Reunion (2/4)

Fidelia felt herself relax more into their hug, lightly pressing her head against his. Her purring got louder, straying from the comforting noise it was supposed to be and towards a more affectionate one. Lighter, dropping in certain areas to be lower. Vibrating as she forced herself to not press a kiss against his forehead. She oh so wanted to hold him closer, to bury her fingers into his mane. 

Instead, her fingers lightly gripped him a bit more as his loosened. An urge to protect swarmed in her chest as her ear flicked at the possible sound of sniffling, closing her eyes desperately to block that out. Oh gods, she loved him.

Her ears did perk though at his words, mentioning the runes. She lightly jerked at the memory, before relaxing, pulling him a bit closer to her. She didn't want him thinking she was jerking because she wanted to be away from him.

That bag she left him, the note, the books and scrolls about Dark dragons and their magic. She sighed roughly and she lightly rubbed his back.

"You don't have to thank me for that, amigo," She whispered quietly. Oh how she wanted to call him amor and all the words that she could express. "You needed them a lot more than I did."

She tried to chuckle, but it falled flat.

Akeem twisted his head when he heard the huff that Rivia had made. He shuffled his wings and carefully, making sure Vita was not jostled, he got up. He strolled away from where the riders were at, his feathery tail dragging in the dirt as he approached Rivia.

"You seem unhappy," he immediately said, lying down next to her. Vita let out a lousy chirp and he simply shuffled his wings to quiet her.

~**~

Malakai nodded softly and loosely gripped the back of her shirt, focusing on staying calm. "They worked..." he murmured, the purring really seeming to help keep his mood from spiraling up or down again. "They really... they really worked, and they worked well. Leshen's... he's out of that awful pit... he can..."

He took a deep breath. "He can feel the b-breeze again... he can see the sky again, he can-.... he can be a dragon again. You did that. You, did that, you..." he trailed off, falling silent again as he started to get choked up a second time. 

"T-Thank you..." he barely breathed, "I don't... I don't know how I can-.. I'm n-not good at talking, I... Fi..."

Rivia twitched her tail as he laid beside her, her sharp, bright blue eyes still studying the riders uncomfortably.

"Not... unhappy..." she finally answered after careful consideration of her words. "Concerned."

~**~

"Shh, it's alright amigo, it's alright. I know," she whispered softly, feeling her chest clinch as he choked out those words. She could only purr and hold him, leaning her head against his. "You did that too, Mal. Look at you, you're so brave and bondadoso y eres increíble. ¿Sabes que?"

She paused, her voice starting to choke up.

"Lo siento, amigo. No tengo palabras para agradecerte."

Akeem tilted his head curiously at her. "Why? They seem happy to be with each other again."

~**~

Malakai snorted weakly as he rubbed at his eye over Fi's shoulder, his tail curling protectively near his legs as he started to feel a little self conscious for losing it in front of her. "S-Sorry..." he murmured. "M'okay, I just..." 

He smiled weakly against her shoulder. "Can't understand you, F-Fi...."

There was something in the way he said it that made it sound almost fond. Like he'd missed her random tangents into Spanish enough for it to tint his voice.

She watched them for a little longer, before she finally dragged her eyes away to glance at Akeem. "He's fragile. He doesn't look it. But he's fragile. This... is new. She needs to prove she wont hurt him like that before I accept it."

~**~

Fidelia laughed, soft and joyous, breaking down the flow of purring. Her tail twitched and curled close, almost wanting to twine together with his.

"I'm sorry amigo," she purred, a smile slowly appearing. "You know me, falling into that." She paused and opened her eyes, looking down at him. She swallowed, feeling her throat choke. "I, um, I made something for you."

Akeem shifted under Rivia's gaze, his feathery tail dragging close to him. He looked around, checking on Fi and Mal, before turning back to Rivia. "I know, but Fi loves him. I can feel it through our bond, she wouldn't dream of hurting him."

~**~

Feeling her look, he pulled away a little so he could meet her gaze, rubbing at his face to clear it. He sniffed a little, but otherwise seemed to have a hold on himself again. "Oh...? You did?"

"I don't mean intentionally, Akeem. I know she wouldn't intentionally hurt him..." she let out a long sigh, half closing her eyes, worry glinting in them. "I don't know..."

~**~

Fidelia's heart clenched as she heard him sniffle, watching him rub the tears from his face. She cautiously loosened her hold on him, lightly stepping back so she could see him better. 

"Yeah, one sec," she said, reluctantly dropping her hold on him. She rubbed her arm awkwardly, smiling down at him. "Let me go get it."

She looked behind her and her tail straightened out at not seeing Akeem behind her. With a quick twist of her head, she caught sight of Akeem and quickly made her way over to him. She was mildly surprised he was sitting next to Rivia with them talking to each in low voices.

"Rivia, I understand," He chirped, eyes soft. "What are you afraid of? Between them? Fidelia watches herself, you saw her when Mal accidentally tore his cybernetics."

Seeing Fidelia come over, he quieted down and turned to watch her. 

"Wing," She quickly told him, watching as he lifted his wing so she could get to the pack that was attached to his saddle.

Akeem lightly nuzzled the back of her, before turning his gaze to Rivia.

His ear flicked as he heard Fidelia shuffle through the bags, before finding what she needed. It was a wood carving of Rivia, delicately made. It was meticulous with the markings it held, carefully smoothed down.

