Underneath one of the many oak trees that were scattered around campus, Meegi found himself alternating between pretending to focus on his fellow classmates presenting their speeches and stealing glances at his notes. Despite the building nerves in his stomach, he was impressed with the level of work that he was about to present. Most assignments he had worked on had been done with Riikal as a partner and it was clear that working with Reeva had helped him greatly.

As Miikalah and her partner stepped out from behind the podium and returned to their cushions under a large oak tree, the next pair of students took their place. So far, the topics presented by the class had ranged greatly. From marriage, how eggs were raised, all the way to food. Meegi had been nervous that his topic may be covered when one pair had discussed how the use of harnesses had changed over the years, but was relieved when they presented mostly the fashion aspect of the dragon harness.

As the next pair finished their presentation and returned to their seats, the class beat their wings against their sides in applause. As another pair of dragons made their way to the podium to begin their presentation, Meegi glanced over towards Reeva and saw the blue dragoness focusing intently on her classmates. With her pen clutched between her digits, she jotted down notes on each of her classmates' presentations just in case their teacher were to quiz them. Looking at her posture, he noticed that even though most of the class lounged on their cushions, she sat up in genuine interest. Tearing his eyes from her slender body back up towards her head, he noticed that she had caught him staring. In a failed attempt to look busy, he quickly looked ahead and pretended to take down notes as she was but when he glanced back at her, he saw her focused ahead while smiling slightly and found his own lips pulling into a smirk.

“Very good, very good.” Mister Siigma announced as the class beat their wings again at the end of their classmates presentation. “Next we have…” their teacher paused to scan down his clipboard while the class waited with baited breath. “Tiiphani and young Kaarif.” He announced with a twinkle in his eyes and looked down at the small aquatic dragon who stood up cheerfully.

Kaarif nodded politely and carried his notebook in his jaws towards the front of the class while his partner begrudgingly made her way to stand next to him. “Sir, I'll be covering the presentation today. Tiiphani has lost her voice.” Kaarif said while sitting proudly with his notebook at his feet. The dragoness had made it abundantly clear that morning, that she would not be contributing to their assignment and had reminded him of the consequences of not getting a good grade. “It's okay though, she has done so much for our presentation, it's only fair.” He added when their teacher looked skeptically between them.

“Yes, I received the medical note…How unfortunate.” Mister Siigma stated flatly and looked intently at the red dragoness who nodded. “Miss Tiiphani, I suggest that you seek more than just a general practitioner, if this mysterious infection keeps returning whenever your assignments are due.” He added sternly while the class tried to hide their amusement.

"Oh, sir. No, she definitely has something going on." Kaarif piped up, much to the surprise of their teacher. "She sounded absolutely horrible. I'm not a doctor, but I really don't think she should be talking," He added with a glance to the dragoness beside him.

Reeva had to look down at her notes to try and hide her smile, knowing full well that her friend was choosing his words perfectly. She had asked Kaarif to show her what his assignment had included, but the silvery drake had only grinned and brushed her off, saying that it's better if it's a surprise.

Mister Siigma took a deep breath and tightened his wings against his sides. "This was meant to be presented in pairs—"

"Oh! We are." Kaarif interrupted. "One hundred percent, this was done together. But I don't want her to strain her beautiful voice, so I'll handle the talking." He added with a smile and a reassuring nod to their teacher. "Think of it as… her words, my voice."

The class watched as Siigma slowly shook his head from side to side in contemplation, before finally nodding. "Very well, the floor is yours." He said and turned over to a fresh page in his own notebook to begin grading their presentation.

