Lost and Found (Muta and.... others?)

[kysseh]

At least the flitter knew his own name, and Savitri had to chuckle at Mutasim's scorn toward the other candidate. However, she had no time to react as Tanith threw herself into the air, and the boy's ridiculous protest went unrecognized as the green altered her flight to glide almost lazily for the candidate barracks. Savitri, however, was more distracted by the fact that she was being tightly clung to as though Mutasim's life depended on it. Well... perhaps it did. She let him hold onto her, though, not wanting him to topple off. He must not fly dragonback as often as she did, which would explain the fact that he was not altogether comfortable.

Then again, Tanith had taken off rather quickly, so perhaps he was just surprised.

Even as Tanith's flight continued its largely level glide toward the barracks, his grip did not seem to be loosening. Savitri let go of the straps with one hand and patted his arm where it circled her midsection. "It's okay. You're not going to fall!" she called over her shoulder, and really, she would not let him. He was not half bad, even being as quarrelsome and difficult as he could be. He had been concerned for her welfare, and he had returned the whistle, which she could still feel in the depths of her pocket, safe for now. It made her smile a bit. She was thankful for that small blessing, that the desired trinket was still present despite the wherry scare.

She felt Tanith shifting beneath her, felt Aliscia gripping the green's straps a little tighter, and the goldweyrling tightened her one hand's grip on the straps, her other hand seizing hold of Muta's wrist. That was the only warning she could give him before Tanith abruptly folded her wings and made a long, slow dive for the landing platform. Savitri's stomach was in the vicinity of her mouth, though she did not feel the usual nausea. The green must have been doing an especially shallow dive. Savitri vowed to do this more often; she needed to get used to it before she and Hepaticath took to the air.

Tanith's dive suddenly became steeper as the tree with the barracks neared, and then she snapped her wings open at the last moment and backwinged to land. It could have been a gentler landing, and Savitri was thrown forward into Aliscia's back, muttering an apology to the unruffled greenrider. Now that they were down, she released her vicegrip on Mutasim's abused arm and gave him an apologetic look over her shoulder. "Sorry. Didn't want you to fall," she said, looking him over as best she could from the angle she sat at. "You okay? No bad bruises?" She was going to ask if he had been terrified, but boys seemed to be insulted when that query as made. Thus, she settled for something more general. "Jabari didn't get thrown off, did he?"

[reqqy]

Although Tanith seemed to be taking a fairly direct course, he simply didn't trust her. The leap had been unexpected, and she would probably do something else unexpected just as he let go. Much as Mutasim thought of suicide and how that would make the whole world at large a better place, he always reacted this way when his life was in danger - Muta wanted to live. Had to, really. If he hadn't died back in Bitra, it was almost silly to succumb to something stupid like falling from a dragon's back here in Selenitas. Besides, Savitri was right. If nothing else, he had to live on for Jabari, because the silly little flit would not be able to make it without him - even if they weren't bonded. At the moment, the brown was coiled so tightly around his shoulders that Mutasim was simply glad the creature had gotten too big for his neck several months past. Surely he would have died of strangulation by this point, otherwise.

As Savitri patted his arm, trying to reassure him, the candidate felt a flash of guilt. He wasn't hurting her, was he? Mutasim forced his muscles to ease up, keeping his grip snug instead of a death-grip. He let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Part of the problem was that Jabari's and Mutasim's startlement were feeding off each other, so that the feeling refused to go away. "I'm sorry. She just...surprised me." Understatement of the turn. Surprised him? Try shocked. Though he hardly noticed, he was actually pulling Savitri back into him for the comfort of her warmth. Mutasim wasn't often completely taken off-guard, and it turned out that his nerves didn't handle it too well. After all, being taken by surprise more or less meant death in the world he'd come from.

When Tanith went into the dive, though, Mutasim found his arm tightening around Savitri again, despite all intentions to the contrary. His other hand went to Jabari, who was flailing about and constricting his shoulders enough that the candidate actually believed that the brown might manage to dislocate something. Jabari began to calm a little at his touch, such that now Muta was merely making sure the poor thing wouldn't be dislodged. He hardly even noticed the vicelike grip on his wrist. Everything else was of greater importance. Jabari would likely be okay, but they were still pretty high up, and he didn't want the brown overly distressed. That was always painful for him to endure.

Coming into a landing with a jolt, he found himself pressed tightly up against Savitri, though his arm seemed to have frozen in place. It wouldn't release her. He hissed quietly when she released his wrist, only then realizing that she'd been holding it, as the circulation flowed to his hand in a rush. "No, it's okay," he replied through gritted teeth, hoping that he hadn't done something similar to the girl's waist. At her mention of bruises, though, he snorted. "Other than Jabari turning into one of those tunnelsnakes that kills by constriction? No, nothing serious." He shrugged a shoulder to try to loosen the brown's grip up some more, and found it to be more than just a little sore. Great. "He's fine. He doesn't think he is, but he's fine."

