08/30/21 - Flight or Fancy
[Misha]
Misha pushes the would be airship up the gentle slopes of Gridania, making his way to the clearing where that tree stump was. The machine moved easily enough, rattling a little as it hit bumps and branches. Panting a little, Misha glances at Vinalo.
“This…*huff* bettter work…*huff* or I swear to Gods…huff…I'll set this on…*huff*…fire….myself…”
[Vinalo]
Vinalo had been more focusing on guiding the small airship through the Shroud. Frequently clearing larger branches, making sure no one or nothing got in the way, and helping push during the rougher parts. Today was finally the day that the last several moons of work would be put to the test.
“You've been tinkering… and working on this since… second astral, right?” they asked, helping wiggle the machine over the uneven terrain. “Looks flight ready to me, anyroad.”
[Misha]
“Honestly I was expecting it to fall apart on the way here so already this is surpassing my expectations.”
He smiles at them, pushing the ship up the last hump and into the clearing. The sound of the waterfall killed the conversation for the moment until they were past it.
“…Whether it turns on or not is another test we must contend with.”
[Vinalo]
They looked around at the clearing, hoping that the pair wouldn't have to contend with any odd observers or obstructions. Aside from the occasional small rodent and birds around, they didn't see much.
“Looks clear as we'd find around here. Noise'll keep any treants away, and if some hidden moogles want to watch, well… not like we could stop them.”
[Misha]
“Let us hope we do not earn their ire.”
He grunts as he gets into the airship. It was a funny and mishapen looking thing. Almost like a bullet, but wide in the middle as Misha had forced two seats into it. It looked rather…snug. The propellers at the back of it didn't look exceptionally promising either.
As he settles into the seat, nimble fingers would toggle everything as it was meant to, feeling the ship tremble beneath his form. With a sputter and a cough, great black clouds of exhaust bloom from the exhausts.
“…Well, I am not on fire yet so that is something…”
[Vinalo]
Vinalo watched on as the hypothetically aerial contraption sputtered to life. They never were much good with machines, so they simply nodded and assumed it was supposed to do that.
“Well, let's hope that doesn't happen at all.”
They glanced up at the sky for a few seconds before looking back to their partner.
“…You said you'd be… controlling it from the ground somehow, right? Not test piloting it?”
[Misha]
“I decided tis better for me to stay on it. If it crashed and burn I would have to begin anew. At least from here, I could do something to save it.”
He pats the dashboard fondly, having poured blood, sweat and tears into this contraption. Looking to Vinalo, he smiled sheepishly.
“I hoped you would keep me safe if something goes awry with a well placed Aero…or with your Conjury.”
[Vinalo]
“You're actually flying it yourself?” they asked, suddenly looking a bit worried. “I mean… not that I don't think it'll fly, or that you know what you're doing, just…”
Vinalo sighed, trying to look more positive
“There's only so much I could do from down here, and… don't know how fast you'd be going. You won't be flying too high… right?”
[Misha]
“Oh no. I will begin with just a hover before trying anything higher. And I will be going slow, just in case.”
The rumbling of the engine might have popped out a few screws from gods know where. Misha glances at them at his feet, bending to grab them and hold them up for Vinalo to see.
“It will probably be fine.”
[Vinalo]
Vinalo let out an obvious sigh of relief, their worry fading a bit.
“Just a few yalms then. That should be… safe enough. And close enough for me to help.” They patted a small branch wand they had at their belt. “I'll be ready if something happens.”
[Misha]
“Let's see if this baby will even run, first. The engine is on, so…”
His hands grab the steering handles, fiddling with them slightly. The ship splutters and jerks forward, Misha catching himself just before his forehead bonked against the dashboard.
“….Tis fine, it will work, it has to work…”
He mutters, his foot pressing on the gas a little more. The ship rolls forward a bit more, this time much more smoothly than before.
[Vinalo]
The healer reflexively started to reach for their wand as the airship jerks forward awkwardly. The rapid reassurance stayed their hand for the moment. Instead, they kept watching.
