His Quest for Raine

========  Raine ======== Life is different now.  There’s no mistaking it. Knowledge has awakened her and not even death provided renewal as deeply into her mind as it once had, and for that she was thankful.  Her life cycles before this adventure had her wondering who she was and furthermore if she even was. If life was all a chance. Maybe it was for some but not for Raine. Her energy belonged solely to her.  After being thrown back into the emptiness that space could provide, only to gather her memories, to string them together as a purpose and use them as power to return, Raine knew she was meant for more. She was meant for them, she thought as she turned to face Melchoir who now had Brandon within his dragon form again. Raine smiled at the thought of their on again, off again relationship. She wondered when they would be at peace with each other or if there would always be trials between them, before catching his eye of course.  Raine moved from where she stood, bathed in sunlight as the sun began to set. Her human form still seemed to buzz a little, unsure of what to do next. She was never worried about Melchior losing his temper with her, especially not while she remained in her human form. He was just as gentle with her now as he would be in her dragon form and it said more than he could possibly know about his character that he would put up with her here, like this.  “Nah now, Little One,” he grumbled as she got closer.  Raine knew what he was going to say as if he was in her head along with her.  “I’ve just heated the…” he stops his speech as she moves forward. Her body moved delicately, like a dancer as her form flowed and changed along with her. Raine practiced the movements since being twisted upon and turned around within The Wall. There she fought with her dragon form to release her true self but now she called upon her beautiful aesthetically combined body to quiet her lover. Raine’s slight responses to the pain of the heat beneath the ground made Melchoir wince along with her but she was quick to recover. Her scales finally thickening underfoot helped her recover. His eyes soon traveled up her armored legs to her slender body, waiting for her to enlarge which made her smirk in the process.  It was hard but also amusing to learn how to accept his perception of beauty being that she had been masked as a human for so long. Idly, she wondered if celestials had compelling interests too but that's besides the point. Melchoir made her feel a deeper connection and that was a possibility she wanted to explore.  Raine’s body continued to conform to his. Her size enlarged. Her neck extended… she could feel the way her scales layered, even in the more sensitive areas, such as down her chest and under her front legs. Her thickening skin made it easier to deal with as she went on but Raine was positive there was a better way. She released her tail at the feel of her balance leaving her and as she swooshed it from right to left her hindbrain exclaimed as if it were an instinct she never had, to lift and open her wings for support.  Raine did so with a slight flare of expertise that she hadn’t had before either. She wonders momentarily if it’s the way Melchoir’s eyes remain on hers, unable to move from his space just beyond her, or if he had control over her efforts. The second, while confusing, would have made sense as she couldn’t quite understand what it was capable of reaching her while she focused on her shift. However, Melchoir didn’t seem like a dragon who would reveal all of his secrets, not even to Brandon, who was in his head most of the time anyway.  Instead, Raine let her gaze travel over his rugged form, his own size seemed to cool the ground she stepped on… or was that her doing? Was she mindless here, holding his stare? Raine wasn’t sure.  It wasn’t like he hadn’t postured for her attention before. It wasn’t like they hadn’t slept together only days ago, but like she thought as she realized herself, while she looked out into the golden sunset that set the meadow a glow, she could feel their connection growing. Not only to each other but also to Nerranne.  Maybe that was the voice inside her mind.  Maybe it was this place… Even if it was, Raine thought, as she outstretched her wings just that little bit further, she watched how Melchoir seemed to do the same. Raine, ever so carefully, found herself extending the soft sparkling light within her wings to caress his face just so. She watched how her love blinked soundly then reset his jaw before nuzzling back towards it.  “Has it always been like this?” Melchoir asked as softly as the breeze managed to whisper through.  “I’m not sure what you mean, love,” she cooed, her wing gently retracted from his space to fold up and settle on her body.  Melchoir’s eyes seemed to pin her in place, stopping her as she neared. His question hadn’t made any sense at all as life was not always like this. Not hers at least. Honestly, Melchoir couldn’t quite ask such a question either as she was carrying his soul until they found Brandon.  “Your wings, Little One,” Melchoir paused to look up at them so that Raine could focus on them and not him.  “What about my wings?” she questioned, worried.  “They’re warm to the touch,” he replied, genuinely curious.  If she didn’t know any better, he looked as though he wanted to feel them again. The beak of his nose seemed to nuzzle the space around him, nearly begging for her attention and she couldn’t do much else but to oblige.  “Ah,” Melchoir groaned as she stretched a wing over his shoulders just behind his neck and crown.  She watched him back up so that his scales warmed in her presence and absolutely loved the fact that she could give him this.  “I suppose it is,” she grinned, trying to manage her way above him tonight.  Raine figured she could offer more of her own surface area if she stayed up there, but Melchoir wasn’t having it. Her place was below him. It wasn’t some act against feminism as humans would put it but it was a dragon thing. The larger, usually male dragon was born to protect. It was his duty to his potential mate, smaller dragon or the wounded, which was why he covered her in such a loving manner after battling to save both Brandon and his own life in the process.  Raine remembers the way that they explored this when their coupling had begun. He was so forthcoming, nearly too talkative, but as he went on, she realized it was so that she didn’t try to escape him. His instinct would take over and his bite would hit higher than her shoulder. Anything more and she’d be laying limp between his razor sharp teeth.  It would kill him, she reminded herself. His voice remained in her head as she accepted the whine he made in response to the way she backed up from him then.  Melchoir’s eyes darkened that little bit more and while Raine couldn’t see just where he was looking now, she did still feel his eyes on her, hoping, waiting… Nodding in response to him and his behaviors seemed like the right thing to do at the time. She laid there, pinned by his weight, his claws sank desperately into the sand below them to lock her in place. Her moan had been what sealed their fate. It was encouraging, wanton, and Raine knew that if he hadn’t made his move she would have begged for it.  He was good to her and by default she wanted to be good for him, which pushed her to ensure that it was her turn to help him feel protected.  No matter how Raine tried, however, Melchoir was cunning. In one swift move he had her cradled within one of his claws and settled down into the ground just under him all over again. She waited, smugly of course, for her mate to slide home, only to be covered by his body instead. Melchoir’s satisfied hum of approval to their new position made him hum against her ear. There she indulged in the way he enjoyed her endless heat fluttering perfectly through her wings that remained pressed against his underbelly.  As hard as it was to give in, being underneath him wasn’t a chore. He wasn’t crushing or awful about it. He cherished her there. His forearms held the majority of his body weight while the rest of his body settled on the ground around her. Not a single scale of her own touched the ground now as he was determined to hold her flush against him, similarly she thought, as to how a child cuddled with a doll.  “It’s nice,” she admitted out loud to be sure he heard her.  His hum reverberates through her scales, a trick she’s learned that he does to respond when words simply cannot cover just how much her compliments mean to him.  It’s soft and sweet, but still Raine knows so much more than their beings have changed. Their souls, their personal missions and now with a rumbling underneath them, she’s sure that Nerranne has too.