004 - Defying Gravity

[thebeastwithout]

WHO: Beast Boy and Open to All
WHERE: Downtown on a skyscraper
WHEN: 5/23, mid-afternoon
WHAT: Gar disappears again? he's definitely dead this time.
WARNINGS: None

[a: the building]
Hey, yeah, couldn't help but notice that like, your top half is still kinda patchy. Whaddaya say I help ya out with a little bona fide super soaker action?

[In the mostly-painted lobby of an apartment building, Gar smiles winsomely at a lobby receptionist while pumping the handle of a water gun dripping green paint all over the floor. ...She stares back in disdain. After a moment or two, she picks up a radio and mutters the words, 'security please' while maintaining full eye contact.]

...So that's a no on using the elevator?

[Gar is shortly punted out the door.]

Hey, I brought my fanciest gun!

[With a shrug, he turns back to the building, bites his lower lip, and attaches himself to the side, beginning to climb straight up with the sticky fingerpads of a gecko. ...He's fully visible through the glass windows, to the horror of most occupants and many passersby on the street.]

Don't mind me, citizens, superhero coming through!

[From time to time, he pauses, gets out his gun, and sprays a path up ahead.]

[b: the incident]
[After an hour or two of hard work, Gar dusts off his hands in an exaggerated manner on the rooftop of the finished building and sighs in appreciation of his own masterpiece.]

I oughta get paid for this. One down, a zillion more to g --

[He leans back against a finished rooftop bench and finds himself almost falling backwards. With a yelp, he pulls himself upright and whirls around rapidly to find -- some kind of... broom dog thing sniffing at him in disapproval?]

The heck?!

[With a grunt, he lunges forward just as the paint thinner erases a portion of the roof. Gar swerves at the last moment.]

Alright, bro, not cool. I'm not spending an hour up here for you to just -- hey!

[The next ten minutes turns into some kind of vaudeville comedy act as Gar chases the dog around the small rooftop with his supersoaker. They paint and erase at equal rates, and large portions of the roof disappear and reappear at random every few seconds. In rapid succession, Gar finds himself attempting to trap the dog with buckets, snare it with a rope trap, smack it with a shovel, and so on and so forth. These items, too, flicker in and out of existence on the roof.

It's only to be expected that at some point, Gar forgets the shovel is there and trips right over it, his arms full of knotted ropes and his foot landing smack dab in the middle of a bucket, throwing him off even further. He stumbles forward, windmilling towards the railing - and in slow motion, he watches the paint thinner give him a cheerful smile as it erases the railing with one swipe.

Gar falls through the edge.]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH -- oh wait I can fly.

[Poof! His arms turn into wings and he begins to flap rapidly, except -- ]

...Oh crap.

[He is tangled up in his own rope. He can't even flap - his wings strain against the rope, and he shakes his foot still stuck in the bucket fruitlessly. He watches the ground coming closer - astonishingly quickly, it seems; he forgot how fast falling happens when you don't get to sprout wings and just hover, and he's about to receive a very harsh reminder.

OK not a problem he just needs to... get out of the rope and he can do that by... getting... smaller? Smaller wings smaller body slip through the rope get his wings free it will be fine - smaller wings, smaller wings, smaller -- oh shit there's the ground.

.................Inches from impact, Gar blurs -- and vanishes. And a tiny green object bursts out of the tangled mass, flying straight up into the air. It rockets upwards - then performs a few celebratory victory laps, squeaking in astonishment --

Eventually, it settles on the ground and pauses.

...And pauses. ......And pauses. And........ pauses?

...Oh crap he doesn't know how to change back. ...Anyone who's heard Gar's screams will now be witness to a very confused looking bird flying around in circles screeching.]

[c: visitations]
[Late into the night, anyone Gar knows well enough to have an inkling of their home address will be abruptly disturbed by a sharp rap-tap-tap on their bedroom window. This is followed by what can best be described as high-pitched angry chirping.]

Tweet tweet [motherf-ers, is what he wants to say, but he can't.]

[This continues on until the window is opened or until the robin gets bored after a half-hour.

For those who aren't blessed enough to receive a personal visit from the Greenbird of Happiness, over the next few days or so, a small green robin stalks random people on the street, occasionally throwing acorns and small rocks at their heads.]

[d: miscellaneous]
[Anyone who's noticed Gar hasn't been at school or anywhere else he's supposed to be for a few days is welcome to check in at his home.

He won't answer the door, but there's a weird green bird sitting in a tree out front, again.]

Comments

c

[invocate]

[Li-Na is dead asleep when something starts tapping on her window. It takes several minutes, but eventually the insentient tapping worms its way into her dreams as someone tapping her on the side of her head while she tries to take her English final. The image is so annoying she ends up flailing in her sleep and and jarring herself awake.

Sitting up, Li-Na groggily rubs her face as she looks at her phone. Worst dream ever.]

[thebeastwithout]

tap tap tap tap tap tap

[The nightmare has become reality!! Li-Na is trapped in a waking dream from which she can never escape. Her nemesis is -- ]

tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap

[It's like the telltale heart beating, but it's louder.]

[invocate]

[Li-Na sits very still when she hears the tapping noise. What the... what is that? Tentatively, she looks around her room... then realizes it's coming from the window. Getting out of bed... she bends down to take out her boots (in inert slipper form) and slip them on. Though she doesn't activate them, she feel a bit better about investigating a strange tapping noise with them on her feet.

Cautiously, she approaches the window... only to find a small bird pecking at the glass?]

Shoo! I am trying to sleep.

[It's kind of dark, both outside and inside, so she hasn't noticed the bird's unusually coloured plumage.]

[thebeastwithout]

[Fortunately, Li-Na will have ample chance to examine the bird at her leisure as it refuses to shoo. The small bird squeaks even louder and pecks at the glass hard enough to make the window rattle.

It waves its wings in some vague attempt at signaling for help.]

b

[maidofmistakes]

Hold on!

[Kara comes running out, paintbrush in hand, and... stops?]

B-- Gar? Is that you?

[thebeastwithout]

[In his heart, Gar screams 'of course it's me' but out loud he screams.]

Chirp chirp chirrrrrup!

[Why can't he sound a little more dignified as a bird
Can he make his squeaking deeper

The green bird settles on the ground and hops up and down in place, flapping its wings frantically.]

[maidofmistakes]

Oh, man, you can't talk as an animal yet? Uh... here!

[She straps her paintbrush back into the water bottle holder of her backpack and crouches down to pick him up.]

C'mon so you don't get stepped on or something.

d!

[usurpers]

[ the sun is setting, and the eraserkin are . . . not doing their job very well. eren swore he helped patch this place up just the other day! and now it’s just chunky white all over again (maybe there was too much of his soft lime, or too many disapproving colors not to the erasing creature’s tastes). when it got dark, well, it got a little easier to move around! shadows were better to stand around in and not that many people screamed . . have you ever seen the bfg? no one sees the goddamn giant at night..

well, this is also an option to paint what would take hours in only a few minutes, especially if he had to take this route constantly. he just needed some buckets, paint, and stamina. upside: he was getting tons better at holding onto a shift (or shifts). just— try not to be on the ground when the giant walks on it! water ripples and tree leaves shake jurassic park style, and the little robin is so small that he probably can’t even see it. ]

[thebeastwithout]

[It's taken him some time to get used to perching in trees - to be honest, the bark was super uncomfortable and kind of scratchy on his feathery butt and he can see why birds felt the need to make their own little houses now.

But he has eventually settled into a half-doze outside his house, wondering if his parents have noticed yet that he's missing or if they ever notice anything anymore at all. He is dreaming something odd and bird-related, some kind of bizarre fantasy about scratching up giant earthworms, when a sudden thud alarms him.

There is no time to react before a giant foot lands about two inches from his tree and shakes the ground.

Gar screeches as loud as a robin can screech before flapping up out of the tree to examine what kind of monster is stalking the night and oh my god it's a giant naked human man]

[usurpers]

[ with self censoring anatomy, would you look at that . . . but yes, that is a giant, naked man of sorts. tarzan-esque hair and a lack of lips to make his chops seem fairly skeletal! halloween came so early this year, but oh well. the giant hears a little whistle in the wind and nothing more, before putting down the very many buckets he was holding in his hand, plucking each one with his fingers and setting them in an orderly fashion.

this looks like a game of house on a very large scale, with a very large adult trying to play with doll accessories. except he has no dolls. once that’s done, he’s ready to begin: by literally picking up a bucket and aggressively throwing paint toward the nearest blank in architecture. incoming paint splatters? god he’s slinging it everywhere. this giant is out of control. ]

c

[thisloveisjustice]

[With summer swiftly approaching, Tatsuo occasionally takes his lunch outside to enjoy the last of the pleasant spring weather. Today, he's enjoying a homemade sandwich on a bench in Recollé Square. Sandwich in one hand and phone in the other, Tatsuo alternates between taking bites and checking the messages on his phone.

At least until an acorn bounces off his head.

Tatsuo looks down as the acorn lands next to his sneaker.]

Huh. Little early for these to be falling off...

[Especially since he's not even sitting under an oak tree. Strange...]

[thebeastwithout]

[He knows this guy only by his picture - but that's enough to inspire him to continue pelting him with small objects. A twig goes flying Tatsuo's way next.

...Not that he has any idea how a virtual stranger can help him but maybe he'll get some food out of this, at least.

He hasn't worked up the courage to eat worms yet.]

[thisloveisjustice]

[Getting hit in the head with an acorn is chance. Getting hit by a twig immediately afterwards? Some might think it coincidence. Tatsuo is slightly more skeptical and looks up, trying to figure out where both the acorn and the twig came from.]

Do I have a target on the top of my head or something?

c, for real this time

[frostythehitman]

[ okay sure so technically Gar has never been to his house or knows where his room is, but look. There's only so many homes on Officer's Row that are actually painted, and James's is the only one that's fully restored. And it's not like the military can keep a bird out.

So when James hears a loud tapping on his bedroom window, he looks over his shoulder to see what it is and glares at it. Then he goes back to whatever it is he was doing--sulking angstily in the corner, idk.

When the tapping only intensifies and the angry tweeting joins in, he yields. James stomps over to his window, slams it open, and stares this bird fuck dead in the eye.

He's gonna punch it. ]

[thebeastwithout]

['Oh crap finally I've been out here forever you've gotta help me dude' is what he intends to say but it comes out instead as -- ]

Tweet tweet chirp chirp chirupp tweet tweet

[Which is unlikely to improve James's mood. The small green bird pauses for a few moments as it registers the expression on its friend's face.

...

'Wait no don't hit me I'm small and adorable']

[frostythehitman]

[ James nearly does punch the bird, but drops his arm at the last second and seemingly deflates. He suddenly feels ashamed--it's just a bird, why did he nearly punch a bird? What kind of an evil jerk even does that? Him, apparently.

Ugh. Nope, sorry, Gar, he's gonna go stew in his miasma of misery now. He slumps away from the window, leaving it open for the bird to fully invade his space because James no longer cares, and collapses on his bed. At first, he falls into it face down, but then he turns to lay on his back and stare up at the ceiling miserably. ]

Just take a giant bird crap all over my face already.

C

[fiddlestick]

[ Elliot's at his music stand, trying to compose, when he hears the insistent tapping. Wow that's...not normal. Thinking it might be one of his flying friends, he'll go over to see the window. ]

Oh- a green bird? That's strange...

[Did the poor thing fall in some paint? And why was it tapping on his window? He stares at it, thinking.]

[thebeastwithout]

[Alright, so Elliot's definitely seen him, but for some reason, he seems to be totally zoning out.

Open the window open the window open the window why don't any of these uncivilized humans speak animal languages? So uncultured.

The bird begins to do a little dance of impatience outside as Elliot looks on.]

[fiddlestick]

[ Okay that bird is acting....really weird. What was up with it?

Against his better judgement (who knows, maybe it's a weird retrospec thing, he decides to open the window. Not often birds come flying wanting your attention.

He'll kneel down, at the windowsill as he opens it to try to make himself less intimidated]

Um- hello there little bird!

[....He sure hopes the cats don't see this...]

a

[lastcomfort]

[ Orihime has been taking her city-painting job very seriously. They're literally drawing reality out for everyone else! It's important! Which is why she's found areas of town she doesn't normally visit. It's a good thing she did, because she would have missed one of her schoolmates literally scaling a building.

There are gasps and people pointing fingers up. Orihime pauses and follows their gaze... ]

...Oh my gosh!

[thebeastwithout]

Never fear, uh... Vertical Climbing Man is here!

[...]

...'K, I'll work on the name. Anyway, it's really annoying that all you people only notice things when it's inconvenient for me; why can't you just ignore this, too?

[Gar has worked his way up about halfway by now, filling in the gaps wherever he goes.]

[lastcomfort]

[ How is he doing that? Though she's seen a lot of impossible things over the past year. So...she should help ramp up some support. ]

No, you're doing a great job!

[ She shouts up to him. ]

Go, Vertical Climbing Man!

A

[spirithacker]

[In contrast to most of the passerby staring in horror, this small child holding a purple paintbrush is only staring in awe. Superpowers...]

No fair, how come I didn't get superpowers from Retrospec too??

[The whining of an eight-year-old can be heard from several stories up.]

[thebeastwithout]

Eat your vegetables and drink your milk!

[Gar calls out cheerfully.]

...And also, it comes with a lotta drawbacks, so maybe like, be careful what you wish for.

[He climbs fairly quickly and his head pops up around where he heard the voice coming from in due time.]

[spirithacker]

No way, vegetables are gross!

[If Gar couldn't tell just by the voice that this was a small child, that would be enough to settle it.]