It looked like fun in the photo!

[Anonymous]

"Are you ready yet? What's taking so long? Is there candy?" Bart made a face as Nuriel's questions assaulted his brain. Damn dragon. Bart loved the giant bastard, but he was still blushing from having to hand out all those swimsuits to the candidates. Giving Atara her's had flustered him badly.

Not to mention that intensely awkward time with Rachel. She seemed to have no idea what she looked like in the swimsuit, prancing around like that. Bart felt his cheeks darken again and he did his best to focus on the moment at hand, "Calm down. Lordy, yer like a kid on their birthday. We'll be there shortly. I don't see why ya even bothered. Ya don't like human girls."

"It looks like fun. And you get so flustered at the idea! Gabriel too! You did tell Gabriel it was an order, right? Because it is."

"This is an abuse of power, ya know that, right?"

"Of course I do. What's the fun in having power if I don't abuse it?" Bart snorted in response to that, lighting up another cigarette. The candidates should be arriving soon and he was taking them up to the Citadel, probably the first time some of them got to meet a dragon. And they got to meet his.

For whatever reason, Nuriel had decided he wanted to get the female candidates to give him a bath while they wore skimpy swimsuits. And you can't really argue with a Dragon Royal. And Roman, that smug bastard, approved them leaving the ATC. He was spitting in the next cup of coffee he brought him.

"I don't see why ya couldn't have made Roman have ta babysit."

"Because he isn't embarrassed as easily. You are much more fun."

"I hate you. I really do."

[Anonymous]

Sylvi wasn't quite sure why she had agreed to something like this? Maybe there wasn't much agreeing to it? She wasn't even sure anymore. All she knew was she was handed a swimsuit...a skimpy one at that...and needed to change into it. She really didn't want to now. She wasn't the most confident person when it came to her own looks so she definitely wasn't one to go flaunting anything she had around if she had the chance.

She bit on her bottom lip as she tried to move the swimsuit into a position so it covered stuff a little bit more. Too bad it didn't work and only proved to expose more. "Not fair.." she muttered. A small sigh escaped her lips and her cheeks flushed a little when she finally decided to locate Bart.

Oh yea...this would definitely make being around him for mentoring stuff a bit awkward as well. At least for her anyway.

She tried to push the thought out of her head and finally left to go find him. Which wasn't too hard since he was the one that gave out the swimsuit. "....I'm here.." she said, trying to get the flush to go away when she had gone over to him.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Hey, Sylvi!" Rachel greeted, coming up beside her roommate and tapping her on the shoulder. Poor girl looked like she was about to explode with how red she was, but Rachel? Pffft. She was pretty comfortable in her own skin because damned if she didn't take pains to make sure she looked good, and as her mother always told her growing up, 'if you've got it, flaunt it.'

Words to live by. You were only young once so may as well enjoy it, and Rachel fully intended to do so in her slightly-too-small bikini.

Spotting Bart, Rachel waved at him and smiled. "Also pres--"

"...What the hell?"

Turning at the voice, Rachel's grin broadened. Yep, there was her brother, all right, gaping with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. With a laugh, Rachel left Sylvi to go throw her arms around Gabriel's neck in a hug. "Heya, bro."

He pushed her back and held her at arm's length, and she could see shock warring with appalled anger in his face as he looked at her--though not too long, she was his sister and wearing way too little!--to Bart and then at the other candidates and back to Bart once more. "Just...just what the hell?! What're you doing?! You said this was important and you got...you got all the girls in bikinis? What is this?!"

"We're just washing Nuriel. Chillax," Rachel said, patting his shoulder in that reassuring, patronizing way of hers that made him seethe. "Couldn't get our uniforms wet, right?"

"That's not the point! You should be studying, not doing...doing...gir ls gone wild." He rubbed his face, and Rachel snorted.

"Jeez, where's your mind? They're just bathing suits," she said, then turned and flashed a smile Bart's way. "Besides, the only boys that're gonna be there are Nuriel, and he's a dragon; Bart, and he's a perfect gentleman..." Her smile grew, and she looked back at Gabriel and mock-frowned, poking him in the chest. "And you, and you're my gay brother. It'll be fine."

While Rachel reassured Gabriel, two more girls walked up, one with short black hair and pale skin and the other with red-brown hair and freckles--far more freckles than the dusting Rachel had across her nose. Arrow and Aries. Aries had her arm slung around Arrow's shoulders in a friendly, casual way, but Arrow looked more harassed than comfortable and was subtly prying at Aries' fingers while Aries happily chattered on about something or other.

