epidemiology | (open.) take these broken wings and learn to fly

Entry tags:

(open.) take these broken wings and learn to fly

CHARACTERS: Kaz Brekker & Open
DATE: during january but before leaving oska.
WARNINGS: None, probably, but I'll warn as needed
SUMMARY: Kaz tries to figure out how to use his new crow powers and mostly fails. It's definitely a training montage.

a. - early january, training center

[kaz receives a scroll that details a new power he's been given. it's still strange to think of all the different kinds of magic that exist, above and beyond what the grisha were capable of and weirder still to think he's been granted a magic no one would ever be able to use at home. but he's not complaining - far from it.

kaz wants to know everything about how to use it. what use was a new skill he was just going to ignore? he reads over the scroll again and again until he's got the entirety of the instruction memorized. he figures someone might know how to do this already, but he doesn't seek out help. he can learn on his own, and that's fine.

once he's satisfied with the concept, he pockets the scroll and heads off towards the training center. it takes him a little bit of trial and error to figure out how to make it actually work, but eventually it creates a nice, chill landscape. a few hills, no enemies. just space to try and make this magic happen.

kaz takes a deep breath and concentrates. concentrates on the idea and shape of a crow. what it might feel like. he concentrates so hard that he barely notices when he manages to make the shift -- only to shift back to human a few seconds later.

time to try again.]

b. - mid january, courtyard.

[a few seconds had gradually become a few minutes and a few minutes had become, well, ten minutes. ten minutes was pretty much his peak right now, but it was a fairly consistent ten minutes each time. it's enough time, that, if he were good at flying it would be all he needs for most normal sorts of break ins. Not the best for eavesdropping, maybe, but there's still time to keep learning.

he's moved his practicing from the controlled environment of the training room to the courtyard. yes, it's a more open venue and he's therefore more likely to be harassed by random agents, but he needs to not feel safe. real abilities had to be good when it counted, regardless of pressure, regardless of audience.

so far, he's mostly been concentrating simply on taking the form, on keeping it. trying to get ever longer intervals. but now, it's time to learn how to really fly. there is, however, one slight issue with that: the crow that kaz turns into has one poorly healed wing. as he gets off the ground, his balance is hard to gain. it's hard to get higher. it tires him out and for all that ten minutes might have been consistent while he was standing still, flying is a whole other concept together. two minutes, three minutes, a little into the air and then he shifts back, falling to his knees in the grass.

kaz doesn't seem to be hindered by this, although he could do with a nicer landing and without the shock to his leg each time but he pushes past it and tries again. one more time, one more time.]

c. - late january - around

[with almost a month under his belt of relentless attempts to get a handle on this thing, kaz is at least finally consistent enough that he doesn't think he'll die trying to get anywhere in crow form, although he does often get flashes of his botched bank job and falling off a roof. he doesn't want to be cautious, but he doesn't really want to get hurt either. practice makes perfect - he shifts into crow form, takes off and flies six feet off the ground, ten feet, fifteen feet before flying back down to make a perfect landing before changing back. The landing is important. Truly, his practicing is much improved now that he isn't coming down hard on his leg.

maybe it'll become useful - but it's still going to take a lot more time before he can hold it consistently for any long period of time. it's unlikely to be the key to any heist, but, hey, dude can turn into a literal crow now. that's kind of cool. kaz thinks so, though he might not ever say as much.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The first thing Feferi sees, making her way through the courtyard, is a bird struggling to fly, and it stops her in her tracks. Her coddling senses kick into overdrive as she watches it, waiting to see where it will go and trying to follow along if and when it lands.

When it does land, she finds in its place not a bird, but a human... or something close enough to it. Not that she can really tell the difference most of the time. That doesn't stop her from being concerned, though, and she bustles over, making no effort to keep a respectful distance. She's just right up there kneeling alongside him. ]

Hey! Are you okay?

[There's a bird around with a hurt wing, and it's causing Giorno a fair amount of lasting distress.]

[Here is the thing: animals are, without question, superior in every way to people. Animals are simple and not malevolent except occasionally when addressing their need to survive. For the most part, Giorno prefers the company of animals to people.]

[It makes him sad, therefore, in a childlike way, when he sees a crow in the courtyard over a period of a couple weeks, struggling with an injured wing. He keeps missing it, though; every time he goes out to see if he can spot it up close, it's nowhere around.]

[Eventually, after seeing it moving around the courtyard for longer than usual, Giorno resolves to try a more methodical tack. A few minutes and he's out in the grassy area, setting a plate down on the ground. The plate contains sections of each of the following: grasshoppers, walnuts, berries, and raw shredded chicken.]

[Giorno sits himself down about ten yards away and begins a complicated flower chain consisting mainly of marigolds which spring to life from his fingertips. He's content to wait. For a long while.]

[ Jesper would probably show off his new upgraded control over his powers if he had actually given a conscious thought into his fabrikating and realized he had them. But he did get a sweet ton of bullets from Giorno, along with a box labeled "replenishing bullets" which sound pretty damn sweet. He's itching to try em and itching to shoot, well, anything.

