Log:Full of Hot Air
| Full of Hot Air | |
|---|---|
| Participants | 24 October, 2017 The Captain got his hot air balloon shipped from where he had it in storage, and Haruki runs into him prepping it in Riverside Park. |
| Location
Riverside Park | |
| It's heading toward evening, and a lot of the park has emptied of the day-goers who've now gone to dinner or off to get warmer clothing as the air begins to chill. There is, however, fairly close to the riverside itself but off the paths and away from traffic, the very loud whirring of a piece of machinery that involves a powerful fan and another, narrower loud sound that some people'd be able to identify as sounding like a very large blowtorch. There's also a pretty bright warm glow coming from that direction, even if it's behind trees. And... then... something large and sort of wobbly amorphously spherical-ish begins to rise, by inches, behind those trees.
Haruki's out for a run. He likes the park, it's peaceful enough here - usually at least although today there's strangeness going on. A wise man would run away from the strangeness, but Haruki's curious today to see the source of that noise and the glow. He pulls out his phone to take some pictures of whatever it is as he keeps heading towards.
And just around the other side of the trees, the scarred but handsome metal man with more self-assuredness than an American supermodel army-general pop-idol and the chutzpah to back it up-- the one who was in the back room at Crossroads the other day-- is checking the tethers on an actual literal real hot air balloon he's in the process of filling up. He turns off the fire for now. He's also wearing a white linen suit, which really stands out in the growing darkness, and is barefoot, which only stands out because one foot's made of gleaming gold and the other's the oxidized lead/tin alloy of the rest of him. On getting closer, Haruki can also hear the music the man's playing on his cellphone, which is propped on the rim of the basket-- it sounds like ska and it's super not in English.
Haruki immediately puts his phone away. No more photos. He does look on curiously, wondering what's going on and he sort of knows the man, doesn't he? And wow hot air balloon. He finds himself walking nearer, almost against his will, just drawn in by the entire scene and if he's looked at, he'll wave a greeting.
Of course the Lost man notices someone approaching him, even with music on just audible under the loud loud fan, and with his back to Haruki-- --he turns around sharply, suddenly, looking; he relaxes when he sees the guy from the back room of the cafe that he nearly knocked into on his way out the door. The wave's returned cheerfully enough, and the tin man's Polish-accented voice yells over the noise, "BE DONE FILLING IT SOON, THEN IT'S JUST THE FIRE TO HEAT IT UP. GOD DAMN, I MISSED THIS BABY-- HAD IT IN STORAGE FOR LIKE FIVE YEARS."
Haruki startles suddenly. His smile is warm, bright. He nods at Czcibor. "Five years?" He's maybe not quite so loud with the shouting. "Is it safe? Are you going to fly somewhere? Oz?"
"WHAT?" the Captain calls, cupping his hand around his ear, then sighing and flipping that hand up into the air. His mantle curls around him and around the basket and especially around the fan, moonflower and wisteria and the scent of burning sage. The sound of the fan doesn't lessen for Haruki unless he actually comes close enough-- basically within normal conversational distance of the Pole. "I COULDN'T HEAR THAT, SAY AGAIN?"
Haruki shivers and then breathes in deep, inhaling those smells, a smile on his lips for a moment. Wait? What was he saying? He does move in closer though. "Doesn't matter." He replies. "Just, is it safe to fly it after five years in storage?"
The metal man notices the deep inhalation at the sudden strength of his mantle, and coupling that with the fact that Haruki was in the 'safe' room in the back of Crossroads, gets all the confirmation he thinks he needs-- so doesn't stop Haruki from coming into the eye of the noise-hurricane, where the sound of rushing wind from the fan is muffled. "Oh, sure," he says in a normal conversational tone, grinning. "I had the nylon and ropes in a vacuum bag and that and the basket in a climate-controlled storage unit. You can come up in it with me if you want -- reinaugural run -- but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to ride in hot air balloons with strangers."
It's probably a bad idea. A really bad idea to get into a hot air balloon with a stranger. Haruki gazes up, at the sky and he does consider it, briefly and then shakes his head. "No thank you. It does look really cool though. And thankyou so much for the offer. Where you planning to fly?"
Strangely enough, the man actually looks approving at Haruki's decision to avoid getting in the basket. "Wise," he tells Haruki gravely, though it's mitigated by a gently amused look. His mantle flares briefly, and Czcibor gets a faintly puzzled look; he was sure... but then he glances up at the nearly-full star-studded deep purple balloon and grins. "Just over the general area. I want to see the two towns and the mountains from above, and probably get drunk. I've got some missing friends to remember." He looks wry; shrugs. "Time for some maudlin wallowing."
Haruki smiles at this and nods. "Oh that would be wonderful to fly up there." And he wants... he so wants to say yes but getting into balloons with strange fairies is such a bad idea and he knows that. "I'm so sorry for your loss. Is that, will it make you feel better? Up there, all alone, drunk-flying a balloon?" He shivers suddenly. "Don't go near Mischance, go the other way."
"Well, hell, I've for sure moved into the area. And four people fit comfortably in the basket, so if you wanted to bring someone you trust that could beat me up as easy as breathing, that's cool--" Czcibor fishes in his pockets and comes up with a business card, that has the number scribbled out and a new one written over it. It has his name and email, too. "--just let me know. Everyone should get a chance to ride in one of these, it's-- it's really serene." He actually looks happy, if wistful. "It'll help, yeah. I'll toast every one of them..." But then there's a quick, sharp glance over at the shiver. "Not just a fanciful name, then?"
"I would never want to cause you harm," Haruki takes the card though. "Thank you so much." He shakes his head. "No, Mischance is all bad luck and people going missing. I wouldn't trust it unless you know the area."
"--which I definitely don't," laughs the Captain, but it's not a very strong laugh. "Which one is Mischance?" he asks, scanning the horizon. "And I wouldn't want to cause you harm, either; I don't want to hurt anybody. But that doesn't preclude self-defense if necessary, and the same really should be true for you. Don't be afraid to fight to save yourself, or get someone who can help you."
Haruki points in the general direction of Mischance. Probably. Or maybe it's just a vague random direction. He smiles and nods. "Good. And yes, that makes sense. I don't want to fall out of a balloon or for there to be need of self defence. That'd be scary up there. I wouldn't fight, I'd run."
The Captain nods. "Just so." He turns the heat on, now, as the balloon's full but hasn't any lift yet. And then he starts untying ropes, and he opens the basket door and reaches in, pulling out an enormous musketeer-type hat and sets it jauntily on his head, huge plume bobbing behind him. "However-- it's time for me to get plastered in midair. I'm sure I'll see you around!" | |
