take these wings and fly

[thezcdiacs]

flocked:

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[flocked]

radar wasn’t the type to boast about his body, to parade around half naked like ace did oh so often. he didn’t walk around in muscle tanks or find himself flexing at every possible opportunity. it wasn’t to say that he was ashamed of his body or the way he looked, because that wasn’t that case. he just felt weird exposing that much skin, letting the others see the scars that marked his body. as their fearless leader he was supposed to be tough and resilient, and he felt like the memories of old injuries told a different story. with aura those worries melted away, and he was filled with a confidence that he didn’t have anywhere else. radar knew that there were no judgments when they were together, no reason for him to worry.

the sound of her voice fueled his fire, made him that much more determined to keep giving her reasons to say his name. he grinned as he felt her legs wrap around him, pulling him closer. one of his hands moved up to her breast, massaging it gently while he worked. with the other he separated her lips with his fingers in order to give him better access. radar’s tongue circled her clit before he took a moment to lightly suck at the area. from there he began to trace the alphabet, his tongue working at a steady speed. occasionally he stopped for a second, just long enough for his thumb to circle her clitoris a few times. radar looked up at her question, intrigue painted on his face. “yes baby,” he grunted in approval. “show me. show me.”

[flocked]

crunch laughed a little. “aww, aura doesn’t hate you. it’s just … it’s been us against the world for forever, y’know? can’t really turn that off. but if she hated you, you wouldn’t be here.” and crunch would be very, very sad about it. aura’s feelings towards miranda were complicated, to say the least, but there was at the very least a decent amount of gratefulness in there. and if that wasn’t the beginning of friendship, what was? after all, crunch’s own friendship with aura began with gratefulness – to her and radar for helping her break out of her cage. so she was sure that things would smooth over between them eventually. aura just didn’t have it in her to blindly trust like crunch did. it was sort of one of the things she admired about her.

as the other told her that she was just as smart – if not smarter – crunch actually felt her cheeks warm up. oh, god, she was totally gonna notice! “well – i mean – no, that’s definitely not – not true! i mean, all this stuff you’re talking about … if you hadn’t’ve brought it up, i wouldn’t’ve even thought about it. so just the fact that you’re even trying to think about this stuff shows that you’re pretty smart. me, i’m just like …” here, crunch took the opportunity to flex a little. always find the opportunity to flex, that was her motto. “ ‘gee, what can i punch today.’ y’know? but you … you’d try to figure out why you’d punch the thing.” geez, that sounded lame. crunch looked away, hiding her face with her hair but trying not to be too obvious about it. “i don’t know, i think that’s pretty amazing.”

crunch’s words were comforting, and miranda smiled back at her. hearing that made her feel a little better, especially coming from the other girl. she trusted crunch to be honest with her, even about topics like this. communication between the two came easily, and it felt like she could say whatever was on her mind for the most part. well, except for sharing her feelings. but that was more of a personal choice, fueled by anxiety and a fear of heartbreak. “that makes sense. it’d be understanding that it’d be hard to trust strangers. i suppose i sort of have a bit of that mentality now too. every time i walk by someone i can’t help but find them to be a little suspicious.” with any luck she could continue to work on her relationship with aura, convince her that she could earn her keep. maybe it was pushing it to think that they could eventually be friends, but miranda was optimistic.

it was cute to see the other girl’s cheeks turn a bit red, and miranda made a mental note for herself to compliment her more often. she smiled to herself, taking a moment to just admire her features. oh how she wished she just reach out and brush her hair behind her ears, or cup her face in her hand. “that doesn’t mean you’re not smarter than me! there are tons of things that i wouldn’t think of if other people didn’t bring them up. talking with other people is how you expand your horizons - which sounds like something lame that one of my professors would say. but i still think that it’s true, at least to some degree.” miranda took a moment to just ogle at crunch while she flexed, doing her best to contain her internal screaming. “you are so much more than that! you are selling yourself short, and i absolutely will not stand for it!” she playfully poked her friend in the ribs, smirking at her. “i think you’re pretty amazing.”

[thezcdiacs]

boredom.

