Tourist Traps

[Magyar]

Hvit picked apart the orange piece by piece. It was a long time before he spoke again, but when he finally did, he said, "I know. And I understand that, as a sentiment. In fact, I can even agree with you... Trust me. I'd like to stay or have you come with me, but neither of us is compatible with each other's environments."

He gave her a solemn look, "And, honestly, I'm not sure what would happen emotionally if we continued to live in proximity."

[DragonSong]

"I know."

Her heart ached with it, but she knew he was probably right. She glanced up. "Really, Hvit. I understand, I just..."

She sighed and looked away again. "Could you- could you at least come visit, sometimes? Or I could go to the mainland," she offered quietly.

[Magyar]

Hvittraak's expression softened, empathy surfacing yet again for this young dragonness. She had time after time pulled his affection for her out of the cold shell he had cultivated for himself.

"Of course, little bird. I would not forget you... I thought that maybe you could return with me for a time, and mingle with dragons closer to your own age? It would do well for you to experience time with your peers."

[DragonSong]

Melly glanced up, a little startled by the offer. "You- you think I could?"

She bit her lip and brushed a lock of rainbow hair behind her ear, ignore the way the movement pulled at her cuts and bruises. "What if... I mean, I must seem so odd to them. I wouldn't know what to do or say..."

She trailed off, feeling suddenly very young and small.

[Magyar]

"I believe you would fit into the right crowd just fine." He told her, "I have a nephew, a great-grand-nephew to be honest, who I think might enjoy your company. He is just over a thousand years old, I think. Imagine a smaller, younger me, who is perhaps less magnificent and majestic."

[DragonSong]

Melly giggled a bit despite herself and arched an eyebrow. "Does that make him more or less modest?" she teased quietly, eyes glinting.

Her expression faded slightly and she leaned back into the pillows again with a sigh. "I...think I'd like to meet more of your kind. Our kind. But I don't know when I'll be able to fly again."

[Magyar]

"Modesty is a trait learned," Hvit said, "and then subsequently forgotten. When you are healed, however far away that may be, I will take you to my kin."

[DragonSong]

She chuckled again and ducked her head, allowing her smile to fade slightly. "Thank you, Hvit. For everything."

[Magyar]

Hvittraak laid lazily on the highest point of the ruins that also supported his weight. Unfortunately, that was not a very tall building. He'd gone regularly there in his off time over the last month and a half, as a way of enjoying the outside but not being too far from his charge at any given time. Now, he was heavy-lidded but listening for the slightest of calls from within the ruined temple.

[DragonSong]

Melly was going stir-crazy. She needed to fly, to just get out.

Which hadn't really been an option for her lately, Hvit was far too good a guardian, she couldn't even sneak off to test her healing wing in recent weeks. But it didn't stop her from trying.

Paws soft on the ancient stone, she wove her way through her hoard toward the gaps between the pillars, trying to wriggle through as soundlessly as possible.

[Magyar]

Melly was very quiet. Hvit couldn't deny her that. But she was also a living rainbow, and he was perched to keep a good eye on the most likely exits that he knew of. He'd pressed her for all the entrances into the ruins in the first couple of days, and though she'd given him quite the list, he wasn't sure if she'd confided them all.

"Where are you going, Little Bird?" Hvit called in a low rumble, raising his head to give away his position. He'd wanted to see her expression when she knew she'd been caught.

[DragonSong]

The dragoness gave a rather indignant squeak as she froze, glancing up at him with an expression that could only be described as a pout.

"I was going to get a drink?" she offered lamely, head slightly lowered and tail swishing gently in a primal gesture of supplication. Her body language had grown more pronounced in the time they'd lived together, more draconic and less human.

[Magyar]

"You have water in the temple," Hvit countered, raising a ridged eyebrow. He could understand her desire for the air, but he wouldn't allow her to indulge it. It could set the both of them back months, and all for a momentary bliss that would ultimately be bittersweet.

"Can you lift your wing?" He asked her, "Give me your full range of motion, and perhaps I will let you 'get a drink'."

[DragonSong]

Her head lowered further and she offered a pining little peep of protest, then suddenly perked up again. Speeding her wings, she only gave a small wince as she gave an over-exaggerated flapping motion and rotated them back and forth a bit. She was stiff, but mobile.

[Magyar]

Hvit gave Melly a scrutinizing glare, but eventually gave out. He laid his head back onto his forelegs, and closed his eyes. For several minutes he sat there, waiting, thinking.

He finally opened his eyes again, and with a sigh, said, "No high flying, and don't exert yourself. Be back in an hour."

[DragonSong]

With a high, musical call Melly trolled a joyful, "Thank you!" and bounded away into the jungle. The sides of the temple were too precarious to climb in her current state, even she recognized that. She was aiming to find some higher ground to use for a takeoff.

[Magyar]

Hvit watched her leap away, and for a second considered staying on the rock. It was warm. It was comfortable. But she was about to try and fly for the first time since breaking her wing, and was trying to do so by jumping off of a cliff.

He sighed, and reluctantly slunk down off of his tanning bed and loped after the smaller Dragoness.

[DragonSong]

Melly wasn't exactly planning on jumping off a cliff. The ground tilted steadily upward the further inland she got, and eventually she reached a break in the trees where a river cut through, offering a path to the sky and a steeper incline.

[Magyar]

Hvit padded behind her, surprised at her speed. The little one could get around if she really wanted to. His lazy day was to be postponed longer than anticipated, it seemed.

"Little Bird," Hvit called, "If you sprint the entire way, you'll have no energy for the actual flight. I don't want you exhausted and trying to fly at the same time. Not now, not ever, if I have my way. It's a dangerous combination."

[DragonSong]

The little dragoness chirped and twisted to give him an almost exasperated look.

Nothing like living with the older dragon constantly harping on her to cure her little infatuation. At least she hoped.

"I know, I know," she grumbled impatiently, wriggling her whole body and stretching her wings again. "C'mon, I want to get in the air!"