One thing he’d missed about the city was the lights; no matter what time of the night it was there was some kind of beautiful scene from above that only a few people truly got to enjoy. Carrick was glad he was one of them. His wings adjusted to catch the wind so he didn’t have to flap them. It took less energy that way and while it was slower typically he currently wasn’t in a rush to go anywhere or see anyone.

It had been a week since he moved back to the mansion. He hadn’t seen any of his old friends from by his count a year ago but for everyone else a few years had passed. The mansion grounds hadn’t changed but everyone there had. There was still no Liz, not like he’d want to see her anyways, still bad feelings there. He wondered if it was because he deaged he still had feelings for her surely he would have gotten over them when he got older right?

Other than Serena most of his friends had moved out meaning he was for the most part alone. Which suited him just fine, wasn’t like people could keep up with him anyways. Rummaging through his pocket he removed his phone. No new messages, no potential gigs tonight which made having his guitar strapped to his back kind of silly.

Opening up to his camera on his phone he decided to capture the lights, unfortunately for him he had no one to share it with, which was fine. He preferred it this way anyways. The sound of the camera went off and then he was struck by a flock of pigeons that flapped aggressively confused as a few of them found their way into his arms and eventually his hands replacing where he once held the phone.

”Filthy rats!” Carrick swatted the air not realizing he dropped his phone. The shifter swatted the birds and his flight was interrupted as he turned in the air trying to get free. One of the birds somehow managed to lodge itself into his hands.

”I’m glad my other form eats ya! Ya got no business flying in my airspace!” Carrick shouted as he gripped the bird realized it wasn’t his phone then threw the bird away from him. ”F$$$” Carrick shouted loudly as his eagle like eyes spotted his phones free fall to the ground.

It wasn’t like he had anyone to call him for anything but he still didn’t want to go through the process of getting a new one. They were like a grand and in the words of one of his idols, ‘if you can’t buy it twice don’t buy it.’ He could barely afford one, the new guitar on his back might have been the reason he was broke now.

Wings snapped backwards and Carrick dove as fast as he could towards the phone.

She was dumb. Like a dummy dumbdumb kind of blonde stereotype that Raine tried and obviously-was-incredibly-failing at not being.

Who walked into the den of a leopard and expected to walk out without getting her face eaten?

Who had two thumbs and was playing her ukulele while standing on the underside of a bridge?

Raine strummed her ukulele with her feet firmly planted on the concrete underlay of one of the many twisting roadways that rose up to meet a bridge to mainland New York. The acoustics were great and she paced as she strummed and considered how dumb she was.

Yeah. Real dumb. No more tequila before going on a self-appointed x-man mission. She was not a good representative of the brand that way, not that she was officially affiliated.

She didn't exactly register that she'd started running through a Fleetwood Mac song until it came time to transition.

Like a heartbeat drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost
And what you had
And what you lost

Something dropped past her field of vision and she turned to watch something smooth fall past her. That was quickly followed by a boy. With wings.


Raine yelped, pinwheeled her arms, and fell back on her butt. She still wasn't used to just seeing these sorts of things happening out in the wild and it surprised her enough that she dropped her ukulele. Raine stayed connected to the on ramp bridge. Her ukulele fell just after the diving boy.

Oh hell.

She dove after them all.

His mismatched eye shifted as he passed something on an on ramp that wasn’t a car human? Weird. He looked upwards saw something fall after him and then he looked back towards his phone that occasionally reflected the city lights back to him till it got lower than said lights.

”Fallsloweryoupeiceof****!” Carrick called out as his hand stretched as far as it could towards the device. He didn’t know if it was luck or what but slid two of his fingers around it and snapped his wings out far later than he should have. Carrick felt the strain as his body jerked against gravity and held up by his wings. He winced slightly and then drifted in the air his wings fully outstretched.

He flapped his wings once looked to his phone screen and kissed it glad he was somehow lucky. Before he could count his blessings however something smacked him on the hand that was holding his phone. There was momentary pain but his insticts took over and he grabbed it, dropping what he was holding a second ago.

A ukulele in hand now Carrick watched as his phone tumbled to the streets. The shifter was more than confident about his speed in the air but there was no way he’d be able to adjust, drop, catch, and then right himself. ”Mother ****er!” Carrick shouted shaking the ukulele in one fist as he went after the phone.

Raine picked up speed at an alarming rate. She tucked her arms and pointed her toes and felt her hair whipping behind her like the flapping of wings. Like she was really and truly alive. A waft of cursing drifted up to her ears and Kid Icarus flapped open his wings to catch the wind.

She and her ukulele were headed like two bullets straight at him.

Raine moved her arms and legs and that put her in an accidental spin, but no longer in a direct collision path with the winged boy. Her poor uke didn't have legs and arms so it plonked right into his hand. Raine cringed and hoped the body wasn't cracked and that the boy's hand was okay. The item that the boy had hurtled after fell anew. That was fine because Raine still had speed.

