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Natlan looks so small from here.
Ajaw’s reasoning for taking Kinich up so high was, quote, ‘to make sure no stupid Qucusaurs decide to try and make you their dinner’, before blabbering on about how back in his day, even the weakest, smallest dragon would have the sense to go after an injured target. Now it’s just the particularly feral ones.
Compared to their usual flights, this one was much slower, so Kinich got to simply observe the scenery below as they passed by. Ajaw wasn’t too fond of people being on his back and, at first, he insisted on carrying Kinich instead. He couldn’t get him into any semblance of a comfortable position with a broken leg in tow though, so they gave up on that quickly. The last thing either of them want is to break it even more.
Although it wasn’t ideal, it was… nice. For all the time Kinich spends swinging through the air, he never gets to feel the breeze on him quite like this.
“We should go flying like this more often.” He muses, readjusting his busted leg to sit more flat against the curve of Ajaw’s back. “It’s not bad.”
“Not bad? That’s all you’ve got?!” Ajaw barked back at him, tightening the hold his tail had on Kinich’s good leg. “This is an honor! A tale to be passed down to your children! A once in a lifetime experience!” Had he seen it, he surely would’ve also had complaints about Kinich’s subsequent eyeroll. “Broken limb or no, you should still be showing the utmost amount of respect and gratitude!”
“Why, because you could’ve simply… left me for dead?” A long, long time ago, that may have been a genuine worry. “If I remember right, you were much, much more panicked than I was…” Nowadays, he’s more worried about Ajaw suddenly becoming overprotective.
“You absolutely hit your head on the way down.”
Kinich laughs. Ajaw’s tail twitches at the sound.
“How long do you think we’ll be out of work for?” Kinich asks, taking the stupid decision to shift himself further up Ajaw’s back, now laying closer to his head. The matter of ‘we’ rather than Kinich, alone, required no questioning. It’s obvious where Ajaw will be. At home, tending to his servant.
Their flight becomes a gentle glide as Ajaw puts some more focus into thinking. “The break isn’t… that terrible. So, I don’t know. Maybe two months?” Kinich hums in response, probably calculating the Mora situation with that in his head, before Ajaw follows up with- “Wait, why are you asking me?! I’m not a doctor!”
“I just assumed broken human limbs is something you were familiar with.” Ajaw groans, and Kinich laughs again. His little stories of the past always come back to bite him. “I think we have enough Mora to get us through, regardless… We should be okay.”
Ajaw scoffed. “Even if we didn’t, I’d just steal whatever we needed.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Why not?! If we need it, and I can get it, I’m getting it! And you- Hey, hey! Quit moving!” Ajaw could feel him move on his back, rolling onto his stomach despite the obvious risk at this height (Ajaw is wide, yes, but he could still slip off!) and the more obvious pain it caused to his broken leg to do so.
Wincing, Kinich had to speak through gritted teeth. “I’m not… letting you steal anything. We’ll be fine. Even if that means I have to ration your fruit juice.”
Ajaw lets his tail slip away from his leg, instead poking angrily at it instead. “Just say you couldn’t stop me because of your leg. Nobody’s gonna blame you.”
“The Almighty Dragonlord cares for my reputation. How touching.” With a deadpan snicker, he wraps his arms around Ajaw’s neck. “I’m not bothered by that, Ajaw. People just deserve to be paid.”
He grumbles, but doesn’t make much attempt to argue with him. “Then I’ll just go give Varesa a sob story. She’ll send a bunch of fruit over.”
“Please do not use my injury to exploit Varesa.”
“Ohh, Varesa, it’s horrible! Kinich took a really bad fall after a Saurian collided with him, and his leg is shattered now! Unusable!” Ajaw puts on a high pitched tone, somehow mocking himself and his own future plans. “But he’d be so happy if you sent him a big basket full of your ripest, finest Quenepa Berries, to share with his beloved Almighty Dragonlord as he waits for full recovery…”
Kinich pinches his cheek. “I mean it, Ajaw. Leave her be.”
“Ow! Hey, I’m trying to score you some good fruit here! Can’t you let me do something nice for you?!”
“Not if it involves messing with my friends. They’re off-limits.”
That stern tone was enough to make Ajaw deflate with a pout. “Fine.”
But Kinich simply can’t have that, so he gets him right back to normal with a kiss on the side of his head. “But I see I’ll be in good hands while I recover.”
Although he’s always warm, Kinich could swear he feels more warm than usual right now. “You’re one lucky servant.”
“Luckiest in the world.”
“I hate it.”
“Love you too.”