280/Sage Advice

Sage Advice
Date of Scene:	05 May 2017
Location:	Unkown
Synopsis:	A junior hero advises another junior hero on how to be a hero.
Cast of Characters:	Dragonfly (Arazello), Crusader

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Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Sunny day. Birds are chirping. Fish are in the trees. Well, one fish is anyway. Some prankster or another has painted a fish green and hung it in a tree. (Probably re-enacting that classic riddle.)
    Nancy is sitting cross-legged in Apple Park, enjoying the increasingly fair weather of the season, and the brilliant sunshine bathing the place in warmth and light. She has a brown paper bag filled with something. Something that smells delicious. Something that makes her eyes wander over to the bag speculatively as she waits for her friend to join her.

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn had gotten the call from Nancy to meet up with her... he dosn't know why, but at least it didn't sound like ane emergency. He none the less /did not/ take his sweet time getting there. He thought as going as Vorn...but figured it was time to be Bjorn again...with a cavet anyways
    Crusader personal has been taking stronger a stronger and stronger root within Bjorn. Despite being in his human guis, he seemed to wear a rather expensive and well made 4-pieced buisness suit. Hair slicked backed and black shoes polished to a mirror finish. Seems some of The Crusade formality has slipped in
    None the less he soon spies Nancy by the tree.....with a fish? Curiouse and smellling good food he takes a seat by Nancy starting with a question "Why...is there a fish hanging in the tree?" he asks curiouse

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:

    Nancy looks up at the tree and grins. "I think some wiseass is just doing the old riddle as a performance piece," she says. Her attention returns to the bag which she now opens, hurriedly, as if she's been waiting all her life to open it.
    "Bagels," she says. "Plain, sesame, poppyseed, and pumpernickel. Done up as sandwiches. Cream cheese. Cream cheese with lox. Reuben. BLT. Enough here to feed an army. And for some reason I feel like I am one. I'm always hungry now."
    She holds out the bag for bjorn to make his selection.
    "So I bet you're wondering why I called you here?"

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn reaches in and pulls out a simple handfull of bagles, not bothering to pick and choice. "Thank you, Bjorn much enjoys food!" he says with a wide grin. He eyes the tree again "Bjorn is not familiar with this riddle that is involving fish in the tree" he states
    "Bjorn understand... well he is not so much hungry....as.... hard to describe" he says. None the less he bites into a bagle chewing and swallowing. "Not bad"
    But than he is looking to her again "One...ahem, Bjorn is curiouse as to why you call him out here. Nothing bad Bjorn hope"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "The riddle? It goes like this: What's green and hangs in a tree? I don't know, what? A fish. Fish aren't green. They are if you paint them. They don't hang in trees then. They do if you tie them up." Nancy shrugs. "I didn't say it was a good riddle. Just an old one."
    She reaches in the bag herself and takes out a random bagel without looking. BLT on pumpernickel, as it happens. She takes a bite, chews carefully, then swallows, giving herself time to think before answering Bjorn's question.
    "We've done some good together, haven't we?" she finally asks. "I mean that boat thing first. Then that starfish thing. We did OK, right?"

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn takes another bite "Good yes." he says and another bite "That is dumb riddle. There are several variety of green fish. And of course if you hang something in a tree, that it is hanging in a tree. Bjorn not get it" he states going back to that
    He looks to nancy "Perhaps we did do okay. But a person can always do better." a quick glance around before he contines "There are different kinds of heros. But if there one thing all heros have in common... it that they can always do better" he says. "For instance, you might have let Flash down instead of dropping him. What if he could not have caught himself, and got injured because you dropped him?" he states
    "That is one less hero that could of been of aid" yea he wasn't about to sugar coat the fact a mistake was made.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Another thoughtful chewing. Another belaboured swallowing.
    "See, that's what I was thinking. We did OK. We did some good things, but we did them OK. We didn't do them well, not to mention great." Her face turns a bit wry. "Well, Flash sucker-punched me, see, and ... uh ... that big starfish thing was blasting out some confusing things. I was angry, I was confused, and I had no idea what was going on. I mean I own the mistake. But it wasn't as if I was thinking to myself 'Oh, that guy's not important so I'll totally let him fall to his death.'"
    Another bite. Another chew. Another swallow. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
    "But this is the problem. How do I practice without, you know, doing it on the public's dime, time, and life? The only time I can go out there and do things heroically is when my mistakes have a huge cost. I'd kind of like to get my mistakes out of my system without, you know, people dying. Or getting hurt even."
    She looks down at her legs. "I mean great, I can do perfect three-point landings now. It looks good. I make it look REALLY good as far as I'm concerned. But that's not exactly something that saves lives."

