holding out for a hero [r]

[WILLOW WARREN]

school was out. the bell rang loudly dismissing all the students to go do their friday night activities such as get wasted, do drugs, dry hump each other, and go to the park to jump off the griffith observatory in hopes of being saved by a super.

wait. what?

no, no. willow warren was not suicidal by any means. she just had a lot of faith in her heroes and wanted to fall into the arms of them. and this happened often. just last week she had been saved from an experiment that went horribly wrong. will is no scientist and trying to make a chemical to give her superpowers was just.. stupid. and that's what willow was. very, very stupid. and accident prone. one might ask her how she is still alive. it is a very good question indeed.

about an hour after school had ended, will found herself sitting on the ledge of the observatory at griffith park, looking down down down to the grass plains below. it was pretty cold and windy where she was. this was ridiculous and she knew it. this would be the most dangerous stunt of hers, aside from injecting herself with unknown chemicals. "maybe... i shouldn't do this," she thought aloud, looking around. she stood up and moved away from the ledge was a nod. "y-yeah... i don't think any super is here today," she added and started to make her way back when a strong gust of wind suddenly hit her and caused her to stumble backwards and trip off the ledge.

a scream filled the park and people looked up from their picnics to see a girl falling, falling, falling... and...

[ELIJAH]

He wasn't entirely sure why he was here although Elijah could tell you the reason as to why. It was more the purpose, the meaning, and all that deep thoughtful stuff that he could not explain. He could tell you that he was here because he was told to go here, that he should "see" this place, but that was the extent. The Griffith Observatory had no other purpose. It was not of any interest to him. It served no point. But he had been told to see it, and so there he was, seeing it, examining it, noting that it was not impressive and he did not understand it at all. He supposed he should have left, but perhaps he was suppose to see something here. Perhaps he was suppose to have some sort of revolution in his mind? He continued to stare in the hopes of such an event happening.

Two hours later, Elijah was still not sure what he was suppose to discover. He shifted himself and was going to leave when a scream pierced his ears. He turned his head to look and watch as a black haired girl fell from the top of the Griffith Tower. People were gasping, pointing, crying save her! Elijah had learned that saving meant protecting and that was something "good people" did. It was not something students of the Young Masters were suppose to do. But there she was, falling, and he had learned that death was a bad thing and it made people sad. She would surely die if she hit the ground. And then there was the fact he had been told to go here by someone, and perhaps this was why? Perhaps the person had been some sort of seer. They had wanted him to go here for this very purpose!

Elijah wasted no more time. He made a mad dash forward, skidded to a halt, and caught the falling girl in his arms without so much as flinching. Violet eyes fixated on her and he set her down. This was not particularly revolutionizing. So he just stood there, staring her down, wondering if doing that had even served a purpose while people around cheered and clapped.

[WILLOW WARREN]

... and she was caught? willow opened her eyes to look int the violet eyes of her savior. she opened her mouth to thank him but couldn't say anything. even if this is what she had hoped to happened, it was a complete accident and she was completely speechless. "i-- uh-- th-thanks," she said, her face flushing a mad red.

the stare made her a bit uncomfortable and she looked away, blushing. everyone else's voices had been drowned out when she was looking at the boy but after looking away, she saw all of their faces and heard all their words. he was getting a lot of praise for saving her life. these people were thanking him for her because a simple 'thanks' was all that she could mumble.

all those were staring at her were a thousand times worse to face than his gaze so she turned back towards him and awkwardly nuzzled her face into his chest, wanting to just sink into nothingness out of embarrassment. "can you... can we go somewhere?" she asked quietly. she didn't want to be here anymore. she didn't really like being stared at, especially after a legit near-death experience. she had really thought she was going to die. her heart was still pounding and her voice was shrill and faint due to the screaming.

[ELIJAH]

She seemed, for the most part, okay. Elijah set her down and then let his arms fall limp at his sides. He continued to stare at her. What had she even been doing? Why had she fallen? He had heard of a thing called suicide; could she have perhaps been attempting that? He didn't really understand and to an extent, it piqued his interest. Wasn't it against human nature to kill one's self? She didn't seem like she had been trying to do such an act, though.

The girl disturbed his thoughts when she suddenly pressed into him. He looked down at the mass of dark hair and the hidden face, lips forming into a small "o" shape. Elijah wasn't entirely sure what to do and so he awkwardly rubbed her back, looked around as if someone else might know, but was instead met with people showering him with praise. He found himself... discomforted by it.

It came as a relief when the girl suddenly asked to go somewhere else. "Yes," he replied and he grabbed her arm and pulled her off to somewhere more secluded, away from the praise and the glorifying eyes. Was this what it was like to be awkward? He didn't like it. Eventually people dispersed and then they were left alone behind some building. He looked at her again and tilted his head to the side. "Is this better?" he asked quietly.

