It's way too early to be doing this shit.

Flame's numbed talons hastened to fasten the last few buttons on his vest. It was a chilly morning at the Healing Center; late fall had arrived in a series of freezing rainstorms and howling winds that had screamed between the mountains to bring the Northern airstreams down upon them. Every breath out was a cloud of steam and Flame's cheeks felt pinched by the snappy air.

Even worse was that the sky had decided to be a worm-breathed pile of trash and not let any sun through. In every direction, like an angry ocean before a storm, thick gray clouds swallowed every drop of blue. Flame knew the sun was somewhere behind that angry looking barrier because the whole thing was glowing ominously like some super evil cloud of doom. Flame wished he could fly up there and punch a giant hole to let the sun in. He shivered. It was way too early to be doing this shit.

A brush of warmth slid over his scales and Flame looked down to see Umber reclined against his side. The MudWing didn't seem to be paying attention; his keen eyes were still locked onto the sky, but the fact that he had done the action out of habit or instinct made it even cuter in Flame's mind. The SkyWing opened his wing and scooped it around the smaller form. Umber jolted for a moment, surprised, before casting a grateful smile up at Flame and cuddling in closer.

Despite the cold Umber wasn't nearly as dressed as Flame. The smaller dragon was adorned in only a scarf, a stark contrast to Flame's vest, neck-cozy, and gloves. The mixture of rain and freezing temperatures had turned the soil into a muddy battleground, but not the soft silky kind of mud Umber liked to roll around in. This stuff was the hard packed ice filled kind that was cold on top of even more cold. He didn't know how Umber could bare to sink his talons into it while his own multi-layered gloves couldn't even keep out the gnawing bite of winter.

He pulled Umber in tighter, reveling in the shared heat.

His only consolation was that Jet looked twice as miserable.

"D-don't you think it's a b-bit early?" Jet asked, her voice shivering along with her body. She sat a few feet away, wings and tail wrapped tightly around her limbs. The question had been opened to everyone but she looked at Sora as she spoke. The MudWing female sat comfortably at Jet's side wearing nothing but a smile, having given her red scarf to Jet a while ago. She gave her girlfriend a pert look.

"We're not that early," her response was tart but soften with a tease. She nudged Jet in the side. "You're just complaining because it's cold. If you want you can go and wait inside – "

"I'm not cold!" Jet stuck out her chest with stubborn resolve.

"Yes you are you big baby," Flame contributed. Jet fixed him with a searing glare and he stuck his tongue out at her.

Umber butted his head against Flame's chest. "Play nice, Flame," he scolded with mock seriousness. "You have to be on your best behaviour today in front of the guests."

Flame knew Umber was just joking, but that didn't stop the pit of anxiety from sinking to the bottom of his stomach. He was not looking forward to these guests but for Umber's sake he would grin and bear it and try not to be a big stinker on the reunion. Besides, Umber had put up with all his relatives without losing his cool or punching anyone; truly an amazing feat considering what Flame's mother was like. So, because Umber was just that wonderful and amazing, Flame was going to try his best to be the model boyfriend he knew deep down he wasn't.

"Look there!" Sora's quick shout stopped the bickering. She pointed to a blotchy speck in the sky and the other's followed its direction. "Is that them? I can't tell."

"Considering how last time you saw something it ended up just being a pair of seagulls I wouldn't get my hopes up yet," Flame said, secretly hoping it was another pair of seagulls.

It wasn't.

Soon the tiny blotch became two tiny blotches, then large blotches, then distinctly MudWing shaped. Marsh and Clay's talons were barely on the ground before Sora and Umber were upon them. Jet and Flame stayed back and watched the mushy scene unfold. Clay wrapped them all in a giant hug that promptly fell apart into even more hugging and laughing. It was nauseatingly cute.

"Sorry we're so early," Clay said among the activity. "I guess Jade Mountain isn't as far as it looked on the map..."

"Don't be sorry!" Umber burst. He was still resting beneath Clay's wing like a mouse under a blanket. "Being sorry for being early is like apologizing for making too many cakes! Or telling too many funny jokes. It just doesn't exist!"

Flame had to disagree with what his boyfriend was saying, especially after that time he had made double the order of cakes and had to eat the extras (he hadn't been able to taste anything but red velvet for a week), but he kept his lips firmly clamped. He was on his best behaviour, after all.

