fandomtownies | The Park, Friday Night

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The Park, Friday Night

*Zeela! You shouldn't be doing this! I should wake Sholeh up right now!*

Zeela ignored her big sister's chastising. It had been weeks since she'd gotten to be out for longer than a few moments at a time and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity. Sholeh had fallen asleep over her books and before Zhahar had a chance to do or say anything, Zeela had come into view and seized the chance for freedom. Sholeh's nightgown had been tossed aside, Zeela's own, more comfortable clothing had been donned, and Zeela was running off into the night.

Zhahar hadn't shut up the entire time, but that was all right. Zeela'd had plenty of opportunity to learn how to tune her sisters out over the years. And for all of her threats, Zhahar hadn't woken Sholeh up yet.

Which just meant that Zhahar was already planning to do something similar next time Sholeh fell asleep on them. Fair. Zeela didn't mind sharing.

She didn't stop running until she reached the park, weeks of pent-up energy just bursting to be used. And once she got there, she yelled and whooped and turned cartwheels and climbed trees and splashed through the pond, making faces at the flamingos.

And then she spotted the playground. This was gonna be great.

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You know, when Jonothon went out for some late-night fresh-air in the park, the last thing he generally expected to see was some strange girl headed toward the playground. It was a playground. After dark.

Clearly, the grownups tended to stay nearer to the pond, keeping the ducks awake all hours of the night as they alternated between brooding, and training with their synthetic superpowers, okay? Because trying to form glowing blue hard-light constructs while hovering over the duck pond was a productive use of one's time, and to hell with anybody who suggested otherwise.

He considered the girl for a moment, curious about what in the world had her running about so late after dark in the first place. And then he shrugged, floated back to land on the turf, and decided that he was absolutely allowed to have some fun, if people were going to go prancing through the playgrounds after dark.

So that would be a glowing butterfly in a vivid shade of blue, flitting past Zeela and settling down on the playground swing.

It still counted as training, if Jubilee asked later.

*Oooh, Zeela!* Zhahar whispered. *What's that?*

Forgive them for not noticing the grey-blue floating man. There was a glowy blue butterfly for them to look at.

"I dunno," Zeela replied aloud. "But it's pretty." She drew closer, seeing how close she could get before it flew away.

*I bet Sholeh would love to see it. Maybe she's stumbled across something about them in her books.*

"You are not waking her up! I'm having fun, okay? We wouldn't even be seeing the butterfly if she was awake!"

Well, in fairness, the grey-blue floating man was standing more or less in darkness, now.

And now the girl was talking to herself, which prompted a bit of an eyebrow raise from Jono, but he wasn't about to ruin the moment by doing something so silly as speaking up. If she wanted to talk about... something or other... to herself, then all power to her.

Jono took a seat in mid-air, smiling faintly as he made the butterfly fan its wings, displaying vivid monarch-patterns of light in that electric glowing solid-light blue.

Yes, of course he was showing off.

"Ooooooh." Have an appreciative coo or two for your trouble, Jono. It was actually in chorus, but you'd only be able to hear the one.

Zeela stopped when she brushed up against the swing the butterfly was perched on, hardly daring to breathe.

*This can't be real.* Even internally, Zhahar's tone was hushed.

"Well, maybe you're looking at something else, then. Because the butterfly looks pretty really to me. I'm gonna try to catch it." She raised her hands up to try and snatch it.

*No! You could hurt it!*

"Now you sound like Sholeh," Zeela complained, but brought her hands down again.

*Well, you could,* Zhahar said crossly. *See if it will land on you?*

"It's not gonna land on me," Zeela said. "I don't have your gift with animals." But wouldn't it be pretty if it did. She held out a finger and whispered, "Here little butterfly, butterfly, butterfly...You know, that does not shorten well at all, Zhar."

It was safe to say that there was either somebody about that the girl was talking to, or else she was batshit insane. Really, either way, Jonothon wasn't in a position to judge. And it seemed like the one girl that he could see was actually rather enjoying the show, so... he might as well let her appreciate it a little more closely, hm?

