Before I leave... {Mona's Flight}

[Administrator]

Marra entered her apartment with the most peculiar expression on her face, looking around immediately for Rawign. He hadn’t Impressed, so he should still be here. Any other day, she would doubtlessly comment on that he was being sulky, but it was not so today. Rather, it was Marra who was upset. Her fingers clutching a letter tightly, she forced her face to look apathetic when there was nothing but chaos within. Hiding the pain of this knowledge from revealing itself, one might note the tensed jawline and mildly glassy eyes, with her knuckles white as they clutched a piece of paper with the seal from Harper Hall on it.

How was she to tell him? Until now, she hadn’t thought her friendship—and the more part—with Rawign was this precious to her until this moment, when she was being wrenched away. She had to be ready to leave to Blossom Hold by tomorrow afternoon- the Masterharper had transferred her out of Selenitas. He had remarked that the Weyr was getting boring for her, even though Marra had fiercely protested that it was doing only good. However, she had the sneaking suspicion that he did this on purpose. Though the Masterharper had welcomed girls to his hall, he was a true northerner. Once he knew that he had power over a female harper, he would use it to his advantage to get what he truly wanted from an innocent crafter girl. Marra had always said only the desperate actually went along with this to remain in southern holds. Now, was she the desperate? Still, the proud part of her had rejected this inevitable question, despite how much she wanted to remain here.

“I…” she began, then stopped, unable to continue. She looked down at her feet, still desperately attempting to mask this whirlpool of emotions within her. Why was it so hard to tell this to Rawign? She sighed defeatedly, looking back up with her eyes even more glassy than before. “I’m being transferred out of Selenitas,” she told him, her voice oddly toned.

Desdemona, who lay curled on her shoulder, let out an irritated peep. Her green hide had a curious glow about it, one that Marra didn’t notice, nor would. The harper was more worried about herself than about the situation her green was about to put her in. “I’m going to different hold,” she went on, taking deep breaths to keep her emotion at bay. “The Masterharper was insistent on this transfer.”

The flitter’s eyes began to gain a tinge of violet in the red-orange mix. Unfortunately, Marra remained oblivious—until Desdemona let out a screech. Poised and ready to fly, Marra looked down at the flitter in confusion. Mona was usually a quiet creature. Now, she was letting loose a challenge…

Launching herself from her bonded’s shoulder, Mona winked between into open sky. Letting out a miniature bugle to any males that wanted her, she shot forward at an upward slope, her eyes become even more purple against her glowing yellow-green hide. She was in Flight- let the males come!

Green flitter Flights, Marra remembered from when Robika had told her, were never very passionate for the people bonded to the flitters. Yet the fuzzy feelings in Marra kept distracting her from the conversation at hand. “I,” she began, swallowing. Her mouth was dry. “I mean, so I just came to tell you so that, well, you’d know about it…” She fidgeted, and would have been embarassed at the thoughts that were running through her head had the fuzzy feelings not been encouraging it. Taking a step forward to Rawign, she found herself uncomfortably close, the heat of his body intoxicating amidst the emotions of this Flight. Shaking her head, she rubbed her temples to try and regain clean thoughts. Still slightly drugged off of the Flight Desdemona had begun, she almost came closer, but halted herself mid-step, confused. What was she doing?

Desdemona certainly knew what she was doing. She only had one thing on her mind, and she was going to get it! Snarling at the flitters that Chased her, she twisted and turned in the air. She would never be Caught till she had half of Pern’s fire lizards in her wind!

Running a hand through her hair, Marra dropped her transfer letter to the ground. Like Mona, Marra felt need. Looking up at Rawign with an almost startled expression, she was lost for words now, lost in now not only her despair in leaving and hatred for the Masterharper, but these feelings, this mild need that was affecting her. It wasn’t intense passion, she knew, but there was something that needed to be… satiated. Without realizing it, she had come dangerously close to Rawign, to the point where they were practically touching. These emotions, buried beneath the harper’s denying heart, found themselves bared before her, raw at the Flight that found them hidden in the deepest corner of her. How the hell was she supposed to get the message across that she needed Rawign?!

