"I hope you know what you're doing," Umber hissed at him from the sidelines. Flame shrugged, faking confidence he didn't have, before putting on the leather-clad helmet he had been given and taking off his gloves.

Everyone, all six MudWings and the two SkyWings, were gathered in the thrown-together playing field, preparing. Jet had managed to scrounge up some safety equipment that neither matched nor was built for the sport. Also Flame was the only one wearing any. He had at first refused (it was hard to look tough and cool with a melon on your head) but Umber had insisted. So here he was, Flame the melon-head.

"Of course I know what I'm doing," Flame lied, pathetically trying to figure out how to strap the damn thing on his head before Umber sighed and did it for him. Flame smiled his thanks and Umber returned it with an affectionate roll of his eyes.

It was good to not be fighting anymore.

After their argument Flame had went for a fly to clear his head and heart. He had originally intended to wait until Pheasant was gone before finding Umber, but as he circled the Healing Center over and over his anger had only matured.

Like hell he was going to let that bitch get in the way.

And so, filled to the brim with pettiness, he decided to swoop down and join this dumb game. He had no idea how to play, and was probably going to die, but the look on Pheasant's face when he had said he was playing would make it all worth it in the end.

Assuming Pheasant didn't kill him by the end of it.

"Besides, I thought you'd be happy about this. Didn't you want me to play?" Flame asked while removing his vest. The air had warmed since this morning, thankfully, and he had already worked up some heat flying around. Umber begrudgingly nodded, picking up the vest from where Flame had tossed it on the ground and folded it.

"Yeaaaaaaah," he admitted, "but that was this morning before everything fell apart. She's...not going to go easy on you, you know."

Flame gave back an 'I'm too cool to care' shrug while he quieted a gulp. Once Flame had decided to play Umber's nice sib, Reed, had offered Flame a spot on his team (Pheasant certainly wasn't going to). He had made the case that, even though their team was larger, two of those members had never played before so it wasn't going to be much of an advantage. If anything it was probably going to be a disadvantage.

Pheasant, of course, had still made a stink about it but Jet, the apparent over-seer for this shit show, had decreed it acceptable so that was the end of that.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Hey, melon-head!" Jet called as she approached, startling Flame into dropping his elbow-pads. "Players are getting into position. Get your tail out there! You too, Umber."

Flame's heart leapt up his throat but he swallowed it down. "Y...yeah, OK." Hastily he fastened the rest of his gear and took a breath. Whew. OK. This was happening.

Umber touched their snouts together quickly. "Good luck!" he cheered before vanishing and Flame slowly made his way to the other side of the field, talons heavy on fried nerves. To his surprise, Clay fell in beside him.

"Nervous?" the MudWing asked, his face a miasma of agitation and jitters.

Flame checked around to make sure no one was in ear shot before leaning in and murmuring, "Very."

"Heh, same." Clay rolled his shoulders, working the movement down towards his wings in circular motions. "I just hope I do a good job, ya know? I don't want to disappoint my sibs."

And I don't want to be squashed like a bug, Flame silently fretted. His organs and bones winced at the thought of Pheasant's hefty body slamming into his with the force of a supernova. He imagined himself dying in Umber's arms, the small dragon crying as Flame gave his dying wish of being buried with his graphicoll collection. Then, dramatically, he would close his eyes and Umber would shout a curse to the sky and promise to avenge him.

Also there would be lots of explosions and Pheasant would get punched somewhere in there.

It was the friendly face of Reed that released him from this daydreams. The large MudWing ambled up to meet the two approaching dragons, his eyes warm rings of amber and gold. Despite himself Flame couldn't help but to get caught in their glowing haze; they were just so much like Umber's.

"Welcome to the team, Flame," he greeted a little shyly. "So...I realize now I proooobably should give you a run-down on what exactly is going on here."

"If it's not too much trouble," Flame replied with more tartness than he meant. His anxiety was slipping through. Reed didn't seem to notice, or didn't react to it at least. Instead he clapped Flame on the back and nearly sent the SkyWing reeling into the ground.

"Of course! So, you and Clay are both going to play support. All you have to do is flank me and be open to catching the ball and tossing it back to me. Got it?"

"Oh!" Flame perked. "OK, well that doesn't seem too bad – "

"While also not being body-slammed by the other team's members," Sora piped up.

"Hm. Oh." His short lived enthusiasm withered. Guess he was gonna die after all.