[flocked]

“psh. yours is a little more useful in day to day life. it’s not every day that i gotta kill a dude.” erasers, sure, but they didn’t really count as dudes in switch’s opinion. the way he saw it, he was sort of doing them a favor. they were just as trapped, but they didn’t even have the souls to enjoy life on the outside. he might have had it in him to feel bad for them, if they weren’t constantly trying to kill his family. speaking of “family” … ace started ribbing on him about a certain member of the flock with less than platonic feelings for him. “pssssshhhh …” he said again, mostly for something to say. he didn’t like making fun of squeak, if he could help it. just because her ridiculously obvious crush was … sort of embarrassing? for her, of course. for her. he supposed he sort of messed with her, but it didn’t feel right when other people did it.

he wasn’t about to tell ace that, though, not when he was so light and joking around. it would kill the vibes, and they had enough killed vibes back home to open a cemetery. it was always safetythis and careful that and blah, blah, blah. all so serious, all the time. switch wasn’t about to bring that to the broventure down with that nonsense. instead, he got fully into the planning of the birthday party. “duuuuude, keg stands would be easy for us! we have wings, that’s gotta give us an advantage, right?”

“but you still have the option, bro. you still have the option.” in theory switch was the only one of them who could’ve lived a semi normal life, excluding miranda. if he wasn’t seen with the rest of them, the boy could’ve just changed his face and gone completely under the radar. or at least ace thought so. he wasn’t entirely sure how the erasers tracked them most of the time, or what technology they possessed to do so. maybe it didn’t matter what his friend looked like; maybe they’d always find him either way. ace laughed at the noise that switch emitted, shaking his head. “you’re the total package, my friend.” sometimes he wondered if switch might return the feelings that squeak had for him, seeing how weird he got when the topic came up. ace assumed that they would have talked about it at least once or twice if that was the case though, and he determined that he was just reading into things that weren’t there.

“oh shit, that’s an awesome point,” ace said, now thinking of all the awesome party opportunities that their wings provided. “and aren’t our bones like hollow or something? i think haze might have said that once, maybe. but we would be bosses at keg stands! and we could practice playing beer pong until we get really good. aura couldn’t even complain because we could play in the hotel room.” the thought of this party would keep him going for a while, would lift his spirits when he was feeling especially down. there was a lot of time to pass before then, but it’d be a glimmer of hope for a chance to be normal for a night.

[thezcdiacs]

flocked:

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[flocked]

moments like these were the only times that radar regretted the decision to step up and lead the flock. without all the responsibility and pressure that came with being in charge of the group, being able to be alone with aura wouldn’t be such an infrequent occurrence. realistically psy, haze, and crunch could’ve handled running things, what with all of their different skills and strengths. they easily could have been in charge, letting radar and aura to relax and just enjoying themselves. the two could sneak away at any time they pleased, not having to worry about making sure that everyone else was staying out of trouble. that was just a pipe dream though, as radar knew that he would never be able to relinquish control, and that these little moments would sadly have to remain few and far between.

the feeling of her touch against his skin drove him crazy, and his kisses grew more rapid and passionate. and her voice. oh god, her voice. her instructions invigorated him, and he secured his arm around her waist. in one quick motion he flipped them over, laying her out on the bed. radar moved to kiss her on the lips again, saying, “anything for you, baby. anything for you.” he peppered his way down her body, stopping at her waist. with the same efficiency as he did everything else, he pulled her jeans and panties down to her thighs. placing his head between them, he kissed his way towards the heat radiating from her center. he ran his tongue along her slit, peeking up at her with a teasing look.

[flocked]

crunch snorted at the idea of them getting matching tattoos. “you’re lucky ace and switch weren’t around to hear that. they’d jump on it, and aura’d never forgive you.” the thought was actually pretty funny. crunch had a crazy mental image of aura standing with steam coming out of her ears, like those old cartoons. as if their fearless leader didn’t have trust issues already. crunch got it, she guessed, but she herself trusted miranda completely. she had already saved their asses more times than crunch could count – radar probably wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for her. crunch figured it was pretty awesome to have miranda around … the fact that she was totally funny, thoughtful, and gorgeous was just a bonus.

at her explanation, crunch really tried to understand. she thought that miranda was the smartest person around, so if she said something, she wanted to at least consider it. but when miranda asked her opinion, she didn’t hesitate to answer honestly. “yes … and no?” her brow furrowed. “it’s like this. so you’re talking about all these things – a great life, a great love, whatever. it’s like, of course i want that. it would be totally awesome. but i don’t want it so i can … look back on it. i want it so that i can experience it while it’s happening. i guess that’s what i’m getting at – i’d rather just be in the moment, living, loving …” smooth, crunch. she was getting downright passionate, gesticulating wildly with her hands. she quickly settled down. “than, er, trying to figure out what it all means,” she finally said. “but, you know. you’re way smarter than i am, so …”

