local pixie princess extraordinaire

they say you don't need wings to fly, but you should know that they do help a lot.

[mistersteelyourgirl]

Zoo, take two

[mistersteelyourgirl]

It would be a bit hard having to explain this with the police- this alien and seemingly indestructible person he just hit with his car. It might have been a bad idea, and Steve was glad the girl- Jade, realized that.  Steve had to admit he was impressed when her wings formed back into her skin, only showing it with raised eyebrows. It made him curious, and it gave him ideas. Those would have to wait at the moment. 

He crossed his arms, glancing back at the road before returning to the girls before him, missing part of what she was saying about calming down. Although her apology sounded sarcastic and insincere- at least to Steve, he figured he should still accept it, might as well. “It’s alright, I’m sorry I hit you.” There, no big deal. 

"Work it off?" What could she possibly do to pay it off? He smiled and raised his hand as if to wave off that thought, silly thought it was. “It’s fine, you don’t have to worry about it, really.”  He turned away from them not waiting for a response and holding up one finger as he got his phone out. 

He figured he’d just get his car towed or something, pick it up later maybe, since it wasn’t exactly drivable at this point. He wasn’t about to bother Maria to carry it since he didn’t want to make her do anything, and she seemed displeased earlier and Steve didn’t want to add to that. With a flick of the wrist he knew exactly where he was and made whatever arrangements he needed.

He turned back to Jade and Maria, placing a hand on the latter’s shoulder as he pocketed his phone. “I assume you’ve got, you know, a solid way of transportation.” Considering you just have wings, “since I’d hate to leave you out here alone,” since you seem to want to get yourself killed but Steve wasn’t going to say all that.

[mysticalmeri]

Maria’s nose scrunched as everything moved quickly. Jade. Alright. Her name was Jade and she had lovely fluttering wings and she wanted to work off the debt. Maria nodded along, agreeing. Such an idea seemed perfect— she could learn her lesson, and Maria could make a new friend (and also make Steve make a new friend. He was in desperate need, Maria thought.)

But everything seemed to wrap itself up very quickly, and Maria was left in the dust, her thoughts distracting her— “Oh, but—” she gently landed on the floor and stood before Steve, looking up at him defiantly. Her browed furrowed her bottom lip jutted out a little and she squinted, just a tad, “Steve,” she said, her voice a whisper, “She will work it off, yes?” Maria knew he could easily get it fixed, but she didn’t want to have the guilt of two cars she destroyed (the second wasn’t exactly her fault, but she couldn’t help it,) on her conscience, and she didn’t want to just leave the situation as it was.

Maria poked at Steve’s chest and glared up at him playfully, “She is going to be working it off and you are going to be doing the relaxation and the making of friends with her. And this will not be like the other time where you were upsetting but I did not know and—” Maria took a breath. There wasn’t a need to vent about the red vehicle. “Friend making,” she said to Steve. “And you,” she turned, addressing Jade with a big smile. “You will be doing the working and you will be making of the friends with him. His name is Steve.” She extended her hand at eye-level, as she thought was custom in greeting (the shaking of the two hands often slipped her mind.)

[jadeisyourmonarch]

Jade's offer was shot down by the man and quickly picked up by the women. They seemed a bit of a odd couple. He was very grumpy, (given she would be too if she just totaled her car) and she looked positively delightful! She talked about becoming friends and Jade was all for it! She had friends but none of them that had powers. It would be nice to be around people like herself for once.  The girls hand extended a bit too high but Jade giggled and shook her hand anyway. She said the mans name and she looked at him again. She knew she had seen him before but then it clicked.  "Oh my god, you're Steve Hayward aren't you?" She was a bit star struck at the moment. She was run over by THE Steve Hayward. She had been watching him on TV and in the Magazines for years. She didn't think she'd ever be this close to someone famous. "Oh wow this is nuts!" 

