"It's a shame you don't want a bond," Kae-Ryss commented, perched atop a maze-wall on the flight deck of Star City, with a kitten perched, in turn, between her wings.

::Why?:: little Ryou shot back. She preferred telepathy, though she was just as capable of talking aloud as Kae-Ryss was. Kae-Ryss thought it had something to do with not being able to decide which head to use. <::I'm perfectly happy just being myself, by myself.::

"Why? Because I'm selfish," Kae-Ryss told her with a chuckle. "I want a bond, and you're just about perfect."

::Thank you for the compliment,:: the kitten told her, ::but no, thank you.::

"I know, I know," Kae-Ryss chuckled again. Ryou was a good friend, even if she was still young-- she knew when each of them needed space, she was clever and insightful, and she could be dryly funny when she wanted to be-- but if she ever bonded it would not be of her own choosing, and she would probably be furious at whoever dared to invade her privacy like that. Ryou was very much a cat.

At least they got along, despite the "species barrier". Kae-Ryss wasn't exactly very dog-like, anyway, unless it was a loner canine species. 

The hatching hadn't been bad at all, "species barrier" or not. Only one of the hatchlings had even seemed to find her distasteful, hissing at her, but Ryou had actually chased him off herself before Kae-Ryss had the opportunity to be more than amused. She could have swatted him all the way across the hatching bay, if she'd wanted to, but he'd still tried to threaten her. Ryou's comment, that they could ignore their other halves and simply be "hydra friends", was even more of a joke than anything serious. Neither one of them cared that the other was cat, dog, or canary.

Well, maybe Ryou would have cared if she were half canary. That could have been unpleasant, if Ryou decided she was hungry.

::He's out,:: Ryou said casually, and Kae-Ryss paused, looking up again, herself. Their current quarry was one of the Abstract Destiny's yautjadragons, a big, brown, unpleasant-looking fellow who had bonded at the second genesis clutch. Shishayair was both certain he was going to leave once his child-bond was grown, and certain he would be seeking out villains to do away with. He was justifiably concerned that he might seek them out, and so wanted to know what he and his attachment were capable of.

Yet more bonds to watch. Even this dour fellow seemed a little happier whenever he had his bond around. If Kae-Ryss wasn't careful, now even her job was going to get her depressed.

And there he was, indeed, taking off from the docking pylon towards one of the openings that led to, predictably, their favorite gym. He had his bond clinging to his shirt on his back; the yellow hatchling was still far to young to fly alone.

"They're just going to go work out again," Kae-Ryss sighed and took wing. "They don't seem to do much else."

::I wish I knew what the kid is doing when he disappears,:: Ryou commented, clinging tight with all four sets of claws and three of her four mouths. At least she had hair this time instead of flesh. Mostly.

Because it was easier while flying, Kae-Ryss said silently, ::I have yet to be able to catch him.::

::Three times now; you'd think you'd have figured it out by now!::

::It's not as if I can follow him every second of every day,:: Kae-Ryss told her small charge reasonably. ::I do have other jobs to do.::

::I think it has to do with that half-chaos,:: Ryou said, her favorite pet theory. They'd seen the yautjadragon run into the half-chaos Netahiln-- another on Kae-Ryss had her eye on, given the way she was moving through the Star City underworld-- before, when he was trying to meet with the little girl Kalaia. Now every time he saw her in the street-- which seemed to be more often since then, as if she sought him out just to smirk and watch him bristle-- he acted oddly. He growled, he glared, he did, indeed, bristle... but he didn't do anything about it.

::I think he hates her,:: Kae-Ryss answered, as she always did, ::and I doubt he would put up with dealing with her in person.::

Ryou made a doubtful noise, but they didn't descend into argument, at least.

Flying casually past the landing platform the yautjadragon had taken, to confirm the gym as their destination, Kae-Ryss caught sight of the big dragon letting his bond off his back. As they headed into the opaque-walled walkway, the hatchling wrapped his little hand around his bond's finger, like a child taking his father's hand. Kae-Ryss's heart contracted painfully at the sight.

She veered away, cursing herself for being so emotional, and said nothing until she had herself under control again. Until she was calm again. Ryou didn't speak, either, until she turned her circling into a purposeful glide up to a landing, of her own.

::It really does bother you,:: the small catdra commented, as if only just now realizing she'd been serious about wanting a bond.

"Yes," Kae-Ryss said tersely, landing lightly and folding her wings. Ryou jumped down, still a little awkward with her wyvern-wings and four odd-lengthed necks, but managing to land on her feet, anyway. Cats.

::Then try again,:: she suggested from the floor, trotting along just slightly ahead of her sponsor.

"You were already my second try," Kae-Ryss pointed out, a little amused at the tail waving jauntily behind her. Cats, indeed.

::So? Ever heard the phrase "third time's the charm"?::

"Which is entirely bunk," Kae-Ryss countered.

::I don't see any reason why you shouldn't try again.::

"Disappointment and rejection?"

One of Ryou's four heads hissed derisively. ::As if you could be stopped by that.::

It was, admittedly, nice to hear someone say that they thought her that strong. It was true, of course, for the most part, but it was still nice to hear. "Well, all right, that's true. I just hadn't found anything that caught my interest yet. You were a bit of a long shot, yourself, for that matter."

::You're not looking very hard.::

"There's no rush."

::There is if I have to keep dealing with you getting side-tracked by bonded pairs.::

Kae-Ryss laughed. "Point taken. All right, I'll make it a priority."

::See that you do,:: Ryou sniffed.

And Kae-Ryss had a feeling the catdra would make sure she did, if just to be annoying. Kae-Ryss resolved not to get annoyed... if just to be annoying, back. 

This was going to be a good friendship. 

Chapter Twenty-One

Back