Logs ~ First Flight

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Thursday afternoon. In which Alison takes a page out of Jamie's book and is reduced to saying 'vroom' a lot. Otherwise known as her first actual flight of the Blackbird. Haroun and Scott get to observe while the Blackbird's fate hangs in the balance.

Haroun sat in the control tower, and tried to keep from biting his fingernails down to the elbow. He stared out at the Blackbird, not really seeing it in favor of imagining what the black-leather-clad blonde bombshell taking her first solo flight was doing. She knew the checklist, her time on the sims was well within the legal limits, and she gave every indication of being ready to fly solo.

Still, he worried.

"Jetstream to Dazzler. Weather's been uploaded, and you've got a clear sky and good winds. We have your flight plan, and we have approved it. Blackbird One, you are cleared for launch." he said into the mike, keeping his voice cool and professional.

Renting out an airfield had been one way to conduct the first test flights, Alison reflected as she went over the final items on the checklist methodically, her reply to Haroun reflecting far more calm than she felt. She was inordinately grateful she didn't have to deal with the take-offs the set up they had at the mansion implied, and then some – the narrow spaces involved in the vertical take offs and landings that led to the underground cargo bay were not something she'd have wanted to deal with on her first time out. The final switch was flipped and with that there was no more reason for delay or quibbling. The cabin of the Blackbird was almost eerily quiet compared to what it must sound like outside, she thought, though she fancied she could hear the dulled roar of the engines right outside, echoed in her bones, somehow. Instead she reached forward and grasped the throttle, moving it from off to idle, the starter kicking in immediately as the plane started to power up, Alison sinking slightly in her seat in reaction to the steady increase in power.

Haroun watched their 'Bird start to move, powered by the rather brutal amounts of thrust those big Pratt engines kicked out, and he held his breath unconsciously. Take-off and landings were two of the most dangerous times for the inexperienced pilot, and if something was going to go pear-shaped, it was going to happen now. "Transferring tower control to Cyclops." he announced abruptly, taking off the boom mike headset and handing it to Scott. "Jetstream is airborne." he said, opening the emergency door that led to the outside and flicking his power into being. He wanted to be on-hand in case something went wrong, and he was the only flyer here today. He also flicked his internal throat-mike radio set to the 'Bird's command frequency. "Jetstream to Blackbird One. Come in, please." He subvocalized.

The comm had already been left open earlier, Alison not wanting to have to even consider taking her hands off the throttle once things were underway. Big plane. Big powerful plane. And her hands were on the controls of that plane. She could see the white edging her knuckles, where the gloves left her fingers bare. Really big powerful plane. Oh boy.

"Blackbird One to Jetstream, confirm." She kept an eye on the panels and gauges showing her the increase in power output from the engines, confirming the readings from the tachometers to Scott as he took over from the control tower. In that same calm voice that kept her wondering who the hell was in the cockpit with her. The Blackbird gathered power as she moved the throttle further, the instant response in power causing her to forget that breathing was a requirement for a few moments.

Haroun circled around the Blackbird as it almost visibly gathered itself together, quickly headed for liftoff speeds. Although with this baby, that wasn't very far at all. Haroun had to crank the airscoops wide to get enough air in his lungs to talk and fly at the same time. "Looking good." he said, more to reassure himself than her. Switching channels, he got the comm frequency for the tower. "Jetstream to Cyclops. We're in good shape, I think."

"Cyclops to Jetstream. Everything looks fine from here. I'd say something about you hovering, but it would be sort of redundant."

He grinned at Scott's reply, and then quickly returned his attentions to the Blackbird.

For all that it felt like an eternity and the dead certainty she was somehow going to manage to end up flipping over mishandling the throttle, the actual moment of transition between 'ohmygodonthegroundvroom" and 'floatingwheee' took mere seconds. Haroun's oft repeated instructions 'bring her up slowly but not too slowly' and 'make sure to keep every move smooth but sure' echoed in her mind and kept her from indeed, making any sudden moves as she nudged the Blackbird up gently, switching mental gears from focusing on lift-off to gaining sane altitude. The confirmation of lift off was a touch belated perhaps, but no one commented on it, more information from the various controls and
panels around her being relayed or asked for calmly. She was grinning like a loon, she realized. And chuckling to herself. Which meant both Scott and Haroun were very much hearing her, she knew – not that she cared overmuch at that particular moment. She was gaining serious altitude and that meant moving forward next instead of vertically.

