Never Slowing Down [EZRA]

[nineofswords]

Firestorm's drills had ended for the day. Riders were beginning to take the straps off their dragons and rub them down before heading off to their various tasks for the end of the day. Dani was also getting the straps off Bladeth, but she was clearly still full of energy, her movements full of extra bounce and pep.

She was sliding down her dragon's flank with a huge smile on her face. "Don't you just love drills?" she asked her nearest wingmate who - unfortunately for him - was Malleus. "Getting to fly in a group like that with no stakes, just you and your dragon trying to think as one, flying as hard and fast as you can for as long as the drill lasts...there's nothing like it, don't you think?" She was bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Faranth, I feel like I could swim the whole perimeter of the lake, I'm so pumped! They always end way too soon if you ask me."

I could stand for them to be a little shorter, personally, Bladeth admitted. And...lower to the ground... He'd projected aloud, but Dani seemed to be ignoring him in favor of running in place really really fast.

[Ezra]

Malleus had been occupied with getting the straps off his large bronze. His hand massaged the muscle under them as he removed the straps with clearly practiced ease. Briaroseth made a content hum as he did so and the rider smiled warmly. His head pivoted around to lock his gaze on his wing mate as she spoke to him. " Aye, I do. Good exercise and keeps our skills sharp, as well as our dragons." He replied, the ghost of the smile from earlier still on his face. He was slowly working towards seeming a bit more approachable, his life having been looking up for a change the past few months. He had found the parent he sought, though they had not had the time for the deep conversation yet, they had at least eaten a brief meal together a few times and spoken a bit more.

It was something Malleus aimed to change eventually. He chuckled at Dani's literal bouncing in glee. " I must say I envy your energy, some days its a real struggle for me to make it through without feeling very drained." He replied with a smile, less of a hint of one this time and more genuine. His head turned towards Bladeth and he noted what he other dragon had projected, though very distracted by the bouncing of his rider.

Briaroseth snorted in amusement slightly and bumped Malleus lightly in the shoulder with her nose, reminding him to finish taking her straps off. Feeling foolish for a second, the rider turned to finish his task. Once freed from the confines of her straps, the bronze did a slow and lengthy stretch. " I advocate for more time to just sunbathe, we never do that anymore." She grumbled, projecting her thought publicly and Malleus laughed softly. " The way she speaks, you would think she never gets time to relax." He mused, clearly amused as he looked fondly back at his dragon.

[nineofswords]

"Yes! Exactly! You get it!" Dani said pumping a fist in the air. "Can you believe that some people don't like drills?" She said it like it was the most inconceivable thing imaginable. "It's mental exercise! It's physical exercise! It's the total package!"

She seemed to only be encouraged by Malleus' own amusement. "You're laughing, but I'm being serious, here!" she said, sounding amused as well. "I always feel super pumped after a great workout! Like I can do anything! The world always looks a little brighter! Makes me wanna keep going, seeing how much farther I can push myself, how much brighter the world can look! It makes it hard to remember how tired I feel when I start thinking about that!"

Dani gaped openly at Briaroseth when she made her comment. "What? Sunbathing? That sounds - "

Simply wonderful, Bladeth sighed. Dani, we should go stretch out in a sunbeam. A nice, quiet sunbeam. Preferably one on the ground.

"What?!? Bladeth, get serious! We can't slow down now! Our muscles will cool down and we won't be able to keep pushing ourselves!"

Uh, yeah, that's the idea.

"Oh, you're impossible!" she huffed, turning to Malleus. "Back me up here. You agree with me, right?"