Go Fly A Kite [Iskander]

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

The Kite Fields. What a magnificent idea on the part of the town of Riverdale!

The weather was just about perfect for flying a kite. It was breezy, but not too breezy. The sky was sunny, and the temperatures were, if Oliver had to estimate, somewhere in the mid-80s (around 28 to 30 Celsius). Warm, though not so warm that it was unbearable outside. The humidity was also fairly low, which helped to contribute to a more positive experience overall.

Oliver already had a plan for his day. He'd brought three kites with him, one store bought and two that he'd made, each with different designs. The store bought kite was simply a control, to see how a regular kite flew in the conditions that were present. The other two would be evaluated based on how they flew as compared to the control.

A store bought kite compared to a kite made by someone who'd made their first kite in the late 1800s when he was in grade school was doomed to fail though, really. Unless Oliver had gone terribly wrong in his calculations, his kites were more than likely to be at least on par with a professionally made kite, if not better. It only made sense, given his experience and knowledge on the subject. While he set up, he observed those around him. It didn't take him long to assemble the store-bought kite. He was almost tempted to stick an anemometer into the air to record the wind speed, and grinned at this thought. That would take him back. He closed his eyes, for just a few moments slipping away from Riverdale and revisiting Kitty Hawk. The breeze that hit his face was even similar. He might be in a different place, a different time, a different body, but he could always visit the past in his memories. It served as a comfort at times.

He opened his eyes, gradually coming back to present day Riverdale. He let his hand, which had been previously held up in the air unconsciously, drop to his side again as he hooked the last bits of the kite together. Then he began to undo some of the string and tossed the kite. The kite instantly went upward, Oliver glancing up and letting more string loose as he saw fit.

Pretty soon, Oliver was more focused on the kite above than anything else. He was making mental notes in his head, preparing himself for when he would jot them down after bringing the kite down. As such, he didn't notice the approach of someone quite familiar, or that they happened to have a kite designed for far more devious purposes.

See, Oliver knew a lot about kites and flying objects in general. He knew about general kite flying and kiteboarding. Kite fighting, however, was not a 'sport' that he was privy to. He would be soon enough. Thankfully, this was only a store bought kite, and not one he'd put his own effort into. Otherwise...well, Oliver wouldn't be a very happy Wright brother when his hard work came tumbling down onto his head.

Word count: 522
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: Yee I finished. XD

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

Iskander wouldn't consider himself and avid kite flyer, but he did like it. He did fly kites on occasion, but more often, he observed them. On this particular day, the arab boy was standing at the edge of the field, watching children bring up kites...and then he caught sight of a familiar face. Oliver Winchester, and a Wright brother furthermore. He had with him three kites, and seemed to be conducting an experiment. Or at least, this was when Iskander presumed, as there was little other reason for him to have a couple kites, let alone one that was clearly store bought. Unless it was absolutely essential he have a store bought kite, it didn't seem the sort to have one.

Between that fact and the conversation the two had had at the bonfire, Iskander was tempted to play a little game with the freshman. He took one last look at the kite Oliver had, making sure in his eyes it was storebought, and then turned and picked up his purple and orange bike, hopped on it and left the feild through the trees, cutting through middle class Riverdale to the grey area between it and the lower class. There, bolted through the backyard and to the shed, and grabbed a kite of his own. He'd bought one that looked like a hawk, similar to the eagle that he had upon his crest (now, incidentally, on the Egyptian flag), but the kite itself wasn't as important as the string. A Wright brother might disagree with him, but this string was special.

When his home had been trashed, there had been a lot of broken glass. Iskande had kept the shards and made them smaller, then rolled a string in glue and rolled the glued string in the fine glass. He'd done this a number of times, with different strings. They now hung in the shed, for when he'd ever have need for a razor-like string - a razor-sharp kite string. A sort of thing typically used in kite fighting, where the object was to cut down your oponents kites. And just for fun, his eagle was going to war again.

No matter how careful Iskander was, he cut his fingers up a bit as he attached a string to the kite, wound it up on a spool, and probably cuased some cuts to his back as he biked to the fields with the kite on his back. He got a bit closer to Oliver than last time, pleased the boy was still flying the store-bought kite, and got his own into the air. Oliver didn't seem to notice him, either, which would make this even more fun. The trick now was to do this quickly, before Oliver notcied, without slicing some poor little kids kite. His fingers got bloody as he turend and twisted the eagle, working his way to the kite. Now for the fun bit. Iskander brought the kite down lower than Oliver's, and a bit behind it. Not the fun began. He manvouved kis kite closer, making sure that the fall wouldn't bring his own kite down, and overcorssed the lines. The poor sting on Oliver's kite never stood a chance as the kite went down, and Iskander grinned.


---------------
words| 574
tagged| Oliver / Mandee
notes| Nupe.

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver had more experience than...well, probably anyone at this kite field. It was mostly young children with their parents anyway, but he'd had experience with kites when he was younger than he was now in his past life. He was no newbie to the art of kite flying.

