[And at six, there he is, knocking on the door. He's calmer a bit now; he's had time to get over the hostage thing, to sit and stare blankly at the ceiling for a while, to go and just walk around the city, to see the new people.
Coming to De Chima is not a Big Deal anymore.
Billy runs a hand through his hair. Gansey's enthusiasm is catching, really, it is, and it makes it easy for this to be easy. For once.
Things haven't been so easy since Teddy left. It's not a bad feeling.]
[ Gansey hasn't been home that long. He is, in fact, showering when Billy arrives, and thus the Gansey that opens the door is not actually him. The clone looks basically identical, however, and is juggling an impressive stack of newspapers under one arm. Seeing Billy, the clone looks suddenly pleased. ]
There you are! He said you were coming. He'll be right out. Do you want to come in?
[ This is all said very rapidly, while the Gansey clone shuts the door behind them. ]
Are you all right? Where is it you're going to take him?
[Billy is a touch overwhelmed for the moment, before he puts two and two together. He remembers the power thing, and looks around for a minute, just to make sure he's-
He's what? He knows he's in the right place.]
You're a duplicate?
[Just to be clear.]
I thought we'd go up above De Chima, really, unless he had a specific request. I took Adam to the Statue of Liberty last week, I think he liked that.
[ The duplicate nods, while leading Billy towards the living room. Once they're there, it's clear that this one is not alone; there are three other Ganseys in here, all occupied. One is at a table, surrounded by school books. Another is on the sofa, working from a miniature laptop computer, and the other is writing something in a notebook.
The Gansey that Billy is with sets the newspapers down beside the notebook, and looks cheerfully up. ]
We have homework. [ By way of explanation. He looks like he's about to say more, but at that moment, Gansey Prime strides in. ]
Apologies, Billy. I was home later than I thought. I hope they weren't bothering you.
[ Several of the clones make sounds of protest to this. The one with the laptop is wearing earphones, and is ignoring them completely. ]
I'm ready to go. What were you saying about the Statue of Liberty? Did you go to New York?
(( ooc: clonespeak is blue, to avoid confusion! ))
[Billy whistles like he's a little impressed, mostly because he sort of is. He wishes he had figured his power out to the point where it could do his homework for him, back in the days of homework,]
No, it's fine. Kind of a cool thing you have going, I guess.
[He takes a minute and nods a bit.]
I took Adam up there last week? We just hung out after the, er, the kidnapping thing. But we didn't go flying. You have a preference? I was just going to take us above De Chima but if you want to go somewhere specific, we can do that too.
[Billy smiles a bit, awkwardly, but it's genuine so whatever. He waves at the clones (still pretty cool, if Billy tried that one would probably try to take over the world) and heads to the door]
Okay, so there isn't much to it, it's actually kind of like walking? I mean, intuitive. I don't know, Cap never had any problems. But there are a couple of options.
I can make a sort of platform for you to stand on, or I can just kind of...make you fly, like I do. Do you have a preference?
[ Most of the clones wave back. One of them calls out a request that they bring pizza back with them, which Gansey Prime dismisses with a wave of his own hand. In the end, he's happy to leave them behind.
And then there's the flying to consider. Gansey thinks about his lessons in Helen's helicopter, and how badly those had gone.
But Billy would be with him, wouldn't he? He runs a thumb along his lower lip. ]
I do. I'd like to fly like you, but I have to warn you I'm not the most coordinated in the air. You'll not stray too far?
[ Flying delights him. Falling from a height certainly would not. ]
[ Weightlessness is a strange feeling. Gansey immediately sees that it's nothing like being in a helicopter. There's no sense of security here at all, nothing except the presence of Billy beside him. For a moment or two he looks down at the ground he's left.
Then his eyes are up, always up, looking above them for what's new. It doesn't take long for exhilaration to replace caution. As they climb higher, his inhibitions are left behind, and he starts trying to will himself to move one way and then another. He wants to see it all.
He's also laughing, by this stage. ]
Speed up? How fast can we go? No, don't tell me. Show me instead, I want to test that part!
