RP:Delivery; to the Eyrie
This is the first chapter of The Delivery. See the rest of the story here!
The House in Kelay
Alvina sat at her work bench, scraps upon scraps of metal and discarded prototypes littered the surface. Finally she’d finished, after what felt like weeks of work, with the base design that did everything correctly. Sweat beads dot the bard’s brow as she pushed back against the desk to stand. Aria, the ebony kitten, sleeps quietly in the window. Outside, rain has started to speckle the sill with dark spots. Curled around her neck is what appears to be a winged serpent linking together tail to mouth. She touches the charm while watching the summer shower pass, the cat abandoning her perch with the threat of water pressing indoors. As if by some silent cue, Alvina moves to open the window to let the cool evening air in and starts to move the clutter and scraps from the table. Her hands are stained with rust and oil; metal shavings litter her work clothes like silver and gold glitter. Her hair continues her overall pattern of disheveled grandeur: radiating the look of being thrown up for function as opposed to fashion. Thunder rolls prominently in the distance. The bards emerald eyes still on the dark clouds overhead as she finishes clearing the table; her mind lost in aimless thought.
Hudson had run into a bit of a problem with the food coloring and dry ice idea. The dry ice had evaporated into fog, yes, all went as planned there, but it had been dense and colorless, leaving in its wake a puddle of food coloring, which had dripped onto the carpet and sent his mother into a (mild) rage. Very unpleasant experimentation session. Fortunately it had been followed by a not entirely unproductive trip to the local chemist's, and subsequent experimentation sessions had yielded decent results. The trick was in causing the dry ice to sublimate with various chemicals of assorted pHs, which would have to be mixed in with the dry ice. His writer won't pretend to understand chemistry on a meaningful level; in any event, Huds had reached some concoction that at last gave him the colored fog result he was looking for, and he felt he could take his work back to Alvina. And so he and his mum - who moonlights as lab assistant - loaded the various items required into a suitcase, padded by towels to ensure that there'd be no breakage or seepage. After coaxing mum into packing him a sandwich and lemonade, Huds fired off a letter to let Alvina know he'd be heading her way. Of course it would rain on the way there. But of course. He's long given up on keeping his shoes dry - he still wears them, of course, but they squish with the undeniable influence of water. His clothes are likewise damp, as is his hair. Feeling rather like a creature crawled out of the depths of a lake, Huds hovers outside the door to Alvina's lab, as if those precious seconds might make a difference. Thunder of course rumbles, and gone are Huds' clever ideas about 'drying off' by standing under a canopy of trees. He promptly knocks.
Alvina is pulled back from the myriad hallways of thoughts she’d been travelling at the knock. Hudson’s letter lay opened but carefully folded back atop the counter on its original creases. “Gods,” she said aloud, taking inventory of the rain and the likely soaked counterpart to her work before rushing to open the front door. He stood on the steps like a drowned cat and the bard had to fight back the initial urge of laughter to usher him inside, smiling apologetically at the conditions as if she had some say in the weather. “Let me take your…coat and shoes.” Leading the alchemist inside, Alvina dug through the nearest closet for some dry towels and cloth for his hair and face. “Let me start a fire…” fussing, and practically a blur without even a ‘hello’ or ‘welcome’ to usher him in, the woman set to trying to remedy the situation. After all, they would be traveling a decent distance. It might do for the pair to re-establish a level of warmth in hopes that the rain would pass; especially before taking to the air. The kindling beneath the square of logs Alvina had constructed caught with relative ease and the flume opened to expel excess smoke. “Here,” she pointed to a chair by the fireplace, “please, rest a moment. I can hang your jacket and shoes nearby so they can warm and dry a bit. We don’t need to rush off..” Silently, she hoped she’d have time to at least brush her hair before he wanted to leave. Even knowing that he would be coming did little to prepare her for the trip they were suppose to take today…
Hudson offers Alvina the smile of a cat that's been caught dipping into the creamer, mischievous but mildly apologetic at the same time. "It rained," he offers helpfully, as if it weren't obvious. He already knows what to do, even with her instructions, and begins the laborious process of peeling off his shoes - they've nearly welded themselves to his feet - and shucking off his coat so that he doesn't drip water inside everywhere. Apart from those articles of clothing, he's less drenched. Damp, yes. But as anyone who's been out in a rainstorm knows, it's those things that take the worst beating. And so they had. He leaves his suitcase by the door. "I ended up having to go with chemicals, the food coloring was a bust," he explains, his hands running through his hair in an attempt to coax it into dryness. Huds passes by Alvina's cat and, with a wry smile, reaches to stroke his forefinger along the cat's cheek. "Don't think we met last time," he comments, his gaze lifting to follow Alvina as she bustles about the place, making a fire. "Really no need to make a fuss, I'm pretty hardy. But we can take our time," he tells her. "Oh, and, er, my mum packed us sandwiches."