“Easy… easy…”
[Misha]
The ship does a small, if not a bit jerky lap around the clearing. The black clouds are much less intense, and the stink of exhaust has been carried away by the wind. The ship comes to an unsteady stop in front of Vinalo again, with a bit of a laboured groan. Misha, however, looks delighted. His eyes are shining, and his smile is bright and eager.
“Tis not perfect, but she drives! I could feel her fighting me a little, but that should be easy enough to work with once I am more accustomed to her.”
He looks to Vinalo, beaming. “What do you think?”
[Vinalo]
Vinalo kept watch as the noisy vehicle did its drive without exploding or catching fire. They looked more relieved the longer it went without doing so, and by the time Misha made it back to where he started, they looked downright excited.
“It works!” they said immediately in response. “That means it's more likely to fly, right?”
[Misha]
“Well….possibly. The mechanisms to fly are a little different. But, tis a good sign that it is structurally stable. Less likely to fall apart in mid air.”
So he says, be he noticed a few more screws had gotten loose.
“……….Wellll, a little less likely. We will see.”
He cranks one of the levers, the propellers behind him coming to life. Coaxing the steering handles back, he carefully noses the ship upwards.
[Vinalo]
“…Right.”
Their tone wasn't the most confident, but they stepped back as the next stage of the test commenced.
[Misha]
Nothing happens at first, and Misha has to exert a bit more effort into trying to coax it into flying. The ship moves forward slowly, the wheels ever so slightly leaving the ground. The propellers whirr and whine behind him, and at last…the still unnamed ship leaves the ground.
“HA! I knew it! Good girl, good girl, now, coast a little…”
He croons to it, totally absorbed in his work. The poor thing manages to make a lap around the clearing, if only a few ilms from the ground.
[Vinalo]
Vinalo's eyes widened as the airship managed to 'ascend.'
“It's flying!” Vinalo yells happily over the sound of the engine. “You did it!”
[Misha]
“Well, it is hovering. Not so much flying…let us push it a little more.”
He pushes forward on the controls, the ship rumbling as it picked up speed and ascended a bit more. Not too fast, but a pretty good clip. Things were going fine, up until a bloom of smoke began to escape from beneath the chassis of the engine.
“Uh oh.” He mutters, the rattling intensifying that much more, and he begins trying to coax the ship to land.
[Vinalo]
“You're doing it, Misha! It's really fly-”
fwoosh
The sudden appearance of black smoke rather quickly cut off that thought. Unlike last time, there was no hesitance to grabbing their wand and holding it at ready.
“Misha!! What's going on?”
[Misha]
“Tis just…overheating a little, ah, shit..”
Fire blooms from the front of the ship; Whatever was going on in there was not good. Misha has no choice but to bank hard and land rather roughly. It's not much of a fire, in fact, it's already smoldering a little, but it was still a bit unnerving.
As Misha hurries out of the airship, there's a great shudder in the machine as the doors at either side of it promptly fell off with.
“…That is probably where the screws were coming from.” He says, as though he wasn't just on fire.
[Vinalo]
“Ahh!” Vinalo yelled out as the airship caught fire. “Misha!!”
They watched Misha swerve down to a fairly rough landing, ready to run over and perform a rescue if something worse happened upon landing. Instead they rushed over to him and grabbed hold of his hand.
“Misha, are you okay? Are you burned? Do you need anything?” they asked in rapid succession. They looked over at the smoldering craft. “…I should put that out.”
[Misha]
“Ah, yes, I am fine. Please do. My Conjury is not as good as yours.”
He smiles at them, looking a little sooty and singed but no worse for wear. If anything, he still looked over the moon. Things had gone much better than he had been expecting.
[Vinalo]
“Ah.. good! I'd not want you getting hurt like this.” Vinalo let out a relieved breath. “I'll do my best not to damage it, okay?”
