Who: Sara and Poppy C. What: You can fly!? (with just a little bit of faith, trust and pixie dust!) Where: The roof of The Hamartia When: Backdated to two months ago, around the time Poppy started living at The Hamartia Warnings: None in sight!
It was going to get too chilly to go flying without a thicker jacket soon, but at the moment, Poppy was fine with just her hoodie and jeans. It had been a while since she’d flown, but she could take nights off now that she actually had a semi-permanent place to stay. Besides, almost nobody ever went up on the roof of The Hamartia. It was dirty and dangerous and with all the pretty roofs in Seattle that you could hang out on, what would possess you to choose this one? For Poppy, it was the knowledge that she could go flying, undisturbed by non-creations. She was far from subtle, but she didn’t want to be caught and forced to explain herself. Besides, she never really figured out exactly how the situation with her previous foster parents had panned out, in the end, and she didn’t really intend on ever finding out.
Standing on the edge of the building, Poppy summoned the thought of a warm bed and soft pillows. Before she knew it, she was floating five feet off the ground. Trying out the air, she did a few slow spins before picking up speed and spiralling into the night sky. Poppy sighed contently as she did fancy loops and spins in the air, she’d forgotten how good the wind in her hair could feel. Suddenly, she wondered if not flying as often had affected her skills; letting herself float just a few feet higher, Poppy took a deep breath and dove sharply towards the rooftop. It wasn’t until she was just two feet above the ground that she pulled upwards, missing the building by inches. Floating happily in the air, she let out a content chirp, not realizing that someone else had joined her on the rooftop.
---
Sara had come up to the roof to get some air, and maybe try to catch a glimpse of the stars. Most nights it was too bright to see anything, but every once and awhile you’d be able to catch sight of one or two. She didn’t see any stars, but Sara found she couldn’t bring herself to care when she caught sight of a girl flying. Actually flying, feet not touching the ground, up in the air flying, flying, flying. Sara felt her eyes widen in shock. She opened her mouth, but no words came out, Sara wasn’t sure what would come out if she’d been able to speak anyway.
She must be a creation, Sara noted distantly, and suddenly she felt a rush of jealously toward the girl. She got to fly, the one thing Sara wanted more than anything. The thing she was working her butt off in college so that she’d be able to do, but even then she’d never be able to do it like this, so freely and naturally. The green-eyed monster was buried quickly enough though, too flimsily a feeling to stand up to the over whelming awe Sara felt. And finally she was able to breath out a single word “Amazing.”
---
The voice startled Poppy and she quickly lowered herself to a landing on the rooftop, out of instinct. When she located the source of the voice, she pressed her lips together and smiled awkwardly. The girl was probably a creation, nothing to get worried about. “Hi,” She greeted the girl out loud, her voice was light and cheery. She let the greeting sit in the air, allowing the other girl to make the next move. She didn’t want to overwhelm the girl, seeing someone fly for the first time (she was assuming) was probably overwhelming enough. After a few moments of silence, Poppy decided to take a few careful steps towards the other girl. “I’m Poppy,” She reached a hand over the rest of the distance for the other girl to shake, if she wanted to.
---
Automatically shaking the other girl’s hand she told her absent mindedly “Sara” She was still in shock over the whole ’OMG FLYING’ thing. “That was, that was amazing!” Sara cried out after a moment of silence, unable to stop herself. She was kind of a fangirl when it came to flight, she was embarrassed to admit. She’d been in heaven when one of her classes had taken a trip to the air and space museum. Sara knew she’d made the right choice in major then, and was only more determined to become an aeronautical engineer and pilot.
Blushing slightly Sara ruffled her the back of her hair, a nervous habit of her’s. “I take it you’re a Creation too?” Stupid question Sara, of course she a Creation, she a girl flying on the roof of Hamartia. She wanted to hit her head against a wall, lovely first impression this was.
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“Nice to meet you!” Poppy grinned brightly, modesty was not one of her stronger qualities, “It is kinda cool, isn’t it?” Although she was careful not to have anyone around when she did her flying, she had no real qualms about Creations chancing on her late night flying sessions. Especially not ones who were clearly impressed by her ability.
“Yeah,” Poppy nodded, “You too?” It was more of a formality than an actual question, who else would be on the roof of The Hamartia in the middle of the night? The girl looked flustered and Poppy smiled, not wanting to add to it. Suddenly, she had an idea, she’d never tried anything like this before but it was worth a shot, right? “Hey, do you want a ride?”
