Light My Fire (open)

[Raelena St. John]

In retrospect, maybe lighting a tree on fire was a bit of a bad idea. Yes, there was the very impressive blaze that resulted from it. A crackling fire that consumed the entire tree. Merrily blazing away, warming the skin in the cool air of November.

But it probably did look a little suspicious. After all, trees generally do not combust on their own. Even trees near the Academy weren't that special. Rae could probably blame the incident on a firebug, if one happened to be nearby.

Of course, they'd just have to check Rae's pockets. To do so, they'd have to slide their hands into skin-tight jeans effectively caressing the lycan. And you'd have to think hard about doing that to the local Alpha. If you did, you'd find a simple lighter. Zippo. Black metal. Refillable.

Rae had a bit of a natural talent toward lighting fires. A gift, without the capital. Hence the reason she'd managed to light a tree using only a Zippo. That took a certain skill and finesse.

Smirking, Rae continued to watch the blaze, wondering what kind of attention it would draw.

[∴ Anthony]

A deep, growling sound emanated through the general area. In reality, it was much closer to an exasperated sigh than a growl, but a beast as big as a dragon sometimes has a hard time sounding like they're doing anything other than growling. Something about the gigantic vocal chords, I'd imagine.

Point being, there was a noise moments before the dragon arrived, to foretell his coming. And come he did, though his leisurely pace gave the impression that he would really rather not be moving at all.

The impression was accurate.

Nevertheless, he did move. With a great intake of air he filled his mighty lungs, and he subsequently emptied them on the burning tree with great force. The strong blast of air sucked all the fire's fuel away and what was left of the tree simply smoked pitifully. He had been considerate enough to direct the gust of wind this created away from Raelena, for whatever reason, and so she was spared from wind and embers and ashes alike.

Speaking of Rae, the dragon turned his head toward her then, after regarding the smoking remains of the tree with disdain for a moment. The look he gave her, roughly translated to a human emotive expression, was one of disappointment rather than anger, and the dragon made neither any further movements nor any effort to speak. He simply stared.

---

[Raelena St. John]

Most people would probably freak if a Forest Dragon tromped over to them. After all, they weren't exactly small, cuddly creatures. Though Disney could probably still make them dance and sing if he wanted to. At any rate, it usually intimidated people.

But Rae just didn't intimidate easily.

"Ah, disnae go all hippie on me," Rae grumbled. She waved her hand, enjoying the tingle of her charms on her bracelet as she did so. The gesture was wholly dismissive. "Tis jus' one bloody tree. Ye'd ken ye could talk to th' d**m things."

Rae was dangerously close to a pout, and she knew it. Still, she didn't appreciate someone swooping in and ending her "fun" like that. Her eyes flashed dangerously at the dragon, and she almost considered Turning then and there. A lycan Alpha might be able to pierce a Forest Dragon's scales. Rae was certainly angry enough to try.

"Wha's wit' th' look anyway? Do I ken ye or somit?" Rae wondered. To her knowledge, she hadn't met many dragons. And she couldn't remember any Forest Dragons off the top of her head. Didn't mean she hadn't met them, of course.

[∴ Anthony]

The dragon didn't answer at first. It was almost as if it couldn't speak, though anyone who knew anything about dragons knew that they could easily talk, if a little gruffly so. Yet there was a hesitance, a reluctance, something, that was stopping the dragon from saying anything.

Until he transformed into his human shape.

As he finished the metamorphosis, ending up in a standing position with his hands already in the pockets of a pair of stylishly worn jeans, the look on his face was more of a knowing smirk than anything else.

"Light somebody else's home on fire," said Seamus O'Malley, his rich Irish accent (that his RPer is too lazy to make obvious when writing his dialogue) complementing Raelena's Scottish brogue nicely. He eyed the tree once more, shook his head with a small laugh, and closed the distance between the two quickly, gesturing for a hug.

Now, blowing out a fiery lycans's flame and then abruptly hugging her may not have seemed like a good idea to even the bravest of individuals, especially this lycan, but Seamus was not brave, he was simply confident.

"Hey lass, it's been ages! Have you heard the news?"

