Small steps to the Future
Chapter Sixteen: A Little Hope
Written in collaboration with Terry
They'd nearly reached Riya's room when the clicking of dragonet claws in the hall behind them, coming up fast, made them turn. Evoli was hurrying to catch up, panting in his haste, wings bouncing loosely at his sides. Riya was torn between a grin and an apology; he knew they should have waited for Evoli, but in his haste to escape a conversation with Mullen, he had completely forgotten about his new bond's younger twin. Evola, it seemed, had forgotten too; he could feel her chagrin through their new link.
"Evoli!" she exclaimed, padding to meet him. He nuzzled her shoulder and she stretched a wing over him. He didn't seem too upset that they'd left without him, a relief to them both, but he did seem more uncomfortable, as if he wasn't quite sure how to react to his sister and Riya now. Riya personally couldn't blame him, though he could tell immediately that Evola wouldn't understand.
"Hey, Evoli," he said lightly. "Sorry we didn't wait, I was trying to escape all those people." He opened the door to his dorm room, inviting both dragonets inside. Evola bounded through readily, her brother following a bit more anxiously, and Riya slipped in behind them, shutting the door most of the way behind him and running a hand reassuringly over Evoli's crest fin. He seemed to perk up a bit at that.
The sight of the room and his bed, even if it was only a temporary bed, was real enough and familiar enough to bring home the unreality of the whole situation. Here he was, linked magically and mentally to a dragon kit, inviting her and her twin brother into his room, on another planet millions of light years away from his home solar system, under the supervision of an Earth military leader. The whole day, the whole past week, seemed so strange and unlikely. It made him tired to think about it, and on top of the exhaustion that was threatening to rear its ugly head after his taught nerves, all the social interaction, and the excitement of the bonding, he just wanted to collapse onto that bed and sleep for a year or so.
Evola beat him to the bed, hopping up, turning around a few times on the rumbled covers-- Riya never bothered to make it up that morning, he was too restless-- then dropping down to her stomach and folding her forepaws one over the other primly, like a cat. Riya dropped down beside her with a sigh, resting one hand on her shoulders between her wings, and patted the bed on his other side for Evoli, who was looking awkward on the floor by the door. He dipped his head a little nervously and padded forward, putting his forepaws on the mattress and pushing himself up the rest of the way with them. Riya settled his other hand on Evoli's far shoulder, his arm wrapped around the dragonet's neck; Evoli leaned against him in response.
For a long moment, none of them said anything. Evola had set her head down on Riya's knee, eyes half-shut as if she were feeling as worn out as he, or thinking really hard about something that she wasn't sharing with Riya. At least he knew she wasn't rifling through his thoughts and memories; now that they were bonded, that would be as obvious as it had been subtle before. Evoli seemed at a loss for words; Riya expected he was a little disappointed that he hadn't gotten to bond, and unsure of where he stood with his sister and his new friend now that their relationship had changed to drastically. And Riya, between them, didn't really know what to say.
Finally, if just to break the silence, he said, "God, I'm tired...."
Before either dragon could answer, the door opened. All three looked up sharply, focusing on Andy with the pudgy Fire kit Cemitae trotting happily along at his heels like a round, exuberant puppy. Andy stopped short when his eyes fell on Riya and the two Airs on the bed to either side of him. Cemitae peeked his head around enough to see what the matter was and let a wide grin split his muzzle. "Hiya Evola!" He said, one wing lifting in a cheerful greeting. "Hey Evoli. What are you guys doing in here?" He trotted over to Riya's bed, smiling brightly. Andy stayed in the doorway, still staring. Riya could see the cogs of his brain turning, and he had a feeling they wern't turning in a way that was good for him.
"'Mitae!" Evola exclaimed cheerfully, as if welcoming a distraction from the moment of awkwardness, waving her finned tail at him in response to his wing-wave. "We just followed Riya here," she continued, seemingly oblivious to Andy growing angry confusion. Riya, however, was not. He noted the look on the cadet's face and prepared himself for a bad evening. Had he not noticed Riya had bonded, too? Or... maybe it was because Evoli was here, too. It might look bad, to Mister Military, if his arch-rival managed to procure two dragons instead of one. Andy probably didn't know that only one of them was actually a bond.
