[Flashback] And then she grew hooves [Pygmy]

[Amon]

Amon had expected Pygmy to scream, but to scream as loud as she did was startling. He attempted to hush her as well as he knew how, to calm her down and settle her into a more relaxed state to avoid causing a ruckus and attracting unwanted attention… as if Sakima’s enormous size wouldn’t ward off anything to begin with. Sakima had merely chuckled at the girl for her fright, clearly pleased. She’s easier to scare than that child dek that came to our aeries to clean last season. You’re not helping this situation, really Sakima. Show some kindness. I did! I didn’t eat her, did I? I could have easily gobbled her up, but no, Amon, I let her live to please you and your whimsical ways. Go on, this girl expects many things from you. Another laugh. Amon was about to respond inwardly to his feathery companion when he was abruptly pulled down. Pygmy’s words were like daggers to his ears, but her comment about fucking didn’t go unnoticed. “Way to keep your subtlety, girl child. Are you even old enough to go around fucking random men you meet?” He wasn’t comfortable with the prospect of bedding this girl, but it was on his mind now. And to be stupidly honest, he was curious about it. Either way, he lifted Pygmy up and settled her onto the harness, strapping her in securely before situating himself in the seat closest to Sakima’s neck, and then secured the protective headband across his forehead to shield his eyes. It was one swift movement as the grand eagle pushed himself off the ground, with gigantic talons tearing into the earth and spraying bits of dirt across the clearing. They were in the air then, lifting higher and higher up, twice as fast as any normal sized bird, and with far more speed. Soon the land of Sylira was stretched below, and the city was exposed in a new light. Amon smiled, despite Pygmy’s intentions. “I’d kill to stay up here for ages.”

[Dhanya]

Yes, the wonder of flight, the wind whispering through the trees and roaring up into the sky. That sublime moment of weightlessness followed by the terrifying potential of falling to death. The rush of adrenaline that covered the bitter cold. Being able to see, for miles, far beyond what she had seen before.

Girl child?

The entire experience becoming secondary to pique...

"I'd kill for a decent coat, you can't always get what you want." Pygmy mumbled to herself, arms folded over her chest.

She'd always been quick to baser emotions. Even now she was annoyed that Amon was annoyed at her and annoyed that she was now flying and feeling as if she was seeing the entire experience from the other side of a window while she grumped around inside pre-occupied with other things.

Of course she was old enough to go around fucking people, that was what you did when you were young and not entirely sure what the other options were. It seemed to be a bit expected, really. You had dinner with someone, wandered around for a while and then you slept with them unless they were unpalatable enough that you had to sneak out the back while pretending to be using the lavie. She'd taken her cues from the city and the city had seemed to imply that this was what women did or at least, what she was supposed to do.

Her mother had taught her a great many things about the world. None of them had related to choice. What she had learned was that you did what you had to. Jenon had taught her to be accommodating and her mother had only disagreed because Jenon had said it. You did what you had to and you followed cues. She'd learned how to use others all on her own.

She figured she might as well get something out of it.

It was so dreadfully cold...

She lent into Amon, shivering and finally returning to herself. They were up so high, it was awful. She couldn't help thinking of all the many ways she could die and what the crunch would sound like when her head hit the ground and her neck snapped. It was wonderful, it was beautiful and the entire experience spoke of yet another fantastic life she would never lead. She wanted to get down as much as she wanted to stay, chalking it down to another instance of her wanting grand things she wasn't meant or good enough for.

She was up among the heavens and it was a sorry thought to consider that they weren't open to her. The heavens were so full of themselves.

"I'm not a child, Amon." She hissed in his ear, because it would carry better than shouting. It wasn't an angry hiss. At worst, the hiss of a cold person whose teeth were beginning to chatter.

She was never going to get to see any of this again. She tried to take it in, at least, as much as she could without associating the sensations with abject terror.

She considered the fact that a more adventurous, classy woman would probably be loving the whole thing and winning the bird and the boy over to boot. She didn't know much about Sakima. If she had, she would've realised she was quite wrong.

[Amon]