While Alvina rushed around like a whirlwind (hanging his coat and shoes, feeding the fire, and then rushing to tend to her own wrecked appearance), Aria blinks at the wet stranger with unease. As Hudson’s finger closes in, the kitten has enough time to smell him before he strokes her cheek. The tiny purr engine is revved; the small thing stretched forward on her front paws and mewed at him happily. Even though he smelled like water, when he gave her pets, she didn’t get wet. It didn’t take much to make Aria happy. By the time Alvina returned, Aria was pawing at Hudson to pick her up, and if refused to oblige her, she’d jump the height of his shoulder and perch there like a fluffy, narrow-slit eyed parrot. “Aria,” the bard scolded softly, “don’t bother the Master Alchemist. He’s come a long way in the rain, you know.” Standing next to the fire, Alvina had changed into her “traveling” cloak and cottons. All the while she wore her normal dress and boots, dark blue stockings and same tinted cloak. The silver antique brush floated through her hair until autumn stained locked shimmered like crimson velvet between her fingers. With a sigh, the woman approached Hudson once more. “Sorry you had to get caught by the rain…but it looks like it’s slowing up now. Pretty soon we can take Zi to the Eyrie fort and show Hilde your hard work!”
Hudson never had a pet himself but fancies himself relatively good with animals. All the same, he's not ready for how aggressively affectionate Aria is. He'd always thought cats were aloof? He also has never picked a cat up before, and he's afraid that Aria's trying to lure him into trap - cats are well known for their traps, after all - and so he reacts tentatively to her rather forward feline advances. And for his troubles, she launches himself onto his shoulder. He stands, immobile, afraid to move too suddenly. One hand lifts to pat the kitten's side in what he hopes is a manner that's appropriately appeasing. "She's not bothering me, I think we're getting on just fine," he is quick to explain, though secretly hoping for relief from this aggressive snuggling. Continuing to stand still out of fear for the cat's claws, his gaze follows Alvina as she moves about, though his attention darts away as she begins to brush her hair. "...Zi?" he asks, as he briefly checks on Aria. The sound emanating from her at such close range is adorably deafening. "Erm. Alvina?"
Alvina tuts Aria and moves over to scold her. “I’m afraid she was an abandoned kitten…so if you pay her the least bit of attention, she’ll crave it for as long as you seem to notice her. Come down now, sweet. Behave for our guest.” Aria’s ears tuck back on her skull but she continues to purr, until Alvina makes a clicking sound and summons the cat lightly from Hudson’s shoulder. Aria boasts no sharp claws and leaves not a scratch as she hops, with a bit of a grudge, down onto the table to act as a normal cat. Of course, the ebony feline could not refuse pets if she was offered them and would start to purr immediately once contacted. “Your mother made us sandwiches!?” Alvina responded quickly, almost forgetting that he’d said so a moment ago with Aria being so…herself. “That’s lovely! I’ll have to send something back with you as a thank you for her! What sort of things does she like? I’m a horrid cook…” The bard takes another look out the window; the puddles left in the rain storm’s wake are now shimmering in the fresh sunlight. When Hudson asks about Zi, Alvina touches the silver charm-like winged snake around her neck and smiles. “Of course! You can’t expect him to fly in that kind of weather.“ Then, stranger than ever, the bard tucks her chin to chest and talks to her charm. “Would you be kind enough to lend us your aid, Zi?” The small charm shifts on her neck, the tail slithering away from the mouth until the thing has 3 dimensions and flutters away from her neck to sit in the cradle of her palms. It chirps, with a strange almost accent, before turning to look at Hudson inquisitively. “He’s a Zilant,” she explained, as if his breed would be enough information for the alchemist. “He’s really rare. He was a gift from Lady Keturah in her travels, but that was when she thought he was a charm…There’s not another like him in this region.” The bard smiled proudly. “Oh, and don’t worry. He does get bigger.”
