i am the mask you wear [green kyrahth’s flight]

[Ember]

Dsoleth watched Kyrahth sink into the clouds. When she didn't show herself again soon he entered the mass and it parted around him easily. He was spat out the bottom of the clouds and caught sight of the green again. He angled downwards and spun as he fell after Kyrahth. He broke out of the dive before she did, maintaining some height for when she chose to go back up. She would undoubtedly ascend again, and probably soon too. Greens only had so much endurance.

The brown was rewarded when she did indeed start to go upwards again. He was still above her for the moment so he did as tight a loop as he could manage. Dsoleth let her pass him on the way up before he flapped his wings hard and used the thermals to assist him in rising after her. He went very near his fastest in order to try and limit the distance between him and the green. It was now or never and the brown really did prefer now.

T'san watched the green toy with the late one. He was partially disappointed that the other brown didn't receive any sort of marking. Was he to be the only one? In a way that made him special, right? He supposed he could live with that. It certainly hadn't seemed like the lovely had been angry at him so he'd take it as a good sign that he had been blooded. It still hurt though. He preferred the kissing.

The blue growled his displeasure and his eyes flicked to the other male. Oh, demanding hmm? The brown continued to watch the green flirt with others. It was beginning to get a little frustrating actually. There was a slight flash of triumph as he noticed that the green appeared to be digging her claws into the blue. Or at least, that's what it looked like from where T'san stood. The next moment he felt sympathy and again his hand travelled to the small wound at his neck,

[Requiem]

Her tail dragging lightly along his while she twisted away, plunging into the cloudbank at an alternative course to the one Behruth took, caused the small brown to croon to himself in quiet pleasure. No, she might not choose him in the end, but just that touch was more than most would get and he had no doubt it was intentional. (Or rather, fervently wished such. And why not? She was certainly experienced and skillful enough that the likelihood of her accidentally brushing any of her suitors was pretty low, right?) Intentional or not, he coiled almost lazily through the clouds, noticing rather belatedly that she hadn't come back up through them. Dipping he curled into a dive, breaking through the underside of the bank. There, below him, and Dsoleth and Pettahth had already followed, their larger masses making it certain they'd be closer on her tail than Behruth.

The brown didn't mind so much, however. He chose a different route, angling for the main hall as soon as he saw her change in direction, picking out the smallest spot he could safely penetrate. Coiling around the tree in the opposite direction of Kyrahth and the other males, his tail caught on the lower branch - whether by design or accident it was hard to say - showering the green with leaves as he curled around the trunk and shot upwards after her, flapping for all he was worth and utilizing any stray bit of air that would push him higher faster. He didn't want to be above her though, no. Just not so far below that she couldn't see him for all the much larger dragon in the way. What goes up... A strain in his wings, from flying so hard and fast for so long, but he ignored it. For now it wasn't a problem.

The brownrider continued to watch Kyrahth pay her attentions to Pettahth, eyes narrowing slightly. It was such an odd mixture of sensations, feeling the strain of muscles, the desire to dance and fly, while standing stockstill amongst the other dragons in this room, waiting for her to move from man to man, to toy with them. A good imagination couldn't make up for her in his arms, his impatience manifesting in the drilling of fingers of one hand on his thigh. Slow beat tapping away. Impatient, impatient.

He didn't begrudge Futh the attention. (Pettahth was questionable.) Fair was fair, after all, and she'd turned to him first. But he did feel a touch of remorse at having already been marked when he arrived. He wasn't broken. He wasn't. Yet Kyrahth felt that way, and didn't turn her teeth or claws to him. Watching the hands dragging back over Futh's hips...he looked away, unable to watch further. Not so much jealous as feeling it in his own body, and it made him want to walk up and take her. No, no, must choose. Tch.

[Ruby]

This time, Futh was ready. When Kyrahth dipped into the clouds, Futh went too, tucking his wings and dropping like a sack of tubers. He didn't waste any time on fancy spins, but instead literally dropped like a stone, not making any attempt to keep himself upright but rather simply eliminating air resistance. He still had a decent amount of distance to make up, and the vertical drop didn't really help, but Futh wasn't bothered. He had no idea when the flight would be ending, but the Blue wasn't one to bide his time and reserve his strength. He would throw everything he had in from the very beginning - Kyrahth was worth it.

With a dizzying, heart-stopping tumble, Futh straightened out when he thought he had passed Dsoleth, corkscrewing sideways until he got his bearings again. As the two smaller browns followed Kyrahth around her newest obstacle, Futh swooped to the left, taking a horizontal line for the air over the main hall, fully rejoining the other males in the chase instead of staying off on his own. As she rose again, Futh felt the hot air coming off the main hall's dark roof tease his wingsails, and he took the thermal, trailing her towards the sky and fully ignoring the strain (pain, in truth) building in his wings. No matter who won this flight, Futh knew he would be sore tomorrow.

On the ground, the Blue's other half wouldn't lie to A'emi. Eyes tracking the much shorter rider as he moved around behind M'kai's back, the Weyrling's muscles taught to keep them from trembling (or doing something that was not allowed, like spinning and lifting the Green onto the bed, catching instead of letting her choose), M'kai shuddered and let out a single affirmative syllable in response to the Green's question. A'emi's closeness and the kiss on his shoulder, though, melted M'kai's jealousy (Futh's pure delight in Flight helped) and he relaxed, smiling at all the attention he was getting. Yes, this was exactly what he had been jealous of.