Not crows, don't worry, but Jesper notices the place is already set up for something, so he figures the training center is in use somehow. Weird, he doesn't see anyone. Yet. ]

Sweet saints! [ He jumps back. Did that crow just turn into Kaz Brekker? ] Kaz!?

[it takes kaz a moment -- he gasps as the impact runs through him, shooting pain up through his leg but he tries not to show any more than that. showing pain is weakness. weakness gets you killed. it's all very straightforward. but it's a long enough moment that he doesn't realize feferi moves in so close to him and as a result he's shocked to see her close, and moves to try and jump back but mostly ends up falling back on his ass.

none of it is very graceful, but at least he's put something of a small distance between them.]

I'm fine.

[his voice is rough, definitely not fine but it's honestly more about the proximity than the botched landing.]

[Kaz flies off behind giorno somewhere, at least well out of his range of sight. watches, as he works his flower chain and makes sure his attention is on that or at least on his plate of goods and then he switches back. kaz isn't as quiet and stealthy as inej, as his wraith, but he can be quiet when he needs to be. so using a good measure of stealth, he walks up behind giorno hoping that in his concentration he'll startle him a little.

it's not very fair. it is, in fact, childish. but then again, kaz is hardly an adult.]

That's an interesting assortment you've left out.

[oh...hi jesper...

yeah he was totally going to tell you he had magic. probably. probably at some point before it came into play in a plan.

actually no, no he wasn't. kaz never tells anything until its absolutely necessary. but jesper's been around long enough he probably isn't surprised by that part of this.]

Hello Jesper.

[It doesn't entirely surprise him, sadly, because Giorno is both paranoid and a cheater. He keeps feelers out at all times with Gold Experience, so he knows where living things are in his periphery. However, he thinks the person coming up behind him is just passing by--so his shoulders do stiffen up when Kaz speaks, his breath catching in a moment of shock.]

[Since it's Kaz, there's always some risk. But what he's saying sounds, to Giorno's inexpert ears, like a joke. So when he turns to look at Kaz, it's with a soft, warm, fond smile, bright as the sun.]

Ah. Buon giorno, Dirtyhands. I didn't realize it was you.

There's a bird out here. Corvus corone. It's been hanging around a while, and it's hurt, I think, so I was hoping it would come closer if I put food out. Just so I could make sure it was all right.

[kaz sits down in the grass next to him. the spell still takes plenty out of him even for all that he's learned how to do it, and flying on that wing seems to just translate into the equivalent on his bad leg. nothing he couldn't work through for a job, but he doesn't want to worry, right now. he can sit and give his body a rest for a few minutes after the ordeal of a days work of shape-shifting.

it's funny, he thinks, how much giorno cares. he used to feed the crows outside his window, too. and inej had tried the same but he'd warned her against it. against befriending them. it was solid advice. probably more so for giorno than for inej but he doesn't give it now.

instead, curiosity:]

What will you do if you catch it?

If I catch it?

[He sounds a little puzzled. Truly, he wasn't thinking about it as "catching," because catching implies keeping. This speaks toward his natural greed, of course, but also to his contradictory desire to see sad things be freed.]

Well, that depends. If it was struggling, and it would let me get close enough to touch, I'd heal it. If it wasn't doing poorly or didn't let me close, I'd just give it a snack. That's all, really.

[kaz thinks about giorno's answer for a moment but accepts it. animals truly are preferable to people in all ways, he understands this desire completely.]

That's smart of you. Crows are known to murder their weak members to keep them from dying horribly elsewhere.

[this may only be mostly myth but it makes for a good story. crows were ruthless. caw caw motherfucker.]

You could end up saving that poor bird's life.

[He gasps, wide-eyed, his mouth a perfect O.]

Really . . .

[And then sticks his tongue out.]

What a scary boy you are, Kaz Brekker, knowing a thing like that. Did you know, though, that corvids use tools? The only birds besides some parrot species that do, I think. So even if he can't fly quite right, if he's smart enough, maybe he'll find his own way anyhow.

[crows that kill each other and whales that swallow people he's really up on his violent animal myths, okay. but he can't help but smile at giorno's own tidbit of information. this is exactly why he likes giorno.]

Maybe you'd have better luck attracting him with gold.

[shiny.mp3]

[Kaz smiled at him. What a great day. He grins back, encouraged.]

Ah, but the only flaw of the carrion crow is his lack of comprehension of capitalism. Your Ghezen would be disappointed.

[He starts up with the marigolds again, pulling them from nothing and twining the stems together. Happy, or close to it.]

Besides. I am gold. If that's what a crow wants, then he'll find me all the same.

That isn't the sort of thing you should say around a thief. As a thought.

[kaz looks down at giorno's hands, watching him work with the marigolds. his smile fades, but at least he seems almost lighter for this conversation.]

[Hm. He's said something wrong, maybe? For once he hadn't meant to. He glances at Kaz out of the corner of his eye and ponders.]

I suppose I never thought of you as a thief. Theft is a skill among many; you are a sum of the many, and then some.

You seem to know a lot about birds.