With Oliver, the word 'art' nearly fit. He was passionate about what he was doing. To him, building the kites and seeing how they performed was as fun, if not more, as just flying them for the sake of flying them. He was a builder by nature, and enjoyed making things above all else. With the exception, perhaps, of fudge. Boy sure did like his fudge.

As he was still focused on the kite in the sky, Oliver didn't know the familiar face that was starting to approach with a kite of his own. What he did notice was another kite sweeping dangerously close to him, and though he tried to steer the kite away (simply to prevent the strings from being tangled), the strings hit...and Oliver's string was cut in half as his kite went flying down on top of him.

Good thing he'd been nearly done with this part of the experiment anyway.

Oliver pushed the storebought kite off of him. Even though this was a storebought kite, he was still annoyed by this turn of events. It all seemed awfully deliberate too...what kind of kite string could cut another kite string? They usually just got tangled...which ended up having pretty much the same effect, so really, he couldn't complain about these circumstances too much. He was completely prepared to give the person a piece of his mind (even though he'd probably pull a similar prank himself if he were so inclined)...until he saw who it was.

"Iskander? Not exactly what I had in mind when I said we should go fly a kite some time."[/color] The corners of his mouth turned up a bit, but he still looked a tad annoyed. Nevertheless, he picked up another kite and began to string that one. It was an annoyance, yes...but considering who this was, and what he knew Oliver, he almost wondered if Iskander had been privy to what Oliver was doing before he went and cut the string. This realization made Oliver relax a little.

"Just consider yourself lucky that I have spares."[/color] He arched an eyebrow with a small grin, continuing to play around with the string. This kite was noticeably more complicated, and Oliver was even more careful with it as he strung it up. "Don't get that kite anywhere near this one. The other one was no big deal. It was a cheap storebought kite. This one I put a little more time into."[/color] He lifted the other kite, holding the handle in his mouth as he finished tying up the last of the strings while holding the kite up in the air. Then he took the handle in his hands and began loosening up the string. Right away, it was noticeable how different this was from most storebought kites. The curvature was different, which impacted how it flew. Which was to say, better. What else would you expect from one of the minds behind the airplane, though, really?

Word count: 567
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: MAH HA

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

Kites in the sky was a beautiful sight to Iskander, and flying them could be fun, but he most enjoyed just competeting with one. He hadn't since his past life, becuase in most places now kitefighting was just not done; it wasn't a sport anymore as much as a hobby. Iskander couldn't say he cared that much, but kitefighting had been so much fun. Needless to say, he'd relished in the breif moment he could do it again. Not that much fighting was going on. Orville was trying to move his kite away, assuming the attack bad piloting or something, while Saladin pursued reletlessly and chopped it down. He watched the kite fall from the sky as his eagle kept going higher, letting the sharp string scratch his hands up as it went. The kite fell semi-gracefully...

At least until it landed on Oliver's head. This seemed to finally get the boy ouy of dreamland, and he looked around for whoever had done it, only to see Iskander, who grinned, then laughed outright at the comment the freshman made. "But kitefighting is so much better!" The senior laughed. "Besides, you were so lost in thought I wasn't sure anything short of a kite crash would snap you out of it." He teased a little, as he went on. "'Sides, only the string took the fatal damage." Or it looked that way, anyhow. Storebought kids weren't extremely resilent, but they weren't that feeble, either, or more people would make thier own kites - you didn't have to be an airplane inventor to do so, after all. Just a little bit of time, maybe an internet article and some general building skills. After having to rebuild much of his house, building a kite seemed like nothing at all. In fact, shop class seemed like nothing at all after sleep-deprving yourself to build stairs to code so you could properly get into your bedroom. Not a lot was too much to build. From war hero to handyman. His life had taken a strange turn from the last, but probably a practical one. Chances were he'd never need to front a crusade, but drywall, cut, saw or fix a sink? Yeah, he could see use for those skills.

Iskander nodded when he saw the second kite. "No problems, I should be able keep it away." Worse comes to worse Iskander would yank his own kite out of the sky, but that raised another, semi-amusing problem - sharp ktie string falling one someone's head. He didn't know why he found it funny, but he did, and was inable to contain a chuckle to himself. "I could drop it out of the sky, but then, I'm not sure if this string would be legal to drop on someone..."

--------------
words| 505
tagged| Oliver / Mandee
notes| None

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Almost every reincarnate relished the chance to take a trip back in time. For Oliver, this whole trip felt like a trip back in time, whilst for a moment Iskander took a trip back in time as he cut down Oliver's kite. Iskander's response confused Oliver, but the word 'kitefighting' was straightforward enough that Oliver had some idea of what it consisted of. "I wouldn't know, I've never been kitefighting before...I usually just fly them."[/color] He raised an eyebrow, hoping that he wouldn't have to elaborate further. He didn't just fly them, he built them. He'd even made a little business out of making and selling kites to friends for a little bit of pocket money as a child in his past life. Last time he'd been caught with material that hinted at him making a kite, though, Errol Murdock had opted to make a huge deal out of it. Errol Murdock didn't seem the type to spend his free time out at the kite fields, though.

