tushanshu_logs

[He almost makes a flippant remark. Something like that's a lot of faith or you don't know us very well, but it never makes it out. Which is for the best, but he won't think about that until later. After he's alone and has a chance to think about what he's done. Dropping people from eighty stories up is not the best time to question your own reliability.

For falling, Korra takes it with surprising grace. Tony keeps up with her, making sure to stay close enough to grab her if they get too low, but he has to note how well she takes the whole thing in stride.]

Push the nose down. Use the speed to get more lift under the wings.

[Tony doesn't know anything about bending, but he does know about flight mechanics. And that is what he bases his backseat driving on.]

[Even though she tried to get used to it, Tony’s voice through the armor was still new. But she nodded and brought her arms down, the glider arcing downward as well. Doing so caused the glider’s wings to catch that lift he was talking about and instead falling, she was soaring. A quick, small laugh escaped her. It wasn’t because of airbending, she knew that, but it was still the first time she had the experience of gliding.

After that moment she focused and the wind that was buffeting against suddenly moved back, pushed by air that came from around her. After that the glider elevated, its descent changed.]

Whoa…

[A toothy smile came across her face and she looked at Tony. Flying wasn’t all that he could do, but she knew he hadn’t always been able to. But as far as she was concerned, he was born to just as much as she was.

Spreading her arms out a little more, her hands sliding further out on the glider, Korra let loose with a powerful gust of wind. Zooming out, the speed of her flight picked up and she lost sight of Tony. The sudden burst ahead was too much and the glider jutted upwards and the glider’s wings caught like a chute and Korra held on tightly as she was pushed back along with it. A loud yelp came from her as it suddenly changed in elevation, dropping down.]

[If any of Tony's associates were there at the time, they might have advised more caution in this adventure. But they were already in the air now so there wasn't much room for regret.

The Iron Man kept along Korra's flank, diving parallel to her so that Tony could match the speed like a dolphin riding the break made by a boat. Then she took off suddenly and Tony pulled up. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, but seeing the air form and rush around the glider in person was different from hearing about it over the console. He hovers in place while she shoots ahead, only realizing the problem with that when she gets too far out and starts dropping.

That spurs him into action. Tony dives forward, the jets burning through power as he rushes to get behind her.]

I guess this means the game's over.

[Tony grabs the edges of the glider's wings and tilts it back up, using his thrust to push the glider forward.]

No one would forgive me if I let you crash here. Try again. If you can push out a small air current, I'll pick up the slack.

[The sudden catch from Tony is jarring, but a relief and much more preferable to the tail-spin that would have followed if he wasn't there.]

See? Superhero. [She said breathlessly and she nodded. There was no way she wanted to give in that easily either.] I try not too make to big of a current.

[That was the main problem, but she was learning to get a more concentrated focus on Air. If anything, this "exercise" was forcing her to. Now that Tony had tilted the glider to the correct position, Korra was able to manifest a small, but strong gale that fought against the natural buffeting winds to fill up the glider's wings.]

I think I got it!

Superhero. It'd be embarrassing to lose you after I was the one that brought you out here.

[It was all accounted for, though, so he didn't sound strained. Tony might have pulled his share of reckless stunts (and this might have counted as one), but he wasn't going into it without a plan for the eventual stumbles along the way. He liked to think of this as just a little on demand training. He knew it probably wouldn't go over very well with anyone else, including the Avengers, but maybe a little controlled pressure was what Korra needed to get started. It wasn't like he told her to do it on her own.]

You've got it. I'm going to let go. Just hold it steady.

[He did let go, keeping the glider wings level until he released them. Tony pulled back, letting Korra fly ahead so he wouldn't shake the air current.]

Don’t worry, I’ll do my best not to die and embarrass you. [Said with a smirk now that she was steady and ready to go again.]

All right, I’ll try to circle around this time. Maybe even land properly if I can.

