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Jarzyl and Atlas embark on another adventure, this time without leaving the city, or indeed even the bedroom.

Alternate story title: Wing Rider

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With the twist of a key, Atlas unlocked the door and stepped into the cramped little space he called a bedroom. Jarzyl followed him in, making it even more cramped. "We had a good talk. Thanks for that," she said to him.

"You're welcome."

"And... everything I told you about my clan and my family? Just keep it between us, could you?"

Atlas nodded silently. Before either of them could say anything further, a trio of hatchlings came scampering by in the corridor outside. The little dragons were only around a third the size of Atlas and Jarzyl, but they moved with impressive speed, dashing on all fours. The first two hatchlings continued onwards with one chasing the other and trying to playfully nip at her tail, but the third hatchling slid to a stop and hurriedly backpedalled. He openly stared into Atlas's room and at the two fledglings inside. "Atlas! Hey! Hey!"

Atlas acknowledged the hatchling, who was a clanless young dragon just like him, with a calm nod. "Hi, Kolaris."

Jarzyl just stared. She didn't know Atlas's friend, but in general, she didn't like hatchlings--they were noisy, pesky little creatures who ate too much, talked too much, and were expensive in most every way--but then again, some of them were also exceptionally cute.

"Who's that new person? She's soooo orange. Is she a friend of yours?" The hatchling's eyes widened when he spotted the clan pennants tied to Jarzyl's wingtips. "Woah! Mintaka? Mintaka! That's an apex clan! I'd love to be in Mintaka!"

Jarzyl made a small, barely noticeable nod of her head. Anyone who respected her clan earned at least some of her respect, even if they were a squeaky, irritating little hatchling who had no problem interrupting two fledglings who had clearly been in the middle of a conversation.

"I'm a little busy now. I'll talk to you later during dinner," Atlas replied.

"Busy? What are you busy with? Are you trying for the special route? Atlas? Atlas, hey! Oh your friend is closing the door, so are you are really doing the special route? Atlas!?"

"No, I'm not," Atlas said, which was the last word because Jarzyl used her tail to shove the bedroom door shut behind her, then she turned the locking knob. Faintly they continued to hear a stream of curious hatchling questions from outside, along with some claw scratching at the door, for around ten more seconds until Kolaris got bored and ran off again.

Jarzyl's neck frill perked up as she grinned. "I used to think that the clanless shelter was a hideout for street gangs of orphans and outlaws. But it's more like the communal home of a small clan, isn't it? Except without even a clan."

Atlas laughed. "Hardly any crime to be found here, just plenty of chores. That's my life."

"So I see." The noise of a distant ringing bell interrupted them, echoing through the corridors and audible even through the closed door. "What's that?" Jarzyl asked. Then came the sound of lots of running in the corridor outside, with different strides as hatchlings and fledglings both passed by. "Was that a fire alarm? Is everyone evacuating?"

Atlas laughed again. "Far more important than fire--that was the dinner bell. That's the sound of people running for dinnertime," he explained.

"Oh. You all get called to eat together?"

"There wouldn't be enough space for us all to sit down and eat together. For dinner or breakfast, we get a serving of food in a small bucket--hatchlings get one serving, fledglings get two or three--and then we eat in our own rooms, together in the dormitories, or out in the courtyard. Wherever there's free space."

Jarzyl nodded. "I see! Are you going to go get your dinner?"

Atlas didn't move. "I don't need to rush. There's always a long queue at the start. Dinner should be... if I recall correctly, sandwiches and chicken soup, same as today's breakfast. It's always on a schedule every week."

"Sounds nice."

"It's better than going hungry."

"Hmm. Perhaps it's time for me to go for dinner too." Jarzyl looked down at the floor, where she'd left her flight harness. It was evening, and she had come back to pick up her harness before flying off to meet her parents for dinner.

Jarzyl strolled over and stepped through the various belt loops before doing up the clasps and securing her harness onto her body with a quick, practiced motion. She fluttered her wings, then paused to stare at her wingtips, looking at the pennant flags tied there which had her clan's insignia. Her expression bore a faint pride--she was proud to be from Mintaka.

Aside from pride, she also felt a hunger for dinner, yet she didn't want to go just yet. Instead of leaving, she strode over towards Atlas and leaned close. He watched her closely, with his deep brown eyes widening slightly. Instead of going in for a kiss, Jarzyl gently grabbed one of his horns and wobbled his head. "Hehe." She let go after a moment. "What's the special route? That the little hatchling was asking you about?"

Atlas shook his head. "It's not important. Just a clanless thing. A phrase we use."

"Explain?"

"He meant the special route to get a clan. It's in contrast to the normal route for a clanless dragon to get a clan. Normal route means working under a clan for a time, or some clans offer internships or scholarships based on good school grades. If you know the right people and can make the right friends, that helps too. But that's not the only way."

Jarzyl was listening curiously. When they'd been younger, Atlas had shown more reluctance with talking about his clanless state, even with his closest friends. It had been a half secret. Only rarely did he ever wear pennants on his wingtips, and those had always been plain, never bearing a clan insignia. Even his full name was just a placeholder--Atlas Tyces--Jarzyl had tried to look up_Tyces_ in the city archives and found there was no such clan.

Now though, Atlas was more comfortable, more confident, and willing to explain things about his life. Being on the cusp of getting his magic and being considered a full adult, getting into a clan was no longer an impossible goal, but now a very realistic possibility. He continued. "There are alternate pathways to get into a clan. There's something called the forbidden route."

