we would love not to care [Rhi]

[Tally]

"What would be you?  Hey—!"  Sher took a swipe at Roman with one huge clawed forepaw and he leaped back just in time to keep from being disemboweled.  She took a pouncing leap at him and nearly caught him again.  He staggered backwards and fell and she leaped on him, trapping him under both forepaws and swinging her tail back and forth exactly like a very large and very pleased cat.

"Gods, you are in a mood today!"  Roman could hardly breath with the weight of her armored front legs pinning him down, and he'd hit his head on the pavement when he'd fallen.  "Can we go now please?"

Quite happy with herself, Scheherazade rose and let Roman up.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"That I'm 'it'--" Gabriel cut off with a wince when Scher nearly wiped Roman out and, like many other times since he'd been chosen by Siren, he was thankful he had a mellow, easy-going dragon that wanted him in one piece. Or one, at least, that didn't try and play cat and mouse with him.  

He felt amusement ripple up from Siren as he watched and gave the dragon a hearty smack on the shoulder. "Don't get any ideas."

"Aww. If you feel left out, we could play, too."

"Yeeeeah, I think I'm good!"

"But they're having so much fun," Siren insisted, glancing back at Gabriel, voice still projecting to the four of them.

Gabriel look at Roman, who was pinned beneath Scher, and winced again. Oooh, bad fall. That just looked painful. At least the dragon finally relented. "Yeah, he sure looks like he's having a jolly ol' time! Right, Romy? How's it feel being a human cat toy?"

[Tally]

"You don't know how good you have it," he muttered.  Everyone got the fun dragons, the nice dragons, the reasonable dragons.  He got the dragon who might wish him good morning or throw him off a building.

"Oh it's a blast.  You should let Siren show you sometime—whoa!"  Sheherazade launched without warning, driving herself almost directly upward toward the cloud cover and out of the city barrier.  Pressing himself forward against her back, Roman glanced back at the other two.

"Get moving!  I don't think Scher's waiting!"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel laughed. Actually, he kind of knew he had it good. He'd heard all the horror stories; Alaric had plenty, and just look at Remi. But before he could open his mouth to rub that in a little, Scher took off, and without warning, Siren launched into the air to follow and he had time only to hang on.

Several powerful wing-beats later, they broke through the cloud cover and Siren pulled up level to Scheherazade, a wingspan away so they didn't collide.

"Y'know, Roman...ever wonder what happened to the Pilot before you?" Gabriel pondered 'out loud' as they flew, feeling Siren's muscles work beneath him. "Siren said his was 'stuffy' and died young in a gunfight. Think Scher diced hers?"

[Tally]

"Wouldn't surprise me.  'Course she's getting so old she probably doesn't remember—augh!"

Scheherazade spun upside down twice before leveling out again.  She pulled upward and took a position below and slightly ahead of Siren, a smug, toothy grin on her silver-plated face.

Roman panted, heart hammering.  "Can I hitch a ride back with you?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Gabriel laughed, the sound swallowed by the wind and the mask he wore. He felt it mirrored in Siren, in the throaty, rumbling sound that sent vibrations all through Gabriel's body. "Ah, nothing like a good shot of adrenaline to start your day, amirite?"

And then, just to be an insufferable show-off, he exchanged a quick message with Siren, braced himself, and held on as the dragon pulled his wings in and plummeted. He spun into a barrel roll before he finally pulled out of the free-fall and swooped sharply back up and leveled out. With several powerful wing-beats, Siren poured on the speed and shot ahead of Scher, bellowing out a playful challenge.

Body flat against Siren's body, Gabriel glanced over his shoulder. His heart was pounding and blood was rushing in his ears, but he loved it, found it exhilarating and couldn't get enough. But hey, thrill-seeking was in his blood. At least when it was on a dragon. He trusted a dragon more than a motorcycle.

"Oh yeah, you can hitch a ride, sure!" he added. "I'm not sure you'll like it much better, though. Siren likes to go fast. Buuut..." He blew Roman a kiss. "I'll go gentle on you, babe."

[Tally]

The antics of younger dragons had a way of mellowing Scher out.  She puffed smoke from her mouth and cruised steady while Siren put his show on.  She let him get quite far ahead, then veered, angling more southward now.

"You're going the wrong way, dears."

Then she poured her boosters on, shooting downward into the cloud cover and out of sight, utterly.  She was small enough to hide in thick cloud and all Roman could see around him was an impenetrable grey.

[Rhi-Rhi]

"Whaaat?"

Siren let out a growl that mimicked Gabriel's surprise and turned sharply--just in time to see Scher taking off in a blaze of glory.

Well...damn.

"You gonna take that?" Gabriel asked.

Siren answered by tucking in his wings and dropping like a stone, into the clouds, letting out a roar as he went to warn Scher of his approach in case she was near.

Gabriel didn't know how long they fell, but finally they broke through the cover and the dead expanse of the wastelands stretched out before them, toxic and twisted and barren. Though he'd been out here before he couldn't help but stare, always taken aback by how different it was, the contrast between it and the clean city he'd grown up in. The sight sobered him, reminding him of why they were doing this, why he'd dragged Roman out here, and he drew in a steady breath.

Somewhere out there, Temple might still be alive.

[Tally]

Scher spilled downward after hiding and letting them carry on for just a bit longer.

"This way."

She caught Siren's suddenly more sober mood, and Roman caught it from her.  His brother was out there, probably dead, and he hadn't let himself think those thoughts until now.  Temple had always just been another Pilot to him, or so he told himself.  The wastelands rolled on into a grey and brown haze.  Scher banked, began to descend, and the landscape took on a familiar edge.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Siren finally came to a smooth halt, banking and landing gracefully and rather daintily, considering his size. A cloud of dust rose around them, stirred by his wings, and he folded them in and looked to Scher. His lip curled, flashing long canines.

"We're close," he said.

Close to where Providence died. To where they'd lost Temple.

Close, and Gabriel couldn't really tell one patch of dirt from the next. Staring out over the barren land, he felt, for the first time since learning of the news, a sudden pang of futility. The land all looked the same out here, no real landmarks anywhere. Just miles and miles of damaged earth...

[Tally]

Scher alighted on a jut of cliff above Siren.

"He stood here," she said.  She swooped down to the spot where they'd seen Providence's body.  "And fell here."

Roman kept his eyes open, head swiveling.  He'd been here already.  He figured they had a better chance of finding wasteland barbarians out to ruin their day—if such a day could in fact be ruined—than any sign of Temple.

[Rhi-Rhi]

It was a long fall. There was no way someone could come out of that unscathed. Gabriel stared at the place where Temple and Providence had fallen; it was eerie to think that just days ago he'd been here. Just days ago he'd seen him, talked to him, things had been normal. He'd planned on dragging him out bowling again. And just like that...

It was worse not having a body, not having that closure and finality.

He jerked away from that line of thought and rejected it just as fast, clinging instead to something that Roman had said back at the get-together.

"You really think he's still alive?" Gabriel said after a long silence, not looking at Roman, forcing himself to stay...numb, expression blank and voice controlled. It was bad enough he'd started to break yesterday, he wasn't about to let that happen again here and now.

Except now that he was here, he didn't really know what to do, but he wanted to do something, keep busy and feel useful and fool himself into thinking there was a chance. This was out of his hands and deep down he knew it--but he could never just accept that.

"'Cause if he is...no point hanging here. He wouldn't have stayed here. He's probably trying to get back."