shatterverse | (no subject)

Entry tags:

rachel (au),
tobias

(no subject)

Every so often, Tobias just needs to get out and stretch his wings. He doesn't mind sticking close to Rachel, but sometimes he just needs to fly.

So about once a week he just takes off. He doesn't say anything to Rachel. That's not really how their relationship works. Today, without saying anything to him, she's joined him.

He doesn't mind. If he had a human face he might even smile a bit.

He doesn't have a direction in mind, but soon they're flying over relatively untraveled roads, passing abandoned farms.

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More or less. Once Rachel's stopped trumpeting, there's plenty of silence for the man's scream to be heard. Which distracts the others just enough for Rachel to lumber forward and grab one of them in the circle of her trunk.

The guy yells, thrashes, then lifts his gun and points it at her forehead.

<Uh-uh, I don't think so,> Rachel snaps, and with a flick of her trunk, tosses him into the remaining group of humans.

Classic Rachel. For just a moment Tobias wishes he had lips because he really wants to grin.

He screeches again before grabbing some altitude. He'll provide high cover, make sure no one sneaks up on them while Rachel goes to work.

The scruffy men are falling back, tripping over each other as their comrade lands among them. "Where did that come from?" one of them yells, utterly failing to aim his gun at the elephant.

<Hi there,> Rachel replies, lowering her head to the ground and tossing it to the side, watching the men leap back and away from her tusks. <I'm from the Humane Society. We've decided to expand our goals from purely animals to humans as well. I noticed that you're chasing a group of them with guns. That's not very nice.>

"What the hell is this?" one of the men shouts, panicked as the others.

Sadly, drawing attention to himself.

Rachel's trunk wraps tight around his ankle and she lifts him high into the air, watches him flail and brings him close to one of her enormous eyes. <We at the Humane Society would like to ask you to put your weapons away, find a nice piece of land, start a farm, and quit being a bunch of bastards. We ask this politely and respectfully.>

This man also gets thrown into his friends.

Tobias simply circles and watches for the moment. It appears that these three SUVs are alone. No backup seems forthcoming. And Rachel has things well in hand.

"Shoot it! Shoot it!" one of the men screams in panic and swings his gun up at Rachel.

None of the other men follow suit.

Well, so long as no one else is following him...

An African elephant can withstand more than a few shotgun shells, thanks to its thick skin. Rachel protects her face by placing her massive head against the back of one of the SUVs and pushes it.

It isn't really "running someone over" if she isn't driving it, right?

<Does anyone else want to make trouble? Or would it seem like a better idea to drop the guns, turn around, and start walking?>

There's a clattering sound as the guns all hit the ground at the same time. Then there's some awkward scrambling as the men try to figure out how their groups divide into only two vehicles instead of three.

<Uh, no. Leave the cars with the guns. Walk away.>

Privately to Tobias, Rachel adds in a voice ripe with amusement, <Want to learn to drive?>

The men immediately cease scrambling for the cars and start scrambling the other way. Anything to get away from the telepathic elephant!

<I...> Tobias starts to object. He'd rather fly. But... That's probably not why Rachel's really asking.

<Sure. It might come in handy some day.>

If they learn to drive, they don't have to depend on people who can for travels longer than can be flown.

~~Specifically, she'd never have to get into the Impala ever again... assuming there was ever another invitation.~~

And yes, she is ignoring his hesitation.

Waiting until the men have all disappeared down the road, Rachel lumbers after them for a bit, and finally trumpets again. When her quilt-sized ears can't pick up any more sound, she demorphs.

In the middle of the street.

There is a sense of freedom in this world that Rachel really, really likes. She's already smirking when she finishes, and looks up to the sky as she reaches for the door handle to one of the cars. "Ride or drive?"

<Ride first,> Tobias decides as he lands on the passenger seat. That way he doesn't have to morph immediately.

Which was only natural. He can get a better feel of the road this way, watch Rachel struggle through it first.

It makes a lot of sense.

Slipping into the driver's side, Rachel adjusts the seat and mirrors first, taking her time. She hasn't driven before, really, but both of her parents gave her basic instructions as soon as she was old enough to take care of her sisters without either of them around.

All the same, the car does a lurching start-and-stop to begin with and Rachel frowns, determined, and presses a little more lightly on the gas.

Tobias carefully splits his attention between Rachel and the road.

This should be educational.

She's better than Marco. Not that that says much.

"A regular car probably would have been easier to work with than this tank," Rachel grumbles, looking surprised at the jostling of a pothole and glaring at the road as she straightens.

<You're probably right,> Tobias agrees. <It doesn't look at all like handling a large morph.> Because that always feels so natural, and this looks very... unnatural.

"Well, I'm not actually the car," Rachel agrees, still grumbling, annoyed that she doesn't just get it. Though the car is moving more smoothly and she's getting into the groove of it.

...possibly because she's only going about 10mph.

"Besides, I don't think it's instincts would be much of a help either."

Tobias chuckles mentally. <What do you think a car's instincts are, anyway?>

Smirking a little, Rachel shrugs - and brightens immensely when she's able to maneuver around the next pothole. "Beats me. Probably nothing interesting."

She glances at him, brows lifted, and puts her eyes back on the road soon enough to speed up a bit. "You want to try? It's not that bad."

<I think I'd rather let you mess up a few more times first,> Tobias suggests with a teasing mental tone.

Rachel wrinkles her nose at him, rolling her eyes. "I'm not that ba- whoops.

"That was a rock. No one cares about running over rocks."

Tobias just gave her a look. Somehow his hawkeyes seemed to twinkle in amusement.

Rachel is incredibly talented at reading other emotions in fierce hawk eyes.

It's why she scowls at him.

"You're next, birdboy."

<But you're too nice to make fun of me,> he tells her.

Yeah. Right.

Rachel's snort agrees with the narrative.

"You wish I was that nice."

Too bad Tobias can't make wibbly eyes as a hawk. Because he would.

Then he sobers. The truth is, he likes Rachel the way she is.

Only one that does. Which might be why Rachel finds herself smiling again soon enough.

"All right," she sighs, after a few miles of bumpy driving. "That's good enough for me."

<Guess I'm up then.> Tobias shook out his feathers and prepared to morph.

There's no point in pulling over - there's no one coming down those roads. But Rachel does make sure to hold out her arms and helps him get into the driver's seat first. It'll be awkward having two humans climbing over each other, so better to do it now.

He bobs his head to her as she shifts him over. That's definitely a good plan.

Then, once they're settled in their respective seats, he morphs. It's not any prettier on him than it is on her, really, but that's a fact that everyone who morphs learns to live with.

Fortunately his human body is a bit on the tall side for thirteen, so he can see over the dash. Well... decently well, at least.

Well enough, hopefully. It'll be really hard for Rachel not to tease him if he needs a phone book.

For now, though, she leans back in the passenger seat and relaxes.

~~And tries not to think it's weirder to have him like this than with feathers.~~

Later, after they've passed the state line and are still working on the fine art of the clutch, there's some movement ahead.

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