Flying was second nature to Amon at this stage of his life. The bond between Wind Eagle and Inarta was treasured and longed for by all, as once you have intertwined the threads of the mind and soul, there was a certain elevated level of ecstasy one took when they flew with their brethren. Pygmy may have been the one to be sightseeing, but Amon could feel the wind pass through the opalescent feathers sprouting from Sakima’s skin. The rider could see for miles through the enormous eyes of the eagle, and every moment was simply bliss. Of course, having a girl leaning into him trembling to the bone was enough to make Amon snap back to reality. He turned his head a fraction to glance back at her, then, without a word, he unlaced his katinu; the long, warm, winter coat he wore upon his arrival to Syliras. “This will keep you warm. It is called a katinu. It was made to withstand the colds of Kalea.” It wasn’t particularly difficult to stay balanced whilst Sakima glided through the air. The hardest part was preventing the article of clothing from falling, but Amon made sure it was held in a tight grip as he twisted his torso around and wrapped the coat around the shivering girl. “Hold onto this tightly.” Positioning himself forward once more, Amon tightened his hold on the harness when the grand white eagle swerved to circle around the city below. They were about to land, descending minute by minute; a brief journey across the skies, but Pygmy’s comment about her age forced a smile on his face. “Of course not, I’m sorry for calling you a child.” With a low thump, the eagle landed in the same location of the clearing they had ascended from earlier, and the rider was quick to help the kelvic girl to the ground. With a chirp, Sakima launched himself into the air once more. “He’ll wait for me until the morning.” Amon explained, then adjusted the katinu around Pygmy, to ensure maximum comfort. He then held her hand and guided her back toward the city, that seemed to greet them that night. A beacon that shone in a sea of black. “Are you tired, Pygmy? It was stupid of me to assume you wouldn’t be freezing your ass off up there. If you would like, my room has a fireplace.”

[Dhanya]

While she never would have admitted it, being handed Amon's jacket had made her happier than flying. She was deathly cold now, hands turning white and blue from it. The sheepskin warmed her, though she did feel a moment of guilt for wearing what was effectively a relative. At least it hadn't died in vain.

When her feet touched the ground, the sense of rightness that she felt was enough to make her swoon. She could have kissed the earth but didn't because then she would have gotten Amon's coat dirtier by dragging more of the tails than she already was. She was much shorter than him.

The hand holding, it was nice. The adrenaline was fading and with it came fatigue. It was sweet relief to have someone else there to follow when she was so tired. She yawned when Amon asked his question and had the decency to look embarrassed after.

"That would be lovely!" She replied, having momentarily forgotten that she didn't have a place to sleep. "If you don't mind, that is."

Yes, she was feeling much more sanguine now. Less flighty than before. Sometimes being tired made her fall back on politeness that had been hard learned. She had no intention of finding other lodgings now.

She still shook from time to time, from cold or just aftershocks of soaring. She wondered at how an experience could make her feel that way, leave her lonely after. Pygmy wondered what it would be like to have someone to hold hands with all the time.

She told herself she'd get bored and left it at that, not talking again until they were in the city itself.

[Amon]

Amon tightened his hold on Pygmy’s hand, then paused when it finally sunk in that she was practically frozen solid. Sakima chuckled in his head, but the bird wouldn’t speak. He had settled down for the night, clearly content in his own little world, where the sight and sounds of the goat girl were far away from his thoughts and attention. Amon rubbed Pygmy’s hands roughly between his own, warming them as best he could. “So foolish of me.” He muttered beneath his breath, then simply led her once more through the still bustling crowds of the city, towards the Traveler’s Row. And he felt responsible for the girl, because although she claimed she wasn’t a child, she still appeared as such, and to him, acted as such as well. She was strange, and yet she seemed to have a certain mystery to her that kept him wondering, and truth be told, wanting more. Once they reached his room on the Traveler’s Row, Amon allowed her to enter first. It was a typical abode, but elegant, with a double bed centered in the room, a table with two chairs set aside as well as a chest and a hearth, already set with a small fire behind the mesh that separated it from the rest of the furniture. Amon took off his gloves, one at a time, then proceeded to slip off his light tunic, revealing a slim and well-toned chest and back beneath. He was deeply tanned under the light of the fire, but his azure eyes still shone like gems. Still alight, despite his exhaustion. He sat on the bed then and glanced at Pygmy. “Make yourself comfortable. It’s small, but suit’s the purpose just fine.”

[Dhanya]

It was not Amon's fault that she took it as an overture.

"True." She replied, dropping Amon's coat so it fell across a chair and seating herself neatly in his lap. "I like your eyes, they're such a pretty colour."

She was aware that boys didn't like being called pretty. It flustered them. It just so happened that Pygmy liked to fluster, when she could. She wondered if Amon's cheeks could be made to match his hair but imagined he wouldn't let her get so far.

She ran one hand through his hair, leaned forward and kissed him. Her other arm was loose on his shoulder and she let it slip when she tilted her head, ran her tongue across his lip. She didn't press him forward, since she imagined he'd want to choose which way they went. Amon would have been able to tell that she was comfortable in her actions. Perhaps he might have realised that she assumed their evening would lead up to this.

"What do you want to do?" She whispered in his ear and if her voice was young it was still experienced.

He hadn't been incorrect in his assumption of her youth. He just had not realised that she'd been forced to grow up quickly. In his defense, she had yet to intuit it either.

