note: FF does not seem to like it when i copy-paste from AO3 rather than from my word document and gets all glitchy and code-y. if this happens let me know! sorry about this! (FF is harder and weirder to navigate than AO3 and for that reason I usually update there first)

CHAPTER 13: HONK CROSSROADS

INTERLUDE 1
ELI

Sitting for hours had a way of making one sore. A few flights a month Eli Ayase could manage, but the forth time in two weeks had her screaming internally as she crossed her legs on the coach seat. A scowl. Yes, she could afford better, but she had no intention of being noticed this trip. Her long legs bumped against the seat in front of her, and it took all of her considerable self control not to start yelling into the metal tube hurtling across the sky and timezones. She was worn to the bones, and then those bones had been scraped down to their marrow and broken apart at a molecular level. Would she like a drink, an auburn beauty in a stewardess uniform asked her. Yes. Yes she would. Make it a double.

Clouds held no thrill anymore. Storybook bloated puff balls, she thought. When would it be dark? When could she sleep? The bright azure sky showed no signs of heavier precipitation. The orb of the sun managed to be blinding, even with sunglasses on. She tipped her baseball cap to obscure the ball of gas millions of miles away.

She was glad this job was over. The States drained her. Traveling like this drained her. She missed the chill of home, the compacted cities rather than the wide open spaces. New York was okay, she guessed. But... she clutched her briefcase. Her hand hurt. The stewardess brought her a glass. Eli looked up and saw green eyes; she tried not to think of the green eyes waiting back home. It'd been almost three weeks in-field and she hadn't been able to make any calls. Business, Nozomi. It's all in the family business. How long would Nozomi tolerate that? Eli took a long swig of her drink. Vodka and cranberry. It was nice vodka, Eli supposed. Nothing special, but not bad. The stewardess gave her a smile and Eli gave her a thumbs-up. (A very painful thumbs-up.)

Would Nozomi notice the bruises this time? Lately they'd only undressed in the dark. It was better that way, Eli thought. The more Nozomi knew, the more danger she would be in.

The gravity of the situation felt oppressive, as if she'd come from earth after a lifetime of the moon. Sometimes... sometimes, she wished she'd picked a life that didn't involve being proficient in secrets. Was it doing a disservice to feminism, to wish she didn't have to carry? Was it wrong, to wish for personal fulfillment rather than duty? Hadn't she played this particular lesson out, years and years ago?

And yet, here she was. Flying back to Russia.

Sometimes, she wished Honoka had kept u's together.