"That just means we get to spend even MORE time with you both!" Sora spoke these words as she brought Marsh into a hug so tight his eyes bulged. It wasn't enough to wipe the smile off the smaller dragons face. When Sora finally released him, Marsh studied her, his face brightening.

"Sora, I can't remember the last time I've seen you smile this much." His voice was proud and relieved all at once.

"Yeah!" Clay chimed in. "You're barely the same dragon you were when you started at the academy." He chuckled. "If you weren't my own sister I might not even recognize you!"

Sora giggled and shrugged. "I guess being here has really helped and..." her gaze skittered to Jet, "I've had lots of support and love to guide me."

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Jet's outburst made Flame flinch. She stomped over to the MudWings and Flame, not wanting to be the only one standing off to the side like some weirdo, sighed and followed. He took his place at Umber's side, happy to be where he belonged once again, while Jet stood behind Sora and wrapped the MudWing in sheets of silken wings while setting her head atop brown dragon. "SORA IS DOING EXTREMELY WELL AND WE'RE ALL SO PROUD OF HER!"

"Uh, Jet? I appreciate your enthusiasm but might want to lower your volume," Sora suggested with no small amount of amusement. Marsh and Clay exchanged smirks.

"So this is Jet, eh?" Marsh asked in a way that was more a statement than an actual question. "Your mother is Sora's Healer?"

Jet blinked, astonished. "Yes...how did you know that?"

"Sora told us a lot about you in the letter she wrote you," Clay informed, "Like, a lot a lot, as in, three paragraphs worth of information that I didn't need to know."

Sora blushed but was unashamed. "Oops. I didn't realize I wrote so much. I tried to stay on topic but – " she turned her head back towards Jet, " – it was hard to write about anything BUT you."

Jet, always the one with something to say, was too flustered for words. She hugged Sora tighter and made a weird choked noise in her throat that made Sora laugh.

Flame snorted at Jet's expense, finally pleased to see some other than him become tied up in their own oozy feelings. It instantly backfired on him when the noise drew the attention of the two guests. They honed in on him and Flame's body seized up. Uh oh. UH OH.

"And Flame! It's good to see you again," Marsh said and Flame was left to wonder if he meant it. There were very few dragons on this continent that were ever happy to see him again. Meanwhile Clay was looking all sorts of uncomfortable as he rubbed his neck in a blatant expression of 'oh boy this is awkward.'

"Um. So... Sunny told me about your meeting with Stonemover. Sorry I wasn't there but I am glad things went well." It was obvious he was grasping for straws here. It was painful to watch but Flame sat quietly and listened like the good boyfriend he was. "Umber also told me you two were dating. That's...nice." Again, the forced politeness was excruciating and Flame was beginning to wonder if Sunny had made him a script or something. "And I'm glad to see you're not such – what I mean is I'm glad you've gotten better, heh."

Now...anger management had never been Flame's forte. Mind you, he was doing a lot better than he had been over a year ago. His last big melt down had been several months ago when some dung-breathed fart brains had thought it a good idea to comment on his scar. Some words had been exchanged...and then some fists. His scar was still one of those sore spots of his; he hated when people looked at him like a freak. He also hated when people were fake with him. Nice to his face while sneering at his back.

Flame knew Clay was probably incapable of sneering, he was just too dumbly nice, even if it was FAKE niceness. Usually this kind of thing would annoy the crap out of him, but this time, for some weird reason, Flame found it all pretty...hilarious. Maybe it was the ridiculous faces Clay was making as he talked, or the image of Sunny trying to coach him through this syrupy speech. Whatever the reasons, giggles began to slip from between his teeth. He tried to cover them but it was pretty hard with everyone staring at him.

"Did...I say something funny??" Clay's wary voice fell through Flame's wheezes.

"Sorry, sorry." Flame flicked his tail at him. "It's just...I've never seen someone pretend to be that nice while looking so miserable. It was enough to make me wanna barf."

Clay's ears and shoulders dropped. "Gosh, sorry. I was hoping it wouldn't sound as awkward as it did on paper."

Flame liked this. At least they weren't trying to deny it had been fake.

"Look," Flame began, wanting to clear the air between them, "I was a massive jerk before. It's OK to say so, and I'm sorry for it. If there was anything I did in the past that made you upset or uncomfortable, from the bottom of my heart, I regret it." With all this 'turning over a new leaf' stuff Flame had gotten rather good at apologizing. He had a lot to be sorry for so he might as well start dealing with it. And he was glad he did. Clay visibly relaxed and Marsh released a loud breath that whistled with held in tension.