“i’m actually surprised that they haven’t gotten tattoos already. that seems right up their alley. but i really don’t need aura to hate me even more, so i guess i really am lucky.” miranda could only imagine the flip out that aura would have if the two boys came home with tattoos that she had suggested. she would have been paying for that one through the nose for the rest of her life. she could understand the protective, mother hen nature, but she sure as hell didn’t want to put herself on the receiving end of her wrath. at least not more than she needed to. it was nice to know that she’d have crunch sticking up for her though, should she ever have to deal with that. she liked to think of the other girl as her defender. her strong, intriguing, beautiful defender.

crunch was making a lot of sense, really. living in the moment and actually experiencing things was what made life special, but couldn’t she experience things now and look back on them later? “you make a good point. people don’t really seem to experience anything nowadays, since they’re so attached to their cell phones. i guess that’s the same mentality. you want to capture something so you can look back on it later, but you’re missing the moment because you’re looking at it through a screen.” it was cute to see crunch getting so passionate. she was pretty adorable when she was talking excitedly. miranda honestly could’ve spent hours sitting there and just listening to her talk, all the while doing her best to keep the hearts out of her eyes. “oh please, you’re just as smart as i am. probably smarter, even. i just have a fancy education. but you have so much life experience, probably more than i’ll ever have.”

[thezcdiacs]

boredom.

[flocked]

“hey! that comes in mad handy since we don’t have a microwave half the time.” sure, not all of the flock members could be as cool as switch himself, but he didn’t like any of them talking down their powers. it was about the one awesome thing in the otherwise shit hand they were dealt in life, so he for one intended on making the most of it. even if sometimes that was just making a scary face to freak fader out when he wasn’t looking. at the other’s words, he even considered morphing his face into a hot chick, but figured that might that the bro right out of bromance. instead, he waved a hand. “i get it, man. i get it. i’m irresistible.”

switch grinned. “i can never keep the ladies away, but i’m glad you’re getting the help you need.” his sarcastic cheer quickly turned to genuine excitement at the other’s suggestion, though. “dude, don’t even joke. i have always wanted to have a keg. and do beer pong! and, uh … you know when you put beer in a funnel and chug the whole thing at once? that thing!” switch wasn’t even sure he really liked beer – he had never really had occasion to try it – but people on tv seemed to love it. in fact, lots of fictional characters seemed to consider it to be necessary to have a good time, and who was switch to argue with the mighty powers of television? he learned most everything from tv.

“i guess that’s true. and it’s easy to fake a fever when i don’t feel like doing something, but otherwise it’s just not that cool. like you could literally get away with murder, dude. you could kill somebody with a fake face, and then nobody would ever find you.” switch’s power just seemed to have more flair and pizzazz, which was something that ace yearned for.  he was kind of jealous of his friend, although he’d never admit it. the boy was just so damn competitive that, even with things that he had absolutely no control over, he felt a compulsive need to try to be the best. he snickered at the other’s comment. “oh yeah, definitely. the dude of my dreams, if we’re being honest. i totally understand what squeak sees in you.”

ace rolled his eyes, playfully nudging the other in the ribs. “what a douche, man. you know that i have to fight the ladies away with a stick.” he liked being able to joke like this, to just have such light and easy conversations. everyone in the flock was great, but at times switch seemed to be the only one that he could really relax with. except for iris, but that was a totally different situation. “i’m not joking! we’re definitely getting a keg. and we’re gonna do keg stands, however you do those. and we’re totally doing the funnel thing! we’d be bosses at that!” ace couldn’t help but find himself already getting excited for this party. he was so determined to make it happen that he made a mental note to start preparing when they got home, secretly planning so that his friend would have the best birthday ever.

[flocked]

crunch grinned. “nah. you’re basically stuck with us now. once a flock member, always a flock member.” okay, so miranda couldn’t fly along with them. but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a member of the flock. it wasn’t like they let humans along with them every day or anything. miranda was special … and not just to her. she was an important member of the flock, whether aura trusted her 100% or not. she had made her way in through pure tenacity and stuck around there. honestly, crunch really admired that about the other woman. she just … saw what she wanted to do. and she did it. crunch didn’t know a lot about people, but she knew enough to know that most people would run screaming from the constant alert that was their life. but not miranda.

