A Moment of Leisure {{OPEN}}

[Faerie Fyre]

Few things in life brought more pleasure to the average dragon rider than the ability to leave everything behind for a little while, and just fly with their lifemate. Even the less-than-average dragon rider, such as Wingleader V'quor, enjoyed the feeling of having no duties while embraced by the adventurous wind. Being a wingleader at Skysong Weyr - well, any weyr, honestly - meant that moments like these were few, and far between.

The older bronze rider had noticed a distinct lack of need for his presence in the weyr that afternoon, and had taken the opportunity to take his Lyrath up for a long, leisurely flight. Of late, the only flying he and Lyrath had done involved fighting Thread, and the drills with the intent to do the same. Nothing was more important to Pern than that her riders be ready to face the always-imminent threat of Thread, but on occasion, those self-same riders needed to be able to take a break. All work and no play makes V'quor a dull, sour old man.

Not that you you need help with that, Val.

Lyrath was sometimes -ever- so helpful. V'quor did not deign to dignify that snide remark with a response, but he did cling to the bronze neck a little tight on their next maneuver. Lyrath was happy, too, as evidenced by his continuous corkscrews, loops, and curvetting. If there was a lovely female in the sky with them, he would probably be flirting with her. It was easier to flirt in the air, where only the most conscientious of weyrlings usually remembered more than their names. The majesty involved in flying should have worn off by now for a man who had been bound to his dragon as long as V'quor had been bound to Lyrath, but it hadn't. V'quor was in love with the skies, and even more in love with the feeling of weightlessness it gave him. Nothing could touch him until he had to go back down to the soil, and he very well might never come down again.

[Astarte]

It wasn't easy to forget about playing the sleeper cell in the midst of dozens of unsuspecting pairs of eyes, the one who would bring about great tragedy. And even when that tragedy was necessary to protect others and keep the world running smoothly, it weighed heavily on the mind. Heavily enough that it was impossible to escape, even in sleep, when dreams dragged her to the ground with heavy claws leaking ichor. Kishel was haunted by her own actions, and her own needs. But she would do anything, anything to protect Pern, and (perhaps even more importantly) to prove herself to Valoryn, the true Weyrwoman of Pern.

But when she was a-dragonback, soaring with Reyenth, then Kishel could forget herself for at least a while. Whenever she was with the dragon, pretending came easier. Out of desperation to keep Reyenth from realizing she had gone to work against Queen eggs? Yes. Out of a desire to keep her secret? Yes. But also out of a desire to protect her lifemate. Dragons didn't understand things the way humans did. Reyenth would likely panic if she let him catch onto her deepest, darkest secrets.

It was painful, keeping such things from a dragon. And difficult.

Which was why she loved flying with him. The chance to drop all her worries and throw her entire consciousness into her dragon's, to the point where the conscious beings known as Kishel and Reyenth became nearly indistinguishable from each other. Reyenth reveled in the chance to take flight between Falls and Threadfighting, and the fact that he finally had his lifemate's undivided attention. With his rider secure in her straps, he dove and twisted, pulling nearly-impossibly complex maneuvers and pulling out of life-threatening dives at the last second, only to swoop upward again.

Was he showing off? Of course! How could he ever keep Kishel's thoughts from straying to that impossible Fort Weyrwoman, otherwise?

He was in the middle of a dive when he realized they were no longer alone in the air. The creature that was Kishel-and-Reyenth shouted as they dropped, and Reyenth pulled in his wings tightly, rolling slightly aside and falling past Lyrath like an attractively-coloured stone. Mind the backdraft! he barked to the bronze as he pulled out of the dive, swooping up again and angling back in an easy descent to arrive in the air above and to the side of the Wingleader.

Ripped out of her dragon's consciousness rather abruptly, Kishel was momentarily dazed, but she recovered quickly enough, loosening her straps so she could lean far out over Reyenth's neck. "What ho, Wingleader V'quor!"

Be careful! Reyenth snapped, rolling a little to unbalance Kishel and dump her back squarely on his neck.