This sounded very mysterious, which got Jarzyl even more interested. "The_forbidden_ route?"

"You can buy your way into joining some clans. Of course, in the amounts necessary we'd have to use someone else's money, which is why it is forbidden."

Jarzyl didn't understand at first. "You mean like a loan? From a bank?"

Atlas laughed. "There's no way for a clanless fledgling to get a loan from the banking guild--if you were good enough for that, you could just find a clan that offers a bonded scholarship. No, the forbidden route is about... entrepreneurial strategies."

Very mysterious. Jarzyl frowned. "Explain."

"It starts with begging. As a hatchling, you sit at a crowded market square, covered in dirt, looking pathetic and starved so that people give the poor little crippled hatchling a few coins in pity. But that's very slow." With an amused grin, Atlas gestured with his wings, sweeping them back and forth. "Busking is better. That's why knowing how to play a wing harp or musical instrument is a useful skill here. You can perform on the street, and perhaps hope to earn just enough to eat. But that too is slow."

Jarzyl nodded. "Yeah?"

"I could never earn enough to buy my way into clan membership like that. The_real_ forbidden route requires more ambition." Atlas winked at her. "Loaded games of chance and dice, tricking people out of their coin. Or just... reaching into a harness pouch that hasn't been secured tightly, while the owner isn't paying enough attention. That's where you'll find enough coin. Plenty of smaller clans won't bother to investigate where you got the money--they'll take your_investment_ and welcome you in."

That made Jarzyl's eyes widen and her neck frill perk up. "Wait, are you... are you serious? Confidence games and_stealing_?"

Atlas shrugged. "It's forbidden for a reason. Partially because once you start doing all that, you're learning the wrong sort of skills and you don't actually need a clan and a proper job, you can just keep stealing. Why do you think this clanless sheltered home exists? Education Division pays for our meals, beds, water, school fees and all that, because that's cheaper compared to paying for enforcers to patrol everywhere. Also, once you get a clan and a job, you have to pay taxes, which you don't do for_crime_. It's not charity--it's economics which keeps this shelter running."

"By the sky spirits!" Jarzyl muttered. "So the street gang thing is real?"

Atlas looked amused. "Not anymore, but it used to be real. Why did you think it's so frowned upon to be clanless?"

"But that's adults! A clanless adult drakken must be a criminal or an outcast--someone who had done something so wrong as to be expelled from their clan, and which no other clan wanted to take. But you and... and all the other young dragons here, it's different. Isn't it?"

Atlas thought about it, then nodded. "Yes, true. There are some genuine troublemakers around here, but mostly we end up in this shelter as unwanted eggs because parents, families, or clans can't or won't support us. A hatchling who's missing a wing, an eye, or a leg, isn't a criminal, but we're just unwanted."

"You're not unwanted! You're great. I definitely want you." Scampering forward, Jarzyl wrapped her forelegs and her wings around Atlas in a hug. She held him for a moment, then blinked her eyes open and took a step backwards. Had it been her imagination, or had she felt Atlas's paw against her flight harness? "Did you just pick my pocket?!"

Atlas laughed. "No. The forbidden route, and the street gangs of clanless orphans--that's all over. It was the past, past generation, decades ago. Nowadays we don't do that sort of thing. Mostly."

"Mostly?!" Jarzyl pressed.

"I'm not a thief, if that's what you're asking. I obey the law." Atlas grinned at her, all confident. He tapped the specific harness pouch where she stored her coins. "Besides, if I did want to steal from you, I'd probably kiss you first to make sure you were fully distracted."

"Oh! Oh!" To Jarzyl, this sounded like a challenge. Grinning back at him, she pointed a claw at his chest. "Try it then. You think_you_would be able to distract me, and I wouldn't be able to distract you? Go on, then! Try it."

Atlas tried it. He stepped up to her and used his forepaw to tilt her chin in just the right way, then he kissed her. It was wonderfully distracting. Jarzyl started out with one of her own paws over her harness's coin pouch, to guard any friendly thievery, but then Atlas's tongue brushed against hers and she instead grabbed his torso to pull him against her.

When they finally stopped embracing each other, the only thing Atlas had managed to steal was a kiss--or at least, if he'd actually taken a coin from her, Jarzyl hadn't noticed. She hurriedly grabbed Atlas's forepaw and pulled it open, but he wasn't holding anything. That just made him laugh.

"I always suspected you had a dark, mysterious background," Jarzyl said.

Atlas laughed again. "Don't get the wrong idea. The forbidden route to get a clan is_forbidden_. People here sometimes joke about it, but no one's silly enough to really try for it. Taking the normal route--through schools, exams, and internships--is much easier, and much safer."

"So that's the special route?" Jarzyl thought about this. "How come that little hatchling friend of yours asked you that? Why did he think you were doing the special route just because he saw me? Did he think you were going to rob me?"

Atlas shrugged. "The forbidden route isn't the same thing as the special route. Those are just two possible methods to get into a clan, aside from the standard route."

"Ok. Then what's the special route?" Jarzyl asked.

"Something else. Nothing interesting. Just forget about it," Atlas said, which was the complete wrong thing to say if he had truly wanted Jarzyl to forget about it. Making something sound like a secret only made her more curious, and Atlas knew her well enough to immediately realize his mistake. In fact, he knew her so well that he didn't even bother to try to dissuade her further.