I've hit forty or fifty miles an hour, which is fast for me but Tommy thinks is pathetic, and I have a spell that can move me really fast, but that's not so much flying as it is like, letting this ball of energy propel me through-
[A pause.]
We need Tommy. He's the fast one. But right. Speed.
[He takes the cap off, and they're moving faster now, up pretty high; maybe two or three hundred feet up.]
Okay, I'll stick by you, but even if you wander off, the spell won't break.
[ Gansey soars up. He is not entirely what one might call stable - he's teetering, definitely. He's also not falling.
This is exhilarating. Immediately he thinks that Ronan would love it. ]
That's all right! I don't want to go fast enough to run through walls.
Just fast enough to feel it. [ He points at Billy. ] I'll race you.
[ Ronan would love that too. But Gansey is excited, with fire lighting behind his eyes. He thinks about moving, and then suddenly he's off. He pulls his arms in and makes himself as small in the air as possible, and he thinks about going as fast as he can.
This is much better than the helicopter. How he wishes he could tell Helen about this. ]
[He laughs and zoom, he's off after him. This is better than that time he tethered himself to Tommy and went a billion miles an hour, or that time his uncle sort of kidnapped him, because he's laughing
(he's really laughing, and Teddy isn't around)
and he's doing his best bullet impression because Peter Pan is for chumps.]
[ Peter Pan never felt this good. Gansey is getting the hang of this. Up, down, side to side, around in a loop –
At which point he says the kind of word that would make Ronan Lynch proud, and he divebombs after the glasses that have skated off his nose. Down down down – there, his hand closes around them. Christ, he needs contacts. He’s blind without these things. He shoves them on again, and looks wildly around for Billy. ]
Where did you…?
[ He’s losing this race, isn’t he. He zooms back up, hands at his side, looking for his friend. ]
[ Gansey rights himself, turning and stabilising in the air again. It's a lot easier when he's only having to control his own body, and not an entire vehicle. Still, he looks at Billy curiously.
Could he do that?
Christ, he made them fly. Of course he could do that. ]
Only if they're prescription.
[ He shrugs, a gesture which is mostly lost up here in the air. ]
[Billy comes in a little closer to take Gansey's glasses - just for a second - and mutters something, and a band, soft and made of some impossible fabric, manifests.
[ Gansey takes them, turning them over in his hands for a moment. Then he pulls them on, the strap around his head, and they don't move. He ends up laughing all over again. ]
Jesus, that's perfect.
[ He flies back, turning in the air. The glasses don't move, don't even slide from his nose. Pointing at Billy, he looks delighted. ]
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Coming to De Chima is not a Big Deal anymore.
Billy runs a hand through his hair. Gansey's enthusiasm is catching, really, it is, and it makes it easy for this to be easy. For once.
Things haven't been so easy since Teddy left. It's not a bad feeling.]
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There you are! He said you were coming. He'll be right out. Do you want to come in?
[ This is all said very rapidly, while the Gansey clone shuts the door behind them. ]
Are you all right? Where is it you're going to take him?
action;
[Billy is a touch overwhelmed for the moment, before he puts two and two together. He remembers the power thing, and looks around for a minute, just to make sure he's-
He's what? He knows he's in the right place.]
You're a duplicate?
[Just to be clear.]
I thought we'd go up above De Chima, really, unless he had a specific request. I took Adam to the Statue of Liberty last week, I think he liked that.
action;
The Gansey that Billy is with sets the newspapers down beside the notebook, and looks cheerfully up. ]
We have homework. [ By way of explanation. He looks like he's about to say more, but at that moment, Gansey Prime strides in. ]
Apologies, Billy. I was home later than I thought. I hope they weren't bothering you.
[ Several of the clones make sounds of protest to this. The one with the laptop is wearing earphones, and is ignoring them completely. ]
I'm ready to go. What were you saying about the Statue of Liberty? Did you go to New York?
(( ooc: clonespeak is blue, to avoid confusion! ))
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No, it's fine. Kind of a cool thing you have going, I guess.