"Well, you could have tried something else before you jumped to the extreme..."[/color] Oliver pretended to be devastated, when really, he didn't care. Iskander had brought up a good point - Only the string was really all that damaged. There was also a bit of a rip in the kite, but Oliver figured that he could always fix that if he felt so inclined. He didn't really, though, unless he wanted to give the kite to someone else to try. He was much more content to fly one of his own.

Kites really weren't that hard to make, when one thought about it, but the true test was how well they flew. One of Oliver's kites looked traditional, although with odd curves. This was the one he was flying at the moment. The other was a box kite. The kite looked normal enough in the sky, but it was obvious as Oliver yanked on the string that he had more control over the kite than the average person. He looked over at Iskander and grinned. "I'll make sure to keep mine away from yours for good measure too. So, how have you been doing lately? Anything interesting after the bonfire?"[/color] He hadn't really talked to Iskander much after the bonfire, and although it was only a few weeks later, that didn't mean that nothing new was happening. This was Riverdale High. If anything, that was a sign that drama was overdue. Oliver pulled on a string to turn his kite in the air. "I could make you a kite at some point if you want, you know."[/color]

He trusted Iskander to keep his word, but he was still nervous as Iskander's kite remained in the air, and tried to keep his own kite a considerable enough distance away. In addition, he eyed Iskander's kite on numerous occasions to make sure that it wasn't making any sudden darts, whether by Iskander's hands or a simple wind gust (although the latter seemed more likely).

When Iskander started laughing, Oliver raised an eyebrow at once. What was so funny? When the older boy divulged, Oliver's eyes widened a little, but he let out a few laughs as well. "Probably not, if it can cut down another kite string just by touching it. What is that made out of, anyway?"[/color] He might have had overall issues with the kite string for cutting down his first kite, but that didn't mean that he wasn't curious. He made things by nature, and he wanted to know what Iskander used to make the kite string so sharp. It obviously wasn't normal kite string.

Word count: 629
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: He's paranoid of that string now. XD

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

Kite flying was one thing. It was the typical thing to do with kites. You flew them, maybe did some tricks with them, made them look pretty. That was all great. You did that and more, though, with kite fighting. Suddenly it was speed and skill and tricks of the trade, other factors thrown in that make it much more exciting. "It's better, trust me then. So much more skill is required. You'd do pretty good." Iskander commented. He knew Oliver likely had never heard of kite fighting, but that didn't change his mind. Oliver would probably do very well, just from all his piloting skill. It was doubtlessly different with a kite on the ground, but he'd done more than enough of that, too. It was a pity there would be almost no one else in Riverdale to join in, except perhaps the other Wright brother and a few random kids, otherwise Iskander might seriously have thought about creating such a venture. He needed to get out and meet more people, and that might well be a way to do it.

At Oliver's next words, the dark-haired senior laughed. "Extreme measures are more fun, though..." He said. Or at least, extreme measures were sometimes more fun. He couldn't say he over much liked the idea of the extreme measure of base jumping, for example. But cutting down a kite for fun was well within bounds, as it wasn't a valuable one or something. He looked up and tugged on the strings of his kite, navigating it away from a child's kite that was staying too close for comfort. Oliver's "wrath" was one thing, the genuine anger of a random parent was another altogether. One was funny. The other would get him in trouble he didn't need.

The sultan incarnate watched Oliver's new kite curiously, seeing how easily it cut through the air. Impressive, though not unexpected by any means. "Not much has happened since then. Not for me." Iskander, being neither an incredible socialite or a boarding student, didn't get much drama. Yes, there was Jennah's pregnancy, but that wasn't so much dramatic as a tough situation, and then there was the whole being attacked by his father, and while dramatic, had nothing to do with school. "What about you? And if you made a kite like that, I could make it into a pretty awesome fighter." Agility and the lethal string...he's just have to find things to chop up and he'd be set.

After explaining what his random laughter had been about, Iskander then set about explaining his string. "Broken glass. I ground up the glass into smaller shards, and those, of course, are sharp. Then I just coated regular kite strings for the purpose. They're heavy strings for a kite, now, but the weight serves a purpose in helping to cut, too, like pressure behind a knife....I'd definitely not want that on my head, that's for sure."

---------
words| 568
tagged| Oliver / Mandee
notes| none

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Kite flying may have been the typical thing that one did with kites, but Oliver still enjoyed it. Then again, the boy/man enjoyed building and testing what he built all the time. It didn't even necessarily have to be a sort of flying object, though such objects were what he was most known for in both his past life and this one. He could experiment with almost anything, though, and a lot of people didn't take that into consideration. Sometimes he experimented with things that weren't his to experiment with, which could pose a problem. He was good in a team, but sometimes he would force himself into something without taking into consideration what the other person wanted. He wasn't doing it out of malice, he just got a little overexcited at times. It took the Wright person to be able to put up with Oliver and his eccentricities when working on a project, that was for sure.