And with that, the conjurer turned to the toasty ship and held their wand out. It wasn't long before a swirl of azure aether began to gather around the wand, dancing to and fro from twig to twig. The aether coalesced into a large orb of water that shimmered in the sun. Vinalo gave the wand a subtle flick and the orb began to move. Instead of firing off or splitting into different streams, the orb instead drifted over to the airship and slowly lowered itself gently into the smoldering engine, aiming to outright smother the flame with water. Plumes of steam would rapidly form as the magick did its work.
“…Should hopefully do it.”
[Misha]
“Thank you, dear. I appreciate you not just drenching it. Would cause more problems than there already are.”
He leans in to kiss their temple as their work, looking dreamily at the remains of the ship.
“I think I will name her the Stubborn Paissa.”
He squeezes them lightly. “After my favorite person.”
[Vinalo]
The initial burst of steam had died down to just a few streams rising from the now very wet airship. Vinalo smiled as they were kissed, and even more as they were squeezed.
“Just glad you were able to land it and get away before anything worse happened,” they said, their ears turning a bit red. “Ah… naming it that? That's… ha ha..”
Vinalo turned back to the airship.
“Reckon she is stubborn, holding together with all that.” They hummed for a moment. “…Mostly together, anyroad.”
[Misha]
“I mean, unless you do not want me to. I just thought it would be apt.”
He smiles at them fondly, nuzzling into their shoulder a little.
“There were many, many things that could have gone wrong. Only three out of the bunch is better than expected, and I know how to fix what happened. All in all, a success. All that is left is repairing and painting her.”
[Vinalo]
“No no, it's just fine! Just… unexpected.” They responded, leaning their own head into his. “If you think it's right, then it's fine with me.”
They gave a short affirmative hum.
“We'll soon be able to fly over Dravania, like you said we would. Maybe up to those flying islands you talked about, too!” Vinalo said, the excitement in their voice rising. They let out a soft chuckle. “…Reckon we'll have to wait a bit before trying to push it back home.”
[Misha]
“Probably, it is likely very warm to touch, and I do not want it to burn your hands. Did you want to look around for berries?”
He smiles. “Ah, of course. I am quite eager to show you around, but not too eager for us to plummet into a sea of clouds, literally.”
[Vinalo]
“Oh!” Vinalo held a finger up. “We are short on blood currants, and there's bound to be some around here..”
[Misha]
He beams, taking the hand they held up to kiss. That beaming smile turns a little sly, at the mention of currants.
“Do you think I could get away with getting you to feed me a couple? For all my hard work.”
[Vinalo]
Vinalo laughed.
“Well, we didn't bring any baskets or sacks or such to carry berries, so I reckon we'd have to eat some…”
[Misha]
“Oh of course, how silly of me.”
He laughs, taking them into his arms to squeeze properly.
“Thank you for humoring me with this. It means a lot to me.”
[Vinalo]
A large grin formed as they were lovingly hugged.
“How couldn't I? I know how much flying means to you. Every time I came to watch or help while you worked, you had a look on your face. Hard and complicated work, but you always had that look of determined… satisfaction? Like you knew every day you were closer, and it's going to be wonderful when done.”
[Misha]
“We are almost done. Tis so close. And, see, I even smooshed a second seat in there, so you could sit next to me. It will be a tight fit, but I wish for you to be with me for its proper maiden flight.”
Gentle headbonk, forehead to forehead. The gem on his was pleasantly warm from the sun.
“I would not be here without you.”
[Vinalo]
“But you are, and so am I, and that's what matters,” Vinalo said, eyes closed at their foreheads met. “Together.”
Another short hum.
“Right glad I'm not afraid or heights. And not getting airsick.”
[Misha]
He would smile at them, and take their hand in search of the promised treats. Of course, Misha would eat the majority of the berries since they had nothing to carry them back.
By the time they returned home, Misha's mouth would be stained, as would her fingers….which gave him an idea for one of gifts he could do for their name'sday.
Home –> Roleplay Scene Index –> Discord Roleplays
Home –> Character Index –> Misha — Vinalo