"Alright players," Jet cheerfully called, swooping above the field with a leather-skin ball in talon, "get into position!" Somewhere along the line she had also managed to snatch a bone-whittled whistle and Flame was really wondering where she got all this shit.

"Here we go! This is happening! AAAH!" Clay took a few deep breaths and Sora touched their wings together in a comforting gesture.

"You'll do great. Both of you will." She gave Flame two encouraging thumbs up and Flame mentally promised to make her a batch of cookies for being so nice.

"We'll all do great," Reed assured. He put his talon out before him, motioning for the others to do the same until their talons were stacked one on top of the other. "On the count of three: one – two – three – "

"GO TEAM ROCK-SLIDE!" they shouted together and split apart.

Clay went to the position Reed pointed to that was somewhere to the right side of the field while Sora flew to the rear. Flame was given the left side and solemnly marched over to take his place. He glanced at his team-mates from the corner of his eye, mimicking their postures while simultaneously scanning the other side for Umber.

The small MudWing had taken position on the opposite side, across from Clay. A pang of disappointment that Umber was so far away hitched his chest, but it was nothing compared to the crushing dread that swallowed him as he saw Pheasant make her way to his side of the field. When she saw who she'd be up against a moment of surprised rinsed over her face before cold annoyance.

The two locked eyes as the MudWing took her stance in front of him, neither willing to be the first to look away.

"You really shouldn't have come back," she muttered, crouching before him on the other side of the line. "You don't belong with us, or with Umber."

Burning bile rose in his throat but he forced it down and snarled out a, "Go tell someone who gives a shit."

A shrill whistle pierced his eardrums and from the corner of his eye he saw Jet drop the ball. Ignoring Pheasant he clenched his teeth and focused. OK. You got this, Flame. It's not about winning or losing, it's about proving that I can handle whatever these MudWings can throw at me. I will not surrender. No matter what happens I will not yield to –

These thoughts were cut short as a boulder came in hard from the left and slammed into his ribcage. Flame crumpled to the ground, breath evacuating his lungs through a violent wheeze that was more rattle-y than what was probably healthy. Black dots swarmed his vision. He laid on his back, coughing air back into his unwilling lungs as the Pheasant-boulder stood over him.

Jet's whistled cried out and everyone stopped in their place. "Foul on the left field!" she announced. Pheasant glared up at her.

"Foul? What for?"

"For crushing Flame!" Umber cried, appearing in the center of the field. In several urgent leaps the small MudWing reached Flame and pulled him up. Flame leaned against him, grateful, and slowly began to catch his breath. Umber glared at his sister. "You can't just tackle him for no reason!"

"I had a reason!" she insisted. "It's a classic offensive opening!"

"Not according to the rules," Jet said as she settled to the ground. "While contact is not prohibited, Flame didn't even have the ball and he wasn't making any motion towards it...in fact I don't think the ball even touched the ground...anyway, it's a foul for unsportsman-like behaviour."

"That's the stupidest rule I've ever heard!" Pheasant snapped her wings against her sides like a whip. "MudWings don't play like that."

The look Jet gave her was iron wrapped in ice. "Well," she simpered, "I only know SkyWing rules so that's the version we're playing. If you don't like it you're free to go." Unapologetic and stone-faced Jet bore a striking resemblance to her mother Zephyr at the moment. Flame was impressed to say the least. By the lashing of her tail, though, Pheasant was not but she dare not say a word.

"So what's the penalty for that?" Sora's willowy voice balanced along the strings of tension between her sister and lover.

"Other team gets first go at the ball," Jet decided promptly and tossed the ball to Reed. "Flame, are you still good to play?"

Concerned eyes fell on him from all directions (except Pheasant) and he tried to sit straight. The entire left side of his body was throbbing and with each breath he felt a pinch in his ribs. "I'm fine."

Warm talons brushed against his arm. "You sure?" Umber asked in a tone that indicated he didn't believe Flame for a second. The SkyWing gave a crooked smile.

"It's gonna take more than a few broken ribs to stop me." It had been meant as a joke but Umber's eyes flared with terrified concern. Flame quickly latched the tip of his tail to Umber's. "Really! I'm OK!"

"In that case," Jet began, summersaulting into the air, "everyone back in position. At my call the match starts again!" She paused. "Erm, well, actually maybe you should switched spots with Clay, Flame. Just because...well...you know." Without further explanation needed Flame gratefully swapped with Clay who gave him an encouraging smile as they passed.

It was an even bigger relief when he remembered who he would be facing against. Fizzy warmth spread along his scales as he took his position across from Umber, the two pretending to exchanges hostilities.

