Forge and Crystal - Fly and Run

[x-aerial.livejournal.com]

While out for a jog to test a new leg, Forge nearly falls after catching sight of someone zooming through the trees, and ends up challenging her to a race.



Forge flexed his ankle, hearing the hiss of gas pistons extending even as he saw and felt the metal struts of his left calf extending and flexing as he shifted his weight back and forth. For close to five years now he'd been working on the problem of designing an artificial leg capable of both coordinated motion while walking around as well as running and jumping in what limited athletic endeavors he participated in. The physiological stresses of walking on an artificial limb were totally different than those generated by running. Different tension and flexion of the joints, different stress on his hip and back, and usually the need for a handful of aspirin after only a few laps around the running trails.

Today, though, he was trying out a new configuration. It took some getting used to, but after a few aborted starts, Forge found a comfortable stride and was jogging almost naturally along the woodland path.

Crystal was lost in thought. For the past ten minutes, she had simply been floating serenely through the trees. She was filling her time at Xavier's as best she could, but during the day people tended to be in class, either as a student or a teacher and sometimes both. She had her own classes she could work on, but this was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, near-death power-related accidents and seriously ill parents of former suitemates aside. Crystal hated to leave Laurie at this time, but she knew there were other people who could give her a ride to the hospital, plus she had people she could talk to at the school.

Crystal picked up her pace, then suddenly switched from her upright float to the more typical, head-first method of flight. Five feet off of the ground now, she zoomed through the trees, right past a jogger.

After all his time at the school, Forge figured he would have been accustomed to the flyers, especially those with the habits of high-speed low-altitude jaunts. Seeing Crystal torpedo through the air, however, made him almost falter in his stride. Windmilling his arms, he barely caught his balance. After a quick double-take, he stepped up his speed, trying to keep pace with the Attilani princess.

Crystal's brain registered the fact that she had just rocketed past someone moving on foot through the woods. Had it just been her imagination or, no, she'd definitely caught a glimpse of metal as she'd passed by. Already a decent distance was between the two of them as Crystal was flying much faster than most people could travel by foot, but her rapid flight slowed quickly and then came to a halt. Now moving at a speed not much faster than brisk walk, Crystal headed back toward Forge.

Grimacing slightly, Forge tried not to make it obvious how out of breath he was from the quick sprint. Remarkably, however, while his lungs were burning - his leg felt fine. He slowed to an easy jog, waving one hand at Crystal. "Howdy, Highness," he gasped out despite his attempts to speak casually. "Nice day out... isn't it?"

"Hello, Forge," Crystal replied. "Yes, it is a lovely day." Even without Forge's gasped-out words, she hadn't missed how out of breath he was. Although she was much more familiar with her own breathing patterns than those of others, something this noticeable was quite hard to miss. "Were you attempting to catch up with me?"

"What, chase down the... girl who... commands... the winds?" Forge slowed his pace a little more, standing up straighter to breathe deeply. "I wasn't really expecting... to catch you," he explained. "Field-testing a new prosthetic configuration."

He pointed down at his left calf as he power-walked along the path. "Series of piezo-electric capacitors wired into the joints and shock absorbing pistons generate enough electrical impulse from impact to precisely define the amount of resistance with the rapidly-changing weight distribution and..." He chuckled to himself, realizing that he was once more sliding into technobabble. "Um. I made my leg better for running, so I don't keep screwing up my back and winding up with joint pain."

"Having less pain is certainly a good thing," Crystal told Forge. Although she didn't quite understand the exact details of Forge's technospeak, she had come to understand that was simply the way he saw things. It was interesting, and she didn't tend to end up with the glazed look of incomprehension some other people did. "This is not one of those items you can instantly make then, I take it? You cannot just think 'perfect artificial leg' and have it ready by dinnertime?"

"If it were just a machine, then yes," Forge explained. "Given the limitations of materials to work with, a fully-stocked machine shop, all that. But something like this," he rapped his knuckles against his leg, the metal-on-metal sound echoing sharply off the trees, "I have to take the organic parts into consideration, and my amazing mutant brain is silent there. I have to resort to good old-fashioned trial and error. The weakest part of any machine is the human element, after all."

Crystal nodded. "It certainly seems that you have a decent grasp on the idea if your brief run was any indication. If you are not in pain, that is. Just temporarily short of breath after not-chasing me."

Rounding a corner, Forge slowed to a stop by a tree stump, leaning against it to stretch. "Surprisingly, no. I mean, a little bit of muscle ache because I don't nearly get as much exercise as I should, but my back, my hip?" He placed his right hand against his left thigh, feeling where muscle met machine. "Everything's working in sync."

"Yes, you definitely need to work on your stamina," Crystal observed. "I cannot very well challenge you to a race if you would be almost breathless almost immediately."

Forge looked over at Crystal through a lock of hair that had fallen into his eyes. "So says the lady who flies everywhere. Must be a real exhausting workout."

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Forge. You are not meaning to imply that I am not in shape, are you? You cannot believe that I do not work out, that I never set foot to the ground to walk or run. Really, Forge. You must have seen me travel by foot in Attilan on at least a few occasions."

"Not in the slightest," Forge said, refraining from the obligatory visual inspection of just how 'in-shape' Crystal happened to be in favor of tying his shoe. "Simply saying that when you can just soar from place to place at will, you might lose perspective of what it's like down here on the ground. In a manner of speaking."

"I will stay on the ground for an entire week if you do not build anything for a week," Crystal said.

Forge shook his head, finally settling on a rather sloppy square knot to hold his shoelaces in place. "Sucker bet. Ever seen Angel after she's eaten a lot of sugar? That's what my brain does 24/7 if I don't build something. And I certainly don't begrudge you taking the aerial route from place to place. Of all the powers out there, I think you fliers are the ones whose I envy the most."

"That was my point, Forge," Crystal explained. "It feels more natural for me to be in the air than it does for me to remain on the ground. It is not that I need to be in the air constantly, but after being on the ground for a while, I need to get back into the air. I definitely exercise, though. I am not stupid. I am well aware of what would happen if I barely used my legs."

Forge thought about that and nodded. "Interesting comparison," he agreed. "It's an odd dichotomy, don't you think? Between those like you and I who fully embrace what differentiates us from the norm, and those who downplay - or worse, ignore - their gifts and abilities. I've never understood that."

"Not everyone sees it as a gift, of course," Crystal pointed out, "and to the person whose mutation causes suffering, it would be quite hard to expect him or her to be grateful for such a 'gift.' I mean literal suffering, as in causing physical health problems or death, not a feeling of suffering due to the lack of desire to be a mutant and have abilities." She gave a small shrug, alighting on the ground. "Far too often. it is the latter case rather than the former. Some people just want to fit into what they believe society has labeled to be the accepted norm."

"Some changes are going to be a long time in coming," Forge concurred, "but like anything worth improving, we've got to be patient with it." He rapped his knuckles against his metal leg again. "So, if it wouldn't be too presumptuous, since you've joined the rest of us on the ground... race you back to the mansion?"

"Are you sure that you are up to running such a distance?" Crystal asked, her voice and face showing both concern and amusement. "I do not wish to feel responsible if you get hurt or fall over and die."

"Sounds like someone's been spending too much time at high altitudes, your Highness," Forge teased, bouncing on his toes. "On three?"

Crystal grinned slyly. "Three!" she proclaimed and immediately raced off toward the mansion.