Follow That Sound (Open)

"Ah, well that makes more sense, then," Bradley said, laughing.

He turned his head as he noticed the sun begin to set and the light begin to fade in their shallow glade. Ghost zipped up his hoodie as he began to notice everything grow cooler and the usually eerie feeling began crawling into his mind as it did every night. "Well, it's getting dark...are you living here, or do you have a place to stay?"

He had no idea what conditions were necessary for a mermaid to survive but he imagined it was hard to sleep in a murky puddle for anyone.

A quick nod meant that Bradley understood. Although he wasn't sure if she understood that he was inviting her to stay with him, he was too shy to be able to come out and say it directly. "I understand..." he said solemnly.

He turned towards where he remembered the path back to the park was and paused for a moment. "You know, eventually you're going to have to learn how to live in this world and time, right?" he asked without turned his head.

He turned around and crossed his arms. His eye line pointed towards a random patch of grass as he couldn't get himself to confidently face Luna. "If you ever decide to try...well...I'd be there to help you along..."

He raised his head slowly with a weak smile. He was new to Jump, too, and he felt like he would feel better if he had someone along side him. He hated being alone...

His face lit up when Luna invited him to stay the night. Something made him feel comfortable with her...maybe she reminded him of his sister, Taylor...in a way. "Sounds like fun," Bradley said with a large smile, "Just let me find a comfy patch..."

He scanned the ground for a moment until he spotted an area that popped up and mounded into a grassy pillow, right next to a large wild flower near the pond. He did a circle around it, like cats do for some reason, and laid down cozily, with his hands propping up his head a bit. He let out a happy sigh and angled his head over to Luna. "You know, you really did find a nice place here..."

As the clouds parted in the sky, the expanse of space could be seen that someone in the city would never be able to enjoy. So crystal clear and beautiful...it sort of reminded Ghost of a marble. When he was younger, he would look inside them and imagine a whole other world inside...a world in his hands...

"Just beautiful..." he added, gazing into the darkness. Now glancing back to Luna, he continued, "So, Luna. What are your plans for the future? You can't just steal and live here for the rest of your life, you know...although I could could understand you'd want to..." he looked back to the sky as he noticed a few birds glide across the clearing.

Still looking at the stars, Ghost responded quickly, "You know...you might not realize this but...there aren't too many merpeople around that I know about," he said with a smile, "...maybe you're meant to do something better than the same old thing that everyone does..."

He jumped up to his knees and looked to Luna. "You've come to a world full of great heroes, really, probably the greatest, bravest and most powerful of all time! ...But...well...there's also been probably the greatest evil around that there's ever been...Have you ever considered, you know...fighting the good fight? Trying to...I don't know...be a hero?"

He was asking her partly to see if he was crazy. If Luna wouldn't do it and had a lot of good reasons, maybe it would convince him to stop fooling himself. He thought what he was doing was right but...he just wasn't sure if he was hero material...he wasn't sure if he could ever measure up to the likes of Batman...the Green Lanterns...the Titans...

Nodding in an inwardly disappointed way, Ghost understood Luna's reasoning. Maybe he should just find a way to be comfortable, too. Maybe find a way to use his abilities to make a better life for himself; use his abilities to his advantage. Maybe he could be a pitcher! No one would ever be able to hit his winding fast balls. Or he could be a spy! He could easily intercept messages from miles away just by closing his eyes and thinking about it...

He frowned slightly as he thought about it. No. His life had to be worth more. Everything he could come up with using his powers just seemed...cheap. And he definitely wasn't going to live his life ignoring the special things he could do...ignoring this new part of himself...

"That might be fine for you Luna...I mean, no disrespect...but...I just feel like I was given these abilities for a reason...I can't just take that for granted, y'know?"

He kept looking into the stars, feeling like he would touch them someday...like he wanted to be up there. He started laughing. "I probably sound like I have a huge ego now, don't I?" he asked, turning back to Luna.

A small frown grew on Bradley's face. He felt sorry for Luna, being in a new strange place, displaced from her family and friends...sure, he had left his family too, but, that was out of his own volition, it was a tough choice but still, the choice was his.

"Where were you from? You know, in your own time?" he asked as a thought occurred to him. "Do you think that there might still be people like you there? Maybe that could be a safe place for you if you wanted a place to live..."

He just wanted Luna to find a place just like he wanted to find his own place. If Luna's place wasn't defending the people of Jump City, trying to do something memorable...fantastic for the people, then maybe she could find a way to be reunited with her people. Maybe she could still go home...in a way...

"So you'd never want to go back? You're not even curious about your origin? Your past? What's happened to them...to anyone that you ever knew?" he asked harshly.

Bradley thought he might have been a little to rash with his words, but, he knew that if he had a chance to potentially learn more about himself, he'd jump at the chance! After everything that had already happened to him...he was just developing more and more questions and much much fewer answers.

He laid back down, staring once again at the stars. "I'm sorry...I guess I would just be curious is all. I mean, were there many of you, back then? Just to let you know, most people would probably freak out a lot more than I did, I mean...most people think you're a myth!"

"I guess you're kind of in a pickle, huh..."

He thought for a moment how he could help but, nothing really came to mind. "Well...if I ever find a way to help you, I'll let you know, but, I'm not going to have much money any time soon either...oh and those are called airplanes," he added with another small smile.

He yawned and wiggled his shoulders to sink a little further into the grass as sleep started to prod at him, the night was still young, but he had an early morning, too. "Hey, Luna...I'm glad we met," he said with a smile, shutting his eyes, "What are the odds that, right after I discover my powers, I just happen to run into the new mermaid in town."

He sat there uncomfortably, as a thought came to mind. Ghost had been running into a lot of coincidences lately. The strange cat...the botched vacation...and now Luna...It was like he was being drawn to everything new and strange in this city...like it was all connected...

With a jolt of realization, he sat up and stared at a tree, thinking aloud. "Quick, Luna, could you tell me everything you know or knew about the man that sent you here?! This could be important..."