Iskander had Oliver curious now, especially when the older (at least physically/biologically) informed him that he thought Oliver would be pretty good.

"Maybe I'll try it out some time, then."[/color] The smallish grin on Oliver's face showed that he was indeed considering it, and considering it seriously, rather than just saying it to appease Iskander.

Oliver kept his eyes on the sky even as Iskander spoke, but was by no means ignoring the other Riverdale student. He was simply making sure that he did not make any mistakes or crash into anything. This wasn't just an activity to him - It was a passion. "Not much on my end either. Cindy and I got into a fight, but we made up pretty easily."[/color] After a few days of Oliver walking around in a foul mood...and bitter feelings that still crept up every once in a while. It was amazing the insights that one argument and a couple of posts by the Wizard could do.

"I think we should do it then. I can handle the kite and you could handle the string. Just...who would we use it against? There are a lot of kite sports in North Carolina, but I'm not too sure that kite fighting is one of them. Then again, you could be the one to start the trend..."[/color] Oliver shrugged, temporarily looking over at Iskander to gauge his reaction before laughing as a kid blurted out something along the lines of 'whoa, that's a really good kite!' while looking up at Oliver's kite.

Oliver began to pull the kite down, winding up the string and setting it on the ground. The aforementioned child approached, and Oliver smiled. "You can check it out. Maybe even fly it later on. Just don't touch too much."[/color] The little boy grinned and began to look the kite over, while Oliver jotted furiously onto the blank page of a notebook. He looked up once Iskander started to answer his question. "Broken glass? Sounds like it could be used as a weapon against not just kites but people."[/color] Oliver eyed Iskander's kite at these words before going back to writing in his own notebook once more. He looked down to the young boy and smirked a little. "Don't touch his kite either."[/color] The little boy's eyes were wide, as he'd overheard Iskander's comments, though he simply nodded and went back to prodding at Oliver's kite...feeling the string, just in case.

Word count: 605
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: I dunno why I felt like bringing a kid in, but I did. XD

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

While neither boy was not looking at the other, for fear of crashing their kites (or, in Iskander's case, a weapon under guise of kite), but the conversation was easy, not at all strained. A couple years age difference didn't really matter to either, and, funny thing was that Oliver was older if you combined both lives, though Iskander didn't do too bad when it came to, y'know, staying alive. Reaching 56 in the 12th century was a feat to be proud of. Because he was focused on his kite, he didn't see Oliver's small grin, but he did hear the tone of voice, and couldn't help but smile. Not a big smile, he wasn't known for those, just a little smirk. "It would be interesting to fight you." He mused. Each one had a certain aspect of the game stacked in their favour - but which side would win? Piloting or strategy? Without strategy, piloting could evade and attack, yes, but without as much foresight. Foresight was good, but with lesser piloting, how much could it do? That was the question. He was confident he could win, a least the first few times from his experience, but after that? Then it was anybody's game.

"A lack of drama would be lovely. Though it looks like that on ends, we got just that." It had been semi-quiet around Riverdale; the anti-RSOR had quieted somewhat, the Wizard was just dribbling nonsense, and there didn't appear to be any of the problems that normally plagued them. For a time, it seemed, they were in the eye of the storm, quiet before the winds picked up and threw them every which way once more. It was only a matter of time in Riverdale Boarding High - in more ways than one. "I doubt it will last, though. We're just not known for peace."

Case and point, they were discussing kitefighting, not so much kiteflying anymore. "I like that idea. But I call flying it!" Iskander said with a playful tone to his voice that had been rarely heard since his long ago days in Damascus. New York City had been a soul-eating place and 9/11 had killed him more than death. But back in his day, back in his true day, he was quite a jubilant person to around. Almost nerdy (Saladin was certainly a nerd as far as most war heroes went) but not boring or annoying to be around. Unless Isam was out for hookers, then the morally conscious best friend Saladin was quite the party pooper. But nailing an Imam with pomegranate? The teenage Saladin would have been up for that, without a second thought. "After all, I gave you the idea of kite fighting. I think I get props for that But starting a kite fighting club? I'm not so sure about that." Back to second-life induced reserve, his moment of playfulness half passed already.

