ArchivedLogs:Flying Lessons

Flying Lessons
Dramatis Personae Anette and Mai
In Absentia	2017-01-02 "You piss off the right mutants and occasionally shit gets done"
Location <NYC> Central Park North
Central Park North is slightly quieter than its southern counterpart, being further uptown and slightly out of the bustle of the City - insofar as one can escape the bustle of the City even here, in the acres of green and blue that make up Central Park. The reservoir is in the northern half, providing miles of jogging and biking trails along the clear water, as well as benches for people to sit and rest. Central Park... it seems that lately Mai has found herself here fairly often, for varying reasons, not that she minds as she rather likes the park, though she is somewhat nervous tonight due to the somewhat uncomfortable to her nature of the reason why she is here, flying. Making her way to the more distant sections of the park where people rarely go to, especially during the night, middle of winter, which means it should be reasonably private. Her jacket has been zipped up fully to help in staying warm with her hands in the pockets of said jacket. She stops once she is in sufficiently remote area that has some space around since she figures that its probably good idea to have some space for flying! Turning her attention up to the night sky, which is not really all that dark due to the lights of the city in the distance, although not just to admire the sky, but also trying to spot the person she came here to meet. Anette walks down the winding paths of the park, away from the more popular areas and into the less populated ones. She wears a long leather coat, both against the cold and to hide her wings from view, her taloned hands casually resting in her pockets. When Mai comes into view, she lifts a hand and gives it a wave. "Hey," is all she says, walking up to the other one. "Ready to do this?" Mai blinks in surprise when she hears the voice from the ground level and turns her attention towards it, blushing a bit as she was obviously expecting Anette to fly here, like she did the first time they met. "Oh, hey, there you are! Thank you for coming, I really appreciate it. Oh, and I guess about as ready as I am going to get! Oh and, uh, just a heads up, I am still kind of new, and figuring all of this out, so if I say something silly, I apologize in advance, as I have like no idea what the correct terms for most of these things are." She offers with a smile. Anette can't help but chuckle at Mai's surprise. "Believe it or not, I try to keep the flying to a minimum. Besides, it's...not a good time to draw attention to ourselves. Which reminds me. We shouldn't have any trouble but the first sign of anything, you split in anyway you can, got it?" She watches Mai a moment, making sure she gets the message before grinning and slipping her coat off her shoulders, letting her wings stretch out. "So uh...what /do/ you do?" she asks, glancing over Mai curiously, referring to her mutant abilities. Mai listens to what Anette is saying and then offers a nod to the instructions. "Alright, that sounds reasonable." She agrees, smiling as she watches those wings being revealed and stretched out, they look so beautiful. Then when Anette asks about her abilities she has to think for a few moments on how to best explain, as she isn't quite sure of the proper terms. "Well, umm my flying isn't quite as... uhh natural? as yours, as like I don't have wings or anything. I can like... move things... without touching them... like from a distance away. And, I figured out that I can also like move... well, myself, that way. It just feels so weird. If any of that makes any sense?" She inquires with a curious look towards Anette. "Coulda just said telekinetic," Anette teases once Mai rambles on with her 'explanation'. "Alright. Well...I don't know how much I can help you then. I mean, flying with wings and flying with your mind are completely different. Still...not so bad having someone out to fly with." She gives her wings a beat and soars into the air, nearly straight up, finding a nearby tree branch strong enough to hold her weight. "And for the record, I don't mind it but if you stare at the wrong mutant, you might get punched in the face." Mai giggles a bit at Anette's much more compact and to the point way of describing her powers. "Oh, thats the word, thanks." Biting her lower lip a bit as she listens to the rest. "Yeah, I can imagine that it is, its just... it feels so strange to me, maybe its just an issue of not being used to it." She ponders, then blushes at the remark. "Sorry... that was rude from me, your wings are just so beautiful. But alright... lets try this..." the last part said more to herself as she takes a deep breath and then focuses, soon she does lift off from the ground, though quite a bit more unsteadily than Anette did, then flies over to hover front of the other girl at same height. "Don't worry too much. Everyone's a little awkward in the beginning. Just...try to learn." Anette gives a quick wink though. "You're not so bad yourself. Sadly, I'm a taken woman." Doesn't matter if Mai meant it in a flirting intention, that's where Anette's going with it. She leans back carefully from her perch and watches as Mai raises herself up. "Not bad," she says. "Could use some work but practice will cover that." Anette crawls across the branch and drops herself from it, wings quickly spreading and she flies back up, finding another nearby tree. "Any other abilities or just telekinesis?" Mai listens to Anette's words while she holds herself aloft, eyes widening at the teasing. "Uh, I