He hesitated, then succumbed to her curious stare. "Fine. Besides the normal route and the forbidden route, there's another way to get clan membership, though the_special route_. Which is... to become the mate of an existing clan member. Some clans offer membership that way. Other clans require that an egg be produced--then they give membership to the child, and to the other parent who wasn't in the clan yet."

Jarzyl frowned, then she burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Your friend thought you were_seducing_ me?"

"It happens," Atlas admitted. "We're clanless here. We have to get a clan somehow, and the special route is one method. I never considered it myself. Easier to do it the normal route--at least for me. I get good grades at school."

Jarzyl laughed again, but she was thinking about it. "Mintaka doesn't offer membership through mate bonds."

"I know that. I asked around. But it's better that way."

Everything he said only fed Jarzyl's curiosity. "Oh? How so? You wouldn't be interested in joining Mintaka?"

"I would give a_lot_ to be in Clan Mintaka. But think about it--if a clan grants membership through a mate bond, then you will get people doing the_special route_. And not just from the miniscule number of clanless dragons in the city, but also all those from lesser clans who are trying to climb their way into an apex clan." Atlas nodded towards Jarzyl's wingtips. "If Mintaka ever gave clan membership through a mate bond, then... then when you wear those flags with that insignia, and dyed with your own scale colours, you'll attract interest."

Wingtip pennants were usually dyed to match a dragon's own scale colour, and it was a common tradition that mated dragons traded pennants to wear each other's colours--so wearing your own colours meant you didn't yet have a mate. Jarzyl stared again at her wingtips, and the pride which she had shown turned into bemused hesitation. "Oh. I didn't think about it that way. I just wore my pennants because I like being in Mintaka."

Atlas chuckled drily. He gestured around. "At the clanless home, here, there are discussions on strategy. In the normal route, the strategy we discuss is how to do well at recruitment interviews, how to get good exam scores, what sort of magical affinity is most coveted, even what sort of school clubs and societies are best, all to make us the most appealing to prospective clans. Officially, the foster guardians from Education Division who run this shelter will only ever encourage and advise us about that sort of thing. However, they can't stop us from discussing whatever we want with each other. There are discussions on the special route--which I don't commonly participate in, but I overhear things."

Jarzyl's neck frill perked up. This was one of the many reasons she liked Atlas. He was_so_ interesting. "Tell me."

"There's strategy to it. There are lists of clans based on criteria, along with all their insignias to try and memorize. Mintaka is considered medium-to-low tier. Being the mate of a Mintaka drakken is taken into consideration by your clan's recruitment process, but it is just one factor out of a complex, numerical calculation."

Jarzyl was fascinated. "Mintaka is low tier? What's high tier?"

"A high tier clan, for the special route, would be one which offers membership for mateship, immediately, and best if there isn't any provision whereby they can expel you if that mate bond gets cancelled within a certain minimum period." Atlas shook his head. "It all seems... a little crazy to me. They talk about how to roam in certain neighbourhoods--the zones for Clan Regil and Clan Jeminus are popular--then how to meet people at clan events, choose good potential mates, then how to mingle, attract attention, and make conversation, how to... yes, seduce someone. It makes me a little anxious just thinking about all that."

Jarzyl hadn't had any idea this was a thing. "Wow! I get what you meant about how clan membership shouldn't be through mates. Imagine if I were from one of those clans, and one day I just meet a... handsome, friendly young drake who wants to get to know me. Be does he actually want to know me, or does he want a way into my clan?"

"Exactly. Or at least, that's how I see it. There are others who... would enjoy how that attracted interest."

"But Mintaka doesn't offer membership through mate bonds. Which means that..." Jarzyl pointed at him, with a faint smile. "Your interest in me isn't for my clan."

"Evidently." Atlas made a slight shake of his head, almost dismissively. "Your clan is the least interesting part of you. You're from Mintaka, but you could be from Taslin, or Erkotas, or any clan at all, and I'd still want to be your friend."

"Really?"

"Oh yes."

"Atlas." Jarzyl squinted at him perceptively. They were getting into a truly fascinating conversation space now. For most of her life, whenever she'd been curious about something she'd immediately asked questions--yet now she was finding that there were things about which she was anxious about asking, even as much as she wanted to know. She took a step closer to Atlas and watched him closely. "Do you like me?" she asked, trying to sound casual. Her tail tip flicked from nervousness.

Atlas paused at that question. "That's an easy questio... hmm." His gaze went distant as he thought about it, and when he finally answered, his words sounded carefully chosen but honest. "Yes. I think I'm rather fond of you. I like you quite a lot."

Jarzyl could have left it at that and been satisfied--it had been exactly what she had wanted to hear--but now that the topic had been broached, she pushed further and threw the next, obvious question at him. "Why?"

Atlas replied quickly. When he had paused earlier, he had clearly also been thinking about this. "Because you're smart, cheerful, immensely curious, adventurous. And I enjoy your presence." His gaze was locked with hers, looking at one eye, then the other. "Your friendship has always meant a lot to me. You're just... interesting, and I enjoy talking with you, spending time with you." Atlas glanced away, "Also you're_very_ pretty," he murmured.

Jarzyl felt light on her paws, as if she could have jumped and floated away with barely a flutter of her wings. She hadn't known what Atlas had been going to say, or even what she'd wanted to hear him say, but she liked that answer. She stepped even closer until they were all but touching, and then gripped one of his horns to turn his head back towards her. Atlas had dark brown eyes, and looking closely at him now, she could see his pupils widen slightly. "Atlas." Then she kissed him hungrily.