[glamourie]

He wished he could say he was surprised. But he wasn't. Rawign hadn't really expected to Impress anything, even if he did want to. It could be worse, he supposed. Failure to Impress didn't change that he was, technically, a candidate. So he didn't have to go anywhere; he'd be able to hang around with his sister and get to know her dragon... maybe next time? Things would work out. He might have been more upset, if Religna and K'lir hadn't Impressed, but they had. So had Cezine. He wasn't too put out, since everyone he knew seemed to Impress. The logic of that was strange, true enough, but... when wasn't Rawign strange? Hey, didn't that mean he could stay in Marra's apartment indefinitely though? See, there was a bright side.

And the bright side had walked right through the door. His bad mood faltered completely as Marra came in and a bright smile flashed over his face, only to dim at her expression. She didn't look like a floundering, crying girl as most people would, but something was obviously wrong. Rawign stood up from where he'd been perching half on the end of her bed and tilted his head to the side just slightly - the same way he always did when something caught his attention. The fact that she wasn't meeting his eyes sent off many warning bells in the back of his mind and it was a conscious effort on Rawign's part not to back away and flee. Whatever she was about to tell him wouldn't be good. It couldn't be good. And he didn't know if he was up for more bad news. Just because he wasn't crushed at the idea of not Impressing didn't mean he could handle something else negative happening.

"Trans-- What---?"

The confusion that he felt quite effectively flew across his features, his eyebrows raised and his eyes wide. He did not notice Mona's behavior either, though it was not missed by Li perched on Rawign's shoulder, nor Beggar on one of the desks nearby. Curiously, Roxie was no where to be found. Rawign's hands moved to rest on Marra's shoulders, meant more as a comfort than they likely were. Her words lingered in the back of his mind, a total disbelief coming across his face. She likely could not have surprised him more if she'd just told him that, surprise, she was a queenrider from Benden or something. What did she mean, she was getting transferred? She couldn't! She was a Harper and the Weyr needed her, didn't they?

Another... hold? But what kind of hold? "What?" He couldn't wrap his mind around the concept, so, eloquent creature that he was, Rawign repeated the question. Yet, he knew what he heard, and from Marra's demeanor, she wasn't any more pleased by it than he was. "That's ridiculous - you're needed here, you're the best Harper Selenitas has --" And he didn't want her to go.

Mona drew Rawign's attention away briefly. He'd never heard her make much noise, let alone one like that. The slight glow of her hide made his eyebrows raise, recognition dawning in the back of his mind but not quite on his face. It was a foggy sort of acknowledgment, as most of his mind was working out the best way to keep Marra at Selenitas. He was fairly sure he couldn't get away with tying her up and keeping her in his furs, no matter how good the idea sounded, and he didn't think that the MasterHarper would thank him for trying to interfere in his plans. But what did he gain by sending Marra away? The thought infuriated Rawign more and more with each passing second and --- and Li was gone. So was Beggar. Both the bronze and the blue had vanished between after Mona, leaving Rawign feeling quite painfully alone.. and very much aware of their interest in the green. Oh, wonderful. Beggar wasn't so bad, but Li was another story.

Both Li and Beggar reappeared from between in the sky after Mona, the dark blue flitter moving faster than the bronze. But for his size, Li was able to keep a surprisingly short distance between them. Both of them were quite determined to catch the little green, despite the near panic that their chasing had sent their bonded into. Rawign wasn't exactly in a position to ignore them when he was growing steadily more upset, never mind that he'd liked Marra to begin with...

"I don't want you to leave," Rawign said softly, hands moving down the sides of her arms. "I don't."