[no, giorno, you didn't do anything wrong. kaz brekker is just incapable of sustaining a smile for longer than a few comments. otherwise we'd have to stop the presses and write home immediately.

and also tell jesper, who would be immediately saddened to have missed it.

anyways hes a great thief. he love theft.]

Not all birds. [#notallbirds] I named my club after them, though. The Crow's Club.

[only...it's not his club anymore, is it? it belongs to pekka rollins now. thinking about that only makes him want to punch someone. he had to sell those shares, it was all part of the plan and he'd get it back and maybe kick haskell out in the process. maybe, maybe, maybe.

fuck pekka rollins, though.]

Thank you, anyway, for your assessment.

Edited 2017-01-13 07:43 (UTC)

Ah. [He nods, understanding.] Branding is important.

[. . . and then his fingers still on the marigolds for a moment as he considers something. Branding . . . He shouldn't. But the temptation to test is always there.]

[Hm. If Kaz gets it one day, it is what it is, and if not, it's just fun. Just talking. His fingers start shifting again.]

I know a lot about birds. But I know more about plants and insects. Especially those which are very beautiful and very dangerous, especially especially those that are both at once.

[Perfect nails, perfect hands, perfect petals, perfect posture. He finishes his perfect flower crown and puts it on his perfect head and starts another without missing a beat.]

[ The courtyard is a pretty decent place to go to when her room feels too small. Sonia has been here a few times with others as well, but it's good for solitude. She actually has the magimon app open on her magitek as a means of keeping herself busy, using up candies on the different magimons to level them up. She's actually in her own world at first, concentrating too hard on this brainless activity after researching things for Graham's condition, for the differences that Taxara might present, on trying to research other languages that do not seem to be translated in the library.

Anything to keep her occupied.

It's when she hears him thud down on time that her head snaps up, looking towards the noise. She closes the app instantly, standing up and walking over rather cautiously. She only makes it half way before he's changing again though, taking on the crow form and-- ]

Ah! That is amazing! [ Well it's a good job he isn't truly trying to be sneaky right now because everyone in their vicinity probably heard her. He doesn't have a chance to take flight before she's leaning down to look at him. ] Did you learn how to do this recently?

Are you sure? That was quite the fall!

[ At the very least, she just stays where she is. She's still staring intently, but at least he's conscious. That's enough to stop her advance, but not much more. ]

If you're hurt, I can heal you.

It wasn't as bad as it looked.

[he has a pretty decent idea of what it must've looked like, but he's had worse.]

Thank you for the offer, all the same.

[there's definitely something there. a hint of something, like giorno wants him to pick up on it. or at least, that's his assumption, because he doubts giorno does much unintentionally. but he's been wrong before.

he watches giorno make the crown and laughs, a little bit. not because it's a flower crown, but because of who giorno chooses to be. dresses and beautifully done hair and flower crowns and the perfect picture of a delicate flower when he's clearly anything but.

very beautiful and very dangerous, indeed.]

It's easier to attack the unsuspecting. [there's a subtle note of distaste. which is probably weird, coming from a guy who had everyone dress up as bandits and con a whole town. but kaz has always been hypocritical, and his reasons for where he draws the line in he sand about duplicity are his own.] But an threat that's identifiable doesn't have to do as much work to get what it wants.

[cover officially blown. remind him never to team up with sonia on a stealth mission.

it's definitely strange, having her tower over him like that. the relativity to people is a thing he's going to have to get used to, but he nods his cool crow head. totally new totally cool.

he doesn't try to talk because crows??? can't talk?? but maybe he can it's a mystery.]

Ah.

[He smiles, shooting Kaz a sideways look.]

You don't know much about the ecology of Italia, do you.

[It's not goading, exactly. Just a fond observation. He's observed things about Ketterdam through these Ketterdam boys, and there is much ugliness there along with a few surprisingly pretty things. Crocus.]

[Neither Kaz nor Jesper ever blinked at him. Not for who he is, anyway.]

That's all right. We don't need to agree on everything. Or even most things. I understand your perspective, certainly.

[. . .]

For something pretty enough, an animal will die in ecstasy. That's all.

How close is Ketterdam to the tropics? If you have those.

You don't think that's cruel?

[a question is better than a declaration, he decides. a declaration gives too much away. it would make it clear how much it mattered to him. instead, a philosophical question. is it worse to let something die in the lie of ecstasy than in the truth? but he already knows giorno's answer. it's not about the answer. the question is a tool. it is distance.

but the rest of what giorno says - italia, the tropics -?????]

I'm not familiar with the concept. Tropics?

I think it's incredibly cruel.

[He's pretty sure Kaz doesn't actually need or want this answer. But he gives it anyway. It's important to be honest. Bruno would want him to be. On the other hand, Bruno wouldn't want him to use that kind of tool in the first place.]

Tropics are . . . big warm humid forests. Trees upon trees upon trees. The most ecological diversity of anywhere in the world. In my world. I've never been, but it's an interesting biome. For bugs and things.

[so sorry kaz. so so sorry.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 9

(open.) take these broken wings and learn to fly

B. I was practicing that song just a few minutes ago... :)

c

a

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

b

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject