11532/The Breakfast of Champions!

The Breakfast of Champions!
Date of Scene:	23 May 2020
Location:	Salem Center, Westchester County
Synopsis:	Shannon meets a fallen angel, making a new friend in Zach Daniels.
Cast of Characters:	Nightingale, Zach Daniels

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Nightingale has posed:
     Okay. We're talking about teens here, dear reader. And let's face it--one of the go-to foods associated as typical with this age group is pizza.

     But for breakfast?

     It's taken a little bit of cajoling and some raised eyebrows back home, but one teen is finally exiting the pizza joint with a couple of steaming hot, large, flat boxes, looking just about as pleased as punch with a twinkle in her glacier blue eyes. She's in black leggings, black sneakers, and a long black t-shirt with a huge pink sequined heart dead center in the chest. For flight, her hair's been pulled back into a neat ponytail--even her little blue braid on the left side of her face.

     One is left to wonder how she got here, though she is approaching one vehicle that seems to be known to her. There is one more possibility, though--wings. Yep. Large, snowy, feathery wings that are a bit hard to miss, especially in contrast to her clothing.

     Soon enough, though, the young woman would be home and enjoying her prize....

Zach Daniels has posed:
Up above, way, way up above in the skies, a certain fallen angel is soaring. From the Big Apple to Salem Center isn't that bad of a flight, really, and by 'way up above', try a few hundred feet. Dropping his gaze, Zach's got his head down and he smells the pizza...because convection and science. Tucking in his wings, Zach just....plummets.

Yeah, he's tucked his wings flat to his body and is falling like a rock then snaps his wings out again with an audible, loud crack. Copper colored wings are out in the air as he curls his feet under him, eyes on Shannon and sniff sniff sniff. Hey, what's that smell? From the boxes?

The issue with landing with feet curled under him? Thud, thunk, faceplant. Muffled swearing as he's landed without unfurling his leggs...and lost a fight with graviity. To add insult to injury...

He's in a heap of feathers and wings and he's got his head poking out from under a wing. Oh sure he's a natural flyer, but he was disttracted by the smell. Which he's peering around for.

Oh and yes he's got the crossbow on his back and sword sheath covered by a wing in the tangled heap, too. Se, Zach's safety concious. Crossbow is unloaded, and Zach's not got his hands anywhere near it.

Nightingale has posed:
     That was a maneuver Shannon had herself executed successfully on a number of occasions and was, in fact, one of the most fun for her. So when she saw something plummeting out of the sky, she peers up, watching with considerable interest. Raised brows soon furrow. "Come on, come on... ah crap, they're not gonna get their wings out in time...!"

     The young woman flinches as Zach goes tumbling in a very undignified heap, setting her boxes down on top of the car she had been just about to enter. I don't care who you are, that has /got/ to leave a mark! In the blink of an eye, she's running right over to crouch down next to Zach, checking him for injury with the critical eye of a healer. "You okay, mister?"

Zach Daniels has posed:
Zach begins untangling himself, one wing's missing feathers and bent in a way no wing should be, as in, forwards. Owww, that'll hurt. Getting to his feet, Zach grits his teeth and promptly decides sitting down is better. Yep, one ankle's swollen, his right ankle. His left shoulder's bruised too and he's moving the arm stiffly with a look to Shannon.

"I'm okay....I think. I just didn't bring my legs down and...yeah" Zach says looking to Shannon. He wiggles a wing and has a very, very pained look on his face moving the injured wing. Okay, yeah. Not kay

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon winces as she views the injuries, grimacing. Yeah, this was gonna land her in the medbay, she was fairly certain. How come she could never come to Salem center to get a pizza and just have a /normal/ trip for once? She sighs softly, flexing her fingers and schooling her expression into a light smile. "Please, if you'll let me, I can try to heal those. All you'd feel would be a little warmth, and it wouldn't take very long."

     From inside the car, there's a light groan from who must be the young woman's escort into the city for this little jaunt. A healing meant a bad day.

Zach Daniels has posed:
Unfurling his right wing, Zach uses it for support. Watching Shannon, Zach blinks a few times. "Are....are you an angel?" he asks looking over at Shannon. "You've got wings" he says. Yeah, like it's obbvious. Sure, Shannon /does/ have wings.

So does Zach, or wing. His left wing's the one pointing forwards, and Zach's not moving it, nope. "So...who, who are you?" Zach asks, teeth gritted.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just chuckles softly, flexing her fingers a few times. "No, I'm just a mortal girl who happens to have wings and can handle a bit of healing. My name's Shannon. What's yours?" She tries not to flinch too much as she sees the way that wing is bent; it does not bode well for her week. The bruise on the shoulder wasn't /too/ bad. It seems the gentleman's wing and ankle took the worst of it.

     "Just hold still, okay? This shouldn't take long." With that, the young healer-in-training closed her eyes and rested her hand first on the man's ankle, reaching out with her healing gift to begin the process. She was certain this was going to be painful and result in another trip to the medbay. It always had.

     But miss Grey's idea that perhaps nothing was actually /wrong/ with her gift to begin with echoed in her mind. She paused for a moment. Had she been going about things all wrong this whole time?

     What if all it took was a leap of faith, and let nature take care of itself, while all she did was give it a little nudge?

     She'd seen it before. She'd worked with Triage enough times to know it could work. She'd noted enough similarities between their gifts. But a leap of faith?

     Could she have been over-thinking it? Could it be that simple?

     Taking a few deep breaths, she reaches out with a tendril of healing energy and thought, directing it much as she did when diagnosing a problem. She braced herself for the kickback she was sure was going to happen, as the tissue within Zach's ankle began to repair itself, slowly at first, but soon, within a minute or so, the injury was healed.

     And yet, her own ankle remained unaffected.

     Surprised as anything, Shannon moved to strike while the iron was hot, a smile of elation spreading across her face as she moves to Zach's wing, then his shoulder, repeating the same process each time. Each time, the tissue and bones would repair themselves, with a nudge from her, but her own body remained unaffected.

     "I think, sir, you may be the angel here," she murmurs, slowly drawing her hands away. "That... is a first. It's... not normally how it works."

Zach Daniels has posed:
"Zach. Zacharias...Rafael Daniels" Zach says without prompting. "Oh you're not an angel, okay" he nods looking over Shannon, "But...your wings. They are....they are feathered"

Good job, Good job, Zach. Of course wings have feathers, doofus! He looks to Shannon.

"What do you mean that's not how it works/ Healing is....it's....it's...." he says unsure how to explain what he's thinking, though he shakes his wings out, moulting. Hey, comfortable spot to sit down, true, true.

So he glances to Shannon, loooking over Shannon again as he blinks slowly a few times.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Normally, when I heal someone, I absorb their injury as my own. This is a first." Shannon pushes herself to her feet, cautiously testing her weight on her right ankle; it holds, much to her surprise and delight. Next, she rolls her left shoulder about a bit, and unfurls her wings, moving them slowly back and forth. Once again, there was no pain, and normal range of movement. Her grin grows wider, and she just claps her hands togther, laughing for sheer joy.

     Pizza, and a healing that didn't land her in the medbay? This was a /very/ good day!

     She reaches down to help Zach to his feet, also helping him pick up the feathers he shed in the process. "Ooof. Molting season for you? That's a pain in the backside." This spoken as one who has felt the pain, and has complete sympathy! "But at least you're okay now."

Zach Daniels has posed:
"I am. So what's in that box?" Zach asks curiously, all but tempted to open one. That's after all why he dove down on the pizzas. "Do they make edible boxes now or is the food in the box?"

Zach's sorta familiar with pizzas, true, but....the slices anyone gets from a food cart more to the point than a box of pizza. In Zach's mind, he's assuming the box /is/ the pizza.

Which sounds more amazing than it really is, sadly. Still Zach listens. "So you take their pain and you didn't from me? Okay am I that strange?" he asks, shuffling his feet as he cracks a grin.

Nightingale has posed:
     "It's a long story, but for some reason, no, it didn't happen this time. I'll have to talk with some of my friends when I get back home about it, but... I'm pretty optimistic whatever change is happening, is for the better."

     Shannon grins and gets one of the boxes from the top of the car, opening it to reveal an ooey, gooey large cheese pizza. With extra cheese. "That answer your question about the boxes? Ooof..." Her stomach growls very loudly, and her brows furrow a little. "Okay... I've had a healing kick up my appetite before, but it /really/ did it this time. I'd better get these home soon to eat them." She chuckles a little bit, and winks. "Minus one slice, of course."

Zach Daniels has posed:
Zach looks over the cheese pizza, mouth watering as he watches it then Shannon. "Where'd you get that pizza from?"he asks. Sure, he could probably just get a slice or two of pizza, but...but....

He now wants cheese pizza, and why not. He's hungry and is so tempted to see about borrowing a slice or two, or...nah. Maybe he can go grab a table at the pizza place, huh,....that's an idea.

You already ate one slice huh? Then it's not two pizzas, you got one and one slice missing so that's nearly two pizzas" Zach offers with a nod, watching Shannon as his nose twitches at the smell of the pizza. "Oh, I moult when stressed" he admits. "I just shove feathers into blankets and stuff, ya know?" he adds.

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon laughs, and nods in understanding. "So do I. Also, seasonally, in spring and autumn. If stress molting happens at the same time, it can actually render me flightless for a few days." The cheese pizza in the box isn't missing any slices at all, and she offers the box again. "Go on, take one. You look like you need it as much as I do. Got these from the pizza parlor over there. They make some pretty darn good eats."

