Vaggie awoke bright and early, killing the alarm as soon as it went off so it wouldn't wake up Charlie so she could sleep in. Once she was up, she quickly got ready, grabbing a quick shower before putting on some fresh clothes and heading out to get breakfast before making her way up to the roof. Vaggie felt a smile creep across her face as she walked to the center of the roof, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as she splayed her wings. "Alright," Vaggie sighed, "Let's do this."
For the next hour, Vaggie performed the various stretches and warmup exercises Husk had taught her, taking about fifteen minutes to do her deep breathing before moving on to the low altitude hovering. As Vaggie stretched her arms above her head, getting ready to start flapping her wings, she felt the air around her grow thick and the unmistakable sound of radio static emerged to break the relative silence. "Ugh, hello, Alastor," Vaggie groaned, crossing her arms as she turned around to see the grinning overlord standing behind her, "What do you want?"
"What makes you so certain I want anything?" Alastor hummed, "Or, more specifically, why do you think I want something from you?" "I don't." Vaggie said bluntly, "I'm assuming you're looking for Husk. He's not here; not yet, anyway. He said he'd be up around 6:30."
"So, then… why are you here?" Alastor inquired. "Warming up for my training session with Husk. If you're looking for him, he's probably still in Angel's room."
"Angel's room?" "Yeah, Angel brought Husk to his room after his flare-up hit. He said he thought Husk would be more comfortable there; that he'd feel safer there. Husk didn't ask to go back to his room, so we just left him there. After what you pulled, though, I can't say I blame him for wanting to stay with Angel. We found the busted booze bottle. It didn't take much to put the pieces together." Alastor's eyes narrowed as Vaggie continued, "That was a really shitty thing to do. Tempting a recovering addict when you know he's desperate and most likely to slip. Talk about pathetic."
"I'm not here to argue with you about my relationship with my employee," "Servant," Vaggie corrected, "Husk's not your employee, he's your servant. And that's being nice about it." Alastor growled in frustration, putting his hands behind his back and clenching them into fists before saying, "I need to talk to Husker. It's rather important. So, if you don't mind, I shall take my leave."
"Just make sure he's got pants on this time, okay?" Vaggie shouted. Alastor just growled as he trotted off towards the staircase, letting out a yelp as the door leading to the stairs creaked open and Husk nearly collided into him. Vaggie was happy to see Husk, even more so since he was wearing his usual outfit again, which made her suspect that maybe he really was over the hump and feeling better.
"Ah, there you are, Husker," Alastor said in a greeting tone, "You're looking well today. I take it the worst has past." Husk let out a yawn and nodded slowly. "For the most part. My knees are still killing me, though. Can't imagine why." Husk looked up at Alastor with a less than amused glare and said, "But, then again, what else is new?"
"Hmm, quite," Alastor nodded, "Husker, might have a word with you… in private?" "Why?" Husk asked, carefully pushing past the overlord and whispering, "You find something else you want to interrogate me over?" Alastor let out a sharp breath and said, "No, Husker. But this is important," Alastor turned and gestured towards the door to the stairs and said, "Please. It won't take long."
Husk let out a heavy sigh and gestured to Vaggie to wait where she was before following Alastor through the door and closing it behind him. Vaggie waited for about five minutes before slowly walking over to the door to the stairs and carefully put her ear against the door. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, Alastor's voice was especially hard to hear as he probably was trying to talk softly. Husk, on the other hand, wasn't even trying to maintain an inside voice, but his words were still hard to make out through the thick wood.
"No! You stay the fuck away from me!" Husk roared, "Just keep away from me, Alastor! I can't… I can't even look at you right now!" Vaggie quickly backed away from the door as Husk stormed through and slammed it shut, letting out a yelp as a sharp pang in his shoulder made the muscles ache and spasm. "Husk, are you alright?" Vaggie asked, gently placing a hand on Husk's other shoulder. Husk let out a snarl as his fur and feathers bristled, his eyes glowing a faint gold as he flexed his claws and bared his teeth. A deep, angry growl rose up from Husk's chest as he walked over to the edge of the roof, looking off into the distance.