Unseen by everyone, Haroun was also grinning. Just for fun, he rocketed up over the canopy, orienting himself so that he could stare into it if he liked. He couldn't see Alison - hell, the canopy would make an excellent mirror - but he knew she could see him. He flipped her a thumb's up, and then spoke up over the radio. "Jetstream to Blackbird One and Tower. Looks like she's managed to avoid cratering Betty so far. Proceed to Nav Point One and we'll try some basic maneuvers."

"Tower here. Go on the maneuvers."

Whatever protest Alison may have wanted to make at the cratering comment was instead replaced by a gleeful yelp as forward motion was smoothly achieved, the 'Bird leaping forward obediently under the slight shift of the throttle. The word 'vrooom' was likely figured in this once more, though she was so lost in the trying to make sure she was doing everything (three times over at once) that any other slip in the calm composure she'd managed so far went entirely unnoticed by her. The thrill of sheer anxiety at the entire concept of flying a stealth jet was easily matched by the pure glee of the moment. "Blackbird One to Control, proceeding to Nav Point One confirmed."

"Tower here," Scott said, unable to keep the note of amusement out of his voice at what he heard in hers. "Proceed. And remember to breathe, Dazzler."

Haroun kept pace with the Blackbird - for him, it was a nice sprint. For the Blackbird, it was one step above stalling out and crashing. The 'Bird was made to fly, and to fly fast and high. Even the modifications begun by Scott and continued by Haroun hadn't blunted that fundamental fact.

"Jetstream to Blackbird One. You are now officially on your own. I'm heading back, and I will see you on the ground." he said over the Blackbird link. Over the Tower link, he smiled at Scott. "Told you
she'd get it up in the air. Assuming she lands OK, first round's on you."

The comm chatter was blissfully ignored so long as it didn't involve her, Alison focusing on teasing more speed out of the Blackbird as she headed for the designated aerial zone for the exercises, still grinning like a mad grinning thing the entire time. The exercises went smoothly - they were as basic as such things could be and Alison knew they'd been designed so that anyone who could at least manage a successful lift off would not have too many problems with them. The odd 'vroom' that escaped her had nothing at all to do with the discovery of new and fun ways to attain even more speed than when borrowing Scott's car.

"Pretty Betty." Hopefully, no one would have heard the low croon. But then again, Alison decided as she maneuvered the plane in another of the practice routines - she didn't really care if anyone did.

***

"Blackbird One to Control, bringing her in for the landing." Information was exchanged once more, the pre-landing checklist worked through smoothly. It was one thing to have been in the Blackbird for all those landings, but quite another to actually be the one landing her. Still - something about what Haroun had told on a return from a mission one time her came back to mind. 'If you listen, she'll tell you how things are going.'

And it was true that there was a particular sound and feel to the 'bird, and actually paying attention to it a bit more carefully than usual certainly wasn't a bad idea. She remembered how things were supposed to sound, at any rate. With a final confirmation to the control tower, Alison started the landing procedures, keeping a careful eye on the gauges and panels while slowly bringing the Blackbird from a forward motion to hovering, before starting to head down.

A slight wobble was corrected, the gauge warning her about the plane's balance barely having time to twitch before settling down once more and Alison grinned to herself at that. The wind shear heralding the second, larger wobble however wasn't corrected to easily. Still, Alison managed to keep the 'bird to a simple, small bounce as it settled slightly more to one side at the last moment before landing fully, the gauges settling to even as she leaned back in the seat and let out her breath. Running through the cooldown procedures for the engines, Alison sighed in both relief and giddy delight. She'd flown a plane. A bloody supersonic modified stealth bomber type place.

Laughing seemed a bit appropriate at that particular moment, even as she threw the last switch and the engines died down, leaving an almost disturbing hole in the soundscape around her. "Done!" And if protocol slipped for a bit, hopefully she'd be forgiven.

Haroun, once again up in the air to shepherd her through her first "real" landing, winced a bit as she dribbled the Blackbird just a bit on landing. "Jetstream to Dazzler. It's a multi-million dollar piece of military hardware, it is NOT a basketball!" he scolded her. "But other than that, landing looks good. You can help me look for stress-fractures to the landing struts once you're released." he said firmly. "But overall, a fairly good landing. Grade B midrange." He said. "Now then, let's get her locked down and then we can talk about how things went."

"Cyclops to both of you," Scott said wryly. "Dazzler, decent first landing. Jetstream, considering giving the good before the bad, next time - it's a better teaching strategy."

She was trying oh so hard to keep the laughter down. It kept bubbling up now that it was over, undertones of 'I flew a really big plane' having a lot to do with it. Flicking the last switch to off, she leaned back in the seat, then starting to undo the safety straps. "Ooookay!" Yep, there was more than a bit of sing song to her voice. "Not a basketball, and I'll help with the landing struts." Once she was free, she slid out of the seat and clambered out of the cockpit, heading for the outside. "Flew the Blackbird, whee!" She hummed the words under her breath, enjoying how they sounded, until she finally stepped outside.