The butterfly gave a flick of its wings, and then fluttered up, circling around Zeela as if perhaps it was curious about this new perch, before lighting on the offered finger, perfectly tangible, and making itself right at home.

Jono was a shameless showman.

Zeela gasped, beaming as the butterfly settled down on her finger. "You're so pretty," she cooed, for once losing the sardonic edge of her voice. "Wherever did you come from? I've never seen anything like you before." She laughed. "Of course, you've probably never seen anything like us before, either, so I guess we're even."

Well, that was intriguing, wasn't it? Jonothon still didn't make a sound, didn't dare to chuckle as the girl spoke to his butterfly. He was simply listening intently, head tilted a bit to the side. She was speaking in plurals, to go along with the apparent talking to herself, and that was more than a little intriguing, yes.

The butterfly turned itself around, exploring the girl's finger, walking to her fingertip and fanning out its wings again. There were tricky angles that Jono needed to get just so without being able to see what he was doing, and so a good amount of his perfect silence was because he was concentrating so fiercely on making certain that the illusion was consistent.

So far, he was doing admirably, but his focus on this sort of thing could only hold so long. He found himself suddenly thankful that he'd chosen a butterfly, something that could just up and flit away the moment he noticed his concentration slipping.

For now, though, the little insect seemed content where it was.

Edited 2012-06-02 04:02 (UTC)

"Maybe we should wake Sholeh up," Zeela murmured, dropping her voice a little so she wouldn't spook the butterfly. "It'll be sad if she misses this because she's sleeping."

*You want to be the one to argue with her?*

"Well, I am the one in view so it'd kind of have to be me, wouldn't it?" Zeela pointed out. "But maybe she'll be distracted by the butterfly instead." Beat. "Of course, then she'd scare it off with a billion questions, so never mind. We'll just let her keep sleeping. Maybe you could draw it for her later."

*Suuuure. When it's my turn to have the body.*

"Bitter doesn't suit you, Zhahar," Zeela mocked in a singsong. "We knew the deal when we agreed."

Yeah, Jono had no idea what a Zhahar was, but he did remember mentioning a 'Sholeh' during his radio broadcasts. He made a note of the other name, squinting in thought. Sholeh was a real person, so... perhaps this girl wasn't insane, after all. Maybe she had some sort of telepathy that carried better when she spoke aloud? Or maybe there was someone else around that he simply couldn't see. It was entirely possible. He still felt half-deaf after the loss of his powers. Blind wasn't much of a leap, from there.

The butterfly flickered, just for a moment. Faded and then sparked back into being in barely the amount of time it would take a person to blink. Damn it. Jono frowned and worked on regaining his focus. Just letting his little creation blink out of being wouldn't be all that kind, would it? At least... not to whoever was out there, admiring it.

Luckily, Zeela was distracted by her argument with her sister, so she missed the brief flicker in and out of existence.

*Please can I see?* Zhahar asked. *With my own eyes?*

"Oh all right," Zeela relented. "But only for a minute. I'm not done with my turn yet. And if you scare the butterfly away, I'll..." She had no idea what she'd do. "Yeah."

From Jono's vantage point, he might have caught the sight of Zeela's features blurring before she turned away from him, trying to get the butterfly into better light. Never mind that the tiny little creature was made of light. Instinct.

"Oh! That is pretty!" said a new voice. "I'm going to have to draw it."

Edited 2012-06-02 05:00 (UTC)

A... new voice? The Zhahar that the other girl had been talking to, or perhaps the Sholeh that she'd been talking about waking up? Only, no, Sholeh wouldn't make much sense, if she was still in the dorms asleep and Jono hadn't seen anybody reaching for a phone or running off in that direction. Zhahar, then. Though there was only one girl visible.

Curiouser and curiouser.