When Atlas pulled back after a minute or so, he was panting, which made Jarzyl chuckle softly. He nodded at her. "Can I ask you the same thing?"

With a single claw, Jarzyl traced out the numerous small lines of scale plates on Atlas'sneck. She hadn't really been listening to his words. "Hmmmm?"

Atlas swallowed, which made her paw bob as it rested against his throat. "Same question. Do you like me?"

Jarzyl grinned. "What do you think?" It felt like a lazy answer, but just didn't know if she could put it as well as he had. She kissed him again, longer this time.

"Sure. But... why?" Atlas asked, though his words came out muffled because her tongue was in his mouth.

"Same reason," Jarzyl said. "All the same reasons." At first she wanted to keep licking at his snout and kissing him, but then she paused and forced herself to explain. "Uh, I like spending time with you too. I don't know why or how, but everything from simple conversation to exciting adventure to just sitting around is better when I'm with you. So yes." With that said, she went back to tasting Atlas's scales and his mouth.

Atlas acted inconsistent. He kissed her right back for a moment, reciprocating the embrace, but then abruptly stopped. Instead he turned his head away and took a step back. "Ok, wait, wait..."

"Ehhhh!" With a frustrated sound, Jarzyl matched his back step with a step forward, not letting him get away from her. She casually shoved him against the wall then leaned against his body, her snout close to his. "I'm not a very patient person. Waiting is boring."

That made him laugh. "Haha. Of course you--mmhhh..." His words were cut off as she pressed her mouth against his, kissing him again. His body felt warm and her scales were smooth against his, and his tongue felt wet and intimate as they tasted each other.

"Jarz...! Uhm." With a soft, slightly awkward grunt, Atlas's paw on her shoulder went from pulling her closer to trying to hold her at arm's length. He slipped a wing off his back and flipped it forward, using the large flight surface to cover his front, especially his lower half.

It took Jarzyl a few seconds to understand the meaning of this sudden gesture, and then she laughed. From their previous interactions, Jarzyl had observed that Atlas wouldn't kiss her for too long before he would shift out of her embrace to walk around, or bring up some other conversation topic, or move on to something else--and she had assumed that was because he just didn't enjoy their sessions quite as much as she did, and found them boring after a while. Now in hindsight, Jarzyl realized that no, he did enjoy kissing her, to the extent that she was getting a_reaction_. "This is new," she said with a grin.

Wings weren't the only body part which developed during the fledgling growth spurt. A young dragon's whole body greatly increased in size and weight, but there were specific body parts which got proportionally larger and developed in their own way. For example, hatchlings usually lacked horns or at most had only small bony knubs jutting from their skulls, and it was during the fledgling growth spurt when horns properly developed. In the last few years Atlas had grown a pair of horns which pointed straight backwards from his head, and the white of those horns made a pleasing aesthetic contrast against all his black scales. Jarzyl thought he looked rather nice and she liked to play with his horns. Except now the part of his body that Atlas was attempting to conceal wasn't his head.

At school or at clan or community events, Jarzyl had occasionally seen male fledglings doing this sort of thing. They walked around in an awkward stance with one wing flipped down underneath themselves, or even just refused to get up from a floor cushion, obscuring their underbelly in ways that might or might not be so subtle. But this was the first time she had ever caught_Atlas_displaying this behaviour, and the realization that she was responsible for making her friend react this way sent a thrill down her spine. Jarzyl giggled, then she glanced downwards. "Hehe. Something the matter?"

Atlas wouldn't meet her gaze. "It's... I... Just improper."

Jarzyl leaned her shoulder against the wall and rested her chin on Atlas's shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something, but then just chuckled. "Hahaha!"

Her laughter swept aside the tension of the moment, and Atlas laughed too. "Hahaha!"

"Heha. What are we even--woah!" Jarzyl had been leaning against his body, and now that made him slide sideways. She shifted her posture and stood straight, but because Atlas had his wing wrapped around his front, he couldn't regain his balance by taking a step or even reaching out to catch himself.

Instead he fell to the ground ungracefully, though he managed to land sideways on his bed mat. "Oof," he grunted.

"Are you alright?" Strolling over, Jarzyl casually nudged her friend onto his back.

"Yep. I'm fine. I just... uh..." Even while falling Atlas had kept his wing covering up his front. But now lying on his back, this position made the outline of his body much more apparent as gravity pulled his wing down against his body. Instead of laying perfectly flat, there was a slight bulge visible around his underbelly as something pushed up his wing surface. Jarzyl's neck frill perked up even further and her grin widened. Atlas hurriedly added his right wing on top of the left, fully covering himself as if he were suddenly cold.

Jarzyl_obviously_ noticed. It was funny that he even tried to hide it, as if she somehow wouldn't notice. "You sure you're alright? Didn't hurt anything, I hope." Her hearts were beating quick in her chest, and she was filled with a restless, curious energy. It would have been a lie to say that she wasn't nervous, yet Atlas looked even more embarrassed than her, which made things amusing. Sitting over his tail, she touched his wings as they covered his body, resting her paw right_there_. Playfully messing with her friend had always been fun, and it still was. "Especially not this part."

"Uh, no, not injured..."

