Originally posted June 10, 2009
((I continued to have issues with Chance as a dual blade scrapper in powered armor. An in game conversation between Chance and Regina game me an idea of how to proceed. I re-rolled the character as an archer and ended up having a blast.
This vignette marks my last collaboration with Ultradynamic, but I hope to see her over in Champions Online someday. Chance and Reg's relationship always seemed very real to me and readers responded to the authenticity we added to two teens falling in love.))
"Why is the grip offset?" asked Regina as she lifted the long, asymmetrically curved bow. Chance looked up from his welding and answered from behind his mask.
"That's actually a topic of great debate. Some say it's to make shooting from horseback easier, less bow to move from side to side. Other scholars say it was to make it easier to use while kneeling." He flipped the mask up to check his work. Satisfied, he began unhooking the protective gear. "I've used a daikyu from horseback. I've never seen it used kneeling."
Reg traced her fingers over the bow and strangely shaped arrows. She couldn't remember what she had said, what specific words she used to plant this idea. His bulky Samurai Indigo armor had failed three times while on patrol this morning, uncertainty and frustration creeping into his voice with each collapse. Whatever she had said, it had returned a bright spark to his tone. She hadn't heard the full range of his witty sense of humor since….
"Reg? Could you give me a hand with this?" She looked over to him as he removed his t-shirt in a smooth one armed motion that betrayed the stiffness of his right shoulder. "I'll never be able to get this thing over my head." He gestured at the mailed shirt on the workbench. "I figure I can miniaturize this one I move into the base. The team has a much better setup than I do here."
She crossed to him and lifted up the tunic. She noticed parts of his armor lying in a corner. He had carved out large chunks of the shoulder assemblies. He would take him weeks to repair the suit if he decided to go back to it.
"I think I saw some electroactive polymer actuators in the workshop. That will replace the metal parts I used in the original design. This, he gestured again, is just a prototype. I'm hoping to shrink this all down to something resembling a tight sweatshirt. I'll use piece for the old armor to provide some protection and keep my motif"
The tunic consisted of tiny interwoven plates, armatures and braces hastily welded on across the shoulders. It felt heavy in her hands. He smiled at her as she stepped closer, leaning in to press his lips briefly against hers. She giggled, infected by his good mood. "Alright. Turn around."
He turned, lifting his arms. The right arm rose to perhaps 35 degrees. Chance regularly attended his physical therapy session and had improved in just the few months since Reg had returned. She laid her hand on the scar at his shoulder. The wound looked so small from the front. On his back, white, angry twists of tortured flesh escaped the boundaries of her brown palm.
She had almost lost him.
Dragging his useless arm down a school hallway, oozing blood the whole distance. Reckless. Stupid. Colossally stupid. She would have done the same thing. He saved lives.
She had almost lost him.
She slipped an arm around his waist and kissed his shoulder. "I love you, Chance"
His body rocked with a gentle chuckle as he wrapped his left arm around hers. "I love you, Regina."
Together, they gently slipped the heavy tunic over his shoulders. The shirt hummed with power as he adjusted a knob at his waist. Chance began a series of movements with is arms, his left hand occasionally touching the control. He smiled with each increase rotation of his right arm.
Satisfied, he picked up the daikyu from the table. He took up the wide stance of kyudo, holding the bow higher than a western archer. He drew his right hand through the motions of nocking and drawing an arrow. His smile widened. "I think this is going to work. I have the smartest girlfriend in the world."
He set the bow down on the table and gathered some arrows into a quiver. "Now, let's go to the park and see if I can still hit anything."
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