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn chuckles, he after all never rally got the who point of the three point landing thing. Didn't seem important. He rolls his shoulders a moment
    "A good place to start is wanting to do this. From the begining you have stated how you do not want any of this, but that your stuck with it and have no choice but to do it." he states
    "Or to put it, who makes the better writer, the person who is forced to write, or the one that choose to?" he asks to try and drive home the point
    "Secondly, try and learn to channel your emotions, without them blinding you. An angry person can hit harder, an enranged one though can be taken down with ease" he states
    "And another thing, pay better attention to your surroudings. When facing that hag, you wasted unneeded energy lifting the ship. It would have been better to try and find out why those sea urchins were gathering around that hole" he states "Powers help, but a proper wit is more valuble usually."

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    The chewing ritual repeats.
    "I can't really control what I want or don't want. Thinking doesn't work that way." She looks down at the grass. "All I can change is how I react to those likes. Sometimes you have to do something you don't want to do. You still should try to do your best. Which is what I'm trying to do. I'm stuck being Dragonfly. I can't not be Dragonfly: bad things happen when I try. I'm also stuck being Nancy. I can't stay Dragonfly forever or I start to weaken a lot. I'm both. I'm neither. And I have to live with it and do what I can with it."
    She looks back up, taking in the park. "Emotions ... yeah, I can be emotional. That's something I can work on without threatening lives I guess. But the surroundings thing ... I have to make decisions in a split second with limited information. This isn't how I work as an engineer where I can and do agonize for weeks over minor changes after chewing over entire libraries of information. I'm ... just overwhelmed. How do I train that up, again, you know, without putting people at risk?"

Crusader has posed:
"You must be dragonfly or nancy yes. But neither Nancy or Dragonfly have to be heros" he says "Which is the point here. You are unwilling to be a hero, but your forcing yourself to be one. You are litterly a walking contridiction. The unstoppable force meeting the immovable wall...which in short means little progress" another bite "Apprecitable progress anyways"
    Another bagle is eaten, one of the seaseme ones. The man can certainly chow down thats for sure. "Video games" Bjorn says. He than explains "Many proffession use simulations to help train indivuduals, at least as a start. For example, getting the basic controls of a helichopter practice without the danger or a real chopter" he explains "If you wish to practice split second decision on limited infomation, try playing some competive games that require such a task"
    Another bagle "Otherwise...well only actual experince will help. If we had a way to make perhaps a danger room of sorts to train in, it would likely help a great deal."

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    The chewing ritual is eschewed as a hot button is pressed. "We've been through this before. If I'm Dragonfly I can't just sit idly by and let people get hurt or worse because I'm being a selfish cow! I don't *want* to be Dragonfly, but I am. And with that comes ... obligations. Expectations. If I turn my back on those and people die, I'm responsible."
    She calms herself, reaching for another bagel sandwich. This one seeming to be a plain with cream cheese. No, there's that pink. Lox slices carefully laid out on top of the cheese.
    "I live with the hand I'm dealt and I want to do my best with it. I like the idea of the video game. I've got the rig for it. That will help me beef up my split-second decisions for sure. Danger room ... does it have to be a room? I mean you and I tested each other out on that field. It was a bit disastrous because you underestimated my power, but ... now that you know, with some preparation could you help me? Set up situations that I have to figure out quickly and time me and monitor my progress and so on?"

