*The Call*

"I heard that I make you nervous."

"Well, someone in this group needs to question your sanity once in a while, S're, or I fear you'll get us all into more trouble than we're looking for." Leaning back in a rickety old chair he had found in the abandoned building, Jasper's gaze betrayed him, irresistibly drawn to the outline of her feminine silhouette while it posed seductively in the broken doorway. As tall and powerful as any Dragon Rider, the roguish and provocative outfit she wore did a fine job of showing off her heritage, while the ears that brushed the doorway and the flash of her eyes did the rest.

Sauntering to him, she took the scroll he had in his hands. Dropping it to the floor, she straddled his lap, ignoring the protest of the chair. Hanging her hands over his shoulders, she focused on his lips as she kept her own just far enough to tempt him, her hair cascading around him like a curtain.

"You're so thoughtful," she teased sweetly with a soft purr that rumbled in his chest. "Always worrying about me."

Groaning, he drew her hips closer so that she fit more snugly against him. The loose shirt hanging over her smooth shoulder did nothing to discourage his exploring hands– and neither did she. "Don't think I could've kept you around for the last nine years otherwise, lulumi."

She smirked, leaning in to nuzzle and kiss his scruffy neck as he made it available to her, purring hotly. "Maybe I just really hate walking."

"Heh" he scoffed with a smile. "In that case, you don't need me for this heist."

She pouted by his ear. "Don't you trust the plan? Weren't you just looking it over? It'll all work out and we'll make out like royalty...."

His face snapped to a scowl. "S're." Taking her by the shoulders, he sat up straight. "You're talking about stealing from the government. From fucking Dragon Riders, S're! You met some stranger in a bar who promised to pay you only after you stole documents from Dragon Riders, the kinds with War dragons; of course he offered such a sum! We'd become enemies of the state overnight! I might be a wanted man, but it's for small shit, not something like this! And then, you didn't even come talk to me first, knowing what I'd say. Instead, you rally and rile the others, hoping I'd just go along." He shook his head with a hard line in his brow. "You think they wouldn't feed us to their dragons on the spot if they caught us?"

She rolled her eyes dismissively. "That's just a thing they say so we stay afraid of them."

"Not the point, but you say that with such certainty. You'd know this for sure, would you?"

"Well, no, not exactly. But, it seems entirely too barbaric, even for the military."

"There is nothing too barbaric for the military," he muttered sourly.

She fixed him with a stern look. "My uncle told me it's just something the Riders say for effect. They're not allowed to eat people." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Though, I could see them feeding us to a Horned Drawg."

He glowered at her teasing with a bitter growl. "Not any better than a dragon."

Her warm hands cradled his face briefly, her touch sending jolts of electricity through him, and he had to struggle to keep his composure. "Jasper, this is more money than any of us have ever seen in our lives! Black can buy out his exile order. Diana and Slina could get their parlor. And I will go with you anywhere. We can't lose." Lowering her chin to her chest, she peeked at him through lavish lashes. "You wouldn't make us go without you, would you?"

Her purr only made him scowl harder, wagging his finger back and forth in her face. "Don't. Why do I always have to be the voice of reason? That's why you want me for this, and that's why you're here. The lot of you know I'm the one you can count on for something like this." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I bet Diana sent you in here."

Her injurious gasp gave way to a sheepish smile. "Actually, it was Black."

His mouth popped open, brow furrowed in disbelief, though his bitter mutter was mostly playful. "That traitorous, asexual snake! Using my girlfriend against me."

With a little smile, she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. "I know it sounds crazy, Jasper," she said softly. "Trust me, this whole thing feels weird. I know this is dangerous. I just... have a feeling, like the chances are good enough. He said it's only two Riders. There's five of us. All we have to do is distract the dragons which will distract their riders, make off with a few documents that we give to the guy outside of town, get our money, and we wash our hands of it."

Still, he frowned, glaring sidelong at her. "Admit it, it's just the money that sounds good enough."

Sighing, she began to rise. "Well, if you don't want in on it, then we'll just... Ow!"