Giving a small bow in thanks, Kaarif glanced over to Tiiphani, before turning his attention to the class and rising to his feet. "Friends! Drakes and ‘nesses! Lend me your wings. Or in the case of the Dragonball of old, your eggs." He announced loudly, while beginning to pace back and forth between the class and the red dragoness who could only watch on in silence. "For let me tell you a tale of the bloodiest sport of our time, one where our ancestors fought to the death, not for fame, prestige, or honor, but for the right to eat, the right to breed. And in many cases, the right to live another day…"

Meegi watched on with mixed feelings as Kaarif talked about how players were once treated as nothing more than assets by their human owners. How only dragonesses could be assigned as brooders, how their eggs would be taken from them and used as the balls for the games to ensure that they would fight, often to the death, to protect their nest. Meegi was well aware of the dark history of the sport, but still felt uncomfortable as Kaarif's speech began to focus on how the owners of their teams would use various tricks to control and manipulate their players to have them perform. Food, time exercising and assigned breeding, regardless of the other dragon's consent, were all common rewards. While starvation, confinement, and abstinence were all methods to punish dragons that did not perform as well as their owners wanted.

Kaarif smiled broadly as he noticed Tiiphani trying to shrink down slightly, clearly she was feeling targeted by his presentation and he continued happily. "Fun fact, the name 'presentation game' originated when the wealthy wanted to flaunt their dragons and have them compete to see who was better. They were often used to make deals and sell dragons between them to create the best team possible…"

Meegi looked to Tiiphani, the red dragoness' gaze locked onto Kaarif who was now moving through the class while continuing his captivating presentation. A wave of doubt slowly rose in Meegi's mind over Tiiphani’s visit to the café, was she really interested in hanging out with him just because he was good at dragon ball? was she acting on her father's wishes? Could she be only interested in him to earn something from her father? His jaw clenched at the thought of being used as a pawn in someone else's game and he tried to bury the idea. She had shown some interest in him all year, yet it was only after the presentation game that she had come onto him so strongly.

“But this is just the tradition of the sport!” Kaarif announced and spun around on the spot, to begin walking slowly back towards the front of the class where his partner was glaring at him. “So much has changed! Although, I guess… players are still traded from one team to another like they always have… and actually, their food is rationed and provided to them by their teams, to ensure ‘peak performance’.” He added and paused mid step, to rock his head from side to side as if discovering this fact for himself. “And, now that I think about it… their contracts are often so restrictive that they can't just have eggs whenever they want.” Kaarif explained with a small grin, knowing full well that he was shifting the class's opinions of Tiiphani's family. “If a player wanted to start a family, that would mean time off the game. So their owners still have a say about that… they probably arranged it too…” he mused, his words drifting off as he approached his notebook and cocked his head to try and find something that had changed, purposefully taking his time to feign that nothing had changed since the barbaric origin of the sport.

“Balls!” Kaarif announced to a soft chuckle from the class. “We don't use eggs as playthings anymore, we use synthetic egg-shaped balls. And drakes can be brooders, that's something that's changed over time. Oh! And it's not just humans that own dragons, some teams are owned by dragons now too.” He said and tried hard not to smile as the class's eyes were all fixated on his partner with various levels of disgust. “Like my partner here. I-we, tried to get a look at a contract with the players, but it was all confidential. Cuz you know… probably contains stuff we shouldn't know.” He said and sat down behind his notebook to turn the page with a lazy paw. “And that's about it. Any questions?”

Reeva tried hard to contain her amusement, the small aquatic drake's knowing grin becoming infectious as he sat next to the red dragoness and Tiiphani's scales seemed to somehow become even redder as she glared at Kaarif. Glancing quickly around the class Reeva could see her classmates were also quietly chuckling at the drake's presentation but when she looked to Meegi to gauge his reaction, she could see him focused on the pen in his paw.

“So…” Siigma said, the teacher rising to his feet and glancing around the class to see if any of the class were brave enough to ask a question. Turning his head to stare at the pair, the drake tilted his head down slightly to stare intently at them both. “So, am I to understand that this was the work of both of you?”

Kaarif looked at his partner and smiled, waiting until she opened her mouth before quickly cutting her off. “Of course! Please, rest that voice Tiiphani, I've got this.” he said with a smile, before turning to their teacher. “We worked on this together; even Dragonball was her idea, 'cause you know… her dad owns the Cresties. But after we looked into the sport’s dark past, we discovered that the same carrots and sticks are still present today, just dressed up as bonuses and contracts.” he explained, while avoiding eye contact with Tiiphani and instead meeting his teacher's intense gaze.

