fairly | [Voice / Action]

Man, everything gets pretty crazy when these experiment-things happen, doesn't it? ....oh well.

Hey, out there! Anybody who actually knows how to fly- got any advice? How do you do it? Magic, wings, a bit of both? I'd really appreciate the help!

[Zack woke up different this morning- not to the same degree as nearly everyone else, it seems, but enough to notice pretty damn fast. Getting changed was an adventure of yelping, flailing, and finally getting himself a pair of scissors to do some surgery on his shirt- because he woke up with a pair of very different white wings stuck to one side of his back.

It's not a bad change, mind you- after dealing with Angeal and Genesis for as long as he did, he'd begun to envy their wings and ability to fly the way they did, even if they were horribly unfair about their expectations of people 8| So after giving it some thought, there was really only one thing to do:

Fly.

Thus, he will spend the majority of the day learning to flap his new wings, jumping off rooftops, baffling over how the hell Angeal and Genesis balanced themselves in the air with such one-sided wings.

...Oh, and faceplanting in the snow. He'll do a lot of that. Thank goodness for durable SOLDIER bones, eh?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'd say the greatest improvement would be not falling at all.

Well, we can't have everything we want in life, that would be too easy!

Hey, Daisy could figure this out. What's stopping you?

...Daisy? Who's that?

...Oh. [She shakes her head, laughing.] Remember that wolf that came to the church? I couldn't call him "hey, you" forever. [She clasps her hands behind her back, tilting her head as she watches him. The wolf had left to find Zack... she already knew Zack didn't know about the letter, but was that because it had been lost, or because Zack had yet to be found?]

[......]

You named him Daisy?

[Poor Angeal.]

[Are you questioning her naming skills?] They were his favorite.

[MAYBE. Maybe he just sniffed them first by accident. The world may never know.]

[....That poor dog.] That's very... you.

Hey, don't make that face! What do you think I should have named him? He was such a nice wolf.

But the way he flew... You're not going to let him beat you, right?

I'm not gonna get beaten by a dog named "Daisy", come on! I'll fly a hundred times better than that!

[Which is a big boast for someone who's been faceplanting all morning, but his confidence will not be shaken!]

All right, let's see it!

[....oh dear.]

...Do I have to get it on the first try now?

Should we make a bet for if you do?

...Don't you always win our bets? [Not that he isn't doomed to lose anyway.]

Do I? It's been a long time since we made one. I thought you won at least every once in a while.

Hmm... well, you can't get anywhere without taking chances, right? So I'll go for it! You've got a bet! ...What are the stakes?

Let's see. If you can't fly... you have to wear something I pick out for you!

...That sounds like it might be dangerous. [To his reputation, at least.]

I thought bets were made for little risks. Are you backing down?

...Ha, not a chance! Bring it on! [brb climbing to the roof 8|]

I'm watching! [And chang...ing? Not that Aerith notices right way, besides a momentary (and rather odd) sensation in her body; she's still got brown hair framing her vision, and she's looking up at Zack instead of at herself.]

[And Zack's too far away to notice, being in the roof and all. With a shout and a running leap, Zack launches into the air, the wing catching on the wind and holding him aloft for a few seconds! FINALLY!

And then he loses control, or the wind abandons him, or something- and he glides right into the top of the next snowbank, rolling, rolling, rolling until he flops right at her feet, eyes clenched. Ooof.

Now is that a win, or a loss...]

Hmmm... [kneeling down by him.] looks like that was a real effort. Guess I can't put you in a dress! [She can, however, put him in something else. She's counting this as her win. >_>] ... Huh? My voice...

[...Um. That didn't sound right at all.] ...Aerith? You okay? You look kind of...

[Old. ...Er. OLDER.]

Kind of what? [But with how he's looking at her, she puts her hands up to her face--ohhhh my gosh. That is not her face.] Did I change again? But-- [She looks at her hair more closely now, holding a strand up with her (also noticeably changed) hands. It's so similar to hers, but...different. She stands up from her crouch and looks for the nearest building's windows--stops dead.

That's--]

... Mom?