"You ready to get defeated, SkyWing?" Umber mock-growled. Crouched in his ready stance, Flame couldn't distract himself from the way the sunlight contoured over Umber's muscles and caught the golden flecks that dappled his shoulders.

"Yes – SHIT I MEAN NO. Crap I wasn't ready. Ask the question again."

"No backsies," Umber said in triumph and Flame really wanted to kiss that smug grin off his adorable face.

Before Flame could think of something lame to say back Jet blew the whistle and the game was on.

"Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit," Flame mumbled. His eyes rolled in every direction looking for the ball among the churning and grunting coalition of MudWings wrestling in the center. "WHAT DO I DO!?"

"Just stay back and be ready to catch," Umber offered through a quick whisper from the corner of his mouth, his eyes not once leaving the center of action. Flame nodded, following Umber's example.

OK just stay alert. Look for the ball. The ball is life. Be ready. Any moment it could come soaring your way.

"FLAME! CATCH!" a voice shouted and Flame looked just in time to see a round object being hurled towards him at an alarming speed. With frenzied panic Flame twisted his torso towards the projectile mere moments before it struck his chest dead center and his vision went dark. Seconds later the world reappeared and he was flat on his back, the vast blue above him like a song of soft clouds and birds.

He staggered to his feet and rubbed his chest with one talon, looking with confusion at the ball in his other. He did a double take. "OH MY MOONS I CAUGHT IT I ACTUALLY CAUGHT IT! Guys! Did you see that I – OH FUCK!"

Triumph turned terror as a herd of enormous MudWings were galloping his way; the earth shook as they stampeded towards him – towards the round orb in his talons. Flame did the most logical and immediate thing that came to his mind: he screamed and took to the air, nearly colliding with Jet during his escape. Second later the air was filled with more dragons, all chasing after him.

"AAAH WHAT DO I DO!?" He might have been the fastest flier of the bunch but his wings sputtered to keep this low to the ground while dodging incoming threats. In the back of his mind Flame realized he would have probably died instantly if he had ever had to fight in the war.

"FLAME! OVER HERE! I'M OPEN!" Fighting to be seen through the cloud of dragons was Clay, waving his arms frantically. Flame hastily took aim but just before he could throw a brown figure whizzed by and snatched the ball away. Flame's jaw swung open, aghast, when Umber blew him a smug kiss, the ball neatly tucked beneath his arm.

That handsome thief, he mused, more than a little impressed, but he would not be so easily foiled. With his nervousness gone, Flame decided it was time to show them what a SkyWing could do. The muscles along his back and shoulder-blades contracted hard to bring heavy wings into a swooping upward arc. He paused like that, suspended in the air for a fraction of a second then felt the muscles of his chest twitch and spasm to push his wings into a powerful down stroke.

He shot through the air, the world at the fringes of his vision blurred from the speed and the wind toppled over his wings, unable to get out of the way fast enough. By now the ball had been passed to Pheasant; she was headed straight for Sora and their goal post. Flame gritted his teeth.

Not today, bitch.

Another powerful stroke of his wings caught him up with the others. He rolled to the side to avoid colliding with Jet as she hovered over the area like a judgemental angel of rules and regulations. Soon enough he had passed Clay who was meandering at the back, then Reed, and as he passed Umber he gave the little dragon a wing-check and a saucy wink.

Now it was only him and Pheasant. He didn't have the skills to swoop in and snatch the ball away, so he thought of the next best thing which wasn't really all that great to begin with but here he was doing so oh well. The SkyWing tucked his wings in tightly and dived, making his body as rigid as possible to brace for impact.

It felt like a feather hitting a mountain. Flame ricocheted off Pheasant, rolling several times on the hard, cold earth. Even with his wings tucked in he still felt every bump and stone and jolt as they passed over his body. Finally he came to a halt and wondered they the hell he had thought that would be a good idea. At least the plan had sort of worked. The force of his entire weight slamming into her had been enough to make her stumble at least. She faltered and was forced to drop her talons down to brace herself against the ground and the ball went tumbling from her grasp and into Sora's.

A whistle was blown and Jet landed among them. "We've got a double snake at the walby. Players reset at the quarter mark and someone go see if Flame is dead."

Flame tried to call out he was fine but only a weird gargling sound came out. Huh. That couldn't be good.

"Oh no, Flame!" Umber was at his side in an instant. "Flame...speak to me. Can you hear my voice? Don't go towards the light! Quick, someone get a doctor..."

