[Dragon AU] Once more into the breach

[bloodyashes]

Military work. An obligation to any dragon who wanted to live peacefully - to have even a chance of living to old age. Most humans regarded it as a way for adolescent dragons to burn off their hormonal urges relatively safely, especially the males.

The dragons themselves knew that the reality was a bit more complicated. Young dragons had a need to claim territory, but with their own populations dwindling and human populations surging, there was very little territory left they could claim. And with most matings chosen by genetic matches, there wasn't a need to impress potential mates anyway.

So they sent their young to defend human territory instead. It had the side benefit of making the humans think they were tamed, safely under control, and so it protected their kind as a whole. Human technology, quick to develop, could easily spell the end of dragons entirely if their kind was seen as a threat, instead of allies.

By the time they hit puberty, most dragons knew this. It didn't mean they didn't chafe under it, especially those with more stubborn and independent personalities. The dragon seated in a human chair, trying to ignore how his shoulders itched under the shape-changing magic, was a particularly magnificent example of that.

The flight commander's office was small, especially for a facility designed to accommodate dragons, and even though his human shape fit inside perfectly well, Asch couldn't help but feel caged in. Part of it, he knew, was the lack of windows, which itched at him more than it would even most other dragons. Claustrophobia and large creatures didn't get along well.

Military dragons were appointed flight partners for their term of service; sometimes it was more than one, depending on how lucky the human was. Dragons could restore themselves with magic and recover from injury much better than their human counterparts - a benefit to shapeshifting, certainly - but sharing that healing outside of a pair bond was difficult. And true bonds were rare these days.

All the better, as far as Asch was concerned. He wanted this section of his life over with as quickly as possible. Not that he hated humans - just the opposite. He found them endlessly entertaining and innovative... Outside of the rigid structure of the military.

Inside of it, well, he'd already had a face-off with the commander about the length of his human form's hair. The bright crimson, at least, had gone un-commented-on, as many humans knew that bold colorations were critical points of pride, but being forced to keep it short as well...

Well, it simply wasn't happening. He was already going without his ornaments and usual loose clothes, not to mention going along with the polite cultural requirement of maintaining an entirely human form. For this, the first meeting with his assigned partner, he could manage polite, even if it chafed.

And did it ever chafe. Asch flicked his eyes up at the commander before returning his attention to his dull human-shape nails. He'd at least made a good impression by being early. And he was good at most of the actual tasks the military required of their dragons - a fast, strong flier who could easily bear a rider, skilled at magic, not afraid of violence. For his skill, they were willing to let some things slide.

But not everything. And one of the things they weren't going to slide on was 'no solo operations.'

He really hoped that whoever came through that door was tolerable, or the next couple of years were going to be hell.

Comments

[bloodyashes]

"In the uniform? More than a bit. Your natural coloring isn't, though. White sticks out a lot in natural environments." He doesn't expect humans to have the same ideas of gender anyway. He stretches and then tosses himself into the pile of pillows with a flop.

[power_of_dominance]

"The rest of my family is pretty olive-toned and dark-haired. I'm the only one to look like this in their entire recorded history. Thankfully my father didn't think I was someone else's son."

Soma leans against the wall again to take pressure off his legs. He wants to sit but the floor is hard and he won't intrude on what's basically Asch's bed without an invite.

"I hope I can sleep tonight. I'm tired but excited about our first flight." He knows they can fly circles around the bigger dragons. The only thing he's really worried about is how well they'll coordinate for aerial combat.

[bloodyashes]

The chair is still open - Asch waves at it vaguely as he rearranges himself in his nest, rolling over to a sitting position.

"If you handle it as well as you handled the sprinting, there's nothing to be worried about. With that group, we'll be lucky if everyone can manage to get their harnesses on straight anyway." He's not, and never has been, impressed by most of the other riders. Unlike Soma, they didn't particularly want this assignment. The more he thinks about it, the more Asch is sure that's going to make his life much easier.

