>> “…Can't hide from the heavy stuff or you'll sink."

“Exactly,” Devon nodded. Max got it. Few people realized how talking through things with your friends was its own therapy. It’s why he tried to keep his approach as friendly as possible. The hard part came to the hard recommendations or anything involving the health and safety of another.

Out to the trail they went, excitement in their steps. Devon breathed in the fresh, sea air with a wide smile. It was warm for spring but the cool breezes made it refreshing. His eyes swirled and danced with the darkness until they had been overcome. The sun started to shine brighter, hotter and the breezes relaxed as the temperature climbed and blue retook his eyes.

>> “…I don't even have to climb back up."

Devon laughed. “Looks like we’ll have to race,” he nodded. His shoes were black loafers, not the most practical as were Max’s sneakers. It wasn’t long before dirt and rock was becoming sand, however. Devon slipped off the shoes eagerly, hooking them on a finger as they walked and the sun beat down on them.

>> "So you come out here often?"

Another laugh. “Yeah, I do, though less so lately,” he nodded reluctantly. “Been too busy. Nice to get out. But I spent a lot of time practicing here. When I was younger, living over in Rhode Island and Connecticut I’d look out over the ocean. Plus, I’ve got Plum Island to play on now,” he laughed, gesturing out over the water to the island to the north east. “When I’m not working, anyway.”

The ocean was coming into clearer view as the small shrubs and beach plants thinned. They were on a rocky outcropping, the sand thinning toward its edge and overlooking the wide sandy beach below. With a cheer, Devon ran forward, shucking his shoes and shirt to the side before jumping off with apparent glee.

Exercise is its own sort of therapy and as Max followed Devon the young mutant enjoyed the subtle rythme of the experience. One foot in front of the other, deep breaths as his foot moved over wooded and rocky terrain.

Devon told him about his experiences here and Max found himself trying to imagine a younger and more awkward Devon coming here to practice. Imagining Devon as teenager was hard enough, trying to imagine him as anything other than the stylish put together man before Max was even harder. His brain compensated by filling his inner eye with the image of a shorter Devon with acne but Max still thought it was probably off.

"I used to use an old railway near my house to train. Plenty of cover supplied by train cars and they doubled as obstacles for me to run through." He said.

They found themselves approaching an overlooking spot on the beach. The ocean sprawled out before them and the beach winding it's way lazy around the water like a sandy frame. Devon let out a cheer stripped off his shirt and threw himself off the rocks. Max followed suit, hopping a little as he stripped off the sneakers and flung his shirt off as he leapt.

The air raced by, and wind whipped his face.

>> "I used to use an old railway near my house to train. Plenty of cover supplied by train cars and they doubled as obstacles for me to run through."

“That’s really clever,” Devon remarked with an exuberance seemingly brightened by the sunshine around them.

Of course it was then that he chose to leave the world of words behind. At the site of the open ocean and the beach below he cheered his happiness aloud into the sky while eagerly inhaling the sea air. His shoes got tossed as did his shirt as he ran off the cliff and jumped with the notably apparent glee.

Max did the same and Devon hollered excitedly seeing the man follow suit. The cool licking of the sea winds lapped at their skin as the beach raced to greet them. But Devon had turned over on his back as his eyes had turned dark, pitch black. The wind roared off the ocean and spun eagerly below them, sending sand in an outward direction. A buffeting gust rose up and caught them, spiraling gently as tiny cross currents encircled and beat against the roaring wind below them.

With gentle feather falling ease they met their ground. Tempest laughed as he turned back around, alighting his feet to the ground and waiting for his friend to follow suit. The wind quieted almost as quickly as it began, though the breeze off the ocean continued. An eager wave crashed against the shore.

“I’ll never get tired of that!” Devon laughed. “Too bad I’m not as good lifting as I am catching with wind. If only we could get up there quickly!” he shouted and winked a still-solid-black eye.

There was a primal and simplistic joy to be had at jumping off of something high. The urge to jump from tall places was something that all humans had. It was a rebellious desire to experience danger. Everyone knew falling was dangerous, but it was an adrenaline pumping danger.

A grin plastered it's way onto Max's face as he fell. The wind whipped at his face as he plummeted towards the beach. He let out a whoop of defiance as he fell. He planned on catching himself when he saw Devon flip and the man's eyes became a shining jet black.

A gale of wind exploded upward and caught Devon and Max. It was a wind strong enough to support their weight, and Max felt the even constant pressure on him as he was literally caught by the wind. He felt his descent slow and his feet touched the soft shifting sand.

His friend joked with him and and Max gave him a grim. That was the first time he had ever seen Devon use his ability. He had summoned a powerful wind in an instant. He wondered just what else the man could do.

"Going up sir?" He asked offering his hand for Devon, "I'll give you a lift."

"He waited for Devon to take his hand and prepared to extend his power out and reverse gravity. It would bring them sparing upward and Max could drop his power and land on the cliff as gently as they had on the beach.

This was fun, pure and simple. Devon didn’t let loose very often; he had in his youth and it cost him nearly everything… But he was not so alone, not so lost. Much luck and opportunity still awaited him. He seized it, but enjoying the raw power and joy that came with his ability was still important.