that said, crunch couldn’t help disagreeing on miranda’s basic premise. or, at the very least, not understanding it. “huh.” crunch rocked back on her heels, thoughtful. “i guess i never really thought about it, at all. but, uh … i guess my thing is … so what if it’s all meaningless?” crunch didn’t know a lot about religion, or introspection, or …. a lot of things, really. but she knew about surviving. “it’s like … i don’t know. i’m not good at this.” she frowned. it was said that she wasn’t smart, but that wasn’t exactly true – when provoked, she could be thoughtful. she just usually didn’t spend much time thinking about this sort of thing unprovoked. “it’s just … like, i could die tomorrow, right? and whether there’s a point to it or not … it wouldn’t make me any less dead, y’know? so, like, why worry about it?”

the sense of family among the little group was pretty neat, and miranda was glad to be a part of it. it was interesting to see how they had all banded together, how they had all taken care of each other since they were little. before meeting the group of mutants she had never experienced anything quite like that. most of the people she was ride or die for were blood relatives, although she did have a few close friends that she almost thought of as siblings. still, there was never a bond like the one that she experienced with the flock. “i’m glad to be stuck with you guys. do i get like, a special club jacket now? do you all have matching tattoos? i’m ready to commit.” she felt like she was being officially accepted into some top secret club, or some oddball sorority with some pretty insane hazing. while an interesting situation, she was well aware that it was also a special one.

“then...” miranda’s voice trailed off, trying to think of a satisfactory answer. what if it all really was meaningless? “then i guess i have to give it meaning myself. find things i really love, surround myself with great people, do some good in the world. if there’s not some secret underlying meaning for me to discover, then i think that would be the way to live a meaningful life.” dying was sort of a scary thought to miranda, even though there was always the possibility that she could kick the bucket at any given time. crunch made a good point, but that wouldn’t stop her from freaking out about accomplishing ‘something great’ before her time came. “yeah, that’s true. but don’t you want to look back on your life in whatever after life there is and see that you did something amazing? or that you had an amazing love or something like that?”

[thezcdiacs]

boredom.

[flocked]

switch morphed his face into brad pitt’s – or what he remembered to be brad pitt’s – face for just a second. “hell yeah, bro. make those girls go wild.” he quickly switched back before anyone could see. “not that i need to – i’m attractive as is, obviously.” honestly, switch wasn’t that sure of his own appearance … but he didn’t really hate it, either. he just didn’t really think much about it. or identify with it at all, really. probably because he could change it at will, it just felt silly to define himself based on how he looked. but, well, with ace it was easy to be silly. it was sort of why he liked hanging out with him so much. most of the flock was all doom and gloom, so it was a welcome change to just be bros for awhile.

leaning against the wall as ace peered in, he grinned. “dude, yes. we’d look … so fuckin’ … classy as fuck.” he nodded. it was usually pretty easy for them to get their hands on things that they weren’t really supposed to. they looked older than they were, and it wasn’t like they were kids, or anything. even fader was 18 by now … wait, was he? although, it occurred to him that it wouldn’t even matter. “still can’t believe i’m never gonna have a rager 21st where i flash my ID around to everyone,” he sighed, a bit dramatically considering the fact that the observation came apropos of nothing. but, well, it was true. you couldn’t really have an ID when you weren’t a citizen.

“damn bro, that’s so fuckin’ cool. so cool that i’m almost not mad about your unfair advantage. i’m pissed i got jipped  when they were handing out powers though. mine is really only good for like, reheating food when there’s a line for the microwave.” ace knew that he could do a lot more than that with his powers, but they still felt kinda lame compared to switch’s. it would’ve been amazing to change his appearance at will, to look however he wanted. he would also totally use it to look like radar when he was doing an impression, which would’ve been so awesome. “i mean, after me, you’re easily the best looking dude in the group. like you’d totally be my pick if i had to do a dude, no question about it. not in like, a weird way though. in a totally cool, bro way.”

he grinned at the thought of the two them just hanging out, smoking cigars like real men. “we’d look like total ballers. we wouldn’t be able to keep the ladies away.” ace was always mourning the loss of opportunities that this life had robbed him of, which most kids his age were know referring to as fomo. or at least that’s what he’d observed during his limited time on the internet. “you can totally still have one. we’ve got two years to figure that out, so i’m sure we’ll find a way for you to have a crazy birthday. besides, how hard could it really be to make a fake id? or find some college kid who knows how?” he clapped his friend on the shoulder, offering him a toothy smile. “maybe we can even get a keg. every great party has a keg.”

