Wake Up, Sunshine {Fox}

[Lan]

The dawn hours brought sunlight into the eyling of a particular green rider, spreading diamond-like waves of pure and white light over the stone walls and trickling onto the cot of one messy-haired and still-sleeping blond. Weirded-out by the sudden intrusion, the sixteen-year-old cracked open an eye and then shut it immediately from the pain of morning's light. What was that? No, seriously... what was that? Why on Pohono should she be waking up now? It was a rare occasion, indeed, when she could feel rested and awake in the wee hours of the day. She reached out with her mind for the familiar presence of her simourv to find the green, too, beginning to wake for the day. But, from the smug emotions emanating from the ledge where the rather satisfied Liliph was resting, Fe'ra could guess that they weren't alone.

Memories came back to her slowly, drifting back into her groggy mind like dead moths floating in the wind from a windowsill she had previously been unable to reach. Casually, she began to piece the puzzle together. Liliph was certainly pleased with herself, although the green hadn't begun her usual chatter as of yet. She was naked, but despite the morning chill due to winter's cold embrace she was rather warm. This warmth radiated from a person, she deduced, whose bare skin was touching hers and whose arm was draped unconsciously over her smaller frame. Seronaph. K'ean. The names returned to her as if they both held great meaning and yet meant nothing at all. Contradictions. It was certainly odd waking up after a flight. Especially since she knew that, yet again, it was a male from her squad she had been all but forced to bed... only this time it was the Lieutenant.

But it was cold outside... and his body was so warm. It was for that mere selfish reason that she stayed in his arms without moving. At least it wasn't as awkward this time. Now a year older and having experienced a flight before, she had known what to expect. For the past three years she had basically been raised by the Eyrie. She had seen other flights and heard of their outcomes. So far, it seemed, none of the mating pairs had made any formal arrangements. It just wasn't how it was done at the Eyrie. There were far too many things to deal with without having to worry about social oddities. Perhaps the entire human issue with flights had been mostly overlooked, but it was commonly understood that pretty much all of the full riders (except for the rainbows) in the Eyrie had experienced at least one flight, whether won or lost. Mostly it was considered a hazard of the job, she guessed.

So Fe'ra tried not to let it bother her. Liliph was happy, after all, even if Seronaph had never been overly fond of her before. And, while Fe'ra wasn't particularly satisfied with the gender of Liliph's chosen's rider, she was at the very least appreciative of the warmth in the cool winter's morning. Liliph seemed to be thinking along the same lines as she, too, cozied up next to the larger red bundle of feathers that was Seronaph. A silence was still present about the eyling as K'ean seemed to be still asleep. Yet, somewhere in the corner of the room Fe'ra could hear the easy-going rustlings of the ferret Twitch burrowing in some of the clothes that had been discarded on the floor.

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[Fox]

K’ean was a morning person; and early riser. Even on days when by rights he had nothing to do except perhaps turn in a few reports and lounge around, he was still up before the sun had begun to show its face above the horizon. It was a routine born of long habit, and the number of days that he had overslept over the course of three years were few enough that K’ean could count them all on one hand. So, it was with a vague sense of sleepy confusion that the redrider saw light gleaming from behind his closed eyelids. His first instinct was to burrow into the blankets at the unfamiliar sensation, but unfortunately K’ean was the kind to come awake almost all at once. And as the awareness of light was followed closely by the realisation of what time it must be for the sun to be shining directly into his eyling, K’ean shot awake, lunging abruptly into a sitting position before he froze in horror at the time.

He didn’t notice that he was naked. Or that there was someone else in the bed beside him. Or that this wasn’t his eyling. The man’s eyes flew straight to the window, specifically to the pale sun that was throwing bands of weak sunlight across the bedcovers, and very near panicked. Was he supposed to be doing something today? Gods above, he hoped he wasn’t late for his shift to Itnala! He couldn’t remember what he was supposed to be doing today and there had to be something!--Seph![/b]

