzled bird might do, his eyes still following the objects as they vaporize. He starts to reach for the teapot instinctively. Falling dishes are his fault more often then not, and Chihaya's fault just about all of the rest of the time, so trying to avoid things being destroyed is something he doesn't even think about.

He thinks about it half an instant later when the puff of steam blows up and he has to yank his arm back with a hiss. Shit. What the hell was he thinking?! If the lava splashed or bubbled for some reason...

"Stop it!"

[curious_copycat]

The Eternal catches him reaching for the teapot from the corner of her eye, then blinks puzzledly at him as he narrowly avoids getting scalded. Rocking back on her heels, look up at him.

"What's the matter? ... Why did you do that?"

She reaches for his hand.

"Is it alright?"

[yosukecantstop]

"People don't just go around breaking things!"

He pulls his arm back, instinctively. He's nervous, and it's the one time he doesn't much like to be touched. Though he does give Polly a slightly guilty glance a second later, when his heart stops drumming in his chest from the lava scare.

It's probably easy to forget how dangerous stuff like that is when you're invincible. He scrubs a hand over his face. It's another gesture that Polly is more than familiar with.

"Just...hold still and behae for a minute, please?"

[curious_copycat]

"But that's what I made it for."

Frowning, she settles back down on the table and does as he asks.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I just... It's against all the laws of everything, and I've never seen it before."

It isn't just that she had no survival instinct to speak of; a new experience that's this unique is kind of intoxicating.

[yosukecantstop]

He sighs, but the look he gives her this time is friendly again. It's almost amused, even if the amusement is warring with a great deal of stress and frustration. In the end, he manages to at least offer a small smile.

"You're against all of the laws of everything, too. You always do exactly the opposite of what people from my planet would."

It's a playful dig, and even a peace offering. In his head the words had been 'what normal people do,' but he'd caught himself thinking it and fixed it before he said it. Apparently, they were both learning new things.

[curious_copycat]

Polly takes it in the same spirit it's offered, laughing. "Maybe not all the laws..."

Spying an edge to the lava lake, she creates a path of pillows from the table to it.

"Let's go to more solid ground. I can study all this just as well, from there."

[yosukecantstop]

Yosuke flaps his wings slowly, experimentally. They seem to be in working order again.

"Sure, but I'm not jumping across those pillows. There's no need to." He flexes the wings again and quirks an eyebrow at her. "Want a lift?"

[curious_copycat]

Polly bites her lower lip, and it's clear that she would absolutely love to fly, but she hesitates a moment.

"Are you sure it's alright?"