"Your wings, I mean. Wouldn't want to hurt your flying capability. Or your capability in any other ways." Jarzyl smugly stared at him, and she flicked her neck frill up and down. From his hesitation and uncertainty, it seemed quite obvious that Atlas hadn't done anything like this before. Jarzyl hadn't either, but she approached the developing scenario with the same adventurous determination which she applied to everything in her life. She was going to keep charging forward until the point where Atlas stopped her, if ever he did. "This is fun. I'm having fun. Are you having fun?"

"Yes. Maybe. I think yes. I don't know. Sorry. This isn't... I can't control... It's very--oohp!" Atlas sputtered, then he cut himself off with a shocked squeak when Jarzyl grabbed his right wing and threw it aside. She then grabbed the leading edge of his left wing and looked at him with a grin-- threatening, or promising, to pull that back too and fully expose him.

Atlas clearly didn't know how to respond. He simply froze, staring wide-eyed at Jarzyl as she grinned at him. The moment stretched on, silent but intimate, until Jarzyl had a thought. "I wonder what it'll be like to get magic."

Atlas blinked. "That was an unexpected change of topic."

That made her laugh. "No, it makes sense! I was thinking that if I had magic, healing magic, like my mother, I could just--" She waved her paws about, imagining that she was unleashing bursts of magical sparks like her mother could. "--just use that. If I had healing power, I could sense your body--inside, out, all of it." She casually patted Atlas's left wing, as it covered that bulge around his underbelly. "Here too. Even if your wing were in the way, I'd_sense_ what you're trying to cover up."

"Ehehe... This is somewhat improper," Atlas muttered.

Annoyance flashed through her. "Improper. Improper! You keep saying that. You know I attended all those_Fledgling Developmental Skills_classes at school, same as you, and we were both in science class when they explained how the biology works. I'm not dumb. You think I don't know what you've got behind your wing?"

"Maybe you do know, but that's not the same as openly showing. Because it's just a private area and I... I just... It's used for... you know what it's for." Atlas shook his head, and he glanced away with a smile. Some of his embarrassment faded as he appeared to remember himself. It was just him, and her, two close friends. Yet the less awkward Atlas looked, the more Jarzyl wanted to tease him.

"Yeah. This is why I could never do the special route. I'm terrible at this. Hoh...!" Atlas's gaze snapped right back to her, and he let out another grunt as her paw moved, now rubbing against his wing where the covering flight surface bulged slightly right at his underbelly. With only one wing covering his body, she could feel an outline of something--a particular organ which he possessed, but which she didn't. "Ooh. Oh, hey," Atlas muttered, but he didn't sound displeased.

Jarzyl keep touching. That organ had a lengthy cylindrical shape, almost like one of those horns on his head. It didn't have the hardness of bone or horn, but there was still a firm rigidity about it. She couldn't tell the exact size, but given that she could feel it through his wing, it did have size. When she finally took her paw away, Atlas looked relieved but also disappointed--or was she just imagining what she wanted to see?

"Doing the special route--I didn't know that was a thing until you told me about it." Jarzyl sniffed at her paw, then she jerked her head, nodding back towards the door. "Your friend, earlier. Was it a joke when he asked whether you were doing the special route, or was it an actual question?"

"Half, half. Here at the clanless home, whenever we have a male and a female fledgling go into a room together, even if it's to do homework or something innocent, the joke is that they're practicing for the special route. Except in the case where one of those two_isn't_ clanless--in which it might genuinely be special route."

Jarzyl smirked at him. "Would you_special route_ me, if you could? If I were from... from some other clan that did offer that chance, and you happened to see me across the room at a party or community event, would you come over to try_special routing_ me?" she teased him.

Atlas laughed. He increasingly seemed less embarrassed now, as they exchanged playful, friendly conversation like they so often did. "Honestly? If we were strangers, I don't think I would dare. I would stay at the side of the room and look at you out the side of my eye, and keep thinking about how pretty you are, but not be brave enough to come over and start a conversation."

Jarzyl laughed too. "I think you're underestimating yourself. You can be bold. After all, you were the one who started all this. It wasn't me.You kissed me first."

"That is true. I saw an opportunity and I took it." He winked at her, but then looked contemplative. "But that's different. We already know each other well. I'm not good with walking up to a complete stranger and instantly becoming friends, like you can."

"And yet of all the friends that I have, you're the one I want the most." Jarzyl stepped forward and stood over Atlas, then she touched his cheek and bent down to kiss him.

"Hmm... ooh!" Atlas groaned as Jarzyl bent her legs and dropped down on top of him. At first she sat on him, but then she immediately stood up again.

Moving quickly, Jarzyl hopped off Atlas's bed mat and impatiently tugged on the quick release straps for her flight harness. With a shake of her body, the harness slipped off and dropped to the ground, then Jarzyl climbed right back over Atlas.

"That's better." Casually she lay over him, front to front with her tail brushing against his, and with his wing squished between their bodies like a blanket. Her movement was slow, gradually putting more and more of her weight on him. Atlas hadn't been wearing his harness, and now Jarzyl was free of hers, so she could really feel the sensation of scales against scales. For a moment they were both still, then Jarzyl shifted from side to side, moving her tail base and her underbelly. She laughed. "Oh. Hah! I can actually feel it."

