[open] This is all we got now, scream until your heart stops

[spoileralert]

WHO: Stephanie Brown
WHERE: Various Outdoors
WHEN: After Take Two Part 1
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: None anticipated

---

The first thing Steph does when she gets home is take a long, hot shower. Definitely top priority. The second thing she does is head down into the bunker. She’s heard about people using the vending machine and nothing terrible seemed to happen as a result. She deserves a treat, she figures, and she knows exactly what power she wants.

She waits until she’s out in the open again to try it out, and isn’t disappointed. She’s small, yes, but whatever she is, she has wings.

HOUSES

established cr

One of the advantages to being small is that you attract less attention. The same holds true for being a bird. As a robin she can glide into her friend’s houses, moving quickly and then staying still to be sure she wasn’t noticed. From there she has all sorts of fun options. She can perch on top of refrigerators, swoop down and startle someone, or steal food when they aren’t looking. A little more difficult is moving small objects around, but that’s just as fun.

Her favorite, though, is waiting until the person is distracted and landing in their hair. With hollow bones and proper timing they might never notice she’s there.

WOODS

OTA

Being a bird isn't all sunshine and rainbows, of course, and not just because it's early March. Her first real, open-air flight comes to an inelegant end as, failing to out-maneuver a hawk, she changes suddenly back to human shape to foil the poor creature.

She falls with a yelp into the foliage below.

VILLAGES

OTA

When she tires of flying and trolling her friends (which takes a good while, to be sure) Steph decides to wander around both villages, gaining an appreciation of what everything looks like when you're a small handful of inches tall. She also takes the opportunity to unnerve people as much as possible.

Getting some food from the inn? Did you notice that there's a bird on top of the fridge, or the ceiling lamp in the common area?

Sitting outside to soak up what sun there is? Don't look now, but a bird's joined you on the bench, and it looks like it's bird-watching too.

Or maybe you're just going about your business, in the dojo, one of the farms, even the library. Wherever you are, a small bird has taken great interest in your doings.

Comments

[plate_builder]

Oh dear. A sassy little thing, but there's nothing he can do about it.

"I'm sorry little one, but you should likely find a way out the way you came in. I'd try to help, but I can't really walk well right now."

Wendigos are a bitch. But he's happy he survived.

[spoileralert]

She hops to the edge of the desk to take a look. Of course she can't see his injury, but she worries. She also isn't sure this desk will support her human weight or that she won't mess anything up, so she glides over to the door before changing.

Human again and on her feet, she frowns at her friend.

"What happened to your leg?"

[plate_builder]

His eyes follow the movement of the bird and Reeve actually jerks away, just about flailing himself and his seat over in shock. He manages to keep just enough balance as he considers her. Interesting.

"Steph?" he asks, trying not to sound too disturbed. Is a bird that much more different from what happened with Vincent?

[spoileralert]

"Surprise," she offers weakly, waving her fingers in lazy jazz-hands. "You should really be more careful about your windows. I definitely could have been a murderer lying in wait. But what happened? Are you okay?"

[plate_builder]

"How did you do that? Are you..."

Oh wait, yes, he remembers now. The machine. The power must have come from that. Interesting. Still, he looks a bit worried about her. There are birds of prey out there. She could get hurt. But she'll not let him lecture her on that.

"I was not exactly in a place to close it while I was out in the wild. And the kitchen is a bit more of a walk than I wanted. As for my leg..."

He leans down to roll up the leg of his scrubs to show a carefully wrapped part of his leg. "Wendigo. Anne and I were able to take it down with fire, but not before I was hurt."

[spoileralert]

"I asked really nice," she offers as explanation. It's kind of what she did.

She hisses sympathetically when she sees how much of his leg has been wrapped. She'd been pretty roughed up herself, but at least she was used to the treatment.

"What the heck is a wendigo?" It sounds like a weird bird thing.

[plate_builder]

"A terrible thing. The cause of one of the few out and out deaths in the village's history. But Anne and I, when we touched... her power seemed to amplify my magic, and the bursts of fire always seemed to hit the very best places."

That had saved their lives. But not before he'd been hurt. At least they hadn't had to walk back. And Anne had been there to help him.

[spoileralert]

She thinks about that for a moment, somber and understanding, her hands shoved in her jeans pockets. Then her head pops up.

"Wait, you mean the were-whatever? Is that what it’s called?"

[plate_builder]

Were what? Forgive him, but that description is beyond confusing.

"Big, creepy thing with glowing white eyes and as dark as the night. Taller than even Bull is."

