no_tags 2011: A Little Short on Solar
This was written for no_tags 2011, for the prompt Z/Annie, superpowers. And... that's what this is! Z and Annie! With superpowers! \o/
"Ow," Tennessee says. "Annie, stop, stop, I'm going to die."
"You're not going to die," Annie says, and then changes her aim, tickling the crook of Tennessee's elbow. The noise she gets in response is somewhere between a squeal and a snort - whatever it is, it sounds hilarious, and Z can't help but laugh too.
"Oh, fine," Tennessee says. The huffy tone she's going for would probably be more effective if she could catch her breath properly. "I see how it is. Making fun of me when I'm down."
"We're a cruel bunch," Z agrees.
Annie grins at her, and Z gets the tiniest little thrill tingling through her chest. She feels ridiculous - seriously, Z hasn't had a schoolgirl crush like this since she was, well, a schoolgirl - but Annie's been with them for months now, so she's had plenty of time to get used to feeling that way whenever she's around her.
Z doesn't know if she's ever seen Tennessee laugh so much, and it's good to see her looking so happy. Laena's seemed happier, too - not that she'd been unhappy before, but things just seem even better now than they've ever been. Even their shows just seem to get better and better each night of the tour - they've just been on since Annie joined. Z wasn't expecting the tour to be perfect, given that Annie hadn't toured at all before, let alone with them, but everything's been perfect since the very first show.
"It's so bizarre," she says to Ryan on the phone a little while later, after she's abandoned Tennessee to a cruel fate of death by laughter (her words, not Z's).
"That things are good?"
"That things are this good," she says. It makes her a little nervous, honestly, because things this good never seem to stay that way. "I think Annie's got superpowers or something."
"Being awesome isn't a superpower," Ryan says. "Otherwise I would have been invited to join the Justice League, like, ten years ago."
"Uh huh," Z says. "Ryan, what's that noise?"
"What - fuck," he says. "I forgot to unplug the kettle when I poured out the water." She hears the whistling die down and then hears him swear under his breath. "Do you think it's still safe to use a kettle if the inside's a little bit melted?"
"I wouldn't risk it," she says, and then, "Have you ever considered that the Justice League might have other reasons for not returning your calls?"
*
She's lying awake in her bunk, too wired to fall asleep despite the tired, persistent ache through her body, when she hears the solid thunk of someone from the top bunk slipping down to the floor. She peeks through her curtain, squinting into the darkness to see who else is awake.
The movement catches Annie's attention. "Hi," she whispers. "Can't sleep?"
Z shakes her head, frustrated. "My brain won't shut off."
"That sucks," Annie says, and reaches out, pushing Z's hair off her forehead. Z suddenly feels warm and comfortable and drowsy. "I need a drink, I'll be back in a second," Annie says.
"Okay," Z murmurs into her pillow, her eyes already slipping closed. Her last thought before she falls asleep is that maybe her joke about Annie's superpowers might not be such a joke after all.
*
It's absurd, she thinks to herself, but once she's got that thought into her head, she can't get it out again, and she can't stop watching Annie. Not that there's been a time in the last few months that she wasn't watching Annie whenever they were together, but this is with a purpose (or with more of a purpose than wistful, mildly embarrassed longing). And it really is strange - the atmosphere of a room changes completely whenever Annie shows up. People who were in a bad mood suddenly become cheerful, and people already in good moods seem totally blissed out.
She'd probably write it off as Annie just being the best people-person ever if it weren't for an incident one night after a show near the end of their tour. Z's got her eye on her again (Annie's started a conversation with the cranky sound guy who'd yelled at one of the other acts for ten minutes for not having the right cables, and now he's smiling broadly and happily telling her about his dog), and ends up walking right into a man who's built like a gorilla. "Sorry," she says, stepping back, and he moves back into her space, leering at her.
"You need to watch where you're going, little girl," he says, and she raises one eyebrow, standing her ground and crossing her arms. Before she can say anything, Annie's there by her side, glaring at the man.
"Hey," she says to Z, not looking away from the guy. "He's not bothering you, is he?"
The look she's sending him is dark, but not particularly scary, which is why Z blinks with surprise when The guy blanches and backs off immediately. "No, just - just saying hello. You girls have a good night," he says, turning and practically running back to the bar.