He had her by an earlobe and pulled her back to his lap without mercy. "Oh-ho no, dovlin," he purred in his own way, "you came in here to start something and you are going to finish it–" crushing her lips against his for a passionate moment that made her hazy, he continued– "at the end of this conversation. Now, I believe you were about to threaten my share of the pay out?"

She gasped dramatically, shaking her head. "I would never!"

He easily broke her attempt at innocence with a menacing growl and several teasing snaps at her throat. She squealed and tittered, his arms tightening around her to prevent escape. Relenting on his assault when the chair protested their squirming, he leaned back and smirked at her. "Is there anything else you can think of to convince me? Because I don't know if pussy and profits are enough."

She gave him a roguishly coy smile. "How about, this will be a great adventure?"

"Oh, an adventure!" Throwing back his head, he barked a laugh. "Ha! Straight to a Drawg feeding! Sounds grand!" Squeezing her tighter, a rapacious grin made him a downright scoundrel. "So what you're saying is we should get the fucking out of the way now?"

Though she rolled her eyes, she could not stop herself from giggling and leaning in closer, tapping his nose with her finger. "We can get to the fucking after we get paid. And that's when the adventure begins. We'll be able to go anywhere!" She gasped with an idea. "What if we booked passage to Lindarow with Diana and Slina? Live out our days on glittering beaches and endless summers, and no one's the wiser."

"Hmm, do I get to watch you skinny dipping in lavender waves?" he mused shamelessly. Each hand occupied itself with a cheek of her rear, making certain she knew the thought appealed to him.

Hanging her arms around his neck, she leaned in tantalizingly close. "You get to do more than watch."

Fixing her with a stern eye, he stared into her captivating gaze. Drawn into their pearlescent depths, drowned in their blue embrace, he had never been entirely certain he could look away, though he had never had the desire to test it. She stared back at him with sultry intention, biting her lip so close to his.

"Your mating take too much time."

They both jerked at the voice and the chair dumped them to the ground in an ungraceful heap. S're leapt to her feet while Jasper curled and groaned.

"Are you alright?" she gasped, reaching down to pluck him up and set him to his feet with ease.

Steadying himself, he straightened his leather vest and dusted his pants. "Ah, think I'm all together. Just bruised my ego as much as my ass." Standing beside her ensured his good posture and yet he hardly reached past her shoulders.

Glaring up at the reptilian humanoid towering over them dressed in a green and gold body wrap, S're frowned. "I've told you to stop sneaking up on us, Black. We like privacy!"

As dark as his name suggested, his glassy crimson eyes were his only color. Lowering his large head to be nose to long, spiny nose with her, the beads and trinkets all over his horns and spines tinkled, and his slow, raspy voice reminded her of leaves skittering across the ground on a windy day. "There isss no pri-va-cccy from my nossse and you have known thisss," he hissed sarcastically.

Jasper groaned while S're's mouth popped open, then shut. "I, uh, really prefer forgetting about it."

Snorting at her, his long neck raised him up tall again before focusing on Jasper. "Hue-man alwaysss mating. Would not be ssso bad if did not take ssso much time."

Jasper shook his head. "We've been over this before, saipaki. ‘Mating' is for making babies. We have sex."

"Of courssse," he hissed in a slow, sarcastic drawl, his thick, forked tongue nearly as long as Jasper's arm flicking out. "They do not both make young?"

"He does have a point," S're tittered.

Glaring between them, Jasper held up his arms to shoo the svelte reptile out. "Well, it wouldn't take so long if you weren't always interrupting! Now get! We weren't done! Unless you intend to join us, go on!"

Hissing at him in disgust with narrowed eyes, Black turned his body but continued to face them until he had slipped out the slanted door, his head slithering after him.

"Ugh! I hate it when he does that," Jasper muttered, shaking his head before rubbing his rump. "My ass still hurts."

Giggling, she combed her fingers through his unruly brown hair lovingly. The constant stubble on his cheeks snagged against the calluses of her hand, but she had come to like the sensation. "Can I make it up to you?"

With a smirk, he leaned closer, buried his face between her breasts and peeked up at her deviously. "Oh, you'll be making it up to me on the way, _lulumi_. But we won't make it to the party if we don't get started."

