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Matteo shuffled his feet as he waited. It was cold, which he didn't mind, but it was getting harder to feel his toes. When Zephyros curled up, he tilted his head, returning the boil's curious stare. Hesitantly, he slid down to sit across from Zephyros, folding his legs underneath him.

Peppino spoke up once they were settled. His face mirrored Matteo's undisguised interest. "What are ya, anyway? A dragon or somethin'?"

His eyes stared at Matteo carefully. He kept his body curled up tightly so as he doesn't make the boil and familiar uncomfortable. His pupils were slits as the moon shined into his eyes, and he looked a little more unnerving. Unfortunately he didn't realize this as his head lifted up and he opened his mouth to speak. Those large fangs glinted as he spoke quietly -- with annoyance. Zephyros' wings ruffled as well. "I am Quetzalcoatl."

Slit pupils and flash of fang -- he looked angry. Like he'd ruffled his feathers, literally. Matteo lowered his gaze, his hands tightening on Peppino, but the puppet flashed his own sharp teeth. "Quetzalcoatl." He sounded out the word in rolling syllables, feeling it out, while Matteo tested it in his mouth. His lips twitched. "Don't like bein' called a dragon, huh. Sssssnake's better?"

His own mouth twitched in annoyance, he felt the urge to bite into something rising within him. He just wanted to bite that familiar so bad... He blinked his eyes quickly as Peppino spoke and seemed surprised. "... yess. I am no dragon. More elegant-- my race."

"Uh-huh. Sure as hell ain't too elegant ta say, dat's fer sure. Quetzalcoatl. Lemme try dat again. Quetzalcoatl... Quetzalcoatl. Am I gettin' it?" Peppino asked. Underneath layers of messy blue hair, Matteo's brow was lightly furrowed. It mattered to him to get the pronunciation right. There were other things he wanted to know, though... he'd never heard of quetzalcoatl before, and he was already intrigued. Hopefully Zephyros' annoyance didn't drive him off right away.

"So what makes ya so much fancier den dragons? Is it da feathers?"

His head tilted and he softly hissed at the pronunciation. It was perfect right off the bat. Normally it would take longer for people to catch onto saying that word. They would normally just shrug it off and not even say it. With a soft sigh at recalling this, his head tilted again and the feathers on his head ruffled. His wings stretched out slightly before folding back to his side.

"We are... feared and respected. We fly with grace-- are one with the sky."

"So dat's why youse was out 'ere, den? Bein' one wid da sky?" He leaned back, just as Matteo tilted backwards to look up at the dark night sky above them. "Cool, cool. Just watch out fer da stuff dat ain't wid da sky, next time, and we good."

Despite the reminder, both reaper and familiar appeared considerably more relaxed than earlier. Peppino climbed out of Matteo's arms to approach the other boil. "Hey. You a first year, highflyer?"

He hissed quietly and let himself relax slightly too."... yes... sorry. I do not realize when I fly." Which was true. Whenever he flew, he became so engrossed with the sky he was completely oblivious to everything. And this situation proved his point. His blue eyes stared at Peppino and he backed up slightly as the familiar approached him. "... yes.. and you are both?"

More clouds had settled in, but it still afforded a pleasant view. It was one of the reasons he came out here. If he could fly, he'd probably lose himself in it just as much as Zephyros had. He couldn't exactly begrudge him for it. "Yep. Got here not too long ago. Ain't seen much of da campus yet."

That gave him an idea. Feeling bolder, Matteo urged Peppino onward. The puppet held a stubby hand against Zephyros, using it to support himself as he leaned forward. He grinned. "Betcha get a real nice view up dere. Is dis a solo deal, or do ya take passengers?"

He hadn't been here that long as well... perhaps they would meet each other more often due to this. He pondered quietly and then wondered why the boil was here. But he didn't pry, and just stared at the familiar. He didn't blink, move, or say a thing. Just staring for a long moment.

After what seemed like forever, his head bowed softly. "I... can. Never had done?"

