2014.06.22 - All Will Be Well: Visiting Hope

Eddie has been a busy little hero for quite some time. Ever since being charged with guarding Adara, he's been taken around the world and back again as the Hope Entity does its work. Eddie can't claim to understand it all and has many time had to argue with the big bird about some of it's methods. But they do usually end up returning to an abandoned hotel in Metropolis that Adara has taken roost in at Eddie's request. It's an address Eddie sent to his team to let them know they could visit him any time. Right now, Eddie's in the lobby. Leaning back on a couch, he's in jeans and a Blue Beetle t-shirt and eating a bagel. There's a glowing blue ring on his finger too and a faint blue glow coming from under the door to the next room.

When Eddie sent the message originally, Terry was going through a few things. Things of the mundane sort, admittedly, but things nonoetheless. Still, as soon as the teen /could/ show up to offer a hand, one had better believe the teen in black was making his way to see if he could lend any assistance he could to his friend. So while Eddie's hanging out in the lobby, the doors to the hotel pop open and Terry steps through. Stopping just inside the door and waving a few tired fingers. "There you are, Eddie... you look like you're well." he offers, eyes flickering to the blue glows. That's... definitely new.

When those doors open, Eddie tenses and the ring on his finger glows brighter. One can never be too careful when things like Space Ninja attacks are happening. When he sees it's Terry, Eddie grins and hops to his feet. "All will be well," Eddie says almost automatically. Shaking it off, he gestures for Terry to come in more. "H-hi Terry!"

"Hey, if you say so." offers Terry wryly, accepting the invitation to come in further... taking a moment to glance around the abandoned hotel. "Roomy place you've got here," Terry points out with a chuckle, given that the majority of the place, at least, doesn't seem to be occupied. Which can certainly be a good thing, given the boy's mission at the moment. "So everything going alright so far? I would've been by earlier but... life came calling." he wrinkles his nose a bit at the thought, and gives his head a shake. "How's guard duty been treating you so far? ... I see you've got a little something new..."

Unless bugs, the occasional rat, and rarer stray dog or cat counts...the place really isn't occupied. Cobwebs, dust, grafitti, signs the place used to be squatted in...it's a pretty uninhabited place. Oddly enough there are small areas that look like they're brand new like the couch Eddie was sitting on and the cot near it. Once Terry's near enough, Eddie's trying to grab him in a hug. "Things are g-g-going okay. We haven't gotten attacked for awhile. Is everything okay with y-you?" he asks, concerned for Terry. When that something new is mentioned, Eddie looks down at the ring. "Y-y-yeah. It's so I can keep up with Adara."

Terry goes along with the hug with no trouble, hugging his younger friend back in kind. "Well, I'm still alive, have a roof over my head and have friends that I can count on -- probably all I can ask for and actually /get,/ but it gets me through the day, you know?" he replies with a slight quirk of a grin, before trying to mess up the boys hair. Just because. "Makes sense. Either way, it's pretty cool, you know? --wait, what am I saying? Of /course/ you know." A grin. "I remember the first time /I/ flew, you were dragging me through the air and away from Yankee Stadium." ...truth be told, presented by the right fear he could probably fly for a short distance himself. ... and then come crashing down to the ground when he got too far. But the first part of that is a fun thought at least!

Eddie squeaks when his hair is messed up, a faint blush on his cheeks. "It is pretty c-c-cool. Adara s-said it's like a prototype of a whole new type of ring like the Green Lanterns'," he says. And then Terry brings up their first meeting and Eddie offers an apologetic smile. "S-sorry about that. And sorry about the b-b-bad landing."

"That makes sense... kinda explains why it's blue, too. You know, new version of it, new color and all. Is Adara going to have you flying around through the cosmos dealing out justice where it's needed, or do you know yet?" Terry asks, inclining his head to the side. The apologies get a large shake of his head, and an attempt to grasp Eddie by the shoulders. "No. You take that back, Eddie. I need you to take that back and take it back now. Because if I /ever/ do something like that to one of my friends, I need to know I'm around people who /will/ stop me." His tone and expression has taken on a definite sincerity, there. "Otherwise I'll never have a /chance/ of getting close to someone." And that's the core of /his/ fears. The fear that he'll end up hurting someone close to him.