"What the fuck," Z says.
"What?" Annie asks, but she's not meeting Z's eyes.
A little shaken, Z says, "I'm going for a smoke." Annie follows, and they stand awkwardly outside the venue, Z smoking two cigarettes in a row as she tries to think of what to say. She eventually settles on, "I thought you were magic, but I didn't realize I was actually right."
"It's - it's not magic," she says. "I mean, not really. It's just a - a thing. That I can do."
"You Jedi mind trick people?"
"It's not mind control, nothing like that. It's just that sometimes when people are around me, I make them feel the way they want to feel. And sometimes I can make myself feel like I want to feel, so when I saw that guy creeping on you, I made myself as terrifying as I could. I wasn't thinking, though. I'm sorry you had to see me like that."
"Wait," Z says. "Like what? You didn't look any different to me than usual."
Annie's eyes widen for a second. "It didn't work on you? That's never happened to me before. I mean, I guess it's possible that you're just naturally immune -"
Z shakes her head. "That night on the bus when I couldn't sleep. You touched my hair, and I was tired enough to fall asleep right away."
"So it's not that," Annie says. "That's so weird."
"We'll have to experiment," Z says, and then grins, waggling her eyebrows. "If you know what I mean and I think you do."
"If you mean that you want to see if my powers work properly on you, then sure," Annie says, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's get back inside."
*
Z feels on edge for the rest of the evening, and she lets out a relieved sigh when they make it back to the bus. Touring's been wearing them down, so Laena and Tennessee crash pretty early, and once they've left the other two alone in the lounge, Z mutes the television and looks at Annie expectantly.
"Okay," Annie says, shutting the lounge door and sitting down close to Z on the couch. "I want you to pick a feeling and concentrate on it. Something good, something you would want to feel."
She reaches out and wraps her fingers around Z's wrist, and Z thinks, I want to feel like I would if you told me you loved me. And then she blurts out, "You don't have, like, latent telepathy or something too, do you?"
"Your thoughts are safe, don't worry," Annie says, and Z sighs with relief again. "Okay, now concentrate. Don't stop believin', hold onto that feelin', et cetera."
Holding on to that feeling is almost melancholy, but Z does it anyway, closing her eyes and imagining what it would be like to hear that from Annie. Within moments she's feeling euphoric, and she giggles, falling back on the couch. "Wow," she says. "Holy shit, Annie, this is awesome."
"Z," Annie says, sounding a little scandalized. "Are you trying to get high? That's totally wrong."
It's close enough, Z figures. "With great power comes great responsibility," she says solemnly. "You are hereby responsible for getting me high all the time."
"I don't think that's exactly what that phrase is supposed to mean," Annie says, laughing. She's still got her fingers around Z's wrist, and they're close enough that it would be the easiest thing in the world to just close the distance and kiss her, and -
And that kind of thinking is dangerous. Z breaks away from Annie's hold and stands up quickly, the euphoria draining out of her as quickly as it came. "I've got to go to bed," she says. "Night, Annie."
"Goodnight," Annie says slowly. When Z glances back, a look of understanding's passing over Annie's face, and her stomach sinks.
*
Z avoids Annie as much as she can the next day, which isn't too difficult considering Annie seems to be avoiding her too. Their show isn't great that night, and as soon as it's over, Laena corners Z. "Fix it," she says. "Whatever happened between you and Annie, fix it before it breaks our band."
"That's melodramatic," Z says. "Nothing happened, honestly."
"Right," Laena says. "I'm not stupid, Z. Fix it."
*
Annie must get the same talk from Laena, because she catches Z's arm as they're heading onto the bus. "Can we talk?" she asks.
"Maybe not now," Z answers, glancing at Tennessee and Laena, and Annie nods. It's a few hours before they're alone, but when they are, Z sighs and sits down next to Annie.
"Hey," Annie says.
"Hi," Z says. "Did I do something wrong? You've been avoiding me."
"You've been avoiding me too," Annie points out, but relents when Z raises her eyebrows. "I just figured I'd give you some space. I mean, knowing how you felt and all."
"How I felt," Z echoes, fighting to keep her voice level.
