Saving Lives a Mile High [open to all]

[applesaucemod]

Welcome to another ordinary day in Manhattan. This barely even qualifies as a dream at all, it's so like waking life. The dreamers will find that they're their own perfectly normal selves going about their perfectly normal business and thwarting perfectly normal crimes in their perfectly normal spandex outfits.




What's that? No, of course it's normal to wear spandex (or leather, for the more chic among you) and go around beating up muggers and thwarting your villainous counterparts, don't be silly. What else would you do with your afternoon, not use your superpowers to better the world? That's grossly irresponsible of you; don't you know that with great power comes great responsibility?

So get out there and make the world a better place -- and be sure not to let that disguise slip if you do make it in to work today. Wouldn't want anyone to learn your secret identity, after all.


[OOC: Characters will find themselves thrust into the role of superhero...or at least, super-powered human. Whether they'd use those powers for good or evil (or use them at all), they'll think they've always been this way (or maybe just since that time they fell in toxic waste and developed cancer telekinesis). Usual dream party rules apply: all players and characters welcome regardless of membership status. Characters will remember or forget the events of the dream at players' discretion.]

Comments

[johnny_truant]

Well that didn't go especially well.

True to his name Truant is absent, though not necessarily by choice - running from the crime scene, again, mistaken for the criminal, again - just his luck, isn't it, whenever he tries to help it blows up in his face, sometimes literally. He's not very good at this, is he? But he has to do it. He has to atone.

Skinny leather pants are not exactly suited for running, so he banks a sharp right at the end of the block and starts scaling the wall, straight up, up to the roof. Safer up there, generally. Of course, leather pants and studded jacket aren't really suited for this, either, but he does what he has to. Sure, he could use his powers, but that's what he's atoning for. Powers are the problem. No, he'll use those only in times of true emergency, thank you. The rest of the time it's all vaguely developed parkour and macgyver tactics. He's like Batman, if Batman were more of a sewer rat than a billionaire philanthropist.

Finally ascended to relative safety, he curls up against the little wall running around the roof and lets out a slow breath, tugging his jacket tighter around himself in meager defense against the wind. He stares dully across the empty expanse, thinking over the scene he'd had to vacate, what he might do better next time (yeah right) - then, with a weary jerk of the wrist, takes out a cigarette and lights up. He really needs a break. But he doesn't deserve one. He has to keep fighting back against everything he's done, everything he is, right down to the name he gave himself.

Johnny is Truant.

[leave it to Johnny to make this prompt a bummer. he looks approximately like this]

[has_a_horn]

It's a bird, it's a plane, it a guy in spandex landing on the roof. Gabriel, dressed as Superman, skids to a stop over the small layer of gravel covering the roof and pauses, for dramatic effect, with his hands on his hips and cape blowing in the nonexistant breeze.

"Greetings!" he booms, then addresses Johnny with a small lift of his eyebrow and an expression that's attempting detached concern but more or less slides into amusement the longer he tries to hold it. "Run into some trouble, lad?"

Finally, he grins and takes a few steps closer, then sits down next to Johnny on the roof. Normally he'd chide him for the cigarette, but let him do what he likes in a dream. Kind of goes with the whole hot punk thing, anyway. "Maybe you'd like to." He waggles his eyebrows. "I like the look. You know I like the pants, but I think the whole thing's doin it for me."

[johnny_truant]

Truant looks up, vaguely bewildered by the brightly colored interruption, but he shouldn't be surprised. He smiles faintly and raises the cigarette in a disproportionately understated greeting.

"You know it," he says, allowing himself to relax a little. "Cops are always on my ass, you know, I don't know what I gotta do to get credit but I better find it soon or I'm gonna end up in prison. Would you bail me out if I did?" He blows smoke between his teeth and looks down at himself and gives a self-deprecating chuckle and shrug.

"Same thing I always wear," he says. "Have I ever mentioned this-" he uses the cigarette like a pointer, lazily encompassing Gabriel's whole shtick with a little swirl of his wrist, "-really does it for me? I mean, you wouldn't think, loud primary colors and the underwear on the outside and all - actually, scratch that, it's hideous. I guess it's just the guy inside it." He sticks the cigarette back in his mouth and takes a nice comfortable drag. "Maybe you wanna take it off."

He could use a fucking distraction.

[has_a_horn]

Same thing I always wear gets Johnny a confused look that quickly dissolves into recognition and then pleasure. Johnny doesn't remember his waking life, but it seems that he's made a place in this little fantasy for Gabriel- and one pretty damn close to his real place, if the proposition is anything to go by. And that's a nice feeling, being an important part of Johnny's world.

