Northrop Hot Springs Hard to chase, but good to catch

[Lin Nari]

Outfit, Picnic Backpack

For all the time she spent flying, Nari did not care to know much about planes. She learned ways to avoid them as hazards, but beyond that, her curiosity waned. Flying was something she did on her own. If needed, she could theoretically even go overseas by herself, even if it would be a harrowing journey, so why take a second look at planes? She simply hadn't thought about it too much.

That Algy had a flight school and a hangar on the edge of town came as a pleasant, interesting surprise. What drew the other dragon to these mechanical wonders when he had wings? Did it not feel cramped? Stifling? These questions flit through her head as she touched down outside the open hangar doors. Clouds dissipated from beneath her feet as she pushed her flight goggles up to her forehead and craned her neck to admire the towering building that housed the berthed planes.

Having flown in quietly under cloud cover and touched down past the front office, Nari had no traditional way to announce her presence except to call out into the hangar with a pleasant, “Hello?” It was also partially for her own amusement to see if her voice would echo in the cavernous space. She wandered into the shadows of the hangar, gaze roving around the smaller planes in quiet interest.

[Algy Trevelyan]

Algy was near the back of the hangars, wearing some warm and hard-wearing trousers, layers of undershirt and button-up, with his bomber jacket topping it all off. The hangars got cold in the winter, so he bundled up even if the chill did not often bother him. It helped to have fire in his chest, always burning comfortably. His hands were streaked with grease, tools in hand, as he repaired one of the wheels of the Avro. Idle work, as it would not be flying soon, but he'd noted it needed looking at.

Algy was alone, just him and his tools lined up on the tool bench, conveniently wheeled up to where he was working. As he worked, smoke curled up from his nose and his mouth, the dragon not paying it much mind. An old peaked cap was on his head at a jaunty angle. A bit old-fashioned, but that was Algy to a T.

The feminine 'hello' echoed in the cavernous space, and the dragon looked up, puffing out a ring of smoke as he was caught by surprise. Then he checked his watch and cursed softly, the word still echoing. He'd let time run away from him, hadn't he?

“Over here!” He called, picking up the wrench to finish his repairs. “I'm just finishing up, uh, over by the Avro- the big aeroplane at the back.”

[Lin Nari]

Nari turned her head toward the familiar voice, and quickly identified the largest aeroplane, toward the back of the hangar. Stepping into the shadow of the building, she made her way over, in no hurry as she looked at the other planes. Not as interesting as the other dragon in the midst of working on his plane. The grease on his hands and the scattering of tools made Nari smile slyly, putting two and two together that he hadn't been ready to go.

“No rush,” she assured him, slipping her bag from one shoulder to hang loose from the other, preparing to sit down and patiently wait. “As I understand it, these are very delicate machines?” She craned her head back to admire the plane. It was not as sleek as a dragon, but it was certainly impressive for what it was.

[Algy Trevelyan]

Chuckling, Algy looked over at Lin as she approached, grinning as he saw she was all kitted out for a flight. His own jacket had been enchanted to allow him to wear it and still have his wings out, so he'd be similarly kitted out. 

Looking away from the new arrival and up at the Avro from where Algy stood, just by the wheel, he knelt to begin applying the wrench and fastening the parts he'd replaced in place. Having been an idle job, he hadn't picked something big to work on, only a few of the nuts and bolts needed to be replaced, and now he was fastening them down. He'd have to check the other wheels, but that would be later.

“They can be, yes,” Algy said as he effortlessly fastened the nuts, not straining at all, even if he was applying some force. Who needed power tools when one was the power tool? He also preferred doing it himself, another old-fashioned quirk. “But this one, she used to be able to take quite a beating. Her time is long past, though.”

[Lin Nari]

Nari did not have the context to know how difficult it was to work on a plane's hardware without power tools, but she still admired the line of Algy's shoulders as he worked, craning her neck to get a look at what he was doing.

Walking semi-circle around the plane and a little beneath the wing, Nari gazing up at it--her--but kept the other dragon in her peripherals. She could see evidence of these beatings in the scars on the plane's hull. Buffed and pounded away, but not gone completely. This was a piece of history. With clear interest, she called over her shoulder, asking, “Tell me about her? Is she a warplane?”

[Algy Trevelyan]

Algy glanced at Lin as she began to wander, smiling at her interest in the aeroplane. He bent back to his work, tightening the last nuts and bolts before they could head off. Her question got a sound of affirmative from Algy as he worked.

“She is,” Algy confirmed, pitching his voice so she could hear him clearly in the hangar. “An Avro Lancaster heavy bomber built during the war. The second, that is. They were used for bombing runs across the Channel, all the way to Germany.” He patted the strut of the wheel he was working on, remembering getting harried by Messeschmidts, gunfire pinging into the hull, and tracers lighting up the skies.

[Lin Nari]

“Oh, she is a grand old dame,” Nari laughed lightly, eyes tracing along the hull to fall back on the other dragon while he worked. After reaching the back edge of the wing, she returned to his side, crouching next to him to watch. “Do you still fly her?”

[Algy Trevelyan]

Fastening the very last nut and bolt, Algy leaned back and checked his finished work as Lin crouched next to him. She’d missed the action, so to speak, but there hadn’t been much to look at anyway. Her question about flying the Lanc made him smile, wistful as he patted the strut again.

