Noisy Noivern

Names

Names are.. ridiculous. Why do we need them? Are they like labels? Noivern sighed. She heard people talk about names and other companions  had asked for her own. All she ever was called was Noivern. That's a name right? Wrong. Not by what others went by. Ashtoreth was a name. Delf was a  name. Nico, Miranda. Both of those were names. Noivern is a species.

She  flopped over, laying on her stomach and spreading her wings and legs  out in a stretch. She felt tiny paws walk across her shoulders, followed  by a tail that drug behind it. "Hello, Nico." She said aloud. Getting a  quiet and satisfied murr in return. He curled up into a ball and  planted himself into the small of her back. A sigh passed her lips, she  wouldn't be moving for a bit anyway. The claws each of her hand dug into  the sides of the mattress beneath her, like they often did while she  was thinking.

Maybe I should pick a name. Should I? She stared blankly at the wall in front of her trying so hard to concentrate. Yeah, I'll pick one, but... how do you just pick a name? Her keeper had told her before that people pick names all the time.  Some people picked them for children, others picked their own. Even  Noivern had picked her pet's name. If she could do that though, she  could definitely pick her own. Right?Right. She nodded.

Noivern  rolled over, causing Nico to roll off of her back and to her side. She  nestled him close to her and looked over to her bedside table, picking  up a comic book. It was an older one. Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison #1 She had read though it only a couple times. This time, instead of  reading, she flipped through the pages. Looking at the colors while they  passed her eyes. She flipped through it, watching the montage of colors  a couple times, then slowed the page flipping on her third round.  Looking for names.

Hmm, maybe I can be called Twi'lek..  it was a team in the comic, it sounded pretty to her, but not exactly  what she wanted. Of course she wouldn't go by Vader. Or Darth. Such  droll names. Back and forth, page after page. She almost wanted to throw  the comic at the wall, it wasn't helping her at all it seemed. Well, it  wasn't until she stumbled upon a character named Laurita Tohm. He was a  lieutenant in the series who's demise would be in the 5th issue of the  series. She had always laughed at his name. Laurita. So feminine, at  least to her it was. Hmm, Laurita.. I can live with that... BUT, I must explore my options.

The next comic that lie on the table was one of her favorites. Harley Quinn #6 that was the volume where Harley made a new crazy friend who was a cyborg. Maybe I can go by Harley? She shook her head. That name just didn't seem right. She wanted something from a comic. She loved comics after all. Why not Diana? No. Raven? Selina, Mary J, MJ for short of course.. No, no and no. Names were stupid, that was the conclusion she came to. She looked back at the Star Wars issue.

"Laurita it is, I guess." She claimed, not hearing Miranda knock and walk inside, bearing some sliced mango.

"Laurita,  huh?" Her keeper smiled. She had a real goofy smile. Kind of like a  child who just stuffed their face with candy. "Sounds rad to me. It's a  very cool name." She sat down next to her. "What really matters is if  you like it though? You're the one who is going to have to live with  it." She raised an eyebrow at the girl next to her.

Before she  could answer her keeper's question she already popped a slice of mango  into her mouth. "I think it's a pretty clawesome name I guess." She  announced, mouth full of mango. "It kinda sucked me in a bit." She  smirked at Miranda. It was always pretty easy to be laid back and  comfortable with her even if she couldn't be with anyone else.

"Haha,  good. I'll have to say, it's pretty batastic if I do say so myself."  She winked at the little Noivern girl. Her little Laurita. It did suit  her. At least she thought so. It wasn't something you heard every day,  and her little companion friend wasn't something you saw everyday  either. Just like her new name she was special.

Obsession

Superheroes  were.. The best. There was no doubt about it and nothing, batsolutely  nothing could change Laurita's mind about that. All superheroes were  amazing and she loved them. The Hulk, Superman, Iron Man, Gambit, Wonder  Woman, Aquaman, Hawk Girl, Wolverine. The list could go on forever.  There was one hero in particular that she could never get over.

Batman.