Both were also wearing skimpy two-pieces, and Arrow didn't seem too thrilled about it. Namely because she wasn't. Her skin was pale all over and she felt like it could blind people in the light, and, well...she could barely fill out her bikini top, too. It was the reason she always opted to wear t-shirts instead of the cute, strappy tops some girls had worn at her school. Mosquito bites, someone had called them...

"Howdy, crew!" Aries said with a casual salute, releasing Arrow and shoving her off toward the other two. Arrow stumbled but caught herself before she fell into the others, face flushed. She kept wanting to tug at her bottoms and adjust her top. "And hello, Pilot Hamilton. Pilot Tierney, " Aries continued, still smiling jovially. And why shouldn't she be? This was gonna be a fun break from the daily grind.

Aries looked around at the gathered mass. "So when're we goin', huh? Havin' our slippery wet dragon scrub-down?"

[ooc: Whoo, sorry if this is chaotic! xD Four characters in one post...o__o]

[Anonymous]

"Sylviiiiiiiiii! Arrooooooooow!" Valentina practically squealed their names when she laid eyes upon them. She was glad that there were two people, at least, coming along that she knew. Truth be told, the young candidate was nervous. After all, they were going to be washing a dragon, though the how and why escaped her. A dragon!

Dragons aside, there looked to be another pilot, another guy pilot, talking with one of the other candidates. She was already nervous as it was. How many other pilots would be coming along? Hopefully none of them were too pervy, she'd heard about some of the pilot's...tastes. Valentina shook her head and made sure she had a smile on her face before she floated over to the others. Couldn't let them know how unsettled she was, especially when she really didn't like this suit she had to wear.

Ugh! It was was like some pervert set them up for this. She didn't think too highly of Pilot Hamilton right now. The perv. That other pilot had probably come along to watch as well. The perv. She gave herself another mental shake. She was letting her thoughts go sour again and right when she came up to the others too. Hopefully the Pilots hadn't intruded into her head to hear those thoughts.

Hopefully.

She put on her best cheery face and kept her voice chipper. "Candidate Valentina Melisende present and accounted for sirs." She turned her attention to the other two candidates she, as yet, didn't know. "Hi, I'm Valentina." She said, smiling. Hopefully this trip wouldn't be too bad.

[Anonymous]

Gabriel's barrage of questions got the blond man fixed with a dark, dark look from Bart. It was bad enough he was stuck doing this and had to go personally hand out swimwear to a bunch of teenage girls to make sure it fit them, and they all thought he was some giant pervert, he was not having Gabriel make it worse by accusing him in front of people. Gabriel had known him long enough he should no better.

Removing his cigarette, Bart's voice was cold, "Pilot Tirney. This, as you should well know, is not my idea. If you have a problem with the girls costumes, I suggest you take it up with Nuriel."

His expression lost some of its coldness when Rachel flashed him that smile, his ears burning again. He was relieved that at least she thought he was a gentleman. His reputation wasn't totally tarnished.

Nodding to Sylvi, he did his best to pretend all the girls were fully clothed and smiled at them, "Just waitin' for one more, alright? Then we can get goin' to see Nuriel."

Atara strutted through the halls in her tall sandals, not caring about any strange looks she might have gotten. She was still highly amused by the conversation she had had with darling Pilot Hamilton. It wasn't often one got to fluster one of the most powerful people in the country. But her suit fit perfectly, though the top was a little small, but she had left it that way on purpose.

Even going to wash a dragon, the dark skinned girl was accessorized. Bracelets, makeup, a sheer beach top that stopped hid hip, messily styled hair. Everything could survive getting wet, so long as she didn't have to actually go swimming. Which she was pretty sure they weren't. Just washing a dragon.

Which was actually a little cool, not that Atara wanted to admit that.

Spotting Aries, Atara gave her best friend a jaunty wave before bee-lining to Sylvi, grabbing the girl around the waist, her voice perky, "Sylvi darling! You look adorable in this!" Flashing Bart a smile, Atara let the girl go and gave a salute, "Atara here sir. Reporting for Dragon duty."

Bart nodded to the girl, looking down at his list. They were almost all here, at least the ones that Nuriel had made him get suits for. One left.

Gabe and Rachel's conversation had not helped any and now one of the girls.....Valentina she said, was thinking it was his idea. Lovely. He really was going to get the reputation of being a bigger pervert than Roman. That bastard really should have been the one doing this. He would have enjoyed himself.

Finaa was running late. She had been fretting and fuzzing with her appearance for over an hour. And still looked about how she always did. Makeup and style were a little beyond her, despite the fact she really wished she knew how. It made everything so....glamorous!

