[ That's one of the reasons he hadn't bothered to qualify it - the handful of people who'd ever understood without him having to clarify had been soldiers who knew what it was to have that kind of partnership. He feels the echo of her memory, a silhouette he only recognizes because of his connection with her - and yeah, hell yeah, of course she gets it.
It's not the way he feels about her, but then, he's never felt about anyone the way he feels about her. It'd take more than he's got right now to untangle it, and he doesn't bother to try now any more than he has in the past.
Instead there's the impression of a smile at her answer, and he gives himself over into memory.
There’s nothing but blue up here, sharp and clear and lit up by the gleam of the sun at his back - but the warmth he feels is from the wind buffeting him, from the hot metal of the pack he wears. It’s not as bad as the previous model, the one that’d scorched through their uniforms, and it’s comforting.
“Race you,” Riley’s voice over the comms in his ear, and Sam twists just enough to see the smirk on his face before it’s hidden by flare of his wings -
He lets out a whoop of joy as he folds his wings in, shoulders straining a little as he forces tired muscles to keep working, but it’s drowned out but the swoop in his stomach as he barrels down. The ground’s nothing more than green and brown splotches, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Redwing beating him, spreading his arms out to catch himself and shooting back up towards what’s supposed to be their testing altitude.
Sam laughs, wild and free and shouts “come on” to be heard over the wind, even though he doesn’t need to with the comms. He lets go, arms slipping out of their straps on the wings, and Redwing follows his thought process immediately.
Redwing drops back down, wings retracting and plummeting down towards him until Sam catches him, one arm around his waist and the other linking up with Riley’s as they pull each other in close. Sam’s wings beat to adjust to the added weight, muscles in his back that he didn’t even know he had until he got the wings shifting and pulling as he evens them out.
He pulls out of the memory then, still warm and fond, and lets the feeling linger. ]
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It's not the way he feels about her, but then, he's never felt about anyone the way he feels about her. It'd take more than he's got right now to untangle it, and he doesn't bother to try now any more than he has in the past.
Instead there's the impression of a smile at her answer, and he gives himself over into memory.
There’s nothing but blue up here, sharp and clear and lit up by the gleam of the sun at his back - but the warmth he feels is from the wind buffeting him, from the hot metal of the pack he wears. It’s not as bad as the previous model, the one that’d scorched through their uniforms, and it’s comforting.
“Race you,” Riley’s voice over the comms in his ear, and Sam twists just enough to see the smirk on his face before it’s hidden by flare of his wings -
He lets out a whoop of joy as he folds his wings in, shoulders straining a little as he forces tired muscles to keep working, but it’s drowned out but the swoop in his stomach as he barrels down. The ground’s nothing more than green and brown splotches, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Redwing beating him, spreading his arms out to catch himself and shooting back up towards what’s supposed to be their testing altitude.
Sam laughs, wild and free and shouts “come on” to be heard over the wind, even though he doesn’t need to with the comms. He lets go, arms slipping out of their straps on the wings, and Redwing follows his thought process immediately.
Redwing drops back down, wings retracting and plummeting down towards him until Sam catches him, one arm around his waist and the other linking up with Riley’s as they pull each other in close. Sam’s wings beat to adjust to the added weight, muscles in his back that he didn’t even know he had until he got the wings shifting and pulling as he evens them out.
He pulls out of the memory then, still warm and fond, and lets the feeling linger. ]