“If you look at that ticket one more time…" Reevian hissed to her mate in a hushed voice. The departure gate was bustling with activity as dragons and humans alike made their way towards their respective gates and on to their destinations. With a stern look, she glanced down at her mate's ticket and then flicked her eyes to his harness to emphasize her point.

Neebis could tell that she was more nervous than actually angry and gave her a brief nod before slipping his ticket under one of the straps of his harness. “I just wanted to make sure we were in the right spot," he muttered and shuffled his wings. Avoiding his mate's gaze, he looked around the rest of the departure lounge at the many dragons that were all waiting for their plane to arrive.

Dozens of families lounged together, along with a scattering of other dragons that sat alone, most of them engrossed in their tablets' screens. Neebis even saw a few couples snuggled together as they all waited to board their flight. Departing from the city of Liberty Scales, the flight would last just under nine hours; he smiled as he saw a small wyrmling beginning to stir from a nap between its mother's wing shoulders. The dragoness saw Neebis and Reevian watching and gave them both a look of helpless exasperation as her wyrmling opened its mouth, its pink tongue curling as it yawned wide. Despite the mother's attempt at timing the little one's sleep, it was becoming very clear that the youngling had other plans for the flight.

It felt like yesterday that Reeva had been the size of the wyrmling, but as Neebis spotted his daughter and her friend across the departure lounge, he felt a sense of pride at how much she had grown up. She still wasn't quite the size of her mother, but she was already beginning to lose the awkward lankiness that was normal for dragons her age. Standing alongside her aquatic friend, she looked even larger and even under the unflattering fluorescent lights of the airport lounge, her scales glittered a brilliant sky blue.

“I was going past the café the other day; it was hard not to go in and give him a piece of my mind," Reevian said, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly. She knew her daughter was hurting and hadn't been sleeping well, consequently her own dreams had now been plagued feelings of helplessness and inadequacy at not being able to help her child.

Neebis grunted in acknowledgment. “Talking from experience, that doesn't help," he mused softly and lifted a wing for his mate to lean into him. Tilting his head, he nuzzled her cheek to reassure her and looked back towards their daughter. “I'm glad Kaarif could come; she needs a friend like him right now," he added and felt his mate nod her head against him while returning the gesture.

“I'm just saying, you could do a lot better," Kaarif exclaimed while staring up at the LED screen wall displaying a Dragonball game. The Cresties were playing the Warblers and it was a fierce game with six eggs captured by each team and only a few minutes left on the timer. His breath hitched as one of the claimers from the Cresties was slammed into the ground by one of the Warbler's brooders, only for the claimer to collect himself and return to the sky with uneven wing beats.

Reeva tried not to watch the game; the crimson-colored pads that the Cresties wore made her stomach churn, but the dominant position of the large screen meant that she couldn't entirely avoid seeing the game. “Thanks, Kaarif, but let's be honest, I'm not exactly in his…" her words drifted off as one of the Cresties approached their home nests with an egg in their paws and two Warbler claimers hot on their tail. The camera angle changed to the horn cam of the closest claimer as they rapidly closed the gap on the red pad-wearing player, with the camera mounted on the tip of its right horn, they could see the drake's lips curl into a snarl as he went to intercept. However, as the egg-carrying dragon's hips were caught by their assailant, the Cresties claimer folded a wing to perform a tight twist and deliver a harsh kick to the chest of their pursuer. With the air driven out of the drake's lungs, she bought herself just enough distance to place the egg on the nest and score.

“Get in!" Kaarif cheered and rose to his feet in glee before realizing he hadn't been listening to Reeva. He glanced between her and the screen before nudging her tail with his. “Sorry—"

“It's fine," Reeva said with a dismissive wave of her paw. However, as the screen changed to replay the goal, it cycled to a shot of the Cresties holding pen to see the rest of the team roar in celebration. As the crowd continued to celebrate, the reserve players all beat their wings against their sides and cheered loudly. The camera held the angle and Reeva could see that amongst the players was their owner and partially out of frame, was the familiar tan-colored drake, Meegi, with a crimson dragoness by his side. “I think I might… go for a walk," she said and rose to her feet. Her wings dropped low and her tail dragged on the thin carpet, as she turned and padded her way towards the glass windows.