[Raelena St. John]

Confidence wouldn't save Seamus from getting clobbered for trying to hug Rae. He suffered the same fate as any of her male friends that tried friendly gestures on her: a rough shove-off. A growl accompanied the rough-housing, though it didn't bear a whole lot of weight.

"Disane hug me, ye idjit," she insisted. This warranted another punch, and Rae didn't bother pulling it. After all, Seamus was a Forest dragon under all that charm. He'd only feel it if he wanted to.

"An' tha' disnae count as yer home," she added, jerking a thumb at the tree. "Unless ye be livin' in trees now. Which must be hard as hell on yer big, scaly arse."

Rae snorted, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at Seamus. Again, it was obvious the gestures were more bluster than bite. Still, there was the threat of barely contained violence behind Rae.

"Wha' news ye gabberin' aboot now?" she asked. Her curiosity was buried underneath scorn, and only someone that knew her would be able to tell that she was immensely interested in whatever had gotten Seamus excited. "I hasnae heard o' ye since ye an' ye mates took off."

[∴ Anthony]

"You're no fun. I hug my guy friends and I'm no more into them then you are," Seamus teased, rubbing the spot he'd been hit even though it hadn't really hurt him. He figured he might as well do a bit of acting so he didn't hurt Rae's pride. Of course, Rae was no pushover either, and if she looked close she'd notice Seamus' eyes looked somewhat feral, due to him using a bit of draconic power to cushion the blow. Brave he was not.

"And that tree is just as much my home as each individual piece of a house would be," Seamus said, sounding slightly offended. "I've been living in this forest awhile now. Don't really have anywhere else to go..." His eyes, normally radiating calm, collected happiness, darkened significantly, though they were human in appearance again and they didn't stay dark long.

"Which brings me to the news. There's a good reason you haven't heard of us, The Homicidal Leprechauns are kaput." He managed to say this more or less nonchalantly, but anyone with even a basic understanding of body language would easily be able to tell it bothered him quite a bit to admit this, let alone actually have it happen in the first place. And he did look a little more weathered than normal. All of which was unusual for him, since little usually pierced the armor that was his laid-back outlook on life in general.

"The twins are dead..." he said quietly, and then it was obvious why he was so bothered. "And after she found out, Harmony disappeared. I think she's lost faith in the world. I think maybe I have too..."

[Raelena St. John]

Since when do musicians live in forests? Even Forest Dragon musicians should at least be living in pleasant cottages somewhere as opposed to an actual forest. People were designed to live in houses, after all.

"Kaput wha' th' hell," Rae sputtered the confused words in between Seamus's story. She never had been one to stand idly by and let someone carry an entire conversation. "Did ye--?"

The word "dead" cut Rae off mid-sentence, and she flinched as though hit. The twins? Rae had more expected Harmony to be the one to have kicked the bucket. After all, the twins weren't exactly active fighters, unlike the reckless demoness. Seamus was, of course, as invulnerable as any Forest dragon could be. Though avoiding Dragon's Bane in the music biz had to be hard.

"Th' bloody hell happened?" Rae demanded. She stepped forward, taking hold of Seamus's shoulders and looking him dead in the eyes. A bit of the wolf leaked out now, turning Rae's normally green irises a piercing gold color. A normal human would be scared, but Seamus hardly qualified as that. "Ye need ta bloody explain!"

[seamus]

Seamus didn't really qualify as a normal dragon, either; he was definitely scared. But instead of stuttering and stumbling over a reply, as most might, he waited until he had some semblance of calm before even trying to answer to Rae's demands. Probably the most gutsy thing he'd done in his life.

"I don't really know what happened. Me and the twins were busing to a show, we were going to meet Harmony there, and we crashed, or something. All I know is one minute I was doing vocal exercises, the next I was sprawled on the pavement beside the burning remains of the bus, the equipment, the roadies, the driver, and... Ethan and Ensley... they even died in each others' arms, the wackos..." His words came out bitter, almost as if the dragon breathed acid instead of fire. But it was a bitterness directed at the world, not at the twins, and anyone would be able to tell he didn't mean what he said about them, even if they really were wackos.

"If I weren't a dragon, I'd've died too... When Harmony heard, she took off, went into hiding. She thinks it wasn't an accident at all, she thinks someone was trying to get to her, so now she thinks I'm not safe with her. I even told her I was a dragon, finally, but she refused to listen..."

