towerofanimus | (no subject)

(no subject)

23:30:00
Silent dormitory rooms are lined with bodies--not dead, just sleeping. Throughout the tower it is pitch black and silent. At the base of the tower, countless shining eyes, watching.

23:45:00
The tower hums to life. Lights blink on in one by one; only the dormitory rooms remain dark. A small army of blank-faced humanoids appear and spend the next ten minutes taking various positions around the tower.

23:59:00
An order given. The dormitory room lights blink on.

00:00:00
You are awake.

00:00:30
You can move.

Begin

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Oh, she's waiting for an answer. He closes his mouth, then opens it again to answer. "Um-- um, o-okay..."

He's still staring. He knows it's rude, but she's flying. You can't blame him.

She sets the tray down on the table, and her feet down on the ground before she takes a seat across from him. She doesn't mind the staring at all, but makes sure not to return the favor.

"And what's your name?" She gives him a polite smile, then spoons some oatmeal into her mouth. She immediately regrets it, and makes a face. Gross, no sugar!

"Um... I-I'm Fletcher," he says after blinking several times. "Fletcher Tringham... Were, were you just flying?"

He still hasn't touched his oatmeal. He's been too upset.

Mary nods immediately at his question, but makes sure to swallow the gross oatmeal before she responds to him.

"I was! It's part of my special super powers."

"...super... powers?" He stirs his spoon around in his oatmeal. "What... how do you... Is it alchemy?"

"Alchemy?" She looks a little surprised, and shakes her head. "No. It's magic!" and she waves her arms around in little mystical swirls to emphasize how magical it is.

Fletcher just stares.

Magic. But magic's not real. He's so desperate for all of this to be some kind of trick, a kidnapping posing as "the end of the world", that he doesn't want to just believe that a law as fundamental as "people can't fly" no longer applies.

"...magic's not real," he says, though it's quiet and hesitant.

"What do you call what I just did then?" Mary's not offended, but she does pout a little.

"...I don't know," he admits, and looks down at his oatmeal. "But... but there's no such thing. I..." His voice breaks and he doesn't go on.

It can't be real. Everything has to make sense. If it doesn't...

It doesn't take long for her to catch on to the disbelief in his voice, and she quickly starts backtracking. "O-oh! It's alright! We can just call it something else. We don't have to call it magic! It's alright if you don't believe in it!"

She really does think it's magic, doesn't she? He can tell she's just humoring him.

"S-sorry," he says, and spoons up some oatmeal to take a bite, to avoid saying anything else stupid or awkward. It's so bland, but he doesn't really notice.

"It's very nice for you to apologize, but there's really no reason. I can turn my powers off though, if they make you uncomfortable!"

"Um-- you, you don't have to," he replies quickly once he swallows. "I didn't mean... it's not like that. I just..."

What is he trying to say. He shakes his head and takes a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I just-- I've never seen anyone fly before."

"You haven't?" Mary's face is just as surprised as Fletcher's was when he saw her flying.

"Have you never seen a superhero either??" She asks, before shoveling another spoon full of nasty oatmeal into her mouth. It's so gross, but she wants to be polite to the staff, so she keeps on eating it.

"A-- superhero? Like in comic books?" He tilts his head. They can't be real, can they? "Um-- n-no... not in real life."

She swallows, and offers a bright smile again. "Right! Like that! I'm Mary Marvel, the girl Marvel. My brother's Captain Marvel. We make sure that kids all over the world are safe and happy!"

"R-really?" It sounded impossible, but he'd just seen her flying. "I'm sorry for not knowing about you... That sounds really incredible."

"Oh! It's alright. You know me now, don't you?" She's all smiles still.

He nods. "Yeah... That's true."

He returns to his oatmeal. Might as well eat it since someone was nice enough to cook it...

Mary returns to eating hers too, and sits in silence for a little bit, before speaking up again.

"I couldn't help but notice you seemed to look a little...sad when I came by. Is everything alright?"

Fletcher wibbles.

"...I don't know. I just... If that note was true," he says. "I don't want it to be."

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