Jane Foster (science_fact) wrote in avengers_logs, @ 2018-05-19 20:21:00 |
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Entry tags: | -complete, -gamewide plot, jane foster |
Who: Jane Foster and (potentially) OPEN
What: A dream of the Aether and trip to the lab
When: Sat May 19: 3 am going into full morning
Rating/Warning: Green
A breeze stirred the end of Jane's hair, sending strands flying across her face. She shifted closer to the man beside her, roof tiles scratchy through Jane's thin pajama pants.
"See Janey?" Her father pointed at the sky and Jane tilted her chin up to follow his finger. Her hair fell back out of her vision as her face turned up to the heavens above them. The lantern they'd used to light their climb up the ladder onto the roof of the house sat at their ankles, casting a yellow electric glow about their ankles.
"The three sisters of Orion's belt point the way to Sirius, the Dog Star." Jane traced the path her father marked out for her. "See the hazy part of the belt? Where the sword would be? That's the Orion nebula, where new stars are being born. Imagine that, Janey. Stars so new we haven't even seen their light yet. Out there waiting to be found."
Jane had seen a demonstration of glass blowing at one of the cultural events her mom liked. At first the glass glowed orange, indistinguishable from the fiery kiln it came from. Then as the blowers worked, it expanded in size, becoming cool and translucent. Jane pictured the birth of a star in that same process: a ball of fire cooling into twinkling beauty.
"What else can we see?" Jane pulled her father's arm around as protection against the rising wind. Mom would be looking for them soon. "The triangle. Three stars, three constellations. Vega, Altair, and Daneb."
That wasn't right. Orion was a winter constellation. It shouldn't be visible the same time as the summer triangle. But when Jane looked again, there was the familiar shape of the hunter, sharing the sky with Lyra's harp, Cygnus's swan, and the eagle of Aquila. That was impossible.
Jane stared hard at the sky but the wind was roaring around them now and clouds were rolling in. No. Not clouds. The darkness spreading across the sky like an inkwell spilled over parchment. It roiled like a liquid, colored the same crimson as dried blood. Behind the spreading darkness, the stars winked out. Jane turned to her father but he was gone from her side, with the lantern and rooftop with him.
The power of the Aether burned through Jane's veins and she spasasmed with it. She was prone on her back now, floating through the cold emptiness of space. Overcome by the crimson darkness of the Aether around her, Jane watched the stars wink out one by one.
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Jane woke in a sweat-soaked bed to the sound of roaring thunder. Clammy and skin pricking in the night air, she went to the window. Rain lashed the panes and bright flashes of lightning were followed by more thunder.
Something's gone wrong, she thought. She wanted to find Thor. She wanted to save him, if he needed it. She wanted to scream at him to stop this. She couldn't do any of those things.
Umbrellas would be useless on a night like this so she didn't bother with one. Jane simply pulled her hair inside a hoodie and shoved her feet into a pair of Wellies. Rubber soles - non-conducting. Jane had little reason to fear for her own safety in a thunderstorm but some precautions were wise. It wasn't far to Stark's lab but she was still soaked when she arrived. Jane stripped down to her thin cami, chilled until she began to dry out.
When morning came, Jane would still be in here, dark circles under her eyes and half asleep on a loveseat shoved against a wall. A long and complex algorithm was written over the entirety of a whiteboard and half a cup of cold coffee sat beside her blinking computer. More of Stark's equipment was disassembled than had been before.