Opening his vest, he slipped 2 metal tubes from beside several others that were tucked in a pocket. Each one had a thinner center, and he pushed the ends together with a little twist before tossing them to either end of the weathered, crumbling structure as they began hissing. Within seconds, white hot fire was shooting out the ends, quickly taking to the dry wooden structure.

S're watched with wonder as the flames rose around her, the heat almost searing her lungs. The fire sang a song of that which must fall for new things to come. It danced, hungry to touch and consume the dance floor. It seemed so gentle, as though it were a lover's caress, but only ash would be left after its destructive embrace.

Then Jasper's form was close to her. She turned her attention to the fires that burned as hotly within him as those burning around them. Just as the first time he had invited her to stand inside a burning building with him, there was a delighted deviance to his normally warm brown gaze that so entranced her.

His arm slipped around her waist, jerking her tightly to him. A little gasp left her, feeling as hazy as the air. He had made his intention clear; he left the rest to her, and she did not hesitate. He devoured her with the same desire as the blazes around them. She told herself it was the searing air that made it hard to breathe. The fire sang its song louder, embers falling like burning butterflies that brushed their skin with tender urgency for them to go, somehow cooler than his hand behind her neck, holding her to his lips.

She could have stood there all day. It was Jasper with the sense to pull away with a smug expression as she swayed on her feet, trying to catch her breath. Then he took her hand and snapped her back to their situation as he headed out the ever smaller opening from where they had come.

Exhilaration washed through her as they fled, bubbling out of her in a fit of giggles, his own laughter full of the thrill when a beam smashed down where they had just been. Hand in hand, they watched the building burn, the black smoke rising high into the glittering sky. Once it had collapsed into a heap with a final explosion of embers, they looked at each other with wild grins and took off to race back to the verdant forest on a craggy little mountain.

Leaning against a tree, Jasper gasped a little harder than usual. "Think– I might be– getting too old– to keep up with you."

Tittering, entirely unfazed by their run, S're placed a hand on the tree above his head and leaned over him. "Oh? You sure it's not because your legs are so short, old man?"

He glared up at her. "You just wait..."

"For what? You to grow taller? Do I need to water you? Put you out in the sun?"

Her sarcastic grin changed when his hands slipped up her shirt and had a hold of her nipples, pulling her down. "Oh, I'll be a whole lot taller once I'm on top of you, dovlin."

A hysterical giggling in the brush behind the gangly lizard shaking his head at the two revealed a handsome young woman in leather pants and a loose flowing blouse. Tight, shiny black curls danced all about her head whenever it swayed.

"Well, if you two love birds are here, and that's burning, guess it's time we get going. Always a nice sight, though. It's never like we're trying to go unnoticed or anything."

Rolling his eyes, Jasper sighed sarcastically. "I just need the thrill."

"Oh yeah, the thrill," Diana teased with a nod. "Because being a wanted man isn't thrilling enough."

He shook his head at her disappointedly. "Don't remind me of that! I don't want to be doing this to begin with!"

Popping out of the brush before Diana could respond, another young woman grinned and her hands appeared from her long sleeves, jerking in a silent sign language. Diana eyed her before sharing her grin. "Besides, admit it, you get enough thrill from us watching you!"

Once again, Black made a hiss of disgust, raising his hands to the sky before turning away. "Hue-man alwaysss mating!"

Diana kept giggling at Slina's gestures. "Yeah exactly! You two could still have plenty of 'thrill' on the way!"

"What, with the both of you watching?" Jasper countered before waggling his brows. "You know, you need only ask...."

Laughing, Diana shook her head with a flurry of hair. "Oh, dovlin, it ain't you we're watchin'." Winking at S're, she blew a kiss back playfully.

The guttural hissing in the brush sounded like gagging, and the humans snickered quietly amongst themselves.

"Do I at least get to watch?" Jasper teased, acting wounded when all three women shot him a rude gesture. "Well you watch us! Bah! At least Randel still loves me."