Slowly their strained expression became true smiles and Clay clapped in on the back, nearly sending Flame flying across the gardens. "Hey, don't worry about it. We all make mistakes, I'm just glad you're here getting the help you need," the massive MudWing said in earnest.

Umber rested his head on Flame's shoulders; his features soften with loving adoration. "We're all very proud of him."

Flame, completely unprepared for such a gaze, turned red as boiled beets. "Well anyway," his voice crackled like paper, "aren't there supposed to be more MudWings showing up? It's freezing out here, what's taking them so long?"

His fleeting desperation to distract himself from the sappy situation turned out to work as, much to his dismay, someone other than the six dragons present answered him.

"Here! We're here!"

In the distance a voice appeared. At first everyone looked to the sky, assuming that was where they would arrive from, but it was a shock when two MudWings came barreling across the sodden garden, waving their wings and smiles like flags. One was male and only barely smaller that Clay, and therefore the second largest MudWing present. The other was female and, although somewhat smaller, had the musculature that said 'call me small, I dare ya'.

Flame was not going to take her up on that dare.

A cry of joy came from Sora and she ran to the oncoming dragons. Suddenly there was chaos as the sibs gathered into a bundle; hugging and laughter abound. Everyone was talking all at once to the point that Flame could hardly hear himself think. He only had one brother and found that to be a talon full. He paled thinking what having five siblings would be like.

"Sorry we're late," he heard the new male say within the cacophony of welcomes. His voice was deep, way deeper than Umber's, but with a heavy richness like cream. "We landed on the wrong side of the center ha...thankfully some helpful dragons pointed us here."

With the group no longer paying him any attention Flame took this moment collect his thoughts. He closed his eyes and focused.

Don't freak out, Flame. You got this. You studied all their names and Umber is going to be super impressed. OK so there's Clay, easy, and uuuhh that other one from Jade Academy, Marsh. Right. Then there's those other two... come on Flame you KNOW this! The big-wings – his name was...Red? NO. Reed. YES! And the other one is...is...

"So you're Flame," a raucous voice, unimpressed and even a smidge accusatory, spoke and shook down Flame's train of thought. He opened his eyes and then had to tilt his head up to look at the looming MudWing before him. Pheasant, he remembered with a gulp, her name is Pheasant.

The MudWing's eyes became dubious slivers and she turned them upon Jet next, "So that must make you Jet," she said in the same unenthused drawl.

"Hello! Yes!" Jet responded in the same tone she used for her tours. She was almost Pheasant's height, something the MudWing was none too pleased about. Jet stuck out a talon to shake. "It's so great to finally be meeting Sora's family! How was the flight over?"

Pheasant snorted and ignored Jet's greeting. "So you two think you're good enough to date our sibs, huh?"

It took Flame a moment to comprehend what was being insinuated. Once it hit him, the gall of such a question slapped in the face and he reeled, fire singing the roof of his mouth. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

It wasn't some mystery; Flame knew very well what she had meant. It was the same message he received through the looks Umber's friends gave him back at Jade Mountain, the same thing on everyone's mind when they saw him, ugly and vile, with someone as incredible as Umber.

You don't deserve him.

"Flame, don't," Jet hissed out from the side of her mouth. Everything from her bugling eyes to the nervous tangle of her tail was a giant warning flag for him to step back and cool down. Luckily Flame thought she was super annoying and had no intention of listening to her. He stepped up, his previous nervousness burned to char.

"No no, I want to hear what she has to say. You have a problem with me dating your brother?"

An alarmed 'uh oh' came from the clearing behind them. Seconds later Umber, Sora, and Reed were right in the middle of things.

"Whoa hey, what's going on here?" Umber asked, trying to sound relaxed but the strain on his smile was so tight it looked painful. "Flame? Is everything alright?"

Umber's scolding tone didn't slip under Flame's notice. The SkyWing's tail lashed strips into the sodden soil. "Ask your sister. She's the one with her snout out of joint."

On the other side of the argument Pheasant was knee deep in Reed's utter exasperation. "Pheasant, we talked about this. You promised you wouldn't try to intimidate them!"

"I'm not! It was just a simple question." Her voice thrummed with unapologetic righteousness but she refused to look at Reed's face. "I am just a bit hesitant to have someone like him," she regarded Flame with eyes like poisoned claws, "to be dating Umber."