She gathered herself before she started to freak out too much. This really was all too much. She turned to the women and asked her name. After all, She seemed more friendly and extremely adorable. If there was anyone she wanted to get to really know, it would be her. Steve was just a bonus really. 

[mistersteelyourgirl]

Zoo, take two

[mistersteelyourgirl]

This- this person, this girl, who seemed as though she was passed out a few seconds ago, who was bleeding profusely until it looked as though the wound suddenly stopped and healed- who was hit by Steve’s car so hard that it smashed his windshield, seemed perfectly fine at the moment. This was a lot of excitement at the moment.

Steve knit his eyes together, opened his mouth but failed to find the words. “Are you alright?” he knelt down by her, and his face went from shock to curiosity. He ignored whatever she was saying about Steve’s speeding- “What were- what were you doing, in the middle of the road?? In the middle of the highway.” by the time he had finished his sentence there wasn’t a scratch on her. Okay, she can regenerate- which is great really; Steve only wish he knew that before having a heart attack but what’s done is done. So she could regenerate and she had- wings from what it looked like. Butterfly wings. Butterfly wings. Okay, that was- different.

 ”So you don’t think that this is any way your fault.” He didn’t exactly direct that at her, but he surely meant to say it out loud.  He looked behind him; the car looked wrecked, windshield was done for, there was a large dent in the hood of the car, the engine was probably damaged, he might have to replace it.  He called out to M.A.L.A.C.H.I. to see if he was alright.

‘Well it seems as though I’ve been hit. You might want to check up on that.' Yep he was was fine, perfect condition it seemed like. Well at least he wouldn't have to fix that, damages would take a while but Steve didn't think it was worth getting a new one. At least not yet.

 Steve got up, extending his hand to help this girl (half insect??) up. 

[mysticalmeri]

She watched the events unfold before her with complete confusion. Maria, she adopted the name now, it made things easier for everyone, though she missed the way her name sounded to her ears— she’d have to teach Steve and M.A.L.A.C.H.I. her language very soon— “Oh!”  She exclaimed, the girl beginning to chastise Steve— that was her job wasn’t it?— “You, just—” She was really, very, super confused. Super super confused. “But you— are—” Maria was hopelessly out of words, and had no idea how to put her thoughts into a way where the other two could understand.

Maria watched the back and forth, rolled her eyes at M.A.L.A.C.H.I.’s response, and helped Steve help the girl up. “But— you are okay, yes?” She floated a few inches off of the ground, inspecting the girl, her hand reaching out for the wings before retracting and shaking her head, “Oh— I’m sorry, I’ve just… Never seen that, are they— do they hurt? Are you hurt?” Her words spilled out quickly, and she wanted to embrace the girl— but really, that wasn’t her place.

She was trying to get better with those types of things.

"What should we do?" She looked to Steve, her eyes pleading. They couldn’t just abandon the girl, or just leave things at that. They’d just hit someone— “The! The police! They should be the ones called, no? That is— well,” she didn’t want to admit how much TV she was watching while Steve was in his office or the workshop. It was a little embarrassing. “We should be calling. Then be taking her home! To help her!” Maria beamed.

[jadeisyourmonarch]

Jade got on her feet and cracked a few of her joints. Everything seemed to be back into place. If it had been the first time she had been hit by a car, she might have been hysterical, but it was about the third time this has happened. The concept of traffic excepted her as a child and she would always go running after her soccer balls. 