didn't... I mean... not in that way." she stumbles a bit with words, good thing its fairly dark so her blushing isn't so obvious. Looking down over herself quickly after it, partly to hide it, and partly to actually see how she is doing in response to Anettes words. "Thanks. I haven't really done this much, just somehow feels so weird to be floating in this manner." is offered before she watches Anette fly to another tree, her brow furrowing some as she focuses to the new location so she can move herself there through the air. Her flying is definetily lot clunkier looking than Anettes, as it doesn't really follow the laws of physics in same way. Once she has caught up with the owl-girl again she takes a breath. "Uhh... not as far as I know, at least. Plenty enough to try to get used to just this." she notes with a light laugh. "Well, just keep practicing. I used to come out here at night. It's quiet enough and there's so few people around. But I also have enhanced sight and hearing so I knew if someone was approaching before they saw me. And with the cops treating all mutants like criminals again...I don't know if I'd risk practicing in public as much." Anette scowls after the last sentence, the current anti-mutant situation ruining her mood. "Just...be careful." Mai listens curiously at what Anette is saying. "You do? That must be pretty handy. Although... I guess the hearing part could backfire too sometimes if there is like some really loud sounds?" She inquires, then frowns at the mention of the police. "Uh, has there ever been a time when they didn't? Not that I really have that much experience yet, but from what I have seen so far at least, it seems to be like their standard procedure or something to treat mutants like crap, and not just the cops either, but pretty much everyone who matters. Its like mutants are the new black people and they repeating history all over again." realizing she had started rambling a bit there again she takes a breath. "Sorry... didn't mean to unload on you, I just wish... that people would leave us alone, you know." "Yeah, loud sounds can be...well, a pain. But I've been getting better with those, too." Anette can't help but smile as Mai begins rambling. "So you get it. But yeah, with that murder, the guy thrown from his building, it apparently was a mutant so naturally the police are gonna act like /all/ mutants did it. Though from what I hear, the guy deserved it." Anette gives a light shrug, jumps from her branch, and coasts to the ground. "Here, it's a little more comfortable on the ground." Mai didn't complain or anything, but she was starting to get somewhat tired from the constant focus of keeping herself in the air, even if it is much less stressful to do it on herself than on something else. So she is quite happy when Anette suggests them to move back on the ground. Biting her lower lip a bit as she is careful to not lower herself too fast, which makes it seem almost like in slow motion for the last few yards until she is standing on the ground again, taking a deep breath. "Whew, its weird... like it doesn't feel like its that big deal when I am doing it, but once I stop suddenly feeling like I would have ran a marathon or something." she explains after catching her breath some. Looking back to Anette then as she mentions the murder. "Oh... I read about that from the newspaper. The headline made it sound like there was a mutant revolt or something. And yeah, wasn't it some anti-mutant activist or something? I bet that if it would have been other way around... I mean like some jerk like that killing a mutant, it wouldn't have even made the news, or they would have made it sound like the guy was a hero or something." Anette watches as Mai lowers herself oh-so-carefully back to the ground, nodding once the girl lands safely and describes it. "Yeah, I used to feel the same way. Course for me, it was about building muscles. The wings would get so sore when I first started really working with them." Anette clenches her fists as he topic of the murder continues. "That is exactly how it would go. Hell, the police made a fight ring around mutants, hardly anyone gave a shit. Though now that we have the freak squad...well, they'll minimally better than the regular police. At least I trust them not to kill us." Having mostly recovered normal breathing now, Mai straighens up and stretches her arms to the sides a bit. "Yeah... I think its something like that, or well at least I -hope- it will get better with practice." She replies with a chuckle. She blinks at what Anette tells next though as that is all news to her. "Really? Damn, thats... terrible. The guys responsible didn't even get fired for that? Oh there is mutant police? I mean like known mutants that are allowed in the force? I thought like no government institution allows mutants, at least like... you know officially. Well, thats a step to the right direction at least, I guess?" "Oh, you piss off the right mutants and occasionally shit gets done. Yeah, there's a squad of mutant cops who handle mutant-related cases. Cuz they won't, you know, shoot the first one with wings or tentacles." Anette merely shakes her head. "But really, they're not all that much better. And I honestly don't know what exactly happened with the whole fight club mess though. I know some of the survivors but never bothered to ask." Mai gives a nod to that information. "That's something at least, I suppose. Not that I want to get into situations where would have to deal with cops in the first place though, mutant or otherwise. I guess I am somewhat fortunate in that I don't like look