"I'm not dying you baboon!" Flame sat up on his haunches and gave his wings a careful stretched to assess the damage. Bruised but usable. He would be fine...probably. "It was all part of my genius plan."

"More like suicidal," Reed spoke as he reached the two dragons. His tone was almost reprimanding, like an older brother scolding his reckless sibling, but his eyes held a glinting flicker of admiration as he help Flame to his feet. "It was awesome, though."

"And let me guess, there's no penalty for that?" Pheasant asked in all hues of contempt. Jet looked at her and shrugged.

"Well...no. It was a legal move so..."

Pheasant snorted, her tail lashing. "So when I do it it's a penalty but when HE does it its fine. I see how it is. It's because he's a SkyWing, isn't it? You let him get away with stuff!"

Jet's face sagged in disbelief and utter fed-upness. "No. I'm not penalizing him because he DIDN'T BREAK THE RULES!" She blew her whistle aggressively. "EVERYONE GET IN POSITION NOW!"

They didn't need to be told twice, although Pheasant slid Jet one last snakey glare. They spread out in a fan-like formation around Sora's goal line. Flame wasn't a hundred percent sure what was going on but it looked as though Sora was about to throw the ball out and they were probably going to have to scramble after it.

Flame's full concentration was on Sora and hoping she wouldn't throw the ball at him, so he failed to react in time when Pheasant threw her wings out before him, feinting to guard him, and clipped him on the snout.

"Why do you SkyWings have to ruin everything?" she hissed only loud enough for Flame to hear. He pinned his ears back, riled by the taunt, but found he didn't quite have the same energy for his fury. Maybe all the tumbling around had burned off his anger. Huh. Perhaps he should join an organized sport to help is anger issues. He could talk to Starf about it later. Right now he just needed to survive the next twenty minutes facing down Pheasant.

He shoved the MudWing aside, or tried to. The best he managed was to tilt her momentarily off balance before she teetered back. She turned her head sharply to glare at him from the corner of her eye. Flame thought that would be it, but it seemed she had more to give than just a spiteful glance.

"Do you want to know why I dislike you so much?"

So concentrated was he on the ball that it took Flame several second to comprehend she was talking and then another few more to take in what she had asked. By then his chance at a retort had passed. Sora flung the ball out into the field. She didn't throw it to Flame, which he was rather glad about, but instead sent it to Reed who was being pitifully guarded by Umber.

With the ball in motion the dragons followed, shifting now to the other side of the field. Flame lunged after them but stopped short, his face slamming to the ground. Pheasant had dug her heels into his tail. She leapt over him, pausing by his ear just long enough to murmur, "I didn't spend five years keeping him alive in a war just to lose him now," and then she was gone. Flame lumbered to his talons, his anger no longer dormant. Oh, it was on.

He sunk his talons deep into the earth and put on a burst of speed, his limbs moving as fast as he could convince them to go. Compared to this morning he was definitely warmed up now, his muscles and lungs burning as they were challenged in ways they hadn't been for a while (cooking wasn't exactly an endurance hobby). In no time he was back with the others, but now he had a new target. He spotted Pheasant at the front of the group. She was yelling at Umber to pass her the ball, one talon waving at him while the other was pushing Clay's face aside. Flame watched Umber take aim at Pheasant's position with a ready arm. He followed the line of trajectory in his head and with one calculated leap he swatted the ball from the air right before it reached Pheasant's outstretched hand.

As the ball flew to the left and the others hurried after, Flame and Pheasant locked eyes. "You need to get the hell over yourself," Flame quickly hissed. "If you really gave a shit about Umber's happiness you would let him be with who he wants."

Her enraged expression only heightened his satisfaction...until she shoved him aside with the flick of her shoulder. He grunted at the impact although at least this time he didn't get flattened to the ground. "What would you know about Umber's happiness?" she growled. "Did you kill for him? Risk your life for him every day? Mourn with him?" She snorted and shook her head, disgusted. "You'll never understand him like we do."

"Just watch me," Flame threw back and shot upright, sprinting away from Pheasant and her stinging words. Those things didn't matter. Right? He loved Umber and Umber loved him. End of story. What did Pheasant know anyway?

Eager for a distraction he ran hard to the other side of the field but Pheasant grabbed his tail from behind and pulled. "You SkyWings think you know anything about love. Ha! All your tribe ever did was lord themselves over us. I won't let you do that to my brother while pretending to love him."