Hudson frowns a little as Aria hops off of his shoulder. He feels like he's gotten her in trouble, though the creature doesn't seem indignant at him about it, at least, because she's happy enough when he pets her out of contrition. "Oh, please, don't bother," Huds is quick to deter her from any idea of returning the favor for his mum. He's got a vested interest in no reciprocation at all occurring, given that he'd told his mum he was out on a trip with some guy friends of his. He says nothing of the sort to Alvina, but rather waves his mum's kindness all off as if it were of no consequence. "She's just like this, all the time really, it wasn't a special thing, and I promise you she doesn't expect anything back." He rubs the little cat beneath her chin. Such a tiny beast to create such a loud purr, really. His gaze follows Alvina's gesturing at the snake charm, which takes flight, much to his surprise. "That's incredible!" exclaims Hudson, his eyes growing with surprise as the thing seems to be alive and not a piece of jewelry at all. "You mean big like a dragon? Have you ridden on him before?"
Alvina’s heart melts watching Aria but she does her best to maintain her matronly stance of no jumping on guests against their will, by letting Hudson have the kitten’s attention. Of course, Aria had long ago forgotten everything that wasn’t rolling around being pet by warm hands and didn’t seem to mind their silly human reactions to her antics. “Big like a dragon,” the bard nods, “It’s a sort of wyvern dragon hybrid…magic….thing…” At which point Zi flutters over to the tip of Hudson’s nose, solid silver scales the size of metal chips coating his tiny body. “It’s a bit more of a zoo in here than usual…” Alvina notes, packing a few things into her bag, including the new container for the invention they had been working on. “And no, I haven’t ever ridden on it before…” She confessed as the creature buzzed back to her cheek, nuzzling her with tiny silver-dollar sized affection. “Let’s just see how this goes!” The bard calls, a bit too loudly in an attempt to rouse their spirits. “Aria, you’re welcome to come as long as you don’t pounce anyone else and stay in my bag during the flight.” Narrowing her eyes, the bard glares with pseudo annoyance as the kitten ignores her completely. They made a rather adorable comedy trio to be sure.
Hudson stills, his hand pausing on Aria's kitten form, as the tiny wyvern weaves in front of his nose. His eyes travel the length of the tiny creature, small like a charm but obviously very much alive. He realizes, only after it slithers away, skating through the air to rejoin Alvina, that he'd been holding his breath. He quits Aria's side and moves to his bag, rifling through the pockets to take out a strap, which he fastens in preparation for the journey. That would hold just fine, diagonally across his chest, he reasons, as he looks about for his coat and shoes. He sees where Alvina's hung them, and looks to her for confirmation that he should go fetch them. "Right, so," he says, one hand rising to rub at his face. He'd shaved for the occasion. It wouldn't do to show up at Hilde's doorstep looking like scruffy riffraff. "Did ah... you want to go now? Need me to do anything to help?"
Alvina blinks. Well, she didn’t have a reason to say no did she? “Are your clothes dry enough?” She asked, snapping her fingers to call the kitten, who promptly responds because she is no longer being given attention. Aria mews, receives one head pat, and it places delicately in Alvina’s own messenger bag on her hip. With a nervous sigh, she steps out the door to assist Zi with his transformation, leaving the Alchemist alone a moment before their journey together. Calmly, she speaks to the wyvern quietly. “Please let this work,” she both asks of the creature and the gods if they were paying her any mind. Removing a small tuning fork from her bag, against Aria’s will, Alvina strikes it against her metal arm and matches the pitch carefully honing in on the charm-like sprite. In a matter of minutes, it begins to grow. Hummingbird-like wings grow to soft, leathery contraptions along the back of the snake-like mount. It’s jaws snap at the air, growling softly at the change but not at the bard in particular. It’s clear now that it possess the muscular structure of a snake with the flight of a dragon. Huffing and fully grown, two clawed legs thunder into the soil to let her investigate him. “Please…” She whispers again, looking towards the door that Hudson will be exiting through to start the journey.
Hudson looks at the flicker of what passes for indecision traverse Alvina's features. Maybe he'd read that wrong, and she hadn't been ready to leave! Whups. "Reasonably dry," he says, following her outside, where he lingers on the doorstep lest he step in the dew. There's the glint of the tuning fork, struck against her arm, that sets off the transformation. Huds watches, transfixed himself, and only barely manages to tear his attention away to head back inside, where he pulls on his shoes and coat. It takes a moment, of course, though once he's dressed - a little less damp, sure, though no doubt things would dry on their own in due course - he picks up his bag and joins Alvina outside. He pulls the door shut behind him, though doesn't close it, rather waiting for Alvina to lock up (or give her a chance to collect her keys if she needs to). Huds approaches and eyes the fully transformed dragon-wyvern with a boyish interest, as if seeing a childhood figurine grown to life. He reaches out an arm to tentatively skate a hand along its scales. "I hope this isn't a stupid question, but we'll ride it like a horse, yes? Do you want to go in front so you can keep your bag and the cat on your lap?"