[When he let go, she flew straight forward. Starting to get the hang of the glider, Korra experimented in shifting her weight to one side. It caused her to turn in that direction and the extra boost from the glider changing course sped her around in a broad half circle. She flashed Tony a grin and started to spiral downwards slowly, every once in a while giving herself an airbending lift. After a certain point, she pointed the glider up and flew upwards through the imaginary rings she made from that descent.]

Haha! Did you see that??

[Not that something that simple would be impressive to Tony, who had probably been flying just as long as she had bending. But it was a new experience for her to enjoy.]

Okay, I’m going to land for real this time!

[Leo’s craftsmanship was really showing in the glider he made for her as it withstood the airspeed she was building up as she started a sharp descent. With the smirk that was on her face, it might be a giveaway that she was going to try to imitate Tony’s landing from earlier.]

[He was used to all of this by now. It was second nature to him after all of the years he'd spent in the armor. But no matter how many years passed, flying was one thing that always made him feel great. It renewed the excitement he had first felt when he built the jets and mastered flying with them. And watching Korra do that brought back moments he really didn't experience much anymore. The feeling of being powerful and free to go anywhere he wanted. He could understand her excitement.]

By the end of the day you'll be doing stunts. And then we'll never get you back to land.

[He turned away after the joke, checking the area around them to make sure they weren't going to have any sudden interruptions. It was just paranoia, really, but usually when things were going well it was only a matter of time before something went horribly wrong. Maybe he should check up on the others. Bucky or Carol or-

She was landing?]

Okay, just make sure you don't go too-

[He should have been watching. It was her first flight as far as he knew, and he hadn't exactly told her anything beyond picking up speed. When Tony turned back, Korra was diving toward the ground.]

Whoa! Pull up!

[He dove after her, hoping he wasn't going to be too late to do something.]

You have to slow down before you land!

[Korra was barely able to hear Tony’s shout from behind her as she cleared the bottom layer of clouds and she turned her head, the shapes below slowly turned into tiny buildings. ]

Go down, yeah, I know! [She yelled back with a smile.] You kind of have to in order to land!

[Obviously Tony thought she didn’t know what she was doing. From her trajectory, she was doing a straight dive bomb and as far as Korra understood from watching Tony, she just needed to fly straight back at the last second and then land slowly like a leaf.]

Bet my landing will be just as cool as yours!

[Only more so because she’ll have person wind lowering her down safely around her hair. Providing physics works the way Korra thought they did. Which was, however she wanted them to.]

[He should have been paying more attention. That was the one dominating thought Tony had as he dove after Korra. He shouldn't have let her take over and he shouldn't have assumed she'd be all right once she had lift.]

Don't crash don't crash don't-

[He pushed power into the boot thrusters, flying under her and turning around so he could push her back up and aim the glider away from the ground.]

Pull up! You can't land at this speed!

[He didn't have time to ask nicely. If Korra tried to land by flying straight down she was just going to smash into the ground. He didn't know about her plan to pull up, but even if she did pull back out of panic (which was another possibility), Tony assumed that she would end up overbalancing the glider and hit the ground anyway. Maybe if she were used to flying he wouldn't be trying to backseat drive her landing, but he couldn't count on that for what he knew as her first time doing this. He shoved upward on the glider handle, pushing himself backward and downward instead.

This was probably not the best idea he'd had.]

Edited 2013-08-17 04:35 (UTC)

[A startled Korra saw Tony suddenly appear underneath her and pushing the glider back up.]

Give me a second, give me a second!

[Creating a large burst of air under the glider’s wings pushed it upwards, assisting the Iron Man’s effort. Leveling back out with forty feet to spare, Korra looked over her shoulder at Tony.]

Why couldn’t I land? I was just doing what you did.

[And it had been fun, an adrenaline rush, and would have likely ended out very badly.]

[Oh, God. He had a passing thought about how close he had been to having a heart attack on that one, then managed a laugh as the glider righted itself again. At least she had good reflexes. He couldn't fault her there.]

You were going down too fast. You hit the ground at that speed and it'll tear your glider into pieces.

[Not to mention what the impact would have done to a human body. He decided not to bring that part up.]