Suddenly the gentle touches turned painful, though, and M'kai let out a hiss. A'emi's fingers had left white trails on M'kai's pale skin, furrows that quickly turned an angry red. It was a smile that flickered across M'kai's lips, though, and he closed his eyes momentarily, half-turning so he could see the Green's face without breaking the embrace. He'd been marked but not broken, his flesh was still whole. "Now..." Forming sentences was a struggle for the Blue, who was mostly focused on his break-neck climb, his brain 90% in the air dragonlengths above. "Now... I wait until you choose, and then... well, then it's your choice what happens next, unless... unless you want me to help. Us to help." Logical, yeah? No matter that M'kai had been trying to say, his answer was clear as he leaned into A'emi, loath to let the Greenrider go. Waiting would be hard.

[Avu]

Though she was loathe to admit, even to herself, they had impressed her. Not incredibly so; they had done very little that she could not, herself, have done, except last so long, but it was more than she would have expected nonetheless. Kyrahth spun upwards, still going as fast as she could, pushing, ignoring the growing burn, the stress; she felt a brush of concern from A’emi, ignored it, even pushed him away mentally. It wasn’t his pain to deal with. She wanted it to herself, wanted the fury that came with the knowledge that she could go not much farther to use as fuel. Past the clouds, her wings carried her, quivering at the tips from the effort.

Four dragons; four males, none of which she was entirely familiar with. Behruth, Dsoleth, Pettahth; browns, and then the single blue, Futh. They had flown for her, while others remained somnolent and undisturbed on their ‘ledges. And Kyrahth would have gone on forever if she could, never choose if she didn’t have to out of necessity; she liked having all of them, all four, trying, striving, for her…her tail twitched sideways, thoughtful, and Kyrahth hummed low in her throat as she angled herself up, deliberately silhouetting herself in the sun…

The response that M’kai had to him, the hiss of pain, the blue’s words…they sent a shiver of delight down A’emi’s spine and he crooned wordlessly, dragging his nails down M’kai’s hips, arching just below his pants, and then simply wound his arms around M’kai’s waist, nuzzling affectionately against the back of his neck. It lasted only a moment. The greenrider pulled away, pressing another quiet kiss against the bluerider’s shoulder, and then slid away, aware of the imminent end. To M’ta he glided, fingertips gently tracing down the brown’s jaw.

“Thank you.” The words were quiet, sincere, for all of them, not just M’ta, though it was he who A’emi leaned in to kiss gently, full on the mouth, the metallic heaviness of blood still tingeing his lips. “You’ve all been absolutely lovely.” He caught M’ta’s wrist, brought it to his mouth, ran his tongue down the cut again, and then stepped away from the brownrider, to one of the other browns. T’san. His hand flicked up, gingerly tracing the bite mark, head tilted in curiosity. “Lovely,” A’emi repeated, almost in a murmur, and then leaned forward on his toes to kiss the wound, softly.

He drew away, to K’sel, smiled at the brown. “Although some of us might wish to work on our timing,” and the note of playfulness in his tone was indicative of the fact that he still approved, one way or another, of K’sel – or Kyrahth did of Pettahth. A’emi raised his hand, using his thumb to trace K’sel’s lips, the smear of blood on his cheek, and then moved back to M’kai, idly using his finger to trace the bluerider’s jaw, collarbone, the line of his shoulder. “I wish,” and the words were whispered, heated, “I wish I could keep all of you…”

In the sky, Kyrahth spun on her wingtip, brushing dismissal across three minds out of the four. To the fourth, the green spoke; a single word, quiet, decisive: Come. She hovered; Kyrahth refused to fall to the male in question. He would come to her, or she would choose another; it was as simple as that for Kyrahth. And she would not wait long. Her wings ached and Kyrahth was not a patient creature…

Below, finally feeling the lust haze his mind, A’emi pressed his mouth against M’kai’s. He had no preference, personally, between the four; if Kyrahth Chose Futh, then M’kai would serve his purpose just as well. His fingers dipped below the bluerider’s belt, tugging the taller male against him, and he whispered, “I’ve chosen; now it’s your turn. Show me what you really want to do, and,” and a smirk played across his mouth, “if you’re good, I might keep you.”

[Ruby]

Futh still struggled upwards, battling as ever his extra baggage. She was just ahead, eclipsing the sun, but she was also just behind him, nuzzling his neck. Futh crooned in pleasure, not even remotely distracted by the warring sensations, simply accepting them all at once. Maybe the nuzzle was the wind, or the vision of Kyrahth ahead of him was simply that- Futh didn't care, he was long lost, chasing/waiting. She would have to pick soon, wouldn't she? Futh certainly wouldn't have lasted this long if he had been a Green.

He almost stumbled when Kyrahth pulled away, so used to the Greenrider's warm mass that he wasn't fully holding himself up anymore. Plus it was startling, the sudden absence of the Greenrider - and startlingly lonely. How strange.

Still oddly bereft, M'kai watched as A'emi thanked them all, spending time with each of them, making them all feel special and wanted. But the Green could not have all of them - the wings would get in the way, Futh reflected, providing an excellent mental image. He was still after Kyrahth, and surprised himself when he realized he was still keeping up. All four males were close now, and Futh was feeling very good about himself.

Then, all of a sudden, A'emi was back, M'kai tasted blood, Kyrahth had slowed, and a word burned its way into Futh's mind. The Blue beat his wings, surging forward and closing the distance, then twining his neck with the beautiful Green's as he said simply, I'm here. It was easy, natural, even for a dragon who had never done this before. Spreading his wings wide, he took her weight, and they fell.