"Hey, Andy," he said, trying to sound as cheerful and careless as Evola. "Hey, Cemitae."
"Hi, 'Mitae," Evoli said, sounding a little shy. He, too, was uncomfortable at seeing Andy's expression, as well as in the company of another dragon who had managed to bond when Evoli, himself, hadn't.
Cemitae flicked his furry tail, looked over his shoulder at the cadet, and deliberately rolled his yellow eyes. "Oh come on, this is fun! It's like a camp-out or something! Stop being angry, come in!" Eyes back on the two Air Dragons, the Fire wiggled his ears, "It's like being back at home, right Evola? Except this time there's humans!" Andy, looking much put out and like he was not entirely sure what to think, followed the Dragon's suggestion and entered the room, closing the door behind him. Andy ignored Riya's greeting completely.
Evola giggled, still happily ignoring Andy's increasingly ugly expression. "A camp-out with comfy beds and no bugs, too!"
As if unable to take all the cheerfulness, Andy stomped over to the bathroom, yanked the door open, stalked inside, and slammed the door behind him. For a moment, there was silence in the room beyond, then Cemitae again rolled his eyes. "He'll get over it," he sighed, and rested his head on Riya's bed beside Evola.
Riya looked after Andy as he stormed into the bathroom and sighed, glancing down at Cemitae with a weary grin. "I hope so, since I hafta sleep in the same room as him tonight." He ruffled the little Fire's head-fur, and decided to at least clear things up a bit with Mister Military in there. He sent tiredly, ::I know you think this is some kind of contest and shit, but relax, okay? Evoli here is just Evola's twin brother. He's not bonded to me or anything, though I expect he'll be coming along with us a lot. As a friend.::
A little cheered by Riya's friendly response, and trying gamely to continue the more cheerful line of conversation, Cemitae wagged his tail slowly and added some points of his own: "A campout with lots and lots of fooood! Mmm, I don't think I've ever had anything as good at home. Then again my mom wasn't the Aer'venae, so it's not like we got anything special."
Evoli licked his muzzle hungrily. "Did you say food?"
Cemitae lifted his head from the bed and nodded vigorously at the younger Air. "Yeah, food! Didn't you sneak any of it at the ceremony? They had tons of leftovers! I wish we had brought some." The kit looked like he was about to drool, despite Evola's certainty-- and thus Riya's certainty, as she shared it with him-- that he'd eaten plenty at the banquet, even though the kits hadn't officially been given dinner.
"You eat too much, 'Mitae," Evola asserted firmly. "It's a good thing you didn't bring any more food, you don't need any."
"I wish he'd brought more," Evoli muttered, still looking hungry. He hadn't sneaked any of the banquet food.
Then, finally and obviously against his own will, Andy opened the door and peered out again at the group of them. All four other occupants glanced over at him, and his face reddened slightly, then he sidled over to his own bed and sat down heavily, facing away from them. Riya's eyes followed him tentatively, trying hard not to look smug or superior or even irritated, anything that would set the cadet off. Evola, though, didn't seem to care what Mister Military thought, and she looked very amused-- she could only imagine too well the lengths Cemitae had gone to, to convince his bond to come out, Riya knew. For a moment he almost chuckled, but the irritable look on Andy's face as he swept past made the chuckle die before it even got past the impulse stage.
For another moment, there was silence, then Cemitae's face gained a determined look and lowered his head off of Riya's bed. The inkling of understand what the little Fire was about to do rose in his mind, possibly from Evola but he couldn't be sure, and Riya had to bite his lip to keep from snickering. Evoli watched, apparently mystified. Quietly, he padded over to the cadet's bed, and before Andy knew quite what was going to happen, the kit leapt up on the springy mattress, causing enough of a commotion that the cadet lost his balance and collapsed over on top of the Fire; Andy squawked in surprise. All three broke into laughter as Cemitae pounced his bonded and Andy looked so surprised and affronted.