Zach Daniels has posed:
"Aw, flightless mortal girl" Zach says with sympathhy as he reaches a wing in and slides it under a slice, before giving out a shocked squeak. "Hot. Hot hot hot pizza!" he says sliding his wing back out. Fortunately, he's got his wing base first and carefully transfers the slice to fingers, watching it then laughing gently at the grease and dough slathered over the tip of his wing. Aw come on. So not fair!

Watching Shannon, Zach chews on a slice as he settles back on the ground, enjoying eating pizza as he pats the ground as if saying come sitt, it's an offer, not a command.

Of course, cheese gets on fingers and tangled up in wings. Well then. Licking off his fingers, he smiles and shakes his wings, just tangling more cheese in them. "It'll wash out. I just need to skim the river and wash my wings off" he offers. Or, option two: Moult. Moult freaking cheese like some cheese coated bird. Well then.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Hey, it only lasts a few days. But those few days /suck/. I love flying." Shannon grins as she leans against the car for a few minutes, nibbling on a slice of pizza herself. Although in this case, 'nibble' is more like 'hork it all down in a few bites', as her appetite's been kicked into overdrive by the healing. "I mean, okay, I'm only capable of about 75 mph but that's more than enough. I love diving out of the sky like you did, waiting till I'm /just/ at the surface of some water, then skimming the surface with my fingers and swooping back up into the sky."

     She nearly facepalms at the gooey dilemma Zach finds himself in, snickering. "That's what you get for using the wrong thing to pick up pizza."

Zach Daniels has posed:
"I've done that, only, ever done that with your toes and the Niagra Falls?" Zach offers, laughing at his own dilemma with cheesy wings. And not the good hot wings sort. The feathery how the eff do I fly sort. "If you can pull it off, hover just above the falls and get coated by spray. I've done that at times and it's amazingly relaxing" he adds. "Problem is if you fall in...yeah" he shrugs, shaking his head and smirks. "Who neeeds showers in that case, just fly to a river or a waterfall and use that"

Zach shakes his headd with a laugh chewing on pizza between words. "I remember when none of this was built, when it was all tribal people going by the seasons" he offers and pauses speaking to lick the last bits of cheese off of it. "It's amazing to seee how far things have come in five centuries"

Whoops, he gave away how long he's been here. Okay so that's a third of his life, give or take but...but...

Zach waves a hand. "Know what else is fun, since we both like flying? Pick a course, make one out of buildings and see how much fun you can have with that, going in and out of buildings and seeing how close you dare to get to them. You go 70? I go Mach 1. If I splat into a building at that speed I'll probably bring it down and kill myself" he mutters. "I save Mach 1 for the wide open spaces, though where I can't hit anything. I fly the speed limit in the city, give me credit!" he jokes. Okay there's a bit of truth to that. He flies a resonable speed. Depending on mood.

Nightingale has posed:
     "You know, I've never been to Niagara Falls." There's a wistful sigh from the winged girl, and she looks absently off into the sky. "Supposed to be one of the great natural wonders of the world. Maybe someday I can go."

     Shannon doesn't even bat an eye at the mention of just how long Zach's been around, smiling and incliing her head. "I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to live through so many changes. Heck, it was enough for me almost three years ago now, when I was fourteen, just to go through my mutation. Wow, has it already been that long? Almost seventeen now. Almost." Yeah, next to Zach, she's just a baby, but hey, who's counting?

Zach Daniels has posed:
"Plan a wing trip, Niagra Falls. Fly down the Grand Canyon, skim all the rocks in Yellowstone" Zach nods speaking from experience. "See if you can land on a boat going up and down the Hudson or the Housatonic, or just pick a direction and fly" Zach grins, "That's the beauty of having wings. Where we're going, we don't need roads!" he offers, offering a hand to her. "I'll show you some great hidden places around the area if you like?" he grins looking amused.

Nightingale has posed:
Shannon smiles and, while she looks tempted, has to shake her head sadly. "I should probably be getting back home. Let me give you my number, though, if you like. I wouldn't mind keeping in touch with a new friend." Now, what was that about entertaining angels unawares? This time, it seems to have turned out to be quite true! Grabbing a piece of scrap paper--maybe an old receipt--and a pen from the little brown bag she carries with her always, she jots down her number and passes it to Zach.

     "Really nice to have met you... keep in touch, okay?" She didn't really expect anything to come of it but hey--it couldn't hurt to try, right? With a wing-wave and a smile, she scoops up the boxes from the top of the car and gets into the passenger side, soon zooming off towards home.

Zach Daniels has posed:
Zach nods, looking pleased as he scribbles out his number and slips it over, then with wingbeats he's gone. He lets Shannon get a mile down the road, then guns it. There's a sonic boom as he's climbing and cracking Mach 1. Head down, out of the windd he's showing off now...he's pleased he found a new healer friend. Yay. Today doesn't suck that bad after all.