She told Vanya she planned to ask everyone she knows to show her their favourite places in Thedas, and that is true... but it's no coincidence that she started with him.
When she meets him in the Eyrie, Ennaris is in her standard-issue Riftwatch uniform, rather than her usual floor-length dress with its impractical skirts. Her hair is up in a neat and tidy bun, fringe pinned back away from her eyes. The forearm of the right sleeve of her uniform jacket is pinned up at her shoulder, to prevent its flapping about while they're airborne.
βnot that she has any expectations about what they'll be doing today. Though if she did, she might also have smuggled a couple bits of dried meat in her pocket, in hopes of making a good impression.
"I haven't spent much time up here since I first arrived," she admits, watching the griffons with obvious affection, fascinationβat a healthy, respectable distance. "The last time I was in the Eyrie, Artichoke tried to eat my hair."
So hopefully he's not the griffon Vanya intends them to ride todayβthough again, she's not making any assumptions! Ahem.
"Luckily, Pamplemousse's weakness is toys rather than snacks, so your hair is likely safe," he says with a smile. When Ennaris arrives, he's been saddling the griffon in question, a light gray female who tilts her head curiously at Ennaris's approach. Her demeanor is perhaps a bit unexpectedly mischievous, given the man she bonded to, but the griffon stays put, behaving for now.
"I am, however, realizing that I absolutely should have checked whether you dislike heights, so if you do I can make us a new plan immediately. Otherwise." He retrieves a neatly coiled pile of ropes and harness parts, which he'd set to one side on a bench. "I think I've worked out, with some help, a way for you to securely ride behind me. If you're game. Pamplemousse has had two riders before, that part is fine, I just... I don't want you to worry about your balance."
From the complexity of the gear, it seems likely she could reuse it, if she wants to go flying a second time (and the first flight goes well). He's attentive to her reaction, trying to gauge if he's miscalculated or misstepped in time to pivot if need be.
More than discomfort or fear, Ness' demeanor is thoughtful, consideringβis she afraid of heights? It hadn't even occurred to her to think about it before now, it hadn't seemed relevant. She'd asked Vanya to show her his favourite place in Thedas, and this was his answer. Whether she would like it too wasn't part of the question.
"I don't think I'll be afraid," she concludes, after a moment of diligent consideration. "Though I haven't flown before, so I suppose I can't say for certain. The prospect doesn't fill me with dread, at least!"
Not least of all because of all the thought Vanya has clearly put into making this safe for herβthe harness is hardly some last-minute construct, jury-rigged makeshift with the belated remembrance of her new defect. He went through no small effort to put this together, and Ness has to purse her lips to hide the pleased smile that threatens to overtake her at the idea of all that thoughtful diligence focused on her, at least for a little while.
"Besides," she says, confident, as she approaches Pamplemousse with one hand out for introductions, "I know you'll keep me safe. What could be frightening with you around?"
Pamplemoussse nudges Ness's hand with her beak, clearly curious. The griffon's eyes are sharp and attentive, but her overall demeanor is relaxed here in the eyrie with Vanya close by.
"Well," Vanya says with a little smile, "we'll attempt not to answer that question. But since this is just a pleasure flight, if you feel uneasy or unsettled, just let me know and we'll come back. There's no need to grit your teeth and bear it. I understand flight doesn't agree with everyone." He'd been lucky enough to enjoy it from the first lesson, but he doesn't chalk that up to anything about himself in particular. (Right or wrong.)
He comes to Pamplemousse's other side and puts a hand on the griffon's neck, though he doesn't stroke or scritch her feathers, just leaving the gentle pressure there. "It's something of a team effort, griffon flight," he adds, clearly fond of his flying partner. "She enjoys a game, but she's gotten old enough that she's unlikely to do a roll without being invited anymore. I think she can probably manage a relaxed introduction to the air, can't you girl?" Pamplemousse's response is a gentle trill, a sound familiar from both cats and birds but not quite either one.
"Of course," Ness agrees to his insistence easily, with no intention whatsoever of actually voicing any such disquiet, should she feel it. She can manage a small dose of fear, if the trade-off is getting to spend time with her friend, doing something he enjoys. She's fought animated marble, darkspawn, grotesque mutantsβshe's died, before she ever did any of that. By comparison, flight is nothing.
She will make it nothing.
With the approving forward pressure of Pamplemousse's beak against her hand, Ness smiles, and goes for a scritch at the earsβwhich the griffon quickly ducks away from, not unkind but very clearly indicating her distaste for the practice. Ness pulls back immediately, palm up in placation.
"No petting, Serah 'Mousse, I understand. My apologies for the offense."
Pamplemousse seems to accept the apologyβat least, she relaxes and trills again, and Ness smiles at her.
"Well," she says, turning her attention to the harness, examining its mechanisms, "I'm very curious what this will be like, shall weβoh."