When nothing happened, his eyes narrowed and he cupped his mouth with both hands, yelling at what appeared to be a boulder. "I saaaid, 'at least Randel still loves me!'" When still nothing happened, the women giggled at his insulted expression. "This damn, over-bloated tree hugger!"

The boulder shuddered and split open to reveal an enormous, sparkling emerald eye. The pupil constricted to a dark, eternal pool that reflected Jasper's unimpressed face back at him.

"Yeah, that's right," he said as though responding to something the dragon might have said. "I was talking about you. Time for you to move, buddy."

Staring at him a moment longer, the great beast exhaled in a powerful explosion before sucking in a fresh breath. With a deep, bone-shaking groan, the ground shuddered beneath their feet as Randel's head rose up into the air, dirt cascading off with satisfying plops back to the softened earth below. Thick tendrils slithered out of the soil to retract under the shell before all four pillars that supported the sculptured landscape worked in tandem to rise almost evenly from the deep, tilled depression the dragon had created. With a roguish grin that made her heart flutter, Jasper grabbed a hold of a fleshy tendril, jerked upwards with his dragon.

Collecting herself with a loving little sigh, she reached out to follow after him when a strange feeling overwhelmed her. It came on in a crushing wave, a sensation she could not describe. Her head felt so full, reeling with wordless whispers. Reptilian eyes of the most brilliant carnelian peered at her curiously from a void within her mind. Feeling light headed, she gasped for air.

The unyielding earth knocked the sensation from her. Jasper's concerned face appeared over her in an instant. "S're! S're, are you alright? Have you eaten today? Did you inhale too much smoke?"

"Jasper, I... I don't even know," she whispered, unsure of how to describe the experience to herself much less to him.

"Are you broken?" Black's face appeared over her, just so far and then entirely too close.

"N-No! I'm... alright. Help me up." Once she was standing, she blinked a few times, quickly shaking off the residue of whatever she had experienced. Staying beside her to keep her steady, Jasper called for the others to throw down the rope ladder.

Randel had turned his head to peer at S're curiously just before she collapsed. Now, he made an oscillating boom they could feel in their chests. Jasper was unfortunate to be looking up to witness the blinding natural phenomena slither its way towards them. They all had barely enough time to close their eyes before the brilliant flash fizzled loudly over their heads in a deafening hiss, igniting the sky in a heatless light fiercer than the angriest sun. The phenomena continued its serpentine course for kilometers still, leaving a trail of iridescent particles that spun away and grew smaller until they had vanished into the blue of the sky.

"Ah, shit, really?" Jasper growled, rubbing at his eyes. "A Glimmer right over top of us?"

"Maybe it's for good luck," S're offered, peeking at him as her eyes readjusted. "I heard the people of Gala'hal think they can only mean good things. If nothing good happens, it's not meant for you."

Glaring at her while he blinked through the spots in his vision, he didn't notice the rope ladder until it struck him on the head with a curse and entangled him. S're giggled while Black let out a slow, deep hiss they had come to know as his form of amusement.

Once on the dragon's back, Jasper insisted S're walk with him to their shelter. Wedged between several trees, partially buried and surrounded by the thick vegetation, dark green vines grew over the mismatched walls and the slanted metal roof, their many tiny violet flowers in bloom. Inside the haphazard structure were pinned strings of soft lights, and an old rug separated them from the dirt that covered the dragon's back. She sat on the edge of the bed that took up most of the space, stretching wall to wall. Tucked into an odd corner between trees was a table with mismatched chairs, various items strewn over the surface. Jasper pulled out a small container of berries from a food cooler tucked under a counter attached to a set of shelves with several baskets.

"You should eat something. Are you sure you're alright?"

Wanting him to drop it, she smiled reassuringly, accepting the container and popping a berry in her mouth. "Yes, I swear, I'm fine. I just... got light headed, is all. Probably got too excited."

He eyed her narrowly, knowing when she wasn't entirely honest with him, but also trusting that she would tell him if she felt it was important. Returning outside, she could hear him start to go over the plan with the others. Letting out a pensive breath, she decided not to dwell on the weird sensation and got up to join the conversation.