Iskander looked over briefly at the little boy speaking to Oliver, watching with amusement as Oliver pulled his kite from the sky to give the boy a look. Iskander wouldn't be doing such a thing for the kid, even if he asked. It just wasn't safe. Getting his kite down in such a crowded field wouldn't be a walk in the park, either. He'd have to be very, very careful; if the string went down too fast or in the wrong place he didn't want to be sent to jail. "I suppose it could be a weapon against people." Iskander mused. "In a field such as this it could be very effective, but bear in mind in a larger, emptier region, it would become almost useless as it's doubtful enemies would simply line up and wait for string to fall on their heads." He chanced a gland to Oliver and the boy, who was now being warned about Iskander kite, and the older teen nodded. "Yeah, my kite is very dangerous. If I bring it down, don't touch it." He turned his attention back to Oliver with his next words. "For the glue I use the stuff out of a glue gun, but I meddled with it a bit. Put it in a pot and heat it a lot more, and keep it heated as you apply the glass...but then again," He added with a slight pause and a smile, "I'm not sure I should have told you that, what with your record of setting things on fire..."


-----------
words| 825
notes| Sorry this took forever. O.x
tagged| Oliver / Mandee

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

The conversation was indeed easy to keep going. It wasn't what Oliver would have expected earlier in the school year, when he first met Iskander. He'd talked with the guy a few times, but it was the fact that Iskander and Jennah (who were then in their old bodies as Saladin and Wang) aided him after his altercation with Jack the Ripper at the wax museum in December that started to turn the tides a bit.

One wouldn't expect Oliver and Iskander to have much in common, honestly. One was a freshman and one was a senior, for starters. The ironic part being that yes, Oliver had more 'life experience', so to speak. Which brought up the other oddity in this unlikely friendship - Even those who did realize that Oliver was Orville Wright and Iskander was Saladin wouldn't expect those two guys to strike up a friendship. In reality, they had quite a bit in common. Neither of them were all that social in this life, though a definite argument could be made in Oliver's defense when it came to being in the RSOR room (but hey, he felt genuinely more comfortable there, which made all the difference). Both seemed to have a good sense of humor. And then...then there was the kite thing. That one was completely unexpected.

Oliver shook his head, though he couldn't help but grin a little when Iskander mentioned that periods of peace didn't last long around Riverdale. "Well, if we take history as any indication, that's not all that surprising."[/color] He made it out to sound as though he meant the way that students got along at Riverdale High, and honestly, why would normals have any reason not to believe that? Anyone from RSOR, on the other hand, would realize that it was a veiled reference to RSOR, and a pretty obvious one to anyone who knew what was going on.

He frowned when Iskander called flying the kite. When Iskander provided a reason for it, however, Oliver shrugged. That was a fairly decent reason, and besides... "I can probably make observations easier that way."[/color] He grinned.

As the young boy continued to flip over his self-made kite, Oliver watched Iskander's kite cut through the sky. Perhaps cut wasn't the right word..but what better way to describe a kite that could literally cut through other kites?

"Where'd you get this?" The boy asked in shock and awe.

Oliver smiled. "I made it."[/color]

"Can you teach me how to make one?"

Oliver bit down on his lip. He was reluctant, but honestly...it was a kite. It wasn't like he was going to be teaching the kid how to build an airplane (although he was qualified for that). After a moment's contemplation, the second-time high school freshman nodded, and the boy cheered in delight. At Iskander's words, however, he listened in wide eyed surprise. Oliver, meanwhile, laughed.

"Oh come on, I haven't done too much since I was a kid."[/color] His raised eyebrow was all he hoped was needed to convey the message that this was all before. It was surprising how easy it was to communicate what one really meant under the guise of something completely innocent. Oliver always did like making a game of it, and it seemed like Iskander was a good person to play such games with. Then again, most of RSOR participated to some extent. Code words were how they had to operate if they wished to communicate in front of a normal.

"I'll probably just stick to making the kites. That's more my forte anyway, and plus...don't want to put any fear in anyone's minds of the school burning down."[/color] He snorted and rolled his eyes.

Word count: Will count later
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: Hurried to get this done before work. XD

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

"My dear Oliver, if history is an indication, we should know that this may not be meant to happen..and furthermore," Iskander spoke, adding on a bit more quietly, "You don't see Vaughn and I starting wars in the hallways." The two were perhaps the greatest rivals documented in history, pitting armies against each other, fighting wars based on religion, spilling blood time and time again; yet still carrying respect. Everyone had expected the worst when they met for the first time in either life, and were pleasantly surprised. Truly, if history was any indication of anything, it was that anything could happen. It was that reality was a space in which the rules could change, or were set in a way complex beyond understanding.

In fact, his point was proven when Orville Wright did not fight for the right to fly a kite he'd help design. It made Iskander raise an eyebrow, even after the explanation the other boy gave. "If you say so. But I'm not going to give up the chance to fly it, so..." He trailed off with a grin, eyes watching the sky around his hawk kite like, well, a hawk. He stayed quiet as he boy and Oliver conversed, once against becoming reserved. He didn't fare well with people he didn't know, and after a scarring incident with swimming, Iskander didn't want that much to do with kids for several years. It was one thing to nearly have a kid. That was not nearly so scary as to be enrolled in a class with seven of them and be expected to play around and not stand out. With Jennah as the swim instructor. Mina was a nice girl but beyond that, it sucked. It really, really, really sucked.

