Now, though, she wasn't very far away, at all. In fact, she was coming closer, completely unaware of his presence-- though she was thinking about him! He grinned invisibly in the shadow of the airlock, waiting, waiting juuuust a moment more--

And there she was, just passing beneath him. Leaping into visibility as well as into the air, Aedelian pounced for her, aiming to just catch the silky tuft of fur on her tail and startle her. She squawked and veered, whipping her tail out of reach just in time. Aedelian couldn't help but laugh as she exclaimed back at him, ::Aedel! You scared me!:: She banked, coming around to get a better view of him, while he swooped down and pulled up, coming towards her again, though with less intention to pounce and startle. One good squeak was enough, for now.

::That was much too sneaky,:: she scolded lightly, her heart racing as she mock-glared at him. ::Trying to catch me, were you?:: Somehow, despite it being thought-speech instead of verbal speech, she managed to give what she said two meanings. He could only laugh a little more, falling in behind her as she settled into a glide again, swatting playfully at her tail.

::I only learn from the best, my dear sneaky Vyly,:: he proclaimed teasingly. ::And do forgive my forwardness. After all, your tail-plume is just so lovely that I couldn't resist.:: Well, and the rest of her, but it was more fun to just compliment that little bit and see how she reacted. In response, she slowed just enough to whap him in the face with that tail-plume. He made a show of trying to bite at it, while not really trying all that hard. He didn't want to hurt her or interrupt her flight, after all.

::And I suppose you'd rather pluck it off and display it somewhere, hmm?::

::Well, no, actually, I rather like it right where it is.::

She cast a glance over her shoulder at him, then stuck out her long tongue at him. He laughed: childish, maybe, but she was energetic, and it was cute, besides. ::You dirty old man, you!:: she sent, but she was hardly serious. She'd taken the fact that he was a good two centuries older than she was very well; it helped that she knew Avengaean dragons like him lived to be at least three-hundred, he thought.

::You're good on the ground, Aedel, but how are you in the air?:: she taunted. The thought had crossed her mind that she felt like a chase, and Aedelian was in no way adverse to that.

::As if you have to ask, Vyly,:: he scoffed at her. ::I'm an Air dragon, after all!::

Vyly laughed, then took another dive. Aedelian dove after her, hearing her retort loud and clear and with the sensation of breathlessness and adrenaline: ::Oh, come now, can your "fire dragons" walk through fire? Names are just names!::

::Actually,:: he sent back drolly, ::they can.::

She didn't pay much attention to the sally, distracted by-- something. If he had to put a name on it, he'd call it-- oh dear, he didn't want to put that name on it. He felt the skin on his face, beneath his fur, heating up with embarrassment as she told him, putting her own name to the feeling for him, ::Well, if you're going to try and catch me, I'm going to give you a run for your money! The body doesn't lie, you know.::

And with that scant warning, she took off like a shot. She wasn't lying when she'd said the chase wouldn't be an easy one, but Aedelian wasn't an Air dragon for nothing. With only a split second's hesitation, while he warred between the thrill of a chase with a lady-dragon who actually wanted him, and the embarrassment that this was his friend and someone who he actually cared about, he took off after her. The former inclination won out, because he was hardly a stranger to sex, as old as he was, and so had no reason to be embarrassed-- he'd tried to catch strangers twice, after all!-- and if she wanted to be more than a friend, well, he had thoughts of his own on the matter that weren't all that different.

::We'll see just who gives who a run for their money,:: sent after her. He was an Air dragon in more than his love of flight, after all; the wind in the flight deck picked up, just enough to fill their wings and bouy them up in the chase.

Of course, being the wonderfully contrary lady that she was, Vyly darted away from the convenient, friendly breezes, veering around and making straight for the pillars of air jets that Aedelian had only recently been hiding among. Oh, wonderful, he thought as he caught her intent, partly amused and partly annoyed. Agility test. He raced after her, determined to prove he was every bit the aerial dancer as she was. She wove in and around the powerful gusts that had more than once before been the downfall of chasers on this deck, but Aedelian knew where and when they all were and could navegate them as smoothely, though perhaps not as gracefully, as Vyly could. The fancy spins and turns she went through weren't the easiest of manuevers, and from her mindset, she was daring him to do the same.

Well, let's see how I do, he thought to himself. He hadn't actually done any really fancy air dancing since before Meren' died, and he felt woefully out of practice. Even so, the whole point of the chase was to impress the lady, so he'd do his best. He ducked around one jet with a tricky twirl, dodged that one with a hair-pin turn, and then the flash of green and white and the instant of decision alerted him that this game was no longer her goal. He shot out after her as she made for clear air-- or what she thought was clear air; Aedelian could play games, as well, and he hoped that his could impress her, as well.

A burst of air leapt into motion, catching at Vyly's wings and lofting her suddenly higher-- not into Aedelian, of course; that would be cheating. But certainly off-course, and into a speed much faster and a thermal much higher than she'd anticipated. The sudden change had her putting all her strength and energy into compensating, and he was impressed that she did so well at keeping control of her flight. He swooped below her, watching and grinning, as she sputtered, laughing and 'glaring' at him again, ::Oh, that was rotten! You think you can play games, can you?::

And with that, Aedelian felt a surge of power-- she had magic? other than turning invisible?-- and raced back at him so quickly that he could not doubt that she had magic. She shot at him, pulling back just to fly circles around him-- literally. Spiralling around him at double-speed while he gaped, impressed, she teased, ::You're not the only one whose got a few tricks up their sleeve!::

::You don't even have any sleeves!:: he countered laughingly as she pulled away, back at normal speed. He would have to learn that trick, someday. But not now, because that magic had drained her, and she wasn't even flying fast enough to keep them the same distance apart. So now he had other things on his mind. Such as catching up.

Wheeling about and after her, he pulled back his errant winds and put them beneath his wings, pushing him forward and towards her, letting them dance away and around him just as that lovely tail plume that had started it all was within reach. He leapt for it, for her, and drew her back towards him with a purr; she didn't even make a token resistance, this time, giving up the chase for something sweeter. The wind would hold them up; they had other things to think about.

Riser	Chasers	Winners
Vyly Female Green Air Geperna Derivative	Aedelian Landwerlen Male Avengaean Makanan Asandus	Aedelian Landwerlen Male Avengaean Makanan Asandus

Written by Gayle and Dracothrope.