Something visibly occurs to her, eyes lighting with a new question, and she looks to Vanya, unsure for the first time.
"Will we be able to hear each other, up there? Does all the," she waves her hand about between them, mimicking gusts of wind, "the wind get loud? And the wings?"
It might be prudent to establish how he feels about telepathy before such a situation arises, rather than be taken by surprise and suddenly muscle into his thoughts without so much as a by-your-leave.
Vanya smiles at the by-play, as much at how much Pamplemousse has learned to politely express her preferences as at Ness's equally polite apology. He files away the suggestion that Ness might like to watch their more ground-centric training, now and then, if this goes well.
In the meantime he nods at her question, even if he doesn't immediately follow her thought the step beyond it. "It can be a bit loud. Louder if we go very fast, though I don't plan to. But you'll be at my back, so leaning forward you'll be quite close to my ear." Vanya considers. "I suppose it might make sense to have some sort of signal that's more reliant on touch than sound, if you need to get my attention. Just to be safe. I've carried passengers before but Captain Baudin was mostly concerned with shooting Venatori." Also, her voice carries.
Well, if he's not bringing up telepathy as a possibility, that says enough on its ownβwhether he's simply not thinking about it, or neglecting it deliberately, it's not something he's inviting, and so she must avoid it unless she absolutely cannot. It's a surprise to realize that's something of a disappointmentβthat she has come to sincerely enjoy the intimacy of it, and would like to share that with Vanya in particular, the same way she does with Stephenβbut it's not worth dwelling on. There are more practical concerns to consider, in absence of his acceptance of the potential intrusion.
"Well, that does seem to be something of a pressing issue," the Venatori; if they're in a position to be shooting at them from griffon-back presumably there wasn't much time to deliberate on codes or signals, "but for our purposes... tapping, perhaps?"
She reaches out (and up, because he's so much taller than her, and she has no feelings about that whatsoever,) and taps his shoulder in a deliberate rhythm.
"I think that should do just fine," he confirms. "This is very much not a combat outing," knock on wood, "so you may be able to get my attention without it, but I'll be on the lookout for a tap even so. Oh, that does remind me..."
In addition to the harness, he retrieve a small pair of goggles. "These are optional, but I tend to wear some eye protection in the air. For the speed. We've got some modified for things we won't need, like seeing better at night, so it's just for comfort, really." Still, he'd thought it through in advance, methodically going through the tack a passenger might need for a non-combat ride. "I think otherwise you shouldn't need any extra kit, we're going sight-seeing."
"You really did think of everything," said with distinct fondness, because that's one of her favourite traits of hisβhow thoughtful he is, how conscientious. Ness takes the goggles, spreads the straps with the fingers of her one hand, and immediately encounters a problem she hadn't thought to consider when deciding to lop off her arm: anything with straps going around a part of her body she can't see is a recipe for disaster.
She frowns at the goggles, trying to puzzle through how to put them on by herself, moving her fingers through the motions she thinks she'd need to take to make it work.
"Would you like me to help you?" he asks, instead of just reaching to do so. He's still not entirely sure how to thread the needle: giving her the time to work out an approach without making her feel as if she has to manage on her own.
"I'd been thinking of asking," she says, still frowning at the goggles, "but it does sort of seem like something I should work out on my own?"
She could figure it out if she had the time, she's sureβshe worked out styling her hair, tying laces, found a system for dressing and writing and reading and is working doggedly on returning to sewing... but Vanya is standing there, and he and Pamplemousse are both waiting on her to be ready. Ness sighs, not terribly upset, and holds the goggles back out to him.
"I'll work on it later, for when we do this again."
He seems to assume they will too, at least from the lack of any correction or objection. Instead, he comes to take the googles from her. "Perhaps we could leave them fastened and work out a slightly longer tie of some sort. A way for you to loosen or tighten them without undoing them entirely?" he suggested.
(She's not the first person he's ever known without two working hands, but he would admit if pressed that flight is a new enough addition to his life that he's still working that part out as they go.)
"There's no rush to get it perfect in the first try," he adds as he settles them on her forehead, "as long as you're comfortable for the outing. We can make a variety of adjustments once we know what does and doesn't work." He considers. "Do you think you can pull them down or push them up, or does leaving it loose enough for that feel too insecure?"
No rush to get it perfectβNess makes a distinctly disbelieving face, and ensures Vanya sees it, too. Of course it's got to be perfect first try, he's seen her in their Nevarran lessons. He knows what she's like, faced with a new skill or tool; if they're not aiming for perfection what is the point?
Her expression smooths as he settles the goggles on her head, and she pulls them down to her neck, then back up to her eyes. She turns her head, rolls her neckβstops short of jumping around because that would just look sillyβtrying to imagine how it will feel up in the sky, wheeling around on a giant bird-cat.