obviously mutant, so its a bit easier to blend in, though it can be pretty lonely, like I mean, can't really talk about things with much anyone since never know how they would react to finding it out. So as result, end up not really letting many people close in the first place. At least I have got a few mutant friends recently." a slight smile is given towards Anette with the last part. Anette can't help but give a friendly grin with the last bit. "Yeah, that can be hard. I was lucky, I went to a school that, uh...caters to mutants. Not that I made a lot of friends but, you know, I was with people like me. You'll figure things out." Anette gives a shiver and picks her coat off the ground, slipping it back on. "You really don't want to deal with cops though. I was shot at by one for saving his life. I /really/ should have gotten his badge number." Mai gives a curious look to Anette at that information. "Oh? Was it that... what was it called... Xavier's place? One of my other friends mentioned that, I am not sure though if I am really a boarding school type person, and besides, I guess I would be a bit too old to start at school like that anyway. And hell, probably couldn't afford it either." She concludes with a slight laugh. Then she gets more serious at the last part of what Anette says, wincing a bit. "Ouch... talk about a jerk! Good thing at least that he had lousy aim." "Yeah, Xavier's. Not a bad a bad place. And they're your usual high school. So if you're over eighteen, you're kinda out of the running." Anette shakes her head gently. "His aim wasn't that bad. He got me in the leg. I was on crutches for a month and I still have the scar." Mai nods a few times as she listens the information about Xavier's. "Well, I am not quite yet... I am almost seventeen... just, don't tell that to anyone if you see me at Down Under." she notes with a giggle. "I go there sometimes for a few ciders, they aren't too punctual with checking papers, and I can kind of pass as adult." she explains, then winces at the mention of the shot. "That sucks! It also reminds me... that was kind of how I initially found out I can do this... telekinesis was it? Getting shot at by the police... or well, technically they weren't -aiming- at me, but got caught in the middle between cops and some terrorists or something. And they missed me entirely... it wasn't until later that I realized that I -made- them miss." Anette can't help but look impressed with Mai's story. "That's actually kinda awesome. I just started growing things and never stopped. Well, the hearing and seeing thing was around for a while but, you know, your first thought usually isn't 'I'm turning into an owl'." She does tilt her head slightly though, look at Mai closely. "So where are you going to school then?" Mai can't help but giggle at the mention of turning into an owl. "Yeah... that definitely wouldn't be the first thing that would come to mind, and I guess that if you like always had the hearing and seeing, it probably didn't even feel strange, like since didn't have much to compare to?" She reasons, then shrugs at the last question. "I am not... can't really afford it now when I am living all alone... have to work a few jobs just to be able to pay the rent and food. Thank god that I learned how to cook decently from mom, its so much cheaper to actually make your own food than go to like McDonalds or something." Anette presses her lips together gently. "I really feel like you should probably be in school. If only because it's, you know, the law. But hey, if you can keep out of trouble, whatever you want. Though that does sound rough." She does grin a bit though. "Never been much of a cook. Probably should learn but...it's so much easier to just throw something in the microwave." Mai gives a slight smile to Anette. "I certainly wouldn't mind to. I rather like drawing, and I have like this dream to really study it in university or something and make a living with that... but I am not sure if I can ever actually afford to, certainly not currently at least... maybe someday." She muses, then smiles at the talk about cooking. "Maybe I could teach you a few tricks sometimes. My favorite is woks, though that might just be because thats like the cheapest thing that you can make out of about anything, like just toss whatever leftovers you find from the pantry on the pan, mix it all together and add some seasoning." she explains with a light laugh. "I suppose this is the part where I give you some speech about how if you really, really want it, you can do it. But we both know that's not how the world works. But I wish you luck in that anyway." Anette does nod at the suggestion, crossing her arms across her chest. "I suppose stir-fry would be hard to mess up. And now I want stir-fry. I wonder if there are any places open this late." Mai giggles at the speech part, nodding then. "Thanks. And yeah, its pretty easy to do, and surprisingly good. I don't know if there are. As I rarely eat 'out' anyways, unless someone else is paying, due to the whole 'not that much money' issue." She explains with a laugh. "Really thank you though, its so nice to have at least someone that can talk with about things." "Glad I can help. You seem like a nice kid. If you ever need anything, let me know," Anette says with a faint smile. "But that's probably enough flying for now. I'm gonna go find food somewhere. Take care of yourself and keep your head down." Mai gives a nod in agreement to what Anette says. "Thanks, your pretty cool too. Hope to see you around more. Have a nice rest of the evening." She offers in return with a little wave of her hand.