Despite the enormity of the airport structure, she knew she shouldn't walk far as their plane was soon to arrive at their gate. Looking out over the tarmac, she watched the mix of humans and dragons working together to prepare the many aircraft for their flights. Having mostly seen them flying high above her or in the distance, she had never appreciated how big a plane really was until now. She tried to distract herself from thoughts of Meegi being with Tiiphani and what they might get up to after the game by watching the people below hurry about; each one seemed to know exactly where to be and what to do, a trait she felt slightly envious of.

While humans drove buggies towing long trains of trailers, others drove vehicles that brought food and fuel to the planes. Reeva was surprised to see so many dragons working alongside them in various roles. A flight of dragons skimmed the terminal roof as they flew towards a gate further down the terminal, each one wore harnesses made of a highly reflective material and had a radio connecting a pack on their back to a microphone strapped to their throat. As they disappeared from view, Reeva watched as two other dragons helped unload the bags from a plane parked at the neighboring gate. Each of the two baggage handlers alternated putting their heads into the open hatch for someone inside to toss a bag into their waiting maws. Despite the care that they took to not let their teeth puncture the luggage, their smiles and the speed at which they would pluck the bag out of the plane and toss it onto a waiting trailer made it obvious that they were competing against one another.

Reeva's eyes refocused on the reflection in the glass as she saw Kaarif approach. “Thanks for coming with us," she said, turning her head to face him, “It would be pretty lame with just my folks." They both knew she meant more, but he just smiled and twitched his neck frill.

“Oh, I wouldn't say lame…" he replied with a chuckle, before looking back at Reeva's parents. “Your dad looks like he is gonna enjoy it," he said, smiling as the white drake pulled out his ticket again and began reading the fine print on the back. Her mother, on the other paw, extracted herself from under Neebis' wing and stretched. “Your mom seems tense, though."

Reeva followed his gaze and nodded. “She is just nervous. None of us have ever been on a plane before and she doesn't like the idea of being carried in the air. I think it's a control thing," she mused, before looking back at her friend. “You've flown before, I take it?" she asked, looking out the window as a large white airliner began to slow to a crawl on the taxiway.

“Oh yeah," Kaarif said with a hint of smugness in his voice. “But it's my first time for commercial; should be fun," he added, looking out the window at the plane, “I hope the food is good."

The large, four-engined aircraft was guided off the taxiway and towards the gate by a dragon wearing a nylon harness with fluorescent yellow panels. The muscular drake pressed his tail to the ground for support, while walking awkwardly on his hind legs, and used his wings to communicate with the pilot on where to go. As the aircraft came closer to the centerline of the gate, the dragon half-folded his wings to indicate smaller corrections until, once it was close to its final position, he touched his two wing wrists together above his back and the plane came to a stop.

“What's the biggest difference to flying commercial?" she asked, while watching the ground crew begin to connect various hoses to the aircraft. The same two baggage dragons from the gate next to them bounded over and began the same routine, each one trying to outdo the other.

Kaarif tilted his head from side to side as he contemplated the many differences. “When you go private, the planes aren't reused cargo planes. Sure, they ain't as big, but nothing wrong with a smaller plane if it's just you and the family," he said, noticing the slight look of confusion on Reeva's face as she looked at the large aircraft they were going to board. “Once a commercial plane has been used for too long, they turn it into a cargo plane. That way, if it crashes, it's all good," he explained as his friend's eyes widened. “Then once it's too old for freight, they fit it out for us. Cuz, after all, you got your own wings," he added, giving her a playful shove.

“Are they safe?"

Hearing the hint of uneasiness in her voice, he nodded and tried to sound reassuring. “Oh, oh yeah. They still service them properly and this model is the safest one. It may be a bit long in the tooth, but that just means it has a good history," he said, but could tell she was still concerned. “Besides, don't worry about me not having wings. We are over the ocean. I'll be fine," he added with a wide grin and fluttered his purple neck frill.

