Adventures of Superguy

July 20, 2010 - Happy Harbor, RI

Mt. Justice

21:04:24

“This was a great idea, Connor! Camping in the great outdoors!” Robin said as she reclined against a log, tasting a marshmallow over the roaring campfire as its flames danced and sent embers floating into the night sky. She stared rather intently at the fire behind her shades.

Or maybe she’s staring at me? Connor thought as he walked back to the campfire, another log as long as he was tall, balanced on his shoulder with one hand. He marveled at how effortless it was. The weight and delicacy of the dried out log felt like it was made of styrofoam to him. Setting it down on the grass opposite Robin, he ground it into the dirt a bit to make sure it was seated and wouldn’t roll away, and sat down.

Instantly, Wally was seated next to him, smiling knowingly. She didn’t cuddle up next to him or anything, but she was close enough that her hand on the log was almost touching his. With his supervision, he could see Robin’s eyes narrow as she saw how close they sat.

Uh oh. Walli and I confirmed we were sticking to the ‘friends with benefits’ thing after the other (HOT) night, but we also agreed to keep it on the downlow with the team. Do I move away from Walli? Will that make me look guilty? Or will it upset Walli? Shit! This is getting too complicated…

He settled on nothing, which neither confirmed nor denied anything and totally didn’t look suspicious to anyone. On that, he was confident.

“Yeah,” he replied finally and absolutely not with a suspicious delay. “It’s something my family did every summer. We would spend a week or two down on Cape Cod for the summer, and my dad was too cheap to rent a cottage, so we camped out. A couple of tents, a campfire, the stars above and the tide at night…” He reminisced.

Better times. Before and after he got sick the first time, when things seemed like they were going to work out. His cancer, his parent’s marriage; it had all seemed so solid and hopeful then.

“I am excited to experience s’mores for the first time! I’ve seen this tradition so much on TV, now I get to do it myself, on Earth, with my Earth friends!” M’gann declared from further away and to the right. Her stick with marshmallow was levitating about ten feet in front of her, toasting on the fire, while she and Kaldura sat back on lawn chairs. She was sitting ramrod straight up, while Kaldura lounged in her seat casually.

Connor smiled at her enthusiasm, but his brow furrowed at her distance. She was staring directly at the base of her stick, and decidedly not at the campfire. He could feel her tension, but she was soldiering through it.

Sometimes in the comic, Martian weakness to fire is a psychosomatic one. I’m not sure what’s the case here, and I’m not about to ask. “Hey, M’gann old buddy old pal, what’s your weakness? How’s it work? Mine’s kryptonite!” No thanks.

“Are you good over there?” He asked with concern.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just don’t need to get so close, and with telekinesis, its a snap.” She answered, her smile fixed. Connor decided to leave it alone if she was willing to tough it out.

“What about you, Kal?” He asked, turning to address their Atlantean companion. The night was cool, and Kaldura was still wearing her costume, not having changed since their day’s training had completed and he had suggested a weenie roast and s’mores in the forest by the cliffs that surrounded Mt. Justice. Walli and Robin had expanded that suggestion into camping out overnight, and in a flash Walli had run to town and gotten them all the camping supplies they'd need. Three tents, a couple of folding chairs, sleeping bags, battery lanterns, and coolers full of food and drinks. Connor had volunteered to find them a campsite and clear it; pushing over a few dead trees and uprooting them had been a fun bit of ‘gardening’, and he had amused himself tearing the trunks into firewood and kindling with his bare hands. 

“I am fine, though your concern is appreciated. I do not understand the desire to sit so close to such a large flame.” Kal commented from her seat, her feet drawn up against her in the camping chair.

“I guess you don’t do a lot of sitting around campfires in Atlantis. Are you cold?” He asked, seeing her drawing up against herself.

Kaldura laughed, a musical sound like a delightful horn.

“No, I am quite comfortable. The ocean is a much colder place than this forest. My people are well adapted to it.” She assured him, waving off his concern. 

Connor shrugged and turned to Walli, only to find her putting the final touches on her own s’more stick. He stared at it for a moment, before commenting.

“That’s a branch.”

“Yeah, of course its a branch. That’s what you use to toast s’mores on, duh.” Walli said distractedly, as she added another handful of marshmallows to the veritable bush she held in her hand. The actual central branch was as thick as her admittedly lean arm, and it had a dozen branches off of it, each of which was festooned with at least one marshmallow. Beside Walli on the far side of their log bench was an entire box of graham crackers and a pile of chocolate bars.

“Do you think it’s big enough?” He asked drolly.

“That’s what he said!” She guffawed, which drew a laugh from Robin and Kaldura.