Annie shrugs. "At that venue, I was trying to make myself as scary as I could. And it clearly worked, because he got totally freaked out. But you didn't notice anything unusual, so you must already find me scary. And I know you figured out the powers thing, so."
"Oh," Z says. "No, no, I wasn't freaked out over that at all."
"You're not scared of me?"
"I didn't say that," Z says. "It's not that I see you like some kind of monster or something. It's just... you. You're what scares me, not your powers."
"I'm not that scary," Annie says. "Is this about the band? Because I promise, I'm not going to screw this up, or abandon you guys or anything, or turn into a raging diva, or -"
"Or freak out and quit if I told you I'm kind of in love with you?" Z asks, and she doesn't mean for it to come out like a challenge (or, really, for it to come out at all).
Annie blinks. "I don't see much chance of that happening," she says faintly. "I mean, wait, that wasn't hypothetical, was it?"
That euphoric feeling's coming back. "No," Z says. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," Annie says, a smile starting to spread across her face.
"Then why the fuck aren't we making out right now?" she asks, and Annie laughs, startled.
"That," she says, "is the best question I've ever heard in my life."
Kissing Annie is quite possibly the best feeling she's ever had, and she smiles into the kiss, laughing a little when their teeth knock together. "Sorry," she says, pulling back a little. "I swear I normally have way better moves than this."
Annie's eyes flutter open, and whatever she was about to say gets lost. "Oh," she says. "You're glowing."
"That's kind of a cliche, isn't it?" Z asks, and Annie shakes her head.
"No, you're actually glowing," she says.
Z looks down, and sure enough, her skin is glowing, an aura of light surrounding her. "Wow," she says. "This is from the feeling-thing you do, right? It's not, like, a contagious superpower thing that's permanent, is it? Because I'm going to have to go through a hell of a lot of concealer if it is."
"I don't know," Annie says, awed. "It's never happened to me before."
"Oh well," Z says. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. There are way more important matters at hand."
"You're glowing," Annie says again. "Isn't that priority number one?"
"Not when the other option is kissing you again," Z says, and she doesn't wait to see if Annie's going to concede the point.
*
The last show of the tour is the best one yet. And if all the pictures taken of Z that night turn out looking like they've had been brightened in Photoshop to the point of overexposure, well, it's not her fault if the stage lights were up too high.
"Ow," Tennessee says. "Annie, stop, stop, I'm going to die."
"You're not going to die," Annie says, and then changes her aim, tickling the crook of Tennessee's elbow. The noise she gets in response is somewhere between a squeal and a snort - whatever it is, it sounds hilarious, and Z can't help but laugh too.
"Oh, fine," Tennessee says. The huffy tone she's going for would probably be more effective if she could catch her breath properly. "I see how it is. Making fun of me when I'm down."
"We're a cruel bunch," Z agrees.
Annie grins at her, and Z gets the tiniest little thrill tingling through her chest. She feels ridiculous - seriously, Z hasn't had a schoolgirl crush like this since she was, well, a schoolgirl - but Annie's been with them for months now, so she's had plenty of time to get used to feeling that way whenever she's around her.
Z doesn't know if she's ever seen Tennessee laugh so much, and it's good to see her looking so happy. Laena's seemed happier, too - not that she'd been unhappy before, but things just seem even better now than they've ever been. Even their shows just seem to get better and better each night of the tour - they've just been on since Annie joined. Z wasn't expecting the tour to be perfect, given that Annie hadn't toured at all before, let alone with them, but everything's been perfect since the very first show.
"It's so bizarre," she says to Ryan on the phone a little while later, after she's abandoned Tennessee to a cruel fate of death by laughter (her words, not Z's).
"That things are good?"
"That things are this good," she says. It makes her a little nervous, honestly, because things this good never seem to stay that way. "I think Annie's got superpowers or something."
"Being awesome isn't a superpower," Ryan says. "Otherwise I would have been invited to join the Justice League, like, ten years ago."
"Uh huh," Z says. "Ryan, what's that noise?"
"What - fuck," he says. "I forgot to unplug the kettle when I poured out the water." She hears the whistling die down and then hears him swear under his breath. "Do you think it's still safe to use a kettle if the inside's a little bit melted?"
"I wouldn't risk it," she says, and then, "Have you ever considered that the Justice League might have other reasons for not returning your calls?"