Reeva chuckled at his attempts to comfort her. “Maybe don't tell my mother all this," she said and nudged him back with a wing, “I think she is one good reason away from insisting she stays behind. You should have heard her talking about the markets and making sure all the food was eaten."

Kaarif chuckled and scanned the departure lounge to see the teal colored dragoness walking laps of the area with her wings tucked tight against her sides. “You should have hit me up; I could have helped shift some food," he grinned and was rewarded by Reeva shaking her head.

“Drakes," she said flatly, but the corners of her lips curled into a smirk, “Always thinking with your stomach."

“Not always," Kaarif corrected, before sitting on his haunches and looking out the window with her. “Although, speaking of drakes," he started and smiled weakly as Reeva's eyes flicked to him. “Prom is coming up. Only like four months or something, right?" he added and heard Reeva take a deep breath before slowly letting it out, “You going?"

“Probably not," she said flatly. She would be lying if she said she hadn't fantasized that Meegi would see Tiiphani for the dropped egg she was, dump her and then ask her to prom. However, after weeks of seeing them close together during classes and lunch, she knew she was only dreaming. Now, the idea of seeing Tiiphani in her element with Meegi just made her sick, even more so knowing she would be going alone. “It's probably going to be pretty lame."

Kaarif tilted his head from side to side as if debating her answer with himself. “Yeah, it's probably gonna be lame, but that's kinda the fun of it, isn't it? Teachers trying to make the party all cool and shit, crappy music and students who don't know how to dance. Could at least be funny to watch," he explained, but when Reeva just gave a hum of acknowledgement, he gave her a nudge, “Besides, it's like a tradition or something, isn't it?"

Reeva shuffled her wings and sat back on her haunches to watch the large side doors of the aircraft open and a bridge be moved to join the aircraft to the terminal. “You want to go, don't you?"

“Go where?" Reevian asked before Kaarif could answer. The large teal dragoness moved beside Reeva and sat down on the thin carpet. Next to her daughter, Reevian's head was only a few inches higher than Reeva but held herself with a mature grace that made Kaarif swallow.

“We were talking about prom, Mom. Kaarif is thinking of going," Reeva explained and felt her chest tighten, as she guessed her mother's next question.

Reevian nodded in understanding but didn't push the subject directly. “I never went to prom," she said simply and tightened her wings against her sides. “Heck, I didn't even graduate," she added and looked down at her daughter and Kaarif. The smaller of the two looked surprised at the revelation. Seeing Reeva stare straight ahead, she gave a subtle wink to Kaarif. “Kinda wished I did though; go to prom that is. Get all scrubbed up, get the drakes looking, make the 'nesses jealous."

Kaarif, understanding his mission, smiled and gave Reeva a nudge. “You know, it could be a good way to show Meegi what he's missing out on," he said and, despite the glare Reeva gave him, he continued, “Get you out of that school harness, and into something blingy. Something gold—"

“Gold… really?" Reeva asked with an unimpressed look at Kaarif.

The smaller drake simply smiled and shrugged. “Mr. Ross said gold was a complimentary color to a blue like yours," he said simply, but grinned when Reeva looked away, aware that she knew he was right. While the dragoness was brilliant in most of her subjects, art was the only one where Kaarif's grades outshone hers. “Also, gold goes well with red," he added, looking at her crimson neck frill which gave an involuntary twitch. “And if he still wants to be with that Tiiphani bi—" he cut himself off to look up at her mother, who simply nodded in approval. “—itch, then fuck 'em," he added and heard Reevian huff.

Looking at their reflection in the window, Reeva could see the exchange between her friend and her mother and shook her head. “I appreciate the support, guys, but…" her words drifted off, as she tried to visualize arriving at the prom to see everyone with partners while she was still alone. “...I don't know, I would probably just sit alone in the corner," she added under her breath.