You can't do what I do using a glider. Jets let me fly vertically. I can slow down without having to keep wings level and maintain the altitude I need to not drop myself on my face. You need a gradual decline. Diving down like that will make you increase speed. You can't shoot back at the last minute or you'll rip the wings off.

[He thought about that, hovering as he watched Korra fly.]

Although I'll give you points for style on that. Just don't crash it on your first time out, okay? Save some for later.

[She almost opened her mouth to protest, but the physics lesson shut her up. Just about any other adult and Korra would have fought them on the point, but Tony knew his stuff and she was very aware of it. Not just anyone can build a suit that almost seemed alive.]

So what you’re saying is my glider needs stronger wings and those jets to do that. [Even though that would be a total disaster in and of itself, that’s what Korra got from it.]

That’d look a little weird.

[And it would defeat the purposes of airbending when she thought about it.]

Gotcha, normal landing. [Angling it down only slightly, Korra reversed the direction of her airbending to slow the glider’s descent. Forty feet was a lot less intimidating now that she knew she would have died had Tony not intervened.]

[Tony was used to being argued with, but he was also used to being right. Even when he was wrong. At least Korra pulled up without crashing, though. He righted himself and hovered next to her.]

Your glider couldn't handle jets. If we stuck jets on it, you'd need a plane to withstand the force. What you need is to brake.

[That wasn't the best explanation, but he was trying.]

Your glider moves horizontally. You can pull up to decrease speed, but you'll always be going forward. You've seen birds fly, right? You're a big bird. Move downward in a spiral to drop altitude.

[Airbending was a great advantage. He found that out when Korra started using hers to slow her descent.]

Huh. Not bad. Maybe we will get you a plane.

You’ve obviously never seen me drive a car before. [She said in a humored, self-deprecating way.] It’d probably explode if I looked at it funny.

[With her descent slowing, Korra continued angling it downwards until she climbed down from forty, to thirty, to twenty, to ten feet. Half of that and she closed the glider, pushing out a blast of air to cushion her landing.]

I think I can go with bird for now. So what does that make you?

It takes time getting used to. And the fact that you have cars is impressive. It puts you one step ahead of the technology here.

[Now that the danger had passed, Tony was back to joking. In honesty, he probably never stopped joking. Even when he tries to be serious, it always ends in a sarcastic comment. He watched Korra fly to the ground, appreciating how quickly she caught on to the concept of decreasing her speed. Using the air blast to land was clever for someone who hadn't flown before. Tony followed her, hovering in place a few feet above a landing point before touching down.]

Iron Man. I'm just one of a kind.

[The metal armor retracts away from his face, leaving him without a helmet so he can look smug.]

[Airbending was new and fun, but seeing a shiny suit of armor with fire, or at least she assumed it was fire, coming from the boots was just plain awesome. Watching the metal actually recede, or as she though of it, melt away from his face was a lot more to take in than just watching it over the consoles.]

Hey, I can appreciate being unique. [Grinning, she circled her finger in front her face.] So that doesn’t hurt or feel weird? Because it looks like it could hurt or feel weird.

Not really.

[Tony was clearly enjoying this chance to get to show off. When you come from a world of superheroes and aliens and celestial beings, it was hard to feel all that unique or accomplished. And he still wanted to feel special. Or at least have something he could be proud of... the Iron Man was the best he had to do that with.]

I'm used to it. It feels like using any other part of me. Just different.

[Yeah, that was a great explanation. Good work, Tony.]

What does bending feel like?

Really. [She couldn’t help but chuckle as she said it.] Bending’s kind of like that. Think of which element you to use, let your movement and chi flow together, and you just use it how you want.

[To demonstrate she brought her closed hand up and unfolded her fingers, a small flame hovered just above her palm.]

Takes practice, more for me than your average bender, but it feels great to use.

[Letting it disappear in a puff of smoke she grinned.]

Okay, so maybe not exactly like yours- but bending’s a part of me just the same.