Her full curves threatened to spill out of the swimsuit Nuriel had ordered for her. H cup bikini tops were pretty impossible to find. The one she was wearing was actually a size too small, but what can you do?

Sure, she could have given herself smaller breasts, but, well, Arrow was going to be there and Finaa wanted to show off a little for Arrow. The shapeshifter felt really guilty about that. She was actually going to be lying to Arrow for the first time with this. But, well, this didn't seem like the place to mention, 'Oh hey! Normally your boyfriend has a vagina!'

But all the same, Finaa wanted to look pretty around Arrow. And her huge rack was her most popular asset. Sometimes she wondered if Shiloh and Rhys even knew what color eyes she had. Coming to a skidding stop in front of Bart, Finaa gave Aries a death glare for touching Arrow before smiling at Bart, "Hello sir! Finaa is here!"

Taking one last, long drag on his cigarette, Bart snuffed it out against the wall, "Well, everyone seems ta be here, so let's all follow me. Stick close and under no circumstances are ya to leave the eyrie. If there is some reason ya need ta, either Pilot Tirney or I will need ta be accompanin' ya."

Opening the elevator, Bart stepped in and waited for everyone before letting the doors close, "Now, the dragon who wanted the bath is named Nuriel. He's pretty friendly and likes people, but not all the dragons do. Keep in mind that while Nuriel is playful, ya should always be respectful to the dragons. Let them set the tone of yer interactions. Now, anyone got any questions before we get there?"

Finaa had made sure she was next to Arrow as the doors slid shut and she smiled at the other girl. It was so hard to not stare, with all that pretty white skin showing. And her figure was so perfect! All streamlined and sleek. Finaa tugged at her tiny jean cut offs, feeling so fat next to everyone else, "Hi. I'm Finaa. Washing dragons, huh? Pretty exciting! You met any dragons yet?"

((HUGE EDIT BECAUSE I FORGOT MY OWN CHARACTER AND FAIL AT LIFE xD))

[Anonymous]

Sylvi jumped a little when Rachel tapped her on the shoulder. When she saw that it was just her roommate though, she relaxed a little. With Atara always popping up everywhere she was more cautious than normal. "Hi." she said with a small smile. There wasn't much else she could think of saying at that moment. She didn't really know Rachel that well and she was always nervous around newer people so it was to be expected.

Though she probably would've have had much time to say anything else anyway. Soon after greeting her, Rachel was off to talk to someone else. And then someone else was calling her.

Sylvi glanced over at who had said her name this time. Valentina this time. Even she was dragged into this? She still believed the girl was a bit too young to be a candidate. Part of her felt like she needed to shield the girl from things. Sort of like an older sister or something. "Hi Valentina."

Well maybe this wouldn't be all bad. She hadn't seen Atara yet. That was a relief. For once maybe she could just do something, in piece. Even if running around in a swimsuit was embarrassing.

Ah but apparently she had thought too soon. Sylvi tensed up when she was grabbed by the waist and sure enough soon followed Atara's voice. Why was she everywhere? Could she not get away from the girl for a couple days?

Apparently not.

"...Thank you.." she murmured, frowning a little. Once she was released, Sylvi scooted a little away from Atara. Not that being a few inches away would make her any safer.

When the last person showed up, Sylvi quickly followed after Bart. Okay maybe if she stayed closer to him she'd be safe. Atara seemed to be behaving around him anyway. Yea that would work. When Bart asked if anyone had questions, Sylvi just shook her head a little. Well she didn't have any at the moment anyway.

[Anonymous]

Oh. So that was Atara. Valentina could see why Sylvi didn't like her too much. The girl looked to have a bit of issues with personal space. Valentina could feel the anger rising against the white haired girl but checked it. There wasn't much that she could do against a higher level candidate. She could probably read her mind now.

Crap.

Oh well, already in the fire, getting a little more burned wouldn't hurt, right? She gave Atara a glare and thought some unflattering things that she would probably regret later but it did make her feel better about standing up for her friend. Kinda. She would really like to smack her or something but that was probably taking it a bit too far.

But! Pilot [strike:367t1pfo]Pervy[/strike:367t1pfo] Hamilton was ushering them off to go wash the dragon. Time to put on a smiley face and be in a good mood. Valentina floated along after the group, trying to keep herself between her friend and Atara. She'd be damned if she let her friends get bullied around.

After the elevator doors closed, an idea struck the young candidate's mind. "I have a question. What if we need to use the restroom?"