A small twitch of Mr. Siigma’s lip was the closest to a smile he would get, but with a nod he dismissed them and made his way back to his cushion. “Very good. Take a seat. Up next we have… Meegi and Reeva.” He announced and made himself comfortable again.

Reeva smiled at the wink Kaarif gave to her as he trotted back to his cushion and plopped himself down. Walking forwards, she carried her notepad in her jaws and took her place at the front with Meegi beside her. Placing it down, she nervously flipped to the correct page and found her mark. With Meegi beside her and their class looking toward her, she suddenly felt very exposed. Her heart beat quickly in her chest as she tried to start the speech she had rehearsed a dozen times that morning. Seeing her struggle, Meegi took a small step forwards and started with his section. “So, um, Dragon riders… long before us dragons developed vocal cords, humans have been riding our kind in every way imaginable-” His words choked as he realized what he had said and smiled when the class chuckled, only stopping when Siigma cleared his throat. Blushing slightly at his faux pas, Meegi continued. “I mean, looking back at western cultures of old, it all started with the ultra wealthy. Eggs were taken from nests and gifted to kings, to be raised by trainers and become a symbol of status. We looked into who was the first dragon rider, but unfortunately history did not document that detail clearly, or if it did, it has since been lost to time.”

Reeva smiled as her partner presented her section with relative ease, only when he became stuck and paused to glance down at her notebook did she interrupt to continue her section. “However, The first kingdom that boasted a full complement of dragon riders in a military application was the Tudor empire. The royal guard rode atop dragons, while protecting their king in the battlefield.” She gave him a reassuring smile and continued her section. “But word spread quickly. Like fire, the wheel, bow and arrow, other empires quickly adopted dragons as a part of their military, and it became common for noble houses to integrate dragons into their houses' military.” Pausing to take a breath, she saw Kaarif watching her with a reassuring smile and gave her a nod to continue. “But as our numbers grew in captivity, the supply of dragon eggs began to outpace demand, causing the price for a dragon to slowly drop. This allowed for dragons to become owned by villages and then the common folk themselves and it was no longer exclusively the rich and powerful who were seen riding atop the back of dragons.”

With a small nod to Meegi, he continued with his part of the presentation. "While transportation was a common reason for riding us, we were also used for pulling farming equipment, wagons, and even our wingless cousins pulled sleighs in the colder environments and our aquatic friends were used to help fix boats." Meegi said and smiled internally as he saw his teacher give a small nod of approval. "However, for this presentation, we will be focusing mainly on dragons with wings. As convenient transportation, we served as mounts alongside horses for our owners for hundreds of years and it wasn't until motor cars were produced for the common folk that we had competition. It wasn't until the freescale movement in the late 50s and early 60s that we tried to emerge from the shadows of our masters and were able to have our voices heard. But it was by no means easy flying; rioting would only have ourselves painted as violent creatures. So protests like the great grounding took place, thousands of dragons uniting to keep their wings closed for their owners and refusing to fly." Meegi said and scanned the class to ensure he was giving eye contact to everyone in the class. "Some humans resorted to harsh punishments; wings being clipped was common. But the graphic, and often public, removal of wings with saws only brought more sympathy to the freescale cause. Not to mention, with the Second Great War ending, many war heroes were proud of fighting alongside their dragon brethren and public opinion began to finally shift to have us as equals."

Reeva saw the glimpse of a smirk on her teacher's snout and quickly continued, knowing that he expected the presentation to end there. "But the thing with change is that it often has strange side effects." the light blue dragoness said quickly and took a small step forwards. "Once free and no longer property, a dragon seen with a rider was often regarded as one who was against the freescale cause. However, freedom to not have a master doesn't mean dragons have to conform to social norms. Recently, dragons have taken riders as an expression of freedom, often an invitation from the dragon to a special human; it's becoming more common to see a human atop a dragon once again. But this time as equals, not with one serving the other." Reeva said and gave a small bow to signal to the class that they had finished.

"So, you believe we are equals now?" Mr. Siigma asked with a sinister glint in his eyes.

Meegi shook his head from side to side. "In the context of riding dragons… yes." he answered conservatively.