Flame nearly chocked on his own rage as he spat out, "PRETENDING!?" Smoke poured from his nose like steam. "I have never pretended anything in my life. What you see is what you get, and FOR YOUR INFORMATION I have never ONCE thought myself better than Umber. In fact I am fully aware of how much I don't deserve him but dammit I'm trying."

Despite his best efforts his voice cracked at that last sentence. It had been a long day. He was bruised physically and emotionally, mud and ice caked his scales like thick icing, he might have a broken rib possibly, and to top things all of he now had to deal with Umber's deranged sister that seemed to hate him for no reason at all. He just wanted to lie down in a warm bath and hug Umber.

Slowly and with a few curses he stood, stretching out his knotted back. He dare not look up in fear of meeting that inevitable contempt-full mask over his opponent's face. Instead he observed his shuffling feet. "Look, I'm going to be real with you for a second, even though you don't deserve it," he ignored her snort, "but this is getting fucking stupid and I'm tired and hungry right now and have no patience."

He stretched his neck from side to side, enjoying the pops and cracks that accompanied the motion. Umber thought it was a gross habit but damn if it didn't feel good. "You say I can't understand Umber, that I can never love him like you do, and that I'm just some manipulative SkyWing. Well, first of all, fuck you, and secondly, I don't give a damn what you think!" He managed to get control of his vocal chords somewhat; the last thing we wanted was to become some high-pitched mess of emotions which is what usually happened. "Umber is the most important person to me in the whole world. There isn't a damn thing I wouldn't do for him; no place I wouldn't go, no humiliation I wouldn't put myself through if it meant I could make him happy. But you know what...you're probably right."

At this Pheasant's face struck shocked. Flame curled his tail over his cooling talons, now that he wasn't moving the fine veneer of sweat over his scales was chilling. Flame figured he should shut up before he embarrassed himself even more but for one reason or another he always found it hard to stop once he started. Unable to hold back the emotional word vomit he just let it tumble out.

"Look," he began, "I've been dating your brother for a year but even now I can't shake the feeling that I'm not good enough. So...maybe you're right. Maybe this whole thing is pointless and he'll move on or realize he doesn't want me or find some buff MudWing that's way cooler and nicer than me, but," he swallowed over the hard lump in his throat, "but even if that happens I wouldn't regret a single moment with him because it's the happiest I've ever been and I'm gonna keep loving him with all my heart for as long as he wants me to. So...there," he finished flatly.

Pheasant didn't say anything. She looked confused to say the least, and if Flame was being optimistic, maybe even a tad apologetic. Finally she blew out through her nose and slumped. "I have to admit I...wasn't expecting that."

Flame shrugged. "I don't have anything to hide. I used to keep my feelings to myself but now I don't give a shit."

She nodded slowly, her eyes slipping from Flame's face to focus on something behind him. "Well that's good to know."

Nervous, Flame slowly turned around and gaped in horror at the crowd that had gathered behind him. Reed, Sora, Marsh, Jet, Clay, and Umber were all seated in a semi-circle behind him with various looks of sympathy, or even worse, pity, sketched along their faces save Umber, his amber eyes pools of confusion and heart-break.

Embarrassment flushed over the red dragon. He tried to keep his cool but when he went to speak it sounded like a gargled high-pitched scream. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU ALL BEEN SITTING THERE?!"

"I dunno like a few minutes," Jet answered plainly as if explaining how long she had been waiting in queue to get a taco and not overhearing a very emotional and PRIVATE conversation.

"W...we didn't mean to eavesdrop," Sora added. She fidgeted with her tail, equally as embarrassed as Flame, "but we couldn't really keep playing without you two so we paused to see what was going on..."

"And OH BOY was it enlightening!" Jet burst out moments before getting jabbed in the ribs by Sora. Flame's mortification only deepened, but as Umber stepped forward, his brow feathered into a low-hanging line of distress, did that mortification turn to gut-twisting guilt.

"Flame...is that how you've felt this whole time?" His question bordered on disbelief and anger. Flame bunched his wings together and looked at the ground; his silence was answer enough. His boyfriend took a step forward. "I thought you got over those feelings! How many times do I have to say I love you before you believe it? How many times do I have to tell you I'm not going to leave you for some MudWing or SeaWing or WHATEVER because no matter how amazing they are they'll never be you?" He had been slowly walking forward the whole time and now he stood right directly before Flame's bowed head. Flame heard a sigh blow through the MudWing's nose and suddenly there was a talon on his chin, gently pushing it up. Orange eyes met amber and the world melted away in a foggy mist. Flame barely registered Sora shooing everyone away or the remaining figure off to the side.