Haroun touched down himself, smirking at the snatches of song coming over the radio. "Seems somebody's enjoying herself. We'll celebrate down at Harry's tonight. I understand it's somewhat traditional, is it not?"

"You bet," Scott said, "and it's one we don't dare flout." He smirked, despite the fact that neither of the others could see it. "That would be like inviting Murphy in for an extended visit."

"Harry's tonight!" was added to the cheerful hum, Alison trotting out onto the field and swerving from her original direction (the control tower) to make a beeline for Haroun. "Big plane! I flew it!" She was being silly but she didn't care. How many people flew something like the Blackbird anyway? Nearing Haroun, Alison gifted him with a definitely silly smile. "Scared silly I'd dent her. But it was fun!" And without further ceremony and dignity be damned, she flung her arms around him in a pounce. "Fun!"

Haroun, to his credit, didn't stagger backwards or even give any grounds when we suddenly had his arms full of wriggling Alison. "Yes, you did!" he said, and kissed her thoroughly, dignity be damned. "And you did an excellent job of it, too!"

"I did! No denting!" She kissed him a second time, though it was quick since there was more happy burbling to be done. "It was fun! And you were right about the hearing things! There was this odd whine when she unbalance for a bit and it took me by surprise because I didn't expect it but wheee!" The soft sound of glee did an admirable job of expressing her general frame of mind. "When can we do that again?" Sure, she'd panic all over again, but it had been fun.

"She's good and hooked," Scott said from the tower, still rinning. "Better get used to her racing you to the pilot's seat whenever you go out on a mission, Haroun. And she'll win, too - she cheats."

Haroun snorted. "We'll see about that." he said, but he had a wide grin on his face. "C'mon, let's get the 'Bird all squared away so we can go celebrate."

~*~

Late evening. On the return from Harry's where Alison's first flight was duly celebrated, she and Haroun get silly. Very silly. Worlds of silly. Nothing but pure fluff.

The noise and bustle of Harry's was still echoing, even though she and Haroun were now carefully going up the stairs. If careful included Alison doing her level best to trip into Haroun every other step or so, while stifling her laughter as best as she could. "Oops. Sorry," she repeated again, not quite getting too much in the way as they navigated another step. Playful was one way to describe her mood at the moment, along with a fair dose of disgustingly happy. Generally pleased with herself was high up the list, too. "I'll be more careful?" she offered, batting her eyes at him.

Haroun grinned at Alison. "If I did not know better, I'd say that you'd had too much to drink. But you don't any more than I do, so I'm guessing you're just in full-blown cuddlebunny mode." he said with a wide grin. Truly, it was good to be him. He quite playfully palmed her backside the next time she "stumbled" into him. "I like the cuddlebunny."

That action earned him a definite reaction, as Alison most certainly did not stumble away that time, instead leaning against him fully, practically purring in approval. "I should hope you do," she grinned, kissing the corner of his mouth playfully. And then tickled that spot she'd discovered a while ago, before wriggling free to dance up a few steps higher up the stairs.

Haroun's eyes popped as she found one of his only remaining sensitive spots. "HEY!" he said, trying and mostly failing to bite back a highly unmanly giggle. He grabbed for her and laughed, determined to catch her so that he could have his nefarious way with her. "Kamere, you!"

"Shhh!" She waved a hand at him frantically, even as she darted back up the steps, making sure to stay just out of reach. For a little while anyway. Maybe. Reaching the top of the stairs ahead of his she leaned down, a shade too much so knowing only too well the view it would give him as a result. "You don't want to wake anyone up now do you?"

Haroun couldn't help but see the display being put on for his benefit and grinned. "Ooh." he said, before wrenching his eyes northwards to meet hers. She was wearing something black and he couldn't wait to examine it in all its glory. "I suppose not." he said with a smirk. "Time to put all that Dayspring ninja training to work." he laughed, and then crept forward to "catch" her in the most exaggerated parody of stealth he could possibly come up with.

Now that just begged for her to be caught in Alison's very expert opinion, though it was the fact that she was too busy trying to stifle the wild laughter at his expression that got her nearly nabbed as opposed to any actual attempts at letting him catch her. She had to resort to attempting to tickle him again to ensure her freedom (only for a little while longer), still trying to keep from laughing out too loudly. "Your ninja skills need work, little grasshopper!" she somehow managed through the giggles.