"Kid, adult and kid again, you still have a lousy track record, Oliver." Iskander replied, playing along with the code. The kid would never get the meaning, nor would anyone not meant to know. RSOR was just one of those concept it would have a genius to figure out without being a reincarnate (many of whom were geniuses), though rumour had it a normie had worked it out. Iskander attributed it to all the paranoia with the Oliver-Orville issues and the Wizard more than honest truth. "Yeah. You stick with kites and I'll do the fighting, okay? Just invent or try to do inventing away from fire, to do us all a favour." Iskander was smiling again. He was smiling a lot right now, as his "eagle" soared for the sky, glass-coated string glimmering slightly in the sun.

Up, up, and away!

------------
words| 489
tagged| Oliver / Mandee
notes| This post is not so good. >>

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver should have known that he was opening up a can of worms with his history statement, but he could not resist a quip nonetheless. The best part was, the young boy at Oliver's feet was none the wiser to the subject that the teenage males were discussing. "I should hope not. I don't think Hanston would like that too much."[/color] Oliver had a good deal of respect toward Hanston. The fact that she was able to stay in charge of a student body that consisted of 40% reincarnates as of late...

The freshman wanted to fly the kite. There was no doubt about that. He just didn't see the point in arguing with Iskander over it. Hopefully the kite would survive Iskander's flight and Oliver would have the chance to fly it himself. He certainly wanted to see how it felt while it was actually in his hands. Oliver grinned back, though it was somewhat reluctant in nature, betraying the fact that he very much did want to fly that kite. His chances of winning an argument against Iskander were slim, though, and he knew it.

Oliver was surprised at how blatantly close Iskander came to the subject of reincarnation. He even had to chance a glance at the young boy to make sure that he hadn't noticed anything odd. He hadn't noticed anything, of course. Oliver let out the tiniest of sighs of relief. "Oh, it's not that bad. If we're going by those lines I can think of at least a couple of people in Riverdale who have it worse."[/color] He hadn't set himself on fire, unlike two other Riverdale students. Though in Joan/Isa's defense, she really didn't set herself on fire either...Talia had. Which was enormously fun to tease her about, at least if she was in the right mood for it. And who knew with Talia? The 'burn' scars he did have came from Hayden. Other than providing the skateboard and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the sulfuric acid incident could hardly be considered Oliver's fault.

"Only kites? I could do so much more than kites, though! There's only a limited amount that you can do with kites..."[/color] Oliver stated in jest, ready to test out his third kite. This third kite, of course, was the most complex of all three. He began to string it, looking over at Iskander's kite as he watched the string shimmer in the sun.

"Do you think I could fly that one?"[/color] He stated suddenly, yet the way it was stated suggested that this wasn't just something Oliver thought of out of the blue. He'd been observing Iskander's kite almost as much as he'd been observing his own up there, but there was still one question that Oliver was dying to have answered. "I'd like to see if the added weight of the glass on the string affects the kite any."[/color] Plus, honestly, it was another kite to test. Oliver didn't want to let go of this opportunity so easily, especially when Iskander had called dibs on flying any kite that they built together first.

Word count: 554
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: Oliver has conditions Iskander has to agree to before he can fly that kite they make, lol. Somehow that isn't surprising. =P

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

Iskander nodded at Oliver's words, amused by the thought of starting a war with Vaughn in Riverdale. It just made no sense, Handston would kill them both, but it would be hilarious to those who knew what was going on in the joke. Maybe he's convince ol' Richard to "start a war" with him for a day, for a senior prank of sorts. Just as long as nothing was sharp, and no one mentioned the Holy Lands, the two warlords could probably put down their plastic swords and laugh at the end of the day. Perhaps at each other, more than with, but still laugh.

"People who have it worse, Oliver?" Iskander shook his head as he looked back up to his kite. "Skylar is impeccably clumsy, yes, but I can't recall if he's ended up on fire. Isabella was an accident, discounting the first time...no, I think you take the cake." The teen was both teasing and serious. His tone was joking, but it was true. Oliver ended up on fire or causing fires most of all. Joan first life had been an execution; not tinkering on her part, like the boy beside her. Or trusting Hayden with a skateboard around chemicals and thus not running immediately.

Dark eyes watched the third kite take off, sailing into the sky, away from the kite string of death and doom to kites. "I said nothing about only kites, Oliver." Iskander seemed serious again, and mildly confused. "Though kites seem to be a very fruitful beginning to your endeavours." He added, playing on the past life. Orville's life, even outside of the situation at hand, was much easier to play on than his could be - the freshman's life was just that much more relevant to the world, and Iskander envied that. He tasted ashes often. Oliver? Not so much. As his eyes were in the sky, he didn't see Oliver's question coming, though he ought to have known that he'd be asked just that.