“I used to, back in England. Airshows and such, a lot of planning goes into letting her fly again,” Algy said, letting out a little sigh as he finally rose, stepping out from the undercarriage. “I haven’t had the chance here yet, but maybe this summer.”

The prospect got a grin blooming on his face, looking up at the Lanc and hoping things would work out, dropping the wrench back into the tool box with a dull thunk. He’d need to get his mechanic to look at her, make sure the mundane technology was supported by whatever magic they could place on her. It wasn’t so high tech that the magic and instruments didn’t get along.

[Lin Nari]

Ah, he did have an English accent, didn't he? It wasn't as prominent as Theo's and so had escaped her in a way. In all fairness, to her ears, everyone had an accent. Nari caught Algy's grin and found his general pleasure at the idea of flying the old plane contagious. Smiling as well, she followed his gaze up the body of the plane, wondering, “Do you prefer it to your wings?”

Sometimes unassisted flight could take a bit more out of a dragon than the human inventions. She could well imagine that growing his beautiful wings would take more energy than her cloud riding.

[Algy Trevelyan]

Looking back to Lin, Algy shook his head, although still grinning. “I've flown aeroplanes longer than I've known how to use the wings,” he admitted, although, in the grand scheme of things, the decades separating his skill in aeroplanes and his physical wings were not much compared to how long he'd lived. “They saved my life when they... grew in.”

Algy smiled crookedly, thinking briefly about how rare it was for him to admit to something like that. He kept his heritage a closely guarded secret, the details of which were privy to Algy alone at this point. His aunt was long dead, his mother gone from grief, and his father... well, perhaps he was still around, but Algy cared little to find out.

[Lin Nari]

That was not an angle the cloud-borne dragon had considered, and she couldn't help the quiet little laugh at her own expense. “Of course, yes,” she murmured, charmed at the idea that he'd been drawn to the skies even before he could fly on his own.

At the mention of them 'growing in,' Nari absently glanced over Algy's shoulder, avidly contemplating the story lurking beneath the tidbit that they'd saved his life. A plane failure, perhaps? She was trying to recall if she'd seen how his wings 'grew in' in the orchard. Unfortunately, it had been chaos, and the best she had were snapshots of him as he was now and then with his mantle of leather and bone. “Do they grow in every time?”

Or was it an illusion of some sort? Nari wasn't burning up with curiosity, but there was comfort and pleasure in talking with someone who knew what it was to be a dragon, even if their parentage was worlds apart. Although Algy seemed to be done with the plane, she didn't move yet, in no rush and going at his pace. The quiet hangar was pleasant to sit in and talk, with a faint breeze coming in through the wide open doors.

[Algy Trevelyan]

Algy spotted her interest, finding it a novel experience. Throughout his life, he'd taken pains to hide the inhuman parts of him, although not out of shame. He had known others like him who had been equally as secretive as well as those who flaunted it as much as they could while maintaining the required secretiveness that made the world safe for them. Few had dared to inquire about him, but then they had never seen his wings when he guarded them so covetously.

“I wouldn't say they grow out, not since that first time,” Algy allowed, stepping to the toolbox and beginning to tidy everything he'd worked with away. “They're always there, simply... unseen by the naked eye.” It did make him wonder what he might look like to those who could see the currents of magic, the ebb and flow of the world.

[Lin Nari]

“A shame, they are very beautiful,” Nari replied thoughtfully, even if she knew it couldn't be any other way in the world they lived in. She also didn't know if it took a great deal of energy to shift his body that way or not. The interactions between human and inhuman blood always had surprising results.

She followed Algy as he put things away, staying close enough to continue the conversation without hovering. She watched him put things away with idle curiosity, filing the information away about where the tools went visually, even if she didn't know what they did. Contextless information that she would remember regardless. “My father did not have wings.” Nari smirked then, her airy tone was both joking and contemplative as she added, “Perhaps I am envious.”

[Algy Trevelyan]

Looking up, Algy smiled at her compliment, inclining his head in a silent thanks. The enormous leathery wings had been shocking initially, but he'd come to love them and what they represented. They were rather flashy, however, and he was quietly happy that they were not there the entire time, even if it took much effort to bring them forward from wherever they hid.

Finishing his packing up, he looked up as she joked about envy, and Algy chuckled brightly. “You certainly have nothing to envy; you were brilliant without the extra bits and bobs. I don't believe I've seen that particular mode of flight, quite graceful.” Algy delivered the line with enough British reserve that he did not seem falsely effusive, but his enthusiasm was evident and his compliment obvious.

[Lin Nari]

Nari's gaze skittered away across the hangar, her chin tucking slightly, almost bashfully. Brilliant and graceful in flight. It was not a common compliment, and it meant even more coming from someone who innately knew what it was to fly. Her microexpressions shifted as well--the gentle parabola of her smile did not change, but it still grew sweeter as she dipped her head in reciprocal silent thanks. Lifting her eyes to the other dragon's, she nodded toward the hangar bay door.

“I look forward to flying with you again,” she said and meant it. “When you are done here.”

[Algy Trevelyan]

Algy did not know Lin well enough to read the subtleties in her shifting expression, only that she remained smiling and pleasant, which was a good enough sign for the dragon that his compliment had been heard and accepted. His crooked grin was firm, widening as she expressed her eagerness for their flight.

“Lucky us, then,” Algy said brightly, snapping the lid shut on his toolbox. “I'm done here. We can step outside and be on our way.” The dragon gestured towards the wide-open hangar doors.