He didn't. The idea of Marra being gone terrified him, but that paled in the flurry of feelings that came with his bronze and blue flitter both chasing Mona, twisting and turning after her along with the rest of the firelizards that answered her call. Others might have had a chance at blocking out those feelings - they weren't as strong as dragons, after all - but Rawign didn't. Or maybe he just didn't want to. With each step closer that Marra took, his hands moved further down until they rested on her waist, and then he pulled her to him in a kiss. He didn't want her to leave, he didn't. His mind rejected the idea. She wasn't really leaving, it was all some great big misunderstanding. He could feel her body so close to his, against him, her lips against his -- he wasn't about to lose that, he just wasn't. He refused to accept it as even a possibility.

[Administrator]

Marra had a feeling why the Masterharper was transferring her, but she would never tell these suspicions to Rawign. The Masterharper was a very... needy man, and when he felt he had a female harper wrapped around his finger, he wouldn't hesitate to ask a favor in return for giving a harper what she wanted. Marra was never going to sink that low- it was no different from prostitution! "He thinks I could learn new techniques somewhere else, which is a total lie," she told him, trying to push out the fuzzy feelings as she felt his hands on her arms. This was very distracting, and Marra had the wildest feeling to just shed herself of all of her clothes. Anything to have Rawign touch more than just her arms. "I don't want to leave, either," she told him softly. "I don't want to leave you." Her own hands seemed to blindly slide under Rawign's shirt, and she looked up at him, her eyes giving away her need.

Desdemona screeched at her chasers, even as more joined them in the sky. The two she recognized were Beggar and Li. Yes, she new them well. But even they wouldn't be granted any sort of special treatment in this Flight! Screeching, Mona pumped her wings harder, determined to rise in the sky to their limit. Trilling lustily, she flicked a tail at her chasers. This feeling was so freeing to the green, who was normally meek and always joined at the hip with Marra. But now, she was her own master. She would Fly, and be Caught well. But these stupid creatures would have to catch her first! Angling a wing downward, she swerved to her right. Using the force of that abrupt turn, she sent herself even faster in an ascent. When the glide ran out, she flapped her glowing wings once again, crowing in her triumph. This was where she truly belonged!

Marra felt her chest heave mildly as she kissed Rawign, emotion beginning to sweep her away. This feeling was new, and even more bizarre when coupled with the rage and grief of her departure. But then, this... odd new feeling with Rawign seemed to be more urgent. Running one hand along his skin, she slowly moved on hand back to one of his that rested on her waist. Placing a hand on it, she eased it upward into her own. This would fix this problem, she told herself firmly. He would touch her, and they would be able to act normal again. Yet how much of her would he need to touch to keep her satisfied? Deepening her kiss, she let Rawign's hand alone to do what it wished, returning back to his own body. Placing it on the waist of his pants, she gripped it, but did nothing else-- yet.

Mona trumpeted proudly,her purple eyes turning away from the sun as she catapulted herself into another turn. Let's see those males try keeping up with that! They were nowhere near as agile as herself-- who was? She was leading the best Flight on Pern and she would make her suitors need to work to be able to even keep up, let alone catch her! Deciding the time was right for individual flirtations, she turned her head to a wild brown as she zigzagged through the open air. Crooning to him, she added a suggestive growl at the end. He might stand a chance, she basically told him. But was he truly worthy to Catch her? The brown eagerly pushed himself forward, trying to get ahead of Li and Beggar, but Mona had once again turned to a steep ascent.

It would be trouble trying to stop herself now, Marra realized as her kiss turned even more passionate. Her arms were now fully up into Rawign's shirt, and she didn't even realize she was trying to pull it over his head. But... it wasn't all Mona's fault, was it? Amazed at this revelation, she didn't even let herself consider stopping the motions now. She was grateful to the flitter was who was twisting herself in the air. She probably wouldn't have dared being this forward without this Flight. Instead, she was taking advantage of it. They could let themselves free for once; look at Mona. She was never this wild! Yet there she was, flying her soul out to dazzle the males. Guiltlessly, Marra proceeded with trying to take off Rawign's shirt, this action now becoming independent from the Flight.