"Answer me this then. If a company existed for us to be used as taxis. Would that be a step backward?" Their teacher asked while standing up to prowl around the class in order to have the entire group's attention. "Let's call it drag'n'dont-drop." He added and smiled as the class chuckled, as he looked at Reeva and Meegi who still stood at the front of the class. "Letting a special someone ride on your shoulders is one thing. But carrying passengers to put food on the table, is that not the old ways dressed up in new packaging?" He asked and gave a small acknowledging nod to Kaarif.

Reeva could sense a trap her teacher was trying to put them in and paused, trying to anticipate his next question and glanced down at her notes for an answer.

Seeing her hesitate, Meegi shuffled his wings and spoke up. "No, the dragon gets to choose to let a rider on their shoulders. That wasn't the case in the old ways; we were forced to carry a rider as their slave."

Mr. Siigma paused mid-step and smiled. "Oh but Meegi, taxi drivers are some of the least paid and most overworked, living paycheck to paycheck and essentially are slaves to their job. How would this be different for a dragon in this industry?"

Meegi swallowed and tried to hold his teacher's gaze. "Given that we can move easier through the city than a taxi, we could charge more-"

"But you said yourself, dragon riding started as an exclusive service for the rich, but eventually became an affordable service for all. Surely if the prices started high, availability of dragons wanting to make a quick buck would drive down the price until it became a mundane service again." The grey drake said with a smile.

"The difference is choice." Reeva said finally and looked up to meet her teacher's gaze. "A dragon of old was enslaved, owned by a master. They were branded and marked. If they escaped and were found, they would be brought back to their owners and punished. Additionally, their owners used tactics to keep them from leaving, like threats of harming the rest of the flight if one left. So the dragons back then had no choice but to stay, unless they risked the consequences."

Meegi saw their teacher about to counter and quickly cut him off before he could speak. "Also, while there are of course consequences for someone leaving their job, what we mean is that a dragon today is not bound to that specific job! They can seek alternatives, try and make something better for themselves. Just like any human could. Of course, this is a simplified version; in reality, there are so many other variables and factors that could keep a dragon poor, but that's life, isn't it? That problem is not exclusive to dragons, but humans as well. So no, it wouldn't be a step backwards if dragons earned money by flying humans around; if anything, it would be a step for true equality."

Siigma looked at the pair intently as he contemplated pressing them with further questions before softly nodding. "Very good, take a seat." He said finally and returned to his own cushion to read off who was next to present.

Trotting back to her cushion, Reeva smiled from horn to horn and glanced at Meegi who shared her sense of relief. Plopping herself down on the cushion next to Kaarif, she saw him lift a paw and hold it out like a fist to her. Returning the gesture, she bumped her knuckles against his and shuffled her wings. While she was not struggling academically, now that the assessment was complete, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

The final pair were being questioned intensely by Mr. Siigma when the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Admitting defeat at challenging the students to think critically about their assignment, Siigma sighed. “Alright Jaalaphin and Huune, I guess that will have to do.” he said and allowed them to escape from the front of the class. Turning around, the teacher watched as the students packed their harnesses with their books and excited chatter broke out amongst them. “Homework!” He announced and smiled when they groaned; clearly, they had hoped they had escaped. “I would like you all to reflect on your assignments. Individually this time, and come up with a five hundred words report on what you would have done differently. What was missed, and how it could have been better.” He said and tried not to laugh when he saw Tiiphani tuck her wings tight against her body. “That is all, have a good afternoon. Miss Reeva, a moment, please?”

Reeva's crimson neck frill perked up, as she looked at her teacher and nodded, her stomach tightening in anxiety. As her class took to the sky in a flurry of wings, she tucked her last book into her pouch and saw Kaarif awkwardly moving to the edge of the scattered cushions. The aquatic drake was torn between staying with his friend to talk about the assignment, but also wanting to avoid his teacher in case of follow-up questions. “I'll see you in the courtyard.” She said with a reassuring smile, gesturing for him to leave. He returned her smile with a nod and trotted away from the class with a happy skip in his step.