"I think that would be too insecure," she says finally, tests completed, "but a longer tie seems like a good idea. It's hard toβI can manage bows and buckles so long as I can see them. I hadn't thought about anything like this, I haven't practiced for it."
Her disbelieving face makes him smile, rueful and with an air of yes, I should have seen that coming. Pamplemousse, for her part, watches with a attention but resists any potential impulse to make the item they've passed between them a toy.
Off Ness's suggestion, Vanya says, "If you find you enjoy flying, it might make sense to have something custom made. Fastening in front wouldn't be practical, but maybe a set that fastens at the side, near your ear?" But that is, probably, getting ahead of themselves when they don't even know if she's afraid of heights yet.
He checks the fit and seems satisfied. He goes to retrieve the tack for riding, and at that, Pamplemousse perks up noticeably. One ear flicks forward, anticipatory. "I didn't know if I'd be afraid of flying before I tried it," he adds. "I knew I was fine with heights in ... being on ramparts or on top of towers. But it's a different thing."
Ness hums her agreement, the side could work, but a small part of her wonders at suggesting that she just not fly without him. The thought is discarded almost as soon as it occurs, though; too blatant, too impractical.
"It does seem rather different to standing at the top of a tower," she says, watching him ready Pamplemousse with no small interest. This bit of kit goes here, that strap is tightened only so much, watch the shoulder blade thereβshe's committing it all to memory, in case she has to do it alone someday. "I've sat cliffside over the Sea of Swords with sharp rocks and crashing surf hundreds of feet below me, but at least then I was in control of when and if I moved."
Oh, but perhaps it sounds like she's convincing herself to be afraidβNess smiles, to offset it, and lets her genuine enthusiasm colour her voice when she says "This will be a very educational flight. Do you get on first or should I?"
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When she meets him in the Eyrie, Ennaris is in her standard-issue Riftwatch uniform, rather than her usual floor-length dress with its impractical skirts. Her hair is up in a neat and tidy bun, fringe pinned back away from her eyes. The forearm of the right sleeve of her uniform jacket is pinned up at her shoulder, to prevent its flapping about while they're airborne.
βnot that she has any expectations about what they'll be doing today. Though if she did, she might also have smuggled a couple bits of dried meat in her pocket, in hopes of making a good impression.
"I haven't spent much time up here since I first arrived," she admits, watching the griffons with obvious affection, fascinationβat a healthy, respectable distance. "The last time I was in the Eyrie, Artichoke tried to eat my hair."
So hopefully he's not the griffon Vanya intends them to ride todayβthough again, she's not making any assumptions! Ahem.
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"I am, however, realizing that I absolutely should have checked whether you dislike heights, so if you do I can make us a new plan immediately. Otherwise." He retrieves a neatly coiled pile of ropes and harness parts, which he'd set to one side on a bench. "I think I've worked out, with some help, a way for you to securely ride behind me. If you're game. Pamplemousse has had two riders before, that part is fine, I just... I don't want you to worry about your balance."
From the complexity of the gear, it seems likely she could reuse it, if she wants to go flying a second time (and the first flight goes well). He's attentive to her reaction, trying to gauge if he's miscalculated or misstepped in time to pivot if need be.
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"I don't think I'll be afraid," she concludes, after a moment of diligent consideration. "Though I haven't flown before, so I suppose I can't say for certain. The prospect doesn't fill me with dread, at least!"
Not least of all because of all the thought Vanya has clearly put into making this safe for herβthe harness is hardly some last-minute construct, jury-rigged makeshift with the belated remembrance of her new defect. He went through no small effort to put this together, and Ness has to purse her lips to hide the pleased smile that threatens to overtake her at the idea of all that thoughtful diligence focused on her, at least for a little while.
"Besides," she says, confident, as she approaches Pamplemousse with one hand out for introductions, "I know you'll keep me safe. What could be frightening with you around?"
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"Well," Vanya says with a little smile, "we'll attempt not to answer that question. But since this is just a pleasure flight, if you feel uneasy or unsettled, just let me know and we'll come back. There's no need to grit your teeth and bear it. I understand flight doesn't agree with everyone." He'd been lucky enough to enjoy it from the first lesson, but he doesn't chalk that up to anything about himself in particular. (Right or wrong.)
He comes to Pamplemousse's other side and puts a hand on the griffon's neck, though he doesn't stroke or scritch her feathers, just leaving the gentle pressure there. "It's something of a team effort, griffon flight," he adds, clearly fond of his flying partner. "She enjoys a game, but she's gotten old enough that she's unlikely to do a roll without being invited anymore. I think she can probably manage a relaxed introduction to the air, can't you girl?" Pamplemousse's response is a gentle trill, a sound familiar from both cats and birds but not quite either one.