[flocked]

due to the type of life that they led, radar had only been with one person intimately. he wasn’t complaining of course, as he only wanted to be with one person. but, as a chronic worrier, he spent an unnecessary amount of time worrying that he wasn’t as sexually experienced as he should be. his life was ruled by logic, and everything he did was calculated and over analyzed before it was time for execution. seeing as intimacy could not be navigated that way, there was always a concern that his performance in the bedroom wasn’t up to par. he couldn’t figure out the best way to do things from reading a book, or at least not one that he’d ever come across. for him being with aura was always a passionate and pleasant experience, and he just wanted to make sure that that feeling flowed both ways.

radar took in the sight before him with a look of awe painted on his face, like it was the first time he was seeing her like this. he could feel his heart beating faster in his chest, and he bit his lip as he looked over her. “whoa.” he quickly stripped off his own shirt, tossing it on the floor before she took his hand. his fingers slowly trailed down her body, then finding their way back to her breasts. he cupped one of them, giving it a tender squeeze. another shiver shot down his spin when she whispered, and he could feel his pants holding back an erection. “fuck, baby,” radar whispered, a rare curse passing over his lips. “you should see what you do to me. you drive me so crazy.” his hand slipped lower, and he could feel the heat radiating off of her. he took three fingers, gently massaging her area over her panties. “i want you so badly.” radar moaned again at the feeling of her lips on his neck, this time a little more loudly. after reciprocating her kisses, he moved to her jawline once more before working his way down her neck. slowly he reached her breasts, kissing his way across the top of them.

[flocked]

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times like this were so few and far between for the two of them, radar almost didn’t know how to spend them. he got so lost in these little moments, so lost in aura. yet all he wanted was to remember each and every single second that they were together, reminisce about every touch that they shared. he liked the time that he spent with her when the others were around, the planning sessions and supply runs. she made everything more bearable for him, even the most mundane of tasks. but the time that they shared alone was what kept him going. aura made radar feel safe, made him feel like he was home. these tender moments behind closed doors were so insanely special, and he wouldn't have traded them for anything in the world. his knowledge of love and romance were very limited considering he hadn't really had anyone to educate him on the subjects, but he knew that what he and aura had was extraordinary. it was a love just like one you might see in a movie, just with wings and a little more violence.

radar moaned against her lips as she rocked her hips, mimicking the motion. his hands ventured lower and lower, one slipping under the waist of her pants. he melted into her, feeling extremely at peace with the world around him. if only this moment could've lasted forever, if only they could always be like this. he kissed her a little more passionately, his tongue darting out to glide across her lower lip. his other hand moved from her waist to caress her check, his thumb gently brushing along her jawline.

[thezcdiacs]

boredom.

[flocked]

“psh, suuuure,” switch said. he had half a mind to challenge ace to a woman-attracting contest, but, well … the last time the two of them had bet on women, it had ended with pepper spray, police sirens, and a very pissed off radar. maybe it was better to avoid the lady-related challenges for now. “just remember that i can look like anything in the world, so of course i’m gonna pick the hottest face imaginable.” okay, he didn’t really pick this face. it was just his face. how he looked when he wasn’t thinking about it. but, hell, let ace think that every detail was carefully thought out for maximum hotness. that would be pretty hard to beat. then again, he wondered what the world’s hottest face would actually look like …

he didn’t have much time to think about that, though, because ace was asking a question. “uuuuuh … that way,” he said, pointing in a direction at random. it didn’t really matter. when the dream team was together, there was bound to be mischief. it didn’t matter where they went, they just had a gift when it came to finding it. honestly, their talents in shenanigans went unappreciated. without them, the rest of the group would absolutely be sitting around bored … which was probably what they were doing now. poor saps.

ace often forgot about switch’s power, usually until he was a few minutes into a conversation with someone with an unfamiliar face. there were a lot of cool powers that the other members of the flock possessed, but switch's was definitely the one he envied the most. it would've been so awesome to be able to look like whatever he wanted, and it would've come in handy when he was involved in his usual shenanigans. "fuck, that's right. that's totally unfair, bro. you could make yourself look like brad pitt or something." he flexed quickly, grinning and adding, "but i think i still might be better looking. like my bod and my face are pretty awesome."

ace bounded off in the direction that the other boy pointed without any hesitation. two masterminds like themselves would have no trouble finding something to do, and they'd make their own fun if they had to. "so what can we do that'll piss off radar the most?" he asked, only mostly joking. he peered into the window of one of the buildings, hoping to find something to do inside. "how do you feel about bowling? it doesn't seem like this place is gonna be super strict about serving alcohol, so i totally think that we could get some drinks. and this place is full of smoke, so probably some cigarettes too. or cigars. we'd look so boss with cigars."