[glamourie]

It was ridiculous - the entire concept was ridiculous. There were plenty of Harpers on Pern, why did Marra have to leave? He could think of others who would be better suited to going somewhere else. Anyone else. Given a choice, Rawign would have sacrificed any other Harper he knew to keep Marra there. She couldn't just leave. No, no, no. He'd find some way to keep her there, keep her with him, even if it meant that he had to dress her in drag and rename her something. Marra couldn't leave him, he'd go insane. It would be one thing if she was leaving voluntarily -- that he could deal with. He'd be miserable, but... he could deal with it. The idea of her leaving against her will made him angry, though. Not at her, never at her, but angry none the less. Angry, hurt, frightened and abandoned - the feelings were not a combination many would wish on themselves, and he was drowning in all of them and the almost drugged desire to erase all of it away, to chase those horrible thoughts from his mind with feelings of flesh on flesh. It was unfair of him, incredibly unfair, but all he wanted was to forget what she'd said, and nothing seemed to chase the near-panic from his mind like the feeling of her lips against his, her hands on his body, and his hands on her sides. He didn't want to believe that Marra was really leaving, so he didn't. He distracted himself with her closeness, which wasn't really hard considering what Beggar and Li were feeling. In fact, caving completely to his desires was one of the easier things he'd ever done.

The shirts needed to go, at the very least. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who felt that, if her moving his hand was anything to judge by. Rawign's eyes fell closed, and his other hand moved to the waist line of her shirt, pulling it up as his other hand moved to settle on one of her breasts. He was very, very dimly aware that this was by far faster than he'd meant for anything to happen, but... the selfish little voice in his mind wouldn't accept the idea of Marra leaving him without more happening. Maybe he was being unfair, but he wasn't the one who rushed them. He wasn't the one pulling them apart.

Following Mona's movements was much easier for Beggar, who was built for more twists and turns than the bronze that followed. He was large for a blue, but he was built more stream-lined than the bronze was. As Mona turned, so too did Beggar, calling out with a loud trumpet after her. He did not notice as the bronze zoomed upward, higher than he was, staying within range of the green but rather than twisting and turning about, Li was following above. He wasn't built for those twists and turns, but he was built for stamina and outlasting. Those twists, turns and agile loops would exhaust the others, in their attempts to appear Impressive; Li was not about to be outdone or made a fool of. He knew he couldn't follow her quick and agile twists, but he could outlast any of the other blues and browns in flight. He could, and he would, and what green wouldn't want a bronze as impressive as he?

Sure enough, she seemed to rise higher in the air, and Li, already flying at such heights, sped up to actually pass ahead of a couple of the blues, catching up to Beggar in the process. The older firelizard actually squawked his surprise, faltering slightly before beating his wings rapidly to catch up. Where had Li come from?

Rawign dropped both of his hands, reluctantly, before moving them to the hem of his shirt which she'd pulled up. He broke the kiss with great reluctance, his eyes flicking over her face as if measuring - part of him was still aware enough to want to make sure he wasn't doing anything that Marra didn't want. And then, without any hesitation, he pulled his shirt off the rest of the way and dropped it to the floor of the apartment before moving his hands back to hers. His fingers wound around the ends of the shirt, both at her sides, while at the same time pulling her firmly against him. Some little voice in the back of his mind was nervous, but it was lost, drowned in feelings that were mostly his own but not entirely. His hands jerked her shirt up as he brushed his lips against hers, whispering, "Arms up. Shirt off." No please - he was either making a lot of progress or regressing, not that Rawign even noticed.

[Administrator]

Marra could feel her own body reacting as Rawign moved his hand higher into her shirt. She shivered, plastering herself against his body. This contact was becoming more and more needed, and Marra doubted she would be able to stop herself even if she tried. Not that she wanted to, of course. It was odd, really, how she had stopped herself from thinking about this sort of thing only to have her throw herself into it wholeheartedly. How long had she truly wanted this from Rawign? She also found it rather amusing that, after having been so adverse to him knowing about her virginity, that he would know-- very shortly, too, if things kept going on in this direction. Yet, Marra wasn't at all troubled by this. She was eager to. She was ready to do this. All she needed was that extra little push that Desdemona's Flight gave her.