Crusader has posed:
"Bjorn did not underestimate your power, he expected you to control it" Bjorn says "You assumed bjorn was underestimating you and you wish to hurt Bjorn for it, as you so said yourself." he states bluntly
    He turns to her, seems there is one point that he is not leeting die so easily "Oh? And who is holding you to these obligations and expectations? Who told you to go out and be a hero? Whatever gave you those powers?" he asks "Look" he says serisouly "You can try saying that Dragonfly has to be a hero, because she dragonfly, but news flash that not how that works. Is Dragonfly an all togeather seperate personlity? Does it force you agaist you will to to what is right? Do you lose control of your body?" he asks
    Another bite of bagle "You were not obligated to do any of this, you were not expected too when you became Dragonfly. You CHOOSE to have these obligations and expectations. You are choosing to live a lie that distance yourself from Dragonfly, because as you said, you hate being Dragonfly...even though you are the same person."
    Another bite his eye close as he lets that sink in "You sat idly by before and you can still do so now. But do not sit here and tell me Dragonfly is forcing you to do this. You are just responsible as before you became Dragonfly as you are after"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    That gets a rise.
    "Control it? I'm still not even sure what the extent of it is!" Nancy snaps. "I found out the VERY bad way that I can't lift things from a distance and fly at high speeds, for example. Whatever it is that protects me from the wind when I'm going faster than a fighter jet disappears when I try to manipulate things with thoughts. When I'm flying, I can stand on the nose of a fighter jet that's chasing me. I can do it comfortably. It doesn't even muss my hair. But if I try to, I don't know, tickle the pilot or something I get hammered by a thousand mile an hour wind and very nearly die. I don't know even the BASICS of what I can and can't do!"
    She swallows her anger, visibly suppressing it and calming. It is visibly not an easy job.
    "When I hit you I warned you that I was strong. I warned you that it could hurt you. But I myself had no idea just how bad it could get. Control it? I didn't even know what had to be controlled."
    Back to the chewing ritual. Extended across several bites.
    "You're right about the other part, though," she says. "I keep talking as if Dragonfly and I are different people. And ... bodily we are. Nancy and Dragonfly are different people. Physically."
    Her eyes turn down as she finds her knee endlessly fascinating. Then the fingers of her left hand.
    "But where it matters, in spirit, in thought, we're the same person. I have to get that into my thick head."

Crusader has posed:
"Sure you do. You know you can fly, have super strength and judging by your description, generate some sort of forcefield...which seems directly tied to your telekinises" he states "And One took those warnings to heart, and Regardless, the moment you decided you wanted to hurt me, was the moment you decided to try and extend yourself beyound what you would have likely done before hand" he looks in the bag, bagles are gone
    "Which is why it is important to learn how to regulate your emotion, such as you are doing now" a compliment technically speaking. But as for Bjorn....well it defintly wasn't Bjorn talking at this point, but Crusader as his personlity swaps more and more to its heroic self. Calm and collected and very very blunt
    "But at least you making some progress. Acknowlegement is often the first step in going forward" he says in regards to to her last setence.

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "Knowing grossly what I can do and knowing the limits are different things. The boat ... I had no idea if I could lift it until I tried. And it damned near killed me, but I did it. And now I know I probably can't do much more than that." Nancy looks up again. "I know how fast I can fly because that's a limit I can test without risking anybody. I'm fast. Not Flash fast. Not even Supes fast. But I'm fast. Faster than most jets fast." Her mouth forms a tight, bitter smile. "Now how much can I carry while I'm flying fast? I have no idea. How much can I lift on solid ground instead of using my flight? No clue. How hard is my punch? I've wrecked every machine I was able to rig up to test myself. I'm tough. I can shrug off industrial lasers. They hurt, but like, you know, someone poking me with a blunt stick. Nothing really damaging, but annoyingly painful. How much can I take before it injures me? If you punch me what happens? If Supes punches me what happens?"
    She shrugs helplessly.
    "I know next to nothing about myself. I don't know my limits. I don't know the extent of my abilities. And what scares me is I don't even know how I can find out without ... well, as I said, putting people at risk."