There was only Umber and the warmth of his palm as it trailed up his jaw to cup his cheek. "How do I prove that I love you just as much as you love me? I'm serious." He brought his other talon to Flame's face to hold the red snout steady before his uncharacteristically intense gaze. "Because whatever it is I'll do it. Whatever you need me to do, whatever it takes, it doesn't matter, but please just tell me."

A heartbeat of silence followed that cued Flame to answer.... but he couldn't. What could he say? He would never make Umber go through some task or test to prove his love. It wasn't Umber's fault that Flame was a self-doubting idiot, but now his stupidness had gone and made the MudWing upset and now Umber was looking at him with eyes spindled in desperation for an answer that Flame didn't and never would have.

One heartbeat became two. Thousands of potential words of comfort raced over his tongue but they all tasted flat and dead.

Well...all but three.

The three most powerful words Flame had ever known.

They crashed in his head like a crescendo to drown out all other thoughts and fears and Flame couldn't hold himself back from taking Umber in his arms and hugged him tightly.

"I love you." His small voice cracked and splintered trying to contain such mighty words and all he could do was hold Umber close. The MudWing gasped, maybe at the words or the action, but didn't resist. Scales of soft petals slid over Flame's as Umber's head came to rest in the cruck of his neck. A faint exhale of defeated amusement blew against Flame's neck.

"What am I gonna do with you?" Umber murmured and Flame wasn't sure if it was one of those rhetorical questions or not but he felt inclined to answer anyway.

"Well I don't know about you but I could go for some spicy noodles right about now." He hoped it would make Umber laugh and relief soothed his racing heart when Umber reached up to nuzzle his chin with a kiss.

"This conversation isn't over just so you know," the small dragon turned his stern eyes upwards to meet Flame's but they quickly softened, "but luckily for you I'm not going to turn down a bowl of noodles."

Flame smiled. Umber smiled. Life became a lot less shitty.

A withering sigh punctured the moment and both males turned to see Pheasant. Unlike the others she hadn't politely excused herself, and now she sat staring at them with immense judgement.

"Pheasant!" Umber was the first to break the silence. "T..this was a private conversation!" The faded red of his cheeks was blooming again as he tried to scold his sister. Flame, however, watched Pheasant with silent interest. Was he seeing things or did she look...softer? Less like an angry hippo about to take a bite out of his ass and more like a hippo that was still pretty annoyed but not enough to actually attack.

She opened her mouth but closed it in silence, swishing words around in her mouth before trying again until finally an, "I...guess I owe you an apology," sputtered out.

Flame snorted. "Too late for that! Didn't your mother – erm – sibs ever teach you it's rude to eavesdrop?"

"No not for that!" She stomped her foot then took a deep count-to-10-and-calm-down kind of breath; the kind Flame used on a daily basis. "I'm saying sorry because..." her voice seemed stuck in her throat. Her defiant posture wilted and she wrapped her tail over her talons, her expression akin to someone trying to swallow thistles. "...I was wrong about you and about your feelings for my brother. So...my bad."

Umber jolted in surprise and Flame's ears pricked up. "Come again?" he implored with edge. After all the bullshit she had put him through was that the best apology she could offer?! Nuh-uh. There had better be more than that.

The female pursed her lips, ears flat against her head.

"Come on, Pheasant," Umber chided. "I think Flame and I BOTH deserve a little more than an 'oops my bad'."

Pheasant's tail lashed but not even she was could defy those amber eyes of her brother. At length she nodded, gaze downcast. "I...guess I let my own feelings get the better of me. During the war we might have been allied with the SkyWings but they still treated us like dirt." Her words burned with hurt pride and she glanced up at Flame, the scorn weakening. "I thought you were just another arrogant SkyWing playing with my little brother's feelings for the fun of it. But...I can see you really love him." She offered up a smile; partially strained and a little tired but a smile nonetheless. "If you want to be his partner then I'm OK with that..." she narrowed her eyes semi-playfully, "but I'm still watching you."

"Pheasant!" Umber cried indignantly to which the female chuckled.

"Sorry, Umber. Can't help myself." Pheasant shrugged her wings helplessly to contrast the smirk on her face. "You're still my little brother after-all. He could be King of the seven coloured earths and I would still wack him over the head if he made you upset."

King of the seven what now?

The male MudWing, unable to hear Flame's silent confusion, continued the conversation with a soft grimace. "I can take care of myself you know. I'm not a helpless hatchling."