The butterfly was now as tangible as ever, turning itself around and crawling back up the girl's finger, finding its way to the back of her hand. It was all awkward angles and no line of sight again, so Jono let his attention wander away from the mystery of the new voice, trying to keep a firm grasp on the shape of the creature he'd conjured.

If the patterns on the wings started to blur a little, shifting about like liquid rainbows in varying levels of brightness, like colours on a soap bubble...

At least the butterfly was putting on a hell of a show?

It was putting on a hell of a show--but it wasn't anything like Zhahar or her sister was expecting.

"Zee?" Zhahar's voice was tremulous. "Zee, what's it doing?"

=I don't know,= Zeela replied, sounding cautious. =You might want to submerge again. If something happens...=

It sounded silly, being afraid of a pretty little butterfly. But it was hard not to remember the fate of every other Tryad who'd ever served as anchors for Tryadnea.

Another blur, still turned away, and then Zeela turned back around, carefully moving her hand away from her face and back towards the swing.

Zee. Zee? Another name, no doubt. And then the girl was moving to put the butterfly back on the swing.

At least Jonothon could take a hint. Whatever he'd messed up, he wouldn't really know, seeing as he couldn't see what had been going on. But it did cement the fact that he had a bit more work to do with his solid-light constructs. Best to stick to blowing out people's eardrums in battle, at least until he could wield a construct like another limb.

Jubilee would probably tell him the same.

The butterfly fluttered toward the swing, lighted there only momentarily, and then took off again, flying up, well up and away, until it was out of sight beyond the bush. And then Jono let go, and let the butterfly vanish entirely.

It had been fun, it had been excellent practise, but it was done doing its... whatever it was doing. Being a fake butterfly. That thing.

Zeela followed its path, her head tilting back until it vanished from sight. There was still some wonderment in her posture, but a new wariness was present as well.

"Whatever else it was, it was still pretty," she said, sitting down on a swing and pushing herself back and forth a bit. "You still gonna draw it?"

*Of course,* Zhahar said. *Though we should tell Sholeh about it, too. Have her keep an eye out for things like it.*

Zeela groaned. "You know she's gonna fuss because I came into view and went exploring."

*Was it worth it?*

"Damn right it was," Zeela replied, gaining a bit more momentum on the swing. "And not just because I was going stir-crazy in there."

Edited 2012-06-02 05:35 (UTC)

He could only hear half the conversation still, but it was the same voice as the first now, this, 'Zee,' who was speaking, and he could almost imagine the gist of the conversation in its entirety.

Her being out was breaking some sort of rule, apparently. That much she'd said herself with the 'gonna fuss' bit. And for some brief instant, some piece of Jonothon that he'd long thought was dead peered out, feeling almost guilty that he'd witnessed some almost incomprehensible part of this girl's... these girls'? ... Some secret that they were trying to keep, between the... at least three of them.

For some reason that he couldn't quite put a finger on, it reminded him vaguely of Monet's family, of the two twins sharing a body in an attempt to create a believable whole. They worked well together, well enough to have fooled all of Generation X. But there, like here, there wasn't really anyone to hide from.

He contemplated those facts for a moment more, and then shrugged and touched his feet down on the ground. He could leave now and get home without wandering particularly near to the playground, but he'd been here first, and still wasn't exactly in any sort of mood to leave just yet. The pond brought him some measure of peace these days in a world with precious little, after all.

He shrugged, tucked his hands in his pockets, and stepped onto the path. He was just a large man out on a walk well after dark, following the route set out before him. If that route happened to lead up and around the playground, what of it? It was a public park, after all. And if this girl... these girls? If whoever was there let him be, then so be it, he'd just head back home and let them speak among themselves, in snatches of half-conversation, one at a time.

Sure, Zeela had missed the whole floaty-hovery thing that Jono had going on earlier, back when there was a butterfly made of light fluttering around. But the sound of footsteps on the path had her jumping off the swings and taking up a wary stance.

"Who's there?" she called.

