Escalation
15th May
10:37 GMT -6
"Okay, now, just sort of… Lean forwards a bit?
"
Harleen tries to follow my instruction, starts to drift and then immediately straightens up again. I suppose it's a bit like using a Segway. All your instincts tell you that you're about to fall over, despite the fact that that's very unlikely.
I smile encouragingly.
"Okay, and
again?
"
For a second she looks up at me, then her eyes drop back down to the ground. Which is about a metre away. "This ain't
easy, y'know. How long did it take you t'learn, anyways?"
"I got the basics after half an hour or so.
" That earns me a minor scowl.
"But, I had been flying with the ring for months before that, so I'd got used to the whole 'being in the air apparently unsupported' thing. Look, it's pretty much impossible for anything to go wrong. Even if you just fall out of the air, hitting the ground won't hurt. The belt absorbs kinetic energy.
"
"I dunno. That shuwer
sounds like somethin' that'd hurt."
I hold up my hands, pull the left ring off with my right hand and then pull the right ring off with my left. I then stow them both in one of the chest pouches in my overalls.
"There we go. Just the belt holding me up.
Next?
"
I flip over, the sky spinning across my field of vision until I can see the ground again. Ugh, that always feels weird when I do it without the rings. The kinetic belt has
some inertial stabilising but it's got nothing on a proper environmental shield. Then I shoot forward, accelerating rapidly and
boong, ramming face first into the grass-covered ground.
There's a sharp intake of breath from my flying-buddy.
"And I'm fine.
" Precise manoeuvring with these things is more difficult than large movements, but I twist around while still balancing on my head.
"See? No problem.
"
"Okay." She blinks. "That's a thing."
"You wanna try?
"
"I think I'll stick t'normal flyin'."
"Well, go on then.
"
"Oooooh… Kaaaaay?" She leans forwards in the air, accelerating slowly forwards and upwards. "How'm I doin'?"
"Like a toddler on her first tricycle, but you're going
forwards and that's the main thing.
" I clench slightly, causing my own belt to reverse me back upwards. Then I twist, briefly moving to a position parallel to the ground before accelerating up to Harleen.
"Come on! It's really instinctive. Inasmuch as there
is a trick, it's to not think about it too much. I mean… You were a gymnast. You didn't think about where every part of your body was the whole time, did you?
"
"Okay, but-" She moves her right forefinger into lecture position. "-if this goes wrong you bettuh catch me."
"I won't need to. Unless you fly into a laser or an electricity pylon-
" I look around, seeing none of either.
"-you're pretty much proof against anything that could hurt you.
"
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then leans forwards and jerks her hands back.
Immediately she accelerates forward, forcing me to duck and dive to avoid being hit. "Wwaaahhhoooooo!"
I hold my right hand up to my mouth as she rockets away.
"See!
" Uh. Maybe I should get after..? Yes, yes I should. I assume the position and fly along in her wake as she powers through the sky… Well, so close to the ground perhaps I should say through the air, above the
Kisatchie National Forest. She seems to be enjoying 'forwards' well enough, but the tree line is coming up and-.
She looks back. "This is great!"
"Pull up! Pull up!
"
"Huh?" She turns her head to face forwards. "Ah!" She leans back, probably trying to stop. Unfortunately for her, the belt interprets that a desire to change direction, so rather than going at about fifty miles an hour straight forwards she's now going fifty miles an hour straight up. "Agh!" She flails briefly in surprise, then calms down a little and gets herself back under control, slowing to a stop about a mile above the forest canopy.
I follow after her at a slightly reduced rate, giving her a moment to get used to being in the air and to appreciate the view. She glances my way as I come up alongside her.
"Well?
"
"That was… Heh." She's panting, but the smile on her face says 'excitement' rather than 'terror'. "That was pretty great. Hah."
"Okay, next lesson: flying into the ground at full speed.
"
"Oh no.
No." She shakes her head definitively. "That ain't happenin'."
I lean back in the air, lounging on nothing.
"Alright. What do
you want to do next?
"
Another deep breath. "I wanna…" She nods to herself. "I.. wanna talk aboud last night. While I'm still buzzin' with adrenaline an' not.. fellin' self conscious aboud it."
"Okay.
" I nod.
"Reasonable. Eris is-.
"
"Tha Greek Goddess of Chaos. An' you work fer Wonder Woman so I guess it makes sense, you knowin' her."
"I.. am actually a Hellenist. I do literally worship her.
"
"But that don't explain what she wuz doin' showin' up at my house, an'… Dressed.. in that."
"How.. blunt do you want me to be?
"
She gives me a flat look. "Hey, I'm a counsellor heyah."
"Okay. I asked her to find a particular arcane artefact for me, and the owner was available to negotiate with
right then. As to why she was dressed like that, I'm… I've been somewhat reticent on matters of romance and sex. Depending on how the mood takes her, she finds that either amusing or irritating. She dressed like that as a wind up.
"
"O
oh. That makes sense. I mean,
she's still kind of a bitch, but…"
"Yeah.
" I clear my throat, momentarily averting my gaze.
"Also… She wants me to end my reticence… Deliberately.
"
Harleen frowns, baffled. "How d'ja mean 'deliberately'? Like,
you can't fall on someone?"
"No, she means that I have to deliberately choose a particular person, not just… Go with the flow in a way I don't find
objectionable. Can you believe that I didn't actually pick up on the fact that you were propositioning me?
"
"Oh." She looks more puzzled than offended. "Rilly? 'Cause I thought I was bein' pretty direct there."
"Ye
ah. I mean, I see it
now, it just-. At the time, it didn't…
" I sigh.
"Okay, did I ever tell you that I'm a metahuman? I don't mean the rings, I mean…
" I make a circling motion with my right hand.
"No." She shakes her head. "What, you got a power
and power rings?"
"Not exactly. I got my power as a result of the power rings. I'm empathic. I perceive the emotions of those around me as coloured light. Most.. importantly, I see love as violet light. Last time someone propositioned me I knew… Because I could see… Violet. They were interested in me, emotionally… So it made sense that they might want to have sex with me. You… You're not violet. Not even a little bit.
"
"Well… We don't know each other
that well. I mean… If you wan'ed to
wait…"
"The question is not.. why I
don't. I can or not. My question is, why do you? I'm pleasant company and I'm good looking, but would you be enjoying this flying any.. more, if we'd had sex last night? At the.. restaurant in New York, you mentioned a teacher at Gotham University in the same breath as Doctor Strange. Then you said that you just needed to find a guy who wasn't a jerk. If I turned my empathic vision up, would I see myself filling that hole?
"
"Huh." She looks me over with notably less enthusiasm. "Didn't think you were that insecuwah."
"I'm not.
I'm concerned for you. Not only do you not love me, there's no flicker that could become true love. You're not particularly libidinous, so it's not just the endorphin release from sex that you're looking for. Why do you want me?
Given.. your history…
Do you.. really think that another.. relationship with a man is.. a solution? Eris considers going with the flow to be a sin, and I.. kind of see what she means. If you're just looking for the next Strange-.
"
"
Oh, go t' hell!"
She turns face down and drops through the sky, tears leaking from her eyes.
..... 
