The Trouble with Magic

[DragonSong]

Verik quirked an eyebrow. "You ever tried to walk a dragon through the streets? Trust me, it's not pleasant for anyone." Bane felt cramped and people were usually annoyed they had to move out of his way. "Besides, this is faster. Now are you coming or not?"

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr held Verik's steady gaze, being sure to keep his expression unreadable. He would much rather walk to their destination, but his pride ultimately kept him from admitting his terrible fear of heights. "Fine," Rylzyr said as he moved up to the dragon's flank. He looked up at the warrior, hesitated, and clasped onto Verik's hand.

[DragonSong]

"Up you get," he grunted, pulling the other man up onto Bane's back behind him. "Hold on. And mind the spikes- quick way to rip yourself another hole if you're not careful."

He smirked and cued Bane to take off. There was a moment, just a flash of hesitation- probably indiscernible to anyone but the two of them, but enough that both Verik and Bane winced slightly at the jarring break in their connection.

[Fukurou]

"Got it," he said tentatively as he clasped on to the man in front of him. Rylzyr silently prayed that Verik would be unable to feel how frantically the mage's heart was beating in his chest.

Just... don't think about it, he told himself. And for fuck's sake, don't forget to breath. Rylzyr took in a deep, shaky breath, but as he did so, the dragon launched into the air. In a fit of panic, Rylzyr spat out a flurry of cuss word--both common and X'zyrian-- while his grip around the man tightened like a constrictor.

[DragonSong]

He couldn't help it- he laughed. Glancing back over his shoulder, Verik smirked at him and quipped, "Not a fan of flying, huh?"

Bane gave a rumbled sort of chuckle as he climbed higher with a few massive beats of his wings, then banked just a tad sharply to the left to circle out over the east side of the city. They were high enough that the buildings below looked like elaborate playthings- it would only take a few minutes before they were at his sister's door, and most of that would be landing.

[Fukurou]

In the midst off all the stress, Rylzyr instinctively replied in his native tongue. Realizing that Verik had no idea what he was saying, he shook his head and took another deep breath. "Aaah, I mean," he sputtered. "I'm just not used to it! It's fine! It's... fine!"

[DragonSong]

Verik chuckled again and shook his head. "Sure it is."

It only took a few wingbeats before he chef Bane to come in to land. "Here, hold on." In an effort to be a little politer than he hand been, he sort of hesitantly gripped the other man's wrist, offering an anchor as Bane went into a shallow dive.

[Fukurou]

As Verik gripped Rylzyr's wrist, he in turned clamped onto the warrior's hand with a death-grip with a strength that would seem rather surprising for a tall, gangly mage such as himself. As they went down into the dive, Rylzyr let out yet another flurry of profanities in a variety of languages.

[DragonSong]

A little startled by the fact that Rylzyr had grabbed his hand at all- he'd sort of expected him to be offended- much less by how tight the grip was, Verik tossed a look back at the mage over his shoulder, resisting the urge to laugh.

He may not speak all those languages, but he got the gist.

Bane may have been a hulking, surly creature, but he wasn't cruel. He landed as gently as possible in front of a smallish house on the outskirts of the city in an effort to spare their guest. Verik paused a moment, then extracted his hand with an awkard pat to Rylzyr's arm as he turned to face him.

"Okay, we're here. You...alright?"

[Fukurou]

Dazed, Rylzyr instinctively hugged his own torso, rubbing his hands along his ribs as he glanced about with wide eyes. After a moment, his eyes shot back to meet Verik. "We're on the ground," he softly, with an air of surprise to his voice. A strange smile spread across Rylzyr's lips as he let out a chuckle. "We're on the ground!"

[DragonSong]

Bane had craned his head back to see what was taking so long and he and Verik exchanged a look]. "Er...yeah. That tends to happen when one lands," the rider said slowly, cocking his head to the side a bit. "You sure you're alright, mate?"

Suddenly the relative quiet was shattered by a high, childish squeal and Verik whipped his head around to see his nieces and nephew had thrown open the door of the house and were racing toward them. Bane crooned and lowered his head to nuzzle the children, who laughed and petted him delightedly.

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr coughed awkwardly as he regained composure. "Ah, yes, I'm fine." Luckily for him, the feeling of embarrassment that hung thick in the air was cut by the sound of children bursting into the yard. A warm smile flashed across his face as he watched the children run about.

He turned his attention back to Verik, his smile vanishing in place of his usual stony, albeit somewhat awkward expression. "Ah, this must be you sisters, house, no?"

[DragonSong]

"Ah, right." Verik cleared his throat and jumped down to the ground. Immediately he was swarmed by the children, chuckling as he boosted little Mika onto his hip and ruffled Verrin's hair. He eyed Rylzyr a little warily, his stance making it clear that he would protect his family if he needed to.

"Come on then. Tali, can you fetch your mother?"

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr nodded to Verik in reassurance before sliding off of Bane. As he landed, the children stopped to look at the towering mage with apprehension in their eyes. A warm smile overcame Rylzyr's face as he stooped down to one knee and held out a hand, offering it to the smallest child. With a swirl of gold and purple, a vibrant azalea flower blossomed in his hand and as the child reached out to touch one of its petals, hundreds of butterflies filled the air, their intricate laced wings reflecting off of the sun and bathing the area in a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns.

[DragonSong]

Even Verik had to admit he was impressed by the trick, and Verrin laughed and clapped delightedly, his sisters staring with wide eyes and open mouths before Tali remembered she was soup posed to be fetching Ilya and ran off.

Verik gave Rylzyr a small nod and Bane shifted behind him, snapping lazily at a few of the butterflies while the tip of his tail twitch playfully.

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr smiled warmly as he watched the children run around after the butterflies. He pushed himself off the ground and met Verik's eyes.

"Children always seem to love that trick," he said.

[DragonSong]

"I don't think it would impress just children." He snorted and rocked back on his heels with a smirk. "You must have your pick of the ladies."

He alsmot added, "Even with the horns," but luckily thought better of it. Fortunately perhaps, at that moment Tali reappeared, dragging a woman who could have been Verik's twin by her arm and babbling about colorful butterflies.

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled uncomfortably at Verik's comment.

"I, uh, well, yeah, I supposed..." He coughed nervously, his eyes darting about the area before landing on Tali. "Ah," he said with a newly found air of confidence as he straightened himself up and smoothed his hair back into place. "You must be the lady of the house. The name's Rylzyr: scholar of the arcane." He made a small bowing motion before offering a hand to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

[DragonSong]

"Oh." She looked between her brother and the stranger, then took his hand and shook it with a quick smile. "Ilia, it's a pleasure. Are you a...friend of Verik's?" she asked curiously.

[Fukurou]

As per X'zyri custom, Rylzyr kissed the back of Tali's hand before gently releasing it. "Pardon me, my lady, but I am simply here on a bit of business on behalf of your dear brother. If you would, I would like to ask you a few questions about the bracelet you had acquired for your brother."