abraxaslogs | catch-all — take a sad song and make it better ;

Who: rocket and you
When: post-august event
Where: solvunn settlements, the horizon
What: a day in the life (and also building his horizon)
Warnings: none so far but will warn if they come up!

my schemes are just like all my dreams — solvunn ;

[ It's just another day in the commune, and in his newly mended and much better fitting robes (with pockets!), Rocket makes the rounds. Not that he makes a point of it at all, or says anything, or even thinks about it but he's taken to helping the locals whenever he sees an opportunity: mostly simple stuff like mending fences and roofs, fixing up tools, and then there's the odd wrangling of a goat.

Because, yeah. After his confrontation with some weird too-many-armed creature in defense of the goats, he's been keeping an eye on them a little. Every now and again. Just because.

Throughout the day(s) he can be found:

i) Mending said fences, just knee-deep in manual labour and looking surprisingly content while doing it. It's not just busy work (even thought it kinda is) but there's a surprising kind of productive feeling to the act. Maybe even something like ... fulfillment. But like hell is he ever gonna admit such a thing. Gross.

ii) Later, he might be found at one of the nearby little drinking holes, taking a local up on their offer for a free meal for helping them with a task (this time it was fixing a roof). If he recognizes you, he'll nod his head, which is essentially your cue to join him if you want. ]

Eh. Anything you want, it's on me. They owe me like twenty more of these things just today.

[ iii) And finally, at the end of the day Rocket will be making his way back to the treehouse near the Black Eye Lakes. He pauses as the sun sets to lift his head towards the bright orange skies and watch them for just a little bit.

To no one in particular (though clearly within earshot of you): ]

Well, I guess it's not all bad here.

here am i floating 'round my tin can — the horizon ;

[ Rocket's experience with the Horizon is still a little new and will take a little practice, but following his last visit there with Vash, in which there had been a lot of empty barren land and not much else, he decides that it's finally time to get to work on his own space.

He doesn't take up a whole lot of that space because being ruler of a planet or a kingdom or even grounded land has never been Rocket's ambition. Instead, it's a metal platform that he's currently working on, which stands beneath a system of control panels and steering systems that have already been installed, lights glowing through the motherboard. It looks like it's the kind of thing that will take a hell of a lot of work, and it'll be slow in its progress, but it's precise and it's exactly the way that Rocket wants it.

It's the starts of a spaceship. ]

Yeah. [ He makes a sweeping gesture with his free claw, while the other readjusts his goggles. There's a small shiny little symbol to signify the Chariot emblazoned on the side.

He points to the box of tools to the side, perfectly sized to him and looking already worn and well-loved. ] Yeah, that thing. Can you pass it over?

and oh, it's never quite as it seems — wildcard ;

[ feel free to leave your own starter below in any such fashion you wish if the above don't quite work for you! i'm down to party with anything and reach out to me via plurk/PM/discord to hash out any details! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Rocket's joy is infectious and everything Hilda hoped when she had suggested the idea to take Waffle for a ride.

Her smile grows, practically splitting her face with joy. Rocket's excitement is enough of a signal for her to keep urging them on. Her thighs tighten around the saddle. It's all the prompt that the wyvern needs to put on another burst of speed.

Domains blur beneath them as they race overhead. The wind bites at her cheeks and tangles her hair in a way that she had grown to enjoy over her years of learning how to ride. Both are a small price to pay for the exhilaration of rocketing through the sky thousands of feet above the ground. It feels silly that she had been so frightened about the flying and wyverns before. Nothing else can compare to this feeling.

Eventually Hilda brings them back around to their spot above his spaceship, Waffle's wings beating as he keeps them suspended in the air. Leaning from behind him, he'll be able to hear the grin in her voice. ]

Well, what do you think? Is it as fun as a jetpack?

[ The feel of the air blowing past and through his fur is something he's never really been able to experience flying spaceships — for very obvious reasons. Motorbikes and land-vehicles of similar construction don't feel the same either; they're not in the air, for one thing. The jetpack ... well, yeah, it's the closest it comes to the feeling, and he misses it something bad, but even he isn't above admitting (to himself) that this still hits different.

It takes Rocket a moment to come down from the (literal) high, and then to school his expression back into its usual nonchalance, for coolness-sake. And despite his best efforts, it's almost too easy to see the brightness still locked in his eyes because make-belief or not, it's not a memory he's gonna forget for a while. Might even be a feeling he tries to recreate in his own inventions from now on. ]

Enh. It was okay.

[ They're lies. They're all lies. ]

[ From where she sits, Hilda isn't able to easily see how Rocket folds the exuberant thrill he'd had up in the sky back under his normally cool facade. She makes no effort to hide her own knowing grin - not from her face and certainly not from her voice. ]

Just okay, huh?

[ She doesn't believe him one bit.

Silently she signals Waffle to descend and land. She slips off, leaving Mogwry on the saddle before turning around to see if Rocket will need help down too. If it was normally a bit of a drop for her, it'll be more of one for him. It's only when both of their feet are planted on solid ground again that she hums. ]

I was going to say that you could feel free to come by the aerie in my domain any time you want to take Waffle out to fly. But since it was only okay...

Well, all right, fine — it was a little more than only okay. Or whatever.

[ Rocket grumbles, a little low under his breath, like the admission is hard enough as it is to admit let alone get out into actual words.

This is torture, Hilda! Torture! Don't make him emote! (Unless that emotion is anger, rage, and anything to do with punching someone or shooting them, thank you very much.)

But he glances back to where Waffle has settled, and then back to Hilda.

He exhales and reluctantly adds: ]

That'd be nice though.

[ Mmm...nope. Too bad. Frankly, she likes seeing these other parts of him that he tries to hide behind that cool inventor persona.

Hilda's previous knowing grin blooms again. While she doesn't necessarily say, "I told you so," he can probably surmise that that's exactly what she's saying. ]

Oh good. Waffle really likes you, you know.

[ As if on cue, the wyvern turns, giving Rocket what is the equivalent of a playful wyvern nuzzle. Which is to say, it's not incredibly gentle for someone of Rocket's size. Fondness crinkles at the corner of her eyes. ]

We have a couple of wyverns there actually, so we can go flying together. Think of it as a thank you ahead of time for letting me use your observation deck.

Okay, okay! Get off of me, you dumb mutt—

[ There's a huff of exasperated amusement, and okay maybe some real fondness in there somewhere, when Rocket moves to shove the wyvern away from his face.

He's used to dealing with gigantic beasts much, much larger than he is. In fact, just about everything around him tends to be this way. ]

Well. It's not much of one yet — [ The observation deck, that is. ] — but it'll get there. Guess I'll — uh. Get back to it then.

[ He gives the wyvern one last pat before he gives Hilda a grateful little nod.

And none for Mogwry. 😌 ]

catch-all — take a sad song and make it better ;

you can pry them from my cold dead hands!!!

ilu 🥹

ILU MORE

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are we okay to wrap soon? 💕

wrapped! 🎀