She  had read all of the Batman comics that Miranda had gotten her not once,  not twice, but three times. She recently started asking to see the  movies as well get action figures of him to play with. There were nights  were she'd lays in bed and sing the original Batman theme while she  flipped through page after page of of pop art and speech bubbles,  gawking at the masculine body of Bruce Wayne.

To her, he was  perfect. He had a perfectly chiseled body, he was dark and mysterious,  of course he had plenty of money to support her. They were going to get  married after all. "Look Nico, I'm reading about your daddy again." She  would chime to her pet, her closest friend in the facility, next to  Miranda of course. Nico would slither up onto her arm and perch himself  on her shoulder to look at the picture on the page. Sometimes he'd bump  his face to hers whenever she'd say that as if to tell her that Bruce  Wayne was not her husband or his father.

Laurita went and sat at her desk, turning on the lamp and staring issue #20 of Batman '66 which was the comic series based on the cartoon from the 60's. That was  when he wore her favorite costume as well, the grey and yellow one. In  her opinion it looked better then the weird all black suit they were  using in recent ones and the all black costume he had in Batman Beyond.

"Ugh!"  She laid her head down on her desk, staring at the muscled man before  her on paper... "Why can't you be real? I can't marry a fictional  character." Sighing, she ran her claws along the paper, tracing small  hearts around him. "Maybe someday I'll meet someone who is as dashing..  strong.. courageous.." Maybe, but that would have to wait for now. All  she had were her comics and as far as she was concerned, she could be  content with that.

Gifts

Miranda  tapped on Laurita's door before peeking in. "Hey there, Miss Dark  Knight. Can you give me a hand?" She called, pushing the door open the  rest of the way. Her hands were full with a few gifts she had. Her uncle  had given her some old Batman things and she had just known that  Laurita would love them.

Laurita had hopped out of her bed as  soon as she heard her keeper's voice. "Ah, yeah I can help." She said as  she swiftly made her way to the door. Miranda seemed to be carrying a  couple boxes and was struggling to see around them. She grabbed the  smaller box that sat on top and carried it to her bed. "What's with  these boxes?" She asked, turning to her keeper.

"Some stuff my  uncle gave me. I figured you would enjoy it more than I would." She  beamed, placing the significantly larger box on the ground. "I need you  to move that box off of your bed and help me pull she sheets and stuff  off.

At first, Laurita was a bit hesitant. Wondering why her  keeper would ask such a thing, but of course she did it for her anyway.  "Uh... Okay..." She moved the small box and helped Miranda quickly pull  the small blanket and sheets off. This was a little weird, but she  trusted her keeper.

"Now go sit at your desk and close your  eyes. Promise you won't peek. These things are gifts and I don't want  you to see them until I have them all set up~" She had already started  opening one of the boxes as she shooed Laurita away to go sit and wait.

Laurita  did as Miranda told her and sat down, closing her eyes and covering  them with her hands to make sure she wouldn't see anything even if she  did open her eyes. She sat and waited and waited and sat and it almost  felt like a life time. She heard Miranda opening the boxes and moving  stuff around on her bed and it was kinda bothering her. Not knowing what  someone was doing to her things.

"Okay, turn around." She heard Miranda say.

Opening  her eyes, she stood up and turned around. She almost squealed when she  saw what was sitting in front of her. "Oh. My. Gosh! Miranda it's so  awesome!" Instead of the standard bedding that was in her room before,  Miranda had replaced it with a Batman bed set. Sheets and all. Then, laying on top of that set there was a Batman messenger bag. She ran over and laid on her new bed, sprawling herself out on it with a content grin on her face.

"Open up the bag." Miranda told her, a smug little smile playing on her face.

"There's more?" She questioned, flipping up the flap and unzipping the bag. Inside she found the cutest batman plushie she had ever seen. "Oh thanks so much!!" She scooped him up in her  arms. "He's so cute, my own little Bruce Wayne." She fell back in her  new bed, giggling a bit and snuggled up with him. "Ahh, Miranda all of  this stuff is so great!" She popped back up in her bed and wrapped her  arms around her keeper, engulfing her in her wings.

