Roleplay

"I... don't think I'd survive that," Rihi commented, mildly alarmed. He remembered Flame mentioning their house was incredibly high, and he didn't think he'd be able to manage not to panic on the way down. Not to mention all the obstacles like cables and other buildings.

He paused for a second, thinking. "A bit like hers, I think? Give me a minute." He was wearing a shirt, which meant he wouldn't be able to grow functioning wings, but only to show them it was possible to recreate a miniature version going from his elbow to his wrist. He held his arm up, where the leathery appendage has formed, opening to show its wingspan. "Like this? But, from shoulder-blades to waist."

Jet chuckled dryly, "They'd make sure you'd survive, but it certainly wouldn't be fun." He took a moment to examine the wingspan. They were a little like Flame's, though shaped similar to a pterosaur's, along with being a small bit longer.

"Have you tried using a stiff cartilage to have them extend to the ground? It helps with stability." He'd learned that the last time he'd flown with partially-uncovered flagfeathers.

"You may also want to blunt the tips a bit and make them wider; sharp wings are primarily for speed, which may be a better thing to work up to." Jet extended one of his own wings, the nearly-floor-length feathers so long they went partially out the door.

They looked a lot smaller folded.

A lot smaller.

"If you end out going the feather direction, long thin wings are best for stamina, but not good for takeoff. Eagle wings would be a good start." He paused with a soft hum. "And don't forget to lower the bone-density, otherwise it's quite possible you'd be too heavy to fly properly."

'Wouldn't be fun' was the understatement of the century. 'Would scar him for life' approached reality much more closely.

"I'm, not sure how to do it," he admitted, deactivating his quirk and letting the mini-wing wither. He'd been studying biology for years to make use of his quirk, but wings were something he hadn't thought of researching since he didn't know he'd be finding a good teacher. Most of the first lesson with Flame had been less flying and more doing and redoing wings until they were certain Rihi wouldn't splat to the ground. He did make a mental note to try wider ones next time, if Flame gave him the okay. No need to make things needlessly more difficult.

With Jet showing his, Rihi got the urge to pet it. He restrained himself though, since that would be very rude. "I'd, rather go with bat wings," he admitted. "Feathers are, too specialized. I'd have to think of which ones need which shapes and, that'd be a lot to memorize." Plus, it they got damaged, it was easier to assess and repair leathery ones instead of checking all the feathers.

Sometimes, he wished his quirk would allow him to 'save' configurations, like in a building videogame. It'd make things so much easier.

"Hm... well, the only way to learn is to experiment." He shrugged, partially rousing Flame, who mumbled something then went right back to sleep.

"That's fair. Added bonus of being able to take off from the water, so long as you do it right." Jet shook his wings for emphasis, ending-up dislodging a covert.

It was one of the longer ones, a good three feet (1 meter) at least. It was from the back of his wing, just catching the tip of blue markings on his wings. As it fell, a small arc of electricity leaped from the feather and back to Jet's wings, the blue mark on it vanishing.

Jet hummed, picking it up and tucking it behind Flame's ear; they liked making quills out of them.

"How's the substitute doing?" he asked, crest (hair) rising and smoothing. "As I understand, he's fairly new to hero work, and I imagine that's a tad jarring."

Rihi's eyes were drawn to the falling feather, the blue on its vanes vanishing to jet black. Was that why Jet got his name? Usually, people were born quirkless and started developing their powers at four, but a quirk as extraodinary as Jet's might have worked differently. He made a mental note to ask Flame later, if they had been born with their wings, too.

...Much later. When they recovered. Or maybe they'd appreciate being treated normally? They seemed pretty out of it right now, and with Jet there...

He fidgeted a bit, growing a layer of dead skin over his fingers and peeling it off so he'd have something to do with his hands. "Inferno is, fine? I mean, he's, easy to understand, and cares about us. So can't complain." Eric seemed like a good man; it just wasn't his fault some of the students were still reeling from the shock of what happened to Richard. Which, wouldn't be a good subject to broach with Jet, now that he thought about it.

So he steeled himself and, after a glance at Flame, looked at the hero again. "Flame is, very upset, about what happened. And, we're, worried, but, I'm not sure... how to help?" he tried. It was a bit difficult to find the words; he'd just known Flame from the start of the year, but he considered them a friend, same as Morpho, Drake, and other students he'd spent time with. However, having fun and learning with someone was very different from trying to help with a problem this big, and he was completely lost as to how he could try to ease their pain.

