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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 27, 2011 0:32:28 GMT -5
Anna threw the last of her things in her backpack, securing her laptop and shrinking her Incantus to fit. Pulling the bag over her shoulder, she grabbed the printed tickets and headed upstairs to her master's apartment. It had been her job to secure their passage to France, since neither master nor apprentice relished the idea of being on a metal eagle for eight hours with no bathroom accessible.
She knocked twice on the door as she entered--he was expecting her, after all. "Hey boss," she called. "You set? We need to hit the road so that we can make it through security and stuff."
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 27, 2011 0:42:16 GMT -5
Horvath tucked a book into the valise he was packing and closed it. "Yes, Anna," he called from his room. Valise in hand, he strode into the main room where his apprentice waited impatiently for him.
He didn't really want to mention it, but he had never traveled by airplane before. They had only just been invented when Balthazar had captured him in the Grimhold, and since his release he'd had no reason to leave New York City. This would be quite new to him.
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 27, 2011 0:54:42 GMT -5
Anna grinned at him and led the way downstairs, hailing them a taxi to get to the airport. She had a feeling this was new for her boss--after all, he'd spent most of the last century inside a Russian doll--and the fact that he was letting her take the lead on making their arrangements seemed to speak to that. Certainly she knew more about modern air security and whatnot.
Navigating through JFK was never fun, but they got checked in and through security without incident. Anna had been a little worried about the last, but she'd already informed Horvath of the major things he couldn't bring. At least they weren't going to be hauled in for having weapons or something.
After pulling him out of the way of a large family dashing to their gate, Anna shook her head and sat her boss down at their own gate. "Smooth sailing from here, boss," she said. "Nothing to worry about. These metal birds are safe as houses."
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 27, 2011 1:03:05 GMT -5
"My dear Anna, if you had seen some of the houses I've been in, you would not be using that metaphor." Horvath scowled at the family that had dashed past them, watching the way the mother tried to do a running head count on her enormous, ill-organized brood as she ran. It was quite tempting to cast a spell that would undo all the locks, zippers, and fastenings on their luggage. Doing so would probably make him feel better...
He shook his head to clear away the urge. No magic in the airport, Anna had said. Anything that even hinted of suspicious was likely to get security pouncing on them with extreme prejudice.
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 27, 2011 1:09:35 GMT -5
Anna rolled her eyes, and put in her earbuds, careful to keep the volume low enough so that she could hear their boarding call. They didn't have long to wait, and soon they were moving onto the 747 that would take them to France.
She stashed her backpack at her feet, sliding into the window seat and settling in for the long haul. Horvath maneuvered his valise into the overhead compartment before sitting next to her. Anna wished she could ease his nerves better, but she'd never flown overseas, and knew that any words would probably be as torn down as her last comment. Horvath only started dragging out the medieval stuff when he was edgy.
Finally, they were off the ground, and once the seat belt light was off Anna pulled out her laptop and set up shop. She still had homework that had to get done--Horvath's stipulation in letting her come along on this little adventure, that she not fall behind. She suspected it was because he didn't want to hear her complain about it later, rather than for any actual concern for her education.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 27, 2011 1:46:25 GMT -5
Horvath's nerves were not soothed much as the plane taxied down the runway and took off. Really, this was an insane way to travel. What suicidal human decided it was a good idea to fly in a giant metal bird??
If Anna could hear that thought, she would probably mention Balthazar and that damn steel eagle of his.
The old sorcerer scowled at the thought of his long-time opponent and did his best to settle down to his book while his apprentice got started on her homework. When the drink cart came through their first-class section, Horvath quite gladly availed himself of the small bottles of scotch they offered.
Humans were definitely not meant to fly.
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 27, 2011 1:53:10 GMT -5
Anna let herself get absorbed in her computer code, her earbuds blocking out the ambient noise around her. Between the metal rock pounding in her ears and the keypad under her fingers, she might as well have been on a different planet. All that mattered were the numbers and codes that would translate into a working program by the time she was done.
The main cabin lights dimmed, since they were flying at night and some of the passengers wanted to sleep. Horvath turned on his overhead light to read by, and Anna kept working. Right up until the laptop was jarred violently by the plane hitting turbulance.
Anna cursed, a bit louder than she normally did around Horvath, hastily grabbing the computer and saving her work. The seat belt light dinged on, and the stewardess announced that they had hit a rough patch but should pass through it quickly. Anna put her computer away, since the tray had to be raised, and refastened her seat belt. One glance at her master told her how well he was handling the situation, and she gave him a nervous grin that she hoped was at least a little reassuring. After all, they were sorcerers. If the plane did crash, at least they would stand a shot at surviving.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 27, 2011 2:01:11 GMT -5
And this was, precisely, why humans shouldn't fly.