It was nice to share it with something. Devon grinned all the wider to see the smile on Max’s face. They landed with grace and ease; this was a much practiced ability after all. He sure hoped Max could get them back up but if not, Devon would help him along. It was good to let loose and good to practice.

>> "I'll give you a lift."

“Yes,” Devon chuckled, his head quickly shaking as if to raise his nose above some imagined help. They did once have lift operators. Long ago it was often minorities to serve in such positions, barely paid enough for their day to day wage to survive living on the outskirts of the city. Things had changed but not quite enough… Devon was also hoping their earlier conversation would translate to something more, but getting an idea of Max’s ability was important too.

Devon took Max’s hand eagerly and up they went! “Smooth!” Devon shouted, enjoying the weightlessness as Max raised them to the cliff. Their feat alighted with little trouble and Devon nodded approvingly.

“That was great. We could do this all day,” Devon laughed. “How high could you get?”

They touched down on the top of the cliffs once again and Max felt a rush of pride at Devons praise. He considered Devons question for a moment.

"No idea really. I can double gravity and point it upward so I'd have some speed. I can only keep my power going for three minutes at a time so high enough to make the cold and lack of oxygen am issue I'd say. Haven't really tried going too far up." He said.

He looked out over the beach and smiled.

"I have to be careful. Terminak velocity for a human falling is 122 miles per hour. I can go double that. I'm only human though, so I have to worry about things like wind burn and impact. Even just now I had to adjust gravity to break our momentum when we got ready to land otherwise the impact would be the same as just falling." He explained.

He rolled his shoulder. He'd broken bones alot when he had first started training with his power. Now accounting for momentum was basically second nature, but he had taken the lumps getting to that point.

"What about your wind ability? You seem to be able to cushion a fall easily. Can you make a wind column underneath yourself to fly?"

Devon smiled, clearly impressed with Max as he described his knowledge of his power. Double gravity, turn it upside down, the limit of time… He could reach the stratosphere if cold and breathable air became a problem. That was impressive. Being able to catch yourself in time, now there was the problem.

A faint nod was given at the terminal velocity concern. Careful indeed. Max had to worry about the atmosphere, the weather fighting him. Devon didn’t, but Devon didn’t know quite how to fly yet. Landings were easy, the movement not as much. The more he focused on doing so the harder it seemed to be. He spent all his time and concentration on the side to side, the precision…

A crestfallen grin answered Max’s question first. “No, not yet,” he laughed. “But oh how I’ve tried. Years now. I can make gusts to carry people back and forth or catch a group from even a tall building – useful skills,” Devon nodded urgently, “Don’t get me wrong. But to fly? To reach the upper levels of our atmosphere, heck even the stratosphere like it sounds like you can?”

Devon sighed wistfully, turning away from the young man who had so easily, naturally called out the question most asked. He gazed longingly off the cliff, over the beach, and out onto the ocean. “The best I’ve got is some careful hovering and then gusting myself around. It’s messy and not really safe in a dangerous situation, let alone somewhere I might be distracted. If saving someone’s life relied on me flying from one rooftop to another, then it’d better be the next one over and close or off course I’m bound to go.”

He turned around, smiling hopefully. “But I keep practicing. I come here. I meet other mutants with amazing abilities. They help me think of my powers, my abilities differently and I hope to help them in turn,” Devon chuckled, turning his head side to side. “Like if you can really double gravity’s affect and turn it over, with enough bouncing back and forth you could hold yourself or others in place, let alone create a kind of slingshot effect. And how minimal can you make the gravimetric impact? Frankly, I’m impressed of what limits you know.”

“You aren’t just some guy nearly falling down the stairs are ya?” Devon shook his head. “You really would be great to work more with and I think Haven would be benefited to have you. Maybe we talk more about that, but I think for now we practicing bouncing down and up before we head for a swim.”

Devon’s eyes swirled with darkness as a gust suddenly roared from behind them and knocked them off the cliff with a ferocious howl, matched by Devon’s eager shout.

heck even the stratosphere like it sounds like you can

Max gave Devon a shy smile. The guy talked about his abilities like they were so impressive. Max could see that he was impressed. It was alien to the dancer. He had become accustomed to people finding his power strange, or else thinking him a freak. Devon seemed sincerely interested. Given that the guy could manipulate the literal air itself Max found it strange.

"Flying dangerous. Took me years and more broken bones than I'd like to be able to do what I can. It's not flying, it's falling with style." He said with a chuckle.

Devin continued his analysis of his own ability. Max was impressed by it. He could do amazing things, but he also understood his own limits. That was a rare find in mutants. Give a man a little power and they think they can move mountains. Devon sounded dare he say it humble.

Frankly, I’m impressed of what limits you know.”

Max considered the statement.

"Usually for floating I just negate gravity. Ice done some momentum tricks but it's difficult. I can almost wholly negate impact by reversing gravity against my own momentum but it puts a hell of a strain on my body." He mused. It be worth looking into.

Devon spoke again and Max flushed. Devin seemed genuine. He wanted to work with Max. He found Max capable and strong. It was refreshing. Before Max could respond however Devon took off and leapt off the cliff once again.

There would be time for talk later. Time for planning and preparing. For now Max would enjoy good company and the ocean before him. Whatever would come later he would deal with then.

END THREAD