"On your left. Uh. Watch out!" She had to move her arms and ended up flipping crazily again just avoid landing on his back. She came nearly nose to nose with the guy as she passed, marked with a tiny salute that helped turn her mid air, and then she tucked her arms and legs again.

Wait. What was she doing? The ground was MUCH closer than she'd thought and she didn't actually have to catch the item in question. She just had to stop it from falling down.

Raine wound up her arm and pitched it forward, connecting her will with the phone she tapped her belly and pointed its gravity up toward herself. The phone stopped and hung for the briefest of moments before it changed direction. But she didn't see because she'd turned and pitched again to the only thing nearby enough to get a hold of... the boy.

She felt the tether engage and Raine whooped as she stopped falling down and abruptly started falling up. There would be no extra drag or weight for Kid Icarus. But she was falling toward him now, his phone trailing soon after. She spread her arms to increase drag and got thwapped in the back by the phone which had been mere feet from becoming a modern art display across the ground.

Hopefully she could find a tall building to connect with rather than clobbering into the winged kid, but for now she grabbed at the phone and waved it above her head. Wherever he went, she was skiing on air after him at terminal velocity... which was a rather new experience for her.

"Hostage exchange?" She shouted over the wind and hoped her uke was alright...

”Got to be codding me.” Carrick said as a woman gave him a salute and dropped past him. Carrick shifting his weight made a b-line for the woman thinking she was some kind of jumper only to stop short when he noticed she had stopped falling and started rising towards him like some kind of yo-yo.

‘Flight’ Carrick’s eyes shifted too pupils and he started to flap his wings quickly to try and gain some distance between he and the woman. His tail flicked behind him not sure what to make of the situation. Another flyer in the city?!? Could she give him a run for his money did he sense competition?

The woman waved her hand in his direction as she followed him asking for a hostage exchange. Carrick looked to the ukulele and then to his phone and grinned. ”Don’t know. Always wanted one of these…” he said as he started to fly higher the woman still following him. Could she fly faster than him? A low growl emanated form his chest before he cut it out. Competition had a tendency to work up his other forms.

His tail flicked behind him as he started to laugh, ”Don’t really have anyone to call, how about if you can catch me, we’ll make a trade?” Carrick asked giving her a toothy grin as he started flying into the city. She was going to get it back anyways but she didn’t know that. Maybe he found someone to give him a challenge when it came to ruling the skies.

Was he testing her? He was about to be sorely disappointed in himself because he was having to flap his wings. All Raine had to do was fall. Only one of those things took energy.

The wind whipped at her face making her eyes stream tears behind her. It plucked at her clothes and the edges of her shirt kept threatening to flay her upper arms and stomach as she spread herself out to increase drag in an attempt not to clobber the dude. She really should have found a new costume before heading out. Civvie clothes were no good in the air.

And even with all that, Raine's collision was anything but gentle. She'd planned to shout "tag!" but only just managed "Ooof." and she was flung into him from below. Her version of "flying" put a new context to the small spattering of bruises she sported, but never could remember where they came from.

"Hi! It's nice to meet you." Mid air. Were they losing altitude? Could he not carry two people? What kind of air bus was he!? "That's my ukulele." In case he'd forgotten. She put on her best volunteer and childcare smile. "Can I help you? Are you in need of rescue or assistance?"

He could push her away, but she'd only drop right back into him. She was stuck, in a way, like glue.

She was quick. Too quick it almost wasn’t even a fair race while he managed to push himself off from where he was with his powerful wings he wasn’t even given the chance to reach his top speed. Carrick grunted as she crashed into him. ”Feck! Gettofff!” he said as he had to adjust to the person colliding into him.

Still holding onto the Ukulele his face turned a slight shade of red suddenly being so close to someone. ”Buy me a drink first before you get this close.” Carrick grunted taking his free hand and trying to push her off of him. He wasn’t aware where he was pushing just that he was pushing.

”No, **** it’s yers.” Were they losing altitude? Carrick’s mismatched colored eyes looked around…. They were! Carrick decided if she wasn’t going to get away from him then he’d at least show off his flying skills. Even if she was faster.

Carrick ever the sore loser wrapped an arm around her waist and flapped his wings. ”Love, until you got here I was the faster flier. I don’t need help in the air.” his wings took them to a building nearby. ”How fast are you?”

His response was valid, if unexpected. When she'd assaulted people in the past, they usually liked it. No. Wait. Silhouette had liked it and she was seriously skewing Raine's perception of "normal" by messing with her heart. Of course nobody liked getting landed on, let alone in mid-air. He told her to get off. "Uh. No can do."

Though she did snort at the joke. He was, what? A couple years younger than her? She wasn't about to make it a habit to buy under age kids drinks. "And that's a double no can do. You're underage." She didn't know that for sure, but she was willing to bet on it.

He was quite mouthy which made Raine exercise her eyebrows. Raine reached for the instrument until she felt him secure her against him with an arm. That made her immobile enough to not be able to reach. Short arms. All that. Ugh.