*
She's lying awake in her bunk, too wired to fall asleep despite the tired, persistent ache through her body, when she hears the solid thunk of someone from the top bunk slipping down to the floor. She peeks through her curtain, squinting into the darkness to see who else is awake.
The movement catches Annie's attention. "Hi," she whispers. "Can't sleep?"
Z shakes her head, frustrated. "My brain won't shut off."
"That sucks," Annie says, and reaches out, pushing Z's hair off her forehead. Z suddenly feels warm and comfortable and drowsy. "I need a drink, I'll be back in a second," Annie says.
"Okay," Z murmurs into her pillow, her eyes already slipping closed. Her last thought before she falls asleep is that maybe her joke about Annie's superpowers might not be such a joke after all.
*
It's absurd, she thinks to herself, but once she's got that thought into her head, she can't get it out again, and she can't stop watching Annie. Not that there's been a time in the last few months that she wasn't watching Annie whenever they were together, but this is with a purpose (or with more of a purpose than wistful, mildly embarrassed longing). And it really is strange - the atmosphere of a room changes completely whenever Annie shows up. People who were in a bad mood suddenly become cheerful, and people already in good moods seem totally blissed out.
She'd probably write it off as Annie just being the best people-person ever if it weren't for an incident one night after a show near the end of their tour. Z's got her eye on her again (Annie's started a conversation with the cranky sound guy who'd yelled at one of the other acts for ten minutes for not having the right cables, and now he's smiling broadly and happily telling her about his dog), and ends up walking right into a man who's built like a gorilla. "Sorry," she says, stepping back, and he moves back into her space, leering at her.
"You need to watch where you're going, little girl," he says, and she raises one eyebrow, standing her ground and crossing her arms. Before she can say anything, Annie's there by her side, glaring at the man.
"Hey," she says to Z, not looking away from the guy. "He's not bothering you, is he?"
The look she's sending him is dark, but not particularly scary, which is why Z blinks with surprise when The guy blanches and backs off immediately. "No, just - just saying hello. You girls have a good night," he says, turning and practically running back to the bar.
"What the fuck," Z says.
"What?" Annie asks, but she's not meeting Z's eyes.
A little shaken, Z says, "I'm going for a smoke." Annie follows, and they stand awkwardly outside the venue, Z smoking two cigarettes in a row as she tries to think of what to say. She eventually settles on, "I thought you were magic, but I didn't realize I was actually right."
"It's - it's not magic," she says. "I mean, not really. It's just a - a thing. That I can do."
"You Jedi mind trick people?"
"It's not mind control, nothing like that. It's just that sometimes when people are around me, I make them feel the way they want to feel. And sometimes I can make myself feel like I want to feel, so when I saw that guy creeping on you, I made myself as terrifying as I could. I wasn't thinking, though. I'm sorry you had to see me like that."
"Wait," Z says. "Like what? You didn't look any different to me than usual."
Annie's eyes widen for a second. "It didn't work on you? That's never happened to me before. I mean, I guess it's possible that you're just naturally immune -"
Z shakes her head. "That night on the bus when I couldn't sleep. You touched my hair, and I was tired enough to fall asleep right away."
"So it's not that," Annie says. "That's so weird."
"We'll have to experiment," Z says, and then grins, waggling her eyebrows. "If you know what I mean and I think you do."
"If you mean that you want to see if my powers work properly on you, then sure," Annie says, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's get back inside."
*
Z feels on edge for the rest of the evening, and she lets out a relieved sigh when they make it back to the bus. Touring's been wearing them down, so Laena and Tennessee crash pretty early, and once they've left the other two alone in the lounge, Z mutes the television and looks at Annie expectantly.
"Okay," Annie says, shutting the lounge door and sitting down close to Z on the couch. "I want you to pick a feeling and concentrate on it. Something good, something you would want to feel."
She reaches out and wraps her fingers around Z's wrist, and Z thinks, I want to feel like I would if you told me you loved me. And then she blurts out, "You don't have, like, latent telepathy or something too, do you?"
"Your thoughts are safe, don't worry," Annie says, and Z sighs with relief again. "Okay, now concentrate. Don't stop believin', hold onto that feelin', et cetera."