Before Flame could spit out some unsavory words Umber was on his defense. "Pheasant! How could you say that? Flame is the most wonderful, loving, and amazing dragon ever." He twisted their tails together and Flame's heart swelled and smothered the growing fire in his belly. Umber made everything better.

Too bad his sister was nothing like him. She rolled her eyes and snorted. "Oh sure, but that's not what I've heard from others."

A spear of ice shot through Flame's stomach to embed itself in the back of his spine. Why? Why did his past have to keep catching up with him? He curled his tail tightly around Umber's, trying not to let his voice tremor, "And what have you heard?"

"Oh you know," she shrugged and inspected her talons. "Just what Marsh told me about what you were like at the Academy and what you did to Stonemover."

"Whoa whoa whoa hang on," Marsh said with his talons up and out like he was bracing for impact. Sometime during the argument he and Clay had joined off to the side, but by the way his wings and tail bunched together it was obvious he had preferred it that way. "That was like eight months ago, and I was only telling you what Coconut told me, and HE had heard it first from Kinkajou like a year before that so I really don't think that's fair."

"Marsh is right, I think you're being a bit harsh," Clay spoke up – hold on – Flame did a double take. Was Clay actually defending him? Flame almost slapped himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. The insanity continued as Clay said even MORE nice things about him, "He's really a different dragon now! I know before he was a bit of a ... well what I mean is he was...um..."

"An eel-faced jerk?" Jet helpfully supplied with a bright smile. "A frog eating ninny? A buffalo-headed arugula-smelling son-of-a – "

"OK JET THANK YOU!" Sora blurted and shoved Jet's face away before she could say anything else, which was probably for the best since Pheasant had bust a gut from laughing so hard and Flame was already grinding his teeth to dust.

Although he had to admit those had been some pretty good insults.

"Heh, yeah, those things," Clay mumbled through a few clattering chuckles. "I say give him a chance."

"Yeah!" Umber echoed.

"I agree with Clay," Sora chimed in with the heel of her talon still pressed against Jet's face. "I'll vouch for his character if it means we can move on and get this visit started."

"That's a great idea, Sora," Reed spoke up with an excited wiggle of his ears, eager to leave this tense bickering behind. "I think we're all maybe a bit tired and cranky from the long flight, right Pheasant?" With each emphasized word he projected his voice at the cantankerous MudWing. She pursed her lips but at length her hackles dropped.

"Fine. I'll leave him alone...for now." She shook her wings out, casting a smile over Flame's head as she look at her sibs. "Besides, we got more important things to do."

"Like what?" Marsh put forward and the answers began pouring out in a giant mess. Clay suggested going for lunch of course, Sora mentioned something about the library, and Jet offered to take them on a tour of the place. With his wary anger still honed in on Pheasant Flame spied her and Reed exchange excited grins. The chattering continued a while longer before Reed cleared his throat and the group fell silent.

"While flying over, Pheasant and I were just talking about how long it's been since we were all together, or, well, together and NOT fighting in a war, and we were thinking about this game we used to play when we were little." The excitement rising in his voice stirred the group. They leaned forward on this string of promised memories. Reed did not disappoint. "Do you guys remember wingball?"

Everyone but Flame and Clay tossed their wings up with deafening roars:

"OH MY GOSH WINGBALL! HOW COULD I FORGET?"

"Yes! A thousand times yes, we NEED to play that!"

"We even have enough for two teams!"

Even Jet was among them; her enormous wings clapping against her sides. "This is so awesome, I've never played MudWing-Wingball before! Only the SkyWing version."

Pheasant gave her a dubious though non-aggressive glance. "You play?"

Jet snorted and brushed off her shoulder. "Do I play? I'm only the best looper this side of the mountains! There isn't a walby on this continent I can't defend."

Flame and Clay sat there with blank expressions until the former dragonet of destiny uttered out, "Uhhhhh say what?" The group burst out laughing although Flame agreed with Clay. Say what?

"Don't worry, it's not hard to learn," Marsh comforted his larger brother while Pheasant gave him an affectionate shove.

"We'll go easy on ya...maybe." She winked.

"Do you want to play with us, Flame?"

Flame had been so occupied trying to figure out what the hell Jet had been talking about that he had zoned out. Now Umber was looking up at him, his gorgeous feature lit from within. If Flame could have put that face in the sky instead of the sun he would have, but, as it was, Flame was still confused about the whole thing. "I – I don't know, Umber... I don't really know how to play."

"It's probably for the best that you sit out." Uninvited and unwanted, Pheasant joined their conversation. "It's a pretty rough game. Someone as scrawny as you would probably snap like a twig."

