Fic: Save the Citizen
Dec. 10th, 2007 02:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starrikaTitle: Save the Citizen
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
starrika
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Another drabble in the Norah series.
There is nothing worse in this school than the worst excuse for gym, ever. Save the Citizen.
How, exactly, my powers will ever do anything in this situation, I don’t know. My only consolation is that the dummy isn’t real. If it was a real citizen panicking, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my head. It’s hard enough to focus when I’ve got three other people hopped up on adrenaline in close proximity.
It was about three weeks into school when my name was called for the first time. They always did random pairings, one sidekick and one hero, any grade, although how that was fair, I have no idea. They paired me with Jasper Salacia, Jessica’s older brother. He was in hero track, but he tended more towards brain than brawn.
We got three minutes before the game started to strategize, and Jasper was off and rattling a plan and the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents before I could even get my jersey pulled on all the way. He was upbeat, but I already knew, without feeling his emotions, that we were sunk. Jasper was pretty much the Karate Kid when it came to hand to hand combat, but I hadn’t done much more than a few laps around the neighborhood since school started for exercise. And we were up against two seniors – some girl who could manipulate water and a sidekick who could do the chameleon thing like Sean.
Thirty seconds into the game, I was drenched by a tidal wave of water, and when I tried to move towards the citizen, chameleon boy had tripped me. He wasn’t even that good at blending in. How had I missed him?
Jasper was trying to distract water girl, but he got drenched again for his troubles. I tried to move towards the citizen again, though I hadn’t figured a way to get it down from the ropes. And then chameleon boy tripped me again. Jerk.
Water girl had Jasper cornered and I couldn’t see chameleon boy, but then I saw the rope that the citizen was hanging from move. He was better than Sean at blending into things, but I could still see him if I concentrated.
I ran over to the citizen, trying to get a hand on the rope so we’d at least tie, but water girl must have noticed, because she sent what felt like a tidal wave towards me, which pushed me a few yards back from the citizen right as the buzzer sounded.
She seemed nice, though, coming over to give me a hand up and apologizing for all the water. It still didn’t make me dry, though. I was shivering and my jersey was sticking to me by the time Jasper came over to me, dripping just as much as I was.
He was smiling though, and didn’t even seem phased that we had lost. Most teams took Save the Citizen so seriously. He didn’t even seem to care that he was wet. He just shrugged and patted me on the shoulder, and I knew he was being truthful.
And then he told me I should just give them the case of the giggles the next time. I don’t think he realizes that empathy doesn’t work that way. Well, not mine anyway. I’m not that good.
But still. Other than being soaking wet, which made my hair a mess, oh, and not wearing any makeup, my first Save the Citizen wasn’t so bad. I still think it’s a pitiful excuse for gym, though.
Author:
starrikaRating: PG-13
Summary: Another drabble in the Norah series.
There is nothing worse in this school than the worst excuse for gym, ever. Save the Citizen.
How, exactly, my powers will ever do anything in this situation, I don’t know. My only consolation is that the dummy isn’t real. If it was a real citizen panicking, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my head. It’s hard enough to focus when I’ve got three other people hopped up on adrenaline in close proximity.
It was about three weeks into school when my name was called for the first time. They always did random pairings, one sidekick and one hero, any grade, although how that was fair, I have no idea. They paired me with Jasper Salacia, Jessica’s older brother. He was in hero track, but he tended more towards brain than brawn.
We got three minutes before the game started to strategize, and Jasper was off and rattling a plan and the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents before I could even get my jersey pulled on all the way. He was upbeat, but I already knew, without feeling his emotions, that we were sunk. Jasper was pretty much the Karate Kid when it came to hand to hand combat, but I hadn’t done much more than a few laps around the neighborhood since school started for exercise. And we were up against two seniors – some girl who could manipulate water and a sidekick who could do the chameleon thing like Sean.
Thirty seconds into the game, I was drenched by a tidal wave of water, and when I tried to move towards the citizen, chameleon boy had tripped me. He wasn’t even that good at blending in. How had I missed him?
Jasper was trying to distract water girl, but he got drenched again for his troubles. I tried to move towards the citizen again, though I hadn’t figured a way to get it down from the ropes. And then chameleon boy tripped me again. Jerk.
Water girl had Jasper cornered and I couldn’t see chameleon boy, but then I saw the rope that the citizen was hanging from move. He was better than Sean at blending into things, but I could still see him if I concentrated.
I ran over to the citizen, trying to get a hand on the rope so we’d at least tie, but water girl must have noticed, because she sent what felt like a tidal wave towards me, which pushed me a few yards back from the citizen right as the buzzer sounded.
She seemed nice, though, coming over to give me a hand up and apologizing for all the water. It still didn’t make me dry, though. I was shivering and my jersey was sticking to me by the time Jasper came over to me, dripping just as much as I was.
He was smiling though, and didn’t even seem phased that we had lost. Most teams took Save the Citizen so seriously. He didn’t even seem to care that he was wet. He just shrugged and patted me on the shoulder, and I knew he was being truthful.
And then he told me I should just give them the case of the giggles the next time. I don’t think he realizes that empathy doesn’t work that way. Well, not mine anyway. I’m not that good.
But still. Other than being soaking wet, which made my hair a mess, oh, and not wearing any makeup, my first Save the Citizen wasn’t so bad. I still think it’s a pitiful excuse for gym, though.