At least that was the impression he'd gotten when fighting the beast. And the claws had been sharp. Good thing they'd managed to stop the bleeding.

[spoileralert]

"Yeah, that’s the one. Kind of like a werewolf, but not really." She doesn’t expect him to know the word, but at least it explains the origin of ‘were-whatever’.

"Damn, that thing scared me half to death when I first got here. And I thought the yeti was bad..."

[plate_builder]

"Yeti?" Reeve asks, quite confused. No, more than that, he's concerned. He looks to Steph and gestures for her to take a seat. "You were out of the town as well, yes? Were you okay?"

He hadn't spent much time reaching out to others. Between the first day and the easy distraction he and Anne had fallen into from the brown skunk, and the search for as many feathers as they could manage after, and the Wendigo of course, he hadn't manged as much.

[spoileralert]

She takes the offered seat.

"Yeah, yeah, I was fine. I may not have ever had to do it before but I was trained to survive, even in the wilderness." She just... didn’t really retain a lot of it. When was she ever going to need to build a fire from trees? Well, last week, that’s when.

"We were in the mountains. Somehow we wandered into the territory of this massive... ape, thing. The Yeti, is what they would have called it back home. It wasn’t exactly thrilled to have company, but we managed. Making myself a weapon was the first thing I did. Then for some reason I turned into, I don’t know, I think maybe an eagle?" She shrugs off this minor detail.

"Anyway the point is, no major injuries. Just a few scrapes, bruises, maybe a little fracture or sprain or whatever."

[plate_builder]

"You should see the doctor, just in case," Reeve answers, clearly concerned about Steph. Perhaps it was a bit much to be worried about her, but he doesn't care. His protectiveness of people around him hasn't really changed.

"I was harassed by two brightly colored birds with feathers that make you float. So I suppose things are meant to be a bit strange here."

[spoileralert]

"I was trained in emergency care, too," she reminds (informs?) him. "There’s not much they can do for a cracked rib or a sprained ankle."

His description of the birds actually makes her laugh.

"For real? This place is so weird."

[plate_builder]

"Well, I had fire to try and corral it, but it's mate took offense to that, and I wasn't nearly dressed enough to be harassed by an angry bird. But it was tasty."

Listen, he was a practical man, okay?

[spoileralert]

She snorts, trying to contain the giggles.

"That sounds way better than our trip. We made do with what we were given and like, berries. I am crap at hunting without my knives."

[plate_builder]

"I set one on fire," Reeve grins at her. "Of course I don't suggest trying to wrestle angry birds while more or less naked."

He'd had boxers, but just that. The night before had been intense to say the absolute least.

[spoileralert]

Steph gives a groaning scoff, rolling her eyes.

"Please tell me you’re not talking sexcapades again. I get it, you pull. That’s awesome, go you, but you don’t have to rub it in. Some of us have been dumped kinda recently, you know."

She’s not actually angry, and there’s half a smile on her face, but she is jealous.

[plate_builder]

More sexcapades? Wait... she was there when he was talking about Lucifer. Reeve's face turns a little red and he looks away from her.

"There is something out there, a brown colored thing, small and furry. Anne says it's called a 'skunk.' I suggest avoiding them."

Turned out two of his few encounters here had been effectively on a very potent aphrodisiac. Which raised its own questions he would rather not touch.

[spoileralert]

She blinks at what seems like a total change of subject.

"Skunks are black and white."

[plate_builder]

"This one was brown," Reeve dismisses. "And from what Anne said they normally have a spray that smells bad. Just please avoid them."

Really, he doesn't want to talk about not one but two nights of debauchery because of the creatures.

[spoileralert]

"Yeah, I usually do. For exactly that reason." There’s a question in her voice, but she doesn’t ask it.

"Run into any other weird critters?"

[plate_builder]

"Just a little bird that decided to harass me in my own home, which I suppose I can accept seeing as she could go and close my kitchen window for me."

His expression softens. Frankly, he's just glad to see her around. Around and more or less safe.

[spoileralert]

She smiles fondly back.

"But if I do it for you how will you ever learn?"

[plate_builder]

"Stephanie Brown," Reeve says, and he hates taking out the full name card, but he has it thanks to the network and he intends to play it. "I am having trouble walking across the entire length of a room and the only reason I am staying warm is because I can literally conjure fire to keep me so. But I would appreciate it if, before you head out, you could do me this favor."

Which is completely reasonable for a man who takes some time to move just about anywhere.