After a moment of laughter she turned back to him, and saw he wasn’t laughing. Her face fell and she gave him a look of pleading regret when she saw his stoney expression.

He led her on for a moment before raising one eyebrow dramatically.

Walli deflated as she realized he wasn’t offended at all, rolled her eyes and put her bush over the campfire to roast her marshmallows with a huff. But she gave him a sly grin when the others wouldn’t see.

I might be offended, if she hadn’t made known her satisfaction with how big it is. What did she call it? “Super Dick!”

After their first round and Connor’s trading in his V card, he had suggested another round, which Walli had exuberantly agreed to. And then a third, and he’d lobbied for a fourth but Walli had begged off. She had assured him she definitely wasn’t sore, and certainly wasn’t walking funny, the morning after.

I was worried I hurt her, but she said she was fine. It’s a bit of an ego boost…

“What else should we do on our camp out?” M’gann asked, as she carefully removed her melty marshmallow off the end of her stick with her TK, and neatly deposited it on a graham cracker with chocolate nestled on both crackers.

“We could tell ghost stories?” Robin suggested as she assembled her own s’more.

“Pass, Gotham. You’ve no doubt got enough horror movie reject villains to turn our hair white.” Walli said as she rotated her bush to toast all the marshmallows evenly. It was a challenge.

“Well, I’d like to hear how you all became heroes.” Connor suggested, and froze when they all looked at him. 

“I mean, because… you all know my story. I kind of know some of yours, but I’d like to hear it from you all.” Connor hurriedly explained, tripping over his words and wondering if he had overstepped.

“That is fair. I often forget that you are even more of a stranger to our world than M’gann or I am.” Kaldura said with a firm nod.

Robin put up her hands to object.

“Hey, I’m not gonna-”

“Ah, come on, Robi. You don’t have to tell us anything identifying. Connor’s right, we know everything about him. He only knows what we’ve told him, and what he remembers about the people kinda-sorta-like us from his universe. The three of us have known each other for years, and Don, but Connor and M’gann just met us. We’ve all got to rely on each other now, so we should get to know each other.” Walli pontificated, gesticulating with her bush for emphasis.

“Your bush is on fire.” Robin deadpanned.

“What, WOAH!” Walli shouted and sprang up as indeed, her lapse in concentration had let the dry tinder of her bush catch fire, several of her marshmallows blackening as their sugar added fuel to the fire. In desperation to save them, Walli swung the branch rapidly, succeeding only in fanning the flames instead of putting them out. M’gann shrieked as the bush became a burning torch, which only made Walli fan it harder to try to blow it out.

Connor stood as Walli only made the situation worse, and had a sudden urge to take the deepest breath he could. He obeyed it, and there was a rush of wind as his lungs expanded to draw in air all around him, and then he blew at the flaming bush in Walli’s hand. A gale force wind blew it out like birthday candles, and nearly the campfire as well. The gust continued on past, shaking trees and scattering birds and squirrels from branches in a whole direction of the forest. Trees creaked and groaned as they bent beneath the force of his breath. But these were seaside scrubby New England pines, and they had known the breath of many a nor'easter, so after a few moments of swaying trees and whipping branches, they settled. 

Walli was left holding a blackened stick, her remaining marshmallows carbonized lumps on the outside and nearly liquid sugar on the inside. Several were already dripping off the stick, and Walli hurriedly bit them off the stick before they fell apart.

“Smooth move, Walli.” Robin said as she built the campfire back up, the wind having nearly extinguished it. Walli’s reply was unintelligible around the marshmallows in her mouth.

“Are you okay, M’gann?” Connor asked with concern. She was curled up protectively on her chair, knees drawn up to her chest. 

“I’m fine, I’m okay… just got a teensy bit scared.” She said, and her cheeks turned pink with what he assumed was embarrassment. 

Kaldura was still standing from where she had sprung up in the moment, her water weapons in hand with their conjured liquid shaped like fat whips, but she sheathed them as she saw the danger was past. She nodded to Connor as she did so.

“That is the first time you have used that power. So you do possess super breath?” She inquired.

“I… guess so.” Connor replied. 

I don’t remember that being something this body was intended to have. The mind palace’s outline of my abilities definitely didn’t include it. I wonder if I can freeze stuff with it?

“Sorry, M’gann, Connor. Robi. Kal.” Walli said as she went down the list of apologies to make. She had finished her marshmallows, if you could still call them that. 

“Uh, so… story time?” Connor said as he found his seat again.

Walli was looking embarrassed, Robin was looking at her scorchingly, and M’gann was clearly still tense after the flare up. So Connor turned to Kaldura, who nodded as the others relaxed and began to listen…

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