[Anonymous]

Atara found the little pixie amusing, and she nudged Aries lightly, nodding in the direction of the pink haired girl. She would have to play with that one a bit. Keeping close, Atara slid a hand along Valentina's wing, "My my. These are very delicate." She smiled, glancing over the girl's shoulder to make eye contact with Sylvi, "Maybe we'll have to play a game sometime. Get to know each other a little better. I feel like we've gotten off on the wrong foot."

Bart was feeling really, really, really not comfortable with all these half naked girls pressed this close. And Rachel seemed to have gotten wedged right up against his front and no matter how he tried to shift, it just seemed to make things more awkward. Coughing and looking as uncomfortable as he felt, Bart responded to the girl's question, "Then ya ask Gabriel or I ta accompany ya. We'll just be outside the door."

Thankfully the elevator was rather fast and it wasn't long before they had arrived at the Citadel. Unfortunately, they couldn't ride one elevator all the way up, but Bart moved them quickly to the one they needed, that ride was even shorter.

Those doors slid open and revealed a massive, heavy, powerful looking dragon. Nuriel's mouth split open, revealing rows of vicious looking teeth, bigger than some of the girls thighs. Other dragons filled the eyrie, though Nuriel had chased most of them off. Various tools, like sponges and buckets surrounded the blue and purple dragon.

"Ah! Hello! Come! Come! I want to meet you all! I am Nuriel! Now there shall be fun and bathing!"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Stepping off the elevator, Gabriel shot Nuriel a death glare, so, so not amused. "Working hard, huh?" he said, and stood to the side to hold the doors open and usher the girls out.

He kept his eyes on the dragon so he didn't get an eyeful of T&A and tried not to feel like the world's biggest pedo ever just for being there. After all, it wasn't his choice to be here! He'd gotten dragged into this (like Bart, apparently, but Gabriel had his suspicions) and...guh. It wouldn't have been nearly so bad if his sister wasn't here.

That just made things a whole new level of gross.

---

Aries positioned herself at Valentina's other side and, once the doors opened, hooked one arm with hers, grabbed Sylvi's wrist with the other, and marched the four of them out of the elevator--assuming Atara followed, which she would. Looked like she'd taken an interest in these two, and Aries was curious to find out why.

Well, aside from the fact that one had neat, pretty wings.

Heh. Aries doubted those would survive the program.

At Stage 4, Aries had met the dragons already. This might be kinda scary for the gracies, and it still was a little scary for her, but she at least knew this one wasn't gonna eat them. The gracies? Didn't. So she tugged them both along, getting as close to Nuriel as she could and beaming up at him. "Yo!" she greeted, then let go of Sylvi so she could snap a salute. "Candidate Frey reporting for bathing duty, sir."

---

"Uh uh...I've never even seen a dragon before," Arrow said, bouncing on her toes with nervous energy. What if they didn't like her? What were they like? Did they bite? Or rather, would they? What if she did something wrong and made them angry? And yet despite her nerves, she was also excited because, well, dragons! And she'd get to actually touch one. What did they feel like? Were they warm or cold?

She snapped herself out of her thoughts and shook her head. "Have you? Met a dragon, I mean. Oh, yeah! I'm Arrow--" The doors opened before she could say more, and she faced the front expectantly.

And quickly shrank back with a gasp when the doors opened enough to reveal a massive dragon with its fangs all bared.

Even though its voice sounded friendly, it looked quite vicious. Vicious enough to make her not want to leave that elevator.

---

Rachel happily followed after Bart, mostly unfazed by the dragon. With a Pilot for a big brother, this wasn't the first time she'd met a dragon--though that didn't mean Nuriel wasn't still awe-inspiring and kind of intimidating. He was. Really, one bite would be all it'd take, but he kind of reminded her of Siren in a way and besides, Bart was there, Gabe was there...pffft, no candidates would be getting eaten.

"Hi, Nuriel!" she said, waving, and went to stand beside Bart. Then she caught sight of Aries' salute and quickly straightened up and did the same. "I'm Rachel. I mean, candidate Tierney. It's nice to meet you!"

[Anonymous]

Sylvi didn't like the look she was getting from Atara as she talked to Valentina. She didn't like the fact that she was messing with Valentina either. Part of her really felt like she needed to protect the younger girl even if protecting her from the crazed candidate was next to impossible. At the moment though, despite those thoughts, she found herself stuck in place. She didn't want to provoke anything and make things worse.