Haroun got tickled again, which he didn't mind in the slightest. He didn't mind, because he wormed his way in close to plant a kiss on one of her collarbones, and brush a fingertip past Her Spot while he was doing it. Any chance he got to bury his face into her décolletage, he took. Without hesitation. "There is nothing wrong with my l33t ninja skillz." he protested, and then lunged to begin a full-fledged tickle assault.

The ticking attack came after Alison had been thoroughly distracted and then some, drawing a yelp of mingled protest and surprise from her. At least it kept her from doing things in the hallway one most certainly should not be doing in the hallway, which included keeping her blouse buttoned at reasonable levels for public safety's sake and all hat. "Eee!" Most of the spots he was hitting weren't ticklish at all, but the back of her neck was when he wasn't intent on being distracting, and that meant having to squirm a fair deal to keep him from driving her insane. The second sound was nearly a shriek as he indeed hit the right spot, thought she thankfully muffled it at the last second. "I surrender to your..." she dissolved into laughter, unable to repeat the description of his skills as he'd stated it. Despite trying several times.

Haroun laughed, keeping his voice low but letting his amusement show. "I win again!" he cheered, and then did a little Victory Dance right there in the hallway. "But we should probably take this party inside, lest one of the psis wake up to find out what the Devil we're doing out there." he said. "Which means - up you go!" he laughed, scooping her up into his arms and then straightening up. "I love you." he told her solemnly "And I am going to carry you into our room, then I am going to slowly take every scrap of clothing you're wearing off. And then..." he said, continuing on his highly explicit way with a whisper into her ear.

For decorum's sake.

What started out a laughter suddenly turned into a strangled sound, Alison's eyes widening noticeably as Haroun kept whispering in her ear. "Love you t- oh my..." She couldn't quite help the rather emphatic wiggle in response even though he was holding her securely, and she bit her lip, shivering at feel of his breath shushing over the hollow of her throat. He was walking slowly on purpose, she just knew it. She glanced down the hallway at the door to their room. It was a very long hallway, too long, she decided. And the door was oh so far away. The small whimper of dismay at the distance would have been comical, if she hadn't been entirely earnest about it. "Door. Room. Far away!"

"Anticipation is killer, ain't it?" he said with a laugh as he continued his slow, measured tread down the hallway. "And who knows who might just stick their head out of their doorway and see us." He added with a smirk. "And it gives me more time to think about the things I'd like to do." he mused. "Because you've been a very, very good girl, and you deserve nothing but my absolute best."

He was in that kind of mood. Oh dear. Alison blinked and stared a bit more at him, pondering the time it was and then rather cheerfully giving up on any kind of sleep likely until, oh, dawn. She'd always like seeing the sunrise anyway. "Anyone sticks their head out to see us will close that door right away," she muttered, leaning in to press her lips against skin lightly, teasing - there were ways to entice him to go faster, after all. "I have been good, haven't I?" she added, still feeling so very smug about her first flight.

"You have been very good." he confirmed. "Good take-off, good maneuvering, good landing, and no stress-damage to the landing gear." he said with a grin. "Couldn't ask for much better of a first run." He said. "And I guess I'm just your reward." he smirked. "Well, part of it anyway. We'll get you your wings sometime next week."

"Mmm." He still wasn't speeding up. Horrible man. She added a low sound to the mix, even as she nipped at his earlobe lightly. "You're slowing down," was the plaintive mutter, as another glance down the hallway proved they still weren't nearly close enough for her to, oh, unbutton her blouse a shade too much. Or completely while she was at it. She waggled her feet a bit, as though that might give them more momentum. She ran a fingertip down the side of his neck just so, going for outright teasing rather than being subtle about it.

Haroun grinned, and flicked his power forward, launching them down the hall to land just outside their door. "There. Better now?" he said, cursing her fingertips and her earlobe-nibbling for the extremely horrible things they did to his already-stretched self-control. "You ready?" he asked her after a nice deep kiss. "Last chance to get away, you know."

A perfunctory wiggle answered that, a full body thing that had much more to do with teasing Haroun than any actual attempt at getting away. "Mmm. All caught up. Woe is me. Take me away into your den of iniquity!" she declared, letting her head fall back and draping her arm over her eyes. She then peeked out from under her arm to give him an innocent look, even as she pulled herself a bit closer to him with the arm around his neck. Yep, that did interesting things to the parts of her cleavage that was pressed to him. Besides, she could always try and get away in the living room area before they made it to the bedroom if she wanted to stretch the fun out. In fact, she decided, that was what she would do.

Haroun grinned as Alison pressed herself against him and wiggled like that. "I think at this point it's our den of iniquity, is it not?" he laughed, and opened the door to step through the doorway. To be greeted with a very solid thunking sound as one Alison Blaire's skull made forceful contact with the doorframe.