He didn't look like he could go on. His mouth was still moving, but no sound was coming out. It was pretty clear that he hadn't really gotten over the whole situation, and had only been functioning previously because he was in some sort of shock or denial. Now he didn't even seem to be able to support his own weight, and he backed up from Rae's grip into the still-smoking tree he had extinguished. His clothes charred, but his skin didn't seem to mind the heat.

[Raelena St. John]

The strange mothering instinct that had developed lately in Rae rose up again. It gave her the strange urge to hug Seamus. But that struck her as being both absurd and contradictory. Instead, she'd have to be herself, and support him in a fashion that was totally Rae.

"Tis odd kennin' tha' a lass twould be more afeared o' a dragon gettin' harm then herself," Rae commented. She smirked at Seamus. "Sounds ta me like she was soft on ye, lad. Twouldnae make sense fir her ta behave like she did otherwise, nae does it?"

Rae turned slightly, facing Monroeville.

"Ye need ta let lose," Rae suggested, nodding. "Get some alcohol on ye inside an' a lass on ye ootside. Tis th' best way I've found ta handle these situations."

Rae took a few steps in the direction of Monroeville, her thoughts of forest arson gone, replaced with the odd desire to help out her "friend." Maybe she could even convince him to perform for her again. Music always soothed Rae, and she was a half-crazed lycan lesbian. It ought to work wonders for the usually cheery Forest Dragon.

[seamus]

"Well, she's an odd lass," Seamus said, managing a faint smile. "She'd protect a stone from harm before herself if she was friends with it. She's got an invincibility complex or something."

He was glad Rae tried dumping alcohol and girls on him, because it gave him something to think about. He would vehemently deny her idea of a girl, of course, but it was at least something to do other than reply the moments after the crash over and over again, or picture the look on Harmony's face when he told her what happened, or even the disappointment of the crowd at they show they had to cancel. It was a whole lot of painful memories, and any distraction was welcome, except of course the one Rae offered. Classic Rae.

He held up a hand and spun the wedding band on his ring finger meaningfully, suddenly not sure Rae even knew the story behind it. "You can have the girls, but I'll have a drink if you're buying. A cancelled tour don't pay well."

He managed to stand from the tree a little, and he twisted to look at his clothes with a groan. His shirt was totalled, a burn hole running from to top bottom, and it would likely fall off of him in minutes, but his jeans were more or less fine. The small burns they had looked like they'd come on the pants, such was the style of jeans he wore. They came looking tattered, so who cared if they got worse?

[Raelena St. John]

"Buyin'?" Rae snorted. She hadn't bothered to look over at Seamus's ring. Frankly she didn't want to hear the story, and could probably care less about the details. Besides, it was probably your standard boy-girl lonesome love story: not something that would interest the wild lycan in the slightest.

"I own a bloody club," Rae drawled. Her eyes rolled, and her body turned with them, leveling a wild grin at Seamus. "I hasnae paid fir drink in th' club fir a while. Jus' buy th' bloody kegs or whanae. Tis a fine way ta get as much drink as ye want."

Rae winked at him, then took a few steps toward Monroeville. It didn't exactly stand as the bastion of all things civilized, but it was a lot better than moping near a singed tree.

"We'll get ye a lass eventually, ye jus' need a few drinks first, an' ta loosen oop," Rae continued talking, not bothering to turn and look at Seamus. "Ye cannae turn down some lasses, let me tell ye. An' those be th' ones ye most want ta snog."

Rae barked a laugh at that, clearly enjoying the image.

[seamus]

"I guess that works, too," Seamus said with a small smile, still shaken up a little but definitely better off than he had been previously. He shrugged off what was left of his shirt, spun it around, and put it on backward. This basically created the illusion of him wearing an unbuttoned shirt instead of one with a line burned out of the back of it. It wouldn't pass up a close inspection, but it'd have to do unless Rae had some clothing stuffed in those skinny jeans of hers.