When the elevator doors stopped, she had planned on hanging back a little just so she could see how the higher stage candidates would act. She hadn't met any of the dragons yet so she had no idea how she was supposed to act around them. It was intimidating. Her expression went blank when Aries had grabbed her wrist though and proceeded to pull her and Valentina out of the elevator.

If that wasn't bad enough, Aries had ended up pulling them along as close as possible to Nuriel. Again she found herself frozen in place. This time because she didn't want to make any wrong moves and just a bit out of fear as well. This sucked. Bad. When she was released she just glanced at Aries' actions and then Rachel's. That's what they were supposed to do? Sylvi then glanced over at Valentine to see how she was acting. Just for a second though before copying the other girls' actions. "Candidate Nix..ah..here for the same thing..." she mumbled.

[Anonymous]

Valentina's head was a whirlwind of thoughts. She was trying to piece together what Atara was trying to do - was she making veiled threats? Was she being sincere? - along with her feelings about being scrunched together in such a space with a lot of girls that were almost naked - her overwhelming emotion was awkwardness but should she be more grossed out at it? Should she like it more? Did it not mean anything and she was just overthinking nothing? Rounding out the tirade were thoughts venturing to what she thought about the two pilots 'supervising' this venture. Ugh.

Soon, however, the elevator reached the top floor and the doors slid open. Any thoughts she had were immediately stilled when the voice ripped through her head and her eyes were filled with a giant creature with very sharp looking teeth. Her mind blanked and she stood in shock for a second. Dragon! Big! Scary!

Getting closer?

"Uh bwah?" Then her brain registered the candidate that had been standing next to her - Valentina didn't think she had gotten the girl's name - was dragging her closer to the dragon and didn't seem to stop until they were right in front of it. She paled a bit. It was so close. Surely the dragon - her brain gave up the name Nuriel - wouldn't need to extend it's neck but slightly before it could close its massive, sharp teeth on them.

Damn her floating!

Valentina's first reaction was to want to wretch her arm back and get the hell away from here. To calm herself, she closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Pilots don't run. Pilots don't run and neither will I. Pilots stand their ground. Pilots face their fears. Pilots make the fear back down. She didn't expect she could do anything that would make the dragon come close to shaking - except maybe in laughter - but it kept her from panicking and trying to run.

She took another deep breath before opening her eyes and using her free arm to mimic the elder candidate. "C-candidate Melisende. Reporting for fun and bathing." She was proud of herself. She didn't shake. Much.

[Anonymous]

Nuriel fixed one eye on Gabe, then gave the closest thing he could to a smirk before nuzzling against Rachel's chest, "Ah Rachel! It it such a pleasure to meet you in person. I have enjoyed our e-mails! You have so many wonderful stories about your brother!"

Bart could already feel a headache forming and he pinched the bridge of his nose. Damn dragon was such a pain. He could feel the fear wafting off most of the candidates. Even the older ones that had met dragons, Nuriel was still damn huge. Biggest of the dragons. And most annoying.

Bumping lighting against Rachel one final time, Nuriel pulled his head back so he could look at the girls, teeth bared in a horrifying looking 'smile', "How nice to meet all of you! This is so exciting! Don't be afraid. I promise I shall not eat any of you!" He tilted his head, studying the faerie, "You have wings! I have wings!" With that, Nuriel snapped out his huge wings, filling the room.

~~~~

Finna smiled down at Arrow and placed a hand on the small of her back, gently pushing her toward the door, her voice a low whisper, "It's okay. Really. Most of them aren't so bad. And they wont eat us." Which, was true. They were generally to valuable to get eaten. Maimed...sure. But Finaa didn't need to mention that to the awed girl.

"Finaa Al Jarn reporting suh!" She gave a salute and smiled at the huge dragon. She had met dragons before, mostly Alexsu's, which, well, had just been creepy. But Nuriel was just....huge. Her eyes widened at the sight of that huge wingspan.

~~~~

Atara smirked at Aries over the faeries head, following her friend. Once the introductions were made, Bart and Gabe were handing out scrubbing tools and soon Atara found herself next to the biggest creature she had ever seen in her life, using a sponge to carefully scrub his scales.

She made sure to keep careful track of Sylvi, moving next to the girl, "Enjoying your first dragon meeting? You're lucky. Some of them will maul candidates they don't like. Hell, some have maimed Pilots. Better make sure you don't piss anyone off and get in trouble."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel's face fell and Rachel burst into laughter and pet Nuriel's giant head, making sure to keep his head between she and her brother like a shield. "And there's tons more where those came from!" she said with a grin, which she flashed at her brother as she spoke. "Just wait until I show you his baby pictures! There's one of him running down the street butt naked in nothing but dad's boots and--"

"RACHEL!"

