[hr][hr][center][b]Vera Voloshyna[/b]
[color=598527][sub][b]LOCALE[/b] // Smith's Rest, New Anchorage
[b]TIME[/b] // Afternoon[/sub][/color][/center][hr]


[color=662d91]“Hoo!”[/color]

Vera pulled her head out of the snow, cheeks burning, ears ringing from the cold, and violently shook the white fluff from her hair. She wiped her face, wet now, then sat back on her knees and cupped her hands over her mouth to catch a warm breath. Slowly, her nerves began to settle and she didn’t feel nearly so uncomfortable, or at least, not in the sweaty, anxious way. 

She looked around the outside of the convention building, worried for a moment someone might have seen her plant her face into the cold earth like a winter ostrich, but there was no one. Good, she needed a moment without anyone else’s eyes on her. Just a moment, she told herself, then she’d join the others in the canteen. Despite what anyone ever said about Graham, bless the man for getting them out of that awful room. 

[color=662d91][i]It wasn’t awful, it was a bunch of people asking questions. They’re allowed to ask questions, they should.[/i][/color]

She knew as much. When mother had said the people needed to know their protectors, and their future protectors, she knew that too. It would be nice to believe, wholeheartedly, that if they’d all been given time to prepare speeches, or known the questions beforehand, that they’d all have still been honest, but she couldn’t expect that sort of faith to be carried by everyone. The spontaneity made sense, even if it was a bit awkward. Or a lot awkward. 

[color=662d91]“Alright, that’s enough of that,”[/color] she said, aloud though she didn’t mean to. She scooped her ushanka up, brushed it off, and plopped it back on her head, then hopped to her feet and made for the canteen, hoping no one would have noticed her brief absence. 

Understandably enough the place wasn’t incredibly packed–there [i]was[/i] a conference going on after all–and she was just as happy for it. It felt a bit silly being so embarrassed around the other pilots, her friends, some of them had done just about as well as she had on that stage, only they didn’t have years of experience living with her mother. Others, though, had kept themselves cool and collected and walked off seemingly no less composed than when they’d taken the mic. 

Lizzy, who had opted to step back outside, had done well. Vera was proud of her, she’d never seen her sister talk to so many people at once, had it been hard? She couldn’t imagine so, there weren’t a lot of things Lizzy had trouble with, and even fewer she couldn’t pick up quick and gracefully. They’d talk later, in the bunks maybe, when she could [i]actually[/i] unwind. 

Briefly she checked for Stein, and Percy, and Alan and–oh god–poor Madi. The bubbly, pink-haired flowercake who didn’t deserve [i]any[/i] of what had happened to her on that stage. She was off at a table, but thankfully not alone, as the stony miss Styles took a seat with her. She wanted to admire the Australian woman, at least more than she did what with her being so accomplished, but it wasn’t the time, just as it wasn’t the time to try and comfort Madi, or Percy, or anyone for the moment. 

So, lastly, she spotted the figure of a man she didn’t know very well, sat next to a fiery head that she knew quite well. Ryn seemed the perfect choice of companionship for their little break, the girl had answered her questions as if she’d been doing it her whole life, and hadn’t seemed even the least bit bothered. Plus, there weren’t many people on base who could lift her spirit like Ryn could. 

Decision made, Vera scurried onto the stool beside her red-headed friend, and put on an eager grin. 

[color=662d91]“Heya!”[/color] she offered, first to Ryn, and then with a nod to the enigmatic Harry. [color=662d91]“How’re you two doing? Either of you got the shakes? Couldn’t guess so, not with how well you did, but me?”[/color]

She held up a hand, and her fingers quivered slightly, though she suspected that might’ve been due more to her little dip in the snow. She went on, quickly. [color=662d91]“Hey, it’s over though! Done and done–like a shot!”[/color]