Iskander adjusted his kite to the win, letting it soar upwards. "I suppose you can." He said, glancing at the younger boy. "But you best be careful." The spool Iskander had brought the string with didn't work very well for kite control, just given the now not-so-round and somewhat chunky nature of the string. Iskander has since dropped it on the ground and was holding the sharp strings gingerly in his hands, but he had cut them up some. "I don't want to have to explain what went on to paramedics. I've had enough fun with the law." Fending off his fathers attacks, and using what ended up, on one count as lethal force (with no apparent know-how) had given him more than enough of his share of courtrooms and explanations for why the guy was on the ground bleeding. "Bring your kite down and I'll hand the strong off to you."

-------------
words| 565
tagged| Oliver / Mandee
notes| n/a

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver could not help but let out a snort at Iskander's next few comments. "I'll concede your point with Isabella, but Skylar...let's just say I went running into his room with a fire extinguisher once."[/color] As it turned out, he hadn't needed to use that fire extinguisher on Skylar, but the fact remained that Skylar had very much set himself on fire. Therefore, he was even worse off than Oliver where that was concerned. Sure, Oliver had set his fair share of items on fire, but he'd never set himself on fire.

Nor could he really do anything to prevent the situation with Hayden. Honestly, the guy had taken the skateboard out of Oliver's backpack and hopped on it without Oliver's permission. It happened to be a project that Oliver was working on as well. Why on Earth would he want to abandon that so easily? Plus, who would have conceived that Hayden would have ran smack into a cart carrying chemicals while zooming around on a skateboard? The logical conclusion would be that Hayden would run into a wall or something, not send sulfuric acid flying through the air. And Oliver was still better off than Hayden even where that was concerned. Only his hand was scarred up. Hayden had gotten it on his stomach.

"I know. It's just...frustrating."[/color] Came Oliver's response to Iskander's insistence that he had not meant only kites. Oliver's remark was more directed at himself than Iskander, in truth. He enjoyed building so much, but he wanted to be able to do more than just kites. He was frustrated at his lack of an outlet. If he became too obvious, after all, he'd be a detriment to the secrecy of RSOR, and RSOR was his safe haven. The attic was one of the few places where he was allowed to do more heavy duty mechanical experiments. It was the closest thing he had to Kitty Hawk in this life time. He did not want to ruin that, especially when so many others felt the same way.

The other little boy made to ask Oliver if he could fly one of his kites. It was clear almost straight off the bat that Oliver was reluctant when it came to that one. "I don't know, I worked really hard on these."[/color] All that was needed was a 'pleaaaaaaaaaase' and a nice set of puppy dog eyes, though, and Oliver let out a loud sigh and pointed to his second kite, as his first one wasn't really in shape for flight at the moment. "Be extremely careful, kid. Extremely careful."[/color] He looked up at the box kite in the sky, vaguely reminded of a kite he and Wilbur built in 1899, and pulled it down slowly and gingerly. He made sure that it was wrapped up nicely, so that it would not get damaged, then looked over at Iskander's kite.

The string. Iskander had a good point about the string. Oliver was no stranger to cuts and scrapes, especially while experimenting, but he wasn't so sure that he wanted to hold this kite with nothing to protect his hands. He decided to bend down to dig through his bag once more time, reaching into depths that had probably not been explored since winter. This attempt paid off - he emerged with a nice set of winter gloves that were probably buried in Oliver's backpack since September. It was still a while off before Cindy would come back to pick him up, so he figured he might as well enjoy this a bit. "Alright, my kite's down. Well, one of my kites is down..."[/color] He indicated the small boy flying his other kite, still with a mildly reluctant look on his face.

"I know how to be careful. No serious crashes since 08, remember?"[/color] He stated with a large grin, meaning 1908 rather than 2008. Oliver was grateful for being reborn in this time period...that one was exceptionally easy to play off in front of others. He awaited being handed Iskander's kite, while observing the kite in the sky at the same time. From the offset, it didn't look as though the kite had the level of control that he liked, but he wouldn't know until he had it in his own hands.

Word count: 745
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: Yee? XD

[Iskander Rafel Azizi]

Skylar on fire? Oh dear. Oh dear indeed. He didn't put it past the man, on second thought, but he had always thought Edison would be a little more coordinated given his status, in this life and definitely the past one. "Okay, that's fair. So, I revise. At this rate, you'll not only have a great penchant for starting fires, you will be a firefighter for all of Riverdale by senior year." Iskander laughed. He'd be long gone by then. Maybe. Iskander wasn't sure how easy it would be for him to pay for university, and what he really wanted to pursue was nearly useless in this day and era. Philosophy wasn't the best liked of subjects by employers nowadays. In his day, it was a sign of importance. Now? Now it meant you were a hippie or something, not smart. Which, for the record, sucked. But he wasn't going to work at a hotel forever, that much he knew. No, if nothing else, he would take his degree in philosophy back to the Holy Land, t bring it peace if he could.