[flocked]

crunch grinned, poking miranda in the side. she was conscious of exactly how much force she was using, though – people were so fragile. back when they had first broken free of the school, crunch had caused a lot of accidental injuries, but that never happened now. “yeah, we are pretty awesome. and we like havin’ ya around. y’know.” with over-exaggerated tone, she tried being cool and casual about it, as if she didn’t love every second that she spent with miranda. she figured the rest of the flock would tease her something fierce about it, if they dared to. most didn’t dare to. even ace had lost one too many arm wrestles to tease her to her face most days.

at the other girl’s words, crunch frowned thoughtfully. “huh. not to sound mean, or anything, but like … how do you know there is an end game?” crunch had never thought that much about it. when you were on the run for your life every day, you didn’t really have time to get all … existential, or whatever. “i mean, i don’t know. seems to me that we’re all just sort of … living, and stuff just happens, and there’s not really any meaning in it. but that doesn’t make it bad. it just … is. that’s just what life is, so it’s better to just live it. maybe.” she was curious to hear miranda’s thoughts. “like, how do you find yourself? where are you? who, y’know … decides that?”

miranda giggled as she felt the poke in her side, relishing the other’s touch. it was dumb that little moments like that got her so excited, but she couldn’t help it. being around crunch always seemed to leave her with a legion of butterflies in her stomach. something about the other girl’s strength was alluring and she couldn’t help but be amazed by watching her do just about anything. “you guys are definitely an interesting bunch. there’s never a dull moment around here." it was nice to hear that people liked having her around, as she did occasionally worry that she wasn't welcome. especially with aura, who never seemed to be too fond of her. "well that's good too know. it's always nice to hear that i haven't worn out my welcome."

crunch posed a good question. as much as miranda liked to believe that she'd have some sudden epiphany that she had found where she was supposed to be, she knew that it wouldn't work like that. "i guess i really don't. but i have to believe that there's some sort of meaning to all of this. otherwise it's just... meaningless." maybe you did just live your life and that was it, but she felt the need to believe in more than that. there had to be more to life than just getting up in the morning, wasting the day away, and then going to bed at night. “honestly, i don’t think i thought this through completely. but i guess that some of that has to do with religion or spirituality.”

[flocked]

“… huh. guess it just seems like a hassle, to me. having to deal with all these people you didn’t even get to pick.” granted, crunch’s options for her own “family” had been rather limited. but there had been a choice – she could have stayed in her cage like she was told. in a lot of ways, that would have been the option that would have made sense. her cage was all she knew. it wasn’t much of a life, but it had been her life – all her life. she had given up the confined and known for the unknown and free – well, sort of free. they were still on the run, but at least this was better.

so she sort of understood where miranda was coming from with her answer, even as vague as it was. “and didja? find yourself?” she cocked her head to the side, a bit curiously. miranda was always helping them, it was sort of nice to think that they could be helping her out in return. although she didn’t really know what ‘finding yourself’ was. in the movies, it usually meant finding a boyfriend. crunch really, really hoped that it wasn’t that. none of the guys in the flock were good enough for miranda anyways, in crunch’s opinion. but then again, she was biased, since she had her own reasons for wanting miranda … unattached.

“yeah, i suppose. that’s just the norm for most people. you have your family and they drive you absolutely crazy, but you still love them at the end of the day.” miranda realized why this was a bit of a foreign concept for the other girl, and she felt bad for mentioning it in the first place. picking your family would be nice, although she wasn’t really sure how it would work in most situations. “i guess you got the better end of the deal,” she offered. “you got to pick who you care about. and i guess i did too, in a way.” miranda hadn’t known that she was picking her second family when she’d run off with the flock, but she was glad she’d decided to stick with them.

the concept of finding herself was something that she had largely gotten from coming of age books and movies, but it really had felt like something she needed to do at the time. the problem was that miranda wasn’t entirely sure how she would know when she had found who she was supposed to be. she felt like she was making good progress though, and that was something. “i think i’m getting there. ...slowly. i definitely feel like i’m doing something worth doing, i guess i just don’t know how i know when i’ve become who i’m supposed to be or whatever the end game is here.”

[thezcdiacs]

boredom.