"You really need to watch your speeding!" She said. She looked up at man's face and stopped. She had seen him before. That face, those eyes, that really nice beard. She just couldn't put her finger on it. "You look really familiar." She tapped her chin trying to put a name to the very handsome face.  Before it could dawn on her who he was, or before he could answer, she noticed the girl floating next to him. "Hello there." Her demener turned from angry to happy very quickly. It was amazing what a pretty girl could do. Another Mutant? She thought. But whoever she was, she was absolutely stunning.  "Oh I'm fine, not the first time." She smiled at her as she floated around her. She seemed very concerned and it was very sweet of her too be. She looked as if she wanted to touch Jades wings and she fluttered them a bit. She admitted, she was peacocking a bit but she couldn't help it. She was the flirty type, and the floating girl was very pretty.  "You can touch them! They don't hurt i promise"  The cute girl started to freak out and talked frantically to the bearded guy. She said something about the police and helping her. Jade shook her head at the madness. This was turning into way more then it was.  "Woah, look I'm not a lost puppy, and I'm fine! Everybody relax." She rolled her shoulders and her wings receded back into her skin, extending into her exposed arms and hands. "I'm Jade, and I can regenerate so everyone can calm down." 

She turned to the guy and sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry that when you hit me with your car, I freaked and went big. I'll, like, help work it off or something to make up for it!" She offered. Jade was well off but not well enough to afford repairs on a car that nice. Maybe if she worked for him for a while he wouldn't freak out and press charges or whatever, even if it really wasn't her fault. 

[inprnt]

"Summer" by Liam Brazier on INPRNT

[mistersteelyourgirl]

Zoo, take two

With Maria around it was a learning experience for the both of them. Maria having and getting accustomed to human things and Steve being amazed at what she found intriguing- asking how things were where she came from and always being surprised at the answer- whether it was pleasantly or not.  

At one point the topic had gotten to animals- how his were strange and weirdly small and an odd color and a weird looking. So they would go to the zoo, it was decided, Maria being excited and Steve being happy with just that. 

They were all set and ready to do, early in the morning (earlier than noon was early in the morning) snacks ready (Steve was sure they didn’t sell jars of mayonnaise anywhere there) and before Steve got in the car he heard the sound of something breaking, metal bending and breaking in a matter of seconds followed by an ‘oops’ sound.

He glanced over, about to ask  what happened before he saw a red door hanging quiet loosely from her hand. Steve’s face went from shock to confusion, to shock in what seemed like an instant; and he had shaken his head and blinked a couple times to make sure of what he was seeing. Maybe he was imagining what he saw- unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The door off of his favorite car- Astin Martin One-77 (Limited Edition in Red) one of the first ones produced(back in 2008, that was a whole toddler mind you)- was gone, simply broken off.

Steve tried to play it off, tried to hide how upset he was (didn’t really work he was very distraught) Steve assured her it was fine, really it was’t her fault, she could’t control her strength he knew that, it was an accident, accidents happen, all the time, ones like this, specifically. Though his words were sincere his tone and his rather disappointed face  betrayed them, and he had decided it might be best to go another day, yeah, yep. 

And there they were, in his Audi R8 (one-77, she was fixed, but she needed time.So did Steve.) heading towards the zoo. Maria had been unusually quiet, and Steve tried to lighten the mood and the tension with his usual rambling, one of his finer talents. 

Now Steve might have been a ting over the speed limit, but it didn’t matter, there was no one on the road for what seemed like miles- at least that’s what he thought. Suddenly, too quick for Steve to react fast enough there was a body that slammed onto the windshield.  In a sudden panic Steve swerved his car into the opposing lane, then past that. He slammed the brakes (the brakes were done for) The wheels made a screeching noise before finally halting to an abrupt stop after spinning sum.

Steve, feeling a bit dizzy and nauseous suddenly remembered he could breath, taking deep gasps, he turned to Maria wide eyed, managing to ask if she was okay. She seemed alright, if only a bit startled. He opened the door, running out to the front to see if that thing- person- girl he saw was alright. 

[mysticalmeri]

To Maria, Earth was a place where surprises lurked around every corner. The animals were abundant— and each of them, many of them, looked so different from one another that it was hard for Maria to remember what exactly was a cat and what was a dog and what was a bird and what was so many other things. Earth life was hard, and animals were kind, and she wanted to see what else Earth had in store for her. Since the search for Pt’rkyqunorralvralian— Maria kindly called her Tryk for short, when in front of Steve— wasn’t turning up anything new, it was decided that Steve would take her to discover the planet in a completely different way than what she’d been thinking.

