Fandom: Raxephon
Characters/Pairings: Elvy, the Alpha Squad
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Elvy was afraid of drowning, so she flew instead. A glimpse at the pilots.
Notes: For the "Comfort Zone" meme, and might have come out a little more vague than I intended. Half-origin, half-character piece. I'd forgotten just how much I like Elvy and how there really should be more written about her out there. For![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
taekwonangel.
Elvy had always been an Air in a land full of Waters.
The whole problem had started when she was young, and had almost drowned. Her sister and cousins had been counting, one-two, one-two-three, to see how long they could stay under. Elvy had stayed the longest, but it was too much, the air was being crushed out of her lungs and all she could see was sky, sky, blue sky and she reached up for it--
How she always told it over beers with the crew was that she didn't like being tied down. Truth was, she was still a little afraid of drowning, never venturing out into the deep waters ever again.
---
"Bunga Mawar? It just doesn't fit you."
Another half-truth over beers, after all the heads had been counted. They'd only lost one from this crew, and she couldn't quite say it was her fault. He was too green for that fight. Considering that whole cities were disappearing, she had to wonder if they were all just a little too green for this war.
"You knowing what that means doesn't fit you, white bread."
Normal people always thought they, pilots and fighters, were rough with each other. You could take all the equipment off, and pull your hand off the controls, but every one of them, at least the ones that mattered, they never stopped taking shots when there was an opening.
"Maybe we're all fucked if someone sees a flower in you."
She had to grin at that. He'd probably fall to pieces when one of those flying demons sang at him.
---
Back, back farther was her true squad, the ones that had been with her when it was just humans against humans, like it should have been. No Mulians, no bullshit. She learned under the Maestro, kept Crazy Horse's stupid ass from getting killed, and might have bought Tonpu a beer once or twice.
Those, as they say, were the days.
It was the Maestro that pulled her aside, in Basic, and told her that there was potential. "But you just have to keep your head up, don't drown in your emotions."
"My emotions?" She'd said, honestly taken aback. They didn't talk about such things in Basic.
"You gotta keep it close for a while." He held his hand up, fingers together in some kind of stupid gesture. "Keep it close before you bloom."
McMahon always made fun of him for that, but Shapplin always had a point behind all the sensitivity. He was kind of revolutionary that way.
"The day I become anything like the delicate little flower you are referring to is the day I want you to shoot me down, sir."
Funny what things stuck.
---
"I mean, really, I just feel all tied up on the ground. McMahon knows, she wears a bra."
"Hey! That's not fair, Hadiyat!"
A nice day to go to the beach, all of them, no Terra people to babysit them or Haruka to sit and tap at her computer and remind them all that this was more than a little dogfight. Wong had brought the cooler and maybe she'd had more than a few by then. This was the kind of endless summer she was used to from back home, and her and Shapplin stayed out in the sun while the pale weenies hid under the umbrella.
"I was just saying, your boobs make a better metaphor than anything else I could think up."
Wong was a little red, from sunburn or the problem some males had with women in their squad, she couldn't tell. It didn't really matter.
"Besides, you ALWAYS tell that story."
"Yours isn't any better! Cowboys ride horses, that's what the movies say."
"You haven't heard of a space cowboy?!"
"That stuff's silly anyway. I can't believe you buy into that crap."
One day, some day, they would look back at this and laugh. Loud brassy McMahon would have five kids and an oil baron husband that would answer to her beck and call, and Wong would be wearing a suit and selling insurance, and Shapplin would own an orchestra. They'd sit back and laugh and ask her if she was still afraid of drowning, because they'd know the truth by then.
Because by then they'd have found a moment in time to exist. That was really the trick about flying.
Characters/Pairings: Elvy, the Alpha Squad
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Elvy was afraid of drowning, so she flew instead. A glimpse at the pilots.
Notes: For the "Comfort Zone" meme, and might have come out a little more vague than I intended. Half-origin, half-character piece. I'd forgotten just how much I like Elvy and how there really should be more written about her out there. For
taekwonangel.Elvy had always been an Air in a land full of Waters.
The whole problem had started when she was young, and had almost drowned. Her sister and cousins had been counting, one-two, one-two-three, to see how long they could stay under. Elvy had stayed the longest, but it was too much, the air was being crushed out of her lungs and all she could see was sky, sky, blue sky and she reached up for it--
How she always told it over beers with the crew was that she didn't like being tied down. Truth was, she was still a little afraid of drowning, never venturing out into the deep waters ever again.
---
"Bunga Mawar? It just doesn't fit you."
Another half-truth over beers, after all the heads had been counted. They'd only lost one from this crew, and she couldn't quite say it was her fault. He was too green for that fight. Considering that whole cities were disappearing, she had to wonder if they were all just a little too green for this war.
"You knowing what that means doesn't fit you, white bread."
Normal people always thought they, pilots and fighters, were rough with each other. You could take all the equipment off, and pull your hand off the controls, but every one of them, at least the ones that mattered, they never stopped taking shots when there was an opening.
"Maybe we're all fucked if someone sees a flower in you."
She had to grin at that. He'd probably fall to pieces when one of those flying demons sang at him.
---
Back, back farther was her true squad, the ones that had been with her when it was just humans against humans, like it should have been. No Mulians, no bullshit. She learned under the Maestro, kept Crazy Horse's stupid ass from getting killed, and might have bought Tonpu a beer once or twice.
Those, as they say, were the days.
It was the Maestro that pulled her aside, in Basic, and told her that there was potential. "But you just have to keep your head up, don't drown in your emotions."
"My emotions?" She'd said, honestly taken aback. They didn't talk about such things in Basic.
"You gotta keep it close for a while." He held his hand up, fingers together in some kind of stupid gesture. "Keep it close before you bloom."
McMahon always made fun of him for that, but Shapplin always had a point behind all the sensitivity. He was kind of revolutionary that way.
"The day I become anything like the delicate little flower you are referring to is the day I want you to shoot me down, sir."
Funny what things stuck.
---
"I mean, really, I just feel all tied up on the ground. McMahon knows, she wears a bra."
"Hey! That's not fair, Hadiyat!"
A nice day to go to the beach, all of them, no Terra people to babysit them or Haruka to sit and tap at her computer and remind them all that this was more than a little dogfight. Wong had brought the cooler and maybe she'd had more than a few by then. This was the kind of endless summer she was used to from back home, and her and Shapplin stayed out in the sun while the pale weenies hid under the umbrella.
"I was just saying, your boobs make a better metaphor than anything else I could think up."
Wong was a little red, from sunburn or the problem some males had with women in their squad, she couldn't tell. It didn't really matter.
"Besides, you ALWAYS tell that story."
"Yours isn't any better! Cowboys ride horses, that's what the movies say."
"You haven't heard of a space cowboy?!"
"That stuff's silly anyway. I can't believe you buy into that crap."
One day, some day, they would look back at this and laugh. Loud brassy McMahon would have five kids and an oil baron husband that would answer to her beck and call, and Wong would be wearing a suit and selling insurance, and Shapplin would own an orchestra. They'd sit back and laugh and ask her if she was still afraid of drowning, because they'd know the truth by then.
Because by then they'd have found a moment in time to exist. That was really the trick about flying.
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