Approaching her teacher, she forced herself to remember that she had done nothing wrong and sat down on her haunches in front of his cushion. Lifting his head up from his notes, he looked down at the dragoness. Despite her being almost fully grown, he was still taller than her by a few feet. “So. Did you understand the assignment?”

Reeva swallowed and cocked her head in confusion. “I-I think so.” She said but knew that she didn't. “Did we not do well?” Her voice wavering slightly as he took a deep breath.

Scanning his brightest student's face, he let out a soft, disappointed sigh and looked down at his notes. “Your friend Kaarif. How did you find his presentation?”

Reeva felt even more confused and shuffled her wings nervously. “It was very entertaining, but Kaarif is always entertaining.”

“No doubt about that, but the content. How did you think he did?” Siigma asked while turning a page in his notes to find the page he had graded the presentation.

“I thought it was good, great even.” Reeva said and swept her tail around her feet tightly. Siigma let the silence hang heavily between them as he reviewed his notes and smiled when she continued. “And I'm not saying that because he is a friend.” When he didn't reply, she swallowed and tried not to fidget with her paws. “Sir, is something wrong?”

“Today I think we both saw some of Kaarif's best work, would you agree?” He asked and waited for her to nod. “Remember this when working with him in the future. Just because he hasn't got wings, doesn't mean he has to be carried like a whelp.” He said and saw the look of realization in her eyes.

“Oh, well. I don't carry him, we share the work 50/50….” Her words drifted off and found her cheeks reddening as Siigma raised a skeptical eyeridge.

Seeing that she understood that he didn't believe her, he smiled slightly. “Of course… I'm just glad that we were both able to see how capable he actually is. Just like your partner Meegi.” He said and flicked to the next page in his notebook as her frill perked up again.

“Sir?”

Glancing around and up to the sky, he ensured there was no one within earshot before continuing. “Meegi's grades have always been mediocre while working with his friends, so it was good to see that you two made such a great team. I take it that you did not carry him too?”

“Of course not! We worked on it together, 50/50.” Reeva exclaimed quickly and smiled weakly. “I mean like, actually 50/50.” She added as her cheeks burned.

Siigma nodded with a smirk and made some notes on their page with his thick pen. “I'm glad to hear it.” He said before folding his book closed and nodding to the dragoness. “It's always nice to be sure. Have a good afternoon, Miss Reeva.”

“You too, Mr. Siigma.” She said while getting to her feet, she gave him a small, polite bow of a nod and turned to leave and find Kaarif, knowing full well that he would want to give a blow-by-blow talk about his presentation.

Meegi stood in the center of the courtyard and scanned the crowd of students milling around for any sign of Reeva. As his classmates gossiped and joked, dragons from the elementary grades waited for their parents to either escort them home or carry them on their backs. He sat patiently, hoping that she would come to the courtyard to socialize like the rest of their peers, as he wanted to thank her for working on their assignment.

Straightening his neck, he lifted his head higher and tried to spot her, or her friend Kaarif but to no avail. He hissed as something sharp latched onto his tail and lifted it, with a quick twist of his neck he spun his head around only to see Tiiphani's grinning as she dropped his tail tip.

“Gotcha!” She giggled and elegantly walked up beside him. “Whatcha doing?” she asked while she gently brushed her wing against his.

Meegi swallowed and looked around the crowd once more. “I was just looking for someone.” He said and glanced between them, noticing how close they were standing.

“Well, I'm here.” Tiiphani said with a giggle. “You got plans for this afternoon? Want to hang out?” She asked with a smile and stretched her neck to subtly show off her long, thick horns.

Meegi's eyes flicked between her horns and her eyes. Being so close to her, he could smell her scent and the way her wing gently pressed against his made his heart beat faster. “I- ah… I’ve got a shift at the café.”

“Oh, can I come?” Tiiphani said quickly with a warm smile. “It would be good to hang out, outside this place.” She added and leaned into him with a friendly nudge. She knew all drakes had the same buttons to press, a gentle nudge, a smile and a glance down their muscular chest was often all it took to get a male to fall in line.