Oliver, on the other hand, had plenty of past-life strengths that applied today, and so when the boy said it was frustrating, to always be dealing with kites, Iskander only half-got it. Yes, RSOR secrecy was paramount. But at the same time, he wouldn't be confined to this level of secrecy forever. Alumni still had restrictions upon them, they did for life, but no one was likely to tie RSOR to the source of NASA's mars-man Winchester. Nor was it really the source, but a catalyst in ways. Trace it to RSOR, and then take everyone in RSOR, see where they went...then there might be issue, but he couldn't see it happening. Even if it did, he could sense a few of his comrades would end up in government systems somehow...and they'd take the threat out.

And all this because of what ((dante listening to dramatic music?))? All this because of kites. Simple, little, kites.

So simple, that children routinely flew them without difficulty. Iskander was tempted to remind Oliver of this as the little boy asked to fly a kite, but he kept silent, focused on his own. He couldn't blame Oliver for not wanting to share, and it wasn't his place to tell Orville Wright what to do with anything that he not just owned, but flew. That being said, the kid must have had some very good puppy eyes to swing getting the string.

If Oliver gave him puppy eyes, said aviator would be laughed at or shoved, but he'd still get the string. Fair was fair, Iskander supposed, even if the boy waned to cut his fingers. He knew both his mother and Jennah would have a feild day over it, but oh well. Gloves, which Oliver was now retriving from his bag. Iskander wasn't sure why the boy would keep winter gloves in his bag for so long, or if he hadn't bothered to clean it, but didn't going to ask; just taunt a little bit. "Gloves, really? That's basically cheating." Smart cheating, but still cheating.

At Oliver's mentioned of plane crashes, Iskander snorted. "I don't have such worries about my kite going down, anyways, just so long as no one is maimed upon the string. Besides, for a flying master like you, well, it should be easy. Maybe not the stretegy, but the flying." He added with a teasing grin before handing over the kite string.

----------------
words| 637
tagged| Oliver / Mandee
notes| none

[Oliver Lee Winchester]

Oliver let out a laugh. "Well, I'll certainly have plenty enough experience with fires..."[/color] Again, though, he really wasn't that bad with fire. He could only think of two major incidences with fire over BOTH lives. Though he had to admit the incident on 7 Hawthorne Street was pretty bad, and probably would have turned out to be quite dangerous if it weren't for Katharine running off to get their mother.

Sometimes Oliver found it quite a challenge to keep some of the more dangerous aspects of his personality a secret. Not dangerous in the violent sense, but rather dangerous in that people might start to get ideas. As it was, the Oliver/Orville thing was only in the recent past. Oliver knew that he couldn't give that much away. Yes, he'd probably be safe once he entered college (provided Errol, Tamara, or Kodi didn't attend whichever college he did), but that was a much longer way off than it was with Iskander, who was a senior. Add that to the fact that Oliver often became antsy...

Unlike most freshmen, he often thought about what he would do when he left Riverdale High. Having been through high school once (though not technically finishing), he knew how fast it could fly by. He also knew that he needed to do something that could put his need to experiment and build to work. He would absolutely not be satisfied with an office job. Nothing would ever get done if he were in an office job. He'd shirk his duties in favor of more active work. That wasn't someone you wanted to work in the office, honestly.

Part of it was that the kid had good puppy dog eyes...the other part was that Oliver had a weakness for kids. Nevertheless, he kept a close eye on the kid as he started out, making sure that he didn't make any sudden moves or put Oliver's precious kite in any danger. It wasn't the box kite (given it's similarities to the one he and Wilbur built over a century before, he'd never let this kid fly that one), but it was still a kite that Oliver put his own touch into, and therefore he was cautious.

Just as Iskander was when it came to his, though it was not so much for the safety of the kite as it was for the safety of Oliver - and also to take a jab at Oliver, of course. As Iskander claimed that he was cheating by pulling out gloves, Oliver raised an eyebrow with a small smirk on his face. "Cheating? No, it's called being smart. It's also not wanting to get my hands messed up when I have other projects I want to work on."[/color] He didn't want his hands messed up in general. For a guy who often got down and dirty with machinery, he didn't much like the actual getting dirty part. Hence a lot of equipment, such as gloves and aprons. Finally - Just look at the poor guy's left hand. Sulfuric acid burns, a scar where Leila stabbed him...did he really need to lay more of a curse on that hand? At this rate he'd lose it by his junior year.

The reincarnated inventor took ahold of the kite string, immediately noting the differences that the string provided when it came to flying the kite. "The heavier string makes it a bit harder to steer..."[/color] Oliver furrowed his brow a bit as he moved the kite to the right a little to compensate. Nevertheless, the kite was still up. Good for both Oliver and the people on the ground. Especially good for the people on the ground, really.

Word count: 640
To: Dante/Iskander
Notes: He'll lose his hand by his sophomore year...WHICH WILL NEVER HAPPEN ON THIS SITE, SO HAH.