Finally, he convinced his muscles to move, letting go of Savitri, but even that was sending aches through his biceps. Shardit, but Jabari really needed to learn what things hurt. He wasn't so sure something didn't get dislocated after all. "Thanks," he finally told the goldweyrling, waiting to dismount and get as far away from Tanith as he possibly could. Note to self: never, ever say anything around that green.

[kysseh]

The fact that Mutasim had held on the entire flight was... surprising, to say the least. In fact, Savitri had a sneaking suspicion he'd actually been trying to pull her closer. If it weren't for his apparent lack of interest in her, she would suspect he was trying to get a good feel, though the death-grip he had around her waist suggested he was merely trying to stay alive. The poor boy. She should have warned him that Tanith was cantankerous, at best.

He was tightly pressed against her back for a moment, and she was surprised that she did not mind the contact. Normally she hated to be crowded, but this was... tolerable. She winced at the sound of his reply, knowing she had left a mark. He was moving around, so at least she knew she had not seriously harmed him in an attempt to keep him on Tanith's neck. "I'm glad you're both all right, no thanks to Tanith-" She lightly kicked her heels at the green's neck. "-taking off like that." The fact that Tanith only rumbled in distinct amusement further annoyed the weyrling, and Aliscia barked out a laugh.

"Get used to it, children. I'm sure Tanith would love to teach Cath that, and she'll teach your dragon when you Impress," she chuckled, turning and gesturing with one gloved hand at Mutasim. "Think you can get down on your own, or should Savitri hold your hand and help?" The wicked grin on her face was as much for the goldweyrling as for Mutasim, which earned her a glare from the young woman seated in the middle.

"Leave him be! He's not used to your teasing," Savitri grumbled at her greenrider friend, hissing lightly as Mutasim's arm let up its grip on her. Ouch! She had to immediately soothe Hepaticath as the gold radiated distress at Hers' pain, but Savitri knew that other than a few bruises and some distinct soreness around the still-healing wounds from the Hatching, there was no real damage done. She took her free hand and gently prodded at her own abdomen, satisfied after a second that she was still in one functional piece.

His gratitude startled her, and she twisted around to see him, offering up a genuine smile for his sake. "You're welcome. Tanith, can you let him get down, please?" she asked, lightly slapping the dark neck beneath her. When the green snorted and extended her foreleg for Mutasim to use as a step down, the young woman gestured with one hand. "There. Now you can get rid of me." Her words might have been blunt, but her tone was just shy of brisk, taking the harshness from her statement. Honestly, she did not mind him being around, but he seemed to be keen on escaping. "I'll make you meet Cath later, when she's not upset."

[reqqy]

Jabari fluted nervously as Mutasim took a more direct approach to getting the brown to ease up. He pulled the flitter from his shoulders, wincing at the soreness that came of the movement, before rubbing ruefully at what was definitely going to turn into a colorful bruise in an hour or two. Mutasim would have to probably find one of the few shirts he owned that actually had sleeves, unless he wanted questions. The candidate glared at the creature between his thighs at her rumbling laugh, not at all appreciating how she seemed to find toying with his life funny. So maybe it was unlikely that he would have fallen, but it wasn't so unlikely that Savitri hadn't clutched his wrist hard enough to cause pain. No, he wasn't liking Tanith much at the moment. Nor her rider, when the woman chose add her laughter to the dragon's. Muta's jaw clenched.

Jabari had now decided to cling to the young man's waist, but at least he wasn't in full terror mode, so it was merely uncomfortable. Mutasim directed a sneer at Aliscia. "Tanith's never going near my dragon if I Impress," he returned hotly. She'd probably eat him. Stupid green. The brown tightened his grip, and Muta cursed softly, trying to tone down his own anger so that Jabari would stop half-strangling him.

And the greenrider apparently didn't feel the need to stop at that, continuing to ridicule him. Mutasim's eyes narrowed dangerously. He'd like to see how she'd react with a dagger pressing between her ribs, and then they could talk about cowardice. If it was the difference between falling to his death and living a few extra minutes, yes he was going to cling to Savitri! The young man was seriously considering testing Aliscia's bravery when the goldweyrling interjected. He was almost upset that she was interfering. Almost. But if it meant he wouldn't have to deal with Aliscia or Tanith anymore, he'd be grateful.

Also, he didn't want to put Savitri in the middle of a spat. He'd seen how she'd checked herself out, and that made him guilty. He didn't like feeling guilty. He liked being removed enough from the situation that his conscience wasn't involved. Well, there was really no helping it, and he was certain Aliscia would take care of Savitri if the girl needed it. She'd come when the healer was in trouble, hadn't she? Even if Muta did not like her, there was at least that much. Nor did he intend to share Savitri with Aliscia. It would certainly end in a royal spat, and he'd rather not go there. Touching the goldweyrling's arm, he murmured, "Take care of yourself," before sliding from Tanith as quickly as he was able.

Still wrestling with Jabari, he vanished from sight in record time.