Page 91 of To Fight and To Fold

"I slept on you last night!" Thea tried again. "We were practically friends!"

The dragon did not move.

"He learned this from you, you know," Thea complained, hands on her hips and trying not to let a smile crack her mask of indifferent annoyance as Aaryn wiped a tear away.

"What exactly is that?" Aaryn asked in an amused sigh.

"He doesn't listen," Thea complained. "How else are you going to navigate the circle without letting me guide you there?"

Starspark blinked his eyes open at that, but he still didn't turn to face her.

"I listen!" Aaryn argued, and Thea cut a glance at her.

"Do you?" Thea drawled.

Her cheeks flushed, and Thea felt like she'd won already.

"I was—It's not polite to say 'I told you so,' you know," she finally muttered. Now her arms were crossed too, and Starspark looked identical to her.

Thea’s heart fluttered with something she should probably have the healer look at.

She cleared her throat and took a long, mocking step away. "Alright, then. I guess since Starspark doesn't want to give me a ride, we'll have to use the transportation runes. Come on, Aaryn. We can come back for Starspark later."

Thea heard the grass shuffle, and something bumped her. When she turned, Starspark was planted in the grass, belly to the ground and head lowered as if waiting for her to climb on. His gaze was still narrowed, still suspicious, but his tail flicked in excitement.

"That's what I thought." Thea offered him an affectionate stroke on his side. "You go first," she said to Aaryn.

"But—can we just—do that? Ride him?" Aaryn asked, stepping closer. Starspark turned his head, eyes on Aaryn, and she was glancing around as if someone might pop out from behind a tree to halt them.

"This isn't Evergale. There's no one here to tell you what to do. Starspark is yours, no one else's."

"Starspark is his own," Aaryn corrected. "I'm just his favorite person. Right, Starspark?" He answered with a high-pitched hum. "It won't hurt him?"

"He's strong, don't worry," Thea told her.

Even laying down, even without feeding on magic, Starspark was so large that Aaryn would have to jump and grab onto his scales to hoist herself up. Starspark would be fine.

"Climb on like this. Foot here," Thea said, and tapped her hand against the hardest scales on Starspark's side, where he'd feel the least pressure. "Then you see the scales up there, on the back of his neck?" Extra-tough to protect the dragon himself. "Grab the opposite side, and pull yourself. Up you go."

Aaryn drew in a deep breath, lip caught between her teeth to bite down on excitement, and Thea swallowed, standing back. She was ready to catch her if it went awry, but Aaryn was a natural. Foot on the scale, hands shaking, she stepped up, and— Starspark moved with her, tilting his head to make the scales easier to reach, shrugging his shoulder to get her into place. Aaryn settled over his neck with a squeak, eyes wide.

"Holy scale," she breathed, hands stroking over the back of his head. "Starspark!"

Aaryn was practically glowing in delight, seeing the world from the back of Starspark's neck for the first time.

"Permission to come aboard?" Thea asked softly. She noticed Starspark did not help her into place, but Thea settled behind Aaryn all the same.

Thighs bracketing Aaryn's backside. Inspiring. Chest pressed to her back. Lovely.

She cleared her throat, horns burning, and tapped her shoe into the back of Aaryn's foot, slotting it behind a scale. "Brace here," she said. Polite. All business, Thea reached around Aaryn and caught her hand, leading it to the ridge of scales at Starspark's neck. "Hold on here."

Aaryn stilled against her, and Thea's gaze slid over, and she realized how close they were. How close their faces were, because Thea was wildly aware of Aaryn's body against her own.

Thea jerked back, not wanting to crowd her, and breathed out an awkward chuckle. "Uhm, let's—Slowly," she emphasized for Starspark's benefit. "He's gonna push off and⁠—"

Aaryn's excited scream was lost to the air as Starspark leapt, wings flaring at his back to send them into the sky. Trees whizzed past, and Thea grabbed onto Aaryn, crowding her and then some as she flattened herself to Aaryn's back, reaching around her to grab onto the scales herself for extra stability.

"Starspark!" Thea shouted—and her complaint was suddenly deafening as Starspark reached the barrier, which opened thanks to the chuckling druids on watch, and flattened his wings to silently glide in the direction of the next isle. "Sorry," she apologized to Aaryn.