She grins. "Thanks." (he likes her cooking! – down, girl.)

"I don't think I'm familiar with roya beans, at least by that name; I'll probably make them for dinner, so I can get an idea of what they're like, how to use them.

...ooh, I bet cheese is a good protein, keeps better than milk. I love cheese." Is there a cheese here that will go well in the tomato-hummus sandwiches? She bets there is, it's such a well-stocked kitchen.

"I'll fetch and crack open one of the waxed wheels in my hold, why not. We just have to make sure to use it all in the next few days."

He goes to do just that.

...huh. Okay then.

She's just finishing up the egg salad when he gets back.

Behold: cheese. A solid, heavy wheel of it half the size of a head, covered in wax. Nick peels away the wax coating. Looks like something analogous to cheddar.

"The ways of cooking are mysterious... I bet Walta is getting bored up at the helm. Want to help us set down somewhere so we can do a nice, extended lunch?"

"Sure." Time to see how much she remembers, she guesses.

...she'll probably want to check that she remembers stuff right before she tries to actually work any controls. Just in case.

"I'll have you work with Walta while I actually go out with the ropes." Nick leads her to the bridge at the front and explains the plan.

"Been having a good morning? Alright, let's slow down and show off how steady we can be for the captain. How about you take the rudder control... Pushing left will actually turn us left, it's not flipped like some ships, but be gentle about it or we'll try to roll. I'll handle elevators and ballast."

Okay. She can do this. Probably.

"All right. You gonna tell me which way to go, or am I looking out the window to figure it out?"

don't panic, she's got this, it's okay, calm calm calm not gonna crash the ship it's gonna be okay she's gonna be okay. okay. okay.

"I'll tell you, don't worry. It's just easier to keep things steady if we break it up a bit. We're aiming for that one," she points, "It's nice and flat and there's a knobbly area to tie the ropes to. You know how to use the compass, I think I showed you yesterday. So, come left gently to a bearing of... One seventy five. I'm adjusting the elevators to one degree down and turning on the forward gas pumps."

It's much easier to stay calm once she's actually doing it. She can do this, she has got it. "Left to one seven five, check."

The ship starts to turn.

(she's doing it! she's really doing it! this is so cool)

"Good, good. Nice and easy does it..." Walta doesn't seem to think it's so cool, she's calm and professional as she carefully guides them in toward the island. 

"...One seven seven. Engines are spinning down from one quarter to dead slow now, it'll get less sensitive..."

Holding steady above the island as Nick runs around below, tying ropes to convenient perches, is a challenge in itself. But soon enough he give them a thumbs up from below. Walta cuts the engines entirely and gives Lilith a grin and a high-five. "It was dodgy for a moment with that crosswind, but I think we did good! Nick was testing me as much as you with this, usually he pilots while I do the ropes. I'm maturing from scrubbie seed to a pilot stem, eventually I'll bloom as a full captain."

High five! "Congratulations, then."

(She feels a little wobbly, with the adrenaline draining out of her system, but she mostly manages not to let it show.)

And presently: picnic sandwiches!

"What's the deal with the - weird feeling thing Nick talked about earlier? You figure that out at all yet?"

"Not really. There might be a thing when I touch the plants, but it's pretty subtle and I'm only mostly sure I'm not imagining it."

"I don't think you're imagining it. I think there's something more to the world, that's obvious enough, you're here. So why not more more?"

"Oh, sure, I agree it's plausible. But... it happened when I was looking for something to happen, and the thing you've felt was –"

– swaying, upside down, vastness abovebelow –

"– much more overt. That wasn't imagined. The plant feeling... I don't think I'm imagining it. But if I did imagine something, it might be kind of like that. ...Am I making any sense?"

"...Sounds like drugs, honestly. I have some experience with drugs. Not, uh, personally, but..."

"...It does, doesn't it. I hadn't thought of that." She looks down at her hands. "Do you have enough experience to – know how to tell if there's a problem?"

"I think so. If you find yourself thinking about it too much, or making big sacrifices to try and get more, or being a less pleasant person when you don't have it, that's when you're really in trouble. I don't think it's like drugs. Unless this repeats. It just kind of sounds like it."

"All right. I'll – try to keep an eye on it, I guess.

Thanks."

Sandwiches.

Sandwiches. "I'd only worry if it happens again. We can imagine all the cool things magic might do for now and worry about the rest later."

Grin. "Yeah." (Magic!)

– lucid blue, tall among the sky, heart of glass and vine, strawberry roots deep below, a warm resonant hum –

Lilith fails to notice herself staring off into space.

Walta might be lost in thought too? She's humming something. Slower and more thoughtful than the work song from earlier.

– the sky above, the sky below, hearts of earth adrift, the vast untouchable ground beneath –

– the solidity of the island, the touch of the wind, the texture of her clothes, the sound of her heartbeat, the shape of her eyeballs –

– her heartbeat. her hands. the texture of the grass through the blanket. her breath. the blanket's soft fibers, twisted and woven around each other, over and under and through –

The blanket ripples slightly under her fingers.

Suddenly Walta shakes her head, ending her reverie. "I mean I think it's a safe bet that whatever this is it's slow? We can let it lie for a day or two, pay attention, see if we notice anything out of the ordinary."