[because this doesn't operate quite like it does in cartoon physics, Jan has to grab a fold of carpet securely with her hands and hunker well down before she feels like she's not about to fly off. once she has, though--

wow. the view like this is incredible. she can feel her breath leaving her lungs in awe far more surely than the wind is taking it from her. silence up here isn't an imposition or a heavy weight on everything; it's transcendent, beautiful, a sign of how removed they are from the concerns of the world. even a destroyed Reims looks like artwork from this angle. it's more thrilling than the best rollercoaster she's ever been able to ride on, and some of those were pretty good.

can anything get them up here? could she let out a whoop to get this giddiness out of her chest somehow? she doesn't quite dare, but god, it's hard to resist.]