It hadn't taken the small faery long to reach the university dorms - not when he could go in almost a straight line, rather than detouring around buildings and people. No - he could fly now and he was going to make use of this ability as much as he possibly could. He was still dizzy with happiness over it, but smiling so much had started to hurt his face so he'd toned it down to a small smirk.

Within a few minutes of hovering around dorm windows, he'd figured out where Taryn's room was. He knocked loudly on the glass, then ducked to one side, out of sight. He was planning to surprise her, so it wouldn't do to have her see him before he could pounce on her.

C'mooon... open up..., he thought, eagerly waiting for her to come to the window. He ran both hands back through his windblown gingery hair, quite pleased with its state of disarray. A quiet giggle escaped him. This was going to be fun.

Most people knock on the door. When people knock on the window, it's generally an annoying boy who's trying to get a girl's attention. Taryn's had a few people mistake her room for someone else's. It made her irritated.

She gets up and leaves her book on her bed--not, amazingly enough, a book she's reading for pleasure, but her French reader. It could be worse, though--and crosses to the window, frowning a little.

Open, peer out...

There's no one there.

"Weird..." She turned to head back to her book.

Wick peeked in - her back was turned, so now was the perfect time.
"Surpriiiiiiise!"
He shot through the open window, circling her once before coming to a stop on her shoulder, wobbling just a little because he wasn't quite comfortable with making quick landings yet. It was something that would have to be relearned, but it wouldn't take long. Flying was like bike-riding. You never really forget how.

Taryn jumped and half-whirled as a blur of orangey-brown, purple, orange, and...

"Wick!?"

When did he get wings??? She peered at the little faery on her shoulder and did a double-take. Twice.

"How...?"

"I got wings agaiiin!" he sang, beaming - as if she hadn't noticed. He did a somersault off her shoulder and hung in the air in front of her, at eye level. Showing off as much as possible, of course. "Keye - I guess he made them for me, and then he stuck them on and I can fly! Awesome, huh, Taryn?"

"Very." Pause. "Wait, Keye? I thought he... I mean..."

She looked rather distressed. Taryn is good at pretending nothing is bothering her, unless she's unexpectedly reminded of the something that is. Obviously, she wasn't expecting to hear about Keye.

He was a little disappointed that she didn't seem as happy as he'd expected, but he shrugged it off.
Absolutely nothing was going to bother him today. Nothing at all.

"Yup - he's outta the hospital now. Still doesn't look so great, but he's lots better than he was, I think," he said cheerily, "So I think he's gonna be okay. Think I might've tired him out when I went to see him just now, but he seems to be doing okay."

"So he's not dying!?"

She blurted that out before she could quite stop herself. Probably Wick wasn't the best person to get information from, especially since he seemed too excited to hold still for more than a quarter of a second, but he was the nearest source and he knew something...

"Noooo... he's not," he slowly shook his head, looking puzzled. He hadn't believed Keye when he'd told him he was dying, when he visited him in the hospital. And now that he looked better, he must be better. And, he was home and all - which must of course mean that he didn't need doctors anymore. So he was recovering. "Seemed okay when I talked to him. You can go see for yourself. Somethin' the matter?"

"Nothing."

Keye isn't dying. Okay. She'll figure out what exactly happened between now and last time she saw Keye--which was too long ago, all things considered--later.

And now she started admiring his wings properly. Somehow, they made the funny little body of Wick look... right. More complete, somehow. She supposed that was because he had had wings before.

"Did your old wings look like those ones?"

"Uh-huh," Wick nodded, smiling again, "Almost just like these..."

He slowed the wingbeats to the point where they were just keeping him airborne, so that Taryn could get a better look at them. "Same shape and everything - I don't know how he knew, but he did. Only big difference is, mine didn't have the orange and purple bits. Those were red. But it's okay. They work, that's what's important."

"I guess he guessed. And maybe asked somebody." She smiled. "They look good. Guess I won't be carrying you anywhere anymore, huh."

Not that she objected. As long as his new flight-induced mobility didn't mean that he wouldn't come around anymore... That would be kind of sad. But he'd come to show them off, so of course he'd stick around. As much as he ever did.

"S'funny, but I don't think anyone knew what they looked like 'cept me," he mused. Then he shrugged, smirking, "Doesn't matter. And well,... not exactly. I mean, what if my wings get tired? What then?"

