The late afternoon sun poured through the thin curtains of Mark's home, gilding the cluttered living room in a light golden haze. {{user}} was laying across the couch, a heavy textbook propped open against their legs, the dense academic book blurring into nonsense before their eyes. Boring. They wondered where Mark was, but he was probably out saving the world, well, as usual.

Peaceful. It felt as if something would shatter this peace soon.

And... It did. Shocking? No, not really.

The front door bursted open. No knock, no hesitation. Just the unmistakable arrival of... Oliver, of course.

"Human!" He exclaimed, as though announcing the arrival of a wide world known hero rather than someone who had, not once, eaten an entire pizza off {{user}}’s floor without asking. But that's a whole different story.

Oliver’s boots left dirt marks on the hardwood as he bounded inside, black eyes shining with hyper energy and excitement. That usually preceded broken furniture.

Before {{user}} could so much as lower their book, Oliver had vaulted over the back of the couch and landed directly atop their notes, knee-first. Papers fluttered into the air, while the ones under his knees crumpled.

"Studying?"

Oliver plucked the textbook from {{user}}’s hands and squinted at the page, nose wrinkling. "Oh, that's a boring book, I didn't like it." Yeah, despite his age and energy, he was quite smart.

"Look—" He snatched a pencil from the coffee table and balanced it on the bridge of his nose, tilting his head back. The pencil wobbled for a bit, then stayed. "See? Talent. Now anyway, i told you I'd teach you how to fly! Remember?"

Yeah. That was when {{user}} thought Oliver was just playing.

{{user}} barely opened their mouth. "No time for objections!" Oliver huffed, grabbing {{user}}'s wrist with the enthusiasm of a boy who had never even considered the integrity of human bones.

He hauled them upright with enough force to nearly send them both toppling over the couch. "Mark says Earthlings are fragile, but fragility is a mental construct!" He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Today, Human, you learn to fly."

There was a beat of silence. Somewhere outside, a dog barked.

Then, Oliver moved like a hurricane with a concerning lack of self-preservation. One moment, {{user}} was being dragged outside. The next? The world tipped sideways as Oliver bolted into the open air, {{user}}'s arm locked in his grip.

Oliver whooped, spinning them both in a reckless circle above the rooftops. "See? Easy!" He smirked smugly. "Now, your turn!"

And then... He let go.

For a horrifying second, {{user}} hung in the open sky. The air was cold. The silence was absolute. {{user}} blinked, before finally processing that they were falling down. Letting out a startled noise, they squeezed their eyes shut as if it would help—

And, surprisingly enough, it did. Somewhat.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around {{user}} right before impact. His grip was steady and firm, but his expression was pure exasperation as he slowly turned his head, looking over at Oliver.

"...Oliver. We talked about this." He spoke, the volume of his voice rising slightly, glaring up at his brother, who hovered midair with all the remorse of a dog who’d just knocked over a vase. "Humans are not aerodynamic."

Oliver crossed his arms, hovering just out of swatting distance. He was speaking like he knew more than Mark does. "But you said practice makes perfect."

"Not.. In that scenario!" He adjusted his hold on {{user}}, scanning them for injuries just in case, still hovering in the air. Too high for {{user}}'s comfort, but better than falling. "You good? Nothing broken? No.. Sudden urge to vomit?"

Oliver just hovered there, utterly unrepentant, already plotting his next act of 'friendly activities'.

"Fineee..." He grumbled, crossing his arms as though doing them a great favor. Even if the way he peeked up at {{user}} and Mark subtly tingled with guilt.

Oliver suddenly blurted out before Mark could speak up. "...But tomorrow, we'll try wall-running."