[Amon]

He was exhausted not horny. Not ready to settle down and take what he wanted from this girl like how most of his colleagues seemed to want to ingrain in his head. We are Endal, we can take what we want, order who we want and we'll never get in trouble for it. Live it up! They had told him, but Amon wasn't the kind to abuse his power. So when Pygmy settled herself into his lap, he was taken slightly off guard. He was about to say something, and he opened his lips to allow the words to slip through yet nothing came. But it didn't matter then. His lips were soon covered by the girl's, and his hair toyed with. Amon didn't know why he didn't immediately push her away, but he allowed her to continue, even as her tongue flicked out tantalizingly. She's a girl! He willed himself to say it again and again, A girl, a child! A whore! Then the rider shut his eyes, and raised his arms up to grip Pygmy's shoulders and push her away. He opened them, only to have his growing arousal readily apparent in his eyes. "I can't." He said, "Do you assume because I took you in, you need to repay me?" His voice was gentle, but his hand slid down the length of her arm, and landed on her thigh. "We only just met, Pygmy." Perhaps he was trying to draw his mind away from sexual fantasies, but being of the male gender, it was increasingly difficult to do so.

[Dhanya]

"Well, yes." She replied, smiling and letting herself laugh a little. "Did you take me in thinking I wouldn't?"

Her smile dipped around the edges as she asked. She was surprised, though it was a dull sort of surprise and not enough to move her away from him. She hadn't felt this awkward since the first time and, frankly, possibly the second as well. Although that had more to do with the fact that she'd expected it to be more comfortable and realising it wasn't had brought the awkwardness to a new, inspiring level.

"Do you think knowing me would make a difference?" It was sort of besides the point with one night stands. "There's not much to know."

Less than two years worth, in fact.

She settled against his chest, head curled in against his neck. She was lonely and not really made to be lonely. She missed human contact or even Kelvic contact. Something definitely was better than nothing, even if that something was hard for her to define and apparently not quite within Syliras' social expectations for young women's behaviour. She was making it up as she went along, following social cues on the fly. Amon wasn't the first bump in the road but his response was the first of its kind.

At least he was holding her, however loosely. His hand was still warm on her thigh. She placed hers over his and threaded their fingers together. She wasn't quite sure what to do with him now, though she was going to do her best to make sure he didn't go away.

Or kick her out.

[Amon]

Amon brought a hand up and dragged it quickly down his face. He didn’t know what he expected out of this abrupt and perhaps fortuitous meeting. Friendship? Companionship? A guide to the city? There was something about this girl that compelled him to want to help. She seemed lost, alone, and without a hint of her history, he couldn’t very well come to much of a conclusion of anything. Her eyes still threw him for a loop, however. So unnerving, so strange, yet still lovely all the same. She was bold, the rider would give her that, but being bold did not entail a life lacking in hardship. Amon could see that she had suffered much, seen much, even though he was positive she was younger than he. And whether she was aware of this was a different matter, altogether. Amon had to wonder, had to be sure that Pygmy had at least some trace of affection for him. He was never one to take a girl to his bed out of a whim back home, and he wasn’t going to begin now. “Pygmy,” He said softly, lifting her chin up so that she met his eyes, “Have I been kind enough to you to deserve your affection? In that beautiful beating heart of yours, can there be room for love?” Amon wasn’t sure what he was asking; he was unsure now, of a lot of things. Love. The red-haired Inarta had loved many times throughout his life, but always he had settled for his duty to his people, and deemed a relationship too distracting to maintain. Would this young woman change his outlook on life? “I think knowing you would make a tremendous amount of difference,” He continued, turning his hand and squeezing the kelvic’s own. “You’ve made me laugh, you’ve intrigued me, and I’ve yet to know why your eyes are like they are. What has brought you to me if not some petching curiosity?” A desire for your heated passion of course. Sakima always clawed into his mind. He shook it off.

[Dhanya]

Have I been kind enough to you to deserve your affection? In that beautiful beating heart of yours, can there be room for love?

A cool wind swept across Pygmy's mental landscape, which was for that moment entirely blank.

She hadn't really thought about it since Zeltiva, where it had become clear that if she had love to offer it probably wasn't wanted. The only love she'd ever really known had been platonic, from her mother. She'd thought Jenon had given it as well, though she felt he'd proven her wrong in trying to exchange her for money.

She'd only just met Amon. She liked him but the thought of loving him was still a distant idea, waiting to see if it was a good one.

"I want to give you affection," She said, not sure how to put worth on that. If she wanted to give it, then that was surely the best sign. "I like you."

Should she say what he wanted her to say? She wanted to make him happy with her. Pygmy wasn't sure of the right answer. The old mantra hid behind her drives, urging her to find the right person instead of becoming such for someone else.

It was hard. She curled into Amon's chest as close as she could. Their conversation was beginning to make her uneasy. What had brought her to him? Why did there need to be a reason? Why think when you could do?

"I don't know." She said quietly. "You looked nice, so I spoke to you."

And she'd liked his hair.

"Why do there need to be reasons? Life ends so quickly. I'd rather just... Accept what is and enjoy it." What did her mother used to say? "There are no guarantees."