He smiles and gestures down to his outfit, mock-offended. "How dare you. These aren't underwear. These are the bootyshorts of justice. I definitely can't take them off now that they've been so cruelly maligned."

[johnny_truant]

Truant snorts and tilts his head, eyes flicking over Gabriel and his ridiculous costume. "Didn't mean to offend," he says coyly. He leans over, reaching across Gabriel's lap, and rubs the cigarette out on the ground beside him before setting his hands at Gabriel's hips. He shifts over, straddling him, a little awkward in these fuckin pants but it's worth it. Gabriel loves to crack jokes and that's part of what makes him fun, but Truant wants to get down to business. It's been a long day. Long series of days. Long little life, not that Gabriel would know how that works, being from the planet wherever the fuck.

"Let me make it up to you," he says softly, and leans in for a slow, gentle kiss, punctuated with a little bite to his lower lip.

[has_a_horn]

Oh, hello. Gabriel sets his hands on Johnny's hips and pulls him a little closer. He smiles against the kiss as he pulls back a fraction, but doesn't want it to end just yet. He leans forward enough to press his lips against Johnny's again. He keeps it slow and gentle, not really demanding anything. He's just enjoying the experience.

When he does finally lean back, he runs a thumb up over Johnny's cheekbone and smirks back at him. Can't really run his fingers into his hair with it spiked up like that, but he doesn't particularly mind.

"Hard day?" It's half a set up to the obvious double entendre, and half a genuine question. He's curious about what this version of Johnny thinks he's been getting up to.

[johnny_truant]

"Could stand to get a little harder," he says breezily, fulfilling the innuendo as though it were an afterthought, leaning around to mouth at Gabriel's neck, the line of his jaw, the curve of his ear. His hands drift from Gabriel's hips, one going to his chest and the other reaching around his back, both bracing and pulling him closer. "You know, same old shit. Try to help out, get fucked. I mean, whatever. I'm always asking for it." He grins and pulls back just a little, meeting Gabriel's eyes. "Case in point."

[has_a_horn]

"This is a different kind of fucked." Gabriel chuckles and leans forward to plant a kiss along Johnny's jaw. His hands find their way under Johnny's shirt to bare skin. His own outfit is going to be a little more difficult in that regard. The logistics of a full spandex bodysuit are a nightmare. He could just change into something else, but that'd create questions he doesn't want to answer. He's having fun in this little dream universe and he doesn't want to ruin it.

"You could be my sidekick." He smiles and runs his hands up Johnny's side, most of his attentions still focused on his neck. "They'd give you..." He nips at his ear before returning to his jaw. "...the key to the city. And the press could speculate about whether we're student and mentor or lovers." He snorts a laugh. "Or both."

[johnny_truant]

"Nnh," he breathes, only half-listening. "Don't think I'd be a very fitting sidekick."

Gabriel's suit is terrible, not just because it's garish, but because he can't get into it. Gabriel's hands are already under his shirt, but he can't return the favor. He settles for moving his hands up into Gabriel's hair, curling his fingers in just enough to hold him steady, though not hard enough to hurt. "I'm more of a side dish anyway, you know, like something that tides you over. Won't get anywhere shackled to me."

He says this casually, and with good humor.

He punctuates this with another kiss on the mouth, this time deep and lingering, opening his eyes and smiling faintly when he pulls back.

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel responds to the kiss, but when he pulls back, he doesn't return the smile. It's upsetting to hear that even here, Johnny feels like he's not good enough. It's strange to hear their relationship described as something that might hinder him, when if anything it's been the opposite.

He sighs and the corners of his mouth lift into the ghost of a smile. "A dish maybe, but you're not holding me back. We look out for each other." He tips his head to the side a fraction, relishing the feel of Johnny's hands in his hair at the same time he watches his face. "You don't need to be a side-anything." He dips a kiss to Johnny mouth and lingers there for a moment. He takes Johnny's bottom lip between his own, but pulls away when he opens his mouth to deepen the kiss. "I like you better as a partner."

[johnny_truant]

Something twists in his gut at that; he hesitates, though he doesn't pull away. He accepts the kiss and keeps his hands in Gabriel's hair, but tips his head down a little when their lips part, resting his forehead against Gabriel's.

"Partner," he says, his voice wavering in spite of his best efforts to scoff. "Where'd you get that from?"

It's familiar, somehow, makes him ache in a way that feels like sense memory, like this is something he's heard and felt before and not Gabriel talking crazy out of nowhere.

He does pull away, setting his hands at Gabriel's shoulders, eyes flicking searchingly over his face.

"How could I possibly look out for you?" he says, half a genuine question, and half a playful challenge.