"--He was, like, three. He used to eat bugs, too, apparently. And dog food."

Gabriel smacked his forehead and groaned, then turned away to go meet Bart and help him pass out the supplies, before his blush became too obvious or he throttled his sister. Rachel shot Nuriel a triumphant look, gave him a quick kiss on the head, and then flounced off to get her cleaning supplies.

From Bart, of course.

"Oh, goodness, I've never washed a dragon before. Obviously," she said, taking a sponge and dunking it in a bucket, then rubbing it between her hands to lather it up. "There's not, like, any special techniques I should use, are there?" she added, just as a glob of suds plopped down between her cleavage.

----

With great trepidation, Arrow inched out of the elevator. She heard the doors slide shut behind her and her heart lunged into her throat. No escaping now! And sure, Finaa could say they wouldn't eat them, but with him looking at them like that with all those teeth...

Arrow swallowed hard, managed to snap a shaky salute, and took the offered cleaning supplies with trembling hands. Okay. Now she had to actually touch it? Sure, he sounded kinda...happy and stuff but...it was still so crazy to be face to face with a dragon!

"So...so it's okay to touch him...?" she asked Finaa in a whisper, and then gasped and nearly ducked out of reflex when the dragon snapped his huge wings open.

---

"Some have even killed Pilots and more than their fair share of candidates," Aries chimed in helpfully as she moved into place in front of Nuriel's right front leg and began to work on scrubbing his claws until they shined.

"Y'know how some candidates just...vanish? Most people just think they got trimmed, and some probably did. But some of 'em? Dragon food. Won't know what happened to 'em 'til the dragon shits out the bones, and even then there's no tellin' on who it was."

[Anonymous]

Valentina was gaping at the dragon. She knew she was. She also knew that she should close her mouth and get started on the reason they all were here. The dragon was just so huge though! Especially after he extended his wings. Gah! He made her dinky wings look extremely tiny by comparison though she had an inkling that was the point he was making.

She was able to get it together enough to close her mouth and go get the cleaning supplies. The fairy decided that Sylvi was probably in more need of a friend than Arrow was, so she picked a spot right next to the brown haired girl. This spot, however, allowed her the wonderful chance to overhear the two older candidate's guesses about what really happened to some candidates. She paled a bit before glancing up at the dragon.

"That..." She paused in her scrubbing and swallowed. "That doesn't actually happen, does it?" Val wasn't entirely sure exactly who she was asking but she hoped for an encouraging response from somebody. Buying in to the older candidate's fear talk wouldn't help her any but she couldn't help herself.

Heck, since she could fly, kinda, she was probably going to be the one that was going to scrub all the difficult places. Like the back, or top of the head, or maybe even near the teeth. She suppressed a shudder before realization took her. Since she had thought it, the Pilots and, more importantly, the dragon had probably picked it up. One way ticket to stomach town, that was.

To cover her fear, she turned around to call back to the Pilots. "Hey! Sirs! Are you two going to be joining us or are you just here to observe?" An innocent question, really, but combining it with her thoughts on the Pilots earlier made the question into a less-than-innocent one.

[Anonymous]

Sylvi was hesitant to get to work like everyone else. It took a bit of convincing herself to even take another step closer. When Valentina had stepped forward though, she quickly followed suit. She'd just stick close to the younger girl. It calmed her down a little. The fact that there were others who also seemed very intimidated by everything helped a little as well. It was nice to not be the only one pretty much scared out of their wits.

She tried to keep her focus on cleaning Nuriel but of course when Atara moved close to her that focus was shatter and she found herself taking steps closer to Valentina. Even if she wanted to there was no ignoring what Atara was saying either. "I won't get in trouble.." she mumbled, once again trying to focus.

Her thoughts pretty much echoed Valentina's though after Aries had spoke up. The only difference was Sylvi didn't voice those worries. If Valentina didn't get an answer she could always just ask Bart later about it.

[Anonymous]

Nuriel had started to listen to Rachel when he heard Aries speak, whipping his huge head to stare right at the girl, "What? Really? We eat candidates? Are they tasty? Bart!" The dragon lashed his tail in excitement, "Bart! Come here, I want to lick you!"

The Pilot jerked his eyes away from the soap sliding down Rachel's cleavage. He was not supposed to be noticing how impressive she was for a girl her age. She couldn't have been more than...what...16? Flushing, Bart muttered something to Rachel before turning back to Nuriel, tugging his shirt off with a sigh. He would have the insane dragon.