The playful glint of Pheasant's eyes dulled to somber. She sighed, the sunlight carving rivulets of copper-gold into her slouched back. "I know." She got to her feet and went to Umber, pulling him into a half-winged hug. "I keep forgetting how smart you are."

Feeling like he was getting pushed aside again, Flame piped up. "So – uh – does that mean we're cool now?"

Pheasant looked him over once more, stiff yet amicable. "It might take me a while to get used to the idea still but," she paused, eyes flicking to Umber then back, "you're important to Umber, so I guess I'll have to deal with you whether I want to or not." The last sentence was said more with a playful tease rather than actual scorn. She winked. "So yeah, I guess we're cool. In fact, as a show of my goodwill let me take you guys out for those noodles you mentioned....and definitely because I am a good sister and not just because I want noodles."

"Noodles?"

Behind them the little mock-game of wing-ball came to a pause as the MudWings honed in on the food related conversation. Clay, of course, was the first to step forward.

"Did someone say noodles? I love SkyWing noodles!"

"I'd say it's about lunch time anyway," Marsh added, tossing the ball in the air a few times before setting it down. "All this gaming has really worked up an appetite."

Murmurs of agreement rose among the other mud dragons and Flame bit his lip. It was a sorry noodle house indeed that was going to have to feed this troop.

"I know a great place to go!" Jet spoke up, a flash of pink and orange among the earthy browns. She looked up at the sky, gauging the position of the sun. "If we get there now we should beat the lunch rush but we have to hurry!"

"O..oh! OK just give me a sec!" With panicked hurry Marsh gathered as much of the equipment as possible into his fumbling talons. With each helmet or elbow pad grabbed another fell out. Finally Sora and Clay stepped in to offer assistance. Jet was already in the air, urging them to hurry with the promise of 10% discounts and free drinks if they got the daily special.

By the time all the equipment was collected and dropped off the noon crowd was just getting warmed up. In town food vendors were heating griddles and building fires beneath meats dripping with fats and oils. The scent of vibrant spices burned the inside of Flame's nose as he and Jet had to pull the MudWings away from several food-stalls with suckling pig and racks of sizzling meat – or tried to. In the end they did have to stop at a skewer place; it was just too good to pass up. They were coated in deep red chili oil and the smoke that fumed made the lining of Flame's throat burn. Perfect.

Pheasant, to her credit, seemed to be watching herself at least. She still glared murder when a SkyWing rudely pushed past or accidentally stepped on her tail, but she held her tongue. Flame had even watched her hold a good ten second long conversation with Jet that could be described as friendly if not awkwardly so. Flame gave a curt not of appreciated. Maybe there was hope for Pheasant yet. He was still a pretty miffed about the whole thing though but if she was willing to try than so was he. He'd be a hypocrite otherwise.

It was during this slow romp through the street foods of the Capitol that Flame was approached by Reed.

"Hey, could I talk to you for a sec?" His features were soft like rabbit fur and once again those firelight eyes put him at ease. He liked Reed and, as much as he pretended not to care, he really hoped Reed liked him too. This might have shown through in his overenthusiastic reply but Reed paid little mind as he took them a few paces away from the others, closer to the quiet alley between booths that a full grown dragon could barely squeeze through. Flame cast a quick look over this shoulder to check on the others.

They were still busy ordering their sticks of pork-skin and other organ meat; their stomachs busying their minds. Well, except for Umber of course. He had noticed Flame's disappearance. The small MudWing looked around for him, concern pulling down his brows before he spotted Flame a few meters away. He made a motion to follow but Flame gave him a reassuring nod to stay put. He seriously doubted Reed was about to shank him in the streets.

Once alone Reed gave a wry sigh. "You're not in trouble or anything, ha." He rubbed his neck and for the first time Flame noticed the intricate pattern of honeyed scales over russet brows like lacework around his neck and broad shoulders. They were like twice as broad as Flame's and the SkyWing tried not to think of how scrawny he must look next to this mass of earth-cloaked muscles. Flame was forced to stop staring when Reed continued with a, "I just wanted to check to see if everything was OK. How are you doing?"

The red dragon brows quizzed. "Um...fine?"

"What's the look for?" Reed asked, amused. "Do SkyWings not ask those kinds of questions?"

Flame went to retort that of COURSE they do but it dawned on him that thus far in his contrived and confusing life only Starf and Umber had ever asked questions like that. Even his own mother preferred to just demand answers when she suspected something was wrong. He calmly closed his retort-primed mouth and sucked his lower lip in defeat.

