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~~((National Yo-Yo Day - page 19 of 20))~~
Hector started after her. She was flying pretty close to the ground and at low speed, presumably for his benefit, so he figured he should pick up the pace. And what better opportunity would there be to practice flight?

He'd refined a bit with Zeff's help since he'd first discovered it, and it was significantly easier when he only had to worry about keeping himself aloft and no one else.

Where before it had just been a platform to stand on, now he'd made almost a full pod for himself, keeping only the top open so that he could see. There were grips for his hands as well to help maintain his balance.

The outer layer of hovering iron--or the "holster," as he'd come to think of it--was what actually allowed him to go against gravity. It was a constant mental effort, requiring the continual reapplication of velocity states and the annihilation of any iron that would have fallen away from the holster.

All in all, it was still a bit rough, Hector felt. There was probably still room for significant improvements to be made--like making it somehow more aerodynamic, perhaps--but it was certainly more stable than that haphazard platform he'd used before. Plus, he was more experienced. Turbulence wasn't quite so worrying, anymore, though he doubted he would've been able to handle that tornado.

'You can fly?!' came Pauline's silent voice.

The rushing wind was too noisy to talk over, so Hector merely responded with a simple look. He couldn't even say anything with his expression, either, because he was armored up again.

Instead, he just flew up higher and faster than her, hoping that she would get the message.

She certainly did. Her huge wings flapped, and she soared into the lead again.

Hector did his best to keep pace, but holy crap, she was fast. She ended up having to slow back down a little for him.