"Husk, please," Vaggie called, "You're scaring me. What's wrong? What happened?" Husk dug his wrists into his eyes, letting his hat fall to the ground as he reached up to bury his claws into his hair and scratch his scalp in a desperate bid to calm himself. "Husk?" Vaggie called, "Husk, are you alright?" "I'm fine," Husk hissed, "Just… give me a second, alright?" Vaggie bent down and picked up his top hat, backing away a little to give Husk some space as the chimera slowly started to calm down; his deep, guttural growls turning into soft, barely audible sobs.
Once Husk seemed to have calmed down enough, Vaggie slowly came over and placed her hand on Husk's shoulder, handing him his hat before the cat pulled her into a loose hug. Vaggie gently wrapped her arms around Husk, patting his back. "You good?" "I will be," Husk shook. "You wanna talk about it?" Vaggie asked. "No," Husk huffed, "No, I don't." Husk let out a shaky breath as he pulled away, rifling his fingers through his fur and put his hat back on with a silent 'thank you.'
"Are you sure you're okay, Husk?" Vaggie asked. "I'll live," Husk rumbled, "You ready?" Vaggie looked at Husk questioningly until Husk flared his wings and said, "To get started?" "Oh, right, duh." Vaggie chuckled, "Yeah, I'm all warmed up. Let's do this." Husk breathed deep, letting it out slowly, and turned to Vaggie with a nod. "And, Husk," Vaggie called, "If you ever, you know, change your mind and… want to talk, we can. Just… not here." Husk smiled and nodded, saying, "Thanks, Vaggie. Alright, let's get to it." Husk and Vaggie moved into the center of the roof and hopped up to become airborne, hovering a good five or six feet in the air. "So, what's on the agenda today?"
"Today, we're going to start easing you back into proper flight," Husk explained, "You've got the basics more or less down already. Lifting off, gliding, landing… eh, landing still needs some work, but you'll get better the more you practice. Today's exercise will give you ample opportunity to do just that." "Sweet," Vaggie gushed, "So, am I going to be flying, or are we going to do some more gliding exercises like we did the other day?"
"Today, the task is very simple," Husk explained, "You'll take off, fly a few feet straight ahead, and then come down to land. Take it slow, though, no need to be trying for top speeds just yet." Vaggie rolled her eye and Husk said, "I saw that. I get that you're frustrated, but trust me, now's not the time to be racing around in the sky."
"Why not, what's the problem? I'm finally up here, aren't I, why not try to have a little fun?" Vaggie asked. Husk motioned for Vaggie to follow him as he gently fluttered back onto the ground. "Assume the position, cadet." Vaggie watched closely, following Husk's lead as he stooped down and splayed his wings, wincing as his sore muscles made it difficult to spread them out all the way. "Now, tell me," Husk groaned, "What can you feel? Or, I guess I should ask, what can't you feel?"
Vaggie closed her eye and just stood still, letting her sense of touch take over and after a few moments, she realized what Husk was hinting at. "The wind," Vaggie gasped, "It's just barely there now." Husk smiled and nodded, saying, "Exactly." Husk let out a pained groan as he stood up, grabbing his flask and taking a quick sip before continuing, "Remember how I said wind speed and direction were a factor you'd have to keep in mind? If wind isn't there or it's very weak, it becomes a lot harder, if not impossible to stay airborne. I was hoping we could do way more today, but with the wind being this weak… it's just too dangerous. Plus, it probably wouldn't hurt for you to get a feel for it again before you try to go harder and faster. That, and," Husk groaned as he reached back and rubbed his neck tenderly, "I'm not quite at full strength myself just yet. So, it's probably best for both of us to kind of ease into it a bit, you know?"
"I see your point," Vaggie nodded, "I'm not trying to be difficult, I just… was really hoping to be flying already. Like really flying!" "I understand," Husk shrugged, "And you're gonna get there soon enough; don't worry. For now, just focus on surviving your training, alright?" Vaggie gave a chuckle and nodded, giving a thumbs up before following Husk back into the air. "Alright, cadet," Husk shouted, "Show me what you've got."