[Tony smiled at that. The way Korra formed fire and made it seem natural and real as opposed to mythical. That reminded him in a way of someone else who used chi. He did what might feel like impossible things in other contexts seem more concrete in his way. It was just something about his approach that left Tony feeling grounded rather than put off like he tended to be with magic. And it was the same with Korra's bending. They both felt real and natural.]

I understand that. Using technology is pretty much the same. It's always felt great to me.

[Maybe too much at some points, but that was a different thing entirely.]

This--the armor--it's the better part of who I am. Maybe the best part.

[Or the only good part. He wasn't sure. He smiled fondly though, holding up his hand and letting the metal that made up the gauntlet covering it shift and melt like softening putty, forming a small R.T. node on the back of it.]

It feels like thought. Like being able to see through your skin and know things you didn't realize existed until you saw them. It's not quite as impressive as making the elements do whatever you want, though. I guess they reserve that kind of thing for the real talent.

[And this was precisely what helped convince Korra that Tony was a good choice in friends. He understood that bending wasn’t the weird, wackiness that magic was. Something that irritated Korra when others simply classified bending as magic without a second glance.]

Maybe not the best part, I mean your heart needs it just as much as it needs your heart, right? [At least that was what she took from his explanation on why he had made the technology that’s now in his body.]

Just try telling my friends that’s not impressive. [She smirked, but her blue eyes reflected the bright light from the R.T. node and her own intrigue at seeing it happen before her.]

[Bending was weird, but Tony couldn't claim to have never seen weirder. If anything, it was a relief from the magic he was used to dealing with. If Korra said it could make logical sense, then Tony was glad it wasn't running on some magical power he could never hope to fathom. Win-win all around.]

It doesn't need anything. It's a machine. Well, a lot of machines. They don't need like people do.

[He smiled awkwardly through that explanation. What was it, again? The metal doesn't make the man. But sometimes Tony had trouble really convincing himself that was true.]

But I like to think I've got some skill in me.

[He couldn't be blamed for being smug, right? It was harmless pleasure, and Korra was enjoying the show. Tony smirked back, letting her get a good look.]

Those are sensors. I can use them to see. That's kind of the watered down version, but you get the idea.

Well that thing didn’t build itself, right. How’s that for skill?

[She raised an eyebrow and looked at the sensor curiously.]

So the armor’s an extension of you, so whatever that eye sees, you do too.

[Moving her mouth to the side of her face thoughtfully, Korra tilted her head and tapped her glider with her finger.]

Well my friend can see by touch, so you can see by your machine. That makes sense. [Weirdly enough.]

How about that?

[Tony was kind of unsure of what to say. Sure, he knew his armor was a great piece of tech. That was not even mentioning the Extremis altering his body. But most of the time other people were harder to impress.]

Pretty much. It enhances my body.

[Which was the easy explanation. He could have gone with that before, actually, but this was Tony. Easy didn't register most of the time. It was his turn to be impressed after that response, though.]

Your friend can see through touch? As in they touch things, or they actually see by touching part of something?

[Because with the way Korra said it and after watching her manipulate air, Tony was going to assume it wasn't the obvious method of getting an idea of spacial environment by feeling around.]

Actually see by touching the ground, rocks, and stones; through vibrations. [Korra had experienced it first hand in Toph’s dream at Sinbrilee.] People, heartbeats, bugs- anything that causes the smallest vibration can be seen. Not colors or stuff like that.

[She shrugged while she pursed her lips thoughtfully.] In a lot of ways it’s better than eyesight.

Vibrations? So she feels it. That makes sense. [Bending was thankfully based on some scientific principles. That was another point in its favor in Tony's book. He had gotten used to more magic over the years, but he was relieved to have the familiarity of logic he could understand and apply here.]

So you can do that too? Or is this one of those things where it only applies to certain people? Because if you can, I'd like to see your world. It sounds like a great place.

[Humans with sonar abilities that treat it as science. How could he not love the idea of that kind of place?]

And as long as you don't come down too hard, you'll be an ace pilot too. Avatar of nature and local Skymaster. Which means we'll have to find you someone to race.

[Open]

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