"You know what, I really don't think this is such a good idea, I mean we're pretty high up and the ground is really far away and-"

"Icarus." Nimita rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand. "If you're trying to say you're afraid of heights, just say it."

He tore his eyes away from the clouds that had rolled into view, obscuring the ground and gulped. "A-Afraid? Me, afraid of heights? R-ridiculous!"

She laughed and yanked him forward, onto the edge of the tower. He yelped and clung to her, causing the tower to sway crazily, seven thousand feet above the ground. "You are. Don't lie. You've got to be the only person left on this entire gods damned planet who's afraid of heights. And your name is Icarus. That's just fucking hilarious, man!"

"It's not funny!"

"The hell it isn't! Man, I've been locked up in one of these toothpicks all my life, and when you finally decide to take the bars down, you don't even wanna stand on the edge and look over! That's why you put them up, isn't it? Not to keep us safe, but so you wouldn't feel so uncomfortable!" She pushed him away and kicked at the ramparts in exhasperation. "All my life, you fucking idiot! My entire life, spent staring through a bunch of bars because you were afraid of heights!"

"Nimita-"

"No excuses this time, Icarus. I want a real answer out of you." Her glare was as hard as the ground that was so...very...far away.

He glanced down again and turned as pale as the clouds. "Can I get off the wall first?" His voice was very tiny, very afraid. She snorted, and he slid to the floor in a heap. "It was for your own good, 'Mita."

"The hell it was!" She turned on him savagely, maneuvering on the narrow stones easily, with no fear at all. "Maybe some of the others wanted to kill themselves, but none of them were even allowed up here! Why me, and why the bars?"

He looked up at her miserably. "You don't understand- we didn't know that, 'Mita, we couldn't risk it! That trick you pulled with the razors- we just couldn't risk it- we couldn't risk you."

Her jaw clenched in fury. "You honestly thought I'd kill myself? You- you really thought that?"

"We-"

"I don't want to hear about "we", Icarus. I want to hear about you. Singular. You really thought I'd do it?" She was glaring at him. "And look me in the eye when you answer me, fucker. Look me in the eye, and tell me the truth."

He looked up at her, mouth working helplessly. "I- Nimita, you don't understand-" He stopped and stared as a Fire Fly shot through the clouds behind her and lit up the horizon. The fires reflected off his eyes, but Nimita didn't waver in her gaze. "...yes. I did. Some of the others thought you were fine, but not all of us- and I was one of them."

"Fucker. I hate you." She didn't stop glaring even as she tensed and leapt backwards, off the edge of the tower.

From seven thousand feet above the ground. Icarus, heedless of his own fear, leapt to the edge with a scream tearing from his throat. "Nimita!"

"You actually thought I was ever at risk above ground! You never even bothered to get to know me, know who I was, and then you come along acting like you own me, and I'm not gonna fucking deal with it!" She was still angry, still right in his face. Only now she was on fire, ghostflames springing from her eyes and her hair and her hands. The Fire Fly had caught her; of course it wouldn't have let her fall. Icarus slumped against the tower wall, feeling awed and slightly sick.

"You...the 'Fly...how?" he breathed.

"You didn't bother to get to know me. I can't fall- not from this high up. I can only fly. You never bothered to ask." She settled down among the burning feathers of the giant creature. "Why do you think I was so important?"

"They never told me...about this."

Her eyebrown arched. "Oh? Then what did they tell you?" The Fire Fly turned it's beautiful star colored eyes towards Icarus in an accusing glare.

"...they never told me anything." Icarus crumpled in despair as she snorted her contempt and the 'Fly drifted away from the tower. She turned over her shoulder expectantly. He stared. "What?"

"Idiot. Are you coming or not?"

Icarus gulped again, and looked at the gap between the tower and the 'Fly. The ground was very far away. His limbs shook as he stood, but he closed his eyes and stepped up to the edge of the tower. His head spun, and he flailed, helplessly, and slipped-

"Fucking idiot." He landed with a soft *thump* on the Fire Fly's back, face to face with it's gleaming, faceted eyes. He got the feeling it was laughing at him. Nimita snorted again. "Let's go."

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Don't ask. My newest obsession is with the Icarus myth, though...and Nimita has just revealed herself to be fairly interesting. So you may see more of this, once I figure out what's going on...