"Woah. Jarz..." Atlas moved his head and kissed her again passionately, and Jarzyl made a happy sigh. Her body pressed against his, all that physical contact--it was so good. It was like a sip of water to a thirsty throat, or a mouthful of food while hungry--it just fulfilled a_need_ that she had. As evening got underway, Atlas's cramped bedroom in the sheltered home was growing increasingly dark, but Jarzyl didn't care. She didn't want to stop.

Lying atop his body, she pulled back from the kiss and tapped Atlas's snout with her paw. A thought had occurred to her. "I've been thinking," she announced.

Atlas blinked his eyes open and looked at her, even as she lay on top of him. "Uh, yes?"

"About what we were talking about earlier. About why I like you. I definitely like spending time with you. But why?" Jarzyl looked down at him, with a smug smile. "It's because you get me."

"I get you?"

Jarzyl nodded. "You... you understand me, in a way which no one else does. Caden, or Pyxis, or even my parents--they mostly understand me, but you? You get it. You get me. I think that's why I like you. Or... or that's part of it. There are other parts to it. I just... Also I really want to bite you, you know?"

That earned her a chuckle from her friend. "I see. You crave the taste of my flesh--that's why we keep kissing?"

"You joke, but yes. It's true. And you are mine." Jarzyl lowered her head, but instead of meeting Atlas's mouth for a kiss, she went under his snout and bit his neck. Her teeth slid against the thin, sensitive scales at his throat, not with enough force to hurt. She felt like a wild predator in the woods, who had hunted down her most prized, delicious prey. "Mine, mine, you're_mine_," she muttered. "Atlas I..."

Then suddenly she stopped. Her senses were on alert, and she'd heard a_noise_. Releasing her bite, Jarzyl glanced back over her shoulder. Still lying on top of Atlas, she grabbed a pillow which had been beside them and flung it across the room.

The pillow spun through the air and hit the bedroom door with a solid thump, eliciting several surprised chirps from the corridor outside, followed by the skittering sound of claws against tile as whoever had been outside swiftly fled. It sounded like several other young dragons had been trying to listen at the door.

Atlas looked surprised for a moment, then he burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Uh... That's probably Kolaris or some of the others, trying to listen in to whatever we're saying. But unless you shout, the door usually muffles any speech."

Jarzyl lay down on top of him again, but she kept glaring over her shoulder at the door. "Bunch of overly curious, privacy-invading busybodies! We can't even have a nice, friendly conversation between friends without being spied on."

Atlas shifted his tail and entwined his tail tip with hers. "Just a friendly conversation..."

Jarzyl grinned at him. "They really think we're_special routing_ in here, don't they? Although if that's what they already think we're doing, we might as well... No, but if anyone asks, we were only having a friendly chat about life, clans, weather, whatever." Moving her limbs, she lifted her weight off Atlas's body and glanced down towards his underbelly, still covered by his wing. "Hmm..."

At this point Atlas no longer looked embarrassed at all. He nodded. "Friendliest chat I've ever had."

"I like our chats. And I'm pretty sure you like them too." Jarzyl briefly glanced around the room, looking towards the window, then also at her flight harness. "Have we been chatting too long? I should probably go for dinner..." But she didn't leave. Instead Jarzyl lay down on top of him again. She pointed to the side, towards the musical instrument on the floor beside his bed mat. "Or tell them you were tuning your wing harp, playing a little song while I danced along."

"Heh. I don't practice the wing harp in here. It's too cramped to get my wings fully open. There isn't enough space to move properly... oh... ahh..."

He didn't finish his sentence because Jarzyl hummed a cheerful, lively tune, and then she began to_move_. Still laying on top of him, she started to rock her body back and forth, squirming against him. It felt good to press against him, but to rub felt even better. "You're like a pillow, but better."

Atlas's wing was still folded forward and acting as a layer between them. A dragon's wing was covered in overlapping rows of thin, smooth scale plates that similarly covered the rest of their body, but wing scales were especially sensitive to detect the subtle flows and vortices of moving air as it washed over a wing whilst in flight. What was underneath his wing was surely sensitive too. Atlas hissed, drawing breath sharply in through clenched teeth. "Jarz..."

He tensed up for a few seconds, then a shudder ran down his back and he gave in. He held Jarzyl's forepaw with his, but then he bucked his hips and pushed up against her. What they both felt wasn't just affection now, and it hadn't been for a while. Now it was instinct. Desire.

Jarzyl laughed as Atlas kicked his hindlimbs and arched his back, briefly lifting her upwards as she clung onto him. "Woah, ho, haha." With a grin, she continued to rub herself against him, with each movement sending tingly pleasure out from her underbelly and through her whole body. It started with one single motion, but she was hungry and wanted more.

It was exhilarating like nothing else ever had been. Jarzyl felt filled with warmth as she straddled on top of Atlas, rubbing against him as their hips moved. Her faint grin was gone, replaced by an expression of distracted concentration as she stared at her friend, her mouth open in a pant and her eyes half lidded. When he kissed her again, her eyes slipped fully closed as she gave in to the warm sensation.

The further they continued, the more Jarzyl wanted Atlas to flip his wing away. At this point he probably would have done it had she asked, yet she didn't ask because she didn't want to stop for even a second. With frantic, needy motions the two fledglings rubbed against each other, chest to chest, underbelly against underbelly, separated only by the thin flight surface of Atlas's wing. They shifted against each other, grinding with instinctual desire. It was like a dance--two bodies paired together, moving in rhythm.

