what you want and what you need, the truth unwinding

[attitude]

It took a while before Faye worked up the courage to soar towards the upper limits of the city. Honestly, sometimes she's still surprised that she tried. Even though the magical borders of Darrow make it seem pretty likely that the ticket out isn't as obvious as any singular mode of transportation, there's something about Red Tail that feels like just that. The one thing that she can trust to take her out of this place should the opportunity ever arise.

An escape plan.

Having everyone else's stories confirmed is at once a disappointment and a relief. The last thing that she remembers is flying up with her ship at full power, the engine roaring as she hurtled up at dizzying speeds. It'd been a while since she kicked everything up to eleven with her ship. That's frightening in its own way — the suggestion that she might someday forget the weightlessness of space, that her skills as a pilot might only deteriorate in time. It only strengthened her resolve as she went up, the clouds around fading into a soft blur and parting for the azure above.

And then, nothing. No memory. Just the awareness of passed time, and a ship gently returning back into Darrow's skyline.

She doesn't have the tears to spare for it, or the anger. Just a soft drag of breath as she circles the ship back towards the parking lot by Darrow's research labs, where a section's been quartered off for her zipcraft. Faye ignores the few gazes that she always draws as she descends towards the asphalt, and only after she feels the metal settle against the pavement does she finally release a deep exhale.

Pinching the bridge of her nose with delicate fingers, Faye releases the pressure in her ship, the windshield lifting away to make way for fresh air again.

"You win some, you lose some, Valentine," she murmurs.

Comments

[fightthehurricane]

Back at his apartment, Raleigh's Drivesuit sits in his hall closet. Literally gathering dust, he's thought before, like some old collector's item that no longer had a place, now uninteresting. There've been times now, in Darrow, where he's felt the same. Even when he'd been out of a Jaeger for years, he knew that there was something that he was good at. He had purpose. And now? It all has him feeling pretty aimless, so he's seeking out a friend. He's only passed by the lab before, but it wouldn't kill Newt - or him - to pay his friend a visit and get away from the gym and his apartment.

It's hard not to get sidetracked when he sees what looks a bit like a jet to him, though, and he can't help but wander closer. It looks decades ahead of anything that he's ever seen Darrow pop out, and that alone makes it interesting...

And then he sees who's sitting in the pilot's seat. Faye, he remembers - she left an impression.

"This thing yours?" He's still twenty feet away or so as he calls out, still looking the plane over with undisguised awe. "Hey."

[attitude]

He's cuter outside of the suit, however frivolous that observation might be. But she makes it, because it takes a second for Faye to recognize the man that strolls up to her, though she grins shortly after the realization. Of all the embarrassing circumstances to arrive under, dressed up in something that looked like a glorified wetsuit might have been high on the list.

But he's got a good attitude, if nothing else, and that makes Faye more inclined to strike up conversation.

"She's mine," Faye nods, raising her chin slightly in pride. Red Tail was fairly clunky compared to some of the other zipcrafts back home, ubt she was durable, and here in Darrow, she's practically top of the line. Faye's always found satisfaction in owning the best of the best. "Red Tail. Flew in on her when I arrived in the city, and have been doing some maintenance to make her practical for frequent use in the city. And she's not bad as a guy magnet, either."

She grins, narrowing her eyes. "Hey."

[fightthehurricane]

"She's not bad," Raleigh agrees, corner of his mouth pulling up in a faint smirk, looking the aircraft over with undisguised interest. Technology had come a long way between when he was a kid and when he'd left home for Darrow, but the tech he's used to isn't quite so... well, mobile. You couldn't exactly go cruising in a Jaeger.

The fact that it's Faye piloting it just makes things that much more interesting. He still doesn't know what to make of her, but the ship gives him one more excuse to try and figure it out.

He thinks he feels heat coming off of the craft and moves closer, taking a half circle around the front of the craft before he stops on the other side to look up at Faye. "Did you just take her out?"

[attitude]

This guy is a hard one to figure out. Even right now, as he circles his way around Red Tail, there seems to be nothing in his expression beyond genuine interest in the ship and her mechanics. No intent to steal or sabotage. No inappropriate advances towards Faye herself. And to someone who's walked in circles of secrets and self-interest for years, it's... strange.

But worth giving him a little more of her time.

"Not bad, says the guy who basically showed up in a wet suit," she points out, reaching into her pocket for the keys and tapping the release button for the ship's door. "I did take her out for a spin. Been making sure that her new engine's up to my standards, and, well. Wanted to see if I could break through Darrow's glass ceiling. You used to anything like this back home?"