Reed tilted his head knowingly. "I know you and Pheasant were having some issues but I saw you all talking earlier. I wanted to know if everything was alright between you."

Flame balked, strings of warmth spindling between the walls of his chest cavity. "That's nice of you to ask and all but...shouldn't you be checking on Pheasant instead? I'm not even a sib."

He shrugged. "You're Umber's partner so that pretty much makes you an honorary sib, and sibs look out for each other." Reed gave him an affectionate, bone-jarring smack on the arm with his wing. Flame hoped the pained tears in his eyes weren't too obvious. "So welcome to the family I guess. Any questions on what it takes to be a MudWing?"

The SkyWing was about to shrug it off with a laugh but then something did some to mind. "Actually yeah I have a question. What the hell are the Seven Coloured Earths?"

"Oh you don't know?" Appearing from the crowd with a bouquet of still steaming skewers was Pheasant. With an elegance that reminded Flame of his younger brother trying to eat a plate of lasagna (a truly horrifying sight to behold), Pheasant gulped down a few of the skewers with ravenous fervor. She belched and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It's only the most important MudWing folktale ever! If you wanna be a MudWing you gotta learn it by heart."

The shy head of Marsh poked its way around Pheasant's thick arm. "Are we talking about MudWing stories?" he asked. "I always liked the one with the talking crocodile that was really a prince...what was that called again?"

"You mean the Princess and the Croc?" Sora asked. She arrived with Jet, Clay, and Umber who all had meat sticks of their own. Flame hoped that at least someone had remembered to get him some since, based on the herd of disappointed faces leaving the line, the booth had run out.

"Well if we're sharing MudWing stories then I have a few SkyWing legends I could tell," Jet offered with a voice dull and nonchalant that was betrayed by her glimmering eyes.

Sora patted her girlfriend's arm with wry amusement. "Yes honey, I know how much you love to tell your stories but, for the sake of letting others get a word in, maybe that can wait for another night."

"Oh yeah!" Pheasant beamed, most of her food was already gone and stuck between her teeth. "Tonight we're having the best story telling sleep over EVER!" She slurped up the rest of her food and tossed the wooden sticks approximately close to the garbage. "Come on! We have so much stuff to prepare and we haven't even been to that noodle place yet!"

Flame looked around with mild confusion as the group move in unison towards their original destination, chatting excitedly and chewing on meat. Only Umber and Reed stayed back.

Flame looked at his boyfriend. "Sleepover?" he repeated. "Did she say sleepover?"

Umber sheepishly handed him a few skewers of chicken gizzard, Flame's favourite, and looked at the ground like it was the coolest thing since someone put gizzard on a stick and set it on fire. "Uh. Well. We were talking and we decided that just one day wasn't enough to catch up. We asked Jet if there was a cheap place for them to stay for a few days and she said there were some empty rooms at the Healing Center so..."

"So we're staying for a week!" Reed boomed and gathered the two shorter dragons up in his wings with a vice grip. Flame groaned, and not just because he felt his ribs pop in several places.

A whole week with Umber's sibs. A whole week with Pheasant.

Flame had never had issues with high blood pressure before but he had a feeling it was going to become an issue.

At length Reed put them down and Flame's lungs snapped open to take in a gulp of air. Umber merely laughed at Flame's ghastly face.

"Oh don't look so terrified. It'll be great!" Umber said while Flame tried to think of several day-long recipes he could use as an escape. His scheming came to a stuttering stop when Umber reached up to kiss him on the cheek. Quietly he added, "Besides, with so many guests bunking in our room I might have to stay with you for a while."

The tone of his voice was implication enough.

At the sound of Reed's throat clearing the two shuffled apart, not that they were fooling anyone of course.

"We should go find that noodle place before they run out of food," Reed semi-joked but all three suddenly grew very anxious. Umber gobbled down his food quickly and led the way with the others trailing behind. While Flame grappled with his own snack Reed sidled up to his right. "And don't worry, I'll tell you all about MudWing marriage traditions later. I have a feeling you'll be needing that information." He winked and stepped away, pretending as if nothing had happened while Flame tried not to choke on the wooden stick in his mouth.

Oooooooh boy.

This was going to be quite the week.

THE END

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Author's Note:

Oof.

So this was journey. So three chapters later this "one-shot" is now complete. I don't feel the greatest about this story but I opted for finished rather than perfect.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it :3