[flocked]

switch scoffed, rolling his eyes. “you’d seem pretty average. i’d seem like a total stud.” the double finger guns he shot at the other probably didn’t help his case, but then again, switch rarely meant things seriously. it was why he always won in arguments — you couldn’t argue with someone when they didn’t mean what they were saying! it was a foolproof method that hadn’t failed him yet, regardless of what radar believed. he could have killed it on the debate team. wait, was the debate team a thing that people actually did in high school, or was that something that was just on tv? he wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem all that important.

he laughed as the other dove. “you read my mind,” he said, even though he had been thinking of something more along the lines of an … arcade, or something. it wasn’t that he wouldn’t be totally down for a titty bar (and he probably looked old enough to get in! … right?), it was just that it wasn’t his first thought. then again, ace did have a bit of a one track mind. switch kind of liked it – as far as he was concerned, it was a fun track to go down. so he dove after the other, bright wings tucked close to his back as he handed sneakers first on the concrete. “alright. let the wild debauchery begin.” he had heard that on tv the other day, and had been dying to use it in conversation.

ace playfully rolled his eyes in return, shaking his head. “in your dreams, dude. i’m a total hunk, the complete package.” he liked to think that he was a pretty attractive guy, definitely above average if you didn’t count the whole wings thing. under different circumstances he would’ve lifted up his shirt to prove his point, revealing the abs that he was oh so proud of. this, of course, was probably not the time or place for that so his shirt stayed put, but he still believed he was a pretty good looking specimen. being made in a test tube definitely had its downsides, but he was always thankful that those screwed up scientists had made him hot. his upbringing hadn’t been an ideal one by any means, but at least passing by a mirror was always a pleasant experience for him.

his wings folded against his back and out of sight. quite frankly he had no idea what debauchery meant, but it sounded like fun. ace shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans as they started to walk, feeling some crumpled bills resting at the bottom. he hoped that they were twenties so that they could really have some fun, but realistically it was probably just ones with a five or two mixed in if he was lucky. reaching the main part of the street he stopped, looking around. “so which way looks the most exciting?” he asked the other, raising an eyebrow.

[flocked]

“i’d even take more like crunch,” aura agreed, laughing a bit. aura trusted crunch as their second in command (third in command?), but even she could admit that the girl could be quite … impulsive. and far too trusting, if her close friendship with miranda was anything to go by. it wasn’t that she wasn’t grateful to the young woman for saving radar’s life, but … she couldn’t think of her as family. any day, she could leave them if she wanted to — she had parents, a life she could return to if she got sick of living like this. and aura was afraid of what would happen when she did. crunch would be heartbroken.

but it wasn’t long before all thoughts like that fled from her mind. radar knew how to do that for her – knew how to make her brain quiet even on the nights where it roared instead of just buzzed and hummed with its usual worries. she tilted her head back as his lips left hers and found her jawline, giving him better access. a soft sigh of contentment slipped from her lips. he always seemed to know just what she needed – when she needed him to hold her firmly, when she needed him to kiss her softly. now, she needed him to love her tenderly, and that was just what he did. she ran one hand through his hair gently, almost reverently, as she continued to prop herself up with the other one. “radar …” she sighed softly, letting herself get lost in the moment, thinking of him and only him.

“yeah, that wouldn’t be too bad. although i don’t think i’d want two more people who could hand my ass to me.” crunch had always been a great edition to the group, and one that radar always appreciated having around. being the leader meant that he often times felt like he needed to be the best at everything so it was extremely frustrating that she was so much tougher than he was, but it was good to have some muscle around to help protect the others. crunch could be her own type of trouble just like a few of the others in the flock, but it was never as bad as the things that ace and switch got themselves into. plus she did a good job of watching after squeak, which was a job that even radar had trouble doing at times. squeak was a good person by all accounts, but she had always been the type to wander off and not realize how completely careless she was being. it drove him up the wall most days, but she seemed to be a little more contained when she was with the other girl.

he moved from her jawline to her neck, kissing tenderly before softly sucking at her skin. the feeling of her fingers running through his hair was nice, and he felt a shiver shoot down his spine as she said his name. it was euphoric; being with aura was euphoric. with there bodies pressed together and their hearts beating in sync, radar was as close to heaven as he believed he’d ever get. he pulled away from her neck for a moment, whispering, “i love you.” with a smile etched on his lips he leaned up to press a soft kiss on her lips, holding her close.