On the ledge, Seronaph jolted awake with a start, tangled as he was with Liliph’s smaller green body. He had been sleeping peacefully until K’ean’s panicked cry roused him, but unlike his rider, the red had every idea of where they were at present. And he knew that his rider was disorientated; something similar had happened with M’likki and Henoph the first time. Perhaps it was too much to expect K’ean to adapt so fast when this was only the second time Seronaph had ever won a flight. With a sigh and a fluffing up of his feathers, the red coiled further around Liliph, partly for warmth and partly for the sake of contact itself. Then he steeled himself to plunge into the confused jumble of thoughts that was an awake K’ean with no idea what was going on. Mine.[/color] He commanded severely. Look around.[/color]

Not understansing in the least, K’ean turned to snap at his bonded before he stopped, mouth still parted for a harried remark, as he registered that apparently Seronaph had been transformed half into a green at some point in the night. No. That wasn’t right. The green feathered body was Liliph. Liliph’s Flight. Fe’ra.

Oh.

Almost with reluctance, K’ean turned to peer at the other side of the bed and, to his chagrin at having ignored her, the sixteen-year-old curled up in it. He winced inwardly at her age. He was seven years older than her. But these things couldn’t be predicted, even though every rider knew that it was bound to happen at some point. K’ean just didn’t have to be happy about it was all. She was younger than his baby sister, for crying out loud! ”Um.. Good morning, Fe’ra.” He greeted after a moment of silence, a flush colouring his cheeks as a gust of cold wind raised goosebumps on his arms and chest and, quite effectively, made him aware that he was very much in a state of undress at this point. And so was she. Flightlust was all well and good, but after. Well. That was always awkward.[/size]

[Lan]

Twitch gave a squeal and darted under K'ean's discarded tunic at the man's sudden movement. Yet, that wasn't the only person the redrider startled. Fe'ra's eyes snapped open and then shut tightly again as the light of the morning sun filtered into them. Why did he have to get so freaked out? Sighing, she pretended to be asleep again. That was probably for the best. She snuggled in the furs and let her mind go blank.

Meanwhile, Liliph was quite content next to Seronaph and as he snuggled closer after talking with his she tried to get closer still to his bulky warmth. Unlike her human, her mate actually liked her right now. Humming out of giddiness, she ruffled her feathers although they were already quite meshed with the red's own and nudged him playfully. Flights were always very fun for her. She liked them quite a lot, especially when she got so much attention! She especially liked being preened. Liliph very much would like Seronaph to preen her right now. She nudged him again.

"Morning..." Fe'ra grumbled, rolling over so that she was facing him and cuddling closer to his warm body, shivering from the trace of wind the made them goose-pimpled. Even though she wasn't attracted to him, she was attracted to his warmth. She curled toward him like a lost pup, treating him more like an older brother instead of a lover. Their nakedness mattered not. The greenrider just didn't want him to leave just yet. That would mean she would be alone with an unruly Liliph. That was never a good option. "Why's it so damned cold?" She asked rhetorically, her voice sweet and innocent despite the language as she tried to get him to calm down with something so uncomplicated as temperature differences.

Somewhere in the corner Twitch was once again to his usual antics, no longer distressed by the intruding presence in his space. Decidedly, K'ean was not a thread right now, so the ferret further decided to try to escape from the tunic that he had previously taken shelter in. However, he attempted to go through the sleeve, and found himself with a ruffly little mane as the edge got stuck on his shoulders in his attempts to free himself. With as great of a sense of ridiculous as a ferret could have, he sat there for a moment looking at the two occupants in the bed as if to show off his unfortunate situation.

[Fox]

Seronaph was in a fairly good mood, to be frank. He liked winning flights. And while he normally found Liliph to be one of his most annoying sisters with her incessant chatter, at the moment there were still remnants of affection present. Regardless, of his rider's discomfort, the red was not inclined to move very much this morning, much less return to their own eyling. It wasn't as if he and His had to be anywhere today, either. And if they did, well. People would understand. With a thrum of satisfaction, he complied to Liliph's wordless suggestion, turning to run his beak through the feathers at her shoulder. Be calm, Mine. We have nothing to do today. Enjoy it while you can.[/color] Was his suggestion to his rider as he tugged lightly, almost playfully on one of Liliph's bright green feathers. Ah, Flights were wonderful, especially if Seronaph was the one to win them.

