REVIVAL GAME ▹ parker

xii ━━ lana rushman

"You're Lana, right?"

Svet glances up to see a bright—eyed blonde standing in front of her with a wide polite smile.

"Hi there! I'm Betty, so nice to meet you." The blonde beams, and in a flurry of movement, shakes Svet's hand and then waves her onward, "Come on, I saw your ticket. You're sitting next to me!"

"Oh." Svet blinks a bit bewilderedly, "Yes. Thank you."

Her natural accent is gone, a modern American one like a blanket over her usual voice. It feels strange on her tongue, like a funny taste. But she has a job to do, and she'll do it well. She always does. This is what she was trained for, isn't it? Svet follows Betty down the long aisle, gnawing nervously on her bottom lip as she looks around. Peter is nowhere in sight.

Her heart sinks.

"Yo, Parker!"

Svetlana turns a little, following the sound of Peter's name. A boy with dark hair seems to be the source. He stands casually in the opposite aisle near the food cart, a glass of sparkling champagne in his hands and a rude smirk on his face.

"This is called an airplane." He speaks slowly, eyes bright with mockery, "It's like the buses you're used to, except it flies over the poor neighborhoods instead of driving through them."

Svet's nose scrunches. That was rude. Her eyes dart to follow the boy's gaze to find Peter, already in his seat, who seems to have chosen the high road and is now ignoring him. Svet doesn't like the idea that someone is teasing him.

A girl with long limbs and a serious face suddenly strides into view, leaning towards the flight attendant, "Ma'am? He Blipped, so technically, he's eighteen, not twenty—three."

In dejection, the boy blinks wide—eyed at the tall girl as the flight attendant swiftly plucks the alcoholic beverage out of his hand.

"She's lying!" The boy crows desperately, "I don't even know this girl!"

Svet smirks and continues down the aisle. The baggage compartment over her chair is already full so she goes down a few more and prepares to move her backpack into it. She senses more than sees the boy suddenly at her side, dark—haired and grinning.

"That's a pretty big bag." The unfamiliar boy chuckles nonchalantly, puffing his chest a little, "Looks like you could use some help."

"Does it?" Svet's voice is all sugar and sweetness before she easily lifts up her massive piece of luggage with one hand and shoves it into the overhead compartment. She spins back to the boy, meeting his eyes with a quick bat of her lashes. "Looks like I have it handled, yes?"

"Oh." The boy begs off with an awkward chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck, "Uh, sorry. You're, like, really strong."

Svet flushes a little. Somehow saying she's, 'like, really strong' because of some supersoldier serum doesn't seem like it would quite fit her cover. She shrugs and scrounges for a reasonable explanation, "I'm... really into bodybuilding."

"Me too!" He's a little too cheery, it feels uncomfortable, "I'm Brad. Brad Davis."

"Lana." She replies carefully, "Lana Rushman."

Down the long aisle, Peter is peeking over the top of his seat with a frown on his face. His frown only deepens when he spots Brad laughing at something Svetlana just said. Ned is in the seat next to him, already buckled in and rambling about a video game or some other.

Peter continues glancing at the redhead for a split second before leaning into his best friend's ear to whisper, "I need your help to sit next to Lana."