"...ow." That was the first thing she managed, even as she could tell Haroun was carrying her into the main area of their rooms, the sound of the door being kicked close lost somewhere in the throbbing of her skull. "I felt that." Maybe turning her head that way even as he'd been turning her around hadn't been such a good idea. Tentatively she raised one hand, pressing it to the side of her head. The doorframe had a very mean right hook or something, she decided.

Haroun alternated between frantic concern and howling laughter as he put her down onto the floor, kneeling besides her to examine her head. "Don't move. Hold still." he ordered as he visually examined the side of her head for any sort of obvious trauma. "Doesn't look like I broke it, thank Allah." he said. "I know it hurts, but how badly does it hurt? Does it hurt when I do this?" he said, gently prodding at her skull to check for fractures.

"OW!" That earned him a thump on the shoulder though she tried not to laugh as well, finally giving in despite herself despite the pain. "Doorframe ambushed me!" she muttered aggrievedly, determined not to let that get in the way of their plans. She could practically feel the bump forming on her skull. "Good thing I have a hard head." Alison raised one of her own hands to probe the vicinity of the bump, wrinkling her nose as she leaned against Haroun, looking hopeful. "No fair." And after the briefest of pauses. "You could kiss it and make it better? Only, you know, probably best if you kiss anywhere else but there."

Haroun looked down at Alison, and grinned at her. "Anywhere?" he echoed, with an arch of one eyebrow. "Anywhere at all? Because if that's the case, then I have several excellent ideas for places I could kiss to make you forget all about the boo-boo on your head." He smirked. "And remind me to rip that doorframe out for its crimes."

"Mmm." She was forgetting all about the bump on her head now, even if it didn't particularly want to be forgotten. "Really?" A few buttons of her blouse miraculously found themselves to be undone. "That sounds interesting." She placed one hand on his knee and shifted, the better to get even closer to him. "You can do bad things to the doorframe... tomorrow I think. Much later, tomorrow."

"Really." he said, watching the buttons on her blouse get unbuttoned one by one. "And you are a horrible tease, do you know that?" he commented, still staring at the little black number the unbuttoned blouse was revealing. He took a deep breath and swallowed heavily. "Yep. Definitely an evil tease. Don't ever stop."

The last button merrily parted way from the scrap of cloth holding it in place and Alison peeled the piece of clothing off with deliberate laziness. The faint throb from the bump on her head was quickly relegated to the 'things that need to be ignored' under the looks Haroun was giving her, the rest of her body taking over again entirely. "I think," she rolled her shoulders back as the blouse slid from her shoulders and down her arms, "I can do that."

Haroun looked into Alison's eyes, then let his gaze drift downwards to what she'd just revealed for him. "I'm beginning to feel overdressed. Assuming you want to risk it, I think the bedroom is thataway." He said, nodding his head at the appropriate doorframe.

"You are very much overdressed. I find this enormously distressing." She popped the button to her jeans and tugged the zipper down, letting the fabric curl down just so without taking them off. A careful rise to her feet, using the hand on his knee to steady herself proved that the bump was not of concussion proportions, and she grinned down at him, moistening her lips absently. "You should really do something about all those clothes," was the murmur, as she started to (carefully) back away towards the door to the bedroom, tugging lightly at the jeans every step of the way.

"We can't have that!" he said, shedding his shirt in one easy gesture and walked after her, grinning even wider as she slowly rid herself of her jeans on the way over. He echoed her movement, letting his own go at roughly the same rate as she was letting hers go. "After all, this is a supposed to be a celebration!" he joked, only half-kidding. My Lord, she found bottoms to match the tops she was wearing. He was fairly certain that God loved him right about now, to send such a perfect being down to him.

She paused for a moment at the sight of him stripping as well, hovering in the doorway and momentarily forgetting to peel off even more of her jeans as she took in the sight of him. "It is," she replied absently, smiling in a lop-sided way. "Do you have any idea how good you look?" she murmured contemplatively, and then remembered about the whole teasing him on the way to bed process she'd started. Hrm. Any lower now and walking would be a problem. She turned around slowly and shot him a grin over her shoulder, nudging the jeans just a touch lower over her hips anyway as she took a few careful steps forward.

Haroun paused for a moment. "Nope." he said with a laugh. "I think you're going to have to tell me all about it." he said, cheating by using his power to keep him aloft long enough to peel out of his jeans altogether. ~My God~, he thought. ~She has the perfect ass. There's no doubt about it. Firm and muscular and ohmyGod how she can move it...~ He shook himself to take himself out of his reverie and followed her into the bedroom.