[fightthehurricane]

"You should've seen what that wetsuit hooked up to," he shoots back, competitive without being overbearing. He still hasn't talked to anyone about Jaegers - no one who didn't already know about them, anyway. How do you describe a Jaeger and properly convey what they are, what they mean? Raleigh knows his job was important, but removed from that world, he isn't always so sure how to make anyone else know.

But Faye asks, and hell, he wants to try. He misses the life, as hard as it was. He misses Gipsy, misses his copilot... misses all of it, more than he likes to admit. Being a pilot had been his life.

He comes up closer, hands shoved into his jacket pockets as he looks up at Faye. "It wasn't anything like this, though. It was, uh, bigger, for one." So maybe that's an understatement. "Huge mecha. Called her Gipsy Danger. We took her up, once or twice, though. Jaegers weren't really meant for sustained flight, though. She looks like she's fun to handle, though." He indicates Red Tail. Talking about himself - his Jaeger, anyway - feels strange.

[attitude]

The bounty hunters always fancied themselves cowboys. Spike and Jet might have been some of the worst offenders on the list, but even Faye relented now and again to the notion. Cowboys were a hell of a lot more romantic than the truth of it all, which was that people took to space in her time because life on land was just... chaotic. Noisy. A consequence of too many people trying to find their place after the human race had been displaced on such a large scale.

But as Faye watches Raleigh now, she can't help but wonder if there isn't a bit of cowboy in every pilot. That thirst for adventure and exploration, tempered with a certain recklessness. Raleigh certainly looks the part.

It has its charm.

"I'm familiar with the idea of mechas. Technology didn't really veer in that direction where I'm from, but I can't even count the number of boys who dreamed of such a thing, where I grew up. Sounds to me like something built more for power and precision. My girl here's more about speed and maneuverability," Faye considers, wondering what it was in Raleigh's world that forced them to build such a technology. It's definitely not something the general populace would fund without a reason.

After a pause, she nods back in the direction of the cockpit. "How about I take you up in the air and you tell me a little more about these mechas of yours?"

[fightthehurricane]

"She's probably a barrel racer compared to Gipsy," he chuckles, moving in closer. It's not every day that a woman asks him to hop into her aircraft, and it's not every day that Raleigh would actually want to. He's still getting a read on Faye, but she's unafraid and open - both qualities he can respect.

Circling his way around the ship, he finally puts his hand on a panel, curious about the metal and regarding it carefully before he tilts back his head to look up at Faye. "Permission to come aboard?"

[attitude]

"In the right hands, at least," Faye says, watching Raleigh circle her ship before stepping towards the cockpit, her heels sharp against the metal as she climbs up into the ship. "Permission granted, but ladies first. You know how it goes."

She sits further right than normal, leaving half of the seat to Raleigh as she starts tweaking the controls for the added weight.

"You wouldn't believe the number of times I've had someone try to take my ship. And while they wouldn't get far with my remote override, I'd rather not invite the trouble," she adds, raising a brow and waiting for Raleigh to fully settle. "Who knows what your blond-haired, blue-eyed self might be hiding under the smile?"

[fightthehurricane]

"And why exactly were people trying to take your ship?" Raleigh raises an eyebrow as he climbs aboard, slotting himself into the space as best he can. He's never been in anything like it - he's used to a lot more space than this - and that alone piques his interest.

He resists the urge to reach out and touch everything, despite said interest, and looks over at Faye and giving her his best overly innocent expression. "I wouldn't dream of taking her away from you." And he wouldn't, which he's pretty sure is obvious, but it's fun to tease.

Straightening his back and getting comfortable, he looks out the front of the aircraft, then up toward the sky. "How far can you go before you get turned back?"

[attitude]

Once Raleigh's seated comfortably, Faye kicks the engine to life, and Red Tail starts to rise quickly off the ground. Faye always goes up with a little more speed than is strictly comfortable. The flip of her stomach has always been one of Faye's favorite sensations — gives her the feeling of adventure, even when Darrow itself remains stagnant.

"I've managed to get to about a hundred thousand feet above ground without losing consciousness. Not even to the level of Low Earth orbit. And every single time I come back down, I can't even remember what the terrain looked like while I was up there. It's like something keeps me from focusing," murmurs Faye, putting her craft on autopilot once they're above the tallest buildings in the city. "As for why people were trying to take my ship — who wouldn't want a ship like this? Not everyone could afford it, even though the technology existed. Same class divide as ever, even in the future."