"And I'm married, ya twit!" he said with a laugh when Rae insisted he'd find a 'lass'. "If you get me stinkin' drunk and I wake up next to a girl in the mornin', I might have to set somethin' of yours on fire." It was clear he was joking, which was a good sign, not only for his own safety, but also because it meant he was feeling at least a little better.

"How we gettin' there? Walkin'? I could fly us if you want. It's up to you."

[Raelena St. John]

Gah, was everyone Rae knew monogamous? First Eryk, then Kennedy, now Seamus. Rae wouldn't be surprised to find out that Karmine had gotten hitched behind her back. Heck, the way things were going lately, he probably had a secret man-lover stashed away.

"Alrigh' we'll play nice," Rae agreed. She sighed, clearly put out by this minor difficulty. "Could ye nae jus' bend a wee bit?"

Rae turned, holding her forefinger a hairsbreath from her thumb. It didn't last long, before she sighed and lowered her hand, shaking her head.

"I'll jus' have ta get ye drunk an' then pry th' lasses off ye body. Twill be a better fir me anyway," Rae sighed again, placing her hands on her hips and rolling her eyes skyward. "I swear, ye lads have nae balls anymore. So'nae wonder I disnae like ye."

She folded her arms then glanced over her shoulder. Masonville was some distance away, after all. She'd never flown on a dragon, and that sounded simply too much fun to pass up. Of course, they'd have to land some distance from the town, as the Midwestern townsfolk wouldn't exactly be used to flying lizards.

"We could fly," she agreed, "'cept ye'd have ta land oot o' sight o' town. Th' locals tain't used ta a big beastie like ye. Twould be hard ta explain an' get us inta more trouble than tis worth."

She grinned, "So jus' a short flight, aye?"

[seamus]

"Not even a tad," Seamus said, a slight roll of his eyes accompanying the words. He was glad she gave up, though, because he really wasn't in the mood to argue, especially with a friend who was just trying to cheer him up, in her own way.

"Exactly!" he laughed in response to her comment about tearing girls off him. "I'll lure them in with my mopey cuteness, and you go in for the kill. ''e's married, but I ken a lass tha' tain't.' sort of thing," he said, with a passable but still strange-sounding imitation of Rae's brogue. "I'm sure it'll work wonders for you."

He smiled widely and did a few pre-flight stretches while Raelena went on about not being seen by the locals and such. "And I'm supposed to be the yellow one around here," he teased. "Since when are you so cautious? But don't worry, I'll stay low and blend in. Least I'm not bright pink or anythin'."

Without any further words, he stepped back far enough that he'd have room and transformed back into his draconian form. It felt out of place for him, having stayed in human form for most of his life, but it was still nice to let go and stop hiding who he really was once in awhile.

He crouched low enough that Rae wouldn't have much trouble climbing on and gestured toward his back with his massive head. It would appear that he either couldn't speak or just didn't want to. Regardless, Rae would find that with all the spines and scales on his back it'd be easy to hold on, and yet there was a smooth patch she could sit on more or less comfortably. He had no idea why his back was laid out like that, perfect for a rider, but he wasn't one to complain.

His wings shivered with anticipation, as if to say, "Let's get going!" and his eyes, though greatly transformed, still held the familiar O'Malley charm.

[Raelena St. John]

Well, at least they had a solid gameplan together. Even better, it looked like Seamus's mood had lightened considerably, which was certainly good. That had been the point of the teasing and the suggestion, after all. Well, that and Rae loved actually having an excuse to drink and flirt. Not that she needed one, but it was fun.

"Ye shouldnae try ta talk like a Scot," Rae suggested, rolling her eyes as she rolled her "R's." "Tain't fittin' fir ye, Irishboy."

The comment about her being cautious irritated Rae. That had become a common theme among her friends lately. Rae was growing old, she was getting cautious. Probably had to do with having responsibility, like being the local lycan alpha.

"Ye be green, ye bloody idjit," Rae growled. She circled around, looking for a good place to mount up on the dragon. She managed to work her way around the spines and spikes, using the appropriate ones as lift to get herself up onto the back of her dragon friend. Once there, it was a little harder to find a comfortable arrangement. Eventually she had to settle for lying nearly flat on her stomach, grabbing a few spines along Seamus's back.

"Alrigh' let's get goin' already," she stated, slapping his back.