( open ) december catch-all

[ettersberg]

Who: Thomas Nightingale (ettersberg) & various
What: piloting, mistletoes, everything else
When: december
Where: thesa, wyver, olympia
Warning(s): none yet



drift compatibility

[ he's flown in planes before, of course — even british wizards had to cross the channel somehow and anyone who'd have suggested broomsticks would have been the laughing stock of the entire folly, because it doesn't work that way. even before the war, he'd travelled as part of the foreign office, sometimes by plane and sometimes not.

no plane he's ever been in can compare to the ship he's in right now, strapped into one of the pilot seats and glancing at the controls in front of him with a somewhat sceptical expression. ]

I'm afraid I'm not quite sure how this is meant to work.

mistletoe

[ nightingale returns to olympia and settles into a routine in as much as he can. it hadn't been close to any holiday period when the world had ended for him, but it seems to be growing colder here and there is an increased air of festivity to everything.

every now and again, nightingale will find himself beneath a mistletoe at the same time as someone else, though never by design. if he notices the plant, he might try to simply ignore it, but if his companion notices as well, he'll speak: ]

Were there any traditions attached to it in your world?

wildcard

[ write your own starter, hit me up at abiosis for one, whatever floats your boat. ]

Comments

[apricitous]

[ Clark doesn't push, doesn't prod. Doesn't recoil or balk. Instead, he stays constant, stays where he is. ]

[ettersberg]

[ there's something to be said for that steadiness. once upon a time, after the war, it had been nightingale who'd become a constant for everyone. he'd known how they'd talked -- if the nightingale can pull through, so can we -- and he hadn't wanted to disillusion them, hadn't shared anything about the nights he'd lain awake or woken up in a cold sweat with a scream lodged in his throat.

he doesn't want to put that on someone else, but clark doesn't seem to be suffering right now. (nightingale hadn't seemed to be suffering then, either, he'd tried hard not to let any of it show.)

the steadiness helps, even if nightingale tries not to rely on it. slowly, slowly, his chest unclenches, his emotional landscape growing calmer. warmer, again, instead of the frozen thing of the war. ]

[apricitous]

Would you like to take a cruise around?

I'll take backseat for a bit.

[ It's an offer to give him time to process, to cool off, without being any of those things. He won't acknowledge what happened out loud. ]

[ettersberg]

It's quite all right.

[ it's a kind offer, but frankly -- ] I think I'd prefer landing as soon as possible.

[apricitous]

Of course.

[ He nods and starts piloting them towards the landing location. ]

[ettersberg]

[ it's not the ship or even the emotional connection between them, but there's still relief bleeding through nightingale's walls when they get nearer to the ground and set down. ]

Thank you.

[apricitous]

You're very welcome.