Jet tilted his head at the fidget, but said nothing, humming at Rihi's evaluation. "That's good, at least." Rihi started speaking again, so his ears perked up and he perked a brow.

It was good Flame had someone worrying about them, here, he supposed. So, he offered a soft smile, smoothing the small, spiny scales along Flame's wings. "They'll be okay. It'll... it'll take a bit of time, but they'll be okay."

He hummed in thought for a moment before speaking again. "They need a little normalcy. A little like how going back to normal after a nightmare feels. Violently pushing them out of their bubble of overthinking's usually the best bet." He chuckled dryly, wings flicking. Everyone was still alive. That certainly helped in the trauma side of things.

The only one to blame for what happened was the one with the quirk that controlled Jet, but he knew Flame was probably blaming themselves for how they had to bring their father back. So hearing Jet say they'd recover reassured Rihi. Jet himself seemed fine at least, from what he could tell, but he had to admit he didn't know the man well enough to tell.

Flame did. And who knows how it was affecting them, too.

He nodded at the suggestion, already thinking of things he and the others might be able to do. Though, no actual violence involved. Unless it was sparring. Controlled violence? That... did sound like something Flame would enjoy. But only if Eric approved it. Rihi didn't know how much exertion the fire user was allowed to go through after their injuries. Shooting? He supposed Drake could make some guns that shot paint balls or other non-lethal projectiles, and they could try shooting things down from the sky, like frisbees. He had a feeling Flame would easily beat all of them combined at that but it could help.

He noticed he had been quiet for a few seconds already and inwardly winced, scrambling to say something so the hero didn't think Rihi was ignoring him. "Ah, okay, thanks for, telling me," he got out, grip tightening on his can of soda. "We'll, do our best to take care of them." Did that sounds like he was implying Jet wasn't? Goodness, they were just a bunch of students, not nurses, what the hell was he saying. "I mean," he quickly backtracked, voicing the first things he thought of in his panic regardless if they made sense or not, "when we hang out. Uh, if they want to. And can. Not that, they need someone to, watch them over. Just, we'll, be careful?"

Jet actually didn't notice Rihi's silence... mainly because Flame's claws were beginning to dig in and it kinda hurt and he was having to carefully remove and reposition their wings before they drew blood.

He watched with a mildly amused expression as Rihi floundered, stamping down a chuckle. It wasn't nice to laugh at people's struggles, but it did remind him vaguely of a younger—

Oh wait.

Jet groaned internally, remembering that Rouge and Teal's flight was going to be landing in a few hours.

Ah, yes.

Wonderful.

He'd have another pyromaniac living in his house. Except this one was a drunkard and he had no restraint.

"Taking care of them is good," he hummed, the sound mildly amused in nature. "Having people they can depend on means a lot to Flame... just make sure not to overdo it, yeah? I don't want to be called one day because you're not taking care of yourself."

Rihi bit his lower lip slightly and nodded, a bit embarrassed about the torrent of words. At least Jet seemed to have taken it in good humor, which alleviated his worries somewhat. "Yes, sir," he answered, not thinking there'd be a risk of the hero's particular warning, if only because if Rihi didn't take good care of himself he wouldn't put it past his dad to organize a class action lawsuit against the school for children neglect or something else equally unreasonable. The man could be overprotective like that.

"I'll, be going now, then," he said, sending Flame a last concerned look. They looked to still be asleep, even through Jet's repositioning of their limbs. Must have been really tired. "I'll remember the window, and, the wing pointers. Thank you very much for that," he added with a small bow.

Jet tilted his head at the... formal moniker, humming. "Just 'Jet' is fine, the only ones who call me 'sir' are police officers." He offered a slight grin good-naturedly, making a fair attempt at not flashing fang.

Then again, when most of your mouth is made up of pointed teeth, there really is no point.

"I'll see you around, Keibatsu. You're welcome... apologies in advance for any future Flame-popping-out-of-nowhere scares."

Speaking of whom...

Jet detangled their limbs from his and pried their claws off, fully intending of getting them to sleep somewhere where they wouldn't shred anything.

Of course, that meant getting through their room without touching anything that could possibly be trapped. Last time he did that in the high-rise, he—and half the opposite wall had been coated in glow-in-the-dark paint.