Actually, now that he could fly, he wouldn't mind being carried. He didn't have to worry about being dropped anymore, and that had been the main concern.

"Oh, then of course I'd carry you if you wanted. But I thought you didn't like it, and only let me 'cause it was easier."

And he was lazy. But shh, don't mention that part.

She grinned.

"How high can you fly?"

He started flying in slow circles. "Well, sure it was easier. I just didn't like it because it was easy to get dropped. I mean, you might not mean to. But if I did get dropped I'd have nothing to stop my fall but the ground. Now that I can stop myself, it's not such a big deal."

Wick fluttered over and perched on her shoulder.
"I don't know how high I can go yet - pretty high, I guess. It gets really cold after a while, though, and I can't fly as well when it's cold. Or wet. I never could," he shrugged, and let his wings have a little rest, folded against his back. They were starting to ache a little from being used so much, and he still wasn't quite used to them.

"So I guess you'll be hiding out when it rains, huh?" No different than anyone else there. Except for the crazy people who actually like getting soaked to the skin by slimy rainwater.

"But other times, you're good, right? No problems flying in sunshine?" So that means he'll be fine as long as this nice, sunny weather holds up.

"Yep, I'd have to hide out somewhere. My wings get all sticky and useless when they're wet, and they take a while to get dry," he explained, giving the wings a flick as if shaking water off them. "Sunshine's fine. The best weather is when it's sunny and not windy. And warm. That's when it's easiest. I remember one time, there was this - what d'you call it - a rain and wind storm, anyway, and I got blown into a tree and I had to stay there until it stopped."
He giggled at the memory. It hadn't been funny at the time, but he could laugh at it now.

"I'd bet that'd be scary. Kinda like a roller coaster or something, only without that knowing in the back of your head that nothing's going to happen." She wouldn't want to get blown around by a wind and not know where she was going to end up and be afraid she was going to run into anything. Maybe flying's not so great.

"What did he make them out of, I wonder..."

He shook his head. "It was... kinda fun, actually. Once it was over. The branch I was holding onto nearly broke off, but I didn't realize that until it was over," he said. He blinked back at his wings. "I don't know what he made 'em of, but they're... I mean, they can't be anything but real. They feel just like they used to. Look normal, too. I dunno. I'd have to ask him."

She nodded.

"I didn't know he could make stuff like that." She knew he could do illusions, but these can't be illusions, can they? They're solid, they carry him... Nah. They're not illusions. They're... something else.

"Maybe Dr. Barclay helped him, or something."

"I dunno, but they work," Wick said gleefully, jumping off Taryn's shoulder and catching himself a few inches off the ground. He liked to do stunts like that - flight wasn't just for transportation. Actually, if you think about it that way, his wings were somewhat similiar to Dav'e motorbike. "I don't really care, they're as good as my old ones."

She almost dove to catch him, but didn't. Wings. Must remember that he has wings now, and needn't be rescued from plunging to his doom.

She covered her startled reaction with a giggle.

"They work, and that's all that matters, huh. Looks like you're having fun, anyway. Just don't you start dropping water balloons on me or something."

Can Wick even carry a water balloon?

He could carry a very little water balloon. In fact...

"Hey, that's a good idea!" he grinned, "Where can I find water balloons?"

"Novelty stores, and probably like Wal-Mart or something. Just don't drop them on me."

She would be very irritated with him, and might not speak to him for a day or two. And then she'd forget all about it and not be angry anymore. But still. No need to tempt fate, eh, Wick?

He grinned, already picturing himself water-bombing random passerby.
"I'll have to find some, then," Wick nodded, "Nah, I won't drop any on you. Or anybody I know. Promise,... well, almost everybody. Might get Dave with one,... heh,... he wouldn't mind, it's such hot weather anyway."

Well, he'd been upgraded from 'Stupid Human' to 'Dave'. That was a good sign, despite that he was still planning on maybe dropping water balloons on him.

Dave wouldn't mind as long as he didn't get him while he was going into the theatre. Coming out wouldn't be a problem; he'd dry off on his motorbike. But going in would, because the theatre's air conditoning works very well. He'd be cold.

Taryn giggled. "Now, now, be nice. Or at least pretend to be nice."