Miranda just  laughed and hugged back the little baby. "Hehe, you're welcome,  sweetie. I knew you'd like all of this stuff. He originally bought the  bed set for his kid but the boy didn't want it. I told him I knew  someone and got it for you." She placed a little kiss atop of her head  and smiled before letting go of her little bat. "Anyway. I gotta go do a  couple things and I'll be back to check on you in a bit, anything  special you want me to bring tonight other than mangoes?"

"Mmn, peaches too?"

"I'll see what I can do."  She grinned and headed out the door.

As  soon as she heard the click of the door shut, Laurita fell back in bed,  curling back up under her blanket and played with her little Batman. "I  am the night!" She laughed. "I. Am. BATMAN!"

Flight 1/3

When  night-time came around, and Delf was asleep, Laurita wandered her way  outside into the backyard. She was sure he had seen her a couple times  when she'd hit the ground with hard thuds, but he never spoke to her  about it, so she never worried too much. In all honesty she wanted him  to know what she was doing, but she also didn't want him to see it until  she knew she could do it well.

Her claws gripped at the bark  and limbs of the large tree that sat in the middle of the back yard. Her  body was still sore from the previous night when she had fell from said  tree and landed on her side. She was okay, just a little bruised and  she wouldn't say anything to Delf about it. When she approached the  thick limb she found comfortable to jump from, she sat down and  stretched out her arms, trying to work out the stiffness and soreness  from them.

She changed her position on the branch, perching  herself and preparing herself for another jump. Laruita closed her eyes  and drew in a long breath, and exhaled deeply. She did this a couple  times, to relax herself and keep herself from tensing up when she  jumped. When she was tense was when she noticed she failed the most. She  always had better luck at keeping herself in the air for a little bit  longer when she was relaxed.

Laurita's yellow eyes opened again,  shining like little stars under the moonlight. She counted aloud to  help herself, breathing between each number. One. Two. Three! And she leapt...

Flight 2/3

Thud! Araguhh!! She landed on her stomach and slammed her fists on the ground, digging her claws into the grass in frustration. I thought I had it for sure that time. She puffed up her cheeks and groaned again, looking up into the star filled sky. "What am I not getting?" This time, she made her way to a large rock that sat at  the west end of the yard. She stepped up on It and jumped again,  flapping her wings. She caught some air, enough to keep her up for a  couple seconds but not much and again she landed with a thump on the  ground.

How could things like airplanes fly when they didn't flap  with all their might? She just didn't understand. She stood back up to  walk inside when a sudden gust of wind blew against her pushing her back  as if telling her not to give up tonight. "Please let me go inside, wind. I want to sleep." The wind lightened up as if it were going to let her go, but alas it picked up again only making Laurita more frustrated than she already was. She threw her arms up in the air, not thinking  of the wind and how it would catch on her wings, only to be thrown back onto the ground. This time however, with a different attitude and a sudden realization.

[Flight 3/3]

Laurita smacked the palm of her hand to her forehead. Of course, of course!  Why didn't I think of that before? She knew what the issue was now.  Just jumping wasn't doing anything for her, and just flapping her arms like a maniac wasn't going to do much better either. She scurried back to the tree that she was now so familiar with and perched back up on her branch.  When she jumped the other times, she went straight out. That wasn't working so much, air wasn't really getting caught under her wings like it should have. This time, she took a different approach.

She would leap a bit more upwards this time, before she fell, she figured, and hoped, that the wind or air or whatever would actually catch a little better. Also this time she tried something a little different with her arms. When she flapped them, she moved her arms forward as if she were catching the air and pushing it behind her. Air swimming! She had to push her arms harder and quicker, but this seemed to work a lot better for her. She hovered a bit and gasped when she realized what was happening. She stopped to applaud herself not thinking of what would happen and fell down again, landing on her butt. Yes! She cheered, creeping her sore body back into the house and into her bed with a sigh. Back at it again tomorrow.

Body Training [1/2] 

Stronger. That's exactly what she would become, its what she would have to become if she wanted to actually fly.