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She will make it nothing.
With the approving forward pressure of Pamplemousse's beak against her hand, Ness smiles, and goes for a scritch at the earsβwhich the griffon quickly ducks away from, not unkind but very clearly indicating her distaste for the practice. Ness pulls back immediately, palm up in placation.
"No petting, Serah 'Mousse, I understand. My apologies for the offense."
Pamplemousse seems to accept the apologyβat least, she relaxes and trills again, and Ness smiles at her.
"Well," she says, turning her attention to the harness, examining its mechanisms, "I'm very curious what this will be like, shall weβoh."
Something visibly occurs to her, eyes lighting with a new question, and she looks to Vanya, unsure for the first time.
"Will we be able to hear each other, up there? Does all the," she waves her hand about between them, mimicking gusts of wind, "the wind get loud? And the wings?"
It might be prudent to establish how he feels about telepathy before such a situation arises, rather than be taken by surprise and suddenly muscle into his thoughts without so much as a by-your-leave.
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In the meantime he nods at her question, even if he doesn't immediately follow her thought the step beyond it. "It can be a bit loud. Louder if we go very fast, though I don't plan to. But you'll be at my back, so leaning forward you'll be quite close to my ear." Vanya considers. "I suppose it might make sense to have some sort of signal that's more reliant on touch than sound, if you need to get my attention. Just to be safe. I've carried passengers before but Captain Baudin was mostly concerned with shooting Venatori." Also, her voice carries.
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"Well, that does seem to be something of a pressing issue," the Venatori; if they're in a position to be shooting at them from griffon-back presumably there wasn't much time to deliberate on codes or signals, "but for our purposes... tapping, perhaps?"
She reaches out (and up, because he's so much taller than her, and she has no feelings about that whatsoever,) and taps his shoulder in a deliberate rhythm.
"Something like that?"
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In addition to the harness, he retrieve a small pair of goggles. "These are optional, but I tend to wear some eye protection in the air. For the speed. We've got some modified for things we won't need, like seeing better at night, so it's just for comfort, really." Still, he'd thought it through in advance, methodically going through the tack a passenger might need for a non-combat ride. "I think otherwise you shouldn't need any extra kit, we're going sight-seeing."
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She frowns at the goggles, trying to puzzle through how to put them on by herself, moving her fingers through the motions she thinks she'd need to take to make it work.
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It's early days.
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She could figure it out if she had the time, she's sureβshe worked out styling her hair, tying laces, found a system for dressing and writing and reading and is working doggedly on returning to sewing... but Vanya is standing there, and he and Pamplemousse are both waiting on her to be ready. Ness sighs, not terribly upset, and holds the goggles back out to him.
"I'll work on it later, for when we do this again."
Which they will.
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(She's not the first person he's ever known without two working hands, but he would admit if pressed that flight is a new enough addition to his life that he's still working that part out as they go.)
"There's no rush to get it perfect in the first try," he adds as he settles them on her forehead, "as long as you're comfortable for the outing. We can make a variety of adjustments once we know what does and doesn't work." He considers. "Do you think you can pull them down or push them up, or does leaving it loose enough for that feel too insecure?"
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Her expression smooths as he settles the goggles on her head, and she pulls them down to her neck, then back up to her eyes. She turns her head, rolls her neckβstops short of jumping around because that would just look sillyβtrying to imagine how it will feel up in the sky, wheeling around on a giant bird-cat.
"I think that would be too insecure," she says finally, tests completed, "but a longer tie seems like a good idea. It's hard toβI can manage bows and buckles so long as I can see them. I hadn't thought about anything like this, I haven't practiced for it."
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Off Ness's suggestion, Vanya says, "If you find you enjoy flying, it might make sense to have something custom made. Fastening in front wouldn't be practical, but maybe a set that fastens at the side, near your ear?" But that is, probably, getting ahead of themselves when they don't even know if she's afraid of heights yet.
He checks the fit and seems satisfied. He goes to retrieve the tack for riding, and at that, Pamplemousse perks up noticeably. One ear flicks forward, anticipatory. "I didn't know if I'd be afraid of flying before I tried it," he adds. "I knew I was fine with heights in ... being on ramparts or on top of towers. But it's a different thing."
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"It does seem rather different to standing at the top of a tower," she says, watching him ready Pamplemousse with no small interest. This bit of kit goes here, that strap is tightened only so much, watch the shoulder blade thereβshe's committing it all to memory, in case she has to do it alone someday. "I've sat cliffside over the Sea of Swords with sharp rocks and crashing surf hundreds of feet below me, but at least then I was in control of when and if I moved."
Oh, but perhaps it sounds like she's convincing herself to be afraidβNess smiles, to offset it, and lets her genuine enthusiasm colour her voice when she says "This will be a very educational flight. Do you get on first or should I?"