[power_of_dominance]

Soma is about to settle into the chair when he notices something tangled into a few of Asch's feathers and part of the hammock. It looks like a stray nest of loose heavy thread from the saddle padding.

"Hang on, Asch. If you move, you're going to yank out some of your feathers." Soma hates to intrude, but he climbs carefully onto the hammock and reaches around the dragon's neck to unwind the heavy-duty thread from the trapped feathers. He has to lay across Asch to do it but he slowly extracts every plume. "I'm sorry, I'll be out of your way in a second...."

[bloodyashes]

It forces him to stop rather awkwardly mid-shift, his hind legs still humanlike and his wings only half stretched. There's a bit of a snort as Soma crawls over him to get the thread, impatient because being half-formed like this is uncomfortable, and the mismatched state of his nerves makes it difficult to maintain his focus.

Still, he tries his best to stay still until the thread's gone. He can't be sure it won't choke him if he tries to finish the shift.

[power_of_dominance]

Soma works quickly, even though he has to snap a few threads with his fingers to get them loose. He ends up with a couple of small splits in his fingertips but it's worth it when he can finally ball up the broken threads and tuck them into his pocket to dispose of later. He flops back onto the hammock and sticks one of his injured fingertips in his mouth, sucking on it to get rid of the drop of blood.

"All clear. Sorry about that, I figured it was better for me to get it instead of trying to guide you. I'll get out of your hammock in a minute."

[bloodyashes]

There's a hum from deep somewhere in Asch's chest at that. His head flops forward like a puppet with its strings cut as he finishes the transformation. [Next time try to not do that when I'm mid-transformation,] comes a mutter from the general direction of his head as his wings sag slightly around them. [It's worse than trying to stand on one leg and hold my breath.]

[power_of_dominance]

"Sorry. I was afraid if you got any bigger, you'd really be in trouble."

Soma reaches out and strokes Asch's snout, suddenly surrounded by the warmth of wings. Stretched out and comfortably warm, the hustle and excitement of the day is catching up with him. He blinks slowly and stifles a yawn.

"It's my fault for not checking before you started to change. I promise I'll be more careful." He offers Asch a tired but happy smile. "You're my partner, I don't want anything to happen to you."

[bloodyashes]

[Probably couldn't have seen it under my clothes anyway.] He allows the petting for a moment, before there's a faint snort and his lifts his head out of reach to look down at Soma. It's hard to read draconic expressions, but that's probably a 'what was that about' look. [Can't say I'm surprised they managed to screw up the saddle like that, honestly. Keep the thread, shiftable material is expensive and it might be useful for something.]

[power_of_dominance]

"I think it was a loose piece of the padding seams. I'll put it somewhere later."

Soma yawns again, this one too big to hide. Once he's sure his finger isn't bleeding anymore, he tucks his arm under his head. He really should get out of the hammock, but he's comfortable. Maybe Asch won't mind one night....

"Think I need a nap... just a couple of minutes...." Soma closes his eyes, shifting a bit closer to Asch's warm bulk.

[bloodyashes]

Did he just...? Asch gently nudges the human's shoulder with his nose, but nope. Asleep completely. Well, shit. It's official, he has the weirdest human of the batch. Better than what he had expected, though; he would have counted himself lucky to have someone he got along with who didn't try to touch his things, and had been fully prepared to ward the hell out of his space if he had to.

A flutter of wings as he settles down, the oil lamps around him slowly settling to the floor and going out. A quick puff of wind magic takes care of the electric lights throughout the rest of the room - he makes a mental note to put a command rune on that to make it easier - and he settles his head down, careful to not put it too close to the human. At least he doesn't roll over much when he sleeps, that could be embarrassing.

[power_of_dominance]

It turns into more than just a nap. Soma sleeps deeply until reveille, though even with the din of the morning bugle he's slow to wake. He groans, his eyes cracking open the barest sliver, but it's a while longer before he raises his head. There are red marks on his cheek where the folds of his sleeve pressed into his skin.