Eddie chuckles at that. "N-no, I'm not going to be part of any corps. The r-r-ring is temporary. My um...new boss says someone is coming to bring Adara back where it needs to be and I'm only guarding it until then," he answers. Eddie blinks when he's grabbed by the shoulders, ending up giving a little squeak when Terry gets all dire on him. "Terry," he frowns a little, reaching up to place a hand on Terry's arm. "We're n-not going to attack you. But we will -help- you get back to yourself if you ever lose control," as he speaks, the ring and his eyes glow blue and he starts emitting some waves of hopeful positive feelings. Likely without even knowing it. He can sense that fear thanks to the ring and he smiles softly at his friend. "You don't have to worry, Terry. I know you'll be able to b-b-be close to someone. There's no question about it. You're an awesome superhero and I have faith in y-you."

"Well... that's kind of a shame as I'm sure you would've had fun with it.... but at the same time, /not/ a shame for your friends back here though. We'd miss you." Terry points out... and he listens as Eddie speaks. Paying attention to the words. Truth be told, given that he /can/ rather wrap fear around his fingers would likely make him an ideal candidate to wear a yellow ring. That /also/ means that the hope powers work well on his fears.... and the older boy seems to relax a bit. "Yeah... I know you guys will. That's... a big reason of why I signed on." It was as much for the fact that Eddie had /proven/ his willingness and ability to Stop Terry as much as Kate's inspiration and aid in his time of need. To the latter? He's not going to outright disagree, but offers a slight smile. "Hey. At least I have close friends."

"Yeah. Adara offered to p-p-put in a good word for m-me but my place is here on Earth. I'll g-g-go help if I'm needed but I don't want to leave you and the others," he says. He just moves to hug Terry again after that. "Trust m-me. I know you'll be close to s-someone. I d-d-don't completely understand it...but this r-ring lets me see things s-s-sometimes. Know things," he says awkwardly. There's a pause before Eddie perks up. "Want to m-meet Adara?"

Eddie's hug is returned once again... this is why Terry should hang around with his friends more often. When he has to spend time away? The pessimistic side tends to take the forefront. They're pretty good at pushing it back. "I... can kinda understand that. Sort of like how I can see into people's heads. See parts of what drives them," The fear part, that is. To the latter offer, though... "Sure, if you think it'd be alright?"

"Of course it will be," Eddie replies with a grin. He lets go of the hug and gestures for Terry to follow. "You're my friend and a s-superhero. There's no reason it wouldn't be," he adds, leading the way to those doubledoors. Opening them reveals a large meeting room. Large enough to hold the massive blue bird-like creature and the glow it's giving off. It's multiple eyes are closed at first, one slowly opening to focus on Terry and Eddie. Those hopeful positive feelings that had been coming off Eddie? They're turned up past 11 in Adara's presence.

Terry nods once in response, and then follows along behind Eddie as instructed. Once the pair step into the room... Terry just stops. Stops and stares, and looks up at the creature contained with in. He's silent for a couple moments, blinking slowly as he takes in the sight, and the rush of that positivity that's flying over him. "Whoa." is all he can really say in response to the sight, Yes, he's staring. He'll be fine in a couple moments.

"Greetings, Terrance Ward of Earth," Adara's voice is soft despite it's size and sounding almost like three people are talking in unison.

"I had the same reaction the first time I saw Adara outside a human host," Eddie chimes in quietly.

"Uh... hi there, your... highness? Hope-ship?" Terry stammers a bit and smiles nervously up at the Essence of Hope itself. "I'm sorry, I don't know exactly how I should address you -- I mean no disrespect." he makes certain to clarify. [Young Allies] Terrance Ward says, "Move was exhausting... but finally over, at least until we officially get the house. Stupid bank."