Grinning, Nuriel sniffed Bart, ruffling his hair with his breath before licking his tongue across Bart. The Pilot shuddered, a slick trail left behind from the dragon's tongue, "Nuriel! That is disgusting!"

The dragon's nose wrinkled and he gave a small sneeze, "Yes it was! You don't taste like pig at all!"

~~~~

Atara lifted an eyebrow as she watched Rachel throwing herself at....Pilot Hamilton? Really? He was so old, but there was no way to miss Rachel's desperate attempts to get his attention on her tits. Interesting. When she got tired of messing with Sylvi and the little pixie, she might have to do something with that.

"Well look at that. He's getting a taste. Better behaaaave." Soaping up her own sponge, Atara started scrubbing the side of the dragon, "Don't want to upset him by doing a bad job."

~~~~

Arrow was so cute! Finaa wanted to hug her! Finaa gave her a bright smile and snagged one of the long handled brush, "Sure! That's the point! We're here to wash him. Come here." She snagged Arrow's hand and pressed it against Nuriel's warm side, "See. It's not that scary."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Aries' lips twitched, but she managed to keep her expression serious as she continued washing between the dragon's toes. "Yep. Happens all the time; piss off the wrong dragon and you're screwed. And I mean, c'mon, TRIM doesn't take everyone, y'know. Some candidates aren't worth their time. Dragons, though, they gotta eat. Can always find a use for candidates with dragons."

Pausing, she tossed Valentina a reassuring smile. "Not that ya got anything to worry about, right?"

And right on cue, Atara spoke up and Aries twisted to look around Nuriel's leg--and promptly burst into laughter when she caught sight of the dragon slobbering all over its Pilot. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

----

With Rachel gone to help with Nuriel, Gabriel took up a spot near the elevator, arms crossed, and stood there like a sentry. He was so, so not amused by this turn of events, didn't want to be here, and Bart and Nuriel both had landed themselves on his shit list. He was silently fuming over it when a voice called out, snapping him out of it.

...Would he be joining?

He shot Valentina an unamused look and opened his mouth to reply, and it was in that moment that it hit him--really hit him--the type of situation that he was currently in. Before, his head had been too clouded by annoyance to really, truly, register the scene around him. He knew there were candidates in bikinis, and was pissed that Nuriel and Bart had put his baby sister in some skimpy thing, but now he actually saw it.

The girl candidates. His girl candidate, even--Finaa! All of them, half-naked, all around him.

Gabriel stared at Valentina, now fully registering her state of undress--and that of the others, for that matter--and felt his face heat up before he blurted an emphatic, "W-what?! NO!" And then, realizing the second half of  her question (regarding observing--aw, shit, they all must think him such a perv), added, "Um, I mean...no. No. Just, uh...chauffeuring? I guess..." He sank his face into his hand. When she put it that way, there was no good way to answer.

"The dragon made me," he added in a mumble.

----

"Erk!" Arrow resisted for one brief moment, afraid to touch the dragon and yet curious as to what he felt like, and then blinked in surprise when her palm met warm, scaly dragon hide and nothing bad happened. Whoa...it felt kind of like...like...

"It's kinda like a warm lizard..." she murmured, and then flashed Finaa a relieved, sheepish smile, feeling a little silly now for being so apprehensive. But with some candidates going on loudly about dragons eating candidates, alright, so she'd been a bit nervous. She gave a relieved laugh and let her hand travel along the hide, petting it.

----

For one moment, Rachel felt an intense surge of disappointment as Bart got called away to Nuriel. Dammit! Ruining her moment! And he'd been totally looking, too! With a frown, she started to scrub vigorously along Nuriel's side and sneaked quick peaks over her shoulder now and then to try and keep an eye on the Pilot, who--

Wait.

He was taking off his shirt.

Rachel didn't realize that she had been slowly cleaning the same spot for the last minute or so, frozen in place and just watching, appreciating the view. Ohh, nice. She knew Pilots didn't skip the gym, of course, but still--niiice. Okay. Maybe she wasn't so irritated with Nuriel after all.

Disappointment averted, she smiled and started to clean her way along Nuriel and inch her way closer to where Bart was.

Totally subtle, of course.

[Anonymous]

Sylvi really just wanted to block out Atara and Aries..really really badly. It just wasn't working out that way. She couldn't fully focus on what she was doing. She frowned slightly but looked up when she heard Atara speaking again. Sure enough Nuriel was licking Bart. She cringed a little before shaking her head and quickly went back to what she was doing. He wasn't going to eat Bart. That had to just be..some game or something.