[He takes a minute and nods a bit.]
I took Adam up there last week? We just hung out after the, er, the kidnapping thing. But we didn't go flying. You have a preference? I was just going to take us above De Chima but if you want to go somewhere specific, we can do that too.
action;
It means I don't need to worry about all of this. I'd rather go flying with a clear head.
[ He smiles at that, and then shrugs his shoulders. ]
I didn't know about New York. I'd rather stay local, anyway. De Chima from the air?
[ He could search for signs of ley lines, if they did that. In fact, he certainly intends to. ]
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[Billy smiles a bit, awkwardly, but it's genuine so whatever. He waves at the clones (still pretty cool, if Billy tried that one would probably try to take over the world) and heads to the door]
Okay, so there isn't much to it, it's actually kind of like walking? I mean, intuitive. I don't know, Cap never had any problems. But there are a couple of options.
I can make a sort of platform for you to stand on, or I can just kind of...make you fly, like I do. Do you have a preference?
action;
And then there's the flying to consider. Gansey thinks about his lessons in Helen's helicopter, and how badly those had gone.
But Billy would be with him, wouldn't he? He runs a thumb along his lower lip. ]
I do. I'd like to fly like you, but I have to warn you I'm not the most coordinated in the air. You'll not stray too far?
[ Flying delights him. Falling from a height certainly would not. ]
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[His eyes glow a blue for a moment, and he's already in the air.
And then Gansey is, too.
It really is intuitive, but Billy but a cap on the speed; they're going relatively slowly, up, up, like balloons, almost.]
Let me know if you want me to speed up or slow down.
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Then his eyes are up, always up, looking above them for what's new. It doesn't take long for exhilaration to replace caution. As they climb higher, his inhibitions are left behind, and he starts trying to will himself to move one way and then another. He wants to see it all.
He's also laughing, by this stage. ]
Speed up? How fast can we go? No, don't tell me. Show me instead, I want to test that part!
action;
[A pause.]
We need Tommy. He's the fast one. But right. Speed.
[He takes the cap off, and they're moving faster now, up pretty high; maybe two or three hundred feet up.]
Okay, I'll stick by you, but even if you wander off, the spell won't break.
action;
This is exhilarating. Immediately he thinks that Ronan would love it. ]
That's all right! I don't want to go fast enough to run through walls.
Just fast enough to feel it. [ He points at Billy. ] I'll race you.
[ Ronan would love that too. But Gansey is excited, with fire lighting behind his eyes. He thinks about moving, and then suddenly he's off. He pulls his arms in and makes himself as small in the air as possible, and he thinks about going as fast as he can.
This is much better than the helicopter. How he wishes he could tell Helen about this. ]
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(he's really laughing, and Teddy isn't around)
and he's doing his best bullet impression because Peter Pan is for chumps.]
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At which point he says the kind of word that would make Ronan Lynch proud, and he divebombs after the glasses that have skated off his nose. Down down down – there, his hand closes around them. Christ, he needs contacts. He’s blind without these things. He shoves them on again, and looks wildly around for Billy. ]
Where did you…?
[ He’s losing this race, isn’t he. He zooms back up, hands at his side, looking for his friend. ]
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Here!
[More practice, that's all he has.]
Do you need goggles?
[It's a legitimate question.]
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Could he do that?
Christ, he made them fly. Of course he could do that. ]
Only if they're prescription.
[ He shrugs, a gesture which is mostly lost up here in the air. ]
I'm blind without them! Nothing to do about it.
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And Billy hands it back.]
Here.
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Jesus, that's perfect.
[ He flies back, turning in the air. The glasses don't move, don't even slide from his nose. Pointing at Billy, he looks delighted. ]
So. Where were we?
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[Billy looks down, considers, and points.]
Okay, over there, that's downtown, and we're heading south. That way is the ocean-
[He points]
And over there is where the mountains start to rise up.
[And the opposite direction.]
Government housing is probably twenty miles that way.
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