Rockeye's first glowfic. Loki (a Bell) falls on Nick in Cloudbank.
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Something comes over him. That constant aura of 'slightly nervous' disappears - he is doing nothing but flying the ship, manipulating the controls almost as if they are extensions of his body. Loki would be in the way here.

This state of affairs continues for about an hour and a half. There is some violent shaking in the middle bits, but eventually they are clear of the storm.

"I think I need a nap."
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"I wouldn't blame you. That was impressive to watch."

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"Was it, really? It's just a matter of focus. I wasn't even aware you were still here. Anyone can - get in a rhythm like that if they have a good reason to."

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"Yes. But only in areas of great expertise. Someone who doesn't know what they're doing will choke instead."

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"Hum. Well, thank you. I'll be taking that nap now, would you mind watching the wind? No wait, I should estimate how far that storm flung us first."

He writes some things down. Then he goes to bed.
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And Loki watches the wind.

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A few hours later: "Nothing broke while I was asleep, right? I should have done a check earlier. Nothing feels wrong, at least, I built this thing tough. Oh, and thanks to the homesick angel I pulled to get us above the storm, we're close to squid-territory now."

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"I didn't notice anything awry. Homesick angel?"

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"You'd have noticed. Ah, homesick angel is a colloquialism. An old religion thought that divine... Winged things called angels live in the hydrogen layer, so a ship ascending as fast as possible is like an angel trying to go home. Hence the phrase."

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"Huh. Cute."

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"It is, isn't it? I don't think my ship bears much resemblance to anything divine, much as I love it. I should go maintain the mechanisms, but if you have decent vision, soon would be a good time to find a jellywings."

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"My eyes are good," she says, and she goes up and looks for jellywings.

If it takes too long to find any and they don't attack the ship either, she may see what squids think of illusion jellywings. She probably can't make them really convincing having only seen a picture, but it would get a squid to come out of hiding, and then she could spear it.
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There are various flying and floating critters here and there. Some even take a rest on top of the ship. But none of them are the massive floating balloons that squids like to eat so much.

Nick doesn't seem to be too worried. "I brought plenty of food and water, and the gas cells were full. We can cruise around for a few days, no rush. The only thing is that every hour does make it trickier to get back again."
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"Can you keep a secret?"
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"That's like asking, do you want to make a deal? Depends on the deal. Depends on the secret. I don't normally have a good reason to gossip, at least."

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"What would you consider a good reason to gossip?"

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"I'm mostly wary of unconditional promises. If there is a compelling reason to reveal something I promised to keep secret, I will reveal the secret. If I promise to, I don't know, keep it secret that I saw someone hanging out in front of an abandoned building. Discovering them with a bloody knife and hearing that someone was murdered inside is a good reason. Thinking that abandoned buildings should be left alone is not a good reason."

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"Mm. Well. I can do a number of things which I have not told you about. I would like to disclose one of them so as to speed this excursion up. I assure you that if you ever hear of a murder which could only have been committed with the use of my unusual abilities you will not be obliged to keep your promises to me, but do I otherwise have your word on your silence?"

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"I knew something was up. Yes, you have my word."

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"Lots of things are up. The thing I have in mind is -" She holds her hand out palm-up. She appears an illusory jellywings there, revolving slowly on the spot. "Squid bait."

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"Is that technology, or magic?"
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"Magic."

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"So magic is not just a thing that happens, see you dropping into Cloudbank for no good reason. But bending the laws of physics a thing that people can do. I want to learn."

"...Once we've gotten the squid. If I can."
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"I could try, but I've never taught before. I'm largely self-educated myself so I have no tutors to imitate. Also, spell development takes decades."

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"Decades. Yes, that could be a problem. We humans only have a few of them to work with, you know. Here I am thinking about dozens of problems I would solve if I could just cheat a little, but it's never that easy. Hmm, I suspect you can't conjure metal. I would have conjured and sold a solid ton of the stuff if I could have."

"But I'm getting sidetracked. For now: Squid. The best way to attract it would be a large, injured-looking jellywings. The older and bigger they are, the more they accumulate damage and the easier they are for squid to hunt. Shall I keep the ship as steady as possible while you attempt to lure in our ticket to riches?"
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