"Nnh... A-- Asch...? Where... oh... yeah, that's right...." He rubs his eyes and coughs, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep here all night...."

[bloodyashes]

Asch is the sort who gets up just before any alarm that might be set, so he's already awake and wondering how to gently get Soma up off him when the bugle goes off. He nudges the boy's shoulder with his nose, his wing already pulled back so he can get out. It's dark in the room aside from the red oil lamp, which is raised back up into Soma's view.

[Not exactly how I planned to spend my first night on this side of the barracks,] he says. [Come on, I need to get up too.]

[power_of_dominance]

"Right...."

Soma stretches with another groan, cautiously working his way to the edge of the hammock so he can slide out of it. He makes his way back to his room to freshen up and change into a clean uniform. Luckily he can shower in under five minutes, though it means coming back to Asch with damp hair.

"I have snacks since we don't have time to hit the mess before orientation. Smoked meat and dried fruit."

[bloodyashes]

By the time he's back, Asch is human again - mostly, there's a few slightly disordered feathers still sticking out of his hair - and he's buckling himself into his harness over the uniform. He doesn't look up, focused on the small buckles, but he does seem to perk a little. "What kind of fruit?"

[power_of_dominance]

"I think I have crisp-puffed apples, banana chips, dried pineapple, and homemade fruit leather made with strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry." One of the advantages of his family's influence: he gets frequent deliveries of healthy and delicious snacks they can't find in the mess, and no one will bitch at him if he keeps food in his private quarters.

[bloodyashes]

"Pineapple." Not even a question. He clearly likes warm weather fruits. "Maybe some of the banana." An annoyed jiggle of a buckle before he finishes getting it up on, and he reaches up to pull the ID tag from his jacket. "I'll owe you a pastry."

Good thing he doesn't have to eat much to get moving; a different metabolism from humans is good for that. The jacket goes on over the rest.

[power_of_dominance]

"I'll never turn down good pastry." Soma retrieves a couple of pouches, passing them off to Asch. He cracks another one open for himself, gnawing on a piece of fruit leather.

"Saddle situated okay? Need any help?" Maybe he's being a pain but he just wants to be helpful. That's what partners are for.

[bloodyashes]

"You get your stuff together, I've got this fine." He'll take that pineapple though, chewing and swallowing every so often as he gets everything settled. The saddlebags and holsters are left behind, for now; they aren't supposed to worry about them until the second week, once they actually have the hang of the flying thing. "Hopefully it's not too cold out there."

[power_of_dominance]

The one thing Soma does take is the small pack with the oxygen mask. They probably won't do any high-altitude maneuvers today, but it's better to be prepared. He'll carry it himself for now.

"I think it's in the high fifties or low sixties. There's a cold front coming through in a few days, though. Will you be okay?"

[bloodyashes]

"I can manage." He shoots a considering glance over at the jewelry box on his desk, then shakes his head. "That's about the lowest our winters get, though. I'm not going to be having much fun if it drops below freezing."

[power_of_dominance]

Soma bites his lip. "Um... the winters here have snow. Lots of it. So it's going to get pretty cold, yeah."

Will Asch get sick in the cold? Would it cause him permanent harm? Maybe they'll be transferred to a warmer climate once they complete training.

[bloodyashes]

Asch shivers at the thought. "Hate snow. I guess I'll have to send home for some extra things." An absorbent mat for in front of their door, for a start. "Come on, we shouldn't take too much longer."

[power_of_dominance]

"Right. I'm ready when you are."

Soma heads for the door, holding it open for Asch. He can't help worrying about the impending winter. While he enjoys the cold, the thought of Asch being miserable in the snow makes him unhappy. Just how much warmth can illusory clothing provide? Does Asch have a spell that will help?

[bloodyashes]

Asch ducks through the door and leads the way out into the chill morning air. The one bad thing about his jacket is that he can't shift his wings into reality under it to wrap around himself. Still, he doesn't hesitate at all to manifest his feathers for warmth, though they're only really visible on his face and neck at this point.