Inspecting the school

Alex nodded along as the stranger explained his wing grooming habits with him as she slid her shoes back on. As she was tying the laces back up she couldn’t help but wonder why he let them get cut, if he wanted to fly wouldn’t he at least try to prevent whoever was doing it from trimming them. Maybe he did, that might be why he has all the scars. She decided that it might just be best to drop this area of conversation.
“Well that’s too bad,” She said when he told her how he couldn’t heal himself. If he could he would be able to learn to fly without much problem, and wouldn’t be so scared up.

Once she finished with her shoes on she stood back up and looked him up and down thinking about his question. And for the second time in the morning felt dwarfed by his stature. “I don’t know, maybe.” Alex said, “You are awfully tall, very tall…” she trailed off for a moment missing her own lamenting her dear departed tall stature. “Well anyway,” She finally said. “It’s kinda hard to explain I guess it feels weird like I can feel the object but I’m not feeling it with my hands but in my brain so I’m kinda feeling it but not and while I can do it without moving my hands or anything it’s easier sometimes to… to...” She paused trying to figure out the words, she felt like this was trying to describe color to a blind person. “Channel it with my hands; I guess cause I’m used to interacting with things that way. I don’t know. But yeah I tend to have to keep a constant focus on keeping the thing floating or moving or something, unless I like throw it, that’s why it’s hard to move water. It’s liquid and tends to fight my grip or whatever and I… I’m not really sure.”

“Here why don’t I just show you?” She said gesturing for him to stand in front of her. “Here stand here. We’ll give it a try see if I can float you.”

“That’s the problem,” She said gloomily. “Neither am I.” Part of her found it funny, she had to admit, and when she was a boy was a good foot taller than she is now and always felt self-conscious about that. Slouching in crowds to blend in and not too bean polish, and now she find herself doing the exact opposite in hopes of not looking like a tiny little midget when around other people. Maybe she was just so neurotic it wouldn’t matter, she wouldn’t be happen anyway. That was something just something else she would have to add to the growing list of things to tell her therapist after the eventual inevitable break down she knew would be coming.

Alex grinned as the boy came and stood in front of her. “Well in you really don’t’ want to do it, then we don’t have too.” She said with a silly grin. Even though she was picking up on his nervous thoughts it still wouldn’t have taken a psychic to tell he really didn’t want to do that. “I suppose I could try on myself…” She added and then took a deep breath.

Straitening her posture she stood on the tips of her toes, she wasn’t sure if that would really help, but it seemed like it would make the process easier and tucked her shirt into her shorts, for fear of it floating up and flashing a total stranger. She closed her eyes and rested her hands along her side, and started concentrating on the. Finally exhaling she slowly started floating off the ground until she was only about a foot off the ground. Opening her eyes she let out another embarrassingly girly sounding giggle. “Wow! Never tried it before like this,” she said fighting to hide the growing strain I her voice. “I’ve sometimes woke up floating though, along with a lot of the stuff in my room. Then….” She trailed off as she the strain of keeping herself floating was getting to much for her to keep talking. Time to land, she decided. That’s where things went wrong rather than slowly dropping back to the ground she fell as though someone had just pulled a chair out from under her and hit the floor with an rather loud thud.

“Well,” She said as she lay on the floor coughing from the wind being knocked out of her. “That was embarrassing.”

She had to concede he had a point about her height. Maybe she was just being overly critical about herself, but shat still didn’t stop her from feeling completely diminutive, she imagined not many people would have experienced how she did, losing a foot of height in the space of a few hours it just made her feel so much weaker and more vulnerable than before. Then of course belly flopping onto the floor didn’t help her feel all that awesome either. As she slowly sat up resting on her knees and catching her breath and rubbing her forehead she chuckled nervously.

“I don’t know if I can take much practice like that.” She said, “I gotta admit I’ve never been much for flying, or heights really.” She added that realizing the irony of saying it from the tallest part of the school. “You shoulda saw me on the plane ride here. I was a total basket case.” Of course what she didn’t add was that part of the freak out had to do with being carted off against her will and the fact that some mad scientist had just flipped the gender switch from Man to Woman. “I think I’m gonna stick with bending spoons and lifting other people from now on.”

“Oh yeah tell me about it.” She said remembering the bouncing turbulence they had on the trip here, seventy five food drops did not do good for her stomach especially after eating that terrible in flight meal. She threw up on her clothes twice because of it. She ended up having to wear a spare stewardess’s outfit, it was her first time in a skirt, and Alex hated that even more. “That is a very good reason to let them grow out.” She agreed “Me, I think if I ever get out of this place it’ll be on a boat.”

“I wish you would tell the kitchen staff here it’s an admirable pursuit.” She said as she finally stood back up dusting her tights and shorts off. “I still get dirty looks from them after I bent an entire group of kids spoons for making a crack about my boobs.” She paused grinning at the memory of it. “It was soup day you see… okay it was a much more intimidating act at the time.” She conceded now it just sounded like a silly tantrum.

“You have a point there,” Alex laughed. “With my luck the boat will get hit by a massive storm and almost stink anyways. The people in charge here should thinking about making a bridge it’s just two and a half some odd miles to North America, I’m sure they could do it. I think I’ll have to pass on riding on your back too, we don’t even know if those things will support your weight ever much less mine.” She gave him playful wink that six seconds later she regretted and hoped to god wouldn’t be interpreted as flirting. That would be super awkward and bring up a thousand issues she didn’t even want to try and think about.

“Oh thoughts I could handle,” She said with a grim smile. “It’s when they get the courage to actually say something. That’s when they need to be put in their place.” Of course she knew he perfect way to do that would be to tell them just a few months before she was a he would totally destroy them, she knew no good would come of people like that finding out that nugget of information. “And I wouldn’t put too much faith in the kitchen staff will ever understand, they are a cruel and arbitrary lot. They would be more concerned about their utensils integrity than me getting insulted.”