Lost Change - Snippets

Getting Cold Wings

Jonathan nodded slowly, and his ear tufts fell a little in sympathy. "Have you talked to Nate about that? Or Trenil?"

I shook my head. "I haven't brought it up to Trenil. He knows I'm worried about something, but I haven't told him, and he hasn't asked for specifics. I know he'll cancel or slow down the move if I tell him it's bothering me, and I don't want to do that, but... it still worries me."

My tail curled around as I used it to nudge a third piece out into play. "I did tell Nate I was a little nervous, but I don't think he really understands. His parents were in the military and moved around a lot when he was a child, so he never really settled in and made long-term friends until he was older. To him leaving everyone behind is just something you do every few months, with staying in one place being the scarier idea. He tried to be supportive, but I could tell he didn't really know what to say."

"Ah. And you didn't move around much as a human, did you?"

I shook my head. "Not really. My parents lived in one place most of my life, and I only really left when I went off to college. That had been scary enough. And... after that, even when we moved around to different places, at least the flock was always together."

Jonathan nodded. "I was about the same way. My family might have moved once when I was very little, but I don't really remember it. I moved out into my own place, but I was still in the same neighborhood. I'm not sure that really counts as a 'move', in that sense."

I stared at the board for another long moment, then shook my head. "Am I making a mistake? Going to be with Nate? Moving away? I don't know if I can do this."

Jonathan smiled a little and looked back at the board. "The only mistake I can see you've made is in checkers." He reached out and used his rock to capture two of my pieces, then shook his head. "With everything you've told us about Nate... it's going to be hard sometimes, I'm sure; he is going to be a bit of a project. There's hurt in his life that you're not going to know how to help with, just like he's not always going to know how to help you. But... none of the best things in life ever come easy. Everyone in a relationship has to learn what the other person needs at some point, and how to be patient while you're both learning. He sounds like the type that will figure most things out with enough time, and it sounds like he really cares about you. The road might be bumpy in places, but I don't think it was a mistake to go down it with him."

The blue dragonet reached up and made a motion towards his harness again. "And... you can do it, Ivy. You already did, when you went to join Trenil. This is just going to be more of that. We'll just be a thought away any time you're lonely. And I'm going to be reaching out to you every time Cylene does something weird, so you're going to have a lot of company in that sense. You won't really be that apart from us."

I sighed and moved a rock to capture Jonathan's piece, not really believing him. "I guess. It's just... if anything goes wrong, I won't be able to do anything. If I can't handle it, I'll be stuck there."

"Hmph." The snort interrupted our musical conversation as Jonathan looked back up from the board. "You know what I think? You're just being a flying trapeze artist."

I blinked and stared at the other dragonet. "...come again?"

"Or maybe a tightrope walker. Do you remember those? The crazy people that would string a wire between buildings, then walk across it, way up above the street?" Jonathan frowned a little and tilted his head. "I wonder if Kymari have people like that, too..."

"Um. Trenil's never mentioned it if they do, but I've never asked. And yes, I remember, but what do either of those have to do with me?" I narrowed my eyes at the blue. "Are you saying I need to be in the circus, or something?"