Jarzyl felt that pleasant tension building steadily inside of her, but then suddenly there came the sound of the bell echoing through the building again. That ringing noise made her freeze. Atlas kept moving for a moment, bucking up against her, before he too paused. He blinked his eyes open and the two fledglings exchanged a long stare.

Jarzyl's mouth was open in a pant, and a drop of drool fell from her open jaws and landed on Atlas's neck. She hurriedly licked it away, though that only got more of her saliva smeared over his scales. He didn't seem to mind.

"Was that the dinner bell again?" Jarzyl asked. "Second dinner?"

Atlas laughed. "I wish there were a second dinner. No, that's to warn that first dinner, the only dinner, is ending soon."

"What?" Jarzyl_itched_ to continued, but then she glanced at the window and saw that the sky was completely dark. What were they even doing? She hurriedly checked her watch, which was still on its chain around her neck. "Oh. I should go. I really should go. I'm supposed to meet my parents at home for dinner. They'll be waiting for me."

Atlas shrugged. "Yeah, but... but..." His tail was still entwined with hers, and she felt it twitch. "Jarz, I just..." He swallowed, then shrugged. "Right, yes of course."

The maddening trance that they'd both been caught in faded, and self-awareness started to seep back in. Jarzyl raised her head and looked around. The room was dark and she couldn't see much. A faint line of light leaked in from under the room door, and there was some illumination coming from the city lights outside. "What... are we even doing?"

Atlas watched her, his gaze intense at first, but then relaxing back to curious amusement. In the dark, with his black scales, it was hard to even see him. "A friendly chat, you said?"

"More like a friendly dance." Lowering her head again, Jarzyl rubbed her cheek against Atlas's, a softer gesture compared to the passionate kissing they'd been doing earlier. Then she stood up and hopped off his body and his bed mat. "But I have to go. And you should get your dinner too. Ok?"

Atlas nodded. "Dinner. Yes. Of course. Jarz, that was... I don't know. Fun?"

"That was new. Very adventurous. Good dance! I need to think about this. We'll talk more some other time." Hurriedly Jarzyl stepped into her flight harness and pulled it on again. A small flap of her wings sent air against her body, making her realize just how_hot_ she was feeling. "Bye."

Atlas was still lying on his back with one wing covering his front. "You're leaving... just like that?"

"Yes," Jarzyl insisted, but then she strolled over to Atlas and tweaked his horns, making his head wobble. "You make a pretty good dance partner, for a dragon with three legs." Then she moved her paw, touching that bulge of his wing again. "Maybe not three legs, if you count this as a fourth..."

Atlas burst out into incredulous laughter. "Hahaha! Jarz!"

Jarzyl laughed too and they both grinned at each other. She rubbed him again more firmly, but then snapped back her paw and shook her head. "Stop distracting me, stop distracting me! Much as I'd like to eat you, I really have to go for dinner! "

Atlas watched her. He looked amused. "Fine. Bye?"

"See you again... eventually." Jarzyl was smiling, but she abruptly found it hard to meet her friend's gaze. Turning around, she headed for the door and tried to pull it open--but it was locked and didn't move. She turned the locking knob, then slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her, before scampering down the corridor.

Humming softly to herself, she ignored any of the clanless young dragons as she passed by them, despite some curious stares. Even running down the corridor, Jarzyl felt light on her feet, as if she were already flying even before she'd reached the rooftop and took to the skies.

---

---

"Huh." All alone in his room once more, Atlas glanced around. Unlike Jarzyl, as a nocturnal dragon his eyes had the night vision to easily see even with the bedroom lights shut off. "What an unexpected evening," he declared to himself.

Lying quietly and motionless, he listened to the sound of Jarzyl's steps as she scampered away down the corridor. She was always quick, rarely stealthy, and he could distinctly recognize the sound of her footsteps. But those faded off quickly, and then there were just the sounds of a busy communal home--distant yelling and laughter, or more footsteps as other young dragons walked past Atlas's room.

That reminder of_others_ made Atlas act. In one swift movement he flipped open his wing and rolled to his feet, then he took a few steps to the door and locked it again. Then he glanced down between his hindlegs, though he already knew what he was going to see.

"Hmm." Next he looked at his wing. There was a wet spot on the upper flight surface, which had been the side facing_away_ from him and towards Jarzyl. Acting without thinking, Atlas sniffed at that spot and his nose wrinkled a little from the smell--and there was a smell. It wasn't inherently unpleasant or pleasant, but new and potentially interesting. Atlas grabbed a towel and wiped his wing clean.

"Ding, ding, ding!" A ringing sound echoed through the building as the dinner bell was rung for the last time. Last call for dinner.

Again glancing down between his hindlegs, he tried to mentally will himself back into control of his body, but it was a reflex he couldn't voluntarily control. Even as he waited, the fledgling's mind drifted back to what had transpired over the past evening, but those thoughts only made it even harder to get back to a presentable state.

"Jarzyl," Atlas muttered, an expression crossed his face--part smile, part frown.

---

---

As expected, Atlas was very late when he finally arrived at the dining hall. A pair of adult drakken--guardians from the city's Education division--were clearing the empty food trays and cleaning up. Assisting them was a half dozen mix of clanless hatchlings and fledglings. Half of them were working away at the sinks, forming a chain to soap, rinse, then dry all the trays, pots, bowls, buckets, and cutlery, while the other half was going around to clean the room itself.