Giving Akeem one last pat, she returned back to Malakai. She carefully handed the wood carving to him, watching his reactions.

~**~

Malakai waited for her quietly, rubbing at his face again until it was clear of any wetness, straightening up and taking a deep breath, letting it out slowly and feeling a lot better already.

Rivia didn't notice Fidelia approaching them until she was nearly on top of their claws. She waited, watching curiously  as Fi took out the carving, but didn't pay that much attention to what it was of, not having a good view in the first place of it around Akeem's chest.

Once she was gone, she continued. 

"I know she cares about him, but it's not the same as knowing how to take care of him. She's only seen some of his low points. He has some really dark thoughts sometimes and she might say she's fine with it at first, but what about a year from now? I don't like it.."

Malakai turned his head as he heard her soft footsteps returning, having gone to pick up his walking stick again and lean back into it, the gauzes a stark white against his cream and brown fur. His eyes widened as he took it.

He was rendered momentarily speechless as he inspected it carefully, taking in the little details, his eyes briefly darting towards the real thing before returning to the mini replica in obvious awe and shock. 

"Wow..." he breathed. "This... Did you make this, Fi?"

~**~

Akeem tilted his head as he listened to Rivia, his attention rapt. As she finished, he nodded somberly. He could understand why she would be worried about Fi getting together with Mal. Mal did have issues, some buried under that he has never shown or made mention of. He tilted his head to look back at Vita, who was curled and had nestled herself far in the center of his back. Dozing, her spine slowly coming up and down with her gentle breaths. He turned back to Rivia, his eyes mournful.

"What about a test?" He suggested, turning to look back at where Fi and Mal were, before his gaze returned to Rivia. "To see if she's good with Malakai?"

Away from the dragons, Fidelia felt her breath be sucked out of her. Her heart beating and her shoulders falling limp. She rubbed her arm awkwardly, ears flicking back.

"Yeah," she finally said. "I would've sent it to you earlier, but there was a wedding and all that." She breathed before continuing, eyeing him. "Sorry it's not painted, didn't want to ruin it."

~**~

Rivia seemed hesitant to agree, but no matter how many times she ran it around her head trying to find a downside to it, she couldn't really manage it. 

Eventually she looked back to Akeem. 

"What kind of test could there possibly be to measure that kind of trust...? She'd need to see it... I'd need to know she can support him through that kind of thing, but it doesn't happen around others often because he puts a guard up."

Malakai let out a weak laugh and shook his head softly at the absurdity of her apologising it wasn't painted.

"I love it. This is... wow.  This is amazing, I could never... Why didn't you tell me you could carve like this?"

~**~

Akeem paused, looking over the possible results and how they could be that. He was certain Fi would succeed, but she did need to prove herself to Rivia. He lightly scraped the ground with one of his claws, trying to think of one.

"You might have to let them get together first," he started, before pausing and backtracking. "But they are already close so that might not have to happen. When it happens, let her go to him first. See how she treats him."

Fidelia's ears darted a bit back at the laugh, tail lightly shrinking back, before relaxing at his words. Her heart was beating so rapidly, she couldn't really believe it.

"It never came up," she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "It's more of a hobby than a payment thing."

~**~

"You could make a lot of silver for this," he murmured, running a thumb delicately over the tiny wooden Rivia's face, before half cradling it to his chest, like he was scared it'd break if he didn't hold it like a real dragon. His chest felt lighter than it had the last few months, as well as his mood.

"But... I guess I don't sell all my metal work either. I get it. Who taught you...? Was it your parents or did you teach yourself? Oh - you said there was a wedding? Congrats."

His voice also didn't sound quite as harsh and crackly as it had before. He sounded almost normal, which was good, considering it probably meant he was taking care of his voice on purpose for her sake 

Rivia didn't seem to like that idea at all, but she did understand what he was talking about. 

"I suppose..."

~**~

"I guess I could sell some," Fidelia admitted and a soft giggle escaped as she watched him cradle the tiny Rivia. Her ears perked up at his next questions.  "My papá did, actually. And yeah a family friend got married. I kind of had to be there, we take them pretty seriously."

Akeem chirped and lightly extended his wing to lay over Rivia's back. He chirped, it falling into a purr.

"Just see, ok?"

~**~

Malakai offered a genuine smile towards her, ears lowering a little bit and completely relaxing.

"That's a good skill. Maybe I'll ask you to help make prosthetics some time. Some dragons prefer wood to metal but I've had to send them and their riders to other places. I'm no good with that stuff..."

He let out a sigh and straightened up. "I, um... I'll go put this away safe. Just- One sec, I'll be right back"

Giving her another, now slightly more sheepish smile, he turned and started to limp slightly away from her back towards his caravan

Rivia sighed, but let him, resting her head onto her feet.

~**~

Fidelia grinned back at him, her ears perking as she saw how much he liked her gift to him. "I would gladly help. Lets me get some more practice in with it before I start losing that skill."

She laughed at her joke, light and gentle, not loud or boisterous. She nodded at his words, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him. Her lips twisted into a frown as she noticed the limp, her shoulders drooping. She noted that carefully so she could ask him later when he got back to her.

Akeem watched Malakai leave, before his gaze caught the pen. 

"What's that?" He asked, nosing Rivia and pointing at the pen.