Her problems with the Masterharper and her transfer to Blossom were being taken over, dismissed, by this better emotion. Obediently, she lifted her arms at Rawign's brief instruction, letting him remove the roadblock from their path. As soon as it fell to the floor, she pressed herself against him, yearning for the skin-on-skin feeling that their closeness would provide. Her eyes travelled down his chest, as did her hands. There were many scars there, but none were disfiguring. "Your scars are handsome," she told him huskily. This was no lie. She found them extremely good-looking on him. Letting one finger trace one, her mouth landed at his neck. Her lips travelled upwards as her eyes closed, finding his own after a moment. Her hands, on the other hand, slipped back down to the top of his pants.

Mona crooned flirtatiously to her followers, her wings fluttering. All of these fast movements were tiring to her, but she had to last for as long as she could. The longer, the better, she knew by instinct. Yet who was worthy of her? Slooping downwards in a loose spiral, she flicked her tail at Beggar. One of the Chasers she knew. But would he, a mere blue, be capable of Catching such a lovely creature as she? Bugling at them, it was apparenting that she was fading fast: it only came out in a short, hoarse blast. Not bothered by this, Mona once again pulled up from the lazy, swirling dive, shooting herself upwards as hard as she could.

She would choose very soon, but not now, not while she had this little energy left to burn! Grunting with the effort of keeping herself airborne, she looked down on her choices. Who was Flying the best after her?

Marra was now anxiously easing Rawign towards her bed, lips locked with his in a passionate kiss. Her mind was made up: If Rawign was willing, she was going to go through with this. Stopping at the edge of the bed, Marra's hands moved their way to the front of his pants. In nervous anticipation, she looked up at him for any signs that what she was doing wasn't okay. She hadn't done this before, and despite her arguments that a boy would never protest sex, Rawign had proved to be an exception to most rules. Fumbling with his pants, she had to fight down nervousness as she tried undoing them, her blue-gray eyes looking up at Rawign to make sure it was all right to do this. Her hands were shaky as she did this, but she couldn't have been more ready. That was a fact.

[glamourie]

Rawign's fingers hooked under Marra's shirt and pulled it up and off before throwing it to the side, somewhere near his own. His hands moved right back to her sides, one sliding down to rest at the small of her back while the other moved up and over to rest on her breast, his fingers tightening just slightly. She felt so wonderful against him, her skin against his own, her hands moving down his sides. He shuddered under her finger tips moving over the still sensitive scars (which had healed to white swipes visible against his tanned skin). His hand moved from her chest upward and around, to the bun she always wore her hair in before promptly pulling it loose. She was speaking, though her words were mostly lost on him, his focus more on the feeling of her touching him. Words were for another time. He wasn't sure he could even remember how to form most of them and with each tender touch, each feeling, rational thought was escaping him. He was still upset, though the reason for that hurt and sorrow were pushed so efficiently from his mind that all he could think about was running his hands over every inch of Marra's skin, memorizing every bend and curve of her body, imprinting those memories onto his mind for all time. Her tone, however, wasn't lost to his mind and he smiled; she probably could have called him anything she wanted in that tone and he would have reacted the very same way. Or maybe it was the feeling of her lips on his neck that chased thoughts away from him? His head tilted just slightly as he stepped back, his arm around her waist pulling her along with him.