"Pheasant," Umber hissed. "Be nice."

Just the sight her prim smile turned Flame's vision red. "I'm plenty tough!"

"Says the dragon with the pink knitted scarf."

"Hey, my MOTHER made this for me!"

The brown female rolled her eyes. "MudWing's don't need parents. We take care of ourselves...not like a SkyWing would know anything about that, what with being coddled by their parents all their lives."

"Pheasant!" Umber looked at his sister in shock. Meanwhile Flame could only be towed along as the wave of rage pulled him under.

The whole earth and air around him began to sway and he knew what was coming next. Sparks seared the back of his eyes and he couldn't stop himself. "Well at least I know what a mother's love is like you snobby goat-breathed mud licker!" The words dropped from his tongue like lead. He slammed his mouth shut, trying desperately to pick up the words and put them back, but it was too late.

"FLAME!" Umber cried, his face furious.

Anger receded to regret. "That was – I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that – I was just – I – "

To his surprise Pheasant smirked...but not from amusement. Cruel and triumphant her teeth twinkled like a polished dagger. It only lasted the length of a viper's strike before vanishing to somber pain. She curled her lips back and turned to Umber. "Nice boyfriend. Just keep him away from me," she growled before shooting back towards the group of sibs. Reed gave her a curious glance but the others were distracted, they seemed to be getting ready to fly somewhere.

"Come on, Umber," Marsh called. "Reed saw the perfect place to play when he was flying over. We're going there now!"

"I'll meet up with you in a minute!" Umber gave them a wave as they departed. Even from the air Flame could see the glowing victory spread on Pheasant's face like moonlight on water. It turned his heart into a blood boiling cauldron. It was only Umber's expression that kept him from going up there and pummelling her to the ground.

The small dragon still had a very not happy look on his face. Flame's stomached knotted into a ball of snakes. Normally when it was just the two of them alone the world would shimmer and smile on them and Flame would feel he was home no matter where he was.

It wasn't like that now.

The sky was even grayer than before, the cold sharper. The empty garden felt too wide and the air too thin. A moment of silence passed, then another, then another. Moment by moment, brick by brick, a wall of dreadful quiet gathered upon their backs.

"You really hurt Pheasant's feelings you know," Umber finally whispered.

Flame stifled a gasp, feeling as though he had been struck across the face. Was Umber actually taking Pheasant's side? A hundred excuses and rebuttals jumped in in mouth, banging to be let out: She had started it. She had made it personal when she brought up his past. She was the one that wouldn't leave him alone.

Right?

Or had it been his fault? Starf had always told him to be careful to not blame others when it was his own temper that brought ruin. Was Umber right to be mad at him? Was this just something else Flame had fucked up?

But then he remembered that look on Pheasant's face before she flew off, the victory in her gleaming eyes.

No. She had been trying to make him mad. She had wanted him and Umber to fight. She wanted him out of the picture.

Well, that bitch had another thing coming. He wasn't going to play her little game.

He was about to tell Umber as much but his voice was gauged from his throat before he had the chance. Umber just looked so...miserable. He had his wings pulled in tight as if chilled, his eyes watery. Flame reached a warming wing towards him but the smaller dragon leaned away, refusing to look at him.

To see such disappointment on Umber's face, it took everything out of him.

"Look, I know Pheasant was being mean and – and – I should have warned you that she can get like that, but, for my sake, I was hoping you wouldn't – I guess I – look," Umber sighed with his entire body, "maybe...maybe it would be for the best if you didn't come play with us. I don't want you and Pheasant fighting anymore."

The ice spear that had been embedded in his spine jumped up to skewer his heart. "You...want me to leave?"

Umber's talons dug into the mud as if he wished he could drown himself in it. "I – think it would be for the best. You and Pheasant aren't good together and I don't want you guys to hurt each other."

This is bullshit! She started it! Why can't Umber see that? Then Flame thought of something that made his heart shrivel. ...or is he just taking her side anyway?

Would he really choose his sib over me, even if they were the one in the wrong?

Umber gave a speedy glance over his shoulder in the direction his sibs had gone. "I should catch up with them now. I... I'll see you later, OK?" He leaned up and gave Flame's cheek a quick kiss, but it felt more out of habit than from any source of affection. This time it wasn't cute.

Flame watched Umber's form shrink into the sky feeling like his insides had been ripped by an IceWing's jagged talon.