Andy pushed himself up again, visibly startled. "What the hell was that for?"
Cemitae peered at Evola from behind Andy, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Didja see the look on his face? Was it any good?"
"Oh yeah!" Evola managed through giggles. "That was great!" She giggled breathlessly, then rolled over onto her back and grinned at Andy. "You need to smile more, mister, it looks good on you!"
Cemitae wagged his tail at the laughter, the puff of hair on the end alternately whapping Andy on the leg and slapping at the pillow on the other side of him. He poked Andy in the back with his wing-thumb, and Andy scowled at the lot of them on the other bed, obviously not happy at all with the public humiliation. The Fire butted his head into his bond's side. "I was only playing, stop being such a stick in the mud! Or else.... or else...."
Andy slumped with defeat, unable to stay mad at the kit as Riya was sure he'd be unable to stay angry with Evola, running one hand over the kit's bright mane. "Or else you'll what? Sic those two on me?" he asked, his tone dripping with bitterness.
Cemitae's mouth gaped with amusement. "Yeah! Exactly!"
Evoli kneaded Riya's blankets absently with his forepaws, like a cat, and looked like he would have liked to shrink into nothing there on the bed, embarrassed by and a little nervous about being used as a threat. Evola, though, was only too pleased at the idea of getting sicced on someone. "And be warned, mister, I'm reeeeeeeeally mean!" she said cheerfully, looking anything but mean as she lay on her back, paws in the air.
Riya laughed. "No you aren't, you little minx," he accused, twisting a bit to ruffle the fur on her belly. Evola squealed, squirming, ticklish there, and wriggled off the bed, scampering off and over to Andy's bed, ducking under to hide and peering breathlessly back at Riya. Knowing better than to approach Andy's private space with the boy looking so murderous, Riya stayed where he was. "Ticklish, are we?" he drawled. Cemitae burst out laughing. Evola giggled and poked her head out from under the bed, grinning up at Andy, trying to get him to grin, back. Andy's mouth twitched as if he were trying not to smile.
Cemitae flexed his stubbly, kit-blunt claws at Evola, face twisting into a mock snarl. While he might have looked the tiniest bit threatening if he were in an upright position, laying on his side with his head stretched at an odd angle and one paw wavering in the air, he looked like more of a joke then anything. "You shall not escape the tickling here!" He declared, and tried to flip himself into a sitting position so that he could make due on his threats. Instead, one wing caught underneath of him, and he flailed for a second until Andy gave him a shove. Then, over judging the amount of push he needed, the little kit went tumbling down onto the floor with her.
"Eeeee!" Evola squealed again, backing away, squirming and laughing as if he were already tickling her. "Nonono, no tickling!" she laughed. Riya could feel his mood lifting with hers, grinning widely at her playfulness and ease with Cemitae. Evoli sprawled across his lap so he could see around him to the excitement, finally smiling, himself. When Cemitae rolled off the bed, all three of them burst out laughing, and even Andy was finally smiling, too engrossed in the mock-battle to be cranky.
Evola's laughter, though, was cut short as she grrred playfully and pounced the little Fire. "Who's gonna get tickled now!" she cried, scrabbling to tickle him before he could retaliate.
The Fire shrieked as his friend got a hold of his hind paw, giggling and protesting and not able to pull his foot away. "No fair!" he cried, flapping his vibrant wings and scrabbling at the earthen floor as Evola took shameless advantage of her momentary victory over her larger friend. "Nofairnofairno--" And then he couldn't breathe anymore, he was laughing too hard. After much writhing and tickling, Cemitae finally swung around enough so that he could retaliate. Gathering in what breath he could, he dived at the Air's stomach and blew a raspberry on her unprotected belly. Evola flew back with a little shriek of laughter, scrambling back and bumping into Andy's legs, then whirled and leapt up onto the bed, hiding behind the cadet as if somehow he would protect her.
Riya laughed. "Uh oh, now you're gonna have to play, too, Andy," he called over. Evoli giggled and waved his short tail happily, content to watch rather than rough-house himself.
