Patrolling with Mothman. Late October, 1939.

[niteowl_i]

Nelly had given me and Byron a route, and we'd left headquarters as soon as it was dark enough. I'd been a bit worried; his costume wasn't exactly inconspicuous. But I supposed that it had worked out well for him so far, or else he probably would have changed it

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[comrademothman]

"Yeah... pleasant weather we've been having."

I wondered if this was how any of us thought being a hero would be. Still making small-talk to hide the awkwardness of talking to people we barely knew. Dinner parties may have become black New York streets, but some things never change.

I saw him eyeing up my wings with the same look everyone else gave them - well, I couldn't say I hadn't been expecting it. He was at least polite enough not to say anything. "Don't worry," I said. "I won't let you down or anything. These things are more useful than you'd think." And I fluttered them encouragingly.

[niteowl_i]

I nodded, flushing a bit. I hadn't thought I'd been staring so obviously.

"Just worried...they won't get stuck in anything? DB's always getting his cape stuck in doors, or I wind up stepping on it. But the wings aren't really like a cape, I guess."

I was rambling a bit. Hopefully he just thought I was funny and we could carry on joking about it. I smiled hopefully.

[comrademothman]

"Stuck in doors? You want to try closing a door on these things." I glanced back over my shoulder at my crowning achievements. They still made me glow with pride, and a giddy disbelief that I had even managed to pull them off at all. "I designed them to hold my weight without folding, and I'm not exactly aerodynamic, so..."

No one else is interested in the wing specs

"So," I said instead. "Where do you want to start?"

[niteowl_i]

"East side of the city, where the banks..."

I trailed off, stopping to stare at him. Those wings, I'd assumed that he bought them somewhere.

"Wait, you made those? Christ, that's...unbelievable." I said admiringly, looking the wings over again.