Bed, bed... needed to get onto the bed. Slowly, Rawign wound his hands on the waist band of Marra's shorts before pulling her down onto the bed against him. The fall backwards was anything but graceful, though grace was truly the last thing on his mind at that particular moment. Both hands moved, circling to the front of her shorts as he returned her kiss. He could feel her hands still working at the front of his pants and he broke their kiss. His lips moved to her collar, gentle, and he lifted himself off the bed slightly to help her remove his pants. He probably could have done that faster if he'd moved his hands, but it was so much more exhilirating to feel her fumbling to remove the pants herself. Especially since he was doing the same thing with her shorts. If it wasn't obvious before that he was okay with her touching him, the fact that he was obviously trying to help probably made it crystal clear.

Beggar trilled after Mona as he folded his wings against himself to descend after her rapidly. Her tail flick encouraged him and he zoomed after her, ignoring the competition hot on his tail. He had eyes only for the beautiful, glowing green form flying fast ahead of him, and while he was growing tired from all the twists and turns, he would not be outdone by any other flitter! Brown, blue, even Li - he was not going to give up, no he was not. He spread his wings again and jerked upward to ascend, trying to keep up as best he could.

Li, on the other hand, did not descend after Mona. Instead, he bugled after her and glided as fast as he could, his speed picking up rapidly. His eyes whirled rapidly and as Mona shot up in front of him, he rapidly turned after her. His height gave him an advantage in the chase, though Beggar was quick to catch up, along with the wild brown and some of the others. But Li ignored him completely, flying his fastest, which wasn't quite as impressive in comparison to the midnight blue firelizard, but for a bronze it was definitely an effort. There was a reason he'd waited - while Beggar's strength was fading, he was really just getting started, and had plenty of energy left to keep going. There was a method to his madness!

Rawign's eyes drifted appreciatively down Marra's chest, one hand coming up to clutch one of her breasts. His other finally managed to unfasten the waistband of her pants. Shivering, Rawign slid his hand around her waist underneath the edge of her shorts, so that his fingers brushed down over her backside as he pulled her more firmly against him...

[Administrator]

Marra shook her curls out as Rawign undid her bun. Very few people got to see it down, and though Rawign had seen it undone before, that act just seemed to finalize things. Letting him explore every inch of her body with his fingers, Marra couldn't help but do the same. A calloused finger ran down gently across his white scars, then along his sides, and carefully moved across his back, feeling the long bumps that were more scars. She was acutely aware of each breath she took, each time her chest moved in rhythm, the beating of her quickened heart...

Grateful for the support the bed would provide, she didn't mind how ungraceful the fall to it was. She was too busy concentrating more on other things, such as how to get his pants off. It was a struggle, but she was reassured by the fact that he was helping her. Rawign didn't mind what she was doing in the slightest. Wrenching his pants down, she could let him step out of them him self as she arched her back to allow him easier access to her own shorts. Pants, she decided quickly, were too troublesome.

Desdemona was losing speed, and she was all too aware of it. Green flitters were never known for stamina. Nevertheless, she wanted to end in a bang. Rising up as high as she could, she gave on last look down to her suitors. Some were slowly unable to keep up. Trilling to signal the end of her wild Flight, the green let her instincts cover from her. She fell back, swerving slightly to each side in one last tease. However, only one flitter would be able to catch her! Swooping so that she glided on her back, she slid neatly under Li, and then gripped him fiercely with her claws. Holding onto him, she flapped anxiously, though trying not to get their wings fouled at the same time. It was a scary thing for her, letting him be in control, and to trust him enough to not let her fall as they guided each other through their first Flight.

She had liked Li. He was nice to her after Hers visited His in the infirmary. He had paid her attention when Theirs had taken ignoring them, so now she trusted him enough to let him pay her this much attention. She twined her tail tightly with his, crooning gently to him. It was now his job to guide her through the motions, to give her all of his loving attention in this glorious Flight.

The conclusion of the Flight increased the desire for Marra, who pulled Rawign to her more forcefully. No other thoughts dwelled in her mind: Not of Blossom, not of harpering, not of the Masterharper... All that mattered right now was Rawign. His touch, his scent, their contact that simply could never seem any closer than what it was right at this moment. Not even Thread would have been able to stop this kind of union!

((Cue fade... xD))