Meegi found himself nodding before he had realized what he had agreed to. “Wait, are you feeling okay?” He asked and saw her frown in confusion. “I mean, your voice-”

“Pfft, don't worry I'm fine.” She said and rubbed her wing against his and glanced back at their touch as if it was an acident. “Well, now I am anyway.” She added before looking into his eyes and holding his gaze. “Shall we get outta here? I want to talk about friday’s game.”

Meegi swallowed and scanned the crowd one last time before nodding and turning with Tiiphani by his side. He promised himself that he would try to find Reeva tomorrow and thank her for working on their assignment, but now he walked across the courtyard with Tiiphani close to his side. He could feel her wing rubbing against his and blushed when her tail pressed against his own, his instincts telling him to lift a wing and hold her close but he resisted as best he could. Once they had emerged from the crowd, he gestured for her to take off first and then followed her into the sky.

It felt like a knife through her stomach, watching Meegi follow the red dragoness into the sky and Reeva’s neck frill drooped sadly against her neck. She had been looking for Kaarif when she had spotted Meegi rubbing wings with the blood red dragoness and her eyes quickly became glossy at the realization that she had only been a classmate to him. A tidal wave of betrayal ran through her mind; Was he using her just for the assignment? Was his friendship just a ruse for the grades he so desperately needed? Of course he would be interested in Tiiphani, how could he not be? Why did she think she had any hope of being with someone like Meegi? Why would he be interested in someone who couldn't fly as strongly as others? Or who’s father owns–

“Reeva!” called out a voice from behind her.

The voice caused Reeva to flinch and sniff back a tear, glad that something pulled her from her negative thoughts before she drowned in them. Turning around, she saw the larger dragoness Miikalah approaching with a look in her eyes she couldn't place. “What do you want?” she said shortly with gritted teeth.

The dark blue dragoness clenched her jaw and looked around to see if anyone was paying attention before lowering her head. “You didn't hear it from me. But you might want to visit the Dragonball field.” She said and lifted her head. When Reeva frowned in confusion, she gave a small gesture with her head in the direction of the arena and continued walking past. “Just a suggestion.”

“Wait, what does that mean?” Reeva asked with a raised eye ridge and watched as the larger dragoness walked away before hunkering down and leaping into the air, clearing her classmates, before spreading her wings and flying off. Still confused, she scanned the crowd for Kaarif before she realized what Miikalah had told her and quickly pushed through the crowd towards the stadium.

The coppery taste was still fresh in Kaarif's mouth as he spat a glob of mucus and blood out and watched it fall all the way down to the ground, his keen eyes unable to track it, as it became too small before landing on the soft grass. The Dragonball nest swayed slightly as he shifted his weight and tried to see a way to get down from where his assailants had dropped him, but there seemed to be no safe method. Gripping the rim of the platform, he craned his neck over the edge to see if he could reach the tall column that supported the nest. However, unless he jumped from the platform and turned in the air, there was no way he could reach the helical metal supports that wrapped themselves around the columns.

With a sigh, he pulled his head up and looked around the empty stadium. With classes finished, there was no reason for anyone to come into the stadium except for maybe a security guard. Sitting on his haunches, he looked at the hole in the center of the nest that was used to pneumatically send replacement balls up to the nest and contemplated trying to climb down it. While his head could fit inside the hole, his shoulders would be a tight squeeze and without knowing what was at the bottom of the tube, he could become very stuck very quickly.

With his harness and smashed phone laying on the grass below, he knew he was truly alone in the vast stadium. “Hah… whatever, it was worth it.” Kaarif muttered to himself and took a deep breath and gently stretched his sore forepaws. Despite her polished scales and sweet smile, there was no longer any doubt that Tiiphani knew how to brawl. Having plucked him from the ground and threatened to drop him if he screamed, he had no choice but to be carried in silence to the stadium where his cries wouldn't be heard. The only redeeming quality was that her larger counterpart, Miikalah, refused to strike him, saying that he didn't do anything to her. Something he was thankful for, as he had no doubt that he wouldn’t have been able to walk it off if she did. Only when the red dragoness threatened to have her removed from the team, did the blue dragoness comply and carry his beaten body to the top of the nest. Although the whispered apology from the burly dragoness meant little to him now, as he settled in for a long afternoon.