[flocked]

crunch thought about miranda’s words for a minute. “this all sounds really confusing. why do people even bother with it?” crunch couldn’t imagine being with any of the people she was with just because she was forced to. she was with her group because she wanted to be, plain and simple. she really valued all of them, and not because of some dumb connection that she couldn’t even name. miranda’s next words only further cemented it for her. “you see, that doesn’t make any sense. of course killing a guy isn’t in your blood. that’s a choice. choices can’t be … y’know, made up ahead of time.” killing was a choice that crunch thought about a lot. mostly because it was a choice that she made. only a few times. once, when an eraser almost killed radar. that was the night they met miranda. she wondered if the other remembered that, or if she had been too focused on saving radar’s life.

“i mean, if family’s that big of a deal … why are you here?” although it was a bit tactless, crunch didn’t mean it in a mean way. obviously, she was really glad that miranda was with them. but … it was strange, to hear miranda talk about forgiving murder now when she knew that she’d be lying to the very people who were supposed to be that important. it seemed sort of strange that miranda would give all of that up to be with some winged kids. mostly because crunch couldn’t imagine it. she had no concept of what a blood family was like, so all she had to go off of were television shows and miranda’s words.

“i mean, i dunno. it’s family. that’s just how it works.” family was an idea that had all but been beaten into miranda, and she really hadn’t questioned it much before. families took care of each other; families stuck together no matter what. granted she had left hers to go off in search of adventure and some sort of greater purpose, but that was beside the point. “maybe killing somebody wasn’t the best example. but sometimes things run in families. like habits or diseases and stuff.” she understood why crunch felt that way though, seeing as members of the group occasionally had to kill in order to keep everyone safe. it had happened a few times since she’d arrived, including the night she had first encountered the flock. hurting others wasn’t something she had a taste for by any means, but she understood why it was a necessity at times.

the question crunch posed was a good one, but one that made her feel like an outsider nonetheless. miranda pondered it for a moment before answering. “it didn’t have anything to do with them, really. i was away at college anyways so it wasn’t like i was seeing them all the time. i just needed a change, a chance to find myself without people telling me who to be. i wanted to go out and do some good. help some people, so.” her answer was vague, but it seemed to cover the basics. she had just felt purposeless at home, and she needed to figure things out before she made her way back to her family.

[thezcdiacs]

boredom.

[flocked]

glad that the other was back in a joking mood, switch grinned. “yeah, man! and then she can send out a mission to bring back space babes!” not that he’d necessarily want space babes. or human babes, for that matter. switch appreciated an attractive person as much as the next person, but he never knew what to do when people actually showed interest. take squeak, for example. she had an obvious crush on him, and he … well, he liked her fine enough. but nothing was permanent. liking someone was the first step towards not liking someone, so what was the point in things like going steady or whatever real people who weren’t sitcom characters said. better to just joke around about space aliens and stop taking everything so damn seriously. he didn’t have time to mull over all that stuff, not when he had a life to live.

huffing a bit, he nudged the other a bit with his shoulder. “no excuses! just me,” he said. wings flapping just enough to hold him aloft, he looked down at the town. “only one way to find out, bro.” he gestured down at the waiting lights with his head. “wanna stow the wings and take a look around?” there was no telling what they’d find. the funnest places asked for IDs, which was frankly discriminatory towards human/avian hybrids, if you asked him. but they always managed to have a good time anyways. even if it was just sitting in some lousy diner and making up stories about the people around them. he liked raising a bit more hell than that, but beggers couldn’t be choosers.

ace chuckled, shaking his head. when he thought of aliens he usually pictured a group of little green men insisting to be taken to your leader, and honestly he hadn’t put much thought into what an alien chick would look like. would they just be the same as those green guys but with boobs? did aliens even have boobs? clearly these were questions that he would have to google the next time he was allowed access to a computer. “at least we wouldn’t look like freaks to space babes, so we might actually stand a chance. we’d actually seem pretty average to them.” ace liked to think that he would’ve been a big hit with the ladies if he was given the chance to interact freely with the ones they encountered on the run. he’d definitely be rounding the bases with them, whatever that meant. instead his female companions usually consisted of people like recall and squeak, neither of whom were suitable for flirting. one time he had made the mistake of trying out pick up lines on the former just for practice, and a swift kick to the groin had ensured that he didn’t do it again.

looking down at the lights below, ace wondered what excitement the little town could hold for them. sometimes they ended up in a vacation spot with tons to do, other times in the absolute middle of nowhere. “fingers crossed for a titty bar.” ace said with a wink, then folding his wings against his back and allowing himself to free fall for a moment. unfurling them above the tree tops, he glided gracefully to the ground behind one of the more dimly lit buildings he’d seen from up above.