K'ean, though, was less pleased than his simourv, though all in all, he found this result to be better than the one that he had found himself with after Henoph's flight. M'likki, he had not liked. Fe'ra, at least, was something of a friendly acquaintance, if not a friend. Thinking of her just now as a little sister figure was somewhat beyond the man, though. He dredged up a smile at Fe'ra's drowsy greeting, though the girl was not looking at him. He remained where he was as she snuggled closer, since now that Seronaph had reminded him, there really wasn't much for him to do just yet. It would perhaps be acceptable for him to remain in the warmth for a bit longer, even if it was more embarrassing than he might have intended. The chilly winter air brushed over his skin, not raising goosebumps as it had with Fe'ra, but rather welcomed. K'ean like the cold, after all, and he had a high tolerance for it. "Because it's winter." He deadpanned, the last vestiges of his panic slipping away as he leaned forward to brace his elbow against his knees. Yes, they were still naked, but Fe'ra didn't seem to mind, and he was alright with it so long as the sheets preserved some semblance of modesty. Sort of.

He still only shot her a glance, though, before his eyes skidded away. Of course, he still wasn't too comfortable with this, but he was rather inclined to take Seronaph's advice and enjoy the company while he could. Still, though, there were some things about Fe'ra's eyling that K'ean would rather have done without. Such as the ferret watching them with beady bright eyes, apparently dressed rather comically in his tunic. The man's mouth twitched before he smothered it. He didn't really like most animals, but he couldn't deny that the creature looked somewhat adorable. But even then... Fe'ra, your rat is trying to steal my tunic." He told her calmly, raising an eyebrow at her pet. Twitch was a ferret yes, but ferrets were rodents and rodents were rats in his book. Hence, Twitch's new, unfortunate nickname.

(ooc: I FAIL SO HARD I'm sorry it's so late, Lan-love. ;^[/size]

[Lan]

Liliph cooed warmly as Seronaph submitted to her whims. How she like him! They had had such good fun, and now he was treating her like a proper lady ought to be treated. In response to the red's chivalry the green reached up with her beak to tug playfully at his feathers as well. She had chosen well. Seronaph was the strongest and best simourv in the Eyrie in Liliph's mind right now, other than herself and Eceph of course. Eceph would always be the best to the frivolous green. Still, she enjoyed the red's company and occasionally cooed and hummed at his physical sentiments.

As K'ean finally calmed down, the stiffness in Fe'ra muscles lessened. There, was that so hard? She snuggled up in the bed furs, making sure to cover them both as the redrider seemed so displeased by their unclothed state. Sure, it would have been awkward... but flights were part of being a rider. While Fe'ra wasn't attracted to men in the slightest, she still tried her best not to mind them. They were excellent space heaters, after all. Especially during the cold of winter. So she kept some physical contact with K'ean, not totally thinking about their relationship as far as rank. He was here. Their simourvs were happy. Life, for the moment, was good... or, at least a semblance of good.

At his complaint Fe'ra rose up, holding the sheets to her chest, and looked over at her rodent companion with an amused smile. A peal of laughter bubbled up from her throat as she absorbed the clearly comical scene. Well, well... her little buddy certainly had a way with her gentleman companions!

"Twitch!" The ferret committed the action that was his namesake at his master's exclamation. "Get out of the nice man's shirt! He has to wear that later." Right on cue the ferret began wriggling backward in an attempt to dislodge himself from his newfound sleeve collar. However, it only managed to get him more stuck. It took many more attempts of rolling and twisting about to finally set himself free, after which he bounded out of the eyling to find something else to ferret about in.

"Sorry about that..." Fe'ra turned to K'ean and gave a wide, yet apologetic smile. Then she lied back down, snuggling back into the first and closer to his body warmth again. It was only then that she realized he might have something important to do today. Maybe she could talk him out of it so she could be warm just a little longer? She doubted it. Besides, at her core she was probably just as eager to forget the incident as he was. It wasn't like either of them was attracted to the other. Still... a nice nap sounded nice.

"Do you have anywhere to be?" She questioned, yawning the last part of the sentence and twitching her nose at the end. Yawning always made her nose feel funny. Sort of like it tickled.