They were going to go to something that he’d called a Zoo.

Now, Maria had no idea what that was, but— it apparently required looking human. Which meant her skin-tone was out of the question. She didn’t like the idea, she was proud of where she was from, proud of her heritage and her family and her lineage and her parents— but, she supposed she understood. And it wasn’t going to be for forever, was it?

Soon enough, a device had been whipped up, she’d received new clothes (her garb wasn’t normal, apparently,) and they were to be on their way— except Maria had a thing for forgetting that Earth-things weren’t built to withstand her strength. Which meant that a red door was hanging from her hand, an 'Oops— I'm sor—' tumbled from her mouth, and her eyes were filled with panic, followed by tears welling up. She’d never felt so horrible in her life.

It took a few months for Steve to actually feel that his car (a different one, that time,) was safe around her.

The trip was quiet, and Maria tried to listen to all of Steve’s rambling, but she was failing. Her hands gently wrung at the edge of her dress (it was short, nice, covered in flowers that were particularly tiny, so tiny, compared to the ones on her planet,) in nervousness— what if she hurt someone, what if she hurt an animal, what if— “Steve!—” She yelled, but it was too late. The car collided with something in the air, they’d tossed and turned, spun about, and finally stopped.

She vaguely heard Steve asking if she was okay, and she answered with a slight nod, if only to get him to not worry. Her head was aching, she was disoriented, and she tried to get out of the car, only to stumble to a stop, almost onto the road. Maria shook her head, turning quickly— ouch— to Steve and to the car, rushing to their side, worried that they’d hit one of the precious animals that M.A.L.A.C.H.I. had shown her.

But, it was worse, it was a person. “Oh,” she quietly said, feeling her heart sink and fill up with despair. Maria reached towards the person, letting out a yelp when they moved slightly, jumping back and colliding with Steve. She gave him a panicked look before collecting her wits and putting her years of tutors and training and etiquette and queenly knowledge to work. “Are— are you— are you alright?” She wasn’t very confident at the moment.

[jadeisyourmonarch]

Jade was fairly new to this whole “mutation thing”. The wings where fairly easy to get use to. She would will them out and they would sprout from her back, getting them to make her fly was a bit more tricky. Yeah, her wings were fine, but the size manipulation? That was a whole other monster. She could never get to the size she wanted and when she did, her clothes wouldn’t come with her.  So there she was a tiny naked fairy. She needed another way. When she finally found someone who could make expanding clothes, you could imagine how happy she was. She took this opportunity to test them out.

The morning was spent on Jade trying to shrink down to the perfect size, and the afternoon was spend on flying around. She soon realized that the sky’s the limit! She could go anywhere she wanted without having to wait in traffic or worry about getting run over on her bike. She could just fly!

In hindsight, flying over the interstate was a pretty dumb idea, but it wasn’t her fault. If all the cars went the speed they were suppose to go, everything would have been fine! She planed it perfectly and she flew across as fast as she could, full confidence she would make it across.  She couldn’t say for sure if she blacked out or not. She remembered flying through the air, and the horrible pain, and the crash to the ground.

She opened her eyes and she was full sized, blood splattered all over her new suit, the pain going as slowly as it game. Thank god for her regenerative powers.  As she sat up, her bones snapped into place and the wounds from the car began to heal up. The guy behind the car came out to check on her, his face horrified. “You really shouldn’t be speeding!” she said. “I was that close!” she put her fingers close together and squinted for emphasis. “You should slow down next time.” 

[jadeyperrie]

[explosionsoflife]

Migrating monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) travel south for hundreds of miles in the fall, flying at a speed of approximately 10 km/hr.

Photo from sciencemag.org