Laying down, he curled his tail around himself, the throbbing pain in his ribs causing an involuntary groan to escape his snout as he tried to get comfortable. Resting his head on his paws, he tried to work out what his next move would be until the soft sound of wings beating caused his head to lift and frill to flick out.

“Kaarif?!” Reeva called out as she glided over the rooftop of the stadium. “Kaarif!” She exclaimed and adjusted her wings to dive down towards the nest. “Are you okay?”

Kaarif slowly rolled to his belly and lifted himself up into a sitting position before forcing a smile. “Yeah, I'm good.” He said weakly.

As she circled the nest, she could see claw marks on the silvery scales of his belly and his weight unevenly distributed on his paws. “What happened?”

Kaarif tracked her as she glided around him and shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, you know me. I was just trying out for Dragonball, but I don't know if it's for me.”

Reeva shook her head in disbelief, even injured he still used humor as armor. “I don't know if they are doing tryouts today. I'll get a teacher-”

“Nah, It's good.” Kaarif said quickly, “I mean, it's kinda my fault I got stuck here if you think about it.” He said sheepishly, if a teacher was involved then there was no telling what Tiiphani may do to him.

Reeva frowned and looked down to the ground and then back at her friend. They had often joked about her carrying him when they were running late to class, but now she couldn't think of an alternative. “Want me to carry you?”

“Could you?” He asked and smiled when she nodded. He shuffled closer to the edge of the nest and faced away from the center, so she could land behind him on her hind legs. His claws dug into the platform, as he felt the tower sway slightly when she touched down and while keeping her wings mantled she wrapped her forepaws around his body.

“Okay, try not to wiggle. This could be sketchy.” Reeva said and felt him flinch as she pulled him close to her body. “Ready?”

“Whenever you are.” Kaarif said and took a deep breath. With her paws on his injured ribs, Reeva locked her wings out and took a deep breath, before stepping off the edge with him.

Kaarif's stomach dropped as the pair lurched downwards until her wings caught enough air and they began to glide towards the ground. Looking up, he could see her jaws clench as her flight muscles strained with his added weight, but she forced her wings to stay open despite the pain. Wrapping her hind legs around his, he was tucked close to her body and they began to pick up speed. The wind began to rush through his frills as her wings threatened to buckle and the ground began to rush towards them. Only once he could make out the individual blades of grass, did she groan and pull her wings in a downwards flap to slow their descent and redirect their speed. He felt her hind legs let go of his first before she dropped him the last foot onto the soft grass. He intended to run with the momentum he gained from fly-falling with Reeva, instead he tripped over his injured legs and ended up with a maw full of luscious, green grass as Reeva sailed ahead of him and landed at a trot with her wings drooping down low. “A-are you okay?” He sputtered out while attempting to rid his mouth of the blades of grass and bounded over to her as she tried to fold her wings.

“Yeah, I'm good.” She said, as she shuffled her wings to try and get them to cooperate. Finally folding them against her sides, she nodded to her friend. “My physio said I should fly with weights, but let's not do that again.” She joked with a weak smile.

"Let's not." Kaarif agreed and nudged her side. "But thank you, though." He added, before rearing up on his hind legs to try and spot his broken phone. "One sec." He said, before bounding back to the base of the nest and collecting his harness and phone. The once expensive harness was now ruined, but he hung it over his back and returned to his friend.

"Are you okay?" Reeva asked and lifted a sore wing to drape over her friend's back in a friendly hug.

“Yea, but I’ll have to give props to the grounds keeper.” Kaarif said while looking at the missing patch of grass where he earned his free sample from.

Looking towards the spot where Kaarif failed to stick the landing, “oh, that’s not what I meant. Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop you.” Reeva said sheepishly. “What I want to know is what happened here?” She said while staring at him intently, the look telling him she wants a real answer.

Kaarif contemplated retorting with another joke before taking a deep breath and sighing. "Fucking Tiiphani..." he muttered.

Nodding, Reeva understood. "Fucking Tiiphani."