[has_a_horn]

"Easy." He smirks, and his hands brush up and back down Johnny's sides. "Instead of watching my ass, you watch my back." His smile softens as he thinks over an actual response to the question. Jokes are easy, but it's less easy to give examples from an alternate universe that doesn't actually exist.

"You're capable. And smart. And impulsive. And scrappy as fuck in a fight." He lifts one hand and brings it to cup Johnny's jaw. "You've helped me. You know that. Not just with-" He gestures vaguely to the city, maybe indicating the whole crime fighting thing. "Sometimes I need you. As you are."

His smirk returns and he drops his hand down to Johnny's knee. "And you don't pass out when you touch glowing meteor rock. Bonus."

[johnny_truant]

Truant shifts uneasily, pulling back as much as he can without actually getting out of Gabriel's lap.

"I didn't know you..." he murmurs, but that's not true either, somehow, even though he's quite certain they've never talked about this-

He grunts softly and moves his hand to his head, rubbing at the distant headache brimming behind one eye. Fuck this, since when does he get headaches in dre-

Oh.

He blinks suddenly, the proverbial clouds parting, and stares freshly at the angel he's sitting on.

"Gabe?" he blurts, still pretty dazed, still piecing together which parts of his memory are real and which were literally dreamed up.

[has_a_horn]

"Hey," Gabriel's smile softens as Johnny seems to come to the realization that he's dreaming. He gives him a moment, and rubs his thumb over Johnny's knee in comfort. "Superhero dream. You were doing some bitchin' parkour earlier. Do you remember that?"

[johnny_truant]

"Uh... yeah, kinda," he says, resting his hands on Gabe's shoulders. Everything is foggy and hazy but Gabe feels solid, and that's something. He leans in, sort of curling up against him, what a friggin loser, but he thinks he needs this.

"I don't usually... not know," he says, shaking his head slightly. "Feel like I'm drugged or something." He looks down for a moment, then pulls back and levels a smirk at Gabe. "You look hot."

[has_a_horn]

He snorts a laugh and grins at the compliment, though he's not entirely sure whether to take it as genuine or not. He does know that he likes when Johnny cuddles up to him like that. "I'll have to add more spandex to my wardrobe, if you really feel that way."

He lifts his hand from Johnny's knee to the lapel of his jacket, which he strokes thoughtfully. "I like this." Then, with a smile, he lifts a hand to prod gently at Johnny's spiked hair. "This is a good look, but I like it better when I can get my hands in it."

[johnny_truant]

"Oh no, don't, I may swoon entirely," says Johnny, barely biting back a laugh. He grins, looking down at Gabe's hands on the jacket, only now noticing what he's wearing - good grief, but his subconscious is a tool - and then Gabe brings the attention to his hair, which... oh god. His eyes widen as he touches it. He can only imagine how fucking absurd he must look.

"Jesus Christ," he groans. "Please get your hands in it, mess it up, this is the worst. We get to be superheroes and I'm some poser-punk hustler, fuck."

Actually that's pretty apt, but that's not the point.

[has_a_horn]

"I could put you in spandex," he threatens playfully, his hands already moving to disrupt Johnny's hair. Normally this might present some problems, but here he pushes his fingers through each spike and it simply falls apart. He does this methodically until Johnny's hair is back to normal, then slides his fingers through the whole thing, scrubbing at his scalp at his goes. "Much better."

[johnny_truant]

"Don't you dare," says Johnny, actually laughing this time (how long has it been since he actually laughed?), and then quiets into a contented little smile as Gabe fixes his hair, moving his hands slowly and gently through it.

"Mmh," he says softly. "Much."

He leans forward, cups his hands around the back of Gabe's neck, and kisses him slow and soft, half-smiling into it. Aren't they still mad at each other? Who fucking cares. He misses this. They both need it. This isn't even real.

You can get away with literal murder in these fucking dreams.

He lets his hands move from Gabe's neck back down his chest, taking his time to feel him out. "I'll say this for spandex," he says wryly, "it doesn't leave much to the imagination."

[has_a_horn]

Gabriel leans gently into the kiss, one hand still idly playing with Johnny's hair, the other dropped to his waist.

He chuckles at Johnny's comment then takes a deep breath, puffing his chest out in the process. "Is that a good thing? Thought that's what you liked about the suits, everything left to the imagination."

[johnny_truant]

"I like both," says Johnny with a laugh. "I'm vast, I contain multitudes."

Ha ha literally. Yeah no fuck that line of thinking altogether. He presses in for another kiss, quick and hungry, eager to move outward, keep himself occupied so he can't be in his head.

"I just like you," he says softly, sliding his hands back up to cup around Gabriel's face, thumbs smoothing over his cheeks.