Adara lets out a little bird-like noise, seemingly amused. "You may relax. I am Adara. Your friend speaks quite highly of you and your friends," Adara replies. Eddie meanwhile falls quiet, just listening and smiling.

"Thanks... Adara. Well, anything he says about us goes double, or even triple for him. You found yourself a great protector in Eddie here, and we'll lend him a hand whenever it's needed." To a degree, he doesn't want to step on Eddie's toes... but at the same time, he's definitely willing to help. "Same goes for the others. Couldn't find a better group of people."

"Oh man...Terry..." Eddie trails off, blushing furiously. He rubs the back of his neck, smiling as he rocks on his feet. Adara meanwhile laughs quietly. "The Earth is fortunate to have young protectors like yourselves. I am glad to know the planet will be in good hands when my work here is complete.."

Some color comes to Terry's cheeks as well at Adara's words, the boy brushing back his hair in a bit of a nervous tick. He still feels a bit overwhelmed, but at the same time, feels pretty priviledged actually getting to speak to something like this. Definitely not everyone can say they've done that! "Well, thank you." he adds, lips curving up in a hint of a smile. "May I ask what has brought you to our planet? I mean, it seems like you're here for a pretty important reason."

"I sensed too much hopelessness to ignore," Adara replies. It doesn't seem to have more to say on that matter and Eddie sighs a little. "I can't get it to tell m-me any more than that either."

There's a faint smile to that comment, too. If anything, Terry himself has been an example of that hopelessness from time to time. And he knows he can't be the only one -- even if not everyone transforms into a darker, uglier side of themselves to frighten small children (and large not-children too), there's plenty of other reasons for hopelessness, and he's felt some of those, too. "Well... /I/ hope you can do something to help with it. There are a lot of people out there who definitely need the help." Then a nod back at Eddie. "Hey, they say there's some things that we mortals just aren't made to understand."

"All Will Be Well," Adara declares simply. Eddie meanwhile just crosses his arms and pouts a little. "That's j-j-just an excuse gods and c-cosmic things use."

This time it's Terry's turn to chuckle, motioning over towards Adara. "Well, I'm pretty sure this qualifies as... at least one of the two."

Adara chuckles as well. Eddie nods a little. "Adara is the c-c-cosmic embodiment of Hope itself. It told me there are other ones out there too. Eight more in the universe," the power booster explains. "Each one for a different emotion."

Terry blinks a little and moves to rest back against the wall of the meeting room. Eddie's comment about there being more make him blink. Well, Adara is obviously there for Hope as Eddie just mentioned. "So what others are out there? ... are they all as nice as Adara?" If there's an anger one, Terry suspects /it/ wouldn't be.

"No," Adara answers before Eddie can. "But do not fear. They are not here on Earth. Or near this sector. Some remain sleeping while others are imprisoned."

Eddie nods a bit to what Adara says. "Y-y-yeah. Some are great and others are b-bad guys."

"That's definitely good news..." Because his fear falls into other people fearing and him turning into it. Terry smiles at this fact. "...well, make yourself at home here as long as you'd like. I mean, like I said... there's a lot of people who need you to do... whatever it is you're going to do." Because honestly? The Essense of Hope itself would be unlikely to be up to nefarious things.

"All will be well, Terrance Ward," Adara repeats.

Eddie takes a breath and nods. "Th-thanks, Adara. We'll let you g-g-get back to listening," he offers, turning to smile to Terry. If the fear-powered teen is ready, Eddie will lead him back out of the room. "S-s-so what do you think?" he asks once the doors are closed.

"Gotta admit, Eddie.. that was pretty cool." Terry offers in return, shaking out his limbs a bit as he gets used to the tuned down effect of the presence. It definitely takes a certain getting used to as far as the changes go. "A little confusing at times, but... I kinda figured it would be. Not in a bad way, just in a, makes you realize how big the universe really is way, you know?"

"It's...r-r-really big. And that's n-n-not even counting alternate universes," Eddie replies with a nod of agreement. "I'm glad y-you came to visit. Adara's great b-b-but I guess I g-got used to actually having people to t-talk to and missed it," he admits.