"Oh, I don't actually fly. Like a jet ski, I tethered to you." She massaged his ego since it seemed a bit sore. "You'd never win that race 'cause that was your speed plus... mine." She'd hesitated, not because she was trying to deceive him, but because "plus the rate of gravity" was starting to sound like a math problem, rather than the simple fact that Raine didn't always fall down.

"It's not flying. I just point and that's the way I go. It's a lot more like falling." Because it was. But, again, she didn't want to nerd out at the first meeting, unsolicited. "You'd beat me in maneuverability. I go in straight lines?" Was his ego satisfied yet? She'd really rather be on her feet again.

”Me underage?” he scoffed, ”Underage doesn’t exist to an Irishmen. I’m legal back home and technically here as well.” Carrick said not wanting to let her get any closer by reaching for his papers, which said he was five years older. He still hadn’t changed it since the de-age and until someone was going to make him he didn’t see the point.

Carrick’s wings now getting some altitude and hovering over the closest building he lowered slowly hoping she’d decide to get off of him and do whatever she did a few feet away. This was a little much for him.

When she clarified on her flying abilities his eyes narrowed at her his brain trying to process everything she just had said., ”So ya cheated?” not allowing himself admit defeat when it came to flying. If it was in the air he could no longer claim he was the best but he decided to not let her know that. ”Well at least I’m still the best then.” he said feeling better about the whole situation knowing neither of his other forms would have liked to admit defeat.

As usual when someone complimented him on his ability to fly his chest started to vibrate with a purr before he realized what he was doing. ”Well, at this point I feel like I earned the thing by default but from the smell of it, you need it more than I do.” he said sniffing the air, ”Tequila? Who you gonna fight?” he asked smirking and offering up her instrument.

Oh. The whole "I have an accent, gimmie booze" schtick. Raine rolled her eyes. "You're underage here and underage now." Geez that was an Irish accent? She'd thought it was Scottish. Raine was suddenly glad she hadn't tried to guess.

Ah. Yes. Excellent. He was taking them to a building with all the flapping and gentle landings. Normally, Raine's ability had her ricking scrapes and bruises. She might easily overshoot her target, nor tether too early with zero gravity and be too far away from a surface to get there. And of course, she might tether too late.

> ”So ya cheated?”

"Absolutely. I'm a big fat cheater face, but it works for me most of the time."

Was he... purring? Raine let her tether drop as soon as she was at a height that she felt comfortable dropping and landing.

Of course, landing with a shock against the roof of a building did not magically put her ukulele in her hands.

She stood and brushed herself off. As the guy was giving the air a good sniff.

> ”Tequila?"

Raine froze and had to resist giving herself a sniff. Did she smell like tequila?

"Tequila is my favorite bad decision." She admitted haltingly, glad to have her ukulele offered to her without a struggle. "Did I give you your phone?" She pat the holey, exposed pockets of her jean shorts as if she'd had time to tuck it away. She must have dropped it which meant it'd gone back to its last tether... on her back. Raine turned around and looked as best she could and... yeah. It was there, somehow migrating to a spot just barely out of her reach.

"There it is! Thanks for not dropping my uke! Or me." She gave her instrument a strum and cringed at how the wind had affected the tuning. As for his phone, he'd have to get that himself. She'd already tried and failed to reach it on that spot on her back.

Carrick was a lot of things but he never considered himself underage, maybe it was the curse of youth or the fact that he was old enough to drink twice now back home. Hard telling Carrick anything he didn’t want to hear though. ”Mom just died, don’t need another thanks.” he rolled his mismatched colored eyes as much as possible for the effect.

The shifter hated being told he wasn’t allowed to do something, just made him want to do it more, might be the cat in him.

”Can’t fault ya too much then, eh?” Carrick said glad she admitted it wasn’t a fair race. When she dropped down and took back her instrument he flapped a few more times in the air then lowered himself to the ground a few feet and tucked his wings behind him.

”Everybody’s got something.” he said with a shrug, ”Smoking fer me.” he said as he reached to a pocket and did the ‘I left them back home act’ ”Wouldn’t’ happen to have any on ya would ya? Must have left mine home.” Carrick said rarely having any on his person. He didn’t buy them because he knew he’d use them but he loved to bum smokes off people.

”Didn’t yet. No.” he said glad she remembered. He probably would have been fine with out one, would have been harder to get some gigs sure, but he was fine going off grid. Not like there was anyone important he had to talk to anyways. ”and not a problem. Haven’t lost a passenger or an instrument yet!” he said grinning.

The shifter walked over and cleared his throat as he reached for his phone off her back wondering how she got it to stuck her. Hopefully the thing wasn’t damaged. Stolen was one thing, they usually tried to charge more for fixing it up. He already had a cracked screen and he didn’t feel like dealing with the hassle.

”Bit out of tune innit?” Carrick asked after hearing it. ”Play often?” he asked curiously sliding his soft guitar case off of his back and rummaged through one of the pockets. There was a electric tuner he used to help on occasion. ”Might help.” he said offering it up.