Pale Rainbows

[Magyar]

"Yes well," Hvit stoked the already dying flame, and elaborated on the subject, "I've never known a dragon to die of old age. Ever. Disease, Bipeds, other dragons, yes... but never old age. We are, little bird, more or less immortal. It would be wise of you to make friends among your own kin, for all other races eventually die, and you will run through a great many companions before you join them."

[DragonSong]

Melly's expression changed, grief flashing through her eyes as she bit her lip and looked away. "Yes," she murmured, for once actually sounding like a being with two centuries under her wings rather than a bubbly teenager. "I know."

She cleared her throat and ran a hand through her rainbow hair, glancing up at him. "What about you then? Surely you must be lonely out in these cold mountains by yourself." She shivered dramatically, glaring at the door as though that would raise the temperature outside.

[Magyar]

"When you get to my age, little bird, sometimes solitude is better than any company one can offer. Whereas it may be the opposite for you, finding being alone tolerable only in short periods, being around the hustle and bustle of little people with little agendas wears me down, and I tire quickly of them and their kind." Hvit rumbled to her, but also as if to himself, "These mountains also provide a perfect environment for soul searching, and when one has been all over and seen all there is to see, where else is there to look but in?"

[DragonSong]

The younger dragon tilted her head and got to her feet. Her wings ruffled and folded loosely against her back as she eyed him curiously.

Little bird. She liked that, for some reason; though she never would have called herself "little" before.

"You really think you've seen everything?" she asked- not a challenge, simple curiosity in her tone. Her eyes lit up and her feathers fluttered in a happy little shiver. "You hadn't seen me before today. That means there must be some things you haven't seen." She stated it triumphantly, eyes gleaming.

[Magyar]

Hvit's head lolled to the side, and he gave the colourful dragoness an exasperated look.

"Well, certainly not everything, little bird," he said, "That would be impossible, but at the same time, if you've seen one shiny fish you've seen them all. You are correct, however, and you are also a living testament to my endless ignorance."

[DragonSong]

"Oh!" Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. "I didn't mean- it just seems like...well, if you're always by yourself, it seems like you might miss out on some things..." She shrugged and ducked her head, playing absently with the ends of her hair.

[Magyar]

Hvit raised an eyebrow, and a grin tugged at the ends of his lips. His eyes drifted across her form, and he absentmindedly wondered why she was standing.

"Such as?" He asked, an expectant look playing on his features.

[DragonSong]

"Well..." Melly bit her lip, thinking. She shifted her weight absently from foot to foot, sort of swaying on the spot. "Family, for one thing," she said after a moment.

Wide, bright eyes blinked up at him. "Don't you miss having family around?"

[Magyar]

"Little bird, my family lives in the same mountains I do. My immediate family died long, long ago, but I have cousins who inhabit these hills as well." He thought for a second then continued, "I'm only about thirty kilometres from a second cousin of mine, and he's about double your age."

[DragonSong]

She frowned. "But- but they're not with you? You just...sleep. All by yourself?" She shook her head and huffed, wrapping her arms around herself. "That just seems so lonely."

[Magyar]

"Well...yes." He said, for lack of anything else, "But then I meet people who interrupt my solitude, such as yourself. They're not unwelcome interruptions, but they happen. Slices of life that I get to see, simply because I was here, sleeping, and not elsewhere."

[DragonSong]

Melly huffed. This seemed like an argument she probably wasn't going to win. "Alright. I suppose I was lucky you were here, at least."

Her eyes suddenly widened a bit. "Oh..." She looked to the door, then back to him. "I- I don't know where I am," she seemed to suddenly fully realize. "I don't know how to get home."

[Magyar]

"I can accompany you back to wherever you came from. You couldn't have blown too far now could you?" He was confident he could get her back to whatever island she had made her home on, "Where are you from, little bird?"

[DragonSong]

"Yoreiq," she replied quickly. "I'm from Yoreiq." She rubbed at her arms and stared at him balefully. "I- I'm not even sure which direction it is from here..."

[Magyar]

"Yoreiq..." he stared off into the fire as he pondered he location. It was far enough for a long flight, and one he wasn't up for immediately. He turned back to the little dragoness, and stood up.

"Let me sleep, and then eat. I can fly you by morning."

[DragonSong]

"Oh, thank you!"

Without thinking, she bounded forward and threw her arms around him. She was so little compared to him she only managed to really get her arms around his waist. She beamed, wings fluttering happily behind her.

[Magyar]

Hvittraak wasn't expecting the sudden show of affection, and stepped back as she effectively tackled him. After a second, he returned the gesture, albeit a tad awkwardly, including his wings alongside his arms.

[DragonSong]

Taking that as acceptance of her hug, Melly beamed and nuzzled into him, purring like a cat as she curved her wings around her own arms a bit to press lightly against his sides.

"You're warm," she noted happily, perfectly content to use him against the unfamiliar chill of the mountains. "Is that why you don't get cold up here?"

[Magyar]

"No," he replied, then said simply, "Thick skin."

After a minute, he released her, and knelt to the fire, the embers now low yet again. He let loose another round of flame, but he knew that it would only burn bright for a short time afterward. He then laid upon the ground next to it, and watched the fire eat away at the kindled branches within.

[DragonSong]

She released him easily and settled down in front of the fire, drawing her knees up to her chest and sweeping her wings forward to wrap around herself.

"So, do we stay here for the night?" she asked, head tilted.