"Oh no, don't bring me into this," Andy said, raising his arms in a warding off gesture.
Such was not to be, however. Cemitae, after having rested enough to catch his breath, made a kit-pitched growling noise. "You caaaaan't escaaaaaaape," he called, his voice dramatically drawn out in an attempt to sound evil. There was a silence as he again went into his prowling mode, and even Andy wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Evola giggled breathlessly from behind Andy, crouching on the bed and beaming happily. Protests aside, she loved tousling with Cemitae-- or any kit she could convince to play-- and as far as she was concerned, the more involved, the more fun it was. Riya turned on the bed so that he sat cross-legged on the rumbled blankets and was actually facing all the action. Evoli followed and settled down beside him, putting his head down on Riya's knee and watching quietly, smiling fondly over at his sister and her friend.
Suddenly the kit bounded up onto the bed from the other side, wings extended as if they could somehow aid his leap. He pushed Andy over again, using his own bonded as a dead-weight to trap Evola. "Hah!" the kit cried, "I gotcha!" Again Evola burst into laughter, again breathless as the much larger human squished the air out of her lungs. She wriggled around under him, even tickling him in her efforts to free herself. Andy scrambled to pick himself off of the poor Air, laughing himself but at the same time hoping he hadn't squished her. It was difficult, however, witha pair of sturdy paws pushing on his back.
Just as Andy managed to get the Fire off of him, Evola squeezed free, leaping from the bed with her wings spread and landing on the unused bed opposite Andy's. She spun around upon landing and blew a raspberry in Cemitae's direction. Riya dissolved into helpless laughter, falling back on the bed clutching his stomach, and Evoli was giggling hard again.
"Okay, enough, enough!" Andy cried, hands waving back and forth like a referee in a game calling for a time out. "You!" He pointed at Cemitae, "You're supposed to be full and tired! And you," he swung a finger in Evola's direction, "I don't know what you're supposed to be doing, but I know it isn't tickling helpless gluttons!"
Cemitae pouted, "But we were having fun!" The accusations bounced off Evola who, assured of her escape and thus victory by default, giggled and shot the Fire a triumphant look, which he didn't catch.
"I know, I don't care! I need to get some sleep, dammit." He glared at his bond, but the threat in his eyes was negated by the tone of his voice and his grin. "And if you're going to go back to your barracks, then you'd better be going now."
"Awww, but I wanna stay with you!" Cemitae put both paws on Andy's thigh, his eyes wide and glistening. Riya, now propped back up on one elbow and catching his breath, was hard pressed not to start laughing again. The cadet looked a little shocked, glancing at Riya as if for help, then back at Cemitae.
Riya wiped tears of mirth out of his eyes and shrugged, unable to quite quell the grin, at Andy's questioning look. "I sure won't complain," he said. "I wasn't about to go chasing these two out unless they end up staying awake and being noisey all night."
"Not m-m-m-me," Evoli said, interrupting himself with a wide yawn.
Seeing that there would be no more rough-housing, Evola heaved a sigh. "Oh, all right," she said reluctantly and bounded over to Riya's bed, and he laughed again.
"Oh no," he grinned. "There isn't room for me and you two on this bed, sorry. Get back over there. You, too, Evoli."
Cemitae leapt across to the bed next to Andy's, almost not making it, and stuck out his tongue at Evola. "I get my own bed, so there!" he taunted, but a look from Andy quelled him.
"I don't mind sharing," Evola said loftily, bouncing back as if she had never meant to switch beds in the first place. Riya chuckled and rose, stretching, as she performing a cat-like few turns on the mattress before curling up with a huffy little sigh. Riya gave Evoli a final pat before the smaller Air leapt over to join her and curled up with less ceremony beside her, resting his chin over her shoulders, between her wings.
Giving Andy a friendly grin and feeling happier about his whole situation in general than he had since the cadet returned to the room, Riya grabbed his sweats for sleeping in and retreated to the bathroom to change and unbraid his hair. Maybe they could manage to be civil with each other, after all.