[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/PNuryOp.png[/img][/center] [b]Location: A happy house[/b] [b]Time: Christmas night[/b] David wasn’t born in Lost Haven, nor had he grown up in it. Objectively it was a terrible place to live, every other day featured some kind of meta human brawl somewhere, he would know, but it was also the best place on Earth for him to live, because it was in Lost Haven itself that David had met the love of his life, and today they were celebrating with as many friends and family as they could. Some managed to fly in, some just happened to be here, and some were born here. The entire house was a glow with happy spirits and joyful chatter, old friends catching up with each other, and meeting some new ones. David’s wife, Cecilia, was off in another corner talking to some of her own friends. His daughter, Madeline, also managed to find people roughly her age and they were happily chatting about something. David was worried she wouldn’t have too much fun as he wasn’t sure who was going to make it, but he was glad things turned out for the better. At first David had thoughts about patrolling the area, just a little bit, to make sure it really was a silent night, but it felt so peaceful that David gave into his selfish side. If there was trouble he’d entrust the other heroes, and maybe even villains, to keep a lid on the chaos tonight. Nobody deserves to spend their Christmas alone or unappreciated. And that’s just what David told himself as he made another pass at the food table, shoving in as much meat as he could. Even getting a little fat wouldn’t affect his super heroics, much. [i]Just another happy coincidence.[/i] David thought with a grin as he packed in his next plate tightly. Out of all his friends only a few had managed to come by, fellow archeologist Carmine Williams being one of them, but he seemed to be just a little down as he watched everyone. So that was when David decided to walk up to him. “Thanks for inviting me, David. I’d have been pretty lonely this year if I didn’t know about this.” “Hhmm, didn’t feel like holding a party of your own, nobody special?” “When you say it like that it feels like I’ve been doing it wrong.” Carmine replied, he gave a fake tug at his collar like it suddenly tightened. “Seeing you with Cecilia makes me a little jealous, I’ll never win big like you.” “Aww, cheer up pal.” David picked up a bottle and began to poor a generous amount into Carmine’s glass, after which he dipped his head back with the glass, draining it in one go. “Hmm, well now I’m feeling a little brave tonight.” Carmine said as he pointed to a certain someone in the room. “Ah, I see you’ve been eyeing her for a while right? You should go for it, you’re an adult now, take the risks you never would have back in high school.” David said with a powerful smirk overtaking his face. “Yeah, yeah you’re right. Although I’m a little hesitant, her face just seems, a little familiar.” “It should, her name’s Erin, but you might know her as..” David paused to put a firm hand on Carmine’s back. “Eric.” David whispered into his ear, and then pushed him into the Christmas party crowd. “What?” Carmine shouted as he was jerked forward ---------------------------------------------- Carmine had arrived with a slight frown and now he was leaving happy, David was glad Carmine was leaving in a good mood, he even managed to find a couple of his old friends. David waved off everyone leaving, it was good seeing them, and hopefully some would stick around in Lost Haven for a while. It was just after sunset now and they still had sometime before ‘Santa’ came, and Maddie had to go to bed, so they spent the next hour or so watching a Christmas marathon. They’d just finished watching Rudolph when Madeline began to say something. “I wonder what it’d be like to fly, I mean riding in a sleigh sounds fun, but I want to be in control, like Rudolph!” “Hmmm, I wonder.” David said, making a show of tapping his finger on his chin, he and Cecilia looked at each other with a smile. David spent a few months going at it alone, making sure only he knew his secret that the Earth had given him a gift, but women were smart in a devilishly sneaky way and Cecilia had found out somehow anyways. And eventually Madeline too, she was so much smarter than him and it made him so proud, although he was a little embarrassed that his secret vanished so quickly, and he thought he had it easy not having to hide a costume. But just like a true family they didn't let anything stop them, even with his new powers, David wasn't leaving them any time soon. “Do you want to come?” “Oh no, I don’t do heights. Besides, it’s warmer in here.” Cecilia replied with a smile, while flapping her hand at David lazily. “Then Madeline, today you get to fly, just like Rudolph.” “For real? But you always said it was too dangerous!” She shouted as she jumped off the couch, and then stopped herself. “Wait a minute, what do you mean,[i]I[/i] get to fly.” “It’s just like I said, come to the backyard with me, you get an early Christmas present.” “Whoa ho ho.” Madeline said excitedly, there’s no way she was going to sleep before midnight now. ------------------------------- It was easy to forget it was cold outside if one spent the entire day inside, stepping outside was a slap in the face compared to the comfortable warmth a house provided. “Couldn’t we have done this inside, even mom isn’t coming out?” Madeline asked as she glanced back at the house, her mom gave an eager wave and she turned back around. “Nope, step back.” Only a moment after David said that a brilliant light engulfed him, energy danced around his body like fireflies, a wave of light pushed off him, along with a soft blast of wind that threw snow everywhere. Maddie raised her arms to shield herself, but when she looked up her dad was still there, still as her dad. “Um, are you getting old or something?” “Well with age at least I have wisdom.” David replied, a laugh broke out somewhere near the house, with a smirk David continued. “Look at my hand Maddie.” Maddie looked down, she had expected to see her father in his hero form, but instead he was just a normal old human right now, except he also held some kind of red ball in his hand, no not holding, it was floating. “Are you ready?” She nodded and the sphere rushed at her, hitting her in the chest, and it sunk into her. The same light show as earlier repeated, except her body had transformed and Madeline emerged as Terra Firma instead of David. [color=ed1c24]“Whoa, so you can just give it to people.”[/color] “Not quite, have fun kiddo.” As soon as he said that Madeline shot off into the air, a trail of energy followed her up. It was so weird to watch ‘Terra Firma’ fly off, he only wished he could go off with her, but she’d be fine. [color=ed1c24]“WhoooOoooo!”[/color] She shouted as she continued to blast around. Flying was amazing, every time he lifted off David also felt a rush of excitement as the wind pushed back on his ‘face’, except he preferred to be on the ground, but his daughter seemed to be taking every bit of his own joy and multiplied it. She noticed that she left a trail as she danced around in the sky and started to make shapes. David went back inside with Cecilia and they both watched as ‘Terra Firma’ raced across the night sky for a while longer.