The next morning, Vaggie got up extra early so she could meet Husk out front. When five o'clock rolled around and she didn't see him, she figured he was up on the roof waiting for her. As much as she wanted to just fly up there, she knew she wasn't quite ready yet, so she gave a frustrated sigh, went back inside, and took the elevator up. Sure enough, as she opened the door to the roof, there was Husk, sitting on the edge puffing away at a doobie. "There you are," Husk said, "I was wondering what was taking you so long." "I thought we'd be meeting out front," Vaggie shrugged, "Guess I should've called when you didn't show up around 4:50."
"Nah, I should've let you know I'd be up here," Husk sighed, tamping out his cig, "Sorry about that. Last night was just… kind of crazy. Shit, yesterday as a whole was fucking nuts." Vaggie laughed and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, well don't worry about it, Husk. We're here now, and that's all that matters, right?" Husk nodded and waved her over to where he was sitting. Vaggie sat down next to him, turned and said, "So, what's on the agenda today?"
Husk pulled out his flask, took a tiny sip of grog and said with a shiver, "You know how to glide, right?" "Uh… glide? You mean we're actually going to try flying today?" Husk shook his head, "Nope, not fly, glide; big difference." Husk gave a long stretch and stood up, splaying his wings a bit as he stepped back several feet before stretching them out almost as wide as they'd go. He stayed like that for a moment, waiting for a bit of wind to blow before running forward and leaping off the roof. Vaggie watched in shock as the cat caught a gust of wind and flew a few feet before slowly descending back down to the ground, landing a few yards away from Dazzle's statue.
"Okay, now it's your turn!" Husk shouted, "Are you crazy!?" Vaggie screamed, "The last time I did this, I nearly plummeted to my death!" "Don't worry; if anything goes wrong, I'll catch you, just like last time. I promise!"
"Yeah, and throw out your back in the process," Vaggie sassed. "What was that, cadet?" Husk called, "Uh, noting! Ugh… I must be crazy." Vaggie took a few deep breaths, gathered her courage and copied Husk's moments as precisely as she could. Spreading her wings, Vaggie waited to feel the wind pick up a bit again and charged, letting out a war cry as she leapt off the roof. As she started her decent, Husk leapt up and took to the air, "Wings, Vaggie; spread your wings wider!"
Vaggie followed Husk's instructions and stretched her wings out even wider, gasping as she found herself catching the wind and her decent very quickly slowed. Husk followed her as she glided down, never getting too close to keep from disrupting the airflow around her while staying just close enough that he could dive down and catch her if she lost her lift. As they approached the ground, Husk turned to Vaggie and said, "Alright, you're doing great! Now, follow my lead." Vaggie followed close as she and Husk came down, landing hard on the ground with a loud grunt. "You okay?" Husk asked worriedly, "You stick the landing too hard?" "Ugh, nope," Vaggie sighed, "The ground just came up a bit faster than I was expecting. But, everything's fine."
"You're positive?" Husk asked. Vaggie shuffled her weight on her feet, double-checking to make sure she didn't hurt anything and gave a sigh of relief when nothing was hurting. She turned to Husk and gave him a thumbs-up. "Oh, thank Satan. Not bad, Vaggie, not bad at all. But, you definitely need practice. That is what we're doing today." "Wait, so we're just going to… jump off the roof all day?" Vaggie asked, dumbfounded. Husk chuckled, shaking his head and said, "Of course not. I'm not that crazy." "But… how else am I supposed to practice?" Husk gave a knowing smirk and said, "Simple; we're going barhopping."
Vaggie and Husk made their way to an area known as Liquor Lane, so called due to most of the businesses there being licensed to sell alcohol. Vaggie was a bit concerned, mostly because she was worried about Husk feeling tempted to drink. But the old cat seemed far more focused on the day's lesson than getting plastered. The two came up to a rundown old shop and Husk led Vaggie into the alleyway between it and the neighboring apartment. "Follow me."
Vaggie watched as Husk jumped up and pulled down the fire escape ladder, climbing up onto the roof. Vaggie let out a nervous groan before starting up the ladder and made her way up onto the roof. "It's pretty windy up here," the angel shivered. "That's the point," Husk chuffed, "Look behind you." Vaggie did and noticed that most of the buildings' roofs were more or less level with each other. "This is the perfect place to start."
"So, what do you want me to do?" "Isn't it obvious?" Husk asked; Vaggie just shrugged, earning a somewhat frustrated groan and an eyeroll from the chimera. "Watch closely, then follow my lead." Vaggie watched as Husk repeated what he did back at the hotel, only instead of gliding down to the ground, he rode the wind to clear the gap between the two buildings and land on the roof of the building next to the one Vaggie was still standing on. "Well, come on!"
Vaggie took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she got into position and followed Husk's instructions, shouting as she leapt up and spread her wings out to catch the wind and landed with an audible wheeze. She checked to make sure she hadn't hurt anything. Surprisingly, she was just fine despite the landing having been a bit rougher than she would've liked. She wasn't sure if it was because she was an angel or if it was because she was so much younger than Husk, or if there was some other factor at play, but she was fine.
"Whew, that was a rush," Vaggie laughed, "So, are we done?" Husk looked at her with an amused smile, crossing his arms and tilting his head as if to say, 'What do you think?' Vaggie groaned and said, "Yeah, I didn't think so." "Hehe… don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually. It's just like everything else I've shown you; practice makes perfect." Vaggie smiled and nodded, following Husk as he leapt up and glided to the next rooftop. They kept this up for about twenty five minutes, working their way down the line until the roofs started getting taller instead of shorter or staying roughly level with each other.