Is it a bad thing that she's suddenly wondering how Dr. Barclay would react to a water balloon? Not that she would ever do something like that, of course. She'll leave it to Wick.

Hopefully, the idea of hitting Dr. Barclay with a water balloon wouldn't occur to Wick, because he would do it. And then something bad would probably happen.

Probably.

"I am being nice. If I wasn't, I'd have gone out and done it already," he teased, landing on the floor and again folding his wings to his back. He'd better stop flitting around so much, or he'll wear himself out. "Anyway, we're gonna be nice from now on. Sorta. I promised I wouldn't mess with the theatre, and he promised not to put me in a bottle or throw stuff at me. He's okay if you don't make him really angry."

"I haven't met him yet, so I wouldn't know. But I'll take your word for it." And Violet's, since she seemed to like her boyfriend pretty well. Except for the whole fighting with Wick thing, anyway.

"Just don't drop water balloons on somebody who can get you for it, also. Stick to boring people without guns or bows and arrows or slingshots."

Like normal people carry those around.

"Heh. Okayyyy," he said, mock-whining. "But only 'cause you said so."

He scuffed the heel of his shoe against the floor, smirking. "Sooo.. what have you been doing lately? Anything cool? Or just boring school stuff?"

"Just boring school stuff." She shrugged. "Nothing ever seems to happen to me, like it happens to you and Vi and Keye. I prob'ly don't want stuff to happen, come to think of it."

Well... actually, she's been doing a lot of thinking about what Keye said to her last time she saw him. And a lot of soul-searching. But that's not the kind of thing you tell Wick.

"Of course you want stuff to hapen!" Wick sounded shocked, "If nothing happens then - well, nothing happens and that's just boring. I'd go crazy if I just sat around doing normal things all the time."

No, that's definitely not the sort of thing you tell Wick. It's not that he's a gossip, but he just doesn't know what not to say sometimes.

"Yeah, but stuff happening always seems to involve one or all of y'all getting hurt and/or maimed. Not really my cup of tea, y'know?"

Wick is a dear, but he's a very immature dear. He's cute, but you don't expect a little puppy or kitten to be able to tell you how to put your life into some semblance of order.

He shook his head, grinning.
"Nuh-uh! Good stuff happens, too - like,..." he frowned for a moment, trying to think of any good things that might have happened, "Well,... I...um..."

He blinked a few times, wide-eyed.
"Wow, you're right."
Then the grin returned. "But it's still better than boredom."

She lifted an eyebrow skeptically.

"You'd rather be swatted at and hurt and made silent than bored? Me, I'll take the boredom. I can always write something or draw something or read something to pass the time. Those're safer, anyway."

So there.

"Well, yeah, I guess," he said, shrugging. Sure, he didn't like the end result of a lot of the things he did, but what mattered was how much fun he had when he was doing them. "But all the fun stuff is the dangerous kind,- what's there for me to do that's not dangerous? Not much, if you ask me."

"Mm, I guess you have a point. But I like to do stuff that's not too dangerous, so I guess I've got it easier." And she doesn't seem to attract trouble the same way that Keye does. For which she is profoundly grateful...

... though there was that god, that one time... Hm.

"Mmm. But risks are fun," he said, in a musing tone. He gave his wings a quick flutter, itching to fly some more. And go find people to pester, and show off to. He hadn't visited Violet yet - he'd visited Taryn first because her dorm room was closer.

And after that, he was going to go pick up some water balloons, and go find Dave...
His mental laughter is almost audible.

"I prefer risks that are only pretending to be risks, like roller coasters." Because you get all the adrenaline of freefall and none of the danger of jumping off a building. Although, come to think of it, she's always thought extreme sports would be interesting to try.

"I've never been on a roller coaster," Wick smirked, "I mean, it looks like fun, but I'm not tall enough and I'd prob'ly fall out. Anyway, I'm my own roller coaster."

He started flying, and began lazily imitating a roller coaster's swoops and dives.
"Hey - I'm gonna go find other people who haven't seen my wings yet. I'll come see you some other time, 'kay?" he said cheerily, hovering a couple of feet away from her face. Yay, eye level!

"Okay. Don't drop anything on Dr. Barclay or anybody else who might smash you. And come back soon." She grinned. (And mentally scolded herself. She just had to say that, didn't she.)