Of  course she learned how to glide a little bit, just catch a current is  all she could do and that was only if she started somewhere up high. If  she really wanted to fly she knew that it was going to take a lot of  hard work, and a lot of determination.

"I'm going out. I'll be  back later." She cried out to Delf, her adopter. She was sure that he  had heard her, but just in case he didn't, she wrote a quick note for  him and stuck it on the fridge. A guy's gotta eat at some point, right?  Though, she didn't really think he cared at this point, she wasn't  little anymore and could handle herself pretty well.

Step one  was cardio and stamina. She read a little bit about these things online  and of course the thing that was recommended was running. Out of all  things, the first thing on the top of the list was running. The next  thing that was usually on the list was jumping rope, though they didn't  have a jump rope around the house so she was just going to have to  settle for something a little bit less.

"I gotta do it." She told herself as she walked out of the door. "I'm going to do it."

Once  out the door she began stretching. Just some simple things she read to  do online to stretch and start working at the muscles in her legs to  prevent them from cramping. Toe touches was what she did first while she  stood. Then she took a seat on the side walk and stretched out to each  leg, feeling her calf muscles burn a little bit. The website she read  this on said she'd feel tension and burning. She couldn't let it get to  her, this was only the beginning. She shook her head. "Stop those  thoughts right now. If you wanna be a better flyer, you have to do  this." She muttered, and continued her stretch.

Rita did a few  more stretches and stood up, jumping up and down a little but in place,  she didn't have a jump rope, no, but she guessed she could still jump,  what was stopping her? Next she stretched her arms and her neck and  after putting her seeing goggles on (thank the heavens that Delf took  her to get these) finally, took off down the street.

Body Training [2/2]

Oh  god. Oh. Fucking. God. Laurita began questioning herself as soon as she  hit her first mile. This was the time she decided that she was done  running for the day. The noibat girl collapsed in the patch grass next  to her, trying to catch her breath. She swore it was like her lungs were  on fire. "Jesus fuck." She panted out. When her language had gotten  bad, she didn't know. Or she just didn't realize it, but right now all  she wanted to do was sleep.

No sleep though! She wouldn't let  herself. She rolled over onto her back and folded up her legs. Sit ups!  No more resting a couple minutes was enough! She scolded herself for  complaining, there was no time to complain. She crossed her arms over  her chest and took in a deep breath, letting it out when she sat up and  touched her knees. "I'm going to die." She muttered to herself.  Continuing her sit ups. She was going to make a change though, she was  determined, and she really wanted to fly better. She could catch wind  and ride on it for a couple of seconds, but when she was done with this  she'd be in perfect shape. She'd be able to fly a few miles at the  least.

Laurita rolled over onto her tummy after about twenty sit  ups. She rested for a few seconds before doing the other work outs that  were recommended to her. Planks and push ups really and once those were  done she was back up on her feet. She jumped up and down a little bit  and got her blood flowing again and after doing forty punches she  stretched and began her dreadful run back home.

A Job? [1/?]

A  loud groan came from the noibat as she flipped herself over in bed and  knocked the batman alarm clock from its resting place on her nightstand.  The words "Shut the fuck up." followed after the sound of the clock  falling to the floor, and the batteries rolling out and around on the  ground.

After about ten more minutes of laying in bed, she  finally rolled over, swung her feet off the side of the bed and stood  up. Careful not to step on the batteries or the clock that now hung out  on the floor, she made her way to the bathroom, rubbing her eyes with  her hands in balls.

Here's where the morning really began. Here  she showered, brushed her teeth and and dried her fur, making sure she  wouldn't shed too badly as she pulled on her batman shirt and a pair of  baggy shorts, being careful not to pull and tug on the fur on her legs.  Looking into the mirror she took a deep breath, smiled at her self and  spoke.

"Mornings suck but you got this." Grabbing the Batman  messenger bag she usually carried around, off of the couch on her way  out, she set off to the comic book shop in town. The same one that her  and Jiang met at. Today she had a job interview there, and boy was she  excited.

(continued here)