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Ceta had had her own issues following the Flight. Not with the Flight itself-- she had adapted, as usual, and M'lan had been as apologetic and supportive as possible about the whole thing. It helped that he had offered her the chance to experience lovemaking without the haze of dragon eyes, too. Though they were only friends, it certainly helped take off all the emotional edges that lingered for them both.

Her bruises from the Flight had mostly faded by the time the next practice was due, for which she was thankful. Most were easily covered by clothes, but it wouldn't do to have someone seeing them. Like D'lin. That would be the most difficult to face, she thought. The conversation they had had before Halith Rose and the close friendship she shared with D'lin made her think he would not be pleased to hear that her first Flight had been as rough as he had worried it would be.

Halith fought against the thought of doing work for the morning, but Ceta managed to get her equipped for the practice and in the air with enough time that they at least wouldn't be late, even if they weren't early. And they weren't the first, she noticed as she arrived, but neither were they the last. Cetalese turned her gaze in the direction of D'lin and Plexith when they arrived. D'lin hadn't sought her out either afterward, which was a bit strange considering how concerned he had been for her beforehand when he learned about her own misgivings. She assumed he was just busy, though. There wasn't really another explanation for him not dropping by at least once in the last week or so.

Cetalese did not go to D'lin. She checked her own straps to make sure she hadn't misplaced any and then waited for the practice to begin, idly leaning against Halith. But she watched him and she didn't try to hide it. She was just keeping an eye out on his movements, waiting for the signal that it was time to get in formation.

Eventually the remainder of the wing did appear and Cetalese mounted Halith at D'lin and S'kor's instruction. No rider in the Gale Stalkers was a stranger to fight formations or flying together, so practice was a smooth affair. Halith went out of formation once, teasing one of her wingmates with a challenge, but Ceta got her back in order fairly quickly. Other than that, Ceta thought that they performed well enough.

The practice ended in late morning, letting all of the riders get out in time to make it to the messhall for lunch. Cetalese had Halith land near where D'lin and S'kor had landed, however, and dismounted as well.

"Hello, S'kor," she greeted with a smile. "D'lin, if you have a minute when you two are done talking did you want to get lunch?"

"Whichever. The huts would be fine. I imagine that the mess will be crowded. I'll meet you at your hut?" After he agreed with her offer she gave S'kor a smile and said goodbye. Halith, still chattering at Plexith, lowered herself so her rider could mount and took to the air, heading back toward D'lin's hut. Ceta wasn't sure why she had chosen his home instead of her own, but something told her she would rather it be done here where she had the option of leaving-- or where he didn't have the option.

Ceta stripped Halith of straps, knowing that as soon as they went in for lunch she was going to convince Plexith or some other dragon to do something fun with her. It made more sense to take the extra weight of riding straps on the walk back to her own hut than to let them get worn out or potentially broken by one of Halith's stunts. Cetalese was so used to her dragon's antics-- and knew that original Trine riders were used to them-- that she didn't even bat an eye at them anymore.

She leaned against D'lin's hut to wait for him, not wanting to intrude by letting herself into his home before he arrived back.

"That wouldn't be polite." She followed him inside, though, and sat herself at the table where they had lunch so many weeks ago.

"What have you been doing the last week or so?" she inquired, crossing her legs and swinging her foot back and forth comfortably. It seemed like nothing was off between them, but D'lin wasn't talking quite as much as usual. That was generally not a good sign. Maybe something had gone wrong, or...

She glanced around the room. It was relatively tidy, which was surprising considering there were two boys living in the place.

Cetalese stared at him. Apparently he had cared about the Flight results, and that had been the reason for his slightly odd behavior and the lack of his presence in the last week. He had just blurted that right out, hadn't he.

Guilty conscience, much? the Eliza-voice in her head asked.

"Plexith was upset? About losing, you mean? But Halith's just a Green. Shouldn't he have forgotten about that in a day?" No other Greens had Risen yet since Halith's Flight to take Plexith's mind off of it, of course, but surely losing a Green Flight didn't bother Plexith enough that it took a sevenday to forget the slight.

Then again, Plexith was relatively young. Ceta always forgot he was only a Turn older than Halith. She frowned faintly at D'lin, still feeling confused.

Cetalese took note of D'lin's slightly desperate glance at the door and her own eyes darted in that direction before returning to him. The confusion melted to concern. D'lin's following explanation made some sense-- it certainly did sound like Plexith-- but this was the first she had heard of it.

"His favorite?" she repeated, starting to feel like the second Harper in a round. She swept away the cobwebs of confusion and let D'lin finish his piece before she would take control of her own part in the conversation. This didn't seem to be a surprise to D'lin, so Ceta assumed Plexith had said something about it in the past. Halith did prefer to spend time with Plexith, as a matter of course, but it was like Velath. The three of them had riders who were friends and therefore they were the dragons she knew best. It had never seemed to occur to her that Plexith was an authority figure or a male. He was Plexith and that was good enough for Halith. Even after the Flight Halith didn't seem to remember Asoth was a romantic partner. Though she had spent several days in his company on-and-off it had been as friends. The Flight was apparently a distant memory for her already.

Ceta smiled back faintly at D'lin when he smiled at her and took a moment to decide what she wanted to say. "I doubt she would have understood. She doesn't seem to understand what romance is. Even the first day after the Flight, Asoth was a compatriot rather than a partner." Her smile turned wry when she said the thought aloud. It was well known that Halith, even as an adult dragon, was a huge child in many ways, unlike her rider.

"Is that all, then?" she asked, gaze piercing D'lin. "I didn't see you because Plex was upset?"

Cetalese watched him for a long moment and then dropped her gaze. Truth be told, she had missed him when she let herself think about it. Once or twice she had let her mind wander and had wondered what he was up to that kept him so busy.

"Of course I missed you." Her voice was quiet, and then they were interrupted with a knock on the door. Cetalese was out of her seat first and she answered it for the drudge who had finally brought them their basket. She thanked the woman as she received the burden and then closed the door, separating the pair of them from the world again.

Cetalese set it on the table and begun unpacking it, her eyes on the food. She debated what to say and if she should say anything more at all. "I decided that you were just busy rather than avoiding me. I didn't want to bother you if that was the case." And, in the small part of her that said it was more than that, she had briefly been concerned that he was upset with her for some reason, perhaps felt he had let her down by losing, because she could see him looking at it as his job as her friend to protect her.

And maybe that was still part of the problem. She set a plate aside for herself and handed him his as that thought turned over in her stomach as well as her mind.

"It wasn't as if it was anyone's fault that Plexith didn't win, anyway." She kept the thought to herself for a moment, moving to her seat when the basket was empty.