His grin widened, sharp white teeth breaking through the seams of his mouth. "First time fer everythin', bub." Without asking again, Peppino swung onto Zephyros' back. He urged Matteo forward, and as the reaper neared him, his excitement was obvious.

He hesitated moving, not quite sure what to say in response. So he didn't say a thing, instead he allowed Peppino to mount him... and looked at Matteo with confusion. "... you are trusting me with two lives."

A fair point, and a risk Matteo hadn't entirely considered. Still, it was one he quickly dismissed. Zephyros' inexperience was a more unpredictable variable, but he was mostly certain the boil wouldn't purposefully toss him off. Matteo also had his strings to keep him steady -- and he showed them to Zephyros, lifting his hands just enough to allow the thin, thin strands to catch his eye with moonlight. And if worse came to worst, Celine had tossed him off the trapeze enough to teach him how to fall. "Yeah." He said simply, in his own voice. "So don't let me down."

He didn't see the strings right away. Even more confused as to why Matteo did that. His head lifted in a slight nod as he turned his head towards his back. "... I fly fast. If you scare..."

While they were difficult to see, they could certainly be felt as Matteo looped them around Zephyros and Peppino. They were cold pinpricks on his scales, lingering strangely even as Matteo clambered on top of him. "I'll be fine. Brought seatbelts."

His body shuddered from the feeling and he didn't quite seem to like this. With a small huff, he ruffled his feathers. His wings stretched out and flapped. The cool air sifted between the light feathers as he moved towards the edge of the roof. "Seatbelts..."

The strings seemed to tighten around him, just slightly, as Matteo braced himself. He was a little nervous, but excited more than that. He'd never actually gone flying before. Sliding a hand through the strings keeping him secure, Peppino patted Zephyros' back. "In case ya go too fast. You can deal wid a little cold, can'tcha?"

He looked back at the familiar and hissed quietly. His eyes narrowed while his tongue flitted past his lips. "What..?" Spreading his wings out further, they left the rooftop. He dove down, down to the ground, before swooping up towards the sky in a fast fashion.

"Hey! Ya do dat tongue thing! Ya really are a sn--a-a-aaaaaaake!!" He broke off into a scream. Up, up into the air they went, faster than Matteo had swung himself up onto the roof, and the feeling was ten times more dizzying, air rushing past his ears as he clung to Zephyros for dear life.

Not that he was afraid of falling. Because he wasn't -- at least he could convince himself of that as long as he didn't look down.

"JACK!" Peppino wailed. "You weren't kiddin' 'bout goin' fast!"

He really wasn't. He was going so fast that Matteo's face might have pulled back from the gravity. He did loops, swerves, and went high right into the air. He touched the puffy clouds and slowed down as soon as he touched them... Zephyros' feathers ruffled softly from the soft wind. "Are you well?"

Matteo didn't dare open his eyes. Not that he could, with how the wind was pulling at his lids and stretching them over his eyeballs. All he was aware of was unimaginable turbulence jostling him back, forth, around and around in a circle. It happened long enough that Matteo was beginning to suspect Zephyros was showing off. Too bad he couldn't watch the demonstration of his flying skills.

When they finally slowed, and the wind was a gentle flutter against his skin instead of a freezing gale -- he really wished he had put on some more clothes before leaving his dorm -- Matteo gingerly cracked open an eyelid. The view of Amityville was mostly obscured by clouds. Still, he stared. They were close enough to touch. He'd never been able to see the stars so clearly before.

"I'm... great."

He had been afraid that the boil had a heart attack and died on his back. He wasn't sure what to do with the body if that happened. He held his breath momentarily so he could hear if his heart was still beating -- but the boil spoke. And that allowed him to sigh out the breath he held onto. His wings gently flapped while his head turned back and he looked at the boil with one purple eye. His tongue flitted out in a soft hiss. "Your familiar?"

"I think I'm gonna hurl." Peppino groaned, face down on the back of Zephyros' neck. Meanwhile, Matteo's visible eye was taking in as much of the view as he could, slowly loosening his grip on Zephyros to sit up properly. "... Peppino was right. You get a great view from up here."