"Great," Vaggie sighed, "Now what? Should we go back, or…?" Husk looked around, biting down on one of his claws and taking a moment to think; his face lit up when he spotted a small shop on the other side of the street. He pointed to the front door of the shop and asked, "Think you can glide that far?" Vaggie looked at the building and shivered, "Uh… I don't know. It's not that far, but I don't think I'll be able to stay aloft long enough to clear the gap." Husk groaned, rubbing his temples as Vaggie continued, "Look, if you want to go, that's fine. I'll double back a bit, climb down the fire escape and meet you there." "Sure you'll be able to remember where it is?" Husk asked, "A lot of these buildings look pretty similar if you're not familiar with the area."
"I'm sure. Go ahead, I'll meet you there." Husk just shrugged as Vaggie headed off; once she landed on the building next door, she turned and saw Husk spread his wings and glide across the street, landing carefully right in front of the shop before heading inside. Vaggie lifted her head and felt her heart sink when she realized what kind of shop Husk just went into; it was a liquor store.
"Oh shit, Husk!" Vaggie looked around, making sure there was no oncoming traffic before charging and leaping off the roof, landing just short of the sidewalk and headed in after Husk. "Husk!" Vaggie looked around, trying to find Husk among the small crowd of demons. It was abnormally loud in the store, probably because most of the patrons were too drunk to realize just how loud they were talking; some where even screaming at each other, much to the disdain of one of the employees.
"Ha! Yeah, and then the crazy bitch had the absolute nerve to call me up," a familiar voice laughed, "What a fucking joke." Vaggie turned and saw Husk standing at the counter, chatting with a lanky white and red weasel demon; the sinner was puffing on a cigar as he bagged up a few bottles and handed it off to Husk. At first, Vaggie thought Husk was buying it for himself, but instead he handed the bag to the short goat-like demon standing behind him and passing the cash off to the shopkeeper. Husk waved to Vaggie as they made eye contact and Vaggie gave a sigh of relief when she saw Husk take out his flask and take a quick swig, tucking it right back into his pocket and continuing his chat with the other sinner.
"Vaggie, this is Clancy. Clancy, meet Vaggie." Husk said putting a hand on Vaggie's shoulder. "Uh… hello." Vaggie said with a nervous chuckle and a wave. "So this is your newest little protégé, huh?" Clancy snickered, "Looks pretty vanilla to be running around with the likes of you, eh, Husker? Especially down here on Liquor Lane." Vaggie arced a brow as the sinner gave a wheezy laugh and said, "Anyway, I'm guessing you're not here to show off your newest squeeze."
"She ain't no squeeze," Husk snapped, "And you know exactly what I'm here for, you mooch. The bar's getting low on the sauce, and since Alastor can't be bothered to schlep his own bony ass down here or use a delivery service, it's on me to pick it up."
"Alright, alright! Jesus, take it easy, Husker. Be right back." Clancy muttered something under his breath before walking into the back, leaving Husk and Vaggie alone. "So, this is why you brought me out here?" "Fuck no," Husk scoffed, "This shop carries those fancy fruit flavorings that I need to make Angel's favorite froufrou drinks. We're almost out of the strawberry stuff, so I figured while we're in the neighborhood, I'd grab a bottle before we head home."
"Oh! Oh thank God," Vaggie sighed, "That's a relief." "Let me guess, you thought I was here to grab a drink?" Husk asked. Vaggie turned away, feeling a bit ashamed that she'd jumped to conclusions. Husk had only just started his rehab and was making good progress; even if he had come in to grab something it was way too soon to be expecting him to cut back so much, especially given his current situation.
"I'm sorry," Vaggie sighed, "I was just worried. This whole district is nothing but one big liquor store, so… I was afraid you'd be too tempted being here." Husk let out a snort and patted Vaggie on the back, "Trust me, if I felt that tempted just being in the vicinity of a booze shop, I wouldn't have come here. Sure as hell wouldn't have come here with you in tow, at least. As Hazel likes to say, 'I'm crazy, not stupid.'" Vaggie chuckled and nodded, "Fair enough. I just wish you'd told me what you were up to before flying off like that. Maybe I was being a bit… paranoid. But, it's just because," "You care." Husk finished with a smile.
Clancy smirked as he came out and saw Husk and Vaggie smiling at each other. "You sure you don't want me to come back in five minutes?" Clancy teased, "That's about how long it usually takes you to go off, right Husker?" "Oh, fuck you, Clancy," Husk hissed, handing him the money for the flavoring and grabbing the bottle, "At least I can make 'em finish first. Come on, Vaggie, let's beat it." Vaggie flipped Clancy off before following Husk out the door, slamming it shut behind her and leaving Clancy red-faced as he puffed indignantly on his cigar and mumbled, "Fuck you, too, bitch."
"Wow, what a creep!" Vaggie huffed, "I can't believe you're friends with that guy, Husk." Husk let out a chuckle and said, "Clancy's not a friend, he's my supplier. The old storekeeper, Heinrich, was a friend. Clancy just took over the shop after Heinie died a few years back in the Extermination. Fucking shame; he was… one of the last real friends I had from back in the day."
"Back in the day?" "Yeah… when I was," Husk swallowed thick and said, "Back when I was still an overlord." Husk's face fell as he said, "I'm… not proud of all that I did back then. And I've got more than my fair share of regrets. When shit started going south, most of the guys who invested into the business with me dropped out. Heinrich was the last to leave, pulling what he could to keep his own side businesses afloat. But, at least he stayed for as long as he could; pretty much all the others bowed out the second things started going wrong. None of them even tried to help. They all just… left me to drown." Husk turned to face Vaggie, but she was gone. "Vaggie!? What the fuck? Where'd you go!?"