A fledgling was trying to clean the huge cauldron in which all their soup had been cooked, but it was so big that she had to stretch her foreleg all the way to reach the bottom with a soap sponge. Meanwhile, standing on top of the long table, a hatchling studiously pushed a wet cloth forward with both his paws, wiping the table clean.

Preparing, serving, and then cleaning up after each meal was just one of the many chores that had to be done every day at the shelter. Everyone had a schedule of chores to do each week. And while it was common to swap chores around to match personal preference, there was no escaping duty--if you didn't do your chores, you didn't eat.

Atlas had done his work. He'd spent his entire afternoon yesterday nesting a clutch of eggs and keeping them warm and cared for, which was considered one of the more boring and time-consuming of the chores they had to do, but which suited him better with his disability. He was scheduled to do it again later tonight for a few more hours.

One of the guardians noticed him--a nocturnal drake named Qirinus--and beckoned him over with a flick of his claw. Normal fledglings were cared for and supported by parents, family members, or by clan guardians. But for Atlas, Qirinus and the other foster guardians were the closest thing he had to parental figures and role models.

Qirinus was skinny but every movement he made was quick and sharp, as if he were filled with a nervous, twitchy energy. He wore pennant flags on his wings, but instead of a clan insignia, those had the logo of the city's Education Division. It was well known around the shelter that Qirinus had been part of the pioneering batch and one of the first few clanless fledglings who'd been taken off the streets and raised here in the controlled environment of the sheltered home. A less common story was that even while still a fledgling, Qirinus had been part of a gang who frequently stole from market squares and shops across the city--Atlas wasn't sure if that part was true, but it was certainly a story.

Qirinus had water affinity, and he been using his magic to pull water off the washed table, drying it in an instant. He looked at Atlas, his expression accusatory. "Late!"

Atlas nodded. "I know."

"There's no more dinner."

Unsurprising, but still disappointing. Atlas let out a prolonged sigh--he didn't do that too often, but he was still entitled to the occasional exasperated adolescent sigh. "I can see that."

There were no leftovers to be found in the dining hall. After every meal, once the bell had been rung for last call, any excess portions were given away to those hatchlings or fledglings who had already eaten their portion but were still hungry--and there were_always_ those who were still hungry.

The routine was standard. Two hot meals per day, breakfast and dinner--hatchlings got one portion each per meal, while fledglings got two or three portions depending on exact age. Atlas was old enough to receive a full meal of three portions, but because he was so late today, he would get none.

Qirinus had a perceptive expression. "Was it worth it? I know you didn't come home late. You were in your room. And you weren't alone, were you? You had a visitor. I saw her come in earlier."

Atlas glanced away. He was hungry and that made him irritable, but he bit back a snappy retort about how what he chose to do was none of Qirinus's business. He could be sullen, but he wasn't going to be rude. "Eh."

Most of the foster guardians had a kindly, benevolent manner with how they interacted with all the clanless young dragons, but Qirinus was the greatest exception. He was bossy and demanding when it came to chores, and generally very impatient and even snarkily rude. In a certain way, he was more like an older sibling rather than a parental figure--he related better to them, being still relatively young himself.

Qirinus lowered his voice, so that none of the others could hear their conversation. "Whatever you were doing with your orange friend, don't be so foolish as to do it during dinner. I don't know if you were talking, arguing, doing homework, making out, playing games, or trying for the damn special route, but whatever it was, go ahead, as long as you don't schedule it during dinner."

This was sufficiently unexpected to make Atlas blink. "I... I didn't... She didn't even tell me she was coming over. This wasn't something scheduled."

"Were you trapped in your room? Did you miss dinner because you had no choice? Or did you choose to keep going with... whatever you were doing?"

Atlas swallowed. "I lost track of time."

"Your mistake then. Next time you two have fun, if you ever have a next time, keep better track of your schedule and have a proper plan."

"Plan? How would I plan... uh... it's... We didn't do anything. We were just talking."

Qirinus didn't look convinced. He snorted dismissively. "If you're too embarrassed to even_talk_ about sex, are you really mature enough to deal with the consequences responsibly? Learn how to communicate--it's a useful skill." With that said, he went to nearby kitchen cupboard and unlocked it with a key from his flight harness. Inside were stores of food donated from a nearby street market, sometimes purely as charity, but usually because the food was too old to sell but still edible. "Did you burn a lot of energy, you and your friend? Get a good workout, at least?"

Atlas struggled to find an answer. "No..."

Qirinus threw a mocking grin at him. "Oh, so it was a_quick_experience? I hope you didn't disappoint her."

Atlas completely failed to find an answer. "..."

"I know you only have one forepaw, but one is enough if you use it right. Or use your tail tip. Or your tongue. Get your friend happy enough with the appetizer, and she won't mind if the main course is quick." Qirinus tossed a banana at him.

Atlas barely managed to catch the fruit. "I am not doing the special route."

"Good for you. Here." Qirinus took out more food from the larder and gave it to him.

In addition to the banana, Atlas received a small tin can of beans and several packets of dry biscuits. As a meal, it was neither hot nor filling, but it was better than going hungry. "Thank you."

"Don't miss dinner again. At least get your friend to buy you dinner first." We no further comment, Qirinus went back to helping the other clanless young dragons as they cleaned the room and the cutlery.

"Hmm." Atlas looked at the banana. It was slightly green and unripe, but at least it was a decent size. He curled his wing tight and used it to carry the banana, the can of beans, and the biscuit packets, and then he went back to his room to eat his dinner alone.

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END