His head turned back and he let out a chuckle. It sounded strange coming from a snake thing. "Yesss..." His hiss was soft and quiet. As he was for the rest of the flight. Zephyros lowered them down to a more appropriate level for sightseeing. Everything was small, but could be seen easily. It was a beautiful sight. All the boils and ghouls running about. The lights twinkling... It was very nice. He decided to take Matteo all over the campus-- which took a little more than an hour because he was going slow enough so that Matteo and Peppino could view everything.

Matteo watched it all, fascinated. This was exactly the view he wanted. A bird's eye view, free to watch the world and all its people move. In the circus, here was where he would glimpse his audience. Tonight, he didn't need to perform for anyone, and he was the audience to the sights below him. He'd thought he came out tonight to relive those memories, but something as wonderfully new as this more than made up for nostalgia.

As they drew closer to the ground, Matteo's grip loosened until his hands barely touched Zephyros at all. The only things keeping him steady were his strings.

Zephyros enjoyed the silent flight as well. It didn't seem to be too bad-- nothing happened. Perhaps Matteo might have gotten a bug in his eyes, but other than that he was glad nothing happened. If it weren't for the strings around his body, he would have forgotten that he had passengers, so he was grateful for that. And he still was as he nearly messed up on the landing-- he had looked up at the clouds once more before dropping. They seemed to have dissipated after they flew through them.

He made the landing, it was safe. Nothing bad happened. And he bowed his body low to the ground so Matteo and Peppino may step off.

The icy threads dissipated as Matteo climbed off Zephyros, carefully avoiding any feathers. Peppino, on the other hand, was less circumspect in his descent, as he slid right off of him as soon as he was freed.

"Thanks, Featherbutt." Peppino said. He looked almost reluctant to show his happiness, so Matteo smiled for both of them, small but definitely there. "Y'know. 'Side from the wantin' ta hurl thing. It was fun."

Matteo snickered. "Hey... Do you come out here often?

His entire body shuddered. He shook himself off before curling up tightly and keeping his head at a decent level. His purple eyes blinked slowly then his head tilted. "What did you say?" He wasn't sure what featherbutt meant but he didn't think it was a compliment. Or was it? he was confused. If he had brows they would be furrowed. Otherwise, his head was just tilted towards Peppino and he hissed quietly before tilting his head at Matteo. Those purple eyes blinked slowly at the smile and then his head bobbed. It was somewhat of a nod. Eyes sliding over to stare at the reaper's face. "Yesss... I do."

"Youse a featherbutt. Literally, I betcha got feathers up the wazoo. Anyway..." He rubbed the back of his head. It seemed odd that the puppet looked almost... nervous. "If ya come here often..."

Another pause. Matteo's fingers twitched and fidgeted. "Wanna do this again sometime?"

His feathers ruffled up and his eyes narrowed. He really wasn't sure whether he liked being called a featherbutt. "... Yes... if you do not fear."

Peppino puffed up his chest, stretching the cross stitching as far as it would go. "I ain't scared, bird. Just need some gettin' used to, dat's all! Hell, dat goes fer youse, too, since ya ain't never had nobody ta fly around. You help us, we help you."

Relaxing, he grinned, gesturing to the Reaper dorms behind them. After flying so high, the tower didn't look nearly as tall. "So, yeah. We better get goin'. Ya know where ta find us."

Matteo held up a small hand, curling his fingers. "G'night."

"Get used to... okay." His head bowed in agreement. He glanced back at the reaper dorms before looking back at the two. "Yesss... yesss, good... night. Good night." Once again his head bobbed and then pulled back as it tilted to watch the two go off. He only stared momentarily, ruffled his feathers, before jetting off into the dark sky. He felt like flying some more.

It was more of an arrangement than anything else. But, as Matteo entered his dorm, he caught himself smiling. He might have made a friend. On the way to making one, anyway. Suddenly, he didn't feel so homesick anymore.