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“Yeah” Sara told her with a half nervous laugh. Okay, friendly Sara, you can be friendly. Giving herself a mental nod she tried her best to smile at the girl and not come off creepy or terribly awkward. She thought she was doing a decent enough job of it, until she asked her question and the smile slide off her face to be replaced with utter shock. She was asking her if she wanted to go flying with her?! She wanted to pinch herself because OMYGODSOFREAKINCOOL! “I’d love to!” she finally managed to squeal, no need to force herself to smile this time. She was smiling the way she used to before everything in her life went wrong, full of happiness and excitement and innocence. It was a nice smile, one that hadn’t been seen in some time.
---
Poppy grinned at Sara’s enthusiasm, anyone who shared her love of flying was awesome in her books. She liked that her new friend’s initial awkward smile had melted into a softer, more genuine one. “Okay,” Poppy’s lips twisted into a thinking expression as she tried to figure out how exactly this would work, “So I’ve never actually tried this before, but there’s a first time for everything, right?” She thought about carrying her in her arms, but she wasn’t sure that would work out too well and she doubted that trying to hold her by her wrists would be safe either. Her brows furrowed thoughtfully for a second before she relaxed into a smile. “Got it!” She sounded proud of herself, “You get on my back like I’m giving you a piggy back ride and I’ll try to float from there, okay?”
---
A little wary about the plan, but too eager about actually getting to fly to let it worry her for long Sara did her best to climb on Poppy’s back the way she’d seen others do when getting piggy back rides. She’d never actually done this before, (her uncle had never offered to give her a piggy back ride when she was little, or to tuck her in, or read her a story or give her a hug, but that didn’t matter anymore) and wasn’t sure if she was doing this right. It didn’t help that Poppy probably wasn’t that much bigger than she was. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” she asked in concern, and just a tad awkward, arms wrapped around Poppy’s neck.
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Poppy nodded to thwart Sara’s concerns, “I’ll be perfectly fine! Are you alright?” The other girl seemed to be struggling with climbing on her back. Poppy leaned over lower to give her better access. Once they were settled into their awkward little position, she gaged their new combined weight and tested her ability. Floating slightly off the ground for a few moments, Poppy decided that it wasn’t much harder than flying on her own. It was definitely less free, but the excitement she was sure Sara was feeling made up for it.
Floating higher, Poppy never flew out of the roof-range of the Hamartia. She didn’t want anything to go badly with her new friend, falling seven stories was not exactly her idea of fun. Shifting her grip on Sara’s legs (without letting go), she checked to make sure the other girl was alright before she tried to fly higher or do anything fancy. “How are you feeling?” She called out, unable to turn to look at her reaction, “This isn’t scary or anything, is it?”
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Sara felt rather stupid if she was honest, hanging onto the other girl’s back as she was. And then they were in the air and suddenly it was like Sara couldn’t breath. It took her a moment to actually answer Poppy, too caught up in the feeling. “THIS IS AMAZING!” Sara cried, more honest joy in her voice than she could remember feeling in a long time. They weren’t that high off the roof, but just looking out at the city from this height was. . . it was, it was like that moment all over again. When the plane had first taken off, whisking away from her past, from everything that was wrong in her world, that feeling of utter euphoria, and lightness.
Like nothing could hurt her.
That was what flying was to her, a feeling of safety and home, and rightness she’d been searching for all her life. If she had any doubts about her chosen profession they left her at that moment. In the air was where she belonged, and even if she couldn’t fly the way Poppy could, she’d find her own wings. Even if it meant working her ass off, and waking up at five-thirty in the morning, and suffering through General Chemistry. Tightening her arms slightly around Poppy in the best hug she could manage in their position she whispered “Thank you.”
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Poppy felt Sara’s grip tighten around her and she smiled. “Anytime,” She replied with a smile that Sara couldn’t see. And she meant it, flying with this girl on her back was such a rewarding feeling. She was surprised she’d never thought of it, of travelling with someone else, before tonight. Flying was something she took for granted, never in a million years could she imagine what it meant for Sara. If she did, perhaps she would appreciate her ability more, use it more, enjoy it more. But at the moment, all she could do was smile cheesily with girl shrieking in joy by her ear. With that thought in her mind, she shot up even higher in the sky. She’d probably get tired soon, but she was sure that she’d get better and better with practice.