"I don't think he was...and he probably didn't taste good." she muttered. It was something right? That got her mind off of what they had been saying before. Yea that would work for now.

[Anonymous]

Her question seemed to have an effect on Pilot Tierney; he didn't seem to be as big a perv as she'd thought, which was good. Her attention was drawn back to the dragon's side as Aries answered her other question, in a less than encouraging way unfortunately, before bouncing over to Atara. She felt her heart sink a bit as she caught the tail end of Nuriel licking Pilot Hamilton.

"O-of course I have nothing to worry about!" Valentina replied, going back to the spot she'd been scrubbing. She was going to get through this program in one piece then rise through the ranks of the Pilots. She become the Imperial! No way a little thing like Candidacy would stop her and no way she'd let a dragon eat her. How she'd manage that...best not to think of it. Needed to stay positive. "I'll show them that I'm far more useful as a Pilot than as a snack or as a test subject." She shot the older candidate a hard look. "And don't you forget it either."

It was all a bluff, of course. She wasn't anywhere near as confident or sure as she was projecting but letting the two fear-mongers know would just invite them to try and scare her more. There was no way Valentina would allow the two older candidates to pick on her. Candidacy was hard enough as it was without having to look over her shoulder the whole time. Sylvi was proof enough for that.

If there was anything good that came of the last few minutes it was that nobody seemed to have picked up on her earlier fear. That went a good way to revealing her. It showed her that these dragons, no matter how powerful, still couldn't keep tabs on everything. She wouldn't have to worry about being a toothbrush.

"I'm not going to be dragon food." She muttered determinedly.

[Anonymous]

Atara moved closer to Sylvi, wiping her sponge across one of the metallic bits on the dragon, "Oh, but I know how good you taste Sylvi darling. Pilot Hamilton is all rough and old. Candidates are young and tender. Like....veal."

Valentina's little outburst got an amused look from the taller girl. She shifted her weight, giving her head a little toss to get some of the white strands of hair off her shoulder. Even scrubbing the dragon, Atara looked ready for a photo shoot at any moment, she was too vain to not, "Oh, that's really cute. And I am sure that all you need is grit and spunky determination." The patronizing tone in her voice was too heavy to miss and the look she gave Valentina was pitying.

---

"See, it's not so scary at all. The dragon's aren't the monsters people make them out to be. It's like the Pilots, use your brain, don't, like, insult them and stuff and you'll be totally fine. I was really surprised when I first met a dragon. I don't think my jaw closed the entire time and I actually started crying in fear the first time one talked to me. No joke." Finaa laughed at the memory before Gabe's startled outburst got her attention.

Turning, she raised an eyebrow at her mentor, confused as to what he was freaking out about. They were just washing a dragon and he was acting like it was the end of the world. The fact the girls were half naked didn't really occur to her, it was just skin after all, "Gabriel? What is your freakout?"

---

"You done now, you overgrown lizard?" Bart felt totally gross, his chest slick with dragon spit and the giant shit had even licked his hair, making part of it stick out awkwardly. He must have done something in a past life to get stuck with the weirdest damn dragon in the whole place.

"For the moment. Ahhh....you.....cle aning my toes...you I like. That feels lovely." The dragon made a low, pleased rumble, shifting to give her better access. He felt so spoiled and it was absolutely lovely.

Then the dragon felt it. The waves of disappointment rolling off Rachel followed by her intense interest in his now shirtless Pilot. Swiveling his head, he stared at Rachel, studying the girl as she creeped along, scanning her service thoughts.

She was attracted to Bart. How interesting! Nuriel gave the girl a wink, something he had picked up from his Pilot before Bart and grinned that toothy, disturbing grin the dragons had, "Bart. Teach Rachel how to clean my teeth."

"What?" Bart blinked, "Why don't I just do it for you?" It wasn't as gross as Bart had thought it would be when he first learned, but brushing someone else's teeth wasn't super fun and while Nuriel was huge, it would be a little cramped trying to show the blond. And they were both wearing far less clothes than he would like.

"No. I want a cute girl to do it." The fact teeth cleaning was far from romantic was lost on the dragon. They would be close together, so therefore his plan was perfect. He was so awesome! "Gaaaaabe. Why are you pouting? Stop sulking or next time I wont invite you. I'll invite Roman. He's much more fun."

Sighing, Bart smiled at Rachel, very pointedly making eye contact, "Did you catch that Rachel? You get to clean Nuriel's teeth. It's really not that scary, I promise." He could imagine the poor kid was gonna be a little freaked at the idea, Nuriel was pretty scary and his teeth could shred metal.