Alvina placed a steady hand on the front of the creature’s nose, soundlessly heeding him to stay put while she locks up the lab. As Hudson comes back out, she smiles at him half heartedly before stepping back into the now empty house. “Wish me luck, Teacher.” She says to the dust and darkness as she closes the windows and latches the door. Outside, Hudson’s amazement brings an earnest smile back to her lips as she answers. “That’s my best guess. As long as we don’t interfere with the wings, I think Zi’ll get us there in one piece. Aria’s snug in my bag and will remain so until we get there, “ she pulls on the strap across her chest to demonstrate its sturdiness. “Plus, Aria’s been through worse.” The bard winks at Hudson, and climbs up on what might have been considered the front shoulders of the beast. The serpant-like body lays flat on the ground as she shifts around, trying to find a position that suites both rider, co-pilot and beast alike. “Is that all right?” She asks Zi, who shivers in approval, before reaching out her metallic limb to help Hudson aboard. “It’s safe.” She remarked, though it wasn’t clear if she was talking about touching her arm or getting on the creature; both had to be safe, right? Sunlight catches in the bard’s wavy curls, already rebelling from being combed by spiraling tighter in the humid air as she leans down to assist the alchemist. “You don’t mind to hold on to me do you?”
Hudson watches Alvina climb on top of the wyvern, biding his time by adjusting the cross-body strap of his bag so that it doesn't cut in anywhere. He hovers to her side, in his ignorance of the wyvern mode of travel half-expecting her to slide off. Fortunately for him, she seems to balance just fine, and now it's his turn to climb up after her. "I expect we'll manage. My turn, then," he says. With the weight of his bag, he is grateful for the help of her arm, and he hoists himself on top of the wyvern and, to his delight, finds it sturdier than he'd imagined. Sure, the body of the wyvern trembles with the tremor of breath and feeling of a living creature, but he manages to lower himself into a seated position behind Alvina. He knows the drill; as the person in the backseat of his operation, the only thing between him and certain death by falling is Alvina. "Right then, I'll get settled," he says, more for himself than anyone else. And so, after checking that he's not in any way squashing her bag, he looks to the sky and wraps an arm about her midsection, sliding in closer to get a proper hold. Her hair would likely blow in his face the entire time they're flying, and so the last thing he does before sliding his other arm about her waist is shift his goggles in place. "Hope you er, fancied a cuddle," he says, trying for a little levity, though his less-than-smooth delivery makes him blush all the same. "All good here, if you're fine."
Alvina takes a moment once Hudson is aboard and situating to investigate the creature’s scales, in hopes of finding something that she could hold onto. When nothing came to light, she sighed, “Next time, I promise to have fashioned a proper harness.” For now, though, she removes a long band of leather which she loops under Zi’s body in order to have something to hold on to. Pity she couldn’t have just ridden in the back and held on to someone else, she envied Hudson’s position a little. Once the leather strap was secure (and not harmfully tight), another small leather strap emerged to band her wild locks for the journey. There was no sense in taking the time to fix it, only to have it undone by flight travel. And last but not least, a small belted leather hat found its way onto her scalp, fixed with a thin, less heavy duty version of goggles. Strictly so she could see depending on how fast they would go. Alvina ran over the list of inventory; Dragon, Prototype, Hudson, Aria, and with a delighted smile she added sandwiches silently. “I’m sure since this is new for everyone…most likely everyone…” the bard eyes Zi skeptically as she tested the leather strap she was going to hold onto, “I’m sure it won’t be that bad!” Her voice spikes in the end, just a bit surprised at the feeling of being held onto, blush was eminent, she already knew. Clearing her throat, the woman laughs and turns to the alchemist, looking all the world like a different person entirely. She grins and nods, before facing forward again, and leaning down to pat their convoy’s sides. “Do you remember how to get there? I’ll guide you if you lose your way.” She promised, weaving her hands in the make shift harness. And with that, the beast flaps its giant, leather bound wings and jolts them into the sky, hovering a moment while he gets his baring…and then cruises forward at a surprisingly reasonable speed, just above the forest tree line.
Hudson returns Alvina's grin, having a chuckle himself as he sees himself reflected in her lenses. The two make an amphibious pair with their goggles. His flush receding as she turns her gaze to the dragon, he tightens his arms about Alvina's waist, securing his hold for the takeoff, which seems fairly imminent. She is warm and smells nice, in that way that women tend to, and he smiles privately at the back of her head. The wyvern lifts, then, bearing them skyward, and Huds feels Alvina's body slide back against his chest with the pull of gravity. Fortunately he's too focused on holding on for dear life/avoiding certain peril to think of much else!