Holding on to that feeling is almost melancholy, but Z does it anyway, closing her eyes and imagining what it would be like to hear that from Annie. Within moments she's feeling euphoric, and she giggles, falling back on the couch. "Wow," she says. "Holy shit, Annie, this is awesome."
"Z," Annie says, sounding a little scandalized. "Are you trying to get high? That's totally wrong."
It's close enough, Z figures. "With great power comes great responsibility," she says solemnly. "You are hereby responsible for getting me high all the time."
"I don't think that's exactly what that phrase is supposed to mean," Annie says, laughing. She's still got her fingers around Z's wrist, and they're close enough that it would be the easiest thing in the world to just close the distance and kiss her, and -
And that kind of thinking is dangerous. Z breaks away from Annie's hold and stands up quickly, the euphoria draining out of her as quickly as it came. "I've got to go to bed," she says. "Night, Annie."
"Goodnight," Annie says slowly. When Z glances back, a look of understanding's passing over Annie's face, and her stomach sinks.
*
Z avoids Annie as much as she can the next day, which isn't too difficult considering Annie seems to be avoiding her too. Their show isn't great that night, and as soon as it's over, Laena corners Z. "Fix it," she says. "Whatever happened between you and Annie, fix it before it breaks our band."
"That's melodramatic," Z says. "Nothing happened, honestly."
"Right," Laena says. "I'm not stupid, Z. Fix it."
*
Annie must get the same talk from Laena, because she catches Z's arm as they're heading onto the bus. "Can we talk?" she asks.
"Maybe not now," Z answers, glancing at Tennessee and Laena, and Annie nods. It's a few hours before they're alone, but when they are, Z sighs and sits down next to Annie.
"Hey," Annie says.
"Hi," Z says. "Did I do something wrong? You've been avoiding me."
"You've been avoiding me too," Annie points out, but relents when Z raises her eyebrows. "I just figured I'd give you some space. I mean, knowing how you felt and all."
"How I felt," Z echoes, fighting to keep her voice level.
Annie shrugs. "At that venue, I was trying to make myself as scary as I could. And it clearly worked, because he got totally freaked out. But you didn't notice anything unusual, so you must already find me scary. And I know you figured out the powers thing, so."
"Oh," Z says. "No, no, I wasn't freaked out over that at all."
"You're not scared of me?"
"I didn't say that," Z says. "It's not that I see you like some kind of monster or something. It's just... you. You're what scares me, not your powers."
"I'm not that scary," Annie says. "Is this about the band? Because I promise, I'm not going to screw this up, or abandon you guys or anything, or turn into a raging diva, or -"
"Or freak out and quit if I told you I'm kind of in love with you?" Z asks, and she doesn't mean for it to come out like a challenge (or, really, for it to come out at all).
Annie blinks. "I don't see much chance of that happening," she says faintly. "I mean, wait, that wasn't hypothetical, was it?"
That euphoric feeling's coming back. "No," Z says. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," Annie says, a smile starting to spread across her face.
"Then why the fuck aren't we making out right now?" she asks, and Annie laughs, startled.
"That," she says, "is the best question I've ever heard in my life."
Kissing Annie is quite possibly the best feeling she's ever had, and she smiles into the kiss, laughing a little when their teeth knock together. "Sorry," she says, pulling back a little. "I swear I normally have way better moves than this."
Annie's eyes flutter open, and whatever she was about to say gets lost. "Oh," she says. "You're glowing."
"That's kind of a cliche, isn't it?" Z asks, and Annie shakes her head.
"No, you're actually glowing," she says.
Z looks down, and sure enough, her skin is glowing, an aura of light surrounding her. "Wow," she says. "This is from the feeling-thing you do, right? It's not, like, a contagious superpower thing that's permanent, is it? Because I'm going to have to go through a hell of a lot of concealer if it is."
"I don't know," Annie says, awed. "It's never happened to me before."
"Oh well," Z says. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. There are way more important matters at hand."
"You're glowing," Annie says again. "Isn't that priority number one?"
"Not when the other option is kissing you again," Z says, and she doesn't wait to see if Annie's going to concede the point.
*
The last show of the tour is the best one yet. And if all the pictures taken of Z that night turn out looking like they've had been brightened in Photoshop to the point of overexposure, well, it's not her fault if the stage lights were up too high.