“Who said you would be alone?" Kaarif asked, glancing up at Reevian, who smiled and gave him a reassuring nod. “So, how about it?" he asked and gave Reeva a playful nudge.

“How about what?" Reeva asked, pulling her gaze away from the reflection to focus on her small, aquatic friend. The pearlescent silver drake sat proudly puffing out his chest, fanning out his neck frill and tilting his head while giving her a smug smile. “Going with you?!" she asked louder than she intended and immediately regretted it.

“Reeva!" exclaimed her mother in disbelief as Kaarif seemed to deflate somewhat 

Reeva's frill flapped flat against her neck as she tried to backpedal, “I mean—"

“Oh my god!" exclaimed Kaarif with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. “And I thought you were cool. But you're just like the rest of them," he added sarcastically. He knew she had misspoken, but that wouldn't stop him from enjoying her fluster. “I guess little ol' Kaarif will be all dolled up with no one to go with then—"

“I didn't mean it like that!" exclaimed Reeva, turning around to put her back to the window and give the drake her undivided attention, “I just thought you would already have asked someone. Are you really going to go alone?"

“Well, I wanted to go with my friend, but she is being all weird about it," Kaarif chuckled, as Reeva's crimson frill perked up. Fluttering his collared neck frill slightly, he grinned playfully. “So, how about it? Will you give me the honor of accompanying me to the lamest prom known to dragonkind, with the exclusive intention of making fun of everyone and looking fantastic in the process?"

Reeva snorted with a laugh and nodded as she watched him lift a webbed paw up for a fistbump. With a nudge of her knuckles against his, she smiled. “Thanks, Kaarif."

“Thanks, babe," Kaarif replied with a friendly wink, much to the amusement of Reeva and her mother.

“Alright, that's settled then. Kaarif will take you to prom, and we will have a 'ness day out to get you ready for the big day," Reevian said warmly before smiling. “And one day you will both give me grand eggs," she added and cackled as the pair looked up at her with mortified expressions, before waving a paw to dismiss the idea.

The click of the doors at the gate being unlocked caused the three to turn and watch as a collection of dragons began to disembark from their plane. “Alright, I think it's the last chance to use the restrooms," Reevian said and rose to her feet. She looked around to find her mate and a soft sigh escaped her lips as she saw the white dragon sitting eagerly at the front of the forming queue to board. “I'll tell your father."

 ==Page break==

The stomach-pulling surge, the roar of engines and the concerning rattles of the cabin were not something Reeva would forget anytime soon. But once the wheels lifted off the runway and they took to the sky, a strange sensation settled on most of the dragons. While flying was second nature to the winged creatures, the lack of wind over their scales and the need for their wings to be tucked close to their bodies made some feel like they were diving and stalling at the same time. Like stepping on a stationary escalator, the visual cues of their surroundings baffled with their instincts and it took some of the passengers a lot of self-control to keep their wings folded.

Hours slowly ticked by as they flew at speeds a dragon could only dream of flying. Reeva found herself mesmerized by the view from the window. Clouds that she would have struggled to reach with her weak wings were nothing more than a thin white blanket far below them. Through the gaps, she could see the water and even though the view didn't change much, she found it hard to look away.

A pained murmur from across the aisle made the corner of her lips curl into a smirk. Despite the added room of business class and all of Neebis' excitement about flying on an airplane for the first time, he was not enjoying the flight as much as any of them had hoped. Pulling away from the window, Reeva blinked a few times to help her eyes adjust from staring at the reflective clouds to the dim cabin, but saw her mother trying to comfort her mate.

Each dragon in business class had been assigned their own padded rectangle with slightly raised edges to define each dragon's 'seat'. With only two 'seats' on either side of an aisle, it was far more spacious than the shared padded area that those in economy class were packed into. However, despite the extra cushions and snacks that the airline provided to their elite passengers, the tether that connected each dragon's harness to the center of their cushion was always going to be uncomfortable. The thick nylon strap and stainless steel buckle often found a way to dig into their ribs, but the discomfort was necessary to keep the dragons from being jostled against one another in the event of turbulence.