[WILLOW WARREN]

the pat on the back comforted her. it calmed her down a bit and she felt relaxed. a smile grew on her lips when he agreed to going somewhere else and she followed him as he pulled on her arm. to her relief, no one followed them, but she knew los angeles. soon the place would be filled with journalists and reporters and the whole mess but for now they were safe.

will smiled up at him and nodded in response. "y-yes. sorry, i was just a bit shaken and all those people... it made me nervous," she mumbled, tugging at the end of her shirt. she was still blushing. why was she blushing so much? this was so awkward! she still felt like she was going to just melt into a puddle of embarrassment. "i'm sorry for the trouble, but thank you. i was just... standing up there and i lost my balance and i'm an idiot," she said with a frown, wrinkling her nose and adjusting her glasses which had surprisingly remained on her face that whole time! well, that was one positive thing.

"my name is will," she said, extending her still trembling hand towards him. it was quite a fall, she still hadn't recovered. but she might as well introduce herself to him. he had to be a super by the way he effortlessly caught her and held her. and his... expressions. there was something off about him. almost, unhuman.

[ELIJAH]

Nervous. He looked the girl over, taking in all the tiniest details he could. Perhaps he, too, had been nervous? Elijah doubted it but he had felt... uncomfortable. The girl's face was red as well and he knew that much to be embarrassment. Were nervousness and embarrassment the same? They had to have some correspondence. He wondered if he could even blush. Unlikely.

"So you are not suicidal?" Elijah asked, tilting his head to the side. He had a rather monotone voice, as expressionless as his gaze. He looked, in a few ways, like a porcelain doll, with glassy empty eyes. "It is good if you are not suicidal. That is bad." He reached out and pet the top of her head but withdrew his hand in seconds. The blonde had seen it on TV - people touched each other for comfort and reassurance as well as to show approval.

As she introduced herself, his gaze moved to her hand. He watched how it quivered. He grasped it with his own, gently squeezing, and again withdrew just as quickly. "I am Elijah Wellbringer," the boy stated. He'd been told to simply introduce himself as that and not E-147. It felt... nice to say it. Like he were a person greeting another person and not some mechanical piece of work. "I am glad you are okay, Will. It would have been unfortunate for you to have hit the ground and broken every bone in your fragile body and died. You have an interesting name."

[WILLOW WARREN]

will turned even redder and frantically waved her hands out in front of her. "no no no, i'm not suicidal! not at all ahaha," she said, laughing nervously. suicidal? not at all. adrenaline junkie? just a little.. will couldn't help but giggle at his words and the pat on the head. was this guy for real? he acted a bit... unemotional, but at the same time his words had meaning. he was trying to be comforting but did it in a manner that seemed unsure of himself. was he possibly a cyborg? he looked too human to be a complete robot, right?

the handshake was brief and also somewhat awkward, as if it was the first time he had done so. elijah wellbringer. elijah. she liked that name. she gave him a grin and a nod, "elijah, it suits you," she said. he looked like an elijah. the fair hair and the violet eyes. she wondered if he could smile. he probably had a nice smile.

the abrupt change in conversation made her question what he had previously said. at first he is talking about how unfortunate it would be if she died and then he tells her she has an interesting name, all within the same breath. it made her laugh. "i'm glad i am too, and it's all thanks to you, elijah. i probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. thank you, again. i owe you one," she said with a chuckle. how many supers did she 'owe one'? probably half a dozen and yet she didn't think there'd ever be a day where she'd be any use to them. she'd probably never repay them. it was a sad thought. she brushed it away. "and thank you, it's short for willow but not many people call me that," she explained with a smile. "do people call you eli for short?"

[ELIJAH]

He took a step back from her flailing hands, half expecting to be hit by them. Her face was turning even redder. Would she explode? Detonate? She was not, to his knowledge, a super or even a robot or anything like that, and he was quite sure humans did not explode under normal circumstances. If they had a bomb in them, sure, but he didn't think she had a bomb in her. "That is good," he replied, more repeated. It occurred to him to wonder what the girl had even been doing at the top of the tower to lose her footing in the first place. Was it normal for people to seek out high places?

"It suits me?" he repeated once again, more to himself than her. He seemed mildly interested in a name suiting him. It was just a fake name and at the same time his code name but he liked the idea of it being a real one. He wondered how a name could suit someone. He stared at her again to consider this question. She did not look like a Will.

She thanked him once again and he nodded his head to show he understood. The black haired girl thanked him like he were a hero, like he were one of the Avengers, and he wasn't sure how to feel about that. He was suppose to be on the bad side, but this girl was thanking him for saving her life, something that the Kollect and the Young Masters did not do. They put lives in danger but there he had gone, saving her. Would they be mad? "You do not owe me anything," Elijah replied quietly. The idea of being owed something made him... uncomfortable.

When Will explained that Will was only a nickname and said her full name, Elijah once again stared at her. Willow. It seemed to fit. She reminded him of a willow tree, with her long straight hair and odd looks. "Yes, I am sometimes called Eli. You may call me Eli if you would like to. I like your name. It suits you," he stated. Elijah would have to go around deciding if everyone's name suited them from this point. The girl had introduced him to a new concept and he would have to use it to its fullest. "I am glad you have told me names can suit people. I feel this is a very important thing to know and I will have to see if everyone has a name that suits them. What is it like to have a name that does not suit you? Oh. I have forgotten to ask. Is it okay if I call you Willow or must I call you Will?"