Horvath dropped his book and sat bolt-upright in his seat, hands clenched on the armrests and eyes shut tightly. The plane bucked underneath them, and every time it dropped a few feet he would have been willing to swear that they were in fact falling from the sky completely. What sort of magic could he use if the plane did indeed fall? A cushioning spell wouldn't work in the middle of an ocean, and oh God please make it stop....
The old sorcerer was very pale indeed by the time the plane stopped shaking around them, bones showing white through the skin of his hands. Gingerly, he opened one eye to look at Anna.
"Is it safe now?" he asked, grimacing at his dry mouth.
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 27, 2011 2:13:51 GMT -5
Anna was a bit pale herself by the time the plane stopped shaking. She ran her fingers through her hair and slumped in her seat. "Course it is," she said, not sounding completely convinced. But hey, these things happened. They were fine.
It was getting late, so she decided not to pull her computer back out. She wouldn't be able to get her focus back at this point anyway. Instead she put her headphones back in and attempted to curl up and get comfortable in her seat. Might as well try to get some sleep.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 27, 2011 2:28:42 GMT -5
"Good." Horvath unbuckled his seat belt and rose. "Excuse me for a moment..."
He found out a minute later that airplane lavatories were not comfortable places to be sick in.
Coming back from the lavatory, still rather pale, he found that Anna had curled up in her seat in an attempt to sleep. He decided that his apprentice had the right idea. At least there was some small amount of elbow room in these seats- he'd seen how people were crammed in together in the rear sections of the plane.
Horvath settled back in his seat and closed his eyes. He had never been particularly religious, but after the turbulence a few minutes ago he was sorely tempted to pray for a safe landing...
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 27, 2011 2:34:11 GMT -5
Anna had just fallen asleep as Horvath resettled in his seat. One advantage of living with such a crazy schedule--she'd learned early on how to grab sleep when she could. She woke up just enough to turn so that she was facing him. "You alright, boss?" she asked drowsily. He didn't look good, and for Horvath to appear as anything less than impeccable was usually a bad sign.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 27, 2011 2:49:34 GMT -5
He nodded weakly, though not so much as to disturb his stomach again. "Yes Anna, I'm well enough. Go back to sleep."
She did so, dropping off with an ease that he almost envied. It must be a trait of the young- he could remember being able to fall asleep that quickly when he was young, though he had long since traded that ability being able to get by on only a few hours of rest. Settling back in his seat, Horvath attempted to follow his apprentice's example. He'd nearly succeeded too, when a weight settled on his right shoulder.
He cracked one eye open. Anna had managed to slump over in her seat so that she was now using his arm as an impromptu pillow. Under normal circumstances he might nudge her back over to her own side- she did have the window seat, after all and an entire wall to use for a pillow- but at the moment, he didn't mind. A little human contact was surprisingly reassuring just now.
Horvath smiled slightly and allowed himself to doze off.
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 1, 2011 18:37:52 GMT -5
Anna didn't wake up until they were beginning their descent. She was slightly embarressed to see that she'd ended up on Horvath's shoulder...but the old man hadn't shoved her off, so that meant he probably didn't mind. She stretched as well as she could, yawning as she pulled out her earbuds and reached to tuck the mp3 player into her backpack. A look out the window confirmed that the sun was rising bright over Europe.
Their descent was smooth, though her empty stomach didn't enjoy it much. But soon enough they were on the ground again, and she could practically feel her master relaxing now that they were no longer in the air. Anna groaned inwardly--she was going to have a hell of a time getting him on the plane home.
Fortunately, the French airport was not nearly as hectic as JFK, and they navigated out to the main area fairly quickly. Horvath stopped at a booth to get the train schedule, and Anna reached into her backpack and pulled out a purple beret, which happened to match the purple streak in her hair. She gave her master a sardonic grin as he turned back to her. A lesser person might have rolled their eyes, but not Maxim Horvath.
"What? We're in France. I want to be with the style."
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 1, 2011 20:23:13 GMT -5
Horvath hid a wry smile by stroking his goatee with his free hand. Somehow he doubted that purple berets were 'with the style', as she put it, but at least it matched her hair. It could be worse.
The old sorcerer's improved mood was directly related to the fact that they were back on the ground and were going to be traveling by train for the next leg of the trip. The prospect of not flying made Horvath a much happier man. Trains were a much more sensible method of getting from place to place, and Europe had a very good train system.
"The next train south is in an hour. Plenty of time to make it to the station and get tickets."
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 1, 2011 20:36:05 GMT -5
"Cool. Do we have time to stop for breakfast? I'm starved." Anna followed him out of the airport. At least for this part, she could let him take the lead, since Horvath spoke the language and knew where they were going. Aside from a few high school French courses, Anna wasn't much good at the language.
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