Reeva smiled sympathetically at her father, who had his eyes scrunched closed and his front paws tucked under his body to hold the tether as if his life depended on it. The drake's crimson neck frill was slowly flaring up and lowering with every labored breath and by the concerned looks from the passengers around him, it was clear everyone was worried for him. With a nudge from his mate, he opened one eye to see her encouraging him to lift a wing for her. While the cramped cabin would never allow him to fully unfurl both wings, he relaxed slightly with one wing partially extended across Reevian and into the aisle in a poor imitation of flight.

The tapping of claws on glass made Reeva glance down at her smaller friend, who sat between her and the aisle. The aquatic drake seemed at ease with flying and had made himself a nest out of the throw pillows that had been offered to him. Sprawled out on his belly with headphones on, he held his phone between two paws and was tapping at the screen with his digits. Reeva watched the retro game as a bipedal lizard person ran along the walls of a virtual battlefield while firing multiple guns at faceless opponents. Flashes of red filled the screen as Kaarif's character was caught in a torrent of flame and the screen changed to another angle to replay his death from the perspective of an enormous dragon.

“Fucking lag," muttered Kaarif, as he mashed the screen and his character reappeared on the back of their own dragon.

Reeva chuckled softly to herself and turned her head to look back down the cabin. Row after row, dragons lay patiently reading or entertaining themselves with screens. She smiled as she saw a wyrmling stretching its wings out in mock flight, while tethered to the top of its mother's harness.

As she watched the small dragon play, her thoughts slowly shifted towards her own future and what it might hold. Most of her life she had been surrounded by the same classmates and it felt weird that in a few months' time they would begin to drift apart and likely wouldn't see each other again. However, as she looked down at Kaarif and watched him lean to the side as if to help his game's character, she realized that it wasn't that long ago that she didn't know him. In the coming years, she would meet and get to know more people, each with their own stories and dreams. Her mother's words about there being more fish in the sea began to sink in with Reeva and she began to feel the tension inside her slowly ease. Sure, Meegi had been nice to hang out with, but that didn't mean there wasn't someone else out there for her. She wondered what they might be like. Would they make her smile like Meegi did? Would they enjoy books like she did? As she lay on the cushion, she began to think about what her ideal partner would be like and began to realize that while she had been infatuated by Meegi's charm and athletic ability, they were not the only things she found herself drawn to, nor were they exclusively traits that Meegi possessed. Her gaze settled on her friend Kaarif. He had made her laugh more times than she could count and had genuinely been a fantastic friend to her, but she dismissed the thought. What they had was a friendship and, while he would no doubt make a 'ness very happy, he was not for her.

She turned to look out the window once more and gazed at the pearly white clouds far below. Her pseudo-aunt Teeba had a human friend and she wondered if she would ever be with a human. While not against the idea in principle, she remembered her time flying with Meegi, how he had held her close and soared the over the buildings together. She mused that she could probably carry a rider if she worked on strengthening her wings, and the idea of one day sharing the sky with a human was not unappealing. Torn, she looked at her reflection, took in a deep breath of the recycled air and slowly exhaled. She knew that she enjoyed her fleeting time with Meegi, and still regretted not saying anything to him sooner, but took solace in the fact that she was already considering alternatives as a good sign. It may still take some time for the wound to fully heal, but he was one drake amongst many and out there, there was someone for her.

The rattle of a catering trolley being pushed by a human flight attendant brought Reeva's mind back to the present and she looked around the cabin once again. Reevian, with Neebis' wing still over her, was watching her with a concerned look on her face. Without the seats and overhead luggage racks found in a plane fitted for humans, the noise of the engines made conversations almost impossible without raising her voice, so Reevian simply mouthed, "Are you okay?"

Reeva gave a quick, defensive nod, before confirming with a genuine one as she reminded her self that the drama with Meegi was now thousands of miles away and that she could try to use this trip to enjoy herself.