*Maybe we should wake Sholeh up now,* Zhahar fretted. *Let her come into view and handle this?*

=Right, because Sholeh is the perfect choice to be alone in the dark, Zhar. I got this until we know for sure what we're dealing with.=

Hey, now. Jono was not a 'what.' Not that he could hear that internal dialogue, but if he could...

"Just somebody enjoying a quiet walk in the park," he offered, holding up his hands as he looked over the girl in front of him. He was still standing more or less in the shadows, quietly taking in her stance- offensive, but obviously untrained. She'd give someone with less experience a run for their money, absolutely. But he didn't imagine she was anything he couldn't handle, if that aggression in her posture managed to get away from her. "It being a public park and all, I was under the impression that I was allowed?"

Zeela's stance and expression didn't change. "You normally hang around in playgrounds this time of night?" Because she obviously had the authority to ask those kinds of questions.

*Zeela, don't antagonize him! He's huge.* There was definite concern there. Even without their Tryad nature being known, there was still a lot of trouble a big man could cause a wiry girl. *And--I think there's something funny about him. It's hard to tell in the shadows though.*

=Relax, Zhar,= Zeela said, using bravado to try and calm her sister. =He's probably slow. Big guys often are. If he tries anything, I'll nail him once in his bits and be gone before he gets off the ground.=

Yeah. Someone was just a leetle overconfident.

Juuuust a bit, Zeela. It was kind of adorable, they way she thought she could take him.

"Actually, I normally hang around the pond this time of night," he countered, lowering his hands to his sides again with a shrug. "The pathway just so happens to pass by the playground, but I never really was the tire swing and monkey bars sort."

Give her time, Jono. And maybe a few more classes with Kennedy. She'd learn how laughable her skills were on this island. Being the toughest girl (of her age anyway) in a village was very different than actually being tough.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, moving behind the swing and idly pushing at it. If the guy got too close, she'd push it hard at him and let it wallop him while she ran. "Some kind of night owl or something? It's pretty late to be taking in the sights."

Said the fifteen year old girl in the park's playground.

Yeah, little Pot. The Kettle was totally raising his eyebrow at you.

"I go to the pond to think. And there usually aren't people around when I do." He really didn't seem to be interested in straying from the path now that he was on it. Just because he could handle himself if she had a mind to give him a whallop didn't mean he wanted to be in that situation in the first place. "Less likely to be accosted by ducks when I don't bring bread for them."

Feeding the ducks? That sounded like a fairly innocuous habit. This guy might not be a creeper after all. Zeela let some of the wariness fade. She was still ready to run, but it seemed less likely she'd have to.

Creepers never fed animals, right? Or took time to think all by themselves?

"So, the park is pretty deserted after dark, then?" she asked. Good to know! Maybe she and Zhahar could take turns coming into view out here. "Guess most of the students like to stick to the dorms or something."

Edited 2012-06-03 04:08 (UTC)

"Most of them, though there are exceptions." He nodded toward the town. If she had a secret to keep and she was prone to talking to herself, the least he could do would be to give her fair warning. "There are generally a handful every semester that come out at night to prowl the rooftops, making certain that the streets are safe. But the park, for the most part, gets left alone. Not really a breeding ground for criminal activity, I suppose. But then, most of this island isn't, not really."

"If the island is so safe, then why do people patrol it?" Zeela asked. "And why from rooftops? Wouldn't it make more sense to patrol down on the ground? You know, where the victims are?"

She liked the way he was just standing there, not getting any closer. She approved of that.

"Because when you're an acrobat, or you can fly, you might as well make use of the advantage of altitude when you're out looking for trouble," Jono replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's basic strategy, luv."

Like... the most basic there was, really. The higher ground had the upper hand. Had the better view. Had a much easier time of getting to the enemy when they were good and ready to.

"People patrol here because they want to make certain they don't lose their touch when they go home. Just because Fandom is usually safe doesn't mean where they come from ever is. And the world needs its heroes. Always will."

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