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn settles back, he was gradually sliding back the other way "Well, experimenting as you do now works well! And, well back to the danger room" he says "Hmmm, Bjorn probably could help you, we train agaist each other, push us to limits. We can even use my med lab if needed for injuries substained" he offers "Alien Tech and all that. Mabey we can make field in back of barn into training grounds" rubs his beard "...or find old abandon island" ponders "Though still that poses problems. Bjorn wish we had place to practice"
    "It is why Bjorn not partake in the flying..." rubs the back of his head. If the otherdays event was any indicator....Bjorn lack fine motor control. "So Bjorn can understand how frustraing practice can be"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Nancy smiles slyly. Her first genuine smile of this conversation.
    "I'm good at the flying part. Being an aerospace engineer gave me an edge in figuring out that side of Dragonfly. I can easily help you out there; teach you to control and limit your flight within your control envelope. I can do amazing things in the air and I can teach you how too!" She tilts her head. "So let's swap then. Let's set up our training grounds. I teach you flight control and aerodynamic optimization. You test and teach my strength control. And my damage control. Don't worry too much about healing. If things get too bad, I become Nancy for a day and I'm right as rain. Maybe two days. If it doesn't kill me outright I can survive it."

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn nods "Agreed.... admittedly Bjorn is not quite so how he heals" he says rubbing the back of his head "Bjorn does not even need to eat or anything....he kind of just exists. So not quite sure how one heals" he admits "Still Bjorn look forward to these lessons of flying as well as helping to teach you!"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Nancy squeals a squeal of pure joy. She launches herself at Bjorn to hug him. "Oh, thank you so much!" she says, pressing her head against his shoulder briefly before backing off. "This is going to be great! Both of us working out our abilities, teaching each other, and maybe also learning to work together as a team!" She's practically bouncing off the ground, unable to stop from vibrating at the excitement. "Maybe then I can stop feeling like I'm making it up as I go along; feel like I know what I'm doing! And then I can be as confident as you are."

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn blinks at the hug and squeel "Think this is the most excited Bjorn ever seen you!" he says with a rolling laugh "But keep it cool eh?" he gestures about "We are still in a park!" he exclaims. He smooths down his suit once Nancy is off of him "What... confident as me" he laughs a bit..... quietly. Definintly not his usual laugh regardless of form. "Well, we do you think we can be starting. You have a job after all. As for Bjorn, well he keeps what hours he feels. The nice thing about owning store"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    Nancy gets up to her feet, still bouncing, practically, positively radiating sunshine. "You're the best, Bjorn. I'll help you become the best flying ... nanobot ... robot ... joined-mind ... person ..." Her voice trails out, then returns, "EVER!"
    Her face sobers, "But yeah, you're right. I do need to get back to the lab. I'm heading up a propulsion research project based on that craft we greeted. Mr. Luthor was impressed by my report and put a bunch of resources under my control. I need to earn that trust."

Crusader has posed:
Bjorn grunts "Collective Crusade will do fine as a donation of what one is" he seemed a bit uncomfortable when referred to as a robot. Not that it shows much, simply hinted at.
    "And oh? Well it seems that LexCorp is doing well for you" he grins "Bjorn even got the new Lex operating system for his phone! It is great!" he exclaims "Still Bjorn hope you project goes well!"

Dragonfly (Arazello) has posed:
    "Well, see you later, Bjorn, the Collective Crusade, then," Nancy says. "I've got to get back to the office, and that means finding a private place to change."
    She winks. "Since Dragonfly my taxi costs have become zero!"
    And with